A child part 10

-ROY—

I was numb, I couldn't think. All I could do was act, and do what Brenda had told me to do. I fetched a tub of water and snapped my fingers, warming it. Setting it beside Ed I rung the dripping towel and wiped it over his forehead.

It was only when he screamed again that it hit me.

Ed was going into labour.

Oh.

My.

God!

Labour meant baby… baby meant… I would be a… f-father!

My eyes all but popped out of my skull as this realisation came crashing down on me. I stood and began pacing frantically, fisting my hair and trying to piece together my shattered nerves. My mind was a mess of words and images, but none of the words would match up with the images, they refused. Nothing made sense and I couldn't for the life of me think of what to do.

Was I ready for a child!

Was I a good enough person to be a father?

Oh god! Was the house child friendly!

The mess of my mind was pulled together sharply by another scream. I stopped pacing and rushed to Ed's side. Immediately, all my worried were replaced with just one. Would they survive?

Al had somehow propped Ed up on some pillows while I had been spazing out. I grabbed the towel again and dabbed it over his pale face. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and I wiped them away with my thumb.

"Shh love, everything will be fine, just relax and breathe." I whispered in his ear, trying desperately to calm both him and myself. He opened his eyes and looked over to me; his golden suns were tired and full of pain. I smiled reassuringly at him.

"R-Roy," his voice was hoarse and crackly and barely above a whisper "M kay?" I nodded and kissed his forehead.

"Yes Ed, you're going to be fine, both of you will get through this." He nodded slightly and closed his eyes tightly, clenching his jaw to stop another scream as the pain washed over him.

I took his hand and he gripped mine tightly, my hand ached but that didn't matter. I heard a loud nock on the door downstairs and I looked up at Al, he nodded and looked down to his brother before patting him on the head and going downstairs to let Brenda in.

She came rushing into the bedroom, a large bag slung over her shoulder. She knelt down beside Ed where Al had previously been and gently placed the bad down beside her.

"B-Brenda, what do we do?" I stuttered. She unzipped the bag and rummaged through it, feeling around for what she was searching for, her eyes never once leaving the panting blonde.

"Since the labour is early, by about half a month, both of them may be at risk, but luckily the baby has by now fully developed, but Ed will be in a lot of pain so I will need you to comfort him, try and make him feel even a little bit better." I nodded and Ed gripped my hand tighter as he screamed again.

"F-fucking hell!" he screamed, throwing his head back and baring his teeth. "Roy! This is all y-your fucking fault!" I gasped and my eyes widened as I realised he was right.

"Oh god!" I panicked and Brenda looked over to me "This is my fault! He is in pain because of me! Oh god! Oh god! I am horrible! Oh man I am so sorry Ed!" Al chuckled from the end of the bed where he was standing, watching.

"Roy, he is only saying that, he doesn't mean any of it." I looked over to the chuckling boy and then to Brenda, she nodded and smiled reassuringly at me.

"Don't worry, I insulted my husband horribly when I had my little girl, I had him pale as a sheet and crying after just one sentence." Suddenly Ed groaned and turned his head to look at me.

"I-I'm sorry Roy, I-I didn't mean it," he whispered. Wow. Major mood swing!

I found myself smiling down at my blonde. Brenda pulled a needle out of her bag and I watched as she prepared Ed's arm . "Ed, baby, I need you to look at me and keep calm ok?" he nodded, not knowing anything about the needle, well, that was, until it was in his arm.

"OUCH! FUCKING BITCH!" he screamed and turned his head to glare weakly at Brenda.

"That was a painkiller and numbing agent Ed, it will help you."

"I don't fucking care! You don't just go around jabbing people with fucking needles!" he fumed before groaning in pain again "Why isn't it working!"

"It will take some time before it kicks in, and then you won't feel it when I do the C-section." The blonde nodded and closed his eyes. His breath came in quick pants and he gripped my hand with all his strength. I felt sorry for Al who had held his automail hand before.

Soon the painkillers kicked in and Ed seemed to relax. "Ed?" I whispered, concerned by his lack of movement. "Ed, how are you feeling?" he opened his eyes and I saw such relief in his eyes.

"I can't feel anything Roy." He whispered lethargically. I turned to Brenda and gasped as she pulled an operating scalpel out of her bag.

"I will perform the C-section now." She lifted Ed's pyjama shirt and lowered the blade to his stomach, just below the melon-like bump.

I turned away. I couldn't watch as she sliced open my little blonde. Al came and knelt beside me, also looking away.

"I-I can't watch." He whispered.

I looked down at Ed, a sheen of sweat covered his forehead and I quickly reached for the towel to wipe it away. All I could do was make Ed as comfortable as possible.

Suddenly I heard a cry. It wasn't Ed's voice though; it was a high pitched voice that I heard. I snapped my head towards Brenda and gasped as I saw she was holding a small child in her arms. The child was covered in blood, his cries were loud and desperate.

I stood slowly and walked towards the baby. I collapsed onto my knees in front of Brenda and she smiled. She wrapped the kid up in a blue blanket she brought out of the bag after cleaning him up.

"Conrgats, here is your little boy." She handed me the small bundle and I took him in my arms, gently cradling him. He continued to cry and I watched, amazed, as he waved his little chubby arms in the air. I stood again, a giant smile on my face, and brought my little child over to Ed. I knelt back down beside the blonde.

He opened his eyes and I held out our son. "Aren." He whispered before reaching out and stroking the baby boy's soft cheek, the child hiccupped and stopped crying almost immediately. His eyes were full of love and happiness, and mine were full of pride.

I had helped create this beautiful child, and my little blonde had brought him into the world, risking everything for the life in my arms. No alchemy could create something this wonderful, no, Ed did this, this was his miracle.

Suddenly Ed's hand dropped and fell limp to his side. My eyes snapped to his face and I gasped as his eyes glazed over and his head lolled to the side.

"ED!" I called his name but no response came. Brenda was by his side in an instant, she had stitched up his stomach and stopped the bleeding already. She checked his pulse and breathing then brought another needle out of her bag. She injected it in Ed's arm and then quickly rummaged through her bag again. She brought out a stethoscope and placed it on the blonde's chest; she looked over to the digital clock on the bedside table for a minute before taking the stethoscope away and turned back to her bag.

"Heart rate, eighty five beats per minutes, blood pressure is way too high." She muttered. I panicked again, Ed was in danger! I watched as Brenda rummaged desperately through her bag.

Aren started crying again and I looked down at him. I rocked him gently and tried to make him happy, but it was no use, I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

Al was sobbing and stroking his brother's hair. Ed's breaths became laboured and his face scrunched up in pain. I let out a loud sob and took Ed's limp hand, shuffling Aren so he was resting on my arm.

Finally Brenda pulled something out of her bag and I gasped as I realised it was a blood bank. The small box opened to reveal several bags of blood, tubes and IV needles. She looked around until her eyes rested on AL.

"You're an alchemist right?" he nodded, tears streaking his cheeks. "I need you to make something to hold the blood so I can give it to Ed." Al only nodded again and clapped his hands together, placing them on the floor, a large pole with a hook on the end emerged from the carpeted floor. I had seen similar thing in hospitals, a drip. My heart gave a lurch. And it finally hit me.

Ed needed a blood transfusion.

He wouldn't need one if it wasn't serious.

Brenda placed the bag of blood on the hook and connected a long tube to it. On the end of the tube was a needle and I flinched for Ed as it was inserted into his vein. The blood trickled down the tube and into Ed's arm.

I could only watch as my Ed lie, helpless in the bed, pale as a ghost and needing a stranger's blood to survive. As soon as Brenda made sure everything was set up she pushed us out of the room, leaving us in the hallway to digest what had just happened.

Hoping that the small blonde inside, our precious Ed, would survive.