Chapter 1: Guilt
Edward sat on the hospital bed, his head turned away from the door. He looked through the window, not seeing anything in particular. His whole body was sore from coming in contact with the red water. His head and left shoulder throbbed from their wounds. His bangs covered his face, partially covering the blank emotion left on his face. He was breathing softly, trying to fight sleep, if he succumbed to his exhaustion, he would have nightmares. He slowly nodded off, but snapped back to reality when he heard a knock on the door. Edward slowly turned to the door, watching a familiar 2nd Lieutenant Ross enter the room, gesturing a salute.
"Major Elric? Ms. Winry Rockbell is here, like you requested."
Edward groaned in an attempt to speak. He saw Winry look into the room from behind the Lieutenant. She was really worried, observing Edward's expression. Ross moved aside from the doorway, letting Winry enter. She carried a big duffel bag over her shoulder.
"Hey, Ed… What's wrong," she asked, looking around the room. "How come you didn't call me yourself…? And where's Al?"
Lieutenant Ross closed the door after Winry got in, letting herself out. Her face was covered in guilt; she kept her blue eyes to the ground as she left the room. Winry looked at Edward, waiting for a response. She looked into his eyes, but he did not look back. "Ed…? What happened? Where is Alphonse?" Edward's face tightened, he raised his hand up to his face, his breathing stuttered.
"Winry… He's gone. He's gone, I couldn't protect him." Tears streamed down his face, bleeding onto the pillow under his head. Couldn't protect him? Winry's blue eyes widened realizing what he meant. "Wha… What do you mean? What happened to him?!"
Edward clutched his hair, his whole body trembling. "They got him. They killed him." Winry dropped her bag on the floor, causing a loud crash. She ignored it, and knelt down to Edward's bed. "Edward, who got him?! Please! Tell me what happened!" She grabbed Edward's hand and pulled it to her. She waited for Edward to look at her, but he looked away. She squeezed his hand. He turned to her, his eyes were red and he was still crying. Looking into Winry's eyes just made him hurt even more. He had to tell her what happened. He had to tell her what happened. This isn't something that he could hide.
"I'm sorry…"
Winry was kneeling on the ground, still holding Edward's hand. Both of their faces had tearstains streaked across their cheeks. Edward was still lying down, resting on his automail side. He told her everything. The true nature of the Philosopher's Stone. The homunculi. The Fifth Laboratory and the red water. Alphonse's demise. Thinking about Alphonse made him want to scream. It was his fault. This would have never happened if he didn't force him into the transmutation. This wouldn't have happened if they didn't stick their noses in the wrong places. He forced Alphonse into all of these situations. It was his fault. It was his fault.
"It was my fault."
Winry looked up at him, surprised by the outburst. Edward was looking up at the ceiling. The corners of his lips twitched. Winry's face turned from sorrow to anger. She stood up raising her fist and brought it back down, smashing it into Edward's shoulder. He yelped from the combined pain. He tried to get back up, but neither of his arms could support him. He fell back onto the pillow, snapping back at Winry.
"God damn it, Winry! That's my bad arm!" he hissed, not realizing that both of his arms could be considered his "bad" arm. He looked up at Winry. "You idiot! This isn't your fault. Alphonse wouldn't have even come with you if he didn't want to bring his mom back. Stop trying to put the blame on yourself!"
"But… I insisted… We went to the Fifth Lab and now he's gone…! He... He…!"
Winry interrupted him. "Edward stop. Stop doing this to yourself. It's not helping you. It's not helping me. It's not helping Alphonse." Winry got back onto her knees, looking at the young blond boy. His eyes were swirling with emotions. Regret, frustration, sorrow, sadness. Her face relaxed, her eyes full of pity. "Now, let me fix your automail."
A/N: Thank you for reading! I want to let you guys know at first that this story will be progressing very slowly! Things may be heating up at about chapter 3 or 4. I dunno! I'll continue working on "Possession" but I'll probably update it after I do chapter 2 for this. Later!
