In which a disease is explained...


Then you look at me

You're not shouting anymore

You're silently broken

Edward had taken refuge under a tree for the rest of the night. The rain continued to fall in sheets, and the night air chilled him to the bone, but he refused to move. He suppressed all thought and simply stared out into the cemetery he had wandered into.

Of course he would end up here. Whenever he was angry or upset, he always stalked to the cemetery and told his mother all about his present troubles. So it was obvious that his angered and defeated feet brought him here. But he couldn't talk to his mother on this night. It seemed wrong of him to complain about death to a woman whom was already dead.

So he remained under the tree, struggling within himself to get up and stop acting like a child.

As the sky lightened grey with dawn, he stood and wiped the mud from his pants. Walking up the road, towards her house, he kept his mind blank, ignoring the inevitable truth. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep the thoughts from seeping into his consciousness.

"Winry has cancer, Edward."

"It's a degenerative disease…"

"…her body will eventually shut down…"

"I didn't want you to find out like this."

"My body has stopped responding to treatments."

"Or were you going to wait and let someone else do it when you were DEAD?"

"That was my intention."

His pace slowed and he gazed at the morning light. He knew that things were never going to be the same. Winry… His Winry…

Dying.

It was ridiculous. After all that they've been through; failed human transmutation, the constant battle with the homunculi, facing father, saving Amestris… After everything, it still hadn't been enough. He still hadn't been able to protect her.

Dammit! It was as if Truth had been fucking with him this entire time!

He clenched his teeth and violently kicked the fence along the road. A family of squirrels scattered from their hiding place and scampered up a tree. Ed scowled and continued walking.

It hadn't been enough that he and his brother had given themselves up. Now Truth wanted Winry. He blinked his blurry eyes rapidly and wiped the stray tears away. He had to get a hold of himself. He was Edward Elric, dammit! He wasn't known to be crier.

But… this was Winry. When he first saw her, lying underneath the oak tree, his entire being seemed to light up. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her. But after seeing how small she had gotten, deep inside he knew something was wrong. Maybe he had known all along, but he simply didn't want to admit it. He was a stubborn brute and he knew it, but he should have seen this coming. As soon as he saw her, he should have demanded for her to tell him what was wrong.

But he was an idiot. Instead, he had pushed it away and ignored her. And then when he found out… he screamed and stormed out like a child. He hadn't once thought about how she felt about it.

Edward was ashamed. He had walked out on the one girl he gave a damn about when she needed him. For Truth's sake, she was practically his fiancée!

Oh yes, he hadn't forgotten the day he proposed. His brother had scoffed when he told him. He didn't believe that a few nice words had been a proposal. But Edward knew that Winry understood, because only she would. And that's why he loved her.

And yet he had walked out on her.

What a great man he was.

With an air of determination he hadn't had before, he approached the Rockbell household.


Ed stiffened as he stepped into the living room and came face to face with an unknown man.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, vaguely noticing his brother exiting the room.

"You must be Edward Elric." The man held out his hand as if to shake. "I'm Dr. Jenkins. I've heard quite a lot about you."

Edward extended his hand. "Have you now?"

The older man smiled, the laughing lines around his mouth growing. "Miss Winry is fond of recounting the stories of your travels."

Well, if that wasn't a kick in the gut…

Dr. Jenkins face grew serious. "Actually, could you spare a moment?" He indicated Edward's dirty clothes. "From what Ms. Pinako tells me, you had a rough time last night. I'm sure you have questions."

Edward followed the doctor into the kitchen and took a seat by the window. Dr. Jenkins folded his hands over each other and addressed Edward calmly.

"What would you like to know?"

Ed took his time shifting through his murky thoughts before settling on a simple one. "What does she have, exactly?"

"Leukemia, or in simpler terms, a cancer of the blood."

"Is there a cure?" Ed was going to ask this question last, but it burst from his mouth without hesitation.

Dr. Jenkins sighed and looked out the window. "Unfortunately, no. I've been researching this disease for twenty years, and there still… There is nothing."

Edward's mind raced. "But what about Alkehestry ? That has to-"

"You think that after twenty years, I haven't already thought of that?" Dr. Jenkins cut in. "Alkehestry only heals external wounds, and while it has been known to heal internally, it's only temporary, as I'm sure you know." He pointed to his abdomen, the exact point where Edward had been pierced with an iron beam three years before.

"I was temporarily healed, but I had to see a doctor for it to be properly repaired."

"Exactly." The aged doctor removed his spectacles and rubbed his eyes. "Wounds such as that is simply a repair of tissues and muscles. You had internal bleeding, and you were lucky you didn't puncture anything serious. However, Winry's disease is not in a congregated area. It flows throughout her entire body, through one of her most vital life forces. Due to the laws of Alchemy or Alkehestry, there is nothing that can be done. You of all people know that to exchange, something of equal value must be lost. There isn't any physical way that Winry's blood can be exchanged, and if there were a circumstance where this was possible, what is the equal of the purest form of life?"

Edward breathed deeply. "So, there is nothing we can do."

Dr. Jenkins pursed his lips. He couldn't count how many times he had been in this situation, but it was as if every time was his first. And every time, it got harder and harder. This time was no different.

"She still has a bit more time. The treatments may no longer work, but she can still move. She can eat on her own, and she has enough energy to make it up and down the stairs, which is amazing. Spend this time with her. There is no use in brooding. You will regret it; trust me."

He didn't want to ask. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

But he did anyway.

"How much time?"

There was silence for a moment. In that moment, Winry slept soundly. It had taken her a few hours to calm down, in which time Dr. Jenkins had been called to evaluate her. Tear tracks marked her cheeks and her heart beat in sadness when she had finally fallen asleep.

Den was chasing after a squirrel.

Pinako was down in the basement, working on an automail foot for a farmer close to town.

And in this small kitchen, Edward was about to hear the time frame in which Winry's small body would break down and stop.

Dr. Jenkins opened his mouth, inhaled, and then breathed. "A month. Maybe two."

Edward hung his head in despair. His teeth clenched and his breath hitched. "This… can't be."

Dr. Jenkins exited the room quietly, and stepped outside, as he had done many times before. However, before he shut the door, he could faintly hear a soft, heartbroken cry from the kitchen.

To my two reviewers who don't have an account I can reply to:

To fmaXp3rt: Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I've been waiting for someone to criticize me. Lol, anyway, I have been working on fleshing out my stories. It's a bit of a problem for me.

To M.P: Thanks for reading! And aww! I'm so sorry I made you cry, but I guess that means I'm doing my job ;p And yes, the chapters are short, but I expect them to get a bit longer as it progresses. Once again, thank you!

And to the rest of my readers and reviewers, thank you for taking the time to read my story. It really makes my day. I'm working on adding some meat to this skeletal-like fic, so hang in there XD