Best Kept Secret

Author: MoonStarDutchess

Chapter 54: Flu Equals Useless

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist and gain no profit from this fiction. If I did I wouldn't owe so much in student loans. . .

AN: My desktop recently got quite a few nasty trojans. I tried to remove them but the system crashed. I lost a lot of the work I did (3 chapters of BKS, all of Family Dynamics, the next two chapters of Broken Wings, and Vacuous Heart of Blood, all the requests fics I was done with, four royai multichapter fics that were completed, and four original much have to start fresh with destructive recovery on my that its back in running order (and I purchased an external hard drive) I can start updating more again. Also had a thirty page paper to do which has been turned in. All and all a busy and bad week. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter.



Flu Equals Useless

When Riza turned her head to look at Roy, he felt pity wash over him as he saw exactly how sickly she looked. Her skin was painted with the typical sallow whiteness and accented with the conventional shades of red on her cheeks and forehead. Even though she had just awoken, her eyes possessed the quality similar to that of eyes that hadn't acquired much sleep in several days. Her hair was ruffled, with some of the smaller tresses sticking out in various directions. The pajama shirt was failing in its duty to cover her body, the neckline maneuvering to the left and straying down her arm to divulge the smooth skin of her shoulder.

"How did I get here?" Her voice was rough and jerked and faded out as if it was a scratched record playing instead of her speaking. She cringed after she spoke and lifted her hand to rub the front of her neck.

"The fuehrer carried you to the infirmary. I brought you here, obviously," Roy said, leaving out the part about Havoc being the one to drive them home. He knew she would probably assume that anyway. He walked over to the bedside table and sat the tray of food down on the brown wood.

"The fuehrer?" Her voice was low and cracked under the stress of the yell, but the shock could be heard within the sentence.

"Yeah, you collapsed in the lounge and he caught you before you hit the ground," he said.

Riza closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her mind bringing forth a vague memory of her time in the infirmary. She opened her eyes and nodded. "I remember hearing you talking to him before I dozed back off in the infirmary, but I couldn't make out what you two were saying. I still don't remember anything about him catching me."

She looked down at the covers and saw that she was gripping them in her hands. She shuddered, knowing that the fuehrer had actually touched her. That man with the dark malevolent gaze had made physical contact with her. She shuddered again, and then hugged herself.

Roy furrowed his eyebrows in concern, a crease forming above the bridge of his nose because of the action. He sat down beside her and, after positioning the fallen shirt collar where it was supposed to be, wrapped his arm around her. "You cold? I can get you another blanket if you'd like."

Riza shook her head, "No, I want to take a bath." She moved to get up from the bed, pulling away from his arms. As soon as she was on her feet, the room started spinning and she sat back down. "Ugh."

"Dizzy?"

She glared at him for asking an obvious question but it faded when she saw how concerned he was. His mind wasn't exactly working right since his thoughts were obviously enlaced with the worry for her health. "Unless you suddenly used alchemy to turn our bedroom into a carousel, then yes."

Roy smiled at her and stood, "You get back into bed and I'll run you a bath. I made you some homemade chicken noodle soup. It will be good for you."

"I don't think I could swallow anything," she said, looking over at the bread and bowl of soup. She moved to rest back against the pillows on the bed and covered her lap with blankets.

"At least drink the broth. I swear it's good. I got the recipe from Christmas."

She nodded and smiled, "I'll try."

Roy leaned in to kiss her forehead lightly. He adjusted the pillows behind her, grabbed the tray, and sat it on her lap.

"Thank you," she said.

She offered him a small smile before he turned and made his way into the bathroom. When she heard the water hitting the tub, she directed her gaze down at the bowl of steaming soup. She took a deep whiff of the steam, hoping it would open up her nasal passage, but it had no effect. Her sense of smell was barely able to make out the aroma at all.

Picking up the spoon, she let out a sigh before she scooped up the broth and took a sip. Her eyes widened with surprise when she was able to taste a bit of it despite her lack of smell. She hadn't expected it to be so good. She began sipping more of the soup before daring to take in a small piece of chicken. She chewed it into tiny bits and swallowed, cringing as the morsels made their way down her esophagus. It was a pity she couldn't fully enjoy the soup, but she mentally noted to ask him to make it for her again when she was able to eat everything in the dish. It turned out that went through all of the trouble for nothing.

She looked up from the bowl as she heard him coming toward the bedroom. As soon as he came into view, she voiced what was on her mind. "Why didn't you make the chicken soup from the can? You have three cans in your cabinets."

"Because it's just not the same as homemade soup and has too much sodium. Homemade is the only way to go if you are sick. Lesser the salt, the least likely you are to dehydrate."

"You didn't have to go through all the trouble though," she said, "Chicken soup is difficult to prepare."

"There was no trouble," Roy said, leaving out the part about his sisters annoying him over the phone. "When you are done, I'll help you to the bathtub."

"You don't have to help me. I can make it."

"You suddenly grow shy or something?"

Riza couldn't help but laugh at his words. She smiled lightly, "Of course not, but I'm capable of bathing on my own."

"I know you have the skill," he joked.

"And you know that's not what I meant."

"Really Riza, you can't even stand without getting dizzy. There's no way I'm going to let you bath in there without supervision. You might pass out and drown."

"Yeah, you know that you just want to see me naked."

"I never get tired of seeing that," he said, "but that's not my reasoning. No this time at least."

Riza chuckled and shook her head, never admitting that it embarrassed her when he spoke like that. She motioned down to the tray then lifted it slightly. "It was good soup. What I had the ability to eat, that is. I'd like to try it again when I can actually eat solid foods."

"I'll make it for you're again when you recover," he said while taking the tray from her and sitting it on the side table.

She moved the blankets away from her and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, placing her bare feet on the cool floor. "Sounds good but at the moment a good bath is what's on my mind the most."

"Your muscles aching?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's one of the many reasons." Glancing down at her bare legs, she noted that they were bare of any type of covering. She then lifted her arms to see the sleeves draping thickly over them, hanging down in folds of cloth. After taking in her state of dress, she looked up at him questioningly.

"I grabbed my shirt and put it on you by mistake. I was in a hurry to get you warmed up. I was going to find yours and put it on you but looked so comfortable that I didn't want to disturb you."

Riza started to laugh but it quickly transformed into a heavy cough as soon as the first sound left her. She raised her hand to cover her mouth and leaned forward slightly, wary of giving the cold to Roy. He walked over to her and rubbed her back gently, waiting for her coughing to subside. When it finally ended, she looked up at him with a half-hearted smile. "I would have changed into one of your shirts anyway. They are comfortable."

Roy grinned and helped her get to her feet. He caught her when he saw that she was about to topple over. She rested her head against his chest and exhaled a shuddering sigh. "Damn, I feel so weak. How could it get this bad so quickly?"

"It's the typical flu," he stated, pulling her closer.

"I'm not supposed to get sick."

"You are a human being Riza. Of course you are supposed to get sick."

She sighed again with another round of coughs coming up behind it. Roy picked her up in his arms before she could make any move to protest, and he carried her into the bathroom. She rested her head in the junction of his neck and shoulder until he placed her in the chair sitting between the bathtub and the sink.

"I feel like an invalid," Riza muttered. She leaned back against the chair and looked down at her lap. "You aren't supposed to be taking care of me like this either. You are going to get down in your back if you keep picking me up all the time."

"First of all, I highly doubt that I'm going to get down in my back from carrying you. Secondly, why aren't I supposed to be taking care of you? You are my wife aren't you? I recall that part of my vows were to love honor and cherish. In sickness and in health."

"You mean obey," she said, as a sickly smile ornamented her lips.

"Huh?"

"For the husband the vow is love, honor and obey."

Roy wrinkled his nose. "Well that's not fair. A woman clearly wrote that," he said.

Riza narrowed her eyes at him until he turned and walked over to a shelf stacked above the sink. "Cherish should be in the vows before obey."

The comment surprised Riza but she didn't say anything about it to him. Just when she thought Roy meant something insulting he went and twisted his words into a statement that was anything but what it sounded like.

He turned to look at her. "You want anything in your bathwater?"

"Lavender bubble bath would be good," she said.

Roy ran his gaze across the labels on the bottles before taking one with a light purple label. He walked over and poured two capfuls under the warm water running into the tub from the silver faucet. The bubbles immediately sprung to life and conquered over the water as soon as the concoction made contact. The fresh smell of the lavender filled the bathroom, creating a warm, comfortable atmosphere along with the steam rising into the air and fogging up the mirrors.

"Are you sure you should be taking a warm bath? You have a fever and your body heating up could make you feel worse."

"I don't care," she said, "I have to take one." She made sure her tone left no room for argument. She felt incredibly dirty after actually being touched by the fuehrer, even if she had no control over it. It was cliché to want to scrub your skin after such contact but she didn't care about any bromide actions she would undertake. If it made her feel cleaner after finishing the process then she would do it without hesitation.

She grabbed the side of the sink and stood, swaying slightly as the room heaved to and fro. She removed her underwear and tossed them in the brown wicker clothing hamper across the room, her aim as great as always. When she let her hand resign its job of balancing her in favor of unbuttoning her shirt, she stumbled slightly. Her ability to keep balanced for short periods of time seemed to have eloped with her immune system.

Roy walked over to her and began to unbutton her shirt for her. As he did so, she moved her hands to rest on his waist so that she wouldn't falter. "You know," he started, "you could have just pulled this over your head really quickly."

"I could have, but I didn't want to take the chance that I would kiss the floor in the process of the pull."

He undid the last button on the garment and slipped it off her. He bent to kiss her shoulder as he sat the shirt on the sink. "Come on," he said, leading her to the tub. He helped her step over the side and she sat down into the water, sighing as the liquid enveloped her aching body that resided in her illusions of filth.

"Don't get too hot in there," Roy said, worriedly, "I don't want you to faint."

He sat down on the edge of the tub and leaned toward her face. He started to kiss her but she blocked his lips from brushing hers by holding up her hand.

"I don't want you to kiss me Roy," she said, her voice a bit more soothed thanks to the smooth steam in the room.

Roy's eyes widened. "What? Why not?"

Riza grabbed a washcloth, put some soap on it and began scrubbing her skin roughly. "You might get sick."

Roy stopped her hand from its scrubbing by grabbing her wrist. He leaned forward, even closer to her than he had been before, and stared into her eyes. "Something is bothering you."

"Of course it is," she said, "I have the—"

"It's much more than just the flu. What's wrong?"

"You are imagining things," she said. "I'm fine."

"No, I don't think so," he said, "I'm asking you what's wrong and you know I can be a stubborn bastard when I have my mind set on knowing something. "

Riza knew what he was saying was true; however, she didn't know if she should really tell him what was on her mind. If she did, how much should she speak? Could she really tell him how she felt when she was around the fuehrer? Or about the incident in the hallway with the man? The problem was that if she told him then he would grow overprotective and then it would likely distract him from his goal.

"Riza," he prompted.

"I don't like the way it felt when the fuehrer touched me," she said. "I don't like it when the man looks at me or even just passes me. When he does I feel dirty, like I'm being buried in mud." She hoped that her words would be enough to placate her husband.

"Touched you? What in the hell do you mean by touched!"

"Just carrying me to the infirmary Roy. He didn't touch me in any other way. I might have shot him if he'd tried."

"And the looks you were talking about?"

Riza sighed. "It's just his gaze sends bad feelings through me." If she'd ever voiced an understatement in her life that certainly was the one she'd spoken.

Roy stared at her for a few moments and sighed. "And you didn't want to kiss me because you felt dirty?"

"No, that's not the reason. I told you that I didn't want to kiss you because you'll get sick too. We can't have you g—"

He cut her off when he cupped the side of her face with his palm and kissed her. He slipped his tongue between her lips and ran it along her white teeth before she opened her mouth further and he slipped it inside, taking in her taste. She closed her eyes and began returning the ardent gesture even though she was sick. She would never, under any private circumstances unless she was angry with him, refuse to kiss him back. She groaned, not knowing which intensified her dizziness more, the heat of the room or the way his lips were dancing with hers.

She pulled away when she felt as if a cough were ascending her throat. Sure enough, she began coughing and turned away from him. "You are going to get sick, I know it," she said when the coughing ceased.

"Well If I get sick so be it," he said, "I've had the flu shot this year so I'm more protected from it than you were."

"Yes I suppose," she relented, still angry at herself for not getting that shot when she should have. She scooted up in the tub. "If that's the case, then come and take a bath with me. It's a good chance to spend some more time with you."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You really want me to do that that?"

Riza nodded, "Yes. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."

Roy stripped of his clothing as Riza filled the tub with fresher water, this time cooler water to lower the temperature slightly. She turned and watched him undress, taking in the firm muscles under his peach skin. He turned toward her and her stomach flopped when she gazed at his abdomen. She was attracted to a lot of things about Roy but his newly acquired six-pack abs made her a very felicitous woman. Of course, she was happy with him no matter what he looked like.

He stepped into the tub and settled down in the hot water behind her. She leaned back against him and relaxed completely when his arms wrapped around her. She rested her head on his chest, closed her eyes and listened to the steady thump thump thump of his heartbeat.

"I still say this heat isn't good for you," Roy said.

"Just let me enjoy my current state, okay?"

Roy chuckled and kissed the top of her head, "Okay, sorry but if you start feeling faint, please let me know." When she didn't respond, he looked down at her. She was fast asleep against him, breathing very deeply, yet her exhalations brought forth the typical flu like wheeze that often accompanied the illness. She had a soft smile on her lips as she rested against him, obviously comfortable.

"It's about time that I'm able to take care of you for once," he said.

--

Riza moaned, then shivered and made a move to cuddle closer to her husband's warm body, knowing that it would quickly stop the chills from attacking her. Unfortunately, when she did so, she found that he wasn't lying in bed with her. She jerked her eyes open and shut them instantly when the light of the morning sun lashed upon them like a whip of luminance.

Cursing the crack between the two curtains that let in the brightness, she slowly inched her lids open bit by bit. Her hand was placed in front of them to offset the light from a direct assault. Even after they were adapted to the slight shine, she regretted having to open them. Her head was pounding so harshly that she could feel and hear it in her ears. Her eyes were burning as if they were dry but they were watering at the edges. She frowned at the contradictory actions.

As she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, she turned her head toward the fireplace to see a fire still burning brilliantly within the hearth. Beside the fireplace were two fresh piles of wood stacked neatly in pyramids comprised of small logs. There was a tiny metal bucket of thinner pieces of wood on the opposite side of the stacks of logs.

The sounds of footsteps suddenly drew her attention away form the fireplace and toward the door. A moment later, as she expected, Roy entered the room. He was carrying a tray in his gloved grasp. Upon it sat a bowl of a steaming substance, a glass of orange juice and a mug filled with something that was also causing steam to rise into the air, tea if she were to hazard a guess. When he arrived at the bed, he sat the tray on the table in the same place he had sat it the previous night. She looked at the items upon it and identified the substance in the bowl as porridge. When she saw the tea bag in the mug with the hot liquid she realized her guess about the contents had been correct.

Roy turned to her and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips. "Good morning beautiful. I made breakfast for you. You should sit back and eat."

Riza scanned his body from where his pants were tucked into his boots, up to the collar of his shirt, taking in the fact that he was wearing his uniform and gloves already, obviously ready for work. Usually she had such a difficult time getting him to wake up and get out of bed, so it was a surprise to see him so wide-awake and ready for the day.

"Why are you looking at me so funny?"

She looked surprised at his words, unaware that she'd had a particular expression on her face. "Am I?" Her voice came out even gruffer and the pain coarser than it had been the previous day.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I'm not used to you being awake before me, much less out of bed."

"You are sick. You aren't supposed to be up. You fell asleep against me in the bathtub last night."

Before she could speak, an assault of coughs flew from her mouth. She winced with each one as her throat dissented against the air issuing from her lungs. Eventually, she took a deep breath, wincing again, then spoke, "Oh…I don't remember falling asleep."

Roy was looking at her with concern after her round of coughing. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Riza looked down and saw that she was in her flannel pajamas instead of his shirt. She blushed a bit and looked up at him. "You should have woken me up."

"No, you were sleeping too peacefully. You just wanted to snuggle against me. And of course, I didn't mind."

"You are already dressed...for work."

Roy noticed a tinge of hesitation in her voice and offered her a smile. "I'll be fine Riza," he reassured her calmly. "I even called Havoc to pick me up so I won't have to walk. He already said he was planning on it anyway because he knew you'd want him to."

She gave him a nod. Even though that was the case, she still didn't feel comfortable with him going to work. Now she realized how useless Roy felt when his gloves were wet, there was nothing she could currently do to be of any use to her. Her proverbial gloves were soaked.

The mattress sank with his weight as he crawled upon it and moved toward her, "I'll keep my gloves on all day and I promise not to get wet. Don't worry about me love. You just worry about getting better."

Riza didn't say anything for two reasons, the first being that now her voice was burning violently, and the second reason being that she knew it would be impossible not to worry about him.

Roy tilted his head towards her, intending on giving her a kiss but she shook her head. He lowered his chin and stared directly into her eyes. "We've already bathed together and I kissed you last night. What is a kiss this morning going to hurt? Has this cold affected your brain?"

Riza frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Just for that I'm not kissing you," she whispered. In reality she really did want to kiss him. She also wanted to strap him to the bed until she got better so he wouldn't be out and in danger.

"I'm not leaving this bedroom until I get a kiss from my wife." His voice was full of amusement as he spoke. He placed his right hand on the back of her neck and pulled her forward so that his lips touched hers. Sighing, she closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his neck and, like last night, returned the kiss despite her spinning surroundings. She let herself fall back onto the mattress, taking Roy with her.

As soon as he pulled away from the kiss, a smirk formed on his lips. He was greatly amused at his current position on top of her. "Are you sure you are sick?"

She chortled. "You can stay here," she said, and then wrapped her leg around his waist. She pulled him down on her and snuggled her face to rest against his chest. "You are warm. Don't go."

"I have to, you know that," Roy said. Riza being so clingy to him was a rarity but it wasn't an unwelcomed one. It was nice that she was depending on him for something for once. She was always so independent that sometimes he felt like he was of no use to her as both a husband and commanding officer.

She moved her head so that she could look at his face. He leaned in and kissed the edge of her chin a few times. "I'd better get going before I'm late and end up making a mess of my uniform." He kissed her on the lips again before crawling off her and then off of the bed. He grabbed his coat, which was draped over the back of a chair, and turned toward her as he put it on. "I'll come back here for lunch," he said, "I love you."

"I love you too," she said and watched as he walked out of the room. A desire to actually cry came to her and she flopped back onto the bed. She cringed as she heard the apartment door shut, the noise sending a feeling of helplessness to her body. As if things weren't already dangerous in the East already, a serial killer like Scar was out to get him. She would feel so much more secure if she were with him. Now she understood how Gracia and the other housewives of military men felt when their husbands left for work. There was a lingering, weighty possibility that their men wouldn't make it back home. That the last thing they'd see would be their lover's back.


AN: I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are extremely appreciated and very encouraging.