Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry I haven't been able to update for a while: I have had lots of homework to do! Just wanted to say a big thanks to Tonyjr3850 I loved your review! I didn't find it offensive or boring at all! As for your comment about Ed doing alchemy, I put that in on purpose. It's a fan-fiction, so anything can happen, right? But please don't ask how he can use alchemy, I haven't thought of that, yet! Hope you guys all enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter 10
Roy had fallen asleep accidently. When he opened his eyes, he was sprawled across the floor of the lieutenant's ward. His head had been resting on his shoulder, so the Colonel wasn't surprised that there was a small, wet patch of saliva on his shirt. The fire he had produced had long extinguished. Roy looked out the window. The storm had stopped, the sky was gray and it was now raining lightly.
Roy rubbed his eyes and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was six o'clock in the morning. He groaned, wanting to go back to sleep, but thought better of it. Instead, he took the familiar seat next to his lieutenant's bed. He had a couple of hours to kill until Havoc came to take over his post. He hung his head over the back of the chair and let out a tired sigh. He had never realised how boring the hospital was before and after hours.
Just then, a nurse, who Roy had never seen before, came in.
Before Riza had been injured, he probably would've flirted with the young nurse, who was very pretty. But something had changed in him. He no longer had an eye for womanizing anymore. The nurse smiled sympathetically at him, then moved to Riza.
"How is she?" Roy asked quietly, hoarsely.
"She's doing fine. Her breathing is normal. But…. We're still baffled at the whole scenario. We don't know how to wake her from the coma."
"An ex-subordinate of mine is coming to Central in a couple of days; I believe he should be able to help."
The nurse looked at him and smiled sympathetically again. "Whatever gives you hope, Colonel."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked irritably. It sounded like the nurse didn't believe him. He would show her.
"There's a high chance that Lieutenant Hawkeye won't wake from her unconsciousness."
Roy snorted. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked.
"Sorry," the nurse muttered.
Roy rolled his eyes. He had never realised before that he was that protective of his lieutenant. He folded his arms and turned his back on the nurse.
"You're being very childish, you know, Colonel," the nurse said.
Roy agreed with her, but didn't say anything. "You're not the one to judge," he said instead.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.
"Save my lieutenant," he said, his back still facing the young nurse.
The nurse sighed. "That's something I can't do, I'm afraid," she said sorrowfully. "Only time will tell what will happen."
The nurse turned to leave the room. When he was sure the nurse had left, he relaxed his tense muscles and looked at Riza's lifeless form of a body. He sighed. This wasn't supposed to happen. His life was just getting back on track in the aftermath of the Promised Day, when this had happened. Would he get to the top without any more obstacles? Roy doubted it, but Riza was always there to help him get back to his feet. But this time… Riza was the obstacle.
The train had arrived in Central. It had taken hours to get there, but finally, Ed and his 'team', per se, were there. Ed hoisted his suitcase over his shoulder and Al and Winry followed suit. They waited outside the train for Ling, Lan-Fan and Mei, and soon they were walking to the address of the military hospital. At six o'clock in the morning, Central was far from the bustling city-centre that it was during the hours of the day. It was peaceful, quiet, and Ed appreciated the beauty of the large city in the early hours of the morning.
The air was filled with the teenagers chatting, catching up with what had happened lately after the Promised Day. Before Ed knew it, they were at the hospital-before visiting hours.
"Great, now what?"
"We could see if the Colonel could let us in through the window," Al offered.
"True…"said Ed.
So, they began to scope around the exterior of the hospital, hoping to find the right window to Riza's ward.
Thankfully, this didn't take too long.
Roy heard scuffling outside the walls of the hospital. Rubbing his eyes, he wearily made his way to the window, only to find the Fullmetal alchemist throwing pebbles at it. His face broke into a tired grin as he opened the window. Ed was the first to climb through the window, followed by Al, Winry, and finally Mei. (Ling and Lan-Fan had left to find food).
"Hiya Colonel!" Ed said as he climbed through the window.
Roy could have collapsed in relief when he saw Mei climb in after Al.
"Hi, Fullmetal," he said finally.
Ed grinned as he shook hands with the Colonel, then said seriously, "I suppose there's no point asking how you are, then?" he asked sombrely.
Roy shook his head. Yawning, he said, "It's not looking good, Fullmetal. But now," he pointed to Mei," The outlook's a little brighter,"
"How longs she been in hospital, Colonel?" Al asked.
"Almost a week,"
"How long have you been here?" Ed asked.
"A day less,"
Ed raised his eyebrows.
"Yesterday she told me to go back to work," he said. "But before that, I had been here since she had arrived," Roy explained sheepishly.
Winry smiled sympathetically.
"Er-Mr Mustang?" Mei said uncertainly.
"Yes… It's Mei, right?" Roy asked.
The Xing girl nodded. "When do you want me to start?"
Roy's heart leapt. "I'll go get the nurse, and see what she says,"
When Roy left the room, Ed and the others launched into conversation.
"Can you actually save her, Mei?" Ed asked fearfully, scared that he may have just given the Colonel false hope.
Mei pouted. "I'm pretty sure I can, but I don't know if the wound's going to seal permanently,"
"That's better than nothing," Ed said, clenching his fist in determination. "You Ok, Winry?" he asked, walking over to her.
She nodded, brushing tears from her eyes.
"Aw, Winry, why are you such a cry baby?" Ed whined. "You heard Mei, Lieutenant Hawkeye's gonna be fine! You don't have anything to cry about," he said soothingly.
"I know, but-but what if she doesn't make it?" Winry said despairingly.
"Do you really think Colonel Mustang would let Lieutenant Hawkeye die? If she does die, then he'll probably kill himself. We're gonna do everything we can, 'cause, as much as I hate to admit it, the Colonel's made some pretty big changes to the government."
Winry nodded.
"She's gonna live, Winry, you'll see,"
Just then, Roy came in, accompanied by a young nurse.
Ed just noticed then how the Colonel's usually lively, onyx eyes looked so dull and lifeless. It looked like he had given up hope long ago. He caught the Colonel's eye, and Roy smiled tiredly at him. Ed also noticed how tired he looked, almost drawn or ill, he looked so pale, his face almost matching his lifeless eyes.
"She's permitted Mei to use alkahestry to save the Lieutenant," Roy explained. "It took me a while to persuade her, but once I said Mei had saved Lieutenant Hawkeye's life before, she finally said 'yes'." he added more quietly.
The nurse crossed her arms against her chest and pursed her lips. She was clearly quite apprehensive about letting a tiny girl save a woman's life.
Mei was rather chatty when she was preparing herself to save someone's life.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did this happen?" she asked.
"It just opened in the middle of the night," Roy replied, edging closer to Riza and Mei.
"Oh, I could've sworn that it would have been because she was saving your life. Ed has been saying how close you two are," Mei continued, oblivious to Ed's motions behind Roy's back trying to tell her to stop.
Roy's eyes narrowed. "Right," he said.
"Did she ever tell you that she tried to jump into the human transmutation circle with you when you got forced to perform human transmutation on the Promised Day?" she asked.
Roy's eyes snapped open, the tiredness no longer traceable in his eyes or face. "She WHAT?" he exclaimed.
Mei's eyes widened in fear, she now knew she had just crossed an invisible line.
"Look, Colonel, you should just be grateful that you have such a loyal subordinate," Ed intervened, causing a relieved sigh to escape from Mei.
Roy nodded, knowing Ed was right. "But, she was injured! She risked her life again to try save me!"
"Does that really surprise you, Colonel?"
Roy whipped his head around, surprised by Havoc's appearance. He looked at the clock. 8o'clock. His shift was over! Roy smiled slightly. It seemed Havoc had noticed how Roy felt. But, Havoc didn't know Roy's feelings for the female Lieutenant were a little more explicit than that.
"You're actually gonna go ahead with this, Sir?" Havoc asked.
Roy nodded, looking at Riza's lifeless body. "I have to," he murmured
Havoc nodded. He understood.
"Mr Mustang, Sir?" Mei said meekly.
"Yes?"
"I'm ready."
Roy gulped, only realising how scared he was. What if it went wrong?
"I'm confident I'll at least be able to get her out of the coma, then we can work on closing the wound for good," Mei reassured him.
Roy licked his lips in anticipation. He positioned himself next to Riza and clutched her hand. He looked at Mei, who nodded, approving of him holding his Lieutenant's hand. Mei then looked down and payed attention to the Alkahestry circle she had made around the Lieutenant's body. Roy closed his eyes as a blinding light filled the room.
Authors Note: Dom, dom, dom…. And the plot thickens =D Sorry I haven't been able to update for a while, my homework pile started to grow at an alarming rate, so I used this past week to get on top of it. Thanks so much for being so patient for this last chapter! I hope you enjoy it, and I'm sorry it's kinda short! Thanks to Tigrette-of-fire, texancoconut51, TheNinjaAlchemist95, Tonyjr3850, Mylaervain and Jonas Luvah 93 for all reviewing the last chapter!