The Life You Save
KayceeKay
A short little drabble. Dialogue practice maybe? I don't even know what to call it. This popped into my head as the result of a writing prompt posted on NaNoWriMo. It almost killed me to hold back on the details of what happened that lead up to this scene, but I was trying to keep it short and to the point. Also, fics I read don't seem to have a lot of Ed and Hawkeye interaction, so that's what I decided to write. Yay!
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The silence had become too much to bear, and it did nothing to ease the nerves. "I hope you know what you're doing…'cause I don't." Ed's eyes lifted to the woman's face, holding a serious expression, his brow furrowed and lips set in a thin line. Behind the forcibly calm exterior, the boy was tense, his teeth clenched and every muscle taught. He tightened the last bit of cloth bandage.
Hawkeye tilted her head to the side to inspect the boy's work, "You're doing a fine job, Edward." Her voice sounded a little strained, and it made Ed wonder if he had done something wrong.
"Al should be back with the others soon," He offered. He crouched at the woman's eye level, studying her face, and then the wound on the right side of her abdomen. "It…looks like the bleeding's almost stopped."
"Good…"
That silence settled in again. The Lieutenant closed her eyes to rest and Ed sat back, pulling his legs to his chest. He wondered if he'd done enough, followed her directions correctly.
"Edward…do you know any first aid?"
"Not really, I mean not…no…"
"All right. Then…you need to listen…very carefully…"
Gold eyes fixed on the dark stain on the woman's jacket. What if he'd made a mistake? Ed shifted uneasily, a look of uneasy concern seemingly permanently stuck on his face. "Lieutenant…"
Hawkeye opened her eyes again. She studied the boy's face a moment, then a little smile started to appear onto her pale face. "Not everyone can act like you just did under such circumstances," She said. "But…you stayed calm, Edward, listened to my instructions, and saved my life…Thank you."
Ed stared. That tense feeling started, slowly, to fade.
"Just next time...Trust yourself a little more. Not everything can be solved by using alchemy." And with a smirk, she added, "And maybe you could take a first aid class. You could save your own life one day."
With a sigh and a sheepish little smile, Ed finally relaxed. In the distance he could see Al's familiar figure rushing back toward them. He smiled. "Heh…I'm just glad you did know what you were doing, Lieutenant…"
Cause I sure as hell didn't have a clue.
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Fin. Like I said, this is my first completed FMA written work. If it's something you'd like to expand on, feel free, and let me know so I can read it. I do love h/c fics.