Chapter 10; Circumstances
Bane; "Oookay! This is my angst kick; however, remember; with all angst comes accumulative fluff!"
"Umm… Edward, wake up."
Two heavy-lidded eyes stared groggily up at a somewhat withdrawn Maes.
"Whaat—"
"It's Ms.Rockbell, Ed. She's awake."
Something was wrong; it was obvious by the way the man moved, the way he forced his usually eager smiles… only too apparent.
"Is something… Is Winry--?" Edward questioned; not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"She's not really doing so well."
"What do you mean not doing well— she was in a 'medication-induced coma!' How the hell did it get—"
The alchemist was on his feet now, eyes wide.
"—Edward, calm down… Her physical state is better. It's just that…" Hughes placed a finger to his temple, "It takes a while for the mind to recover."
"Then let me see her."
"They've done all the tests they needed to conduct. I think we could swing that."
"No."
"What d'ya' mean by 'no'?"
"I mean… no. She's not in any state to be seen, and that temper of yours will make it—"
Edward calmed, realizing that any bursts of rage would count against him. Facing the Colonel, the prodigy seethed, "Just let me talk to her for a few minutes. What the hell do you think I could do wrong, anyway?"
It was a full second before the (previously relieved) Mustang realized that the restrain would only last for so long.
"And IF YOU HANDLE EVERYTHING SO MUCH GODDAMN BETTER, WHY IN HELL WAS I THE ONE TO FIND HER? TO GO INTO THE FIGHT?"
Roy sighed, and looked away.
"Look, Fullmetal. It's not really you I'm that worried about… but I figure I might as well say it if you're planning on dissesembling the facility with your screaming."
There was silence as Ed settled momentarily.
"She woke up from her coma an hour ago, as you already know."
"Yeah… so?"
"It took a good while to stabilize her, but it was managed. I went to see her progression myself, Fullmetal."
"Maes says she's not well, but if you've seen her—"
Mustang bit back a sigh. In one forced sentence, he blurted, "She rants about you, Fullmetal." Edward was taken aback, and struggled to form words.
"W-what did she…?"
"She thinks she's still in captivity, and... she…"
"She what?"
Ed was growing impatient now; the sinking in his stomach now promoted to drowning.
"She won't open her eyes, though the doctors and I spoke to her to reassure her that she is no longer in a hellhole."
"S-so she's been told now, she's fine… right?"
But it's never that easy.
"Fullmetal, Ms. Rockbell begged for death. She insists that you'll hold her to her promise. That nobody can know where you are."
He froze. Amber pupils quivered with realization.
"N-No… I--"
"Do you know what she meant by 'promise'?"
I didn't mean it… Please… I didn't mean it!
There was no response; Edward simply started towards her at a dangerously swift pace.
He was running through the hallways now, dodging all that came in his path. Counting the doors, Ed halted at one room that stood ajar.
"…Winry…?" He gasped in a low, husky whisper.
"Winry, can you hear me?"
She jerked her head up and winced, as though the sound, even soft, disturbed her. Her eyes didn't open, despite her obvious awareness. The hum of the surrounding stabilizers must have been blinding compared to his subtle whispers.
"It's me, Win. It's Edward."
Her head lowered, and she pulled back slightly.
"Y-you're not… won't tell you… He's safe…"
Nearly incoherent mumblings took place, and Edward struggled violently not to shake her. Finally, cold, metal digits laced themselves with those of her un-injured hand.
"See, I didn't break them this time."
She tried to withdraw, to pull away from him, but he held his hand in hers in a gentle but firm grip. Lowering his face to her ear he whispered, "The nightmare's over, Win. You're here… with us…" She tensed, short sobs escaping bruised lips.
Edward gasped, loosening his grip slowly. He was reluctant to part, wishing he could convince her of her security now… with him…
It wasn't until she could feel the fallen tear upon her cheek that she clutched to him. (1)
"…E-Ed…?"
Arms looped around his neck, and she leaned onto him, allowing him to have her sitting bridal-style in his lap. He could feel her wracking sobs now; the way she shook as she let it out.
"I-I'm so sorry… I almost… I wanted—but, you h-h-had to stay… t-they couldn't kn-know!"
Rough fingers brushed through her hair soothingly, and he said gently, "It's okay; shhh. It's alright, Winry. It's over. It's over."
Bane; "It's short, I'll admit. However, I slept 4 hours last night, and have worked on our (a group project, with A, a stupid person who decided she lived too many minutes away to do any real work, and me.) science project from 6pm-2:14am yesterday, and from 9am-2pm today. I'm venting, while presenting a reason at the same time! (Original!)"
A; "But those straight 14 hours or non-stop work will pay off when we get a 100." :–cheering-:
Bane; "In any case, for those who read the story 'Listless', I will announce that I do not have appendicitis. A doctor who was convinced that my being 13 meant I was 5 put me under a 48 hour observation… and although the pains had lasted 3 days, it went away in the first 27 hours. They do not, at this point, know what was wrong, nor really seem to care. They speculate that it might have been a virus… but The Twi-light Zone might have different theories."
A; "In any case; now that we've bored you to death... hope you enjoyed the actual story... 'cause I seriously doubt it."
A & Bane; :-Glaring match-: