"But are you sure Dad?" I asked.
"You've already asked me that 20 times, Betheny. I am 100% sure I want this surgery" Lieutenant Grayson Thomas, otherwise known as my dad, replied with certainty. Right now we're both sitting in the car, well more like me driving and Dad sitting. We're on our way to an Automail shop somewhere far in the boondocks. Dad was in the recent Drachman War and lost his leg when his base was ambushed. When he got home after the war, he announced that he was going to get automail, so now I have to drive him out to the middle of nowhere to some cheap Automail Shop even though I'm completely against him getting automail and have been trying to dissuade him from getting it throughout the whole car ride.
"But I've heard the surgery hurts more than losing the limb itself and they say the rehabilitation is agonizing! I just don't want you to have to go through that pain again." I exclaimed at first but then got a bit teary at the end.
"Thank you for caring sweetheart, but I doubt the military would want a guy with one leg to go on serious missions." he said with a sympathetic smile at his daughter who was near tears. He pitied me while he had a one-way ticket to the train of pain that is automail.
"You could get a wooden leg" I still argued even though my attempts to dissuade him were fruitless.
"Feh, a wooden leg would fall apart too easily if I ran around enough. Automail is the only choice. I can't be a cripple my whole life. You know I get fidgety if I don't move around enough." It was true; he was a very active person. He was always moving, he even used to go for a 3 mile jog every morning which is the only reason he's so skinny, considering his diet isn't very healthy. "I'd lose my job and then what? We'd have no way to pay the bills and end up living in a cardboard box." Dad was the only source of income for the house. Ever since mom died, we had struggled with the bills; then dad enlisted in the military because it had a high pay. After that, everything was financially peaceful. If he lost his job now, we would be stealing coins out of hoboes' cups. "Don't worry about the pain. This old man is strong," he said jabbing his thumb at his chest. I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off when he said, "Oh look, we're here,"
We arrived at a small yellow house with a sign if front of it that said "Rockbell Automail" An old woman standing outside smoking a pipe greeted us. "I'm guessing you're Mr. Thomas?" she said to my dad and held out her hand.
"Please, call me Grayson," he replied with a warm smile and shook her outstretched hand.
"Pinako Rockbell." She took one last drag from her pipe. "Come on in"
We walked inside and saw automail parts strewn everywhere. The fact that her house was such a mess when she had customers didn't seem to faze her at all. There were 3 people sitting on the couch. A boy about my age with golden hair tied in a ponytail and piercing gold eyes was in the middle of a heated argument with a pretty girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. The third person was a boy with sandy brown hair and grey eyes who was trying to break up their argument. "Brother, Winry, stop!" His attempts to calm them didn't work because grabbed a wrench from out of nowhere and clocked the blonde boy on the head with it, hard. That's when she happened to notice us in the doorway. "Hello!" she said cheerfully acting as if we hadn't just watched hit that boy, who was still on the ground, clutching his head. "How are you Mr. Thomas?"
"I feel good thank you," Dad said smiling
"Everything has been prepared for the surgery. Are you ready?" she asked.
"Yes. I can't wait to have a leg again," he said, his smile widening.
"Then let's go!"
"Okay," he said to her then turned towards me,"Just wait out here for me honey," and with that, they both walked to the back room.
I cringed at my dad's screams. The blonde boy and the sandy haired boy were sitting across from me on the couch. The sandy haired boy seemed as nervous as me while the blonde boy held a book in his left hand, reading, not caring about my dad screaming in pain in the other room. That ticked me off. "Um…my name is Alphonse. This is my brother, Edward." he said suddenly, trying to break the awkward silence. Huh, so that's their names. I still didn't speak. My lack of response made him cease his attempt at conversation and we all sat in silence yet again.
Dad screamed again. I couldn't take it anymore. I jumped up and ran towards the back room. I was about to throw open the door when Alphonse stood in front of it. "Trust me. You don't want to go in there."
"But that's my dad! He's in pain! Something's wrong!" I exclaimed trying to get past the armor.
"Nothing's wrong. Your dad is fine" Edward said walking toward us.
"Can't you hear him screaming? Something is wrong!" I screamed.
"There's no reason to scream so keep your damn voice down." he said beginning to get irritated. "It's supposed to be painful. He'll be fine after the surgery is done," he said plainly.
"How do you know? You can't possibly know how my dad feels right now!" I yelled, tears running down my face. Alphonse's eyes widened and he looked to his brother who gave me angered glare. Then he took his coat off and started to take his shirt and gloves off. I was about to ask what the heck he was doing when I saw why. His right arm, all the way up to his shoulder, was automail. He bent down and rolled up his left pant leg, also automail. "I think I do know what I'm talking about"