"C'mon…c'mon…pick up already…"
Ed tapped his mechanical fingers against the phone impatiently. It had to be a hundred degrees outside, and in the cramped red phone booth it felt like twice that. He pulled on his collar while he waited for someone to answer, feeling the beads of sweat fall down the back of his neck. "Pick up…pick up, pick up, pick—"
A high pitched, flamboyant voice came on the line. "He-llo, Garfiel Automail, Garfiel speaking, how may I help you?"
Ed rolled his eyes, just picturing Mr. Garfiel in one of his showy outfits.
"Uh yeah, I'm looking for Winry..." He looked down at his arm and flexed his fingers. They were moving perfectly, but he had told Al they needed a tune up badly enough that they needed to go to Rush Valley the next chance they got. He felt bad lying to his brother, but they were at a stand still with their research and…
…and he really wanted to see Winry.
The man's response snapped him out of his trance. "I'm sorry, Winry's not in right now. May I ask who's calling?"
The one time I actually call to make an appointment she's not there…Ed thought irritably. "This is Edward Elric. Just tell her I called."
He was about to slam the phone on the hook but Garfiel's voice stopped him.
"Edward Elric? Did…nobody tell you?"
He brought the phone back up to his ear. "Tell me what?" The hesitation on the other end made his heart start racing in worry.
"Well, she did say not to tell you…she said she didn't want to bother you and your brother or cause you to worry…of course I assumed someone would have told you by now anyway…"
"TELL ME WHAT?"
"Miss Winry is very ill…it started about two weeks ago, and it seemed like the flu at first, but even after she took time off work it wasn't getting better. In fact, it got worse and worse every day…she had a fever, she was weak and couldn't keep her food down. The doctor said it was some sort virus that's attacking her immune system but that with the resources out here in the country there wasn't a whole lot he could do to help her. He sent her home to Resembool to stay with her grandmother and see if she'd get better on her own. I haven't heard from them in a few days but I don't think she's gotten much better…"
Ed was frozen where he stood, unable to find his voice. Winry's that sick and nobody told us? It hit him that granny would have no idea how to reach him, and of course he hadn't called in weeks…
The thought knocked the wind out of him as though he'd been punched in the gut. If I called and wrote more often, I would have known about this sooner…maybe I could have done something to help…
His knuckles had turned white; he was gripping the phone so hard. He was trembling and mumbled some sort of goodbye to Garfiel before returning the phone to the receiver. Jamming his hand into his pocket he clumsily pulled out more coins to place a call to Resembool. Each ring that passed felt like a stab in his chest.
Maybe she started getting better…there's no reason to assume the worst yet…Granny's practically a doctor herself, I'm sure she's taking care of Winry, I'm sure Winry's just fine, I'm sure it's not too—
"Hello?" Pinako had answered the phone, her voice sounding tired and sad.
"Granny? It's Ed."
There was a pause. The greeting had been so soft that Ed was not prepared for the fiery screams that came out of the earpiece.
"SO YOU'RE FINALLY CALLING HOME, HUH?"
He flinched, feeling guilty. "I heard about Winry and—"
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to track you down when you never call, or tell anyone where you're going, or write from anywhere with a return address? Do you know I called the military headquarters trying to find you and they LAUGHED at me?"
Ed leaned his head on glass of the booth. "I know, I'm sorry…"
"Sorry? I'm just glad you called before it was too late!"
His golden eyes shot open. "What do you mean before it was too late?"
He heard Pinako sigh softly, her voice calming down some.
"You and Al better come home. It's not…Winry's not doing well."
Ed swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, trying to contain himself.
"We'll be on the next train out."
*********************************************8
Sorry this was rushed! The rest of the story is planned out already so hopefully they won't be as sloppy. This was going to be a one shot but after that short beginning took two pages I realized it was going to be way too long and needed to be at least two or three chapters. I'll update really soon (hopefully!). Leave a review, those always motivate me to write faster haha
~crimsonnette