Chapter Three
"Well, he's a bit out of it, but he's fine. " The man said brightly. "The first shot to his shoulder managed to just hit the tip of the scapula causing the bone to shatter. Then it popped the muscles out of the socket. It's gonna be a while before he can use the arm."
"So what about his stomach?" Roy added.
"Not as bad as it looked. It just hit a few arteries and somehow managed to slide between his stomach and liver...This kid just had the most luck I've ever seen." The doctor shook his head. "That's about the only reason I can figure, is luck." He looked at a clock, then said, "He should be waking up now, so you can head in. A nurse will be by in about 20 minutes to make sure he came out of the anesthesia alright."
Roy nodded, then walked into the room as the doctor hurried to help someone.
Ed was in the bed closest to the window, muttering something incomprehensible. As Roy walked closer, he could make out 'and it was my favorite jacket, too...', as Ed was staring at the blanket with half opened eyes.
"Let me guess; They had to cut your jacket?" Roy asked in an amused tone.
"Yes, and it was my favorite jacket too." Ed said again, not moving his gaze.
Roy smirked, realizing this was what the doctor meant when he said 'a bit out of it'.
Ed looked up at Roy, then said, "Hey, you're here! I thought I was hallucinating again!"
Roy cocked an eyebrow at Ed. "You hallucinated before?"
"Yeah, when that whatz-his-facit had me pinned to the wall." Ed said, his words slurring as if he were drunk. "I heard you yell, but didn't think it was you."
'Well then.' Roy thought.
"Tell me Ed, what were you doing in my alley?" Roy asked out of sheer amusement.
"Hm...That's a tough one. I think it had something to do with promotions...Yes! I wanted to know if you'd been promoted again!" Ed said, obviously pleased with himself.
Roy just stared at the younger boy. Then he stood up and started towards the door. "Ed, wait here for a second."
"Whatever old man." Ed said sleepily, yawning.
'Note to self; Get Ed back for calling me old.' Roy thought. But he headed to a nurse and asked what kind of painkillers they had Ed on.
"Mr. Elric? They put him on..." She checked her clipboard, " Morphine, why?"
Roy shook his head. "No reason. I think they might have given him a bit much is all." He smiled.
"Well, is he alright?" Se asked seriously.
"He's fine, just a bit out of it. And that's exactly what the doctor said." Roy said, turning back towards the room. Where he saw Ed studying his right hand, wondering aloud why it couldn't have been the one shot.
"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Ed asked, as Roy walked in. "I could just go and get a new one, but no, it's the left one that gets hit."
Roy smiled, shaking his head. 'I should get some of those meds to go...'
Ed looked over at Roy, saying, "Oh, you're back. Or maybe you really are a hallucination this time...I'm tellin' you, it's a conspiracy. There's a bunch of these little green dudes that come through here singing the Quangle Wangle's Hat."
Roy just looked at him, thinking that maybe he should get that nurse to come back...
"The Quangle Wangle's hat?" Roy asked lightly.
"Yes. You see, on top of the Crumpety tree lives the Quangle Wangle. But nobody's ever seen his face because of his beaver hat which is a hundred and two feet wide with ribbons and bibbons on ever side. And--" Ed suddenly stopped his hurried explanation, and suddenly gave Roy a look that clearly said 'oh crap'.
"Ed? What's wrong?" Roy asked worriedly.
"I, um...Nothing." Ed said, looking away as his face took a slightly pinker hue.'He just now remembered what happened..." Roy thought. He chose to sit next to Ed, who had started staring out the window.
"You haven't told me why, Ed." He said softly.
"Yeah, I did." Ed replied, sighing slightly. "It's because it's complicated."
"Want to explain?" Roy said, looking at him.
"Ever since I joined the military, we've gotten into arguments. But no matter how bad they were and no matter what was said, I knew that you cared about me and Al. And it wasn't soon after that when I decided that I liked you, because you always acted like you'd make a great dad one day."
Ed smiled slightly. "But a few weeks after we brought Al back and defeated the Humonculi, I was thinking about what we should do next. Should I go back to Risembul, or stay in Central? And for some reason, I started thinking about you. And that startled me, because I'd based a few decisions on what you might think. And that feeling from some years and months before had changed, but I didn't know how much until I was pinned against the wall today..."
Roy chose not to say anything, absorbing the younger alchemist's confession.
"After realizing how close I was, it didn't seem fair that I was going to die, and never figure it all out. You'd come home and go inside, and probably not find my body for a few days. I didn't want to die, not alone like that. When you yelled, I thought I imagined it, and I didn't mind so much, but when I saw it was you, I was actually glad you were there. "
"Why?" Roy asked bemusedly. " Why did it make a difference if you thought you were going to die?"
"Because, I wasn't going to die instantly, so I could at least be near you when it happened. But I'm glad it worked out that way. Everything felt cold, I assume from the lack of blood, but I was warm in your arms. It was then that I figured out how I felt, and I'll be damned if I didn't do something to show you."
Roy stared at Ed, surprise at how defiant that last bit sounded.
"So um..." Ed blushed a bit, coming to full terms with what he said. " So now you know. And I want you to know that until you know how you feel, I don't want to say anything else on the matter."
Roy nodded, his eyes drooping slowly. "Right..."
Ed looked at him, then said, "You should go home to sleep, Roy. I heard from Fuery that Riza kept you at the office all night."
Roy looked over at Ed, and nodded again in agreement. "Alright. You should get some rest too."
"Are you kidding? The painkillers these doctors have me on will get me to sleep whether I want to or not!" Ed said in a teasingly light voice.
Roy stood up and headed towards the door, where he paused and looked back.
"I'm glad you're okay Ed." He said dropping his usual facade.
Ed smiled. "Thanks..."
