Hiya! So, the first chapter was mostly Ed's POV (With some Roy and Al in there, too.) Last chapter was all Alphonse. This chapter it's Roy's turn.

I have to thank Rocky Oberlin for helping me with medical stuff. Thanks so much. ^-^

Shock to Your System

If there was one word to describe Roy's array of emotions, it would be guilt. Guilt about making Ed and Al go on that mission in the first place. Guilt about hating Edward so much. Guilt about…well, everything.

They said it could take weeks, maybe months, for him to wake up…if he wakes up at all, he told himself. But he couldn't think like that. People go in and out of comas all the time; at least, that's what he figured, but he was honestly too scared to ask.

He didn't get any sleep at all. The only time he even closed his eyes was to blink. He just watched the young alchemist sleep…at least, that's what he finally convinced himself to think. He's just sleeping; and in a way, he was, so it's not like he was lying to himself. After his eyes adjusted to the extreme deficiency of light, he got to see Edward for the first time since he left HQ three days ago. He looked incredibly different. His hair was down, he was pale and his lips were without color. He had IV's in his arms and he was hooked up to all sorts of machines. He had a gas mask over his mouth, probably helping him to breathe, Roy thought. It killed him to see Ed like that.

At first, it was nothing big. Three days on a mission wasn't a big deal. But this was a simple mission that should've only taken a day or two. It would be a lie to say that Roy wasn't at least a little bit worried about the brothers by the third day. But he didn't really realize the full extent of it until he got the call from Alphonse, since he had been going by the mentality "no news is good news." Once he got that call, it had been made obvious that something was wrong. And those words – brother's in a coma – just killed him inside. And seeing Edward in that state just killed him all over again.

Maybe he'll wake up today, he thought to himself. He was trying to stay optimistic. But he knew he had never been an optimist.

Things move in slow motion when you can't sleep and no one else is around. At first, Roy just sat there. Then he decided to walk around in the hallway outside of the room. Once he got up and went outside, he saw no one was there except a couple nurses and doctors walking around. Some looked at Roy, some didn't. No one talked to him.

For some reason, he couldn't even work up the courage to even venture down the hallway. So he just stood by the door and contemplated the situation. More endless guilt.

After standing there for some good time, a doctor, looking to be in his mid-30's, came walking by in common surgeon attire. He stopped to look at Roy, who just looked away.

"Hey, are you Edward's father?" Roy looked at him. Did he really look like he could be Ed's father? One, he didn't look at him and two, he wasn't even old enough…was he?

"No."

"Oh. Guardian?"

He thought about it for a second. Sure, why not. "I guess you could say that."

"Great! I'm Dr. Andrew Manndoff, Ed's doctor and the head neurologist of this hospital. And you are?" He held out his hand. He sure was friendly for someone – anyone – at two in the morning.

"Colonel Roy Mustang. I'm Ed's commanding officer." He shook Dr. Manndoff's hand with that insane grip of his that he acquired over so many years in the military.

"Colonel? So you're in the military? What branch?" Civilians were always curious about stuff like that. It's not like they actually cared, it was just common courtesy to ask.

"State military. I'm a State Alchemist, as is Edward."

"Really? What're your titles?" Hmm, so maybe this guy had more than just common courtesy.

"Oh, um…I'm the Flame Alchemist, and he's the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Never heard of you," he said genuinely with a grin.

"That's fine."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Colonel," he said, as he walked off in the opposite direction he came.

Roy wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Well, it seemed like Dr. Manndoff was optimistic about the whole situation. Then again, he had probably dealt with comatose people all the time. In fact, he probably dealt with people worrying over their loved ones every hour of every freaking day. It was the way hospitals worked.

He went back inside the room. Of course, even after ten minutes, nothing had changed. He sat and thought.

Then, suddenly, a feeling welled up into his stomach – butterflies, maybe? – as he got an impulse. An impulse to do something he wouldn't normally. Probably a result of sleep deprivation, he told himself. But he decided to act on it anyway.

He grabbed Ed's flesh hand carefully, as to not mess with any of the IV's in his arm. This would probably be the only time he could do this without the young alchemist reacting negatively to it; and that was okay, even if he wasn't reacting at all.

What the hell am I doing? What the hell am I thinking?

With a hard swallow, Roy stared carefully at Ed's delicate face. Even in the darkness, he could tell the boy was…well, beautiful. Oh god, what am I thinking? He was fragile, broken even…and yet still so strong. It was admirable. So admirable, he could just…

Before he knew it, he was inches away from the alchemist's still face. He told himself that this was something he was only doing for himself…this had nothing to do with him liking Ed, at least, that's what he told himself.

This gas mask is in the way.

After pulling down said gas mask, Roy was kissing Ed. Yes, really kissing. Roy Mustang, renowned womanizer, was kissing his male subordinate. It wasn't just odd, it was downright Armageddon.

He didn't do much, merely just softly laying his lips on Ed's with his lips very slightly parted. It's usually how one-sided kisses went. He stayed like that for a while, breathing Ed's air while Ed breathed his. It could barely be called kissing, he told himself; it could better be described as connecting lips. Except connecting lips was kissing. He couldn't fool anyone, even himself.

After a good forty-five seconds, Ed suddenly began choking. Roy pulled back instantly and dropped his hand, thinking he might be waking up, but Ed just continued to choke. He put the gas mask on, but no use – he was still choking. He slammed his fist down on the call button. A nurse would be there soon…

Ed continued to choke until a doctor, who happened to be an eager, wide-eyed male intern, came to the door and said, "What can I help with?"

"H-he's choking…" he murmured. Seconds ago, he was kissing him and now Ed was choking.

"I see. I'll be right back." The intern left, but within a few seconds, he were back – with a tube, tape, and a tool that looked like a pick axe.

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Roy questioned nervously.

"We have to intubate him…look away, please." Well, he didn't want to watch it anyway – only a masochist would. He turned around.

"So what exactly are you doing?" Maybe once in his lifetime he knew what intubate meant, but now he had forgotten.

"I'm putting a tube down Edward's throat so he can breathe."

"Oh." Roy tried not to cringe at the thought of that. "Please tell me you've done this before."

"I have."

"That's good."

For about a minute, there was silence between the two.

"I'm done," the intern said.

Roy turned back around. "So now he can breathe?"

"That tends to be the point of intubation." What kind of sadist used sarcasm in a moment like this?!

"Well, thank you…I don't think we need anything else."

The intern grabbed Ed's chart by his bedside, wrote something down, and put it back where it was. "Happy to help," he said, and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Neither Alphonse and the doctor that had been caring for Ed and Al that Roy had yet to be introduced to was awoken during the incident.

If Ed could no longer breathe on his own, did that mean his condition was worsening? Did that mean his coma would just last longer, if he even got out of it at all? And did that mean that this was Roy's fault? Wow, just one more thing to feel guilty about.

He sat back down in his chair and watched Edward until the sun came up…

Shock to Your System

"What happened to brother?" Al asked as soon as he saw that Ed now had a tube going down his throat.

"Something happened last night…he just started choking, so I hit the call button, and someone came and intubated him…" Roy recalled regretfully.

"Were you awake all night?"

"Um…yeah, sort of…"

The doctor that Roy had yet to be introduced to chose then to wake up. "Oh, hello," he said as soon as he noticed Roy. He stood up and walked over to him. "I'm Dr. Sebastian. I've been taking care—"

"I know. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, Ed's commanding officer."

"Well, nice to meet you, Colonel." He looked over at Ed. "Ah, they intubated him? What happened?"

"He choked during the night," Roy answered simply, not feeling the need to elaborate.

"Ah," he breathed in understanding.

"Hmm, do you guys want to go down to breakfast?" Al asked. Roy wondered if Dr. Sebastian knew about Al's lack of body. Probably not, he told himself.

"Yes, I am starving! By the way, Elsa should be here any minute now."

"Who's Elsa?"

"My daughter," he stated simply. "She's about Edward's age."

"I see. Well, it will be good to meet her." That was a straight-up lie.

They walked down to breakfast together. Even though he couldn't talk about it, all he could think about was how soft the lips on that blonde alchemist were…

Shock to Your System

W00t! I'm just a writing machine lately! :D Hope you enjoyed, and please R&R. Medical advice is always appreciated.