"Ha. I always knew it would come to this some day." Envy said, grinning.
"I had a feeling too…except for the fact he would actually swallow my hand."
"Oh suck it up, you baby. You'll survive without it."
"I know; I know…"
Al opened the door and peeked in on his brother. "Brother?"
Ed opened an eye and looked at the door from the bed. "Yeah?"
Al came inside the room with a doctor. "I've brought a doctor to check up on you."
The doctor bowed slightly and smiled. "I hear your stomach's bothering you."
"That some sorta joke?"
The doctor chuckled. "Not at all; now let's check up on what's wrong with you."
The doctor sat on a chair beside the bed and had Ed remove his shirt so he could feel on his stomach. (A/N: Not that way you sick fan girls. xD)
"Brother, this doctor's also an Alchemist." Al said, enthusiastic.
"Well that makes sense…it is a military job after all."
Once the doctor was finished with his inspection, he took some notes.
"So is there something wrong with Brother?" Al asked.
"Can't tell from the outside."
"Does that mean…!?!" Ed began.
The doctor nodded. "Surgery will be needed in order to check on your internal organs."
"Kill me now…" Ed mumbled to himself. He then slapped his stomach with his left hand. "Stupid stom—OWOWOWOW!" Ed gripped his stomach.
"You should be more careful, brother." Al sighed.
"Shut up." Ed snapped quickly.
And so Ed was sent to the emergency room so he could have his surgery done. It wasn't that advanced in technology but enough to make sure he stayed alive. Ed practically flipped off the surgery table when they told him he had to be awake during the procedure. He couldn't believe that; it was just…insane! But, taking the fact that they didn't have much technology…Ed was screwed.
The doctors were talking amongst themselves—allowing Al to visit Ed for a few minutes.
"I feel like I'm about to go up for an execution." Ed said.
"Brother, you'll be fine. They've done stuff like this before; all they're doing is opening your stomach to LOOK at your organs."
"But if they find something they'll tamper with it."
"Well that's their job! They're supposed to make you better, now let them." Al commanded.
"Fine…" Ed mumbled.
"I better go…looks like they're finishing up over there. Good luck."
Ed mumbled something under his breathe angrily as Alphonse left.
Before Al got out of the room, the doctors asked him to stay in the room, in case they needed him or information from him.
Al sat in a chair near the door, to stay out of their way. He watched as the doctors tied his brothers' limbs down on the table.
He gulped, nervous for Ed—and the fact that he had to WATCH.
A knock came to General Mustang's office door.
"Come in." He beckoned.
Lieutenant Hawkeye came inside his office and approached his desk.
"What is it, Hawkeye?"
"I have some news about the Elrics."
"Hm? I thought Ed was just resting in the dorms."
"Well he was…until Alphonse insisted he have a doctor see him; now Edward's in surgery."
"Surgery!? Is it really that serious?"
"They're not sure. The doctor couldn't find anything unusual from the outside, so I guess it's an organ defect."
"But out of nowhere like this? Something's not right."
"Nothing ever has been, sir."
One of the nurses was sitting with Alphonse, keeping him company until she was needed.
"So you two are real close, huh?"
Al nodded, smiling. "Yeah, always have been."
"Just wondering…but have you seen a model of the human organs before?"
"Once or twice, yeah. It was when my Alchemy teacher was in a small-town hospital because of organ troubles."
"They might have you take a look at your brother's organs, they often do that to show the families what's going on."
"Sounds…disturbing."
"I know, but at least we inform—unlike other hospitals."
"Yeah that's true."
"Nurse!" A doctor called out.
"Well, I'll be back in a bit." She said, hopping up and walking over to the station.
After a few moments of waiting, the nurse did come back. But she didn't sit down next to Al this time, she stood in front of him.
"Al, time to see your brother." She said.
Al stood up, and on the way to the station, he prepared himself to see his brother's organs. He didn't have a problem with them really, it was just the fact of seeing inside a person that creeped Al out.
The doctors made a spot for Al to see Ed's organs.
Al was speechless; his brothers' organs were slowly decaying.
"Wh—what's happening to him?" Al managed to ask.
"Something's eating away at him—something inhumane."
"But how!?"
"Alphonse.." Ed started.
"Brother?"
"It was her."
Al widened his eyes as the memory of Ed explaining how he defeated Sloth.
"No way….this can't be happening." Al said, to himself.