"That's not looking too good,"

Both Roy and Maes stood hunched over at Ed's bedside, eyeing the tattered remains of his back with poorly concealed worry on their faces.

The gashes that marred his back would not stayed closed no matter how much tape they used, and every time they broke back open it was torture for the poor kid. Each wound was swollen and rimmed with red, and neither man could so much as brush against them without causing Ed to cry out with pure agony.

Hughes had been attempting to clean the wounds while Roy was trying to comfort Ed in any way he could, but they had been forced to stop when Roy noticed the shine pooling in the boy's anguished eyes.

Edward was strong and he had a pain threshold higher than most soldiers and grown men he knew, so for him be near tears, the pain had to be excruciating.

Roy and Maes both couldn't stand to do that to the poor kid, even if it would help him in the long run.

So they had found themselves in a rather large predicament, watching Ed as he lay there on the bed, half on his stomach and half on his side in attempts to soothe both his back as well as his broken ribs, propped up on pillows. After giving him several ibuprofen to help take the edge off, they finally got him to fall asleep, hoping he could somehow sleep off some of his pain.

The blankets only went up to his waist, as his back was still unbandaged. On one hand they wanted to see if some exposure to fresh air would help the irritated lesions, but in all reality they were just too afraid to touch him. It had taken ages to get him to calm down to a point where it seemed like the pain was at least somewhat manageable, and now they were worried that even the slightest of touches would cause him to fall apart again.

Now, with his pale porcelain skin and limp, lifeless body, Edward seemed almost like a broken doll as he lay there.

"No, it really doesn't." Maes replied finally, his expression pinched as he unfolded his crossed arms and took a step forward towards Ed.

Ever so gently, he brushed the boy's bangs from his face and laid his hand against his forehead, immediately frowning. "Roy, he has a fever."

Roy found himself frowning as well, stepping up to place his palm on the boy's cheek even though he knew what to expect.

"This is out of our league, Roy. You know as well as I do," Maes paused when Ed's expression scrunched up slightly, running his hand gently over the boy's hair and shushing him softly until his face began to even out again. He turned to Roy, and in a voice slightly above a whisper, said, "He needs a doctor."

Though reluctantly, he nodded.

"I know," He relented. "I know he does, and if he were anyone else I'd have dragged him to one a long time ago. Problem is, he's nothing short of terrified of doctors on a normal day, and now..." He paused for a moment, shaking his head slowly as he gestured to the kid's battered body. "He's terrified of everything."

Maes seemed to take this into account, continuing to run his fingers through the golden locks damp with sweat.

"He needs someone he trusts." Roy concluded, cautiously sitting himself down on the foot of the bed, making sure not to disturb Edward.

Maes nodded at that, his hand stilling for a moment on Ed's hair in thought.

"What about Dr. Knox? We've known him since the war, he's trustworthy." He suggested, continuing to run his fingers through Ed's bangs.

Roy grimaced, quickly deciding against that idea.

"He is a trustworthy man, but he's harsh–I don't think he's suited for this kind of situation."

It was quiet for a few moments after that, save for the slight hitch in Edward's breath just before every exhale.

Then, something fell into place in Roy's mind.

"How about we call Havoc?" He proposed, suddenly feeling much less apprehensive about the whole situation. "He's got extensive training in field medicine and he and Ed get along really well." He added, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. "Not to mention he's certified, so he has access to anything in the infirmary at headquarters."

Maes seemed happy with the notion as well, giving him a few nods of agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds like our best option." He agreed, reluctantly taking his hand off of the crown of Ed's head and making to stand. "Let's call him now, he needs to get here as soon as possible."

Sparing one last look towards the disheveled bundle of red and gold, the two made their way into the kitchen to finally get Edward some actual medical help.

xxxxxxxxx

As he sped on down the road towards the Hughes residence, Jean really didn't know how to feel.

All he knew was that his boss had called him sounding rather unsettled, asking him to take as much as he could from the infirmary before getting to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes' house as fast as he could. He also knew it was about Ed, and when it was about Ed, it was never good- especially considering he had recently been hurt under mysterious circumstances.

He knew there must be a valid reason that the Colonel was withholding so much information, and that's what scared him the most. If Ed had gotten hurt on a mission or something, the whole team would have known all the details by the end of the day. There were only a few reasons he could think of as to why he would be hiding Ed's condition, and none of them were good.

With the Colonel's sketchy behaviour as well as how terrible the kid looked the last time he saw him, he had decided to bring what he hoped to be an unnecessary amount of bandages and medicine.

It wasn't until he pulled into the Hughes' driveway five minutes early did he realize he had been speeding the whole way there. Although he would argue that it was certainly warranted, considering he had a sick kid and orders to hurry with no other context. He had a right to worry.

He wasted no time in slinging the duffel bag full of supplies over his shoulder and hurrying out of his car and up the driveway, not taking the time to admire Gracia's garden as he usually did.

With a few firm knocks on the door and his heart thrumming in his chest, he waited.

The quick padding of feet sounded behind the doorway only moments after, and suddenly standing in the doorway was a rather disheveled-looking Roy Mustang, his pinched eyes going slack with what appeared to be relief as soon as he laid eyes on him.

"Thank god you're here, come in." He greeted breathlessly, seemingly keeping his voice low on purpose.

Following his lead, he kept his own voice just as soft as he responded.

"What's happening? What's wrong with Ed?"

Roy didn't reply, only giving him a solemn look as he ushered him down the hallway, stopping in front of a slightly ajar door.

"He's in here, now don't freak out, because he's sleeping and it took us forever to get him that way." He began explaining, leaning one hand on the door handle. "So be quiet, and for the love of God please don't wake him up." He pleaded, his eyes drooping with exhaustion as he eased the door open and silently padded into the room. Jean followed, his heart in his throat.

However, upon seeing the state that Ed was in, it immediately plummeted into his stomach, and he had to plaster his hand over his mouth in order to keep from crying out and waking the poor kid.

His back was completely shredded, it almost appeared as if he had been attacked by some kind of animal with the long deep gashes lining up and down his skin. It was all crusted over with deep red scabs and trails of dried blood around the crimson edges of the wounds.

Anywhere that wasn't marred with blood or lacerations was stained with deep purple bruising that was fairly recent, the edges only just beginning to fade out to a grungy yellow. The contusions trailed up his body and around his neck to cover his face as well, pooling under his eyes and peeking out from underneath a thick splint covering his nose.

The kid was... battered.

Sliding his hand off of his mouth and down his face, he dared to look away from him to dart his eyes between Roy who stood next to him and Hughes who was running his fingers through the sleeping kid's golden hair, which sat scattered around his head like a broken halo.

"What the hell happened to him?" He finally managed to whisper, dropping to his knees next to the bed and shrugging the bag off of his shoulder.

Roy just sighed, rubbing the palm of his hand against his face.

"It's a long story, we'll talk after. Just, please. Help him."

Jean wasn't about to object to that, so he pushed back all of his confusion and concerns to the back of his mind for later and began digging through his bag.

"His back is the worst of it." Hughes chimed in, his hand still trailing through Ed's hair. "We've been trying to take care of it ourselves, but it's getting worse. It's hurting him really bad, we can't even touch it." He informed regretfully.

Jean just nodded, feeling almost like he was in a daze as he began digging through his bag, simultaneously studying the wounds on the kid's back.

They were definitely deep, and a few of the larger ones would probably benefit from a few stitches.

"Oh, kid." He sighed, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I know you hate needles, chief, but I'm afraid I don't have any other options. I'll be gentle, though. I promise." It felt right to talk to him, even if he wasn't awake to hear it.

Roy and Hughes watched on with bated breath as he drew up a good amount of a milky white sedative into a syringe, pressing the plunger slightly while flicking out any air bubbles.

"You won't even know what's happening, kid." He said, gently taking Ed's hand in his, his heart nearly

stopping upon realizing just how much smaller the boy's hand was compared to his own.

Without his boisterous attitude to make up for his size, he just seemed so unbearably tiny.

Trying his best not to wake him up, he pulled the skin on his hand taut as he positioned the needle over a vein, letting out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding as he eased the needle under his skin.

Ed's eyes fluttered open as Jean began to push the medicine into his vein, his brow furrowed in confusion. Hughes quickly blocked the view of Havoc and the needle, petting his hair in attempts to calm him.

"Wha're you doin?" He asked groggily, his voice thin and pained.

"Nothing, Ed. You're okay, go back to sleep." He crooned, watching Ed's pupils dilate with the drug now coursing through him.

"Back hurts." He croaked, his eyes falling shut again as he began to relax more into the blankets and pillows around him. Hughes frowned at that, running his thumb back and forth over the boy's temple.

"I know, kiddo. You'll feel better when you wake up."

If Ed heard the man, he gave no response—falling quickly into an artificial sleep.

"What did you give him?" Roy questioned, suddenly appearing over his shoulder. Jean spared a glance at him, his hands digging through his supplies.

"Propofol. He'll be completely out of it for a few hours."

Roy and Maes both let out a sigh of relief at that, with Maes falling slack against the wall behind him and Roy falling into a nearby chair.

"Thank God, I don't think I could stand to see him in any more pain." Maes admitted, brushing the bangs from Ed's sleeping face one last time before crossing his arms over his chest and melting into the wall he was using as backrest.

Even if Jean had just found out about the kid's sorry state, he completely understood where the man was coming from. After just a few minutes of seeing Ed in such misery, he learned that he never wanted to see him suffer ever again.

Which was why he was glad he grabbed the sedative on his way out of the infirmary, because he would have to get up real close and personal with the wounds on his back, which were undoubtedly extremely sore, and he didn't want Ed to be even remotely aware for that.

Pulling gloves onto his hands as well as grabbing several items from his bag, he climbed up onto the bed with Ed, being careful not to jostle him to much as he pulled him to lay across his lap. A twinge of fear sparked in his stomach upon registering the warmth radiating off of the boy, which he knew was certainly to hot to be normal, even without a thermometer.

He could only wonder the reason for his obvious fever- whether or not it was just because of pain and inflammation or if it was something more serious, such as an infection.

With a sigh, he began to gingerly clean the wounds, being extremely careful not to irritate them further even if the kid couldn't feel it.

He then tore open a packaged needle and thread and took the needle in a pair of forceps before slowly beginning to pierce the skin of the largest gash. He bit his lip as he brought it through the other side, and the skin began to pull together before he pulled it tight and knotted it securely.

Roy and Maes were watching on, holding their as Jean tied stitch after stitch in the poor kids back, finally finishing off with way too many stitches for a body so small.

As soon as he was finished with the sutures, he pulled a white aluminum tube from his duffel bag, depositing a generous amount onto his gloved hands. With gentle and slight touches, he dabbed the antibacterial ointment up and down the long lines of stitching that marched up his back.

Then, as he covered it all up in a thick layer of gauze, he was glad he decided to pack extra bandages, though he had been hoping he wouldn't need to use them.

After what felt like hours of staring at the shredded remains of the kid's back, it was all finally taken care of, with Jean securing down the last bandages with final bits of tape on his roll.

Carefully, with the help of Roy and Hughes, he slid out from underneath the boy, laying him gently back down again against the mountain of pillows. His head lolled around absently with every movement, which was unsettling as much as it was comforting.

"All done." He said to no one in particular, mostly just assuring himself that he didn't have to feel like he was torturing the kid he had come to think of as a little brother anymore.

Roy flounced a blanket over the kid as Jean laid a hand on his forehead, checking for fever while also almost wanting to assure himself that the kid was still there and still alive. He couldn't help but brush the damp bangs away from his face.

Heaving one last sigh, he pushed himself off of his knees and turned to face the Colonel and Hughes, who were both looking equally apprehensive for what he could only imagine to be one of the worst conversations he would ever have.

"So, I believe you both have some explaining to do."