(Note: The girl in this story is different from Sloane. She is not Sloane from, "Alchemy is a Science" and she has nothing to do with Sloane. This is Florin. Completely different. Please be kind and considerate.)
(The following few lines in italics here are actual lines form the series from when Al got his body back. If you haven't gotten this far in the series, I would wait and finish before reading this story. Enjoy!)
"Welcome back." Hohenheim stretched out his hand to his weak, scrawny son he hadn't seen in years.
"Home at last," Alphonse took his father's hand. "It's so warm."
(End of lines from this moment in the show)
"Al…we need to get you to a hospital. You have a lot of recovery to do." Ed rubbed his brother's bare back and wrapped him in a cloak.
"You're right." Al glanced up at the clouds and smiled.
Al felt himself become dizzy from exhaustion and lay down to sleep. Major Armstrong hoisted the young skin-and-bones boy onto his shoulder and escorted Ed to a military vehicle. After Ed strapped himself in, Major Armstrong gave Al over to him, carefully and instructed the driver to take the brothers to the military's hospital. After waving to the Major, Ed looked down at his sleeping brother.
"You're going to be just fine." Ed himself drifted off to sleep after the exhausting trip through the Gate to find his brother.
"Mr. Elric, we have arrived." Edward woke up, groggy and looked at the white building with countless windows.
Al, still sleeping, twitched and Ed smiled. He unbuckled and took his brother in his arms. The driver accompanied him to the desk who explained the situation (leaving out some details) to the head nurse. She nodded and swooped up a wheelchair. Ed gently set his brother in it and began walking with a different nurse past a sign that says, 'Critical Recovery' a few doors down, the nurse wheels Al into a room with two beds. An extremely pale girl is soundly sleeping in one of them, or so it seems.
The nurse noticed Ed's looks at the young white-blonde girl, "She's in a coma. She might not wake up. Human interaction is good for coma patients so, if you don't mind, your brother will room with her."
"I don't mind at all. Al loves people so I doubt he'd mind. I just want him to get better." Ed stared intently at his resting brother that was now being covered in blankets by the nurse.
"I will have a doctor come in and fully assess Alphonse, shortly. I'm Stefan by the way. Are you in charge of his care?"
"I guess so…" Ed mumbled and stared at his thumbs.
"Alright. I'll get Dr. Keller after I do some tests." The nurse nodded at Edward and left.
The same young male nurse took Al's blood, blood pressure, urine (he put a bed pan down after collecting it in case Al had to go again), temperature and whipped out a stethoscope for breathing and heart beat. He recorded this information on the clip board and left the room again.
"You're going to get better soon buddy. Don't worry." Ed whispered, smiling while his brother slept soundly.
Moments later, a knock came at the door. Before Ed could answer, a large, lumberjack-like man grinned and shook Ed's hand. He introduced himself as Dr. Keller and examined Al's clipboard. He nodded and chewed his lip.
"Well," his voice was booming like Armstrong's but more gruff, "Your brother will make a recovery for sure. But, we'll need to restore his body back to normal. He's very weak and will need help gaining back full athletic movement. But don't worry, Edward is it?" Ed nodded, "Yes Edward, Alphonse will recover. You can visit him anytime you like unless he is in critical condition. But right now, he is looking good." The burly man smiled and his tree bark colored beard smiled as well.
"Thanks doctor." Ed shook his mighty hand and then sat back down.
"How's it going Ed?" Colonel Roy Mustang's voice fills the room.
"Colonel?" Ed stood up, "It's going. Al is going to have a nice recovery. Not a quick one but, a sure one." Roy stared at Al's sleeping body.
Havoc and Riza made their way in and each gave Ed hugs. Expressing their support, they brought a card signed by the military to promote recovery. Ed placed it right on the bedside table. A nurse came in to hook Al up to an IV. Ed couldn't look because he's terrified of needles. Suddenly, after the injection, Al woke up.
"Wha-….where?" His eyes felt glossy and he yawned.
"You're in the hospital Al. You are going to recover here." Ed gave a full teeth showing grin.
"Who…who is she?" Alphonse pointed to the young girl in the coma.
"Not sure really. She's in a coma so I don't think she'll bug you." Ed tried to make light of the situation but it made Alphonse frown.
"She wouldn't bother me. I want her to be okay. I've never met her but…I want her to wake up." Al clenched his hands.
"Maybe she can be like a plant!" Havoc chimed in, "Maybe if you talk to her Al, she'll grow stronger and wake up." Everyone in the room, except Al, looked at Havoc like they were going to punch him.
"I think I will talk to her. What's her name?" Riza checked her chart.
"Florin. Florin Arcos. She is from the mountain region in the East. She has tuberculosis. But it seems she is not contagious anymore. Now she's in a coma from all the body turmoil. Good God." Riza grimaced and looked at the pale girl.
She looks like a sleeping angel. Al thought to himself
Hearing footsteps, Riza quickly put the clipboard back and coughed quietly.
"Al, we have to get going. Edward, we need you too." Ed nodded.
Alphonse gave him the thumbs up and waved. After multiple well wishes, the door closed. He felt so alone. He looked at Florin and smiled.
"Hi…I'm Alphonse Elric…I know you can't hear me but, I'd like to be able for you and I to have conversations. I hope Havoc is right about the plants. I heard about some study like that." He started to count the ceiling tiles.
"I wonder what your voice sounds like. What do you like to do?"
Nothing. No response. Not that he expected one.
"Are you in pain?" Again, nothing.
Al sighed and laid back, he counted the ceiling again until his eyes shut.
(If you think I should continue with this story, tell me in the reviews! Eventually, I will wrap up "Alchemy is a Science" by the way. Not quite yet though.)