It's the wonderful automail chapter! Huzzah! Took me long enough, huh? Oh well. Midterms are next Monday and Tuesday, so I should be able to get some more chapters done. And chapter 93 was an awesome writer's block smasher. I've never seen Roy so... murderous before. I liked it ;D

And this was written so I could stall on Tenebrae... I'm on the last chapter! I'm nervous! xD

25. Pierce

Winry had to force herself not to flinch as the door clicked shut behind her as Garfiel left. The sound was too ominous and final for her taste, and she really didn't need the added nerves.

She took a deep breath and sat down in the chair next to the bed. Edward was already in the bed, stripped to nothing but his shorts, fitted with an oxygen mask and drugged up to his eyeballs with morphine. It had taken two weeks for him to get over his illness, and as soon as he had been cleared, he had demanded that the surgery start the next day.

And Winry had obliged. She knew Ed was frustrated as hell being stuck in the wheelchair, and the fact that they had been living in a two-story house hadn't helped the situation in the least.

After her breakdown with her mentor, Winry had felt more confident about the operation. Automail surgery had developed a lot since Ed had his first installation, too. Patients didn't have to be conscious for the first stage and the painkillers were a lot stronger. The young mechanic didn't think that Ed would have too much of a problem with the rehab, especially with his past experience.

Winry glanced over at the blond in the bed. "Ed," she hissed, poking his side. She didn't get a response, but she tried a couple more times, just to be sure. She didn't need Ed waking up in the middle of the operation. But there was no response from Ed; it was time for the surgery to start.

With a sigh, she got up and moved across the room to wash her hands. She had spent most of the night before cleaning and sanitizing the equipment while Ed went through the rather unpleasant process of cleaning out his system in preparation of several days on the IV.

Winry moved back over to the bed and paused, hands on hips. She had left Ed's pants on for his dignity, but the blond was unconscious, and it was time for those pants to go. The mechanic pulled the sheets down and then yanked off the blue shorts. Really, she didn't know what she was nervous about; she had seen everything down there, and not just in the medical textbooks.

"Don't think about that. Concentrate," she growled to herself, scratching the side of her arm in an attempt to distract herself from that certain night at the Central hospital. Daydreaming of that in the middle of the operation would not be the best idea!

After much thought and planning over the weeks, Winry had decided to leave the hip installation for last. That would be the hardest and most tedious, and getting the easier one out of the way would give her the confidence boost that she needed for the final stretch. And with any luck, she would be into the groove of automail surgery by that point.

Winry snatched a marker off the tray and cracked a knuckle. Slowly, she began to sketch on Ed's stump, marking where bolts would go, where she would have to shave off some of the muscle for the port, how high the port was going, and so on. As she had hoped, she was caught up in the wonder that was automail and hardly noticed what she was doing.

Unconsciously, she reached behind her for the scalpel when the marks were complete. It wasn't until her hand wrapped around the cold metal that she paused, realizing that she was about to start the surgery.

What are you so worried about, Win? You're the best mechanic anyone could have.

Oh, hell, was she going to start crying? Winry shook her head, clenching the scalpel tightly. Ed always seemed to pop into her head at the worst of times, like when she was trying to concentrate.

The blonde took a deep breath and tilted her head back, trying to get herself under control. Finally, she exhaled loudly through her nose and twirled the metal tool in her hands for a moment. Then she leant forward, blade raised, and pierced skin.

I'm telling you, those pants just had to go. Hehe. Short chapter, but I liked writing it.