A/N; Hello Readers ^-^ Long time no write! So this is the first chapter of a fic I'm working on right now. I'm not going to post the following chapters just yet c; You'll have to wait a bit~
His eyes closed, his breathing calm and even, Ed let Winry work. Her hands lightly working on his arm. He was laying on his stomach in a hospital bed after another brutal fight that had left his arm ruined. Again. Winry hadn't skipped out on giving him hell for it earlier.
It was just him and Winry at that moment, making the room almost completely silent, except for the sound of metal-on-metal fixings. He wasn't really sure where Al had gone, but decided not to think much of it. They were in a hospital.. What's the worse that could happen?
Ed had been dozing off here and there but he fought to stay awake. Despite being a mechanic, and kind of violent, Winry had a soft and comforting touch. Which didn't really help with the whole fighting-to-stay-awake thing.
With all the military work and fighting constantly going on, there wasn't much time to relax. So moments like these he tried to savour.
He suddenly felt her fingers trace on his back, right over a bruise, making him shiver and wince.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice sounding softer than usual.
"Do you really expect me to keep track of every injury I get?" Ed retorted in a slightly sleepy voice. He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. He wasn't about to tell her how he'd been hit by an automail arm (one about twice the size of his head). It was surprising nothing in his back had been broken. A cracked rib or two. No major injuries.
She went back to his arm, placing a final screw in place.
"All done." She said, letting out a satisfied sigh, admiring her work. She truly was proud of her automail.
"Thanks again, Win." Ed said. There was a slight silence as she made some final touches, tightening something here, polishing something there. Then she stopped, her hand resting where metal met flesh, tracing the tainted flesh.
"When are you guys coming home again.." She said so low he almost didn't hear her.
"Winry," He said. "You know we try to visit as often as we ca-"
"No I mean for good." She said. He suddenly felt something light and wet fall on his back. Water?
"I know.. I know. Not until you get your bodies back." Was her voice cracking? Ed pushed himself up and looked at her. She was crying.
"Win.."
"I just miss you." She said, wiping her tears away. "Both of you." She added quickly. He grinned.
"But you said me." She hit his non-metal shoulder and he laughed.
"Shut up." She could get angry so fast.
"I miss you too." He said. "Sorry- We miss you too." He laughed, earning himself another punch. But then his laughter faded and he took on a more serious tone. "We have to keep going, though. We have to do this." He said in a more serious tone. "I have to. For Al's sake."
He felt something in his hand then realized it was Winry's. His eyes darted to hers but she was looking at the ground.
"Hey." He said, squeezing her hand to make her look at him. "What's wrong?" He looked into her eyes, watching her smile slowly appear.
"I have to tell you a secret." She said in a completely different tone of voice. She leaned closer to him and he felt the blood rush to his face as she whispered in his ear. "To be honest, I specifically missed you more.."
What? Before the word could even escape his lips, Winry pressed her own to them. Was she kissing him?
… She was kissing him.
She was kissing him.
She pushed the blanket away and climbed on the bed, sitting on top of him, looking at him with this intense look then leaning down to kiss him again. He felt a little self conscious, making out with a girl in a hospital gown. But honestly, at that moment, who gave a damn?
Yeah, he could deal with this new addition to getting his arm fixed.
Her hands were all over him, all over his chest and heading lower. She then took something from under the blanket. Rope?
Ed was about to ask what the hell she planned to do with rope, but she didn't give him the chance to.
She was choking him.
Choking him.
Not in some sort of kinky way, either. No, she was trying to hurt him. He tried to scream but the string was completely cutting off his vocal chords and wind pipe. He was going to die if she didn't stop. He tried to pry the rope away but it was no use. He couldn't breathe. He could feel his head getting fuzzy.
He tried to push Winry off of him but she wasn't budging.
Ed sat up with a gasp and his hand flew to his throat, which was rope free.
"Brother?" Al asked from the other side of the room. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah.. Just.. Nightmare." He said, still feeling breathless. His heart was beating so damn fast. What the hell had that dream been all about?
He'd dreamt about Winry before but never that extreme. He'd never dreamt of her.. Touching him or anything like that. He'd also never dreamt about her trying to kill him. They were both new territory.
"Just a nightmare." He repeated, reassuring himself. It had been just a dream. It didn't mean anything.
"Oh you're awake!" Winry said, poking her head at the door. She walked in and headed towards her toolbox on the chair in the corner.
"Anytime you're ready Ed." She said. "This shouldn't take too long. Unless you fall asleep again." She said, glaring at him. "At least wait until I start to go to sleep so that I can actually fix your arm." She huffed.
"Yeah yeah." He said. He remembered now. He'd been talking to her earlier. After she'd calmed down about him practically annihilating her precious automail. He was pretty beat up and tired from the fight, and as they'd been about to begin he'd fallen asleep. Conveniently on his automail.
"Take your shirt off." Winry said, approaching him with the toolbox. A request she'd asked a many million times before, that had never bothered him. But as he took his shirt off he felt his heart pounding. Remembering how real it had felt.. Her fingers tracing his back. She went straight to work, analyzing what needed to be fixed. The whole time, Ed avoided looking at her.
"How're you feeling?" Winry asked as she screwed something off his arm. "You seem… Bothered."
"M'fine." He answered. "Just tired." He added, knowing his tone was nowhere near believable.
"Hey Al, I forgot something.. A specific kind of screw, do you think you could go look if they have some around?" She said, writing the name and brand down, handing it to him.
"Sure, Winry!" He said, taking the piece of paper and practically running out of the room. Al adored Winry, Ed knew that. He didn't know how much though. Winry was a subject they often avoided.
Winry went back to working on Ed's arm. "So, what's actually bothering you?" She said. "I know you never actually talk to me, you don't want to burden me, blah blah, but something seems to be bothering you a lot." She looked at him and he forced himself to look back.
"No, really Winry, I'm fine." He said.
"Must be why you're so tensed and anxious, right?" She said, going back to his arm. He grinned. She could read him so easily. He let his head sink into the pillow and took a deep breath, letting Winry do her job.
"How long are you going to stay in Central?" He asked.
"I'm going to stay until you completely recover for sure." She said. "I think then I'll go back home for a bit before heading back to Rush Valley." There was something in her voice. Longing?
"Don't you miss being home?" She suddenly asked. "Ever?"
"Of course." He said. "But.. I mean it's not really home anymore, is it? I don't think it can ever be home again." Winry had this ashen look on her face.
"What keeps us coming back is you. You know that, right?" He said. "You and Granny. the old shrimp." Winry laughed and Ed looked at her. "You guys are home." He said, closing his eyes and resting his head on the pillow again. He knew he'd said too much. He'd shown too many feelings, too much vulnerability. But Winry didn't say anything. He appreciated that.
"You sent Al on a fool's errand, didn't you?" Ed chuckled.
"I'm just worried about you." Winry said. "I know you won't talk with Al here because you don't want to worry him. But you can't always do everything alone. Someday you'll fall."
Ed grinned. "And when I fall I'll just get back up and keep walking." He chuckled as Winry went back to work, mumbling something about a big fat ego.
^-^ Let me know what you think~ Kthanksbye~ I'll try to start posting the rest around February :3
