Grace
Havoc had finally been let back to work, armed with light duty papers and emphatic orders to "Take it easy, dammit!"
His limp was still fairly bad, but he had gained some use of his right arm. Not too much, but just enough to be able to push a pen across paper in an approximation of his signature. It hurt like hell and his only painkillers were aspirin and caffeine.
A pale hand reached over his shoulder to pluck the pen from his grasp. "Idiot captain, I thought we told you to take it bloody well easy," Mustang scolded. "You're just going to hurt yourself even more."
"I"m not made out of glass, sir."
"I know that. But Major Hawkeye is still on medical leave, and she's nowhere near as... incapa–"
"Just say crippled," Havoc said bitterly. "That's what everyone says anymore."
"You think I don't know that?" Mustang asked gently. He touched his eyepatch. "Jean, I know exactly what you're going through. Admittedly, I wasn't nearly as badly... er... damaged like you, but it was still enough." Fingers brushed against his cheek, over an invisible scar beneath his right eye.
Havoc felt ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, sir... I forgot... I shouldn't have..."
"It's all right, Jean. I may have lost an eye, but you can barely do anything. Your limp is so bad that... the doctors have suggested amputation and substituting for automail. They say that a large portion of your muscle was severed in the explosion and that there's a good chance that it'll never heal properly."
"I don't care if I have a limp for the rest of my life, I'm not getting automail!"
"I admire your determination. But you have to realize that the military will get rid of you when it can't get anything else out of you..."
"I know."
He wasn't sure if that wistful smile was because of his sheer bull-headedness or because of something else. "I know. I just don't want to lose you again..."
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Omigosh! It's finally the last of the 'Grace' sub-plot! I'll be getting on with the rest of the story once the Quarter of Hell lessens at school and OMEA competition is over. (which is this Saturday, so expect something... sometime soon... hopefully) I still have two term papers to finish, so don't expect much in the way of updates. I'm trying. I really am.
