Kren woke up slowly, not opening his eyes. He knew there was light beyond his eyelids, and was not ready to welcome it into his view, fearing that it would blind and confuse him. And so he lay under a thin sheet, on a soft and comfortable mattress. Using his other senses he registered a hospital bed. The room smelled of chemicals and soap. He grimaced and finally opened his eyes to see a four-inch needle being jabbed into his arm.

His scream shook the building and made nearby patients have heart attacks.

"Damn it, warn us before you do that next time kid!" roared the needle-holder who looked more like a drill sergeant than a doctor.

Kren looked up at him and stammered "Er...sorry sir." The door opened and closed.

"Hey, looks like someone's up."

A short blonde-haired boy wearing a red coat and white gloves walked in, followed by a 7-foot tall suit of armor. Kren stared wide-eyed. If the books and articles he read were true, then these were the Elric brothers. Either that, or really good impersonators. He'd heard of a place called Xenotime where two brothers had tried to impersonate the Elrics.

"So, you're Edward Elric? I pictured you...well..."

The suit of armor intterupted him.

"I wouldn't do that."

Kren looked up at the giant metal suit.

"What? I was going to say taller."

Ed looked about ready to explode. Al sweatdropped.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A RUNT SO SMALL HE COULD DROWN IN A WATER-DROP YOU BASTARD!!!"

Kren laughed. This was Edward, alright. He ignored Ed's rants and returned his gaze to who he presumed to be Alphonse.

"Okay...if he's Ed...you must be Al. Right?"

Al nodded.

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't confuse me with Ed. Most people think I'm the older brother...on one account, I was even mistaken for Ed's dad!"

Ed had settled down by now, but remembering that made him mutter "Damn those people...so stupid..."

Kren thought over what had happened before this, and looked down at his arms. He quickly regretted it.

They were bruised almost black all over, and also burned very badly. His fingers were bent at akward angles, and he could see the tip of a wrist bone sticking out of his right hand. Ed nodded towards him.

"And this is what they look like after the doctors fixed most of it. You're lucky. With today's advancements in science they were able to almost completely heal your arms, but your wrists are proving a problem to them. They can't seem to find exactly where the break is, and seeing how there's so many veins and blood vessels in your wrists, they can't risk just cutting you open to find out."

Kren looked at him puzzled. A broken wrist was one of the easiest things to fix, let alone a broken arm. But then he remembered who he was talking to and shook his head.

"That's right...I'm in the...past."

Ed seemed to have missed that comment, as he was trying to persuade the nurse to take back the milk he was taking to Kren, and exchange it for a beer or something. But Alphonse heard him.

"What? What do you mean the past?"

Kren didn't answer him. Should he tell them? How this happened? He watched Ed try to wrestle the milk away from the nurse and decided to wait for awhile. Afterwards, he talked very little and drank a beer. In a hospital. And he didn't see a drop of milk in sight. Good thing. Kren hated milk.

A/N: There, Chapter 4's much longer! And yes...Kren hates milk. Thanks for the reviews, they are very encouraging. I'll be writing Chapter 5 as soon as possible...and...Happy New Year! At midnight! Lol. Well, Happy New Year when it comes!