Chapter Two
It was late at night when Roy got the phone call. He was up anyway. Working on paperwork at night was his way of coping on February third. He answered his phone, wondering who could be calling this late.
"This is Mustang," Roy answered in a daze.
"Is this Roy Mustang?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Roy confirmed. "There's been an accident and your name is on the form of an emergency contact at Mercy Hospital." Roy instantly thought of his foster mother or even one of his many foster sisters.
"I'll be there right away," Roy said quickly, hanging up before the person - who he now assumed was a doctor - could tell him who he was on the emergency contact for.
Roy and Riza made their way to the hospital as quickly as they could. Riza wouldn't let Roy do this on his own. Madame Christmas had treated her well during her time living there, and she needed to be supportive over any tragedy that may have occurred.
"Roy Mustang?" a doctor asked after approaching them. The two nodded. "I'm glad you're here. There was no one else to call for this."
"What happened?" Roy asked. "Is my mother all right?"
"Your moth..." the doctor trailed off. "No, this isn't your mother. I'm sorry, I thought the nurse who contacted you told you who you were here for."
"Oh, I hung up before they had a chance," Roy said sheepishly. "I just assumed my mother or one of my sisters was in trouble."
"Well, you're on the emergency contact list of a boy," the doctor said, and Roy couldn't help but freeze. He felt Riza tense up alongside him. "His name is Edward Elric. There was no other family we could contact, and he's in pretty critical condition."
"Oh my..." Riza trailed off. Her hand reached up to cover her mouth. She couldn't help but think of the baby they had given away all those years ago. Edward.
"What happened?" Roy asked, needing to get to the bottom of this. Why wasn't there any other family to contact?
"Well, it seems like Edward and his family were in a pretty serious car accident," the doctor explained. "I can't give you the specifics on his brother, but his mother passed away in the accident. His father isn't on any records; I sort of assumed you were his father and just not a part of his life."
"Well..." Roy trailed off. "I am his father. We're actually his birth parents, but we gave him up for adoption when he was a baby. I don't know how my information got on there, but I definitely want to hear more."
"Well, I can give you the information solely because you're listed as the emergency contact," the doctor began. "But you're going to have to fill out the proper paperwork with social services if you plan on taking custody of him."
"Yes, we'll fill out the paperwork," Riza said hastily. She wouldn't leave her son to fend for himself at eleven-years old. "And we'll take custody of his brother too." She and Roy shared a look. They agreed; they couldn't just leave their son's brother - maybe not by blood, but they were still brothers - alone.
"When can we see them?" Roy asked. He needed to see his son.
"First, I need to tell you the severity of Edward's condition," the doctor said. "He was severely injured in the accident and he's only just been brought out of surgery into the recovery room. We weren't able to save his arm and leg. He'll spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair without prosthesis."
"But there are other options," Roy mentioned. "He could have automail attached, right?"
"Well, he can," the doctor began. "But it's not only very risky for someone his age, but it'll take another surgery and then years of rehabilitation before he's up to walking again. He'll need to be in a wheelchair for a very long time."
"We can handle it," Roy said. "What about his brother?"
"I can't tell you anything about his brother until you provide the proper paperwork," the doctor said. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go down to social services and fill out a request to take them on as your foster children before adopting them completely, if that's what you want. Now, the hospital can provide these forms to you, but you'll have to take them down to the department yourself."
"We know where it is," Roy said. "We just need the forms and we'll have them in by tomorrow morning."
Ed had immediately been taken to surgery upon arrival to the hospital. The doctors had tried to save his limbs, but were unable to, and had to complete what had already been done in the car. His right arm and left leg were gone.
"Brother?" Al asked quietly. "Are you awake?" Ed was awake, but he wasn't going to tell him that. "Brother...If you're awake, just say so."
"No, I'm practicing being dead," Ed responded, though he said it in such monotone that it worried the younger Elric.
"Please don't say things like that, brother," Al said. "I'm worried about you. You won't eat...You won't move..."
"I can't move," Ed responded. "I can't. I'm a cripple, Al. I can't move and I don't know what's gonna happen to us."
"We'll just go live with granny," Al said. "We'll live with granny and she'll get you automail and it'll be real good." Their family friend, Pinako, who the two knew as their grandmother was an automail engineer. Al knew she could fit him real nice.
"I wanna die..." Ed trailed off. "I hate this...I can't do it..."
"Don't talk like that." Alphonse wiped unshed tears in his eyes. He wanted to help his brother so bad. "Just go to sleep. Go to sleep and things will be better. I'll call granny and she'll come get us."