Hello everyone! I am still alive! Yes, I know, hard to believe isn't it? Well, the reason it has taken me so long to update is because I was on vacation and stupid FF wouldn't let me update while they fixed up some problems, which was pretty much the entire month of December. Bleh. No matter, I am back with a new chapter. I can't believe how many reviews I have. Woah. The number is almost at 200. I love you all. Oh! And for the record, I'm a girl.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA and never will, so lay off.
The first part of this chapter is in Roy's point of view by the way. The second is in Ed's and the third is in Riza's. It then goes back to Roy's at the end.
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Crimson SinChapter Sixteen – Intoxicated
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I've been sitting in the same place on my couch for almost three hours now. It's long past midnight, but I'm not even tired. I'm too worried about Ed and Riza to go to sleep. They kicked me out of the hospital before I could see any one of them. The nurse told me that their conditions weren't stable enough to allow visitors. Guess that I have to sit around and wait some more.
Perturbed is probably the best way to describe the way I'm feeling right now. I found it while reading the dictionary. This is sad. I've been reading a dictionary to pull my mind away from Ed and Riza. I did try and go sleep I'll have you know, but I can't. Every time I feel myself begin to drift off, the image of Ed in that form flashes back in front of my eyes, making me sit up in my bed shaking. I tried taking in some sleeping pills, but they don't make any difference. I need coffee. Yes. Coffee always helps calm me down.
I finally get up of the couch, the same couch I'd been sleeping on while Ed took my bed. He's lucky that I love him or he'd be the one sleeping on the couch. Hold on, did I just say that I loved Ed? Wow. Those pills and lack of sleep must be screwing with my brain. Now, what was I doing? Oh yeah, coffee. I was going to make coffee; coffee that I need very badly. I walk towards the kitchen, my feet dragging, body hunched over slightly.
My reflection in the mirror suddenly catches my attention. I look terrible. My hair is a mess, I look slightly paler than usual I guess, and I can already see dark bags beginning to form under my eyes. To sum it up, I look like I hadn't left my house in about three weeks and my house was deprived of any mirror-like objects, but compared to Riza and Ed, I'm Mr. Beauty King. I take a deep breath as if to calm myself and finally walk in through the kitchen doorway. It seems like Ed and I were here eating breakfast only a couple of hours ago. I have to say that my cooking skills need some improvement. I then remember the horrible coughing fit I had after one bite.Some? Make that a lot of improvement.
Now, for the coffee. I open the one of the cream-colored cabinets that I know oh so well, and pull out my favorite blend, all crushed up and ready to be made into coffee. I dump two spoonfuls into the coffee machine and add water; I'm too tired to measure it out. I turn it on and wait. I wait and wait, and yet no coffee is produced. Stupid machine. Breaking on me when I need it the most. Someone up there must really hate me. I sigh and give the infernal machine a long cold glare. I can't believe I'm showing my anger to an inanimate object. Oh damn. Is that the plug lying there on the counter? It is. I seriously need that coffee. Now, let's try this coffee making one more time. I plug the machine in and turn it on just like before. A couple drops of the magical brown liquid drip down into my white mug. I jump up and give a cry of joy. Whoo! The coffee machine is working. I wait some more and my mug is now filled with coffee. I turn off the machine and drink my coffee, adding more sugar than usual just in case it doesn't perk me up. I drink my coffee in silence. No Ed stomping around, yelling at something or someone, who is usually me. Before I know it, I have finished off three cups of coffee and there's no more left. I drop my mug in the sink, making a promise to myself that I'll clean it up later.
I plop right back down on the couch, feeling slightly better. Coffee sure does wonders. It's almost like a better tasting anti-depressant pill. What am I talking about? I'm not depressed. I just am having problems sleeping because the person that I love got in a fight with a friend and both are in critical conditions at the hospital, not to mention that that person is a guy. Wait! I'm Roy Mustang! I like women! Preferably women in short miniskirts. I wonder if Ed would look good in one. Gah! Stupid brain, thinking stuff like that. I need to stop thinking.
I'm getting a headache. It's been there all day, but only as a dull ache, not really a bother to anyone. Now it's like somebody is using a gigantic mallet to break through my skull. I need some of that glorious headache suppressant. Look at the way I'm talking! Reading a dictionary is not good for the sexy surprisingly still single male colonel who likes women, not men, especially boys who have anger management issues, although he is kinda cute when he gets mad. I give up! I stomp up the stairs, furious with myself for thinking stuff like that. This little action of mine just makes my headache worse. I'm a dumbass.
I open my medicine cabinet and pull out a small bottle filled with those headache-reducing pills that will hopefully make me feel better. I pop two of those white pills in my mouth and quickly swallow them down with a mouthful of water. Maybe a nice bath will help. I turn on the water and wait for the tub to fill up. After stopping the flow of water, I strip down and sit in the tub. The water is a bit too hot, but I like it. My eyes start to hurt, so I decide to close them. I'm only resting my eyes, I tell myself this, but little did I know that I would fall asleep naked in a bathtub. Great.
The bath water was cold, and I mean cold, when I woke up the next morning. My skin was all pruned and nasty. I feel like I'm an old grandpa. I get out of the tub, drain the water, and dry off. I walk into my room, the room that Ed had been sleeping in, and move towards my closet. I glance at the bed. The sheets are neatly pulled up. No one had slept there. I tear my eyes away and open the closet. I start to debate on what to wear, uniform or street clothes? Screw work. There's no way in hell I'm going to parade around the city in the military uniform when I'm not even going to work. I settle for a pair of gray pants and a white long-sleeved blouse. Why the hell am I even bothering to think about this? Who the hell cares? I could just as well pull something out of the closet and hope that it doesn't clash, not that anything in my closet could possibly clash. My wardrobe is a bit plain. Grays, blacks, whites, maybe a blue or green thrown in, that pretty much sums it up.
Breakfast? No. Not hungry. Coffee? No. Too lazy to make it. Umbrella? Yes, it's raining, but I can't find the damn thing. A string of curses come out. I think Ed is rubbing off on me. Instead of protecting myself from certain wetness by finding another umbrella, I pull on a raincoat, which is probably the most repulsive thing in history. There goes the dictionary again, or maybe it was the thesaurus. Who cares? A maroon heap of fabric that had been stitched together so that it sort of resembled a coat was what that thing was. It looked ratty, useless, and above all, ugly. I sound like some fashion maniac don't I? I'm seriously not exaggerating about this thing! I don't even remember who gave it to me or if I even bought it.
Thunder booms outside. Great. I open the door and step outside. The rain is coming down in great sheets. It's times like these when I really wish I had my own car.
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I wake up, but I can't see. Something is covering my eyes. My back hurts, my leg hurts, my arm hurts, my hand hurts, my pinky hurts, wait, scratch all that. Everything hurts! I try to sit up, but something gently pushes me back down. I reach up to pull off whatever is blocking my vision, but the same thing stops me, putting my arm back down.
"Stay still, Ed," a familiar voice says softly, "Your badly injured and you don't want to hurt yourself even more."
I open my mouth to protest that I felt fine, which is a complete and total lie by the way, but a coughing fit stops me.
"See," the voice says again, "I told you to stop moving."
"God dammit! Let me sit up, Roy! And take this goddamn thing off my eyes! I can't see with it on!" I said, growing more irritated every second. I was rather shocked to hear how hoarse I sounded. My yells had become only loud whispers.
"Roy?" the voice asked, which was definitely not Roy's, "I'm sorry, but you must have me mistaken for someone else. My name's Isabelle and I work as a nurse here at the hospital."
"Hospital?" I ask, completely confused and a bit angry. Goddamn, why this place again? I sigh angrily and shift around in what I suppose was a hospital bed.
"Yes, you were admitted yesterday after you were attacked," she replies. I hear scribbling noises. She must be writing something down. I was attacked? Yesterday is a blur. I search for the memory, but I can't find it. I must've locked it away somewhere.
"Can you please take off whatever is covering my eyes?" I ask.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," Isabelle replies, "Your eyes are still healing."
"What do you mean healing?" I ask. What the hell is going on? The nurse seems reluctant to answer my question. I ask again. She sighs and tells me.
"When you were attacked, your eyes were badly damaged. You will most likely never be able to see again. There were also large gashes on your back right where your shoulder blades are. This is why I cannot allow you to sit up or remove the bandages."
Blind? Did I just hear her correctly? That's BS. There's no way in hell that I can be blind. I reach up again to pull off the bandages, but different hand stops me. I try to pull my wrist out of its grasp, but the hand is strong, stronger than me.
"She told you to stop, so stop," another voice says. The owner of this voice is someone I know all too well, the man, who I think I'm in love with, or is it a crush? Why the hell am I thinking this now? I just found out that I'm blind and that I have two big gashes on my back.
"Roy?" I ask, relaxing my arm. He lets go of my wrist and my arm falls back down at my side.
"Yes," he replies. There's a pause. "So, how're you feeling?" Another pause. I don't know what to say. I can't believe that he just asked how I'm feeling. No short jokes thrown in, no false feelings, no sarcasm. Am I still dreaming? I bet they gave me some kind of painkiller that makes you have crazy dreams. Ah well, if this is a dream, might as well enjoy it.
"Let's see, I just found out that I'm blind, my body hurts like I went through hell and back again, but considering all that I'm doing just fine."
"That was a stupid question wasn't it?" he asks. I nod in reply. No shit Sherlock. Of course that was a stupid question. We sit in silence. During that time I finally have come to terms with my feelings for Roy and decided that it would be stupid to ignore them because I might say it to him in real life, which would be bad, so I might as well say it now and maybe the rejection in this dream will stop those feelings once and for all. I'm such a genius. I open my mouth to declare my feelings, but the door suddenly bursts open and someone walks into the room.
"I'm here to change Ed's bandages." Oh! It's the nurse. Why did she have to stop me? I was on a roll here, now I'm going to have to wait. Damn. I hear Roy walk out the door, shutting it behind him. I feel her hands undo the bandage covering my eyes, letting it slowly fall off. I open my eyes. I blink a couple of times. I can't believe what's happening.
"You said that I would be blind the rest of my life, right?" I ask the nurse.
"Yes," she replies. I nod and blink a couple more times.
"I don' t think my eyes agree with that because I can see perfectly fine," I blink a couple more times, finally registering the fact that everything was gray. "Holy shit! I'm colorblind!"
Isabelle looks at me, her eyes filled with doubt. "Look at me, Ed. How many fingers and I holding up?" she asks, holding up three. I reply with the correct answer and her jaw drops. She repeats this many times and I reply with the right answer each time. She suddenly moves her face close to mine. "The scars are gone," she whispers, "They've completely vanished! Could you lean forward a bit?" I do ask she asks and this is when I realize that I'm only wearing my white boxers. God, why can't hospitals let you wear any clothes? She quickly unwraps the bandages covering my upper back. I hear a loud thump and turn my head to find that the nurse has fainted.
"Ed?" Roy asks when he opens the door, staring down at the fallen nurse.
"What? I didn't do it," I say innocently. There's soon a crowd of people in the room, surrounding the fallen nurse. I sigh and scratch my back. It really itches. The crowd of people soon leave and I'm alone with Roy once more. He sits by my bed, staring at me. "Roy, what happened yesterday? I remember Riza walking into the room, but everything is blank after that." Roy's expression changes. He looks, well, he looks sad, almost depressed one could say.
"Let's just say that you and Riza got into a fight about your condition," Roy says.
"You mean, she found out that Black Hayate died because of me? She hates me now. She hates me so much that she tried to kill me, but…" I trail off. My eyes suddenly widen when I realize something. "I didn't kill her did? Please tell me that I didn't!"
"Don't worry," Roy said, "She's safe. The doctors say that she'll be fine." I let out a sigh of relief. I'm a danger to myself and everyone around me. Why am I getting so worked up about this? It's only a dream. For all I know, the reason that I can't remember something is that it hasn't happened yet. I'm probably sleeping in Roy's bed. We sit in silence again.
"Roy, there's been something I've wanted to tell you," I say, my cheeks heating up. Goddamn! Why am I taking this so seriously? I can't believe I'm blushing! I'm blushing in a dream! This is so unbelievably sad. I'm blushing in a dream! Damn! I turn to look at him only to find that he's staring at me, waiting for what I'm going to say.
"Ed? Why is your face red? Are you getting a fever?" he asks putting one hand on my forehead. My blush deepens. How do I know this? Because my face feels like it's burning off! I swat his hand away.
"I'm fine," I say as I take in a deep breath. "Roy, I-I l-l-l-lo-lo." I can't say it! Why can't I say those three words? I love you! Simple as that! Now, let me try this again. I try to say it, but I continue to stutter. I take in another deep breath and start again. Just as I was about to finish, the door slams open and the nurse walks in. Goddamn her! I was so close! Now I start spouting off random nonsense in my head. This dream sucks ass.
"Riza Hawkeye has just slipped into a coma." Roy immediately springs up and pushes past the nurse, who follows him, leaving me Roy-less again.
Yeah, this dream really sucks ass.
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I just lay here in the darkness. I don't know why I'm here, but I feel tired and my body feels like a ton of bricks. Wait. Where's Ed? I have to kill him! I have to get revenge for Black Hayate! I try to move, but my body is rooted to the spot. I guess I still have time. Someone is calling my name telling me to wake up, but I'm not asleep. I look to the side and I see Ed standing there, his golden eyes staring into mine. He doesn't blink. I open my mouth to yell curses at him, but no sound comes out. Ed smirks and he begins to go through that horrible transformation once more. The black wings return and his eyes turn crimson, glowing in the darkness. His fangs become even longer and his nails sharpen and grow. He stands there, staring at me, not making any move towards me. There's someone standing behind him.
I squint trying to see who it is. My eyes widen and my jaw drops when I see who it is. There, standing behind Ed is Roy, holding Black Hayate's body.
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I sit at Riza's bedside. Wires and tubes and connected to her body, monitoring everything happening inside her body. Her expression is calm and relaxed. She continues to breath thanks to the steady flow of oxygen inside the mask that covers her nose and mouth. I sigh.
"This just makes things more complicated," I whisper.
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Phew. I'm finally done. I just want to say that I really sorry for taking so long to update. I was so good at updating in the beginning, but then I got a bit lazy. Thank you all for reviewing this story even though I cringe when I read it. Please forgive my typos. I do read over my work, but I don't catch all of them. Maybe I'll go back and fix them when this is finished. Sorry if all the characters are starting to get very OOC at this point. I'm trying my best. Don't forget to review! I love reviews! So, remember that.
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Next Chapter:
Chapter Seventeen – White
