Chapter three:
Ed had immediately headed for his and Al's room, falling asleep, as he hit the pillow, not bothering to take off any articles of clothing. Sarah sighs worriedly; she'd noticed something different about Ed but didn't really want to say anything. 'He seemed… paler… like he became suddenly anemic… but…' She shakes her head rubber her forehead with her finger tips, 'It might be something that normally happens for him and I don't know it. The boys past, well since I don't know anything about it I can't do much.' Sarah jumps at the sound of a knock on her door, she sighs hearing Al's voice, "Come in."
Al opens the door slowly and closes it just as quietly. He turns to her bowing slightly, "Sorry to bother, I was wondering if I could have some company while my nii-san rests."
Sarah smiles gently, "Of course, I actually wanted to ask you a couple of questions." She walks over to a table sitting at it she offers a chair to him he happily obliges.
"I'm sorry for my nii-san… he… normaly doesn't act like this…" Al speaks up looking down at the table at his folded hands.
"It's nothing really I actually wanted to ask you some medical questions about your brother. You know so I know that he doesn't have any allergies or anything." Sarah points out.
"Oh of course!" Al sits up smiling happy to help out anyway.
Sarah sighs thinking for a moment, "Is he allergic to any kind of medication that you know of?"
"No not really." Al speaks thoughtfully.
"Hmmm… Does he have a past be being anemic?" Sarah speaks matter-of-fact.
"What's anemic?" Al blinks looking rather confused, knowing nothing of medical science.
"Anemia is when one has either lost a great deal of blood, or has trouble keeping nurturance in the blood stream, normally this can be fixed by taking vitamins or taking iron tablets. Still it can become a serious problem." Sarah gives out the information that's obviously been memorized to heart.
"No he's never had those kind of problems… Why?" Al brows furrow slightly, looking obviously worried, more so with each word.
Sarah sighs thinking over the reasons why Ed would look so pale, 'Even a person that has been terribly frightened isn't that pale… I'm surprised Al didn't notice!'
"Dr. Reed?" Al speaks up worried for his older brother.
Sarah looks up seeing that she's being called, "Oh it's just that… Well I noticed that when you boys returned Ed looked, well pale, not in a manner that you'd think would be from a cause of being frightened. It's like, he bleed… but there were no signs of laceration, no hemorrhaging, especially to look that pale… he'd have to at least lost… two, two and half pints of blood. I know you'd have noticed something." Sarah doesn't even notice the boy next to her slowly stiffening with each word the spills from her educated lips.
"R… Reed-san?" The young man next to the young woman sounding terrified.
Sarah turns to Al not realizing that she'd frightened the boy, "Oh Al I'm sorry!"
"Is… Is my brother… going to die?" Al speaks up with what nerve he has left, his voice squeaking slightly. 'No this can't be I just got my body back, I need to help brother get his!'
"Oh no my dear…" She walks up to the boy giving him a hug, "He's going to be fine, we'll get him back to central and get him on some iron and he'll be better in no time."
Al nods slowly relaxing a little in the comforting grace of Sarah's arms, though blushes slightly since this is one of the first female hugs he's gotten since returning to his body. "Well what happened to him?"
Sarah shakes her head, "I don't know… We'll have to examine him to see what's wrong, but we'll have to wait for him to awaken."
"Why?" Al looks up to the doctor.
"It bugs me not getting the consent of my patients before I examine them. Just something I just do." She smiles at the young man patting his head and walks back over to the table, Al's comfort leaving him he looks to the ground finding her form of thought understandable. "Well you wanna play some cards while we wait on sleeping beauty?" Sarah gets out with a light grin.
Al snickers at the comment, "Sure." Al pauses for a moment, "Oh Reed-san!"
Sarah looks up to Al smiling, "Yes?"
"Nii-san… he… He has a fear of needles." Al points out a little nervous if she's planning on using one.
She smiles, "Don't worry I won't need one."
Al sighs in relief and settles in his seat for their game, practicing his game face.
(SC)
Ed slowly awakens with Al sitting at the side of his bed, seemingly reading a book, "Hey…" Ed smiles shifting around in his bed digging his face into his pillow, while Al looks up from his book.
"Reed-san would like to examine you." Al points out nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up from his book.
Ed slides his head to the direction of his oh so very loved brother, glaring at him, "WHAT!"
Al smiles nervously putting up a hand nervously, while the other still held onto the book, "She said she wouldn't need any needles! She just wants to make sure you're ok!"
Ed stops from trying to beat down his brother with a pillow and sits back down on the bed, blinking curiously, "Al? Why would she need to cheek if I'm o-k?"
"Well she and I both agree that ever since you and I got back from the castle, you've looked very pale… and Ed you've been asleep for about four hours." Al points out.
Ed blinks all the more, "What time is it?" he quickly grabs a clock to see.
"It's seven at night." Al points out matter-of-fact, returning to his book thoughtfully.
"Oh… well yea that is a little unusual for me isn't it?" Ed grins scratching the back of his head smiling nervously, hoping to find some way to get out of this exam.
"You still look pale nii-san… I'm worried for you." Al puts down his book looking to his brother, his face serious and filled with worry.
Ed looks to his brother, smiling gently understanding why Al would ask for an examination, though looking in the mirror he couldn't tell that he was pale, then again he doesn't really notice those kind of things. "Alright… but if she pulls out a needle from her rear I'll have every right to run away from her!" Ed's voice extremely threatening, as he points an accusing finger at Al.
Al half laughs and nods, "Hai nii-san!"
(SC)
Sarah walks into their room with gloves on Ed immediately gets the idea she's going to pull out a needle, "Why the gloves! You're not going to use a needle!" Ed points out the obvious.
Sarah smiles shaking her head, "I need them because I believe you might be hemorrhaging somewhere, and I don't want to take the risk of getting blood on my hands. That ok?" She waits for him to respond some way though one receives a shocked look.
"Oh… ok." Ed sits down at his table waiting for it to be over.
Sarah walks up to him putting down her bag of things, pulling out her blood pressure bump and puts her stethoscope around her neck for later use, her hair obviously having been tied up into a bun to keep her stethoscope from catching in it. She looks to Ed seeing that he's taken the liberty to take of his red coat. Ignoring it she returns to her bag pulling out a note pad. She looks at Ed for a moment trying to see if there are any obvious signs ob bleeding. She sighs writing down some notes.
Ed leans forward curiously, "What are you writing?"
"I writing down some notes so I can eliminate all the possibilities and get to the source of your anemia." Sarah points out.
"Anemia? I'm not that pale am I?" Ed looks to her worriedly.
She looks at him that says 'do I really need to answer that question?'
Ed gives his brows a quick raise, knowing that that was a dumb question, "Yea… dumb question…"
"Have you been feeling pain any where?" Sarah looks up from her notepad, "Even the tiniest, nothings irrelevant."
Ed thinks for a moment and remembers the terribly ache in his neck before seeing that it's gone now he doesn't really want to mention it. "Well not really…"
"Yes or no." she speaks firmly.
"Well… my neck was kind of hurting earlier-"
"Take off your shirt I want to see it, you have an undershirt on right?" She speaks up digging through her bag.
Ed takes off his shirt, "yea…"
Dr. Reed pulls out a magnifying glass to examine any blemishes on the skin. Ignoring Ed's stiffness around her, she knew people would be uncomfortable around her since she was a doctor and some people just don't like doctors. "Please try to relax."
Ed nods slowly sighing trying anyway to relax, 'alchemy think of alchemy!'
She looks up and looks at him shocked, shaking it off as not to startle Ed seeing as his eyes are closed. Clearing her throat she feelings the two wholes in the young man's neck, "It looks like something bit you!"
Ed's eyes pop open obviously that being something he DIDN'T want to hear. "Ah… WHAT!"
Sarah gets out her magnifying glass taking a closer look, "Did you get hurt in that place?"
"Why what's…" Ed tries regaining his calm, "What's wrong?"
"Well it looks like you have a bite mark on your neck… but this hardly possible, there's only two holes, so it can't be a bite mark unless you got bit by a vampire bat!" She looks up to him seeing his nervous face, "Most have extending canines… but these are too big… maybe you hit something?"
Ed smiles nervously, "Yea I hit something… I hope…"
Sarah looks at him completely shocked, "You don't even know HOW this happened?"
Ed looks at her like she'd just accused him of murder, trying to think about when he went upstairs, "I might have slipped in this old bathroom in the house." Ed tries to sound convincing.
Sarah looks at him expecting more, but soon turns to her notes shaking her head. "You need to be more careful… that almost hit your jugular vein. You really would have died if you hit it." She starts checking his breathing with her stethoscope, as well as his heart, the regular stuff. "Well besides those punctures you seem to be fine. Try to be a little more careful. It wont do to have you get fatally wounded and me be not around to save you." She nudges him a little
Ed hmphs putting his shirt and jacket back on.
"Try getting some more rest, if you need anything I'll be in the next room." Sarah puts her things away and gets up. "See it wasn't that bad." She smiles seeing Ed smile back at her. "I promise if I ever need to use a needle I'll warn you in advance." She watches Ed shiver at the thought, "At least you'll have a warning." She smiles a little more at his glare and leaves his room into her own.
Al waits for her to tell him what happened, she pats his should smiling at him as she walks into her own room. Al walks into the room seeing Ed still hadn't buckled the top of his shirt and to large puncture on his neck, "Nii-san!" Al runs to his brother looking at the wound. "wha-"
"Dr. Reed said I'll be fine!" Ed waves at Al's worried fingers. "My goodness they can't be THAT big." He gets up looking at the mirror seeing them, "Or maybe they are…" He blinks a couple times, thinking about what the doc had said and feels confident in her words, "She said I'll be fine, and I believe her, you should too Al."
Al nods lightly still worried for his brother, "Alright then…."
"I'm still a little sleepy…" Ed yawns stretching.
"Dr. Reed said that's normal since anemia leaves you with less nutrition than normal so it leaves people sleepy or dizy." Al points out matter of fact.
Ed rubs his eyes agreeing with his new doctor, "No doubt about that one." He plops onto his bed once more snuggling his pillow happily, Al walks over to his brother's bed and covers him with his covers. "Oh thanks Al…" Ed says through a yawn quickly falling asleep.
Al watches his brother for a moment worried about those wholes, there wasn't anything that he knew of that could do that to him with out there being blood somewhere! 'The equation still is hasn't been fully answered… Nii-san please be ok.' Al gets ready for bed watching his brother for a moment before turning in for the night.
(TBC)