I present to you, chapter two!
Here it is without further ado.
...
Hawkeye's eyes cracked open. A wall. She blinked, confused. I'm inside? She blinked again and noticed Roy by her side. Some part of her relaxed, but she hadn't known she was tense earlier. She suddenly became aware of a table by her and on it was a walkie-talkie. Something tugged at her memory. Something about it being important? The thought vanished as quickly as it had appeared, for she had then realized she was in a medical tent on a bed. Beside her, Roy appeared to be kneeling on the floor, his arms crossed on the bed with his head resting on them.
Was he sleeping? No. Hawkeye blinked a few more times as she came completely to her senses. His body seemed to shake a little as if... as if he were crying. Hawkeye's fingers twitched, then she reached a hand over and placed it on his head. Roy jumped, his head snapping up. Too weak to react, Hawkeye's hand merely slid off his head and fell back onto the bed. Roy reached over then and grasped her shoulder, his eyes wide.
"Lieutenant!" He said, shocked. Taking his eyes off of her, he quickly looked around. "Doctor! Doctor!"
A doctor and two nurses came hurrying over. "She's awake!" One of the nurses gasped. "Sir, please leave so we can better attend to our patient." The doctor told Roy.
Roy hesitated.
Of course, if this was a hospital and it was family here with her, they might have allowed them to stay. He wasn't though. He was just her superior officer.
Reluctantly, Roy got up. As he started to walk away, panic took hold of her heart and mind. Hawkeye reached a hand out to him that he didn't see; his head was turned away, looking towards the exit. One of the nurses came around to soothe her, but Hawkeye didn't even notice her. She started to sit up and pain seared across her side. Hawkeye let out a faint cry of pain, startled by it.
Roy turned around quickly just as the medical team jumped into action to try to calm her and get her to stay in bed. All Roy saw though was Hawkeye's face looking at him pleadingly, her hand reaching out to him. He can came back to her side, pushing past one of the nurses and took hold of Hawkeye's outstretched hand. She calmed down at once, but even as she relaxed, she wondered what had come over her.
"I'm staying." Roy told the doctor firmly, taking a seat by her bed. Now it was the doctor's turn to look reluctant, but he had to admit, it was obvious that he calmed her and he'd rather not have her agitated. "That's right." The doctor said, remembering something. "You're the one who brought her here and had found her." Roy nodded to show the doctor he was correct.
"Anything you need, dear? How do you feel?" A nurse asked Hawkeye.
"W-water." Hawkeye croaked. The doctor and nurse helped her to sit up comfortably as the other nurse quickly fetched water.
"Easy now. Drink it slowly." She told her, helping her hold the canteen as she drank. Hawkeye wished to down it all at once, but she was made to take breaks. Due to her dehydration, too much water all at once would make her sick. They placed a cool, wet cloth of ripped fabric on her forehead and got her a bit of food. Gradually, she began to feel a little better. Once the medics were certain she'd be okay for the time being, they moved on to another patient who had started moaning, leaving Roy with strict instructions to not let her drink too much, too quickly, since he was resolved to not leave her side.
"Do you... remember anything?" Roy asked after a moment of silence. Hawkeye's voice was stronger now, so she could talk, but she took a moment to reply, thinking.
"There was... " Briefly, she thought of the hot desert sun. But no, it had been night. "I went into my tent that night and... Iris. Iris shared a tent with me. She had already been sleeping, I remember being careful not to wake her as I settled down. Then... it was morning. I remember now. I woke up that morning, I had gotten up and stepped out of my tent... " It all suddenly hit her then. What had happened. "Blood." She whispered, paling a little. "Blood everywhere." She gripped Roy's hand tightly. "I remember calling for help. Iris- she came out- she-" The vision flashed in her mind of Iris's chest exploding in a burst of blood. "I- I didn't know what to do. I- I grabbed my walkie-talkie..." And then what? I think... had I called for help again? "I don't remember the rest. I don't know."
Roy's face darkened and he looked away. "It was a group of Ishvalan rebels who never forgave us Amestrians. They had charged into the camp at dawn while we were still sleeping. I- I heard you calling for help over the walkie-talkie."
Hawkeye remembered Roy had set up a channel just for his team- well, for just the two of them. The rest of the team was split up. Falman was at Briggs, Havoc was going through physical therapy with Breda watching his progress, and Fuery was working on improving his tech skills in Central.
"I was stopped from leaving at first. They said it was too dangerous for me to go out there. I was told of the situation." Roy looked away from her. "I barged past them and left my tent anyways. I just ran."
"But-" "I could've died, I know." He continued, interrupting her. "But I didn't. Any Ishvalan that got in my way was dealt with." Roy said, clenching his hands. Hawkeye understood and gave a solemn nod. "When I... when I got to you, you were... I thought you were dead." He said, hanging his head.
Hawkeye reached out as if to hug him and reassure him of how alive she is, but at the last second she recalled the medical team and sat back, resting her hands on the bed. "I'm here though. I'm alive." She said softly. Roy gave her a weak smile. Hawkeye could tell how relieved he was to see she had made it, but the memory was a very dark one for him. It was most likely that the memory of her near death at the hands of the gold-toothed doctor was still fresh in his mind and had fuelled his panic and fear for her all the more.
"I felt for your pulse. It was weak, but it was there." He gestured to her left side and Hawkeye knew what he was going to say next. She knew now what had caused her pain earlier. "You were shot. When I got you to the doctor, he said you had been lucky, but you had lost a lot of blood and were still losing more... you remained unconscious even after you were taken care of, you had remained so for almost two whole days. They fixed you up, even gave you more blood. But they said they didn't have all the tools a hospital would have and that if you didn't wake up soon, you could die of dehydration." Roy scoffed. "They could give you blood, but not something as simple as an IV. I'm going to see about getting that fixed."
Hawkeye was quiet for a moment. "I was out... for two days?" She looked back at her walkie-talkie. She could see now the dried blood on it that she had failed to notice when she woke. Roy watched quietly as she picked it up. If not for this... if not for Roy... I might've died. She looked down at the walkie-talkie, at what had been her lifeline.
...
I'm sure some of you might have questions. Or maybe not. Anyway, stay tuned for the epilogue, it will explain all.