Hello~ Sorry for not updating quite as regularly; ideas for Kill Game and school and other nonsense (laziness, crossovers, etc.) keep on getting in the way. But come November I will be freed from my chains and will have more time to type and think and enjoy doing a good deal of nothing.
I'm afraid the Internet is insisting that I do not own FMA. As the Internet knows all I think I will heed it.
(Oh, overly descriptive paragraphs, how you fall out of my head like rocks.)
Chapter Nine: Enter the Second Doctor
Any sort of regular passerby would glance upon the fair man and believe that he was in desperate need of a vacation. Those assuming passerby would be nothing short of correct, as Urey Heiderich was very much in need of a vacation.
Urey was a calm man on most days. But a day like today, where everything managed to go wrong and this happened and that happened and nothing was in anything that could possibly be considered order, he became stressed and just a bit frazzled. Urey was also a man who could manage to make people believe that he was still as calm as ever, when in reality there was one hell of a storm tearing through his thoughts and the slightest slip up would send him into a mental fit of rage.
Outwardly the man had two particular emotions; content and neutral, the latter being the one show the most often, the first only showing when he was graced by the presence of his family. (He could also look very serious, which suited his doctorly demeanor nicely, but only when he was working with a patient with some sort of fatal wound or disease.) Only those who were the very closest to him could tell what real mood he might be in. And it wasn't the way he displayed his facial expressions, but his body language. Being stressed would result in messy hair and little eye contact; pride, tranquility, or just happiness would bring out a light in the man's eyes that was unmistakable. There would be the slightest raise of his eyebrows, an upturning of the corners of his mouth so minuscule it was almost unnoticeable, and his entire being would radiate with positive energy.
His wife said that his personality was what made him a good doctor, as he was a very influential man; his presence alone could sooth a wailing baby or relax even the most anxious of patients. The way the man unconsciously held himself said, "I will keep you safe." And it was true; losing patients was a rare occurrence for him.
But enough rambling about Urey Heiderich. There were places he needed to be and things that needed to be done. He had just received word that his wife was with yet another patient. From what he had heard over the phone was that the boy she was treating was a bit of a special case, and most likely the cause of all the injuries he had nursed today. Men had black eyes and broken collarbones; footprints were on their faces and shoulders, Urey had no doubt that they would be brandishing some lovely bruises for the next few weeks or so...
...Not that Urey was complaining. He wasn't injured and it really wasn't his business anyway. He just treated his patients, mentally heaved a sigh of exasperation at the number of idiots dawning the exact same injury, and received a nice sum of money for his services.
The man was currently striding what was the town's main street, briefcase in one hand, jacket in the other. He took long, deliberate steps that forced people out of his way; practically the entire town knew who he was and nobody wanted to be in the way of a doctor on the job. Urey rounded a corner and came to the street his home was on. Sara's automobile was parked hastily on the curb, showing that she had been in a bit of a rush.
Urey made his way up the steps to his front door and opened it quietly, feeling more relaxed the second the warm air from inside caressed his face. He stepped inside and looked to his left up the stairs, which were directly off the door's opening. It sounded like all three of the kids where up there, trying and failing to not make a ruckus. Urey smiled to him self as he made his way straight down the hallway that led past the living room and kitchen, all the way back to where the small infirmary they had for treating patients was located. There was a door on his left which led into said infirmary, which he knocked lightly on before opening. Sara and Officer Hughes both looked quickly up at him as he entered.
"So what's all this about then?" he asked, eyes flicking between his wife, the officer, and the bed where his mysterious, trouble-causing patient was currently resting.
"We've got a boy here," Sara started, "who's got a bullet wound in his shoulder. I've patched him up now, but I need you to take a good look at him and fix it up." She nodded at Hughes, who stood and moved out of the way so Urey could see exactly who he was treating. The man felt his breath catch in his throat.
"Th-this is...!" Urey stuttered; he was so utterly floored he couldn't make any words form in his mouth. He was looking down at Eduard, his left shoulder bandaged up tight and his right full of metal plates. Long gold hair was laying across his pillow, looking messy and knotted.
"This is not Eduard." Sara said calmly, reaching to grab her husband's hand. "He's someone else, he's not...not from around here, you could say." Urey looked over at Sara, his sky blue eyes meeting her blue-gray ones.
"I can tell he's not Eduard, they're too different physically." Urey said after a moment. "So who is he then?"
"You could call him another version of Eduard." Hughes said. "He's got the general looks and personality, but he's obviously led a completely different life than our Eduard."
"And how is he related to all of the people I've been treating today?" Urey looked incredulously at Hughes.
"Well, it's a bit of a long story, so I'll spare you the unnecessary details. Long story short, this boy here is the end result of some weird experiment by those guys from Munich working in our factory." Hughes explained quickly. "He beat up a bunch of the guys and escaped, then I found him and some of those guys who didn't get hurt found us and shot him."
"'Those guys' being members of that cult-ish Thule Society thing, right?" Urey asked.
"Yep. Those are the ones." Hughes confirmed. Urey scowled.
"I shouldn't have treated them." He glowered at the sleeping boy who had made his day a very tiring one. The only person he had treated today who hadn't been injured by this boy, the only person he was supposed to treat today, was the twelve year old girl down the way who was sick in bed with a cold. He had been on his way back home when some very breathless men dragged him off to the factory, begging him to help out their co-workers. Urey obliged, which resulted in a very long, tiring day. They were a picky bunch, making it hard for Urey to not hate them, but now, as he learned that they not only involved a child in their weird experiments but also shot said child, he wasn't going to try to hide his utter dislike for them. Urey was just too damn tired. Sara laughed at his apparent grumpiness while Hughes quietly spectated; it was interesting, seeing a well respected man like Urey Heiderich lose face like that.
"Either way," Sara said, a small smile gracing her lips, "they're not important right now, but he his." She motioned to Eduard's sleeping double.
"What's his name?" Urey asked as he pulled the back the sheets covering the boy. The boy let out a soft, sleepy moan of protest, not appreciating the warm blankets being removed from his body.
"He said his name is Edward Elric." Sara informed Urey. "Officer Hughes and I have been calling him Ed."
"Ed, huh? Well Ed, I've had a rough day because of you." Urey gave a lock the boy's bangs a gentle tug; it was is own roundabout way of revenge. Ed stayed still and sleeping, oblivious to the doctor's harassment.
"Will you grab me some scissors, Sara?" Urey said suddenly, deciding that inflicting his revenge upon sleeping, wounded children was not a very moral thing to do. Sara nodded and grabbed a pair of scissors while Urey moved to the left side of the bed for a better look.
"Might want some painkillers and sedatives for him too." Urey mused. "I doubt he'd be pleased if he wakes up in the middle of my examination and restitching of his wound."
Once Ed had a good shot of anesthetics and sedatives in his system and Urey had some scissors, he carefully cut away the bandages wrapped around Ed's shoulder; the lower layers were soaked with blood. Urey gazed expertly at the hasty stitching his wife had used to close the wound. He cut those too. Sara already had some thread and a needle (of the medical sort) ready and waiting for him to re-suture the wound.
Urey took time carefully examining the hole, going over the boy's muscles and bones, making sure that there would be no permanent damage or complications. The process took a good while, but finally Urey had neatly stitched up the wound so that there would be no more bleeding, so long as Ed held still like a good child until his shoulder healed up. Sara and Urey cleaned Edward up while Hughes stood by the doorway, making sure no one came to disturb them.
By the time everything was said and done, the sun was only just reaching over the buildings of the small town. Hughes stretched his arms above his head and sighed.
"Well, I had better be getting back." He said. "I'll have a lot of explaining to do as to why I've been missing for the better part of the day." Hughes laughed meekly; this whole ordeal would not look good to his boss. And after that he could go home and clean the bloody floors of his apartment. Oh, what fun.
"You didn't have to stay so long." Sara said, giving Hughes a sympathetic look.
"I wanted to make sure the kid was okay. None of this was his fault, it wouldn't be very fair to him." Hughes replied. Sara gave him a smile.
"Well, do what you need then." she said. "And come back anytime, okay? We might need some help keeping tabs on our trouble-maker." Hughes laughed and nodded.
"Will do." He gave her a short wave and headed towards the door. Once outside the officer heaved a sigh and wondered what was going to happen next.
"Sounds like he left." Heide said, leaning heavily against the door. Eduard raised an eyebrow at her and Alfonse looked exasperated; another fight was brewing, he could tell.
"You can just open the door and look you know." Eduard said. It was a provocative statement that rendered Alfonse correct.
"Well what if I don't want Officer Hughes to see me?" Heide snapped. She enjoyed the fact that she could rightly perform what was only done in the mystery novels she read; a scene where the leading man would lean against a door to suspiciously eavesdrop on unsuspecting officers appeared at least once in every one. Heide refused to pass up the chance.
"I guess that makes sense." Eduard looked thoughtful.
"It does?" Heide was a bit surprised by Eduard's response.
"Well yeah, with your looks I'm surprised anyone wants to see you." He gave her a wide, evil grin that only grew wider and even more evil as Heide's face turned beat red with anger.
"You're a bloody JERK, do you know that?" When 'jerk' left Heide's lips, her foot collided with Eduard's shin.
Alfonse decided to leave them alone. He knew there was nothing that could be done about their bickering, and quite frankly he was almost glad for it. In her own weird, unorthodox way, Heide was helping Eduard to cope with the day's ordeals. All three of them had a feeling that they were going to see Eduard's double again whether they liked it or not, so Heide did the only thing she could do, and that was fight with Eduard. It was like a distraction, a deviation from all the rough times that were undoubtedly ahead of them. People naturally draw comfort from anything that is normal, some sort of occurrence that happens on a daily basis for a person to lean or depend on.
The fact that Eduard started the fight this time was a good sign. His friend was a bit of a spit-fire who always managed to bounce back, of that Alfonse knew best. He just hoped it would last.
Alfonse stood and walked quietly in between his best friend and his sister. As good as fighting was (how very ironic, he thought) the youngest of the trio was becoming sick and tired of it. Eduard and Heide paused, both looking at Alfonse with worried expressions.
"Where're you going?" Eduard asked.
"Away from you two." Alfonse said. "I want to see how Mom and Dad are doing." He walked slowly and meaningfully towards the door.
"So you guys can just continue your fight..." He reached for the door knob.
"...alone..." It turned slowly in his fingers.
"...together." Alfonse gave the two blondes one very nasty smirk before bolting for his life down the stairs, the wooden door slowly closing in his wake.
Eduard looked at Heide. Heide looked at Eduard. Both wore an expression of embarrassment and anger. Heide glowered at the floor, not really knowing what else to do. Eduard just heaved a sigh and flopped onto his bed.
"Aren't you gonna follow him?" Heide glanced up quickly at her crush. Eduard lifted his head, as he was sprawled out on his back, and gave her a funny look.
"And why on earth would I want to go see a couple of doctors poke around at the insides of some unconscious person?" At that Eduard let his head drop back onto the bed.
"I doubt they're doing that." Heide mumbled.
"You never know." Eduard retorted. Heide couldn't come up with anything to say back. It was true; when it came to anything medical, anything and everything could happen. She thought desperately for something to say. The longer she waited the harder it would be to say anything.
"So...um, what was it like?" Heide slapped herself mentally.
"What was what like?" Eduard sat up and glared at her, not liking her incomplete question.
"You know, seeing that other version of you." Heide said quickly. She hated how shy she got when they were alone. With Alfonse around she could yell and scream and say what she wanted. But without him...she might as well stitch her mouth shut.
Eduard seemed to ponder Heide's question. In all truth and honesty, the idea that there was another version of himself running around out there was kinda cool. The circumstances were what made him feel sick though. He suddenly wondered what would happen if his mother saw his other self and felt even more sick.
There would simply be no way Trisha would be able to handle it. Ever since his father died she seemed off, somehow. She was always lost in her thoughts, even when she was holding a conversation with someone or crossing the street. In fact, just the other day Eduard had to grab her in order to stop her from crossing the road; if she had kept going, she would have been hit by a speeding car.
"I wish it never happened." He decided. "Those Thule freaks shouldn't have come here, and non of this should be happening." Eduard had always enjoyed working at the factory; admiring rockets, learning new things from some of the more friendly scientists...It all changed when the Thule Society took over their town. Everything became nothing but secrets and lies. And now this.
Heide felt more lost now than before. This whole conversation had gone from bad to worse. She sat down on the other bed and looked at her feet.
"Sorry for asking." she mumbled. Heide always hated apologizing, it made her sound like she was giving up the fight. But this time an apology was in order. Eduard blinked at her in surprise.
"N-no, it's not your fault!" He said quickly; crying girls were bad, very bad. Heide heaved a shaky sigh and looked up at Eduard. He looked down at her, an upset expression on his face.
"It's my fault!" He insisted, anything to prevent the girl from crying. "I shouldn't be acting so depressed, so..."
Eduard trailed off and looked away, not really knowing what else to say.
"It was a silly question." Heide said.
"I guess..." Eduard agreed. Agreeing with girls generally made them feel better, right?
"You're not supposed to agree!" Heide leaned over and gave Eduard a light smack on the knee. "You're supposed to tell me that everything's alright and that it wasn't a silly question." She glared at Eduard, who had scooted back on his bed so that he was leaning against the wall, legs drawn up and out of reach of the angry girl.
"Sheesh sorry." Eduard rolled his eyes; it was a silly question in his opinion. This girl read way to many romantic novels; like he would know how to do all of that previously mentioned nonsense.
Heide grumbled to herself and sat back, thinking of something else to say that wouldn't turn into a fight.
She was failing.
"Lets go downstairs." she decided.
"I thought we didn't want to go." Eduard said.
"Well we've got nothing else to do, right?" Heide asked. She had a point; they only managed to fight with one another, which wasn't very productive.
"I guess." Eduard shrugged and stood up, going for the door. Heide stood as well and followed closely behind him. She looked down longingly at the boy's hand; it was so close she could slip her hand into his without stretching her arm at all. She refrained from doing anything, of course. Eduard would just give her a funny look and pull his hand away.
Eduard stopped so suddenly on the staircase that Heide ran into him, almost causing them both to fall down the remaining stairs. Heide was about to yell at him for being so abrupt, but then she noticed why he stopped.
Trisha was lying at the bottom of the steps, barely conscious.
"Mom?" Eduard ran down the stairs, leaving Heide where she stood. He crouched down next to Trisha, and lifted her slightly. Her breathing was shallow and labored, and her was skin clammy.
"Eduard...that boy..." she murmured, eyelashes fluttering. "I've only had you though, haven't I?" She was ice cold and pale, aside from the unhealthy looking red blotches on her cheeks.
"W-what boy?" Eduard asked, pulling her closer.
"He looks just like your father...only..." Trisha trailed off, her head drooping onto Eduard's shoulder.
"Only what? Heide, go get your parents!" Eduard turned and looked at the frozen girl desperately. She nodded and rushed past them.
"...Philip..." Trisha all but breathed out her late husband's name before fainting completely. Eduard clutched his mother tightly and looked down at her pale face.
"M-Mom? Wake up. H-hey, it's gonna be okay, so just wake up!" Eduard looked at the front door desperately, willing help to come rushing through it. What should he do? He could hear Sara and Urey rushing down the hallway, Alfonse and Heide close behind.
He could feel his mother being taken from his arms, which went limp at his sides. Alfonse was crouched next to him, grabbing his shoulder and turning Eduard so that he was facing him. Heide was standing uncertainly behind them.
"Eduard, they've got your mom, she'll be okay." Alfonse said. "She's strong, so..." Eduard gazed at Alfonse unblinkingly.
"'Fons... Who are your parents treating right now?" he asked. Alfonse blinked; clearly they were treating his mother. Why would he ask a question like that? Unless...
"...They've got that boy...The one who looks like you." Alfonse said, realizing where Eduard was going with this.
"I think Mom saw him."
Oh dear. That was a bit unexpected, wasn't it? I'm sorry I'm so terrible with cliffhangers. But they're so much fun~
Anywho, reviews filled with ideas are appreciated; some darlings wanted some Eduard/Heide so I threw a bit in there, even though I'm clearly terrible at writing awkward situations filled with UST and all that lovely stuff. Oh well. Learn as you go, right?
~Maddy
P.S. I've almost got 4,000 words in this chappie! I'm getting better! w00t!1!1one!1!
