Chapter 3: An Afternoon Swim Then Tea

Thx for the reviews ppl, I updated as soon as I could!

Lauren and Ed hit the ice cold water at the same time. Lauren immediately stilled and dropped Ed's hand as she let the current carry her. Her thick cloak dragged her down…

Ed felt Lauren drift away. His head popped up over the water. "Lauren!" Ed grabbed onto a tree root near the side of the river and held on tight. "LAU-" He was taken underwater. His hand slipped from the tree root and he was carried down the river.

Lauren closed her eyes and let the freezing feeling of death wash over her. I'll see my family again…my mother…my brothers…but…I can't die yet…I still have to complete my mission…but I can't move…

Ed deliberately swam to the bottom of the river and swam with the current. He opened his eyes opened underwater and he looked around. The first thing he saw was a dash of red, black, and white….Lauren…..disappear around the bend in the river. He swam faster, harder, not wanting to loose Lauren. He went up for a quick breath, and then swam back down.

Lauren opened her eyes, tried to move, but couldn't, her lips were turning blue…

Ed was within arms reach of Lauren now, all he had to do was reach out and…he felt a sudden pain in his side. He looked back and saw that a stick had lodged itself in his skin. He pulled it out quickly and looked back at Lauren, she was gone.

Lauren drifted down small rapids and came to float in a small still pond. She closed her eyes again and let out her breath, starting to sink.

Ed went down the same rapids, hitting his head on the bottom of the river. Blood covered his left eye, making it unable to see through it. "LAUREN!" Ed yelled as he came up for another breath. He was dragged with the water to the same pond Lauren was in. He quickly looked around, but he didn't see her. He took a deep breath and went under.

Lauren hit the bottom of the pond and laid there, out of breath, and almost out of life. Ed…save…Kaara…

Ed saw her on his third trip under. He reached out and grabbed her around the waist. He dragged her to the surface and onto the sandy shore. Ed laid her down carefully and began to use CPR on her. Her heart wasn't beating…she wasn't breathing… "Come on Lauren, don't die on me now. Not like this!" Ed breathed air into Lauren's lungs….

Fire went through her as heat returned to her body. She still couldn't move though, but she opened her eyes a crack to see Ed kneeling above her. "E-Ed..?"

"Yea, its me, you had me worried there for a minute." Ed brushed Lauren's hair out of her face.

"What..happened?" Lauren asked as she sat up with Ed's help and leaned against him for support.

"Well, you almost drowned in the river, but I found you on the bottom of the lake." Ed took off Lauren's wet cloak and rubbed her arms, trying to warm her up some.

"So I almost died…" Lauren whispered.

"Yes. You almost did."

"But you saved me."

"Yes. I did."

"Thank you." Lauren coughed a bit of water out of her lungs then tried to stand.

"Here, let me help you." Ed stood first then picked up Lauren in his arms.

"You're bleeding…" Lauren said, noticing Ed's face, half-covered in blood.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine, really, but we have to get you somewhere warm."

Lauren nodded then swiftly drifted off to sleep. The last thing she remembered was Ed whispering something in her ear…then nothing.

Ed still carried Lauren as she slept, determined to make sure she lives. He walked for maybe two hours before he saw smoke a little while away. "Fire…" He whispered, walking towards the source. When he came out of the bushes, he found himself surrounded by villagers.

"What do you need here..?" An older man came out from the crowd.

"Well…you see…my friend here is dying of cold, she almost drowned in the river back there." Ed said, throwing his head back a little, motioning to the river.

"Why were you in the river in the first place?" A woman came to stand next to the man.

"We jumped off of a train." Ed decided to just tell the truth.

Lauren moaned some in Ed's arms, her lips were still blue and her tanned skin had become pale.

"Please…can you help..?" Ed looked into the woman's eyes to find sympathy.

"Of course, come inside my home, I'll put some water on for tea." The woman came and put a blanket over Lauren and led Ed to a small, quaint home.

"Thank you so much." Ed said as he laid Lauren down next to the fire as the woman motioned him to do.

"It's no problem; I can see you don't want to loose her." The woman smiled as she placed a kettle of water over the fire.

Ed smiled a little then kneeled next to Lauren.

"We've got to get her out of her wet clothes…you too." The woman went into a back room and came out carrying two sweaters, two pairs of sweat pants, two coats, gloves, socks, boots, and hats.

Ed nodded and took the cloths from her.

"I'll leave ya to it." The woman walked out of her home, leaving Ed there to dress Lauren and himself.

Even though it was only a matter of life and death…Ed still managed to turn his cheeks red as he walked back to Lauren and took the blanket off of her. The first thing he did was take her boots off and put the socks on. (being careful of her stone coldauto mail leg)Then, he rolled her gently to her side to unbutton her dress from the back. When it was fully undone, he quickly slipped it off, keeping his eyes on her stomach, and replaced it with a sweater, pants, and a coat. The he took a thread he found on the floor and tied Lauren's hair up and put the hat over her head. Then he finally put on the gloves and boots, and then dressed himself.

The woman came back in as Ed yelled out that it was alright. The kettle started to whistle. "Water's hot." The woman put on a thick glove and took the kettle off of the rest over the fire. Then she took out two cups, poured the water in, and soaked tea bags in each cup. Then she handed them to Ed. "Drink up. They'll make ya warm all over." She smiled sweetly then left again.

"Ed set one of the cups down and propped Lauren's head up. "Come on, just drink the tea, please."

Lauren didn't respond, she was in too deep of a sleep.

Ed just drank his tea, then curled up next to Lauren, and slept also.

Ok, that wasn't a cliffhanger Lk at all, lol, but I had to stop it there cause if I went forward, it wouldn't be that good, and if I stopped it before, it wouldn't be that good. So that's where I stopped it, please review!