Note: I would just like to thank everyone reading my fics! I really appreciate the feedback and I will do my best to look at some of your work if you review mine . However… if you have nothing to say about my fic other than the fact that you think I spell the cute little blonde mechanic's name wrong, please don't review at all. I have taken three years worth of college level Japanese language classes, and many words that are translated from English into Japanese replace the 'L' with an 'R' because the 'L' sound does not occur in the Japanese language. For example, the word 'love story' is translated as 'rabusutorii,' and even Alphonse's name is translated as 'Aru' or 'Arufonsu.' So to me, the name 'Winri' as it would be pronounced in Japanese could either be translated as Winly or Winry in English. I think Winly sounds more 'English' and less awkward so I prefer that spelling and that is the one I will use. I don't disapprove of the fact that other people have a different opinion, and I don't give other FMA fan fiction writers a hard time for their choices. However, I'm tired of hearing it, and I am not changing every instance of her name in all of my fics to appease those who cannot get over the spelling. We all know who I'm talking about here. Anyway, I do really appreciate the readership and the other comments; its all very encouraging and makes me want to write better and more often! Thanks again!

Suffering

Holding Ed half-upright as he coughed miserably in her arms, Winly wondered fleetingly why she had thought this night would be easy. Rearranging his feverish body against her shoulder, she cupped her hand like her grandmother had shown her and patted his back, hoping that he would cough up some of the mucus in his lungs. 'At least we got about an hour or two of rest, though I was kind of hoping that he would sleep through the night…'

After a few more seconds, and several rather racking coughs, Ed finally managed to pull some of the sticky phlegm from his throat and spit it into the dishtowel that Winly held in front of his mouth. He took a few tentative, shaky breaths, and managed a few deep ones as well before another, much shorter and much less intense, coughing fit stole his breath.

As he recovered, Winly rubbed his back soothingly and he relaxed into her touch. "Can you sit up by yourself for a minute?" she asked, barely stifling a yawn. "I'm going to go get you some water and a second dose of tea."

Grimacing, no doubt at the thought of the bitter, but extremely helpful, medicine that Winly was about to make him drink, Ed coughed one more time, then nodded in response. 'Good thing he didn't make the mistake of trying to talk again; that's what made the last bout so bad.'

Hurrying through the cool (in comparison to the too-warm body previously pressed up against her) air to the counter, she quickly returned with a glass of water, and the now-chilled mug of tea her grandmother had left for her. He took the medicine first, surprisingly, and all but gulped it down, chasing it with the fresh water. Handing both back to Winly, he leaned up against her shoulder, eyes half-lidded in sheer exhaustion.

Winly quickly decided that the now-empty glasses could stay on the floor for the night rather than in the sink, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to squeeze him tightly in reassurance. "Ready to go back to sleep?"

He frowned in response, and made a feeble attempt to kneel, both arms and legs refusing to hold his weight. As his legs gave underneath him, Winly caught him, or rather, helped him control his fall, and managed to lay him down without hurting him. "What is it?" she asked, confusion, concern and worry fighting for dominance in her expression. "What do you need?"

Ed looked away from her, the red flush in his cheeks displaying either embarrassment, a higher fever, or both, as he pointed toward the water glass. "More water?" she asked, now utterly bewildered as to why he had tried to get it himself, rather than just "asking" for it with gestures.

He shook his head quickly, and clearly immediately regretted it as he winced and raised a hand to his temple. Clearing his throat he managed to whisper, "I… need to… you know…"

'Oh,' Winly thought, her own cheeks reddening as bright as Ed's. "Here," she said handing him the basin, and turned away to allow him as much privacy as she could with the two of them in the room. 'I – no we - shouldn't be embarrassed; it's perfectly natural. I guess… we're just not used to seeing each other like this.' Not that she really minded, it was just strange…

He tapped her shoulder after he finished, and, much to her gratitude, had already moved the basin over to his side of the bed. That, unfortunately, was not something she could wait to empty until morning, and, reluctantly, she forced herself to stand from her warm sleeping bag once again. "I'll be right back," she told him gently, ruffling his bangs as he quirked a rather embarrassed half-smile of thanks. As fast as she dared run without risking spilling the basin's contents, Winly hurried outside through the now calm night to the outhouse. She barely registered the fact that the once thick, stormy clouds had already disappeared as she quickly poured the liquid into the toilet, rinsed the basin in the sink, and all but sprinted back to the house. Rubbing her cold bare arms to warm them as she closed the front door lightly behind her, she hoped the medicine would take effect soon and last at least until dawn; both Edward and herself needed rest, and badly.

As she snuggled back into the warmth of her sleeping bag, Ed had already closed his eyes and was currently shifting about restlessly, grunting in discomfort. 'He must feel like we do sometimes during the summer; no one wants to sleep under the covers because it's so hot, but you can't sleep without them or the mosquitoes will eat you alive.'

"Hey, Ed, how's the fever?" she asked, gently stroking his damp hair.

Without opening his eyes, Ed cringed and blindly searched for her hand, then touched the back of it to his warm forehead. 'Uh oh.' Winly quickly grabbed the bowl with the water and cloth and cleaned the sweat from Ed's forehead as he relaxed. His breathing soon became regular, if not quite as deep as usual, and Winly laid the cloth on his forehead to help keep the fever down while he slept.

For what she hoped to be the final time that night, slid back under the covers and fell immediately asleep.