Chapter 4: How did I get this bump on my head?

Blurred vision, a headache and a spinning room met Edward when he managed to open his eyes. Coming to, he realised the room was upside down. No, he was upside down, crushed against the wall at the bottom of Pinako's staircase with all of the force of his own body weight.

Having righted himself, Ed rubbed his head and looked up to see Granny stood over him, examining his mangled automail. He shuddered and froze with a yelp when he noticed Winry sat at the table. She didn't look up or seem to recognise his presence in the room. She just kept lifting her tea to her lips and glancing at a book rested against her empty plate.

"Edward, are you alright?" Pinako leant further forward. Ash fell out of the pipe tucked into the corner of her mouth. "You're bleeding, did you cut yourself?"

The wound on his arm had opened and he had gotten blood all over the floor and his trousers. He also had a huge cut on his forehead from where he had plummeted into the wall.

"You look a state Edward. Let me get you some clean clothes. In the meantime try and clean your wounds, there's bandage in the cupboard over there." Pinako handed him a scrap of fabric to hold on his wounds to stop the bleeding.

He looked around her towards Winry; she still hadn't looked up at him. A frown flitted across his face as he bowed his head and got up to clean his cuts at the sink. Attempting to take a step forward, he found that his automail leg just didn't respond. Grabbing for the banister to save him from falling, he tried to push against it to see if it would take any weight. It didn't. Not only did it creak and stick, a panel fell off and three screws tumbled to the floor.

Essentially hopping, he made it to the sink. He pulled the bandage out of the cupboard and wrapped it around his arm, forgetting to cut it before he did. While trying to hold the bandage on and not let the other end roll away, he clumsily looked for scissors. Searching through the cupboards turned up nothing but he noticed a pair had appeared on the sink. Looking around, he saw Winry was sitting back at the table. Exhaling, he cut the bandage and wrapped some more around his head to stop the bleeding.

Pinako appeared again with the set of clean clothes that had been left on Al's bed. "This is all I have right now. I'll head into the village to buy some more for you but it would help if you could stop bleeding on everything."

"Oh, thanks Granny. But I can go." Ed pulled the shirt over his shoulders. It was a little tight which surprised him seeing as Al had been the taller of the two brothers. How old were these clothes? When had Al last been here?

"Edward, aside from you're automail being a mess, you said you would fix my roof. So give your leg to Winry, eat your breakfast and get to work." Smiling and patting him on the back, Pinako put her coat on, took hold of her walking stick and stepped outside, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Once outside, Pinako laughed a little, hoping that the time alone would allow Edward and Winry to talk. Winry had never told her what happened between the pair which worried Pinako so it was clear that what had happened hurt both of them very deeply. When they had been happy, it was as if their worlds were complete. They complimented each other so well, it almost made no sense that they shouldn't be talking.

Hoping for the best, Pinako made her way into the village praying she could remember Ed's shirt size.

Edward glared at the door, suddenly aware of the predicament he was in. He had no choice but to turn to Winry, who was already turned in her chair and staring at him with entirely vacant eyes.

His expression became clouded and he looked down at the floor to avoid her gaze. As if he was a small boy again, his hands crept behind his back and he shuffled his broken automail foot, scratching at a knot in the wooden floor. He just didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again quickly. He peeked up from under his fringe, which he now noticed was a complete mess and sticky with blood from the cut on his head. She was still staring at him.

He sighed and let his head fall gain. He must look ridiculous to her. His automail was rusted and literally falling apart, the shirt on his back was too small, his trousers were covered in dirt from kneeling on the roof and his hair was knotted with blood and dirt. He knew she must think him to be just pathetic.

Trying again to think of something to say, he was interrupted mid-thought...

"Leave your automail there. There are a set of crutches by the door for now as the only spare leg we have is far too small for you. I saw the tools you need outside so you'd better get started on that roof. Granny will have a fit if you don't finish it." Winry had turned away from him and was once again looking through the book in front of her and drinking her tea.

Ed sat down where he had been stood and examined his automail. He needed a ratchet to loosen the grip of his automail and take it off. As if she heard his thoughts, Winry slid one towards him along the floor and then turned her back on him again. A little exasperated, Edward struggled to loosen the grip his automail had on his leg. Unfortunately, due to the years of neglect the joint had seized and it took a lot of strength to pull it off. When it finally came loose shards of metal, dirt and screws fell all over the floor. He felt bad that Winry would have to try and fix this mess. Hopping over to her chair, he laid the leg down beside her and reached for the crutches, nearly falling again in the process.

He stepped out of the house and pulled the door shut, watching Winry as he did. She didn't move a muscle.

"I suppose that could have gone worse. Somehow." Edward stepped onto the rough gravel and looked down the road that led to the house. He could still see Pinako's tiny form walking away.

Turning back to the house he noticed that the ladder had already been put up against the wall. The challenge now was to climb it with only one leg.