#10 Promise
Riza couldn't take the pain any longer. Being shackled to a wall and beat repeatedly was too much pain; she was ready to give up any hope that someone would find her. Again the leader of the underground ring came and tried to get information out of her, but she wouldn't relent. "You'll never get anything out me!" she screamed, blood pouring from a fresh wound on her skull and several scratches on her arms and legs. Her head ached from where the blow the man had given her made the back of her head smack hard on the wall. "Kill her; I'm tired of hearing her voice." the leader said, leaving the room. She looked up, trying to focus her eyes on the eyes of the three masked men holding rifles locked on her drained body. She could barely make them out, but two of the men had red eyes and the other had black eyes. I think I know those eyes… She thought as they cocked their guns, ready to shoot her. The next thing she felt was intense heat, blinding her worn out eyes and singeing some of her hair. As the flames died down she saw one of the men stand up and walk towards her, their gun still aimed at her. He pointed the gun towards the ceiling and shot three rounds, the reverberations echoing in the old building. "Come on lieutenant; stay with me here." she heard in her ear as the man unlocked the shackles and she fell helplessly to the ground. "Colonel, go; someone will be back in a few minutes." she said, her vision getting blurrier and harder to adjust as she lay on the floor. "Never; I will never leave you." he said as he picked her up; she was lighter than he remembered. Her body was covered in scratches and blood, her face was even worse; it was bleeding profusely from the wound she had gotten as he had to stand by and watch. The exit where his backup was waiting was at the end of the hall; if he could make it without being detected they would be fine. "Hey! Where'd hell do ya think you're goin'? Come back here!" he heard behind him. Shit, he mumbled under his breath. Instantly two figures jumped out in front of him; he shifted her in his arms and was about to snap his fingers when he recognized the two men, Full-Metal and Al. They shot past him and went after the rebels, using alchemy to capture the fools and hold them down. Roy got out the exit and practically landed in the arms of Armstrong who took Riza from him and went towards the ambulance waiting around the corner. He ran after them, praying with every step she would make it through. He hopped in the back of the ambulance and rode to the hospital holding her hand. He was pushed out of the way as she was taken into the emergency room to try and close up her head wounds, but he wouldn't leave. Almost three hours later a nurse told him where he could find her; he dashed up the stairs and into the room, closing the door behind him. When he turned to look at her his eyes ached to see how bad she appeared. Her entire body was scratched and bruised; her hair was slicked back showing off her high, proud forehead and the eight stitches she now had to close her wound. He sat next to her bed, taking her hand and lightly rubbing his thumb over her delicate fingertips; she woke with a start and gasped. "Roy! Roy, where are you?" she said, trying to sit up. "I'm right here Riza; I'm not going anywhere." he said, standing to look into her face. There was a strip of cloth tied over her eyes; he went to remove it as the doctor entered the room. "Don't do that. We don't know yet what's going to happen to her eyes if you do." The female doctor said, walking in. "Are you her husband?" she asked, peering at the records on the clipboard. "No, I'm her superior. The closest thing she has to family." he replied. "Well, I'll allow you to hear since we have no record of any other family. Lieutenant Hawkeye;" she said, walking to the other side of Riza's bed and holding her other hand. "You're going blind. The head wound on the back of your head you got has injured your eyesight; you must have gotten a pretty bad blow to your occipital lobe. But I'm afraid it's irreversible." she said, patting her hand before leaving the room. Riza's grip on Roy's hand tightened. "No… no… I can't be blind… this, off. Take it off!" She practically screamed as she reached up to rip the cloth from her face; Roy tried to hold her down, saying the doctor wanted to leave it on. She fought against him and pulled it off, opening her eyes and blinking several times before bursting into tears. "It's true… I can't see anything! All I see are figures and light …" she said, crying into her pillow. He pulled her hand up towards his face. "Listen to me, Lieutenant. You're still under my orders; you must remain hopeful. Until you are relieved of duty permanently, I am going to stay by your side as your superior; and when the day comes that you are given your decommissioning, I will still remain by your side as your friend." he said, placing the palm of her hand on his cheek and looking into her eyes; they weren't the bright color he was used to seeing, they had a sort of whitish glaze over them. "Do you promise Roy?" she said, her voice broken from her sobbing. "I promise; until the day I die, I'll be by your side." he responded, letting her feel the tears that leaked out of his eyes; eyes he wished he could share with her.