Not much plot here. I'm just a sucker for parental Roy, and one of the reviews awhile back did ask what's happening with Ed's anemia, so I figured it gave me room to write another chapter with Ed not feeling well.
Also- the imagery of Ed using alchemy to make himself a little platform so he could see out the high windows just made me happy. It's one of the scenes that made me smile when I was first laying out this story.
I'm just a big sucker for Ed with a tummyache and a parental Roy caring for him.
"Yes- I submitted my evaluation to the nurse in charge of the unit, and she'll be giving it to the doctors and professionals here. It's been awhile since I've been one of the cogs in the hospital machine, but I can assume in a day or two the boy will be released, with conditions..."
Roy blinked, frowning at the receiver of the phone. "With conditions?"
"Yes. Edward passed his psychiatric evaluation with flying colors, but I have concerns. To be frank- the boy has been through the wringer. I don't think it's wise to send him back to the dorms to live on his own. If I were to throw my full weight behind the idea of Edwards release as soon as possible, I'd need to have reassurance he was being released into the custody of a guardian or an adult fit to help him through his trauma..."
Roy blinked. "You're suggesting he live with me, then?"
"You are the boy's legal guardian, Sir. I feel it would be the best thing for Edward. I assume you'll agree to it?"
Roy nodded. "Yes. I would." at this point, he'd do anything to get his kid away from the hospital.
"In addition, a nurse will be coming to give him an iron injection. He needs them weekly, from what I gleaned from his medical notes."
Roy winced. "Yeah. About that. He's... not good with needles, so it'd be best if they gave it to him while I was there. And he's going to feel pretty lethargic afterwards- he normally sleeps after he's had one."
"I'll make note of that, then. Otherwise- I see no issues with him being released as soon as tomorrow."
Roy nodded. "Right. Thank you."
"Not a problem. I have to call a Leutienant Colonel Maes Hughes- Good day."
Roy said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Fullmetal passed his psych evaluation." he announced to the eavesdropping crowd of his staff.
"Hooray!"
"I bet he cheated, but it's okay!"
"When are they letting the twisted little beansprout out?"
"In a day or two, they said. He's got to be under my supervision for a few weeks, but at least he'll be back in the office and working a little."
Ed grinned when Roy ducked into his room. "Did you hear I passed my psych evaluation? Do I get to go home now?"
Roy smiled. "Yeah, kid, I heard. Nice job. You're not going home just yet- another day or two for the paperwork and you'll be out of here."
Ed frowned. "Two days?"
"Yeah. Think you can hang in there for that long?"
Ed scowled. "I guess I have to. Hey- did you bring me another watch?" he asked.
Roy frowned. "Your state alchemist's watch is in my desk drawer. You didn't ask me to bring it..."
"No, not that one! The last time I passed the test for the military, they gave me my state alchemist's watch. I passed the psych evaluation for them, so now do I get another watch? A 'certified sane persons' watch or something?"
Roy couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. No. You get out of here. That's the reward."
"I guess."
"I do have something for you, by the way. How have you been sleeping? Any unexpected visitors?" Roy asked, and Ed realized what he was getting at.
"Not really. Though... nevermind. I'll tell you later."
Roy nodded, handing Ed a file folder. Ed flipped it open, finding the obituary for the janitor and looking at the attached picture. His eyes widened slightly. "That explains a lot." he admitted, finishing reaching and handing the file back to Roy.
Ed sighed, slumping back against the pillows. "Man- I can't wait to get out of here."
The next afternoon he ducked in to visit Ed, only to find the boy sitting on a small alchemically created platform that raised him up so he could look out the high windows in his room.
It'd been awhile since he'd seen Ed with such a good attitude doing a typically Ed thing like this, and Roy smiled at the platform while the nurse behind him looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Hey Fullmetal- mind coming down here for a minute?"
"Huh?" Ed turned, clapping and lowering his little pillar of sorts to the ground, restoring the floor to perfect order. There weren't even any visible transmutation marks, Roy noted happily. The kid must've been feeling better physically, his alchemy was back to it's usual flawless transmutations.
"If you'd take a seat on the bed, please." the young nurse said dryly.
Ed did a doubletake when he saw the needle in the woman's hand, and swore, backpedaling until he was against the wall, glaring at Mustang. "What the hell, you filthy traitor!?"
Roy sighed. He'd been hoping this would go better. "Fullmetal. The doctors say you need an iron shot."
"Hell no! I don't want it! Can't I have the pills instead!?" Ed's eyes darted from Roy to the nurse nervously.
Roy sighed. "We tried that- the doctors think the pills aren't working. They said that for some reason your stomach isn't absorbing the iron properly, so the injections seem to work..."
Ed blinked, looking surprised. "Why wouldn't the pills work?" he asked.
Roy sighed. "The doctors think there's something wrong inside you and you just can't absorb the iron from pills."
Ed blinked, placing one hand on his stomach and the other on his chest, clutching himself nervously. An anxious expression had sprung to his face. "Something... something's wrong inside me?" he remembered teacher- coughing up blood. Her toll had been her internal organs. He twitched anxiously.
Roy placed a hand on Ed's flesh shoulder and squeezed. "Because it's not that serious, as long as you take your iron injection. It slipped my mind. But you need the shot, Fullmetal. So you don't get as sick as you were in the hospital. That wasn't fun for me to watch, and I know it was worse for you, being that ill."
Ed frowned, shooting Mustang a glare. "Fine. I'll take the damn shot! But I'm not gonna be happy about it!" he strode over to his bed, dramatically flinging himself onto it. He looked like a little stormcloud, with his gray t-shirt and sweatpants and dark attitude.
The nurse took that as her cue to approach.
"Alright, Edward- if you could take down your pants for me and roll over onto your belly."
Ed groaned. "Does it have to be in the ass?" he said, shooting the nurse, and then Mustang, a pleading look.
The nurse nodded. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but it does."
Ed grumbled something acidly and took his pants down to his knees, leaving him in his red checkered boxers.
Ed blinked and pretended not to flinch when the nurse hiked up his boxers slightly and he felt the cold alcohol wipe on his skin.
He looked past the nurse, towards where Mustang was standing a few feet back with a calm, and dare he say re-assuring- expression on his face.
Ed growled low in his throat and focused hard on giving Mustang the most hateful scowl he could muster. This was Mustang's fault, Mustang was letting them give him the shot...
He Yelped and squirmed when he felt the needle in his skin- there was a burning sensation and a moment later, the nurse was stepping back, giving him a small smile.
"There. All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, looking at him warmly.
"It was horrible, and I don't like you." Ed glowered right back, squirming to pull his pants back up and rolling over onto his back.
"Alright- feel better, sweetie."
"I'm not sweet!" Ed barked, but the nurse was already retreating.
Mustang couldn't hide the smirk at Ed's characteristic attitude, pulling up his chair beside the boy's bed and sitting down.
"You doing alright?"
"No." Ed crossed his arms over his chest, and looked as though he was pouting. "You know I'm gonna feel like crap for the rest of the day, now?"
Roy nodded seriously. "You might, yes. If your reaction to the shot you got in the hospital is anything to go off of. But feeling sick for a day is better than being seriously ill all the time like you were before. You were a walking ghost somedays- and I know you didn't enjoy that."
"You say that, but you don't have to go through it!" Ed grumbled. "You didn't even tell me what's wrong with me yet. Why can't I have iron pills? What did those doctors say?"
Roy blinked, trying to remember. "They said it was iron malabsorption, I believe. I'd have to go digging through the paperwork to find out all the information."
"So there's something wrong with my stomach?" Ed frowned, looking at his t-shirt covered abdomen like it's betrayed him somehow. "Can they fix it?"
Roy frowned. "No. But they weren't too concerned- they said it's not serious, as long as you take your iron injections. Have you ever had anemia before? I went through your file when I signed you into the military, I didn't see anything about medical problems."
Ed shook his head. "No. Never had any problems with my stomach or anemia before. Nothing mom or the doctors ever told me, anyways. Never had any problems until..." Ed frowned, looking at his metal arm in realization. "Shit."
Roy leaned forward, looking concerned. "What is it, Fullmetal?"
Ed's gaze darted towards the doorway, and when he was sure the coast was clear he turned to Mustang and mouthed the words.
"Human transmutation."
Roy blinked. "Oh." he said, as though not sure what else to say. "Oh."
"Yeah. Damn Truth stole my iron-eating enzymes!" Ed shook a metal fist at the ceiling. He frowned, taking a deep breath- his stomach was starting to churn and turn in uncomfortable ways. His joints were starting to twinge a little, too. He was aching like he had the flu.
"And then the nosebleeds due to your... abilities... gave you anemia." Mustang filled in the blanks. Ed nodded and paused as his head started to throb and paused, placing his hand to his forehead.
"You can't tell Al about this. He'd feel guilty." Ed said seriously.
Roy nodded stoically. "As long as you get your iron shot and you tell me when you're feeling sick so I can get you to a doctor, then mum's the word." he agreed.
"Deal." Ed laid back and let out a small groan, hands moving to rest on his midsection. His stomach was continuing to turn in nauseating ways, and it was starting to annoy him.
His face was flushed, and Roy frowned. "You alright?"
"No." Ed's stomach gurgled loudly and gave a particularly nauseating churn, and Ed squeezed his eyes shut and held his middle tighter, lips pressed together in a firm line.
"Do you want me to get the nurses? They've got medicine to settle your stomach. Or I can grab a glass of water?" Roy was shooting in the dark. It'd been much easier when Ed was seriously ill in the hospital- all he'd needed was to hold the boy or give him a backrub.
Ed's face, with cheeks that'd been flushed red, greyed a little, and he shook his head gingerly at the mention of water. "No. If I try to drink anything, I'll hurl." he admitted.
His stomach gave a high-pitched whine of agreement, and Ed moaned, flopping his head back on the pillow.
"Try not to think about it." Roy said seriously.
Ed cracked his eyes open halfway, giving Roy a look. "What else should I think about, then? How bad my joints ache?"
Roy sighed. "I'm trying to be helpful."
"You made me get the damn shot!"
"Because you needed it! It's better to be sick for one day than seriously ill, you know that." Roy said seriously.
Ed frowned. "Well it's still your fault. Mustard Bastard."
Roy blinked. "...what did you just call me?"
Ed frowned. "Mustard. Bastard. It rhymes. And sounds like Mustang. You made me get a shot, so you have to deal with me now." Ed admitted.
Ed looked too miserable to argue with, and Roy sighed. "Fine. Okay. Do you need anything?" Ed was squirming and wiggling on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position that wouldn't upset his gurgling stomach of aggravate his aching joints. He felt like he was in the middle of having the flu, and everything was misery. He couldn't find a comfortable positon.
Ed frowned, looking at Roy critically. "Backrub?" he asked hopefully.
Roy nodded. "Alright. If you think you can turn over without losing it."
Ed gave him a slight nod, sitting up gingerly and turning over, lowering himself delicately onto his elbows before laying down on his belly. He could tell by the way Ed was moving hesitantly that the boy was hurting.
He pulled his chair slightly closer to the bedside, rubbing small circles on Ed's back.
Ed gave a quiet hum, turning his head to the side so he was looking at Mustang through half-lidded eyes. "How long are you sticking around?"
He'd only been planning on staying for his lunch hour, but looking at the quiet, lethargic way Ed held himself, he could stay a little longer.
"For a while. Until you fall asleep, probably. I know you feel pretty lousey right now- try and relax and sleep it off." he kept rubbing Ed's back, and Ed sighed, humming and shifting slightly before letting his eyes fall closed.
"So you're using me as an excuse to slack off on paperwork, huh?" Ed asked, eyes still closed. He wasn't coiled so tightly anymore, and he seemed to be melting into the bed slightly.
Roy smiled slightly. "Something like that."
"I can't wait to get out of here." Ed muttered, already half asleep.
"Pretty soon. The hospital is putting the paperwork through. Close your eyes and get some rest- you'll feel better when you wake up for dinner."
Ed tensed under his hand, taking a few slow, deep breaths and tightening his hold on his middle. "Don't talk about food." he whimpered.
"Sorry. Just relax- take a nap. When you wake up it'll mostly be out of your system, you'll feel a ton better. That's what happened the first time you got the shot." Roy recalled, remembering how Ed had slept all afternoon and woken up ravenous.
Ed hummed quietly, and within five minutes, the kid was out cold, laying on his belly and drooling on the pillow, breathing deep and even.
Roy smiled slightly- Ed always seemed so much younger while he slept, his face seemed to soften, the hard lines of his scowl fading to childlike cheeks and relaxed jaws, his normally well-kept hair messy in straw-colored locks.
Roy reached over, affectionately brushing some of the hair out of the boy's face.
Ed snuffled slightly and burrowed deeper into the pillow.
Roy reached over, giving the kid an affectionate pat on the back and finding the folded blanket at the edge of the bed, carefully unfolding it and spreading over the boy, tucking it beneath his chin.
"Rest up, kiddo. I'll be back around dinnertime."
It's hard to believe he's going to be released in a few days. And come home with me. Roy thought, burying his hands in his pocket as he walked to his car.
What am I gonna after work without the Shrimp to visit?
He paused, blinking. He was an idiot.
The kid's gonna be living in my apartment, at least for awhile. I won't have to visit the bean- he's gonna be with me!
He didn't know why, but the thought made him smile.