NOTE: I would like to say that if this becomes offensive to anyone for any purpose, whether it be medical bending in the rules or if some of you simply disagree with me on my view of treatment centers, you are not being forced to read it. Please simply close the page and we'll both remain happy. I'm not trying to come off rude, but it's only a warning before you read….

The luxurious vehicle moved down the quiet streets, passing along the few rarities of street lights along the path. The night had gotten cold, bitter, and terribly windy. It had started out feeling like a welcoming night into the stars, but as of now, the dark sky and chills through the air made Winry feel as though the night was now becoming very unfriendly.

Her hazy blue eyes searched curiously outside of the car window as her breath frosted the glass with each exhale of air. She knew it was dreadfully late. She didn't need to ask what the hour was. But she was eager to know whether the man driving her to her destination would be exposing her and her actions of partying and drinking. Her parents would be furious, and the life outside would be gone for a good while until the trust returned to her. And with the way her mother and father were, she didn't see that happening for quite some time if they were to find out.

It worried her, for they had been driving for almost five minutes in complete silence. The one who had offered her a ride had been a close medical friend to her parents, she was aware. She never got to talk to him much personally, but she knew who he was and so she had felt that accepting his offer for the drive home was quite possibly the only way she would get in less trouble.

"Were you planning on walking home?" The man questioned.

Winry tilted her eyes to carefully glance at him. Her head was starting to hurt and her body was growing cold from the outside air that was somehow still creeping inside the car. Her driver obviously didn't find much affection for heaters. Despite being intoxicated, she wasn't feeling warm and fuzzy inside like most people did with alcohol in their system.

"I don't know…"

She really didn't either. If he hadn't have come along, she wasn't quite sure what she would have done. Would she have tried to eventually start walking? Probably not… Winry could see that simply driving through the dark roads was eerie enough. Walking would have been out of the question. She would have most likely tried her luck with staying within the building.

"Mn…your boyfriend didn't come with you then? Not a very nice guy, is he?" He joked quietly.

Winry slowly shook her head. She had always been the honest type, so she didn't see any reason to lie.

"Oh… No. I don't have one."

If she did, she knew he would have been dancing the night away with her. In short, they most likely both would have been smashed up in alcohol.

"That's a shame- Such a pretty young lady."

Winry didn't know what else to do but mumble a couple words of thanks for his compliment. She knew this felt awkward, so she was certain that the man was only trying to find conversation until they reached her house. It didn't seem to occur to her quite yet that they were going farther out of town instead of in. Her mind was not where it should have been while being intoxicated.

"So... are you going to tell them?" Winry asked.

The man took in a deep breath as he turned the wheel to sharply round a corner. He seemed to be considering it, but he eventually decided to shake his head, chuckling.

"No, I don't think so. I was your age once. I've done a lot worse, so I know about creeping into the house at the late hours. But I can't promise you won't get in trouble… The hour you're walking in is already going to be suspicious enough."

Winry knew that was true. It didn't matter whether the man would reveal anything or not. It wasn't as though her parents had thrown in the towel and given up on her late arrival home.

"They probably already called the police on me," she mumbled.

"That's a possibility, but we're not going to worry about that right now. We'll worry when we get there."

When they got there? Winry knew that was wise advice, but it was easier said than done.

"We still have a long drive ahead of us anyways" he reminded her.

They did have a lengthy drive indeed. But Winry had no idea just how long it was going to be. A long drive and a very long night- a night she would never be able to forget.

Confessions and revealing hidden truths of abuse were never easy- If not only for the building shame, but the increased difficulty of belief made it that much harder. It was no simple task, whether it is admission to guilt or a claim of injustice as a victim.

Not many people in the world ever care to admit being wrong, nor do they stand in eagerness to offer their voice in the face of a degrading act done against them. The reasons tend to be endless. But for Winry, she had feared the truth because she had known what would come to be the final result. Anger, disappointment… Irritation? She wasn't quite sure what she saw in Edward's eyes at that moment. But she was certain of one thing, and for that she felt regret. He did not believe her. His silence had been evidence enough to his inner thoughts. Her accusation sounded ridiculous, she knew. Winry had not been here long, yet she had already revealed the main issue she had been struggling with. She had made a terrible decision. Winry had lowered her walls of defense and temporarily allowed Edward's aura of protection to surround her. So many patients' appreciated the young doctor's intelligence and understanding. They marveled at his surprising dedication and smiled at his occasional grumpy comments.

Winry hated doctors, she had wanted to trust one- just once. She wanted someone to understand her fear in that man. But judging by how the events played out, she wasn't quite sure she would ever get Dr. Elric to empathize. It was silly to ever believe he would.

Roy Mustang was the medical director of the hospital. He was high in status. He was charming at first appearance and soft spoken. And what was Winry considered? A young teenager in a mental institution with a profound hatred for medical staff and a stubborn attitude who now was also considered a threat to herself. Her arms were proof enough to that.

Glancing over to her side, Winry focused her eyes on the wrapped bandages that now covered her damaged skin. After the accusation she had made earlier, Edward had ignored her words and allowed the nurses outside to do the rest of the work. The only thing she had heard from him on his way out was a promise to check on her later.

Now Winry just felt numb all over. She had tried to hide what that man had done to her out of shame, but now that she had revealed his guilty actions against her, she wasn't finding the outcome a pleasant one. If anything, it felt worse than when she had been trying to hide it. When it had remained a secret, nobody knew about it, so nobody could take any steps to serving justice. But now that it was out in the open, it felt awful. She felt helpless, because now someone knew… but now the man who had done something so indecent to her was getting away with it. And in her current situation, nobody was willing to listen.

"It's not fair," Winry whispered.

Nothing was turning out to be very fair. She couldn't bring that man to justice, she couldn't get out of this hospital, and now she couldn't even move. Her decision to harm herself earlier had caused the staff to place a restriction on her mobility once again. There was nothing she felt was worse than being placed in restraints. She had been sedated before, but now she was quite aware of what was going on. It almost made her panic, but she put in a generous amount of effort to keep herself calm.

"Why did you hurt yourself, Winry?"

The blonde resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but kept them on the ceiling above her. She wasn't feeling much right now, so she had no issue with answering the question.

"I wanted to."

She knew the voice belonged to Riza. She was starting to see that woman a little too often for her liking as of now. Apparently restraints weren't enough for Dr. Elric. He instructed the woman to check on her as well. Winry was aware that Edward had not informed anyone about the accusation. But if he had, nobody around her was letting her know of it. And even if they did know, they were just as likely to turn their heads away and frown at her words. Nobody wanted to believe the truth. Not when it was masked so well behind a man who appeared to be respectful and charming on the surface.

Hawkeye did not persist in her questioning, which was good news to Winry. She wanted nothing to do with the woman, and she wanted nothing to do with the doctor who she had thought of trusting. How stupid she had been. What had he done to ever have deserved her trust? Nothing at all. Edward had been obnoxious, rude, and pushy with his need for information. Whatever had sparked her interest must have been some kind of terrible mistake- a mistake and some childish crush that had been developing. Dr. Elric was a handsome young man, Winry could always admit to that. But he still treated her like a child. He treated her as a doctor would… and she certainly could not expect more than that. How could she? What was it that she had ever been hoping to expect from him anyways?

Whatever it may have been, Winry was upset to discover that she had no clear answer to give herself. The only thing she felt she could blame her reasoning on was pure desperation for someone to listen.

She just wished she would have thought more carefully about her decision.

"Will… you tell me his name?"

"His name is Mustang… Roy Mustang."

Edward sat alone in his office, tossing his pen up and down in the air, despite the growing pile of paperwork on his desk. It had been awhile since he left Winry to the nurses, but her words still rang fresh in his mind. It wasn't like him to slack on his medical documents. It reminded him of his annoying boss, and he really didn't want to resemble him at all. Especially after what his blonde patient had to say about him.

He couldn't say he believed her. It sounded ridiculous to even think about. Edward was well aware that Mustang could be considered a womanizer, but to think of him going after someone at Winry's age and acting without consent… It just didn't seem possible. Roy Mustang always had his choice of females. It seemed he had a different one each week, but as far as Edward was concerned, all of them had gone to him of their own free will. He had met many of them in the past. No doubt they all got heartbroken in the end, but none of them had ever claimed Mustang touched them inappropriately when it wasn't wanted.

"She doesn't like doctors... It's a hell of a way to rebel, but that accusation is just ridiculous," he muttered to himself.

Mustang was not only Edward's boss. The young doctor had been associated with him for quite a few years. And although he had known him to be a smug, disgustingly flirtatious, and lazy bastard… violent just didn't seem to fit the picture for the man.

Edward had asked himself again and again for reasons as to why Winry would lie to him over something that seemed so sensitive. But he couldn't think of a reason as to why she wouldn't. His patient had not even been a part of this hospital for a month yet, and she was already proving to be quite a challenge with her bizarre stories and overwhelming bitterness.

Catching the pen back into his right hand, Dr. Elric flinched and lowered his arm down to the desk, observing his gloved fingers. He could visibly see the pen wedged between his index and middle digits, yet he seemed frustrated when he found his hand was not cooperating to release the writing utensil from his awkward hold. In the end, Edward used his other hand to swat the pen away, giving it a frustrated toss to the corner of the room, hearing it clatter to the floor shortly after.

"I thought you were going to fix that? I could have sworn I left you a sufficient amount in your drawer."

Why did this man show up at times like these? He really wasn't in the mood for him.

"Oh, go away Mustang. I don't need you in here right now," Edward groaned.

His complaint did little to get the director to leave, and seemingly had a complete opposite effect. The blonde watched with an incoherent grumble as his boss slipped inside the room and shamelessly loomed over his mountain of paperwork.

"I'm ashamed. You usually do better than this. You realize that you need a pen to give your signature for all of these, correct?"

"Shut the hell up."

"You're grumpy too. I heard the Rockbell patient of yours sliced her arms up earlier. Shouldn't you have anticipated that, Edward?"

"Damn it, Mustang… Don't rub it in, alright? The girl has serious issues."

"I've seen worse."

"How the hell would you know?" he snapped irritably, glaring at his paperwork before him.

"I've been in this field longer than you have. I've seen more than petty cutting."

Edward snorted.

"Don't be so shallow. Those cuts were deep enough to cause more than enough concern."

Roy shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward to lift a few papers up into his hand, skimming over them with mild interest.

"So why haven't you fixed it yet?"

Edward leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes, letting his chair squeak as he applied pressure to its back end. His boss had a tendency to be very nosy; quite like himself at times.

"First of all, I told you I have enough. I'm financially stable. I don't need you to treat me like some poor orphan anymore."

"I'm being generous. Is that wrong?"

"No, it's embarrassing. I told you I can handle myself now. I don't need any pity parties from anyone."

Mustang couldn't help but chuckle as he set the papers down.

"You sure looked like you needed one on that particular night."

Damn the man to hell and back. Edward could not believe he was still pushing him about that issue. What did it matter anyways?

"I don't need to keep burying myself up the ass in debt with you, you know?"

"I could have sworn I told you that it was an early birthday gift. Think of it as an expression of gratitude for dedicating yourself so strongly to the medical field," Mustang said.

Edward sighed.

"You're corny, you know that? Just get out, will ya? I'm already behind enough as it is, and I don't need you distracting me anymore than necessary."

Whether Mustang was choosing to be sympathetic or leaving merely out of boredom, it was perfectly fine for Dr. Elric. In all honesty, Roy was the last person he wanted to see for multiple reasons. Now that the accusation was going through Edward's head, he couldn't help but begin to imagine the possibilities. He still couldn't see the man doing such a thing, but the fact that Winry even dared to accuse someone like Roy was startling.

Getting out of his seat to retrieve his neglected pen, Edward turned to look at the door just as the medical director was exiting the office.

"Hey Mustang…?"

As expected, he had temporarily caught the man's attention. What he wanted to do was ask the other about Winry's accusation. He wanted to ask him for the truth. But it sounded silly to even form the question. Mustang was a bastard in many ways, but a violent predator he was not. Edward knew him well enough. At least he believed he did.

"... It's nothing. Forget it."

He couldn't do it. How could he ask something like that? He didn't even believe it. And even if it was some sort of possibility, why in the world would Mustang ever flat out admit to his wrongdoing? Only a stupid person would openly announce themselves as guilty.

Roy didn't seem all that offended or bothered that Edward had decided against his question, whatever it may have been. Instead, he gave a casual wave and chuckled.

"Well don't overwork yourself now. And fix that arm of yours. You're starting to look just as pathetic as before."

Dr. Elric would have felt irritated by those last words if they weren't true. But he had been quite aware of how washed out he had been only a few years ago. He really had looked pathetic, and he probably was starting to look like that again. But his arm was only half the problem. Winry Rockbell was proving herself challenging enough to be the other half of the issue. His career as a doctor hadn't been going on for too long now. But he had never dealt with such a fragile situation such as this. He liked Winry. He believed she had a wonderful future ahead of her as well. But now that she was accusing someone he had known so closely, his expectations of her had somewhat dropped.

Watching the man step out of his office shortly after encouraging the blonde, Edward looked back at his massive pile of paperwork and soon turned his eyes downward to one of his desk drawers. It took him a moment to reach out for it, but once he did, he found his hand sinking into it to retrieve the check that Mustang had left inside. He still hadn't touched it up until now. Edward tilted the small paper from side to side and studied the massive numbers on the front with a heavy sigh. Mustang forked out this cash so casually as though it was nothing more than pocket change. Dr. Elric could understand, because he had been serious when he said he had enough money to cover repairs on his own. His boss was just so damn pushy. Besides, he said it was an early birthday gift.

The longer the young doctor stared at the check, the more doubtful he began to feel towards Winry. He almost felt guilty that he had even thought of bringing up the question to Mustang in the first place. That man had helped him through the most difficult times in his life and pulled him up to where he could support himself. To turn his back on someone for a snappy patient of his sounded silly.

Winry was a beautiful girl. It was just too bad she had to accuse someone who Edward trusted in far too much.

Silverbell- I'm hurt… really guys. You think I was going to ditch this story? The holidays just proved to be challenging to get through. I know you all are probably still wondering where the romance between Edward and Winry is, but as you can see there is now a problem between them. I promise you though, they'll find their way to eachother soon enough. This chapter was really supposed to just shed a bit more light on Edward and Roy. The story will come together. It seems in bits and pieces, but it will come together for all of it. Happy New Years guys!

Note- By the way, I'm aware my earlier chapters are all messed up with the line breakage in them. I have to fix that. I apologize for any confusion it has caused.