Both Mustang and Alphonse sat in silence. It had already been a little over an hour since Edward had been taken away for surgery.

There was a gentle knock on the hospital room door. The door opened and in walked Hughes.

"After noon, Alpho- Where is Edward?"

Roy and Alphonse looked up at the newcomer.

"He, umm, he had to go into surgery. His- his ears were bleeding." Alphonse stuttered.

"How bad is it?" Maes asked, worried expression very evident on his face.

"I don't know exactly, but I guess it's bad enough that he needed his ears operated on." Mustang informed.

"How long ago did they take him in?"

"I don't know, an hour maybe?" Roy said.

"Do you know how long the operation will likely last?"

Mustang couldn't remember if the doctor had said anything about how long the operation would last, but it turned that he didn't have too remember.

"The doctor said two to three hours." Alphonse muttered.

"But how did it get so bad? I mean, it didn't happen over night, right?" Hughes asked.

"He... Umm, he hurt himself." Alphonse said not mentioning how. He was either trying to spare Edward embarrassment or Mustang guilt.

"How?" Maes asked obviously not content with just 'he hurt himself'.

"Uh, he fell off the edge of the bed." Alphonse said, hoping that Hughes would leave it at that. He didn't.

"How did he get so bad just falling off the bed?!" Hughes exclaimed.

"The doctor said that he must have jostled his ears. He probably further ruptured the injury in his ears." Alphonse said in a quiet tone.

Silence enveloped the group once more.

As the hours passed on, no one spoke. It was awkward. Very awkward.

Mustang shot up on to his feet. He began pacing, again. He had repeatedly stood up while waiting and started pacing. The pacing continued, showing the worry and impatience Roy, and everyone else, was feeling.

A knock at the door made everyone in the room jump up in surprise. The door opened and in walked a nurse.

"Uhh, Edward Elric is out of surgery now. The team are just now preparing him to return to this room. He hasn't woken up yet, but that isn't a surprise. He will probably be out for a little while upon arriving, so don't expect him to wake up right away." The nurse looked at each man in turn. "Any questions?"

"No, Thank you." The three males said.

Alphonse left the room to go grab a cup of water for his brother, before he woke up. His brother had been brought in about an hour earlier. He was still in a drug induce uncontiousness, but it was obvious with the twitching and groaning that the drug was soon to wear off.

The door made a soft clicking noise as it closed behind Alphonse's retreating form.

"Poor kid. Why does this always happen to those boys?" Hughes asked turning to Roy.

"You mean the injuries? Or the unfortunate tragedies? Well, I guess they are technically the same thing in some ways."

"Yeah, that, but not that at the same time. I mean everything is just wrong if a boy his age has to deal with this kind of thing. The military alone is a lot for some people, and I'm talking about grown men and women not children like them."

"You're right, Maes, but there aren't really many children like those two. They are strong and special." Mustang frowned as he said it.

"I know, Roy. But the question is, how did those boys get so strong?" Maes asked with his knowing smile.

"As I said, you're right, Maes. When will those boys stop having to suffer? And this time it wasn't even a result of their own foolishness."

"What I find ridiculous is that you alchemists say the world is governed by the laws of equivalent exchange. One act will have an effect on you that is the so called equivalence. But tell me, Roy. Where is the equivalent exchange in Edward's situation?"

"There isn't, Maes. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why do alchemists believe that the world follows those rules?" Hughes questioned.

"I think it's because we feel the need to understand the earth. But why would the world play nice with us petty humans? We are insignificant in comparison to vastness of the World."

"Wow, Roy, you sure now how set the mood." Maes smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mustang demanded

Another groan from the bed was heard.

"Shhh! Roy, you're going to wake up Ed."

"Maes, being loud isn't my problem. In case you have forgotten, Fullmetal is deaf. He can't hear." Roy instantly felt horrible saying that. The words tasted bitter on his tongue. He looked away from his friend, not daring to look the man in the eyes.

"Roy, I know this is hard for you. It's hard for me too." Hughes began.

"No, you don't understand! You think you understand, but you don't." Roy snapped turning back to glare at his friend

Maes just stared at Mustang. His friend didn't normally snap like this.

"Roy, I don't- "

"Stop!" Mustang looked down. "Maes, it's my fault. I sent those boys on that mission."

'Of course, Roy blamed himself. I should have known. He thinks he needs to keep everyone under him from harm, and when something happens to one of them he thinks he has failed them.'

"Of course, you're Edward's commanding officer. It's your job to send him on missions. It isn't your job to take credit for what happens on those missions, unless you didn't properly warn your subordinate." On Maes' face was a deep and serious frown

"I didn't know about the- "

"Of course you didn't know. How could anyone know that a train wreck would happen? We aren't gods, Roy. You need to understand that. You couldn't have known what would happen."

"I'm not a god. I know that." Mustang put his head down cast. "A god wouldn't kill innocents. That's how I know we aren't gods. Killing women and children alike. We aren't gods we're monsters."

"Roy, don't change-"

"Are you two arguing?" Edward inquired sitting up in the bed.

"Ed, you're awake! No, don't worry we weren't fighting." Maes assured, a smile stretching across his face.

Edward's face was scrunched up in concentration.

"Yeah, but it- it looked like you two were arguing about something?"

"No, Ed, we weren't- " Mustang began really hoping the boy would just drop it so that they wouldn't have to explain what it was that they were really arguing about.

"Wait, Ed, how did you know what I said?" Maes cut in cocking his head to one side.

Several seconds passed by. Edward's facial expression abruptly went from confusion to realization. He pointed to his own lips.

"Um... Your lips move when you - um- when you talk." Edward answered as if he was only hoping that was the right answer.

"Roy, did you know about this?" Hughes asked, turning back to the man he had only previously been scolding.

"He was reading my lips earlier." Roy confirmed.

"Wow, Ed, you really are a child prodigy." Hughes laughed out. "I'm betting that it would take most people a lot longer to figure out how to correctly read lips."

Edward was lost. He just looked confused staring up at Hughes.

"Hughes." Hughes turned to his friend as he addressedhim. "I think you're talking to fast or maybe you just said to much."

"Oh, you're right. I guess that would make reading lips harder."

Maes tried again this time choosing to tell Edward that he was pleased to hear his voice again.

"Ed, we're glad you're talking again we were worried about you."

Edward watched Hughes' lips as he spoke.

'Ed... glad... you - maybe you are- talking... again... worried about you.'

How much had he been talking? He didn't know. He could have said a lot more than he thought he had said. What if he said something...

'I had better stop talking before I regret something I said.'

Edward had never had to worry about regretting what he said before. This was different. It was kind of like his whole personality was changing to go with the loss of his hearing.

What was happening to him?

A/N: Man, I must be really boring because I had so much fun writing Maes and Roy's conversation about the boys. I hope you liked it! This chapter took awhile to write because I have been traveling and trying to finishing another chapter for a different story. The next update will hopeful be soon. Not sure though because my life is hanging right above awful at the moment, but writing on this always makes everything so much easier.

Please review! It makes me feel so happy!

Thanks for reading!

-UNAU/IME