He didn't sleep much that night, and he stumbled through the day in a fog.
Lucy came running over to him smiling, and he did his best to paste a smile on his face and teach her what he could.
Despite his constant brain fog, at least the janitor was gone for a little while.
Breakfast turned to lunch which turned to afternoon craft time, and Ed noted with a sinking feeling in his gut that he still hadn't seen a psychologist.
his annoyance turned to anger and then worry, because Mustang normally always came to visit at lunchtime, but he hadn't visited yet today...
"Edward. come here, please." nurse called to him from across the room.
He strode over to the nurse's station and was handed a phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Fullmetal. I know I missed lunch. I'll be there after work today, I promise, alright?"
"Okay." Ed frowned slightly- Roy sounded stressed and busy. He wanted to tell him that he still hadn't seen a psychologist yet, but he paused, hesitating. Roy had his own problems to deal with right now. He was being nice even visiting Ed.
"How are you doing, kid?" Roy asked quietly.
Ed shrugged, then realized Roy couldn't see him through the phone. "I'm fine." he said, voice monotone. His eyes burned a little, and he scrubbed at them with the back of his hand. He was so tired...
He heard Hawkeye in the background, he must've been calling from the office.
"I'll bring that book you wanted- 'Basic alchemical Principles'. I didn't forget." Roy sounded like he was trying to cheer him up. "What are you guys doing today?"
"I dunno. Craft- I'm supposed to be doing something with pipecleaners." Ed admitted, giving a yawn. "I'm making a spider or something. Not going well. He might end up being an amputee."
"Right." Mustang sounded like he was holding back a chuckle. "Well I'll let you get back to that. Just wanted you to know I didn't forget about you. See you later, kid."
Ed hung up the phone and wandered back to his table, where two boys were fighting over a small jar of glitter and Lucy has managed to get sequins in her hair.
Ed smiled, but then he saw Lucy looking behind him nervously and stumbled. There, leaning against the far wall, was the janitor, watching them.
I don't know if he's real or not, but he's starting to get on my last nerve. Ed thought to himself quietly.
"Hey- you're in bed early." Roy blinked, finding Ed already under the covers in his room a little after five when he'd come to visit.
Ed said nothing, picking at the sheets of the bed.
Roy frowned. "I brought your book." he set it on the nightstand.
"Thanks." ed muttered, though he didn't bother to look up.
Roy paused, pulling up a chair beside the kid's bed. "You look tired. Did something happen?"
Ed looked up, eyes darting to the corner of the room.
There was nothing there. The janitor wasn't watching him.
Ed shrugged. "Just... frustrated." he admitted. "I still haven't seen a psychologist."
Roy blinked. "You're serious?"
Ed nodded. "Yeah. I forget if this si day two or three here, to be honest, but I'm getting tired of waiting. I... I don't like it here." Ed admitted, shooting mustang a look laced with anxiety and something unreadable.
"I wanna go home. Back to the dorms, or even just the office, I'd sleep on the couch if they wouldn't let me be alone..." he twisted the sheets in his hands nervously, like he was asking for permission, and Roy sighed. "I know. i know." he let a frown take over his features. "This has gone on long enough. I'm getting you answers tonight, i promise. Just... sit tight for a little while, okay?"
"Alright." Ed nodded, the bags under his eyes making him look older, and Roy turned and headed down the hall towards the nurse's station.
The door was open for him and a chair was pulled up by nurse Kim's chair like she was expecting him, and she nodded to him when he sat down.
"How can I help you?"
"He hasn't seen a psychiatrist yet. You said he'd see one today. He's been here three days." Roy ground out, looking every bit as pissed as he felt.
Nurse Kim sighed. "I told you there were staffing issues..."
"Yeah, two days ago! That doesn't cut it anymore. I want to know what the hell is going on in this place right now."
Nurse Kim sighed. "Fine. The psychiatrist who evaluates everyone in this hospital was also John Rudolph's physiatrist. She saw him for years before he went off the deep end and killed all those kids. She's refused to see Ed or anyone involved in the case for ethical reasons. Conflict of interest- she wouldn't be able to objectively evaluate Edward knowing he was part of the military team that took down Rudolph. Happy now?"
Roy blinked. "No. So you're just going to let him stay here for however long? Can't you get a different psychiatrist here? It's been days..."
"I put in two requests to our sister hospitals in East City. Nobody can spare anyone right now, with all these grieving families and dead kids mental healthcare is in short supply. We might get someone to come out from North City next week if we're lucky."
"That's unacceptable."
"Well too bad, Mr. Mustang. If you think you can run this hospital better than me, be my guest." Nurse Kim waved a hand to him dismissively, waggling those acrylic nails in a taunting matter.
Roy glared at her and stalked down the hall, finding the payphone he'd memorized the location of and depositing two quarters.
"Yes, Schieska, this is Mustang here. I need a favor- put me through to Central command, please."
It was past working hours. but even so, once he managed to get through to Central command what was going on, things moved relatively fast. It took him about two hours on the phone to get things in place, but General Gruman, and the brass in central, were both displeased with Roy's reports. They contacted an old psychiatrist who'd worked for the military but now worked in private practice in the countryside in his retirement, and the man promised to take the next train in the morning and arrive in East City by tomorrow afternoon.
Roy strode back into nurse Kim's office a bit worn out from all the talking and pulling strings and slid a scrap of paper across his desk.
"What's this?" she asked idly, blinking at the name written on it.
"It's a name. Dr. Wedndell Ludell. Board certified psychiatrist. He'll be here tomorrow afternoon to see Fullmetal and the other kid involved in the case." Roy said, eyes flinty.
Nurse Kim blinked. "He... he's not affiliated with our hospital..."
"He doesn't have to be. He's been asked to come here by Central Command. You turn away their doctor and you'll have a lot bigger issues than me on your hands."
Nurse Kim blinked, looking shocked, and Roy turned, heading for the door and pausing in the doorway. "You're welcome, by the way." he growled, before turning and heading back towards Ed's room.
Ed was lightly dozing when he got back, but once he'd walked into the room the kid startled awake, blinking. "You're back. You were gone for so long, I figured you left..."
Roy frowned, sitting on the side of his bed. "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. I was on the phone with Central Command, making arrangements. A psychiatrist will be here to see you tomorrow afternoon. I made sure of it."
Ed blinked. "What... how?"
Roy shrugged. "I'm tired of the hospital playing games with you and jerking me around. So I made some calls. Not too hard- the military doesn't like it when its officers are taken. And believe it or not, you have quite the reputation. They want you back in the streets, making them look good." Roy admitted.
Ed nodded mutely, but otherwise didn't even seem relieved that he was finally going to see someone tomorrow.
"Jeez, you really are tired. You feeling alright?" Ed wasn't acting like himself. Roy reached over to feel the kid's forehead. His skin was cool to the touch, and Ed batted him away, looking annoyed.
"I told you- I'm fine. Just slept like crap last night." Ed muttered.
"You were out cold when I left you. What happened?"
Ed paused, looking like he was mulling something over, before he shrugged. "Woke up and couldn't fall back asleep." he admitted.
"Ah." Roy nodded.
"Well, you normally want me to stay until you fall asleep, and you're already half-asleep now." Roy joked, leaning back in his chair.
Ed sighed, leaning back and pulling the blankets up to his chin.
His eyes darted towards the doorway, and Roy watched him, slightly confused. A moment later, though, a nurse walked by, and he brushed off the lingering concern he felt. Ed was fine- just overtired and upset about being stuck here. Roy couldn't really blame him.
He waited until Ed's breathing evened out and the kid was sleeping peacefully before he left, intent on heading home and getting some rest himself.
He was back in the factory. Only it was empty- lonely and empty...
A cold wind blew through the broken glass of a nearby window, and he frowned, looking over and blinking, uncertain as to what was actually going on.
He took two steps forward and the floor gave way beneath him.
He was back in the basement- with the isles of trash and dirt, the debris, the severed head.
Only something was different. Instead of the stench of decay and filth, there was a metallic, cloying scent in the air that wafted up to him and seemed to stick in the back of his throat, leaving him nauseated.
It was even harder wade his way through the water now- it seemed thicker somehow, clinging to him, making it harder to move through. Lucy was still there, chained to the metal stake in the island of trash dressed in her filthy pillowcase.
She gave him a look through narrowed eyes. "Don't come any closer." she said, as though looking at him somehow disgusted her.
"Lucy- it's me! I came here to help..."
"Don't bother. I don't want your help- not with all that blood on your hands."
Something fell into place in his mind. He looked down- he was standing in blood. The metallic scent hit him full-force, and staggered, nausea overcoming him as he fought to stay upright...
The sobbing of a dozen voices- some the high-pitched, frantic, animalistic wails of young children and others more coherent, rhythmic begging, exploded all around him, echoing off the shadowy walls...
And black hands rose up from the bloody lake he stood in, grabbing him by the knees and starting to drag him down.
No... NO! this can't be real! It can't be! I'm not there- I'm not at the gate!
He looked up, frantic, to see Lucy watching as the hands dragged him down with a sense of fear.
The hands had dragged him down so he was waist-deep in blood, and he reached up, frantic.
"Lucy- please! Somebody! Grab my hand!" he called frantically.
And it wasn't just Lucy in the basement. There were all the kids- in their white clothes, with their terrified expressions, standing or sitting on the garbage islands and watching in a mix of mute horror as he was dragged down.
He kicked frantically, listing to the side and clawing at the side of a trash island, reaching out to the kids.
"Please! Somebody! Don't let them take me!"
But the children just looked at him, wide-eyed and frightened, and he looked down to see thick crimson dripping from his hands...
He was sobbing. It was up to his chin, sticky, rotting crimson, and then his mouth was pulled under. He breathed in frantically through his nose until he couldn't and he'd expected suffocation to be a painless, quiet death, but choking on blood was so, so not painless- He screamed, but nobody could hear it, frantic bubbles rising to the crimson surface. When he was fully submerged from his head down, colors exploded in front of his eyes, his chest begged for air, and he went limp, realizing there was no hope, and let those horrid black hands take him to hell.
He sat bolt-upright, choking on something.
He was drenched in a cold sweat, and he barely had time to lean over the side of the bed before he was retching, vomiting onto the pristine white tiles.
It was only after his stomach had finished wringing itself out that he sat, panting a light-headed, trying to come to terms with what he'd just seen.
He blinked, trying to center himself in his room, and- oh god he was back, the janitor standing in the dark corner was back, watching him. The man was shrouded in the dark, Ed couldn't make out his face, but he turned, stumbling out of bed, frantic to get out, get away...
You're locked in the hospital. You can't leave. His mind helpfully filled in the blanks and his heart started to hammer faster in his chest.
He fumbled, nearly stepping in the puddle of his own vomit as he tore open the bottom drawer to his nightstand, fumbling with shaking hands to get out the sock of quarters and ending up dumping them all on the floor in his haste.
He bent down, scooping up a handful of them, only to feel a hand on his shoulder...
The janitor was behind him, and his hand was on his shoulder.
He turned to see it was the janitor and took off running- but he slid right through the man, and he was hit with a wave of freezing cold.
He stumbled blindly forward into the hallway, barefoot and frantic. The hallway seemed to stretch into infinity in front of him, his heart flopping frantically in his chest like a fish on a line, but he reached the payphone and managed to stuff the coins into it, dialing the number he'd been forced to memorize when he'd first become a state alchemist...
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Pick up. oh god, please pick up...
Ring. Ring.
"Hello?" Mustang, voice thick with sleep, answered.
"You need to come here now!" the words were out of his mouth before Mustang even finished speaking. His hands were shaking so badly he was having a hard time keeping the phone steady.
"Fullmetal!?" In an instant Mustang sounded a hundred times more awake. "What's going on, are you alright!?"
"I can't get their faces out of my head! They kept looking at me, I keep tasting blood... please, please get here! I can't trust anyone else! Please!" he was bordering on frantic, and he didn't realize how loud he was being- a nurse peered down the hallway from where the nurses station was, and Ed frowned.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes, kid. I need you to take a deep breath and try to calm down."
The nurse was walking down the hallway, now, and Ed felt his heartbeat speed up.
"Promise me! I need you to promise me you'll get here then! That no matter what, no matter if the hospital's locked because it's late..."
"Edward- nothing will keep me from getting to you. I will be there. I swear. But I have to hang up the phone so I can get dressed. Breathe. I'm coming, kid. Okay?"
"O-okay." Ed stuttered.
"I'm going to hang up now. I'll see you soon."
The line went dead, and Ed hung the phone back up on the wall, taking a deep breath and trying to steady himself.
The nurse strode over to him, frowning. She was young and had honey-blonde hair.
"Edward- are you alright?" she asked, looking at him skeptically. "Oh sweetie- you have a nosebleed."
Ed blinked, looking at her numbly.
She reached out and took his hand, and he allowed her to lead him down the hall to the nurse's station.
"Who were you on the phone with, sweetie?" she asked as she handed him a handkerchief.
"Mustang. I need to talk to him."
The nurse blinked, giving him a funny look. "Sweetie- it's four in the morning. Let's get your nose to stop bleeding and get you back to bed."
Ed blinked, shaking his head. "No. I'm staying up. He's coming. I have to see him."
One of the other nurses jogged around the corner form doing bed checks.
"Edward isn't in his room. there's blood on his sheets and vomit on the floor." her eyes darted to Ed, who was standing beside the counter surrounding the nurses station, to the other nurse, and they both exchanged a glance but relaxed.
"You got sick on the floor, sweetie?" the blonde nurse asked.
Ed nodded, feeling himself flush slightly.
"It's okay. Do you feel sick? You look awful clammy..." the nurse reached out towards him, and Ed ducked away.
Hands... hands reaching for him, dragging him to hell...
"I'm fine. I had a nightmare. It happens sometimes. Please... don't touch me."
The nurse looked hesitant, but she nodded.
"Right. just... hold that to your face, and we'll see about getting you back to bed."
Ed nodded, turning and starting to pace the common room.
The nurses talked quietly amongst themselves, and Ed watched the clock in the room, watching five minutes trickle into then, ten to fifteen- his heartrate sped up. Mustang had said fifteen minutes, what if the nurses were right, what if he wasn't really coming?
The door to the unit opened, and Ed's heart leapt for joy, only to come crashing down when he saw it was only Nurse Kim.
She frowned, glancing at Ed and heading towards the nurses station, motioning for him to follow her.
"What's Edward doing up?"
"He had a nightmare and got sick on the floor. Also got a nosebleed. We found him at the payphone, he's been pacing around to try and get himself calmed down..." the blonde nurse said, shooting Ed a sympathetic glance.
Nurse Kim frowned, looking at him. "Who did he call?"
"Well, um... he said he called the Colonel." the blonde nurse admitted hesitantly.
Nurse Kim's eyes widened. "Get him a sleeping pill and take him back to bed."
"I don't want a sleeping pill! I want to talk to Mustang!"
Nurse Kim pressed her lips together, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Edward- I understand this must be very hard for you, but you'll do as I say and take the sleeping pill, or we'll have to give you something else involuntarily. You are my responsibility while you're in this hospital, and it's four in the morning- your Colonel won't be here."
"He said he would. I believe him." Ed said seriously, looking at them all with wariness.
Nurse Kim frowned. "Edward, this is a locked ward. It's outside of visiting hours. I know you find comfort in the man, but even if he does show up at the hospital, they'll turn him away at the front gates. This isn't up for negotiation. He isn't coming for you. Now are you going to listen to me or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"
Ed blinked, feeling his eyes start to burn with unshed tears. He hated this, being under the complete control of someone else- he hadn't felt this helpless in awhile.
"Then... then I want to talk to him on the phone again! I need to talk to him!" his voice cracked, he was dangerously close to begging.
"That wasn't one of the options I gave you, Edward." nurse Kim said simply, pursing her lips.
"He's not coming. The Colonel is a very busy, important man, and he's not going to be able to come until visiting hours- so why don't you give me your hand and we'll walk back to your room."
"No."
"What?" nurse Kim blinked.
Ed took a breath, forcing himself to stay calm and swallowing back his tears at being treated like a child. "I... I want to go back to bed. But please... no pill. Let... please, let me walk around a little longer... and try to shake it off."
Nurse Kim frowned, but seemed to take his attempt at compromise. "Alright. Five minutes to walk around. Then we go back to your room."
He paced the floor like a caged animal, watching the clock and the door in a compulsive way, twitching and clenching and unclenching his fists, just trying to get himself under control...
Five minutes passed, and nurse Kim stood when he walked close to the nurse's station. "It's time, Edward."
"But... but I need..." Ed's voice was barely above a whisper. He hadn't felt so defeated and abandoned in years, his lower lip was starting to tremble, and he was dangerously close to tears. he could already feel a few betray him and slip out, hot and salty on his cheeks.
"Edward. He's not coming for you. I told you- the colonel is an important man with important duties to attend to. Let's get you back to your room..."
It took him seven and a half minutes to throw on his military uniform. he splashed cold water on his face and ran his fingers through his hair, which was still a mess, before he was grabbing his wallet, keys, and watch, heading for the car.
It took him eight minutes to get to the hospital.
Two minutes to walk into the lobby downstairs. Hughes had reminded him of this, that it was his right as a military officer to get into this place, even when it wasn't visiting hours, but he expected it'd take poise and a lot for charm to strong-arm his way in. It was, afterall, just past four am.
Still, he took a breath and strode over to the desk, nodding to the secretary, who eyed him warily.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm here to see Edward Elric. he's in the pediatric ward."
The secretary frowned, looking conflicted. "Sir, visiting hours are over..."
Roy frowned, pulling his state alchemist's watch form his pocket and setting it on the counter with a soft metallic thud.
"I understand that. But I'm a military officer. This hospital has a unit for the criminally insane staffed by the military. As such, it falls under my jurisdiction, and I am allowed to inspect any unit I want, at any time. And I want to see Edward Elric."
The secretary frowned and looked uncomfortable, but nodded, standing. "Right. i can take you..." she reached into her desk drawer, grabbing a key and heading for the elevators.
"This way, please."
The elevator ride upstairs was quiet, a tense type of silence Roy was used to after he'd pulled rank. the woman nervously unlocked the double doors of the ward, and Roy strode in like he owned the damn place, and he did, because his alchemist was here...
He could already see Ed- the kid's posture was all wrong. He was slouched, looking at the floor, and Roy could see tears dripping down the kid's face as he said something to nurse Kim, wringing his hands...
"Edward. He's not coming for you. I told you- the colonel is an important man with important duties to attend to. Let's get you back to your room..." nurse Kim was saying in a low voice that sounded like it was better suited for calming a scared, cornered animal than talking to a child. She offered her hand to him, with those damned ugly ass acrylic nails like claws, and Ed shrank back, shaking his head...
"A commander's duty is to his soldiers." Roy growled, placing a hand on Ed's hunched shoulder. "And right now, getting Edward well again is my highest priority. Nothing is more important than me making sure he gets the help he needs, if he needs it."
Ed whirled when he touched him, coming face to face with a familiar man in a blue coat, and promptly burst into tears, burying his face in the man's chest.
"T-they said you weren't gonna come!" Ed wailed. "They said you abandoned me and they were gonna... gonna knock me out!" Ed sobbed into his chest.
Roy hadn't stopped glaring daggers at nurse Kim, who returned his acidic gaze, and Roy's hold on Ed's shaking frame tightened. "They did, did they?"
"Yeah, they did!" Ed wailed, grabbing two fistfuls of mustang's coat and clinging to him like he was afraid the man would disappear.
"Well, they're full of shit, so don't worry about it, because nobody is touching you, and they are filthy fucking lairs, and I am right here, and I'm not leaving you- not now, not ever. You're my soldier- my responsibility. I don't leave my men behind." Roy hadn't stopped glaring daggers at nurse Kim, who was looking at him in a mixture of hatred and suspicion.
"How did you get in here!? It's past visiting hours? You shouldn't be here..." she was already reaching for the phone.
"Lady, I'm the fucking military. This hospital is staffed by the military. He's military." Roy nodded to Ed, who was still crying into his coat. "I can go wherever I damn well please, and you can call whoever you want and bitch them out, but I didn't come here to talk to a petty bitch like you." he frowned, turning to Ed and gently peeling the kid away from him.
Ed was still a hot mess. The kid was still crying, there was dried blood on his face and his shirt, and something spattered on the chest of his white t-shirt...
"What do you need, Fullmetal?" he asked, uncertain what to do for just a moment.
"I need to talk to you!" Ed managed to choke out between tears, snot running down his face, and Roy nodded, fishing his handkerchief from his pocket and pressing it to Ed's face. "Do you want to go back to your room?"
"The custodians are still cleaning it up." one of the younger nurses piped up, and Roy's eyes narrowed.
"What happened to it?"
"He got sick on the floor."
"I didn't mean to." Ed admitted, looking pathetic, and Roy sighed, pulling the boy close to him. "I know you didn't. Nobody is mad at you." he shot nurse Kim a look over the boy's head daring her to say one fucking word, because he would fry her, burn off her ugly ass cheap acrylic claws right here and now, if she said one more word to try and convince Ed he didn't care.
"Let's go somewhere private to talk, then- wherever you want..."
Ed nodded, snagging Roy's sleeve and leading the older man towards the double doors in the middle of the unit that let out to the enclosed courtyard and the playground, still shrouded in the early morning dawn.
The double doors were locked, and Ed frowned.
Roy said nothing, pulling a stick of chalk from his pocket- any alchemist worth their salt carried chalk, after all- and sketching a simple array on the locked doors, pressing two fingers to it. With a flash of blue light the doors swung open, and Ed blinked, giving him a watery look of appreciation before he was leading the man over to the swings, sitting down on one and motioning to the other.
He was still taking shaking, hitching breaths and trying to calm his tears, and while he was doing an admirable job at getting himself back under control, just the desperation he'd seen on Ed's face hurt him.
A chill breeze blew, it was early November, and Ed was barefoot in a t-shirt and sweatpants.
Roy wordlessly shimmied out of his blue military coat and laid it over Ed's shoulders, fishing his state alchemist's watch from his pocket and pressing it into Ed's hands.
It proved just how shot Ed's nerves really were that the kid didn't even notice it wasn't his own, running his fingers over the emblem and running the chain through his fingers, a nervous habit Roy had seen him do countless times to calm himself before when he was stressed or trying to sit still in the office.
Roy sighed, taking a deep breath and sitting back down on the swing next to Ed, who was still fidgeting with the watch. His breathing was evening out, his hands weren't shaking, and he looked much more steady, more coherent...
"What happened?"
"It... it's stupid." Ed admitted, frowning.
Roy growled deep in his throat. "Ed, I don't know what bullshit that bitch of a nurse tried to feed you, but it's all a lie and truth be told, I've hated her since I first met her. I don't give a damn what they say- you are hurting, and you are my alchemist, so that makes it important to me, understand?"
Ed blinked, looking surprised, before he nodded slowly, taking a breathing. "It was... it was a nightmare, I guess. a dream. I was back in the basement, wading through the water. But it wasn't water- it was blood. And Lucy- the girl, the survivor- was there, but she said I was a monster, she wouldn't let me help her. And the... the hands... the black hands, like at the gate, when I tried human transmutation..." Ed had gone pale, and Roy frowned.
"Ed- I believe you. I do. but I don't know what the hands are. You've never told me about them before."
Ed took a shuddering breath. "When alchemists try human transmutation, they end up at this massive stone door. And there's a being there, and he takes your toll, and the door opens, and a thousand tiny black hands grab you and pull you into it. It's... it's infinite, they disassemble you body and soul, you... you see until your eyes bleed, you experience everything and nothing at the same time... it's hell." Ed admitted quietly. "and when you're done, it spits you out in whatever shape you end up in, back on the other side of the gate- the real world. And they were there again, those tiny hands..." Ed looked forward, though he wasn't really seeing anything.
Roy nodded. "I see."
"And... they were dragging me down. And I saw the kids- all the kids- watching it drag me under, and I begged them, for anybody to take my hand, but they didn't, and I was drowning in blood... then I woke up with a nosebleed. Crazy, huh?" Ed asked, giving a shaky laugh like he was trying to brush off the trauma.
"No, that actually sounds pretty hellish." Roy said seriously.
Ed nodded. "Yeah. I threw up on the floor, was in a cold sweat..." Ed hesitated, looking at his bare feet.
Roy frowned. "There's something else, isn't there?"
Ed hesitated. "You... you said not to talk about it..." he said lamely.
Roy blinked. "well- I'm telling you it's okay to talk about it now. We're completely alone, you don't have to worry about us being overheard."
Ed nodded, taking a shaking breath. "Right. Mustang... this building... do you know... has anyone ever died in this hospital?" he asked, looking over at him nervously.
And Mustang felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
"You're seeing something again, aren't you?"
Ed nodded hesitantly. "Yeah." he admitted with a dry chuckle. "First I figured it wasn't a big deal, because I thought he was real... but he just, he just stands in a corner and watches me- during the day, he's in my room at night. He never talks to me. But he freaks me out, he was there last night, that's why I didn't sleep... And when I woke up tonight, I was stumbling around trying to find my sock full of quarters, and he moved towards me- he put his hand on my shoulder... freaked the hell out of me." Ed admitted quietly.
Roy had felt his mouth go dry. Of course. Ed could see the dead. This was a hospital. It was more likely than not someone had died here at some point, and it made sense Ed would be seeing them...
"Lucy can see him too. He doesn't talk to either of us- he just watches. Watches and follows. I hate it. Normally, I'd try to talk to him- like with Red. Make friends with him. But I can't, because the nurses will notice and think I'm hallucinating, and so I've just been trying to ignore it, but... it's getting to be too much." he admitted.
Roy nodded. "What does he look like? Can you describe him to me?"
"Um... fifty or sixty, maybe. He's old. Tan skin. Blue eyes. He... he's dressed like a janitor, in blue coveralls, and a little shorter than you... He doesn't seem dangerous. But I hate when he watches me sleep. It bothers me a lot. I can ignore him during the day, but nights... nights are hard."
"That's why you wanted me to stay until you fell asleep, isn't it?" Roy asked, dread and certainty growing in his gut.
"He's only been watching me for two days, so not at first. But now... yeah." Ed admitted.
"Did nurse Kim seriously threaten to sedate you?" Roy asked seriously.
Ed's eyes widened, breath hitching, and he nodded. "Yeah, she did. And it... scared me. I didn't want to be stuck in that room, unconscious, with the spirit or whatever watching me, not able to wake up..."
"She had no right to threaten that. I'm sorry that happened to you. It's not going to happen again, I promise."
Ed gave him a dry chuckle. "In case you haven't noticed, Mustang- I have to play by their rules here. I have no power. I'm helpless, like a little kid... It sucks. it's scary." Ed admitted, darting a nervous glance at him.
Roy inhaled deeply. "I'm giving you permission, as your superior officer, that if anyone tries to sedate you, you can use alchemy to form non-lethal restraints to get away and call me. And I will come here and raise hell. But none of that is going to happen, because you're going to be out of here soon."
Ed sighed. "Man, I hope so."
He was cut off by a large yawn- he was exhausted.
Roy frowned. "You want to try going back to bed? I'll stay with you- I have to go to work at eight in the morning, but I'll sleep in the chair next to your bed. Not like I haven't done it a thousand times before when my beansprout bit off more than he could chew and got hurt in a fight with a criminal."
Ed frowned. "'M not a beansprout." he grumbled. He got to his feet, pulling Mustang's coat closer around him. "You'll stay?" he asked hopefully.
Roy nodded. "I'll stay." he promised.
"'Kay." Ed turned stumbling back to the doors and the inside of the ward.
Ed's room smelled like pine trees, and all the vomit had been cleaned off the floor. There were clean sheets on the kid's bed, though there were quarters all over the floor.
Ed sighed. "Yeah. I dropped them when I woke up." he explained, gathering them back up in his sock and placing them back in his nightstand before he was crawling into bed.
Ed perched on his bed, letting out a sigh. The kid's hair was a mess, and Roy frowned, grabbing the hairbrush from the kid's nightstand and getting to work at working the snarls out.
Ed seemed to relax slightly at the familiar sensation of his hair being brushed, and Roy kept brushing even after he'd worked out all the knots, just because it seemed to calm him down.
He noticed Ed's eyes fixed firmly on the corner of the room and frowned, leaning closer to the kid so he could whisper. "Is he there again?"
Ed wordlessly nodded.
Roy blinked. "Ignore him. Lay down and rest your eyes." he set down the hairbrush, pulling up a chair and sitting beside the kid's bed.
"He can watch all he wants- I'm next to you, and i won't let anything happen." Roy assured him quietly. Ed slowly nodded, and Roy noticed he rested his gaze on him instead of the corner, easing slightly.
Within ten minutes, the kid was out cold.
Roy blinked- he could feel something off in the room, though he wasn't sure what. it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he turned to look at the empty corner Ed had been fixated on earlier.
"I don't know who you are- but I'm going to ask you to leave." he whispered in a measured tone. "You're frightening him. He can't sleep with you here- you're terrorizing him, to be honest."
A cool breeze rustled the sheet at the foot of the bed, and the partially closed door moved a fraction of an inch.
The door to the room moved two inches though nobody had touched it, and the warm seemed to warm up a few degrees.
Roy let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. his entire adult life, he'd thought the paranormal was hogwash- that ot was stories told to scare kids. He'd never dreamed it was real, and he never would've believed it, if he hadn't seen what Edward had went through with Red.
He looked down at the kid sleeping soundly on the bed. The silver moonlight lit the room and made his golden locks look white, and Roy sighed, leaning back in his uncomfortable plastic chair and letting his eyes slip shut. It'd be a long night, but it was worth it. his shrimp needed him here, so here he'd stay.