Roy ran into the battlefield just in time to witness the ending battle between Edward and Scar. Ed's black wool shirt, in tatters around him. Scar, his shirt was laying on the ground in tatters as well. Edward had blood splattered all over his clothes and body, as did Scar. The ruins of a city surrounded them both. Ed and Scar ran towards each other.
"AH!" They screamed in unison. Ed's right arm and Scar left arm behind them and in a punching position, the other arm preparing for major impact. Their arms collided together suddenly, blue lightening struck out at all angles and formed a sort of dome around the two men in seconds. Scar's face froze. But Ed kept screaming and he finally managed to make Scar fall on the ground. Ed stood above him breathing heavily. Scar laid on the ground terrified. Ed clapped his hands together and slammed his right fist into Scar's face. A flash of blue light came from Scar, blinding everyone around them. When the light left...Scar was gone. Ed was on his knees. Breathing heavier than he ever had before. He stared at the ground where Scar had been. Ed looked at his right hand. The palm of it was coated with a crimson liquid. Ed started shaking.
"I...I..killed him..." Ed muttered. His eyes filled with tears. He shook more. "DAMMIT!" Ed screamed. Roy looked out from where he had hidden himself from the flash of light. He saw Ed, shaking, yelling at the sky. Roy saw Al, with his body: a whole person, run to Ed from a large piece of stone material that used to probably be a building. Al sat beside Ed, his arm around him.
"Brother, you had to do it, it's okay, he was going to kill you." Al tried to calm his brother down. Ed's arms dropped to his side. He looked like he was being tortured by something unseen on the inside. Ed just stared at the ground, his eyes terrified and screaming, but he remained silent. Ed's hair had come undone during the fight. Al picked an elastic band out of his pocket and sat behind his brother. He started to braid his hair. Ed didn't move.
Roy looked behind him. He saw his party. Breda, Fury, Fallman, Havoc, and Hawkeye. Then ran towards Roy. They were heading to Ed and Al though. Roy held out an arm to stop them, they did. They crowded around Roy Mustang.
"Who's that boy braiding Ed's hair?" asked Hawkeye.
"That's Alphonse." Roy answered. They all gasped.
"He got his body back?" Fury said happily.
"Yeah..he did." Roy said joyfully, then stopped "But at what cost?" They all listened to Ed and Al carefully.
"You can't blame yourself, brother." Al was saying. "It's not your fault, he was going to kill you." Al looked at his brother's face. It was still terrified."Brother, you didn't mean to-"
"Yes I did. I did mean to kill him..., but." Ed covered his face with his hands and sobbed. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry." Ed kept saying. Al looked at his brother with relief. He hugged him. "I'm sorry, Alphonse...I'm sorry, brother." Ed sobbed. Al looked at him.
"I know you are." Al said as he tried to help his brother up. They both stood, but Ed immediately fell back down. He looked at his left foot. It was fine, but then he saw his right. His foot was twisted all the way around.
"HOLY SHIT!" Ed yelled. "How did I not notice that?" Al looked at his brother and laughed. Mustang and his party wondered what they were yelling about.
"What are you laughing about? How the hell are we going to get out of here?" Ed yelled.
Al just laughed harder. Ed sighed. "Help me up." He said. Al reached down and lifted his brother up. Then Ed noticed he couldn't move his left arm right. "What the hell?" he muttered.
"What?" Al asked.
"My-my arm feels really weird, and I can't move it right."
"You're right arm?"
"No, my left." Ed said and tried to move his left arm. It moved slightly in the wrong direction. "I don't think that's good." Ed said.
"Let me see." Al said. "Lay down."
"Why?"
"So I can look at you're arm."
"O-okay." Ed laid down. Al sat on top of him. "What the he-" Al jammed his elbow into the side of Ed's left shoulder. "AH!" He screamed shortly. Al got up.
"Better?" He asked. Ed moved his left arm right.
"Yeah...what did you do?"
"You're shoulder was dislocated."
"Oh..." Ed looked at his foot, then around them. "Where do you think we should go?" Ed asked.
"Well, first of all. Where the hell are we?" Al asked.
"Liore..." Ed said sadly.
"No way..."
"Yeah...me and Scar destroyed it while we were fighting."
"Then I say we head to Central."
"Why? I still have some leave and we should spend it finding all the stuff you can eat. Plus, why should we see Mustang? We doesn't care unless we make money or got him a promotion." Mustang's party looked at him. He was crushed.
"Of course we should see Mustang, he does care about you, you know." Al said happily.
"I guess" Ed added. Mustang looked hopeful again. "But we should stop at a bunch of places beforehand." Ed said.
"Alright!" Al said happily and helped his brother up again. "I wish it was you're left leg that was broken. I could fix that with alchemy." Al said sheepishly.
"Yeah, but right now lets just focus on getting out if here." Ed said. Al supported his brother as Ed limped towards Mustang unknowingly.
"HIDE!" Havoc whispered loudly. They all spread out and hid amongst the rubble. Ed sighed as they both got outside of Liore.
"I can't limp all the way to the hospital!" Ed yelled. Al let him go and Ed fell onto the soft sand. Ed looked at his right arm. I was steel auto-mail. He lifted his left leg and looked at it. It was also steel auto-mail. "What the hell are we gonna do?" Ed asked himself. Suddenly he saw something out of his peripheral vision. "Who's there!" Ed yelled. He got up on one leg and hopped towards the area where he saw something move.
"Brother, where are you going?" Al yelled. Ed kept hopping there. Finally he fell though.
"Dammit!" He yelled. He clapped his hands together and hit the ground. Everything sunk into the ground and made a giant cage around the entire city. He saw 6 silhouettes.
"Who the hell are you?" Ed yelled to them. They all started running towards Ed.
"Eh?" Ed muttered. Al ran to him.
"Who are they?" He asked. Ed kept looking at the figures running towards them.
"How the hell should I know, they just look like silhouettes to me. You know actually...I've been noticing, everything's been getting fuzzier." Ed told Al.
"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Al screamed.
"Yeah, it's kind of freaking me out too."
"Then why aren't you?" Al yelled. Ed looked at him.
"I...don't really know." Then it clicked. "Holy shit! We need to go!" Ed yelled and stood up, but then fell face first into the sand. He stood on one leg and kept hopping. Al just stood there, watching his brother hop off slowly into the distance.
"Where's he going?" A man asked. Al looked over and saw Havoc standing next to him.
"HAVOC! What are you doing here?" Al asked. He saw Hawkeye, Mustang, Fury, Fallman and Breda running towards him. "When did you guy get here?"
"Right around then end of the fight. Edward has some serious moves there." Havoc said, amazed. They watched him hop off and fall, then get back up.
"Yeah, I know. But somethings wrong with him right now." Al said sadly.
"Wrong how?" Mustang panted.
"He's says his visions getting fuzzy and his foot is..well...screwed up." Al answered.
"Which foot, how?" Hawkeye interrupted.
"His right and it's literally twisted all the way around." Al said. They all gasped except Mustang who just stood there leaning over, panting. Ed fell again. Then they all heard him yell "DAMMIT!" Al ran to him. They all followed. Ed was laying on his back, arms and legs stretched out. He looked up at the sky miserably. Then he saw Al standing beside him.
"We should just transmute something." Ed said "Instead of trying to walk there." Ed heard footsteps running towards him and panting. He sat up and looked behind them.
"Soldiers?" Ed asked. He could make out the blue uniforms. Al sighed and knealed beside him.
"Can't you see who they are? Can't you see their faces, brother?" Al asked. Ed looked at him.
"No, not really. They kind of look like Mustang's party, vaguely, though. You know with the hair color and their sizes." Ed said.
"They are, idiot!" Al said and helped Ed up. Ed looked surprised.
"Really? What are they doing way out here? Is Mustang with them?" Ed asked. He looked over. "Yup..." He muttered. Mustang was close enough for Ed to make out his eyes and some parts of his face. Mustang was also in hearing range of them.
"Wow, you really must be almost blind if you can't make out you're commanding officer 3 meters feet away from you." Roy remarked. Ed looked away.
"Oh, shut it." He mumbled. Hawkeye stood beside Ed supporting him. They started walking forward, heading for a large green box, or thats what it looked like to Ed.
"Thanks." He whispered once they were at the truck that Mustang's party had brought. Hawkeye looked surprised for a second. Then she smiled.
"You're welcome." She said. Apparently she was the only one who heard him say it though.
"Who are you talking to, Hawkeye?" Roy asked as they helped Ed into the truck.
"No one." She said. Al sat next to Ed. Havoc got into the front and Fury sat beside him. Roy, Hawkeye, Falman, and Breda sat across from Ed and Al. Falman fell asleep as soon as the truck started moving though. Ed noticed his vision getting worse. He sighed. Al looked at him. He could tell his brother was worried about something. Then he realized it. Ed probably only told him one of his problems. He was probably hurt in a bunch of other places to. Al thought of something he could do. He noticed that his brother was leaning on his left leg more than his right and seemed to be cradling his left elbow. He also seemed to be forcing himself to breath slowly. Al chose some spots on his brother that seemed to be hurting the most from Ed's body language. He found 4 spots: His chest, left elbow, right shin, and right knee seemed to be hurting the most. Ed noticed his brother staring at him.
"What?" Ed asked. Ed was sitting closest to the door with Al all the way on the other side of the cabin. Al almost pounced onto Ed. He stretched Ed's left arm out fully.
"AH!" Ed yelled painfully. Al noticed his brother's elbow wasn't right. Al let go of his brother's arm and jabbed his own elbow into Ed's chest. Ed shrieked painfully.
"What the hell are you doing, Al?" Ed yelled. He was on the floor now. Al lifted his brother's right leg and slammed his fist into his shin.
"AH! Stop!" Ed commanded. Al slammed his fist into Ed's knee this time, everyone heard a loud crack excerpt from his knee. "AH!" Ed shrieked. He kicked Al off him with his left leg. Al hit the floor. "Sorry, Al. Reflex, but anyway...WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?" Ed yelled.
"Hey! What's going on back there!" Havoc yelled.
"Just a little sibling rivalries." Mustang replied. He smiled joyfully at this argument. He found it quite enjoyable.
"I'm sorry, brother, but I knew you wouldn't tell me if you were hurt, so I had to figure it out for myself." Al said defiantly.
"Well, now you know, so just leave me alone, okay?" Ed said and just sat on the floor.
"Sorry, brother." Al said sadly. He sat on the bench and looked at the floor. While Ed was sitting on the floor he tried to focus his eyes, but he couldn't. Finally he decided to see how bad his eyesight was now. He held his hand about 6 inches away from his face. He could barely see it. Hawkeye looked at Ed. So did Mustang and Al, Breda was asleep.
"How's you're eyesight, Ed?" Hawkeye asked. Ed retreated his hand to his left elbow.
"Fine..." He said angrily. I can't go blind, I just can't! Ed thought. Al snuck over to Ed silently. Mustang and Hawkeye watched. Al waved his hand a foot away from Ed's face. It didn't even fase him. Hawkeye gasped.
"What?" Ed asked.
"Edward, are you sure you're eyes are fine?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"Because Al just waved his hand in front of you're face." She said frightened. Ed's face cringed.
"Really?...Huh, I didn't think I would go blind and much less because of a fight." Ed said sadly.
"Maybe it was that flash of light right before Scar disappeared." Al suggested.
"Yeah, probably." Ed agreed. "I guess I'll have to get some sort of treatment when I get to the hospital, huh Al?"
"Yeah..." Al said slowly. Everyone was looking at Edward...and he could sense it.
A few hours later they finally reached Central Hospital. Ed stood up when he felt the truck had finally stopped. They all knew Ed was moving based on feeling and hearing alone. Ed waited for the truck doors to open before he moved towards them. When he tried to step out of course he fell. Ed hit the ground face first. He grounded painfully into the ground.
"Ow..." He said and tried getting up. He managed to get onto one knee and pull himself up the rest of the way with the help of the truck door.
"Brother..." Al said softly as he jumped down next to Ed.
"Yeah, Al?" Ed said curiously as if nothing was wrong. Al paused.
"Are...you okay? Can you see?" Al asked. Ed just stared at the ground.
"No..." He whispered. Nobody, but Al heard him, because Al was the only one who gasped. "It's all just blended colors. I can't really see anything all that much..and it's getting worse." Ed said sadly. He was officially depressed. Al supported his brother as he limped into the hospital. Ross ran up to Ed and suddenly gasped.
"Edward! What happened to you're leg?" She asked loudly. Ed felt people staring.
"Heh heh. It's just a little screwed up is all." Ed answered sheepishly he smiled the same way too. Ross stared at him.
"Who's this?"
"Oh, this is Al."
"Oh, my god! You got him back!"
"Yeah, I did!" Ed said proudly. Then Ross saw Ed's eyes.
"What happened to you're eyes? They look blank..." She commented. Ed felt his brother tense. He stopped smiling for a second, but then smiled bigger.
"It's nothing!" Ed said. He felt Al look at him. Al brought Ed to his room. He fell onto his bed.
"This sucks." Ed said. "I can't do anything if I can't see!"
"GASP! Edward, what did you say?" He heard Brosh yell. Ed sat up.
"Nothing. I didn't say anything." Ed said.
"Are...you blind?" Brosh gasped. Ed tensed his face.
"Don't tell anyone, alright?" Ed begged. Brosh paused. He couldn't believe it.
"Alright." He agreed sadly. Ed sighed, relieved.
"Who's that?"
"It's Al." Ed said blankly. Al's face fell. Nobody reconized him...
"Hey! You got him back?"
"Yeah, Of course!"
"That's awesome! But I got to go, bye!" Brosh said and left.
"Thanks..." Ed said and laid back down. "Ack!" Ed yelled. His chest and knee cracked loudly.
"Brother! Are you alright?" Al yelled.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ed sighed. He looked toward where it was brightest. He enjoyed feeling the sun on his face, he did even when he could see. "What the hell are we gonna do?"
"Should we ask Winry?" Al asked. Ed thought for a minute.
"I don't want her to see me." Ed said, totally depressed. Al then realized what Ed's view on life was. It was a sad view, but Ed forced himself to look at the bright side, though he didn't want people seeing him in his saddest moments...like now. Ed sat up and buried his face in his hands. He sighed. Al got up and walked outside the door. We waited for a nurse to pass by. He ran up to her.
"Ma'am! Do you know of a treatment to help people regain sight?" Al asked kindly.
"Yes, there are a few different ways." She answered kindly. She looked into Ed's room. She saw a sad boy, hurt by many different things, physically and emotionally. She looked determined now. "That boy...he looks so depressed." She said.
"Yeah...I know." Al replied. This nurse was determined to help them now.
"My name is Rina. I'd love to help you!" She said happily.
"Great! My name is Alphonse Elric and that's my older brother Edward Elric!" Al was determined now to. To help his brother regain sight as fast as possible. Ed looked up. Someone had said his name. He heard Al talking in the hallway to somebody. Ed sat and waited for his brother to return. Al was excited.
"Come on. You want to see some of the treatments available?" Rina asked.
"Definitely! Hold on a second." Al said gladly. He ran into Ed's room. "I'll be right back, brother!" Al yelled to Ed. Ed looked up.
"Wait, Al! What are you doing?" Ed yelled, but Al was already gone. Al was following Rina. She had long straight blond hair that flowed down below her breasts. Her eyes were hazel brown. She resembled someone Al knew. Then it hit him.
"Rina?" Al asked.
"Yes?" Rina replied.
"Are you related to a woman named Riza Hawkeye?"
"Yes! She's my sister!" Rina said happily. Al smiled and kept following Rina.
"These are some treatments I've found." Rina told Al. He started looking through them.
"Thanks a lot! This is really going to help, Rina!" Al said fortuitously. He kept searching for something that would suit his brother best. Unfortunately, there were only three that would actually work for the type of situation his brother has: There was scheduled pills. Which were just little brown circles he took every two hours for a week then every three hours for four weeks then every six hours for five weeks. The last stage is once a day for eight weeks. Or he could have a shot about two inches above each eye then his eyes are covered with a cloth coated with some type of liquid for two days. The last one was shots in his eyeballs. He knew his brother would rather be blind then go through with that last one. Al sighed. Ed wouldn't like any of these, but he had no choice. Al found that the first treatment only worked on 33% of people. The last one worked on 87% of people and the second one had worked on 97% of people.
"We should go with the most likely." Al told himself. He put the files back and walked towards his brothers room. He heard yelling.
"I'm not going to bump into things!" Ed yelled angrily at someone.
"Yes you will! You need to stay in bed, Edward!" A woman yelled.
"Yeah, Ed. Come on." A young man agreed with the woman. Al walked in. He saw Ed standing by the window and Hawkeye and Fury standing in front of him. Fury turned around.
"Al, tell you're brother he should stay in bed! He keeps wondering around his room!" Fury asked Al. Ed looked towards where he thought the door was. He based this on from random noises and footsteps he heard coming from there.
"What were you doing, Al?" Ed asked. He noticed Al had been gone for at least two hours. Al walked over to Ed. Ed's head followed to sound of footsteps.
"I was looking for a treatment! I found only three that would work for you though."
"Really? Thats great!" Ed yelled joyously. Al laughed falsely.
"Heh heh...the thing is...The two that work the best...Include shots..." Al muttered. Ed's face fell.
"Okay, tell me was the third one is." Ed said.
"Well. It includes taking tons of pills." Al said.
"That sounds do-able. How effective is it?"
"Less than half." Al said sadly. Ed's face fell...again. "And the side-effects are brutal."
"This is horrible." Ed said angrily.
"That's an understatement." Hawkeye interupted.
"What? What's so bad about shots?" Fury asked. He looked at Ed furiously.
"IT'S A GIANT NEEDLE! THAT'S WHATS BAD!" Ed yelled at him clearly pissed off at Fury's ignorance.
"Oh..." Fury shrunk.
"These are just small needles, brother!" Al insisted.
"You said 'these'! Theres more than one!" Ed yelled. Al shrunk this time.
"Uh...yeah...two little insignificat needles, brother...that's all." Al explained shyly. Ed turned.
"No way." He argued. This time Al got pissed.
"WELL THE ONLY OTHER OPTIONS IS GETTING NEEDLES IN YOU'RE EYES! SO STOP BEING SO STUBBORN!" Al shrieked into his brothers face. Ed was shocked. Al had never yelled at him before like that. Fury and Hawkeye were stunned by Al's sudden anger.
"Well that was out of character." Hawkeye added. Al looked at his brother's face.
"Sorry, Al." Ed said. He sat on the floor. His auto-mail and the metal around his right ankle clanked on the floor. Ed sighed. "I guess I have no choice."
"How screwed up did they say you're ankle was?" Al asked.
"About as bad as it gets they said." Ed replied.
"What about everything else?" Al asked.
"'Everything else'?" Fury asked.
"I have three broken ribs, my knee is out of place, my elbow is cracked and by shin is in two." Ed said quickly. "They're working on my casts right now." Fury gasped.
"I had no idea it was that bad!" Fury said, surpirsed.
"Jeez, it's not as bad as you think!" Ed said. Then he thought of what Winry would say : "How could you do this?" "What were you thinking?" "How did you get into a fight this bad?".
"Hey, Al. About Winry." Ed said.
"Yeah?"
"Well, uh. I don't want to see her. Not until I'm almost healed." Ed said. He knew he sounded selfish, but he was really thinking about Winry. "She would cry, I bet...If she saw me now." Ed said softly. Al nodded.
"She'd kill us too." Al laughed. "No way she can come here!" Hawkeye and Fury looked at each other nervously.
"Heh heh. Uh, yeah...The thing is, Ed, we already called her." Fury said.
"WHAT!" Ed roared.. He stood up and faced Fury. "You know if I could see you I would beat the living shit out of you!" Ed yelled.
"Yeah...I'll just be leaving." Fury said nervously. Fury ran out of the room. Hawkeye sighed an walked after him. Ed sighed.
"Let's get that treatment done as fast as possible." Ed said reluctantly. Al smiled.
"Great! But first you have to get back into bed." Al said.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Ed said. He got up and walked into a nearby wall. He fell on the floor. "Ugh." He grouned. Just then Ross walked in.
"Hello, Edward. Thought I would visit you! Why are you on the floor?" She asked.
"My ankle gave out on me." He laughed.
"You know, you're eyes are looking even blanker than before." Ross commented.
"Really? That's strange." Ed said as he got up. He put his hand out and touched the wall he'd bumped into.
"What are you doing?" Ross asked.
"Just trying to keep myself steady." Ed said. Truthfully, he just didn't feel like running into another wall. Ross walked over to him.
"Let me help!" Ross asked. She supported him and took him to the bed.
"Thanks." Ed said as he got to it. He tried to get into as he would normally. He managed to fool Ross, thankfully. She'd be worried about him the whole time if she knew he was mostly blind.
"I heard Winrys coming!" Ross said gladly.
"Yeah." Al said "I can't wait to see her!" Something beeped on Ross. She unhooked this mysterious item from somewhere on her.
"I got to go. See you later, guys!" Ross said and left briskly. Ed directed his attention toward Al.
"AL!" Ed said loudly.
"Yes?" Al asked, startled by his brother.
"Go find someone to help with the treatment. I will stay here and pretend I'm not mostly blind. I would go, but I must stay for the reason you are going." Ed said.
"Okay? Why are you acting so weird?" Al asked.
"I don't know. I decided to try a different tactic of asking someone to do something."
"Alright? I'm going to go..now." Al said as he walked slowly out the door. Ed rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. Not one of my smartest ideas...Ed thought.
Al started looking for Rina. He found her only a few feet from Ed's room.
"Rina!" Al yelled to her. She turned and smiled at Al.
"Have you chosen a treatment?" She asked.
"Yeah! And we'd like to start it as soon as possible." Al said eagarly.
"Alright! Which one is it?"
"The Limcolinson treatment!" Al said happily. Rina smiled and they both headed to where the treatment was for Ed's condition.
Ed sighed. This sucked, all he could see were giant blobs of color. The window was just a giant yellow blob, the soilders were just giant blue blobs, the doctors...well he could barely see the doctors since they wore white and the floor was white as well. Ed had given Al his coat to where since it was red and nobody here really wore red. Ed laid down and shut his eyes. Soon enough all I'll see is black. I'll have to retire. Ha, that makes me sound old. This is all a damn waste. Ed thought miserably, but soon enough he finally fell asleep.
Al ran into Ed's room with Rina trailing behind him. Al stopped. Ed was laying silently in his bed. Al laughed quietly.
"He's alseep!" Al laughed. Rina smiled. Ed's face was as relaxed as cool water flowing quietly down a small stream. His hair fell around his face lightly. She noticed his food was untouched. Ross walked in then with Brosh. She stopped.
"How adorable!" She squealed. Brosh just laughed.
"Well, I guess I'll come back later." Rina said. She handed a box to Al. "This has the medicine for Edward." She whispered in Al's ear. Ross looked at the strange box Al was holding.
"What's that?" She asked. Al looked at it.
"It's, uh. The pain pills Ed needs to take when he wakes up." Al said calmly. They all watched Ed sleep for a minute. Suddenly they all heard a man's voice calmly laugh behind him. They turned around. It was Mustang.
"You'd think he was only in grade school by the way he sleeps." He laughed. Ross smiled then turned her attention back to Edward.
"Yeah. I just can't believe he got hurt this badly by just visiting Liore." She said sadly. Brosh nodded his head in agreement. Mustang looked at then curiously.
"Mm. I can't believe he literally anihalated Scar." Mustang said proudly, but Ross turned quickly.
"What did you say? Ed was fighting Scar in Liore?" Ross asked. Brosh was about to say the same thing. Mustang then realized that Al, Ed, himself and his party were the only people who knew what had happened. It was too late to ignore this now.
"Yeah. Ed was fighting Scar pretty intensely." Mustang began. "I came only at the end, but it was...vivid and...destructive." Ross and Brosh gasped. Mustang was about to continue about Ed's eyes, but decided this might even be too much for Ross to handle. A few minutes later they all, except Ed, heard loud footsteps enter the room.
"Ah, Ross! Brosh! It's you two!" The man roared loudly. "Hello there, Colonel Mustang!"
"Shh!" Ross shushed him. "You'll wake Ed!" She whispered at the man.
"How are you, Armstrong?" Mustang asked.
"I'm doing great! And you?" Armstrong said happily, but before Mustang could answer he finally saw the odd box Al was holding, but then turned his attention to Al himself.
"Who are you?" Armstrong said kindly.
"I'm Al, Major Armstrong!" Al yelled at him. He was getting kind of irrtated.
"Oh! Al!" Armsrong yelled. He picked Al up and hugged him tightly. "I can't believe you're brother returned you too you're body!" The box hit the floor loudly.
"Brother's medicine!" Al cried. Armstrong set Al down.
"Medicine? For what?" He asked.
"It's his pain medicine. He's supposed to take them when he wakes up." Al said.
"Oh, well he should take them now!" Armstrong insisted.
"No! It's okay, we should let him sleep!" Al tried to defend his sleeping brother.
"Of course not!" Armstong laughed. He slammed the bed next to Ed. "Wake up, Edward, you need to take you're medicine!" Armstrong roared. Everyone waited for some response. Nothing happened. Armstrong lifted Ed out of the bed, holding onto his shirt with one fist. "Wake up, Edward Elric!" Armstrong yelled into Ed's face. Ed grunted quietly. Armstong shook Ed shortly. "Awaken, Edward!" Still nothing happened. Al laughed.
"Ed's always been like that, you can't really wake him up!" He laughed loudly.
"I had no idea the runt was such a deep sleeper." Brosh said happily. Suddenly Edward pulled himself out of Armstrong's grasp. He grabbed the I.V stand and swung at Brosh. Unfortunately, due to his partial blindness he hit Mustang instead. Mustang hit the floor loudly.
"Don't call me short!" Ed commanded. Though he didn't really direct it at anyone since he couldn't make them all out.
"What the hell, Fullmetal!" Mustang yelled. Ed stopped then started laughing loudly.
"Sorry! That was more directed at Brosh!" Ed laughed harder.
"Brother! Look what you did! You pulled all you're I.V's out!" Al yelled at him.
"Sorry? It's not that big a deal, I didn't need them anyway. It's just water." Ed said.
"I guess so." Al sighed. Ross noticed something then. If Ed had tried to swing at Brosh he would've had to pass her, since Brosh was on the other side of her, so why did he hit Mustang instead? There such an obvious distance between Mustang and Brosh.
"Edward?" Ross asked. Ed had sat on the bed by then, but he looked at her now.
"Yeah?" Ed replied.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm a little banged up but it's nothing to worry abo-"
"That's not what I mean. Is you're eyesight okay?" She asked again. Everyone except Ross and Armstrong froze.
"Yeah...I'm fine." Ed said. He looked away though. Ross hesitated to say anything else. She could tell she had already brought up something Ed didn't want to talk about.
"I have to get going. I'll see you later, boys." Ross said sadly. She left then. Brosh followed her.
"When are you going to tell her, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked angrily.
"I don't plan to. She doesn't need to know. There's a treatment that'll help, so I'll just see her after that." Ed replied.
"What's going on, Edward Elric?" Armstong said firmly. Ed ignored him. Mustang left then and Armstrong followed. Al looked at his brother.
"I'm going to go find Rina. Alright brother?" Al said.
"Who's Rina?" Ed asked suddenly.
"She's the nurse who's been helping me find a treatment for you."
"Oh. Tell her I said 'Thanks', okay?" Ed inquiered.
"Sure!" Al said and left to find Rina. Ed laid in his bed. He thought about how Winry would react it she saw him like this. First, she'd beat me to death...then..she'd probably cry...She'll be here soon too. Ed hoped the treatment would work. He couldn't bear it if he couldn't see Winry's smiling face anymore.
Al found Rina in the hall.
"Rina!" He called to her. She turned and smiled happily.
"Is you're brother awake?" She asked.
"Yeah! I'm so happy that he'll be able so see clearly soon!"
"So am I!" Rina said happily. She and Al entered the room gladly. Ed looked up. All he saw was a purple and red blob. Al picked the box up from the floor.
"Here we are!" He said and set if next to Ed. Rina saw Ed's face. His eyes were as blank as paper. She couldn't wait to see his eyes well and full of color. She took one of the shots out of the plastic wrapping carefully.
"This won't hurt at all, Ed." Rina said. Ed's face cringed. He hated shots just like a little kid does when they go to the doctors for the first time. He sat still though and waited for the slight pinch. It came first over his right eye. Ed gasped, although it sound more like he'd hissed. Al laughed silently. Then the poke over Ed's left eye came. Ed sat there unhappily until Rina took the needle out. She wiped a cloth where each shot had come in.
"Okay, now we wrap you're head." Rina said. Ed nodded. Rina wrapped guaze tightly around Ed's head, only really where his eyes were though. Everything went black for Ed.
"All done!" Rina said happily. "I'll be back tomorrow to switch the guaze. We'll do this everything morning for a week, then you can take it off permantly." She said and left with the box. Ed sighed.
"This is horrible. At least before I could see colors, but now everything's pitch black!" Ed yelled. Al laughed.
"Brother, this is going to help you." Al said.
"Like hell this is gonna help!" Ed yelled. Al laughed harder though. Ed just shut his eyes and sighed.
That night Ed listened to all the cars driving by and people walking in the hallway. He had nothing else to do. He thought about Al. All alone in a hotel somewhere in Central. Ed was laying in his bed, pretending to sleep. Nobody would be able to tell if he kept his breathing steady and laid still. Ed sighed though, blowing his cover. Winry would be there tomorrow. She would see Ed with guaze wrapped around his head, where his eyes were anyway, and see his twisted ankle and his elbow and shin wrapped with casts. She would be delighted by Al's body being returned though. Strange, everyone here seemed surprised that Al got his body back...Did they think I wouldn't be able to retrieve Al's body? Those bastards! Ed thought. Ed calmed himself down before he jumped up and went to H.Q to yell into their goddamn faces. But after a moment of silence he heard abrupt footsteps walk into his room. Visiting hours are over..why is someone here?
He heard a gun cocked and sensed it pointed at him. Ed sat up quickly and jumped onto the floor. He heard the gun fire. He clapped his hands and slapped the floor. Ed listened to a wall form between him and the mysterious footsteps backing up. Ed stood up suddenly. Where the hell do I go? I can't see! Wait, Can't I just wrip this crap off? Ed thought. He grabbed the guaze and wripped it off his head. His eyesight had improved slightly. He turned and saw where the black outside and white walls seperated. He ran toward it. He looked for the latch, found it. He heard another gun shot. Ed jumped out the window. He ran right. He could see white ground separate from the surrounding black walls. He turned left and saw a white square blob in the black abyss. He opened it and ran inside. It was pitch black. He slid down the wall and waited. Nothing happened. Ed noticed something odd though. He felt something inside his right arm. He felt there. A hole? A bullet must have hit my right arm. Heh, good thing it's metal. Ed waited for another hour until he stood. He felt a horrible pain below his chest though. He touched it. It was wet. Ed walked outside into the moonlight. He looked at his chest. The crimson blob spreading in his chest was easy to see beside his white hospital clothes.
"I..was shot?" Ed murmered to himself. It was suddenly hard to breath. "I guess the guy got lucky..." Ed said. He wandered back into the ally he had run out of. It was empty as far as he could tell. But he suddenly collapsed. "Shit...I need to get into the open..." Ed whispered. He stood back up, leaning on one of the nearby walls. "Beat the shit out of...going blind...then shot...how could this get any worse?" Ed told himself. As he stumbled onto the white pavement he collapsed again. He laid on the ground, bleeding to death. Thunder roared in the skys loudly and rain started to poaring down on Ed. He saw lightening strike the ground in front of him. Rocks flew out of every direction. One hit Ed's head, then another. Ed stared at the ground. He could see the smoke that was surrounding him from the lightening strike. I can see it...
"I can see it! Ha ha ha! I can see!" Ed cheered as he rolled onto his back. "There goes one of my problems...I hope someone finds me...before it's too late..." Ed mumbled. He watched the rain pour from above. Ed looked to his left. He saw a small puddle of blood forming next to him. "Great...thanks...whoever you are..." Ed saw a flash of light on the nearby walls. Someone's head was looking around outside the hospital window he had esaped from. They looked around more. They went back inside.
"Nobody outside!" They yelled to someone. Ed was at just the right angle for him to see them, but they not see him, unless they actually got out the goddamn freaking wondow and looked around. What? I'm right here! See me! Ed yelled in his head. He couldn't talk anymore. He wasn't getting enough air into his lungs to be able to talk. The pain hit him then. He hadn't been feeling pain from anything before, but now the pain from the gunshot, his ankle twisted all the way around, his elbow and knee cracked, and his shin in two. All the pain suddenly hit him like a bomb expoding inside him. Plus the aching pain of auto-mail and bad weather was already enough to paralyze someone. His pupils shrunk immensly.
"AHH!" Edward shrieked, his voice broke as well. His cry for pain wasn't heard though. Because just as he screamed, thrunder roared throughout the sky and nobody could hear him. Ed breathed heavily. The pain was almost too much. His mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out. He mouthed the words "help" several times, but he couldn't speak.
Nobody can hear me! I'm going to die! I'll never see Winry or Al again! I'll die here alone! Ed was shrieking in his head, but nothing came out. He shut his eyes tightly and sucked in some air quickly. He sat up. "Gah!" He yelled. Everytime Ed spoke though, thunder roared loudly from above. He moved his right leg to stand on it. "Ah!" Ed's cry was short, but loud. He leaned on the wall and made his way to the door. He sat on the ground abruptly. "AH!" He yelled. Pain was striking him hard everytime he moved. Why is this pain coming now? Because I realized I might die here?...Alone? Ed thought angrily. Why was this happening now? Why didn't the pain come when the injuries had? Why was it coming all at once?
"Damn!" He spurt out. As he did he spit blood onto his pants. He looked over. The military dorms were there. Maybe someone will walk out and see me...please...see me...
"I'm begging you..." Ed whispered. He was almost crying. He knew he wouldn't see Al or Winry again if nobody came out of the dorms. He would be dead, lifeless, and bloody.
How would he get their attention though...he couldn't very well speak, let alone yell.
I'll have to cause myself pain and scream for them to see me...I'll have to stand or something...stretch out my knee? Ed though for a moment, but somebody walked out of the dormitories then. It was Fury. Ed had to come up with something quick. Ed clapped his hands and transmuted his hand into a spiked fist. His hesitated at first, but punched his own chest with his right fist.
"AH!" Ed shrieked, his voice broke again. He got onto one knee and looked at Fury. Fury didn't even seem to notice.
"Dammit! Look at me!" Ed yelled. He collapsed again. As he did he saw Fury look over at him and start running. Ed laid on the ground, in immese pain. He waited for Fury. He stopped running and peered over at Ed. "I'm right here...see..m..me." Ed said slowly. He shouldn't be laying like this, blood would be comeing out faster and the weight of himself on his lungs made it harder to breath. Fury stood and turned. He started running for the dormitories. "Dammit...Fury...you idiot...you...could've saved my...life.." Ed said as he fell in and out of conciousness. "Bye Al. You were...always..my favor...ite friend...Bye Winry...I love..you..." Ed murmured his farewells as he fainted from pain and blood loss.
Al walked got out of bed sleepy-eyed. He answered the phone by the bedside.
"Hello?" He said. He looked at the clock. It said 6:37 a.m.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Al. But I have some concerning news about Edward." Said a woman. It was obviously Riza Hawkeye.
"Yeah, Miss Riza?" Al sat up, alert. His brother probably had beat some poor kid up that had called him short or something.
"Edward...He's missing." Riza said.
"Missing?" Al repeated. He stood up quickly.
"Yes, he was reported missing just this morning. Nobody's been able to find him, but we found a lot of blood outside the alley next to Edward's hospital window. A few puddles actrually."
"What?"
"Yes..I'm sorry, Al. I think he may be dead by how much blood there is." Riza apologized.
Al hung up the phone. He stood up and put his clothes on. He ran downstairs and checked out of the hotel. He ran to the hospital. How could this happen? How could this happed? Al thought. Al ran into the hospital and straight to Ed's room. Several people were there examining blood spattered on the floor. Al saw the guaze that had been wrapped around Ed's head. It was wripped in half, laying on the floor. Al ran to the window and jumped out it. He saw a blood trail lead out into the open. He saw a large blood puddle then another trail of blood. It led into the warehouse next to the hospital. He walked inside. By the look of the blood his brother had leaned up against the wall and slid down it. It looked like he had sat there for awhile. He left the warehouse. He saw lots of blood look like it had been wrung out of something. The trail stops there. Al started walking to the left. It was another ally between the front of the warehouse and the dormitories. He saw a drop of blood on the ground. It became a trail. He followed it. It led for half a mile before it came into another alley. He looked inside. A white and black figure laid on the ground at the end of the alley. Al walked up to it. The figure became more clear as he got closer. It was Ed. Al got onto his knees and looked at his brother. Dirt and blood was splattered on his face and hair. His entire chest was dripping with blood and some large spots were on his pants. Al started crying. He knew his brother was dead for sure. Nobody could survive losing this much blood. Al cried and cried loudly. He heard several peoples footstepes behind him. A few gasped and then they all ran up to Al. It happened to be Mustang and his underlings. Riza got onto her knees next to Al.
"Is he...dead?" Mutsang hesitated. Riza nodded. Al covered his face with his hands and cried. Havoc turned and covered his eyes. Mustang got on his knees beside Ed. Breda got onto his knees as well. Fury gasped.
"Oh, no." Fury said. Al looked at him. "I'm so sorry, Alphonse." He said.
"For what?" Al sobbed.
"I saw him last night...Outside the warehouse, but I didn't go to him." Fury sighed.
"WHAT?" Al yelled. He grabbed Fury. "You saw my brother, bloody and in pain, but you didn't help him? YOU BASTARD!" Al shrieked.
"I didn't know it was him! It was raining and was dark!" Fury said nervously. They all watched Al beat the shit out of Fury.
"You're not going to-" Riza started, but saw a drop fall from Mustang's face. His face was down and directed toward Ed. Mustang got up and walked toward the exit of the alley. Hawkeye followed him. Havoc, Breda, and Mustang stood in the entrance/exit of the alley.
They were disturbed and depressed by how Ed could die like this. They had never even imaginaed Ed dying.
"Al...don't kill..him." Ed mumbled. He had'nt move, but everyone new they had heard something. Al dropped Fury and ran over to Ed. Havoc, Breda, and Mustang had turned. Al sat beside his brother.
"Brother?" Al said. Ed was silent. Riza walked over and sat beside Al.
"Alphonse. He's gone." She said. Al stared at his brother. Riza looked at Al.
"Havoc, carry Ed's body to the morgue." Mustang ordered. Havoc sighed and walked over to Ed. Al shut his eyes and Riza helped him up. Havoc picked Ed up brutally from the side.
"AH!" Ed screamed and spat out blood as he did. His eyes were open wide and full of torture and immense pain. Blood dripped from Ed's open mouth.
"Oh, my god!" Havoc yelled and accidently dropped Ed.
"AH! You ass!" Ed shreiked. He laid on the ground, his bullet wound open again, bleeding fast. Al ran to his brother's side.
"Brother! You're alive!" Al cheered. Thankfully...Ed thought. Only one of Ed's eyes were open now. Pupil still shrunk as if a light had been shining at it and full of immense pain. Al saw this. "He's going to bleed to death if we don't help him!" Al yelled.
"Right!" They all said in unison. Havoc, gently this time, picked Ed up quickly.
"He's heavy for someone whos lost a ton of blood!" Havoc said. Breda walked over to help. Breda held onto Ed's arms and Havoc held his legs.
"What a smart way to carry a dying kid..." Al muttered. Ed shut his eyes tight and his face cringed as they carried him to the hospital. Al ran beside Ed, looking at his brother's filthy, painful face. Halfway to the hospital Breda tripped over a rock, in turn he pulled Ed's arms quite a lot. Havoc dropped Ed though, again. Ed hit the ground hard and fast.
"AH!" He screamed. Ed rolled over and started to get up himself. Somehow he got up faster than Breda did. Ed looked over at the other side of the street. Winry stood there, her mouth covered. Winry had been heading to the hospital. She started running across the road to Ed,
"Shit..." Ed said. Blood dripped from his mouth. He leaned on the wall with one hand and was hunched over. They all looked where Ed was and saw a young teenage girl.
"Whos that?" Havoc asked.
"You're girlfriend?" Mustang commented. Ed coughed.
"NO!" He yelled.
"It's Winry. Brother, do you think she's gonna cry?" Al said. Ed sighed.
"Maybe..." Ed swallowed the copper liquid coming from his mouth. Winry ran over to him.
"What the hell did you do?" She screamed. She hugged Ed hard.
"AH!" He screamed. She let go abruptly and he fell onto the ground. "Damn.."
"Sorry..." Winry said. Then she saw Al. "Al! You have you're body back!" She screamed happily. Al smiled sheepishly. "I can hug you again!" Winry screamed and hugged Al tight. They all laughed, except Ed. Who was staring at a man across the street, who was pointing a gun at them. Ed clapped his hands and slapped the ground. They all looked at him. A wall rose between everyone and the man, but Ed didn't have enough time to protect himself before the bullet hit him. It drove into Ed's chest, a few inches away from his heart. Ed hit the wall behind him and his face cringed. He didn't make a
sound though. Before anyone could do anything two more bullets hit Ed. One in his left shoulder and another right below his chest. He made a loud grunt as the last one hit him.
"ED!" Winry shreiked. She started running towards him. Ed saw that the man was still pointing the gun at him and since there was six bullets in a gun and he'd only fired three the man was probably going to fire again. Ed wouldn't let Winry get shot. He clapped his hands and hit the ground and wall appeared in front of Winry. Ed stood. Another shot was fired and another and another. The man added bullets to his gun. The first one had hit Ed's left knee, making in unuseable, the second one hit his right shoulder, stopping his entire right arm from moving and the third hit Ed's right thigh. The man cocked his gun and fired at Ed again. The bullet hit Ed's other knee. The time he screamed. His knee had still been in pain from last night and this just made it worse. Ed fell, unable to stand.
Winry screamed in horror as she heard Ed scream. She fell onto her knees also unable to stand. She heard five more gunshots. Ed screamed again. Al knew these had hit Ed's vital, already broken areas. Al clapped his hands as he heard the man running and hit the ground. The walls fell. They all saw Ed on his knees one hand holding him up, the other trembleing as he touched his chest. They saw spikes that had emerged from the ground, heading across the street. The last one had blood on it. Ed's pupils were shrunk again from terror and pain. Ed coughed twice and an enormous amount of blood came out. Ed colloapsed on the ground. His face blank and relaxed, he'd finally fainted. Winry screamed and ran to him, so did Al, without the screaming part. Al shook his brother.
"Brother!" He yelled. Hawkeye ran next to Ed and felt his pulse on his neck, then wrist, then elbow.
"There's nothing, Al." She told him. Winry gasped as she watched tears stream down Al's cheeks. Tears started to stream down her's as well. Color started fading from Ed's face. They think I'm dead...I'm not dead...Don't take me to the morgue send me to the hospital! Don't belive the fucking pulse's just take me to the hospital! Ed was screaming in his head, but due to blood loss and pain he was able to move at all. Just his heart slowing. His body was dying, but he wasn't dead yet.
"I'm..still alive..." Ed murmered extemely quietly. Nobody heard him. Winry and Al were crying to loudly. Ed would cry to if he wasn't a hair away from being dead. "Al...Al...I'm..not dead..." He said just as quietly. HEAR ME DAMMIT! "Al...please..."
Please hear me...please... "Al...I'm not...dead..." Ed started to sob silently almost. Al looked at his brother's almost colorless face. His lips were moving slowly.
"Brother?" Al muttered. He's hears me! I'll say it again!
"Al..." Ed whsipered almost silently and he wasn't getting any louder.
"Brother?" Al yelled. Winry looked at Al.
"He's gone, Al." She sobbed. Mustang and his party were watching the three children.
"I'm not...dead...yet..." Ed was no louder than before.
"Brother! You're not dead!" Al stood up shouting. Finally... Mustang and his party turned away, the sight was to much.
"Not..yet anyway..." Ed muttered to himself. Winry looked at Ed. I still can't even cry out of joy...what proof is there that I'm alive? They'll just send me to the morgue if I don't do anything...Ed thought desperatly. In a rush of adreneline Ed actually opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Winry covered her face without seeing Ed.
"I'M NOT DEAD!" He yelled. His chest heaved wildly in unpredictable ways. "I'M NOT DEAD DAMMIT STOP THINKING THAT!" He commanded. He still couldn't move anymore than his head willingly. Ed's chest heaved, but he closed his eyes again. They all stared at Ed's suddenly living body.
"I'm not dead..." He said again. They all stared at him except Al who was cheering that his brother's not dead. "I'm gonna need some help getting up..." Ed whispered to Winry. She nodded and helped Ed sit up. Winry helped him stand then. Ed glanced across the street and saw another gunman. "Stop fucking chasing me!" He growled angrily and slammed his palms into the ground. A dome formed around the guy with a small hole at the top. Ed's eyes were blazing with fire. He wasn't going to let himself die today. Ed stood and started walking angrily toward the hospital. If these bastards aren't going to help me..then I'll go on my own...Ed was detirmened and pissed. Nobody followed him. They were all to shocked. Ed sighed and transmuted a platform onto the ground. It was just a plate with wheels on it. Ed crouched on his knees as he slid down a large hill that led to the hospital. "I'm not waiting up for you this time...If I do...I'll die." He told himself. Ed literally fell into the hospital. The receptionist gasped. Ed smiled. "I'll need some help..Right now.." Ed told her as he stood again. She nodded nervously and called a doctor. Several nurses and a few doctors came out. They gasped as they saw Ed leaning against a wall. He smiled at them. "I'm in a small situation..I'll need some help.."
"Uh, yeah!" One of the doctors said. A person pushed a gurney to the nurses. They rushed over to Ed. They helped him onto it. Ed pretty much collapsed onto it, he sighed as he laid down. At least I'm not dead. He thought.
"What happened?" One of the nurses asked Ed. He scoffed.
"A lot..." Ed answered. She nodded. They wheeled him into a room labled O.R. Operating Room. They'll have to take the bullets out that way...
"What happened to you, son?" The doctors asked.
"Well, I was shot. That's really all you need to know about." Ed said unconderningly.
"How many times? When?" He asked. Ed thought for a minute.
"Mm, once last night, about 5-6 times earlier today." Ed told him.
"Well, have to operate on you." He told Ed as nurses sliced off Ed's shirt.
"Yeah, that's fine. It's expected." Ed sighed calmly. "Do what you have to."
"You don't seem scared."
"I'm not. I've been through worse." Ed said. They all glanced at Ed's auto-mail arm. They nodded and put a mask over Ed's mouth. Ed breath calmly and fell asleep.
Ed woke up suddenly in his bed. He gasped as he awakened. Al looked at him.
"You okay, brother?" He asked. Ed looked at him, wide-eyed.
"Yeah...I'm good." He said. Al smiled at him. "Hey, Al."
"Yeah?" He looked back at Ed curiosuly.
"I can see clearly." Ed told him calmly.
"Really? That's great!"
"Yeah, I know." Ed smiled. "Where's Winry and the others?"
"They're not allowed to come in yet."
"Oh..." Ed said. "Al.."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why?" Al asked. Ed didn't look at him. "Are you refering to Scar?" Al asked. Ed closed his eyes calmly. Al smiled. "You can't blame yourself." Al said. He got up and sat next to Ed on his bed. Loud footsteps enetered the room. Amstrong peered at Ed and Al.
"Hello, Edward! Hello, Alphonse!" He said loudly and joyfully. Ed glanced at him. He face remained depressed and painful. Al just looked curious.
"I thought only family members were allowed in." Al said.
"They just started letting friends in! I just had to be the first here!" Armstrong yelled. Ed shut his eyes.
"Would you shut it? You're giving me a headache." Ed said irritablly. Armstong's face fell. Al snickered quietly. Ed sat up slowly.
"We should be expecting people to come it quickly." Al told him.
"Yeah.." Ed sighed. Armstrong looked at Ed curiously. He looked like he was pissed at himself for some reason. "Damn am I hungry.." Ed sighed. Al smiled at him. He was back to normal.
"I shall retrieve food for the Elric brothers!" Armstrong said devotedly. Ed and Al watched him leave, surpised looks on their faces.
"Okay?" Ed muttered. He looked at Al. Al shrugged his shoulders. Winry ran into the room. She looked scared.
"Ed!" She screamed. Ed smiled at her. She teared up and smiled to.
"Don't cry, Winry." Al said. Tears ran down her cheeks anyway.
"Why are you crying, Winry?" Ed asked her. He almost sounded annoyed. She wiped her face and smiled at Ed.
"Because I almost lost you." She sobbed. Winry ran over to Ed and hugged him. "Be more careful!" She yelled at him. Ed patted her head while she hugged him.
"I will." He told her. Winry cried into Ed's shirt.
"Don't you ever die!" She yelled into his chest. Ed laughed.
"You silly girl." He told her. She listened to Ed's heart beat steadily.
"You scared me...Don't do that again..." She mumbled into him. Ed blushed.
"I won't...I promise." He told her. He petted her head sweetly. He looked at Al. He was smiling at them. Ed smiled back,
I promise. I won't die anytime soon.