Edward didn't care what anyone was doing right now. Well, He did care to some extent. He cared what they were saying, because he knew It was about him, but what did It matter, now?

Edward buried himself in the covers of his bed. Get away! Get away! If you can't see them, you don't have to think about them.

A hand rested on Edward's flesh shoulder through the blanket. He made no reaction. He was tired, too tired to care right now. He would have tried to push the hand away if he had the strength, but he just felt numb. The hand shook his shoulder. He stayed completely limp and let his body be shaken. He allowed his shoulders to follow the movement of the hand.

Edward shut his eyes against the dulled down light that filtered through his duvet. He let himself be nearly shut off, ignoring everything. The hand, the shaking, the pain, and the silence.

Roy glanced back at Edward. The kid was still lying in the hospital bed with his younger brother by his side. The doctor had just finished telling Roy about the medications they planned to use and when to have Edward take them. The worst part of the whole conversation was when he told Roy how to handle a panic attack.

"His hearing will probably cause a series of problems if he does end up having a panic attack. We can't be sure if the panic attacks will be a regular thing. If he does have a panic attack, don't hold him. That might make it worse. Try reminding him to breathe normally. Because of the state of his ears, try using touch, but nothing constricting..." He had gone on, giving him a bunch more information, including the fact that if Edward didn't calm down it might end up being necessary to sedate him.

Roy didn't want to do that to Edward. He had been the reason Edward was suffering. If he hadn't sent Edward on that mission, Edward would be perfectly fine. He didn't feel right sedating the kid for something that was his fault. He would if it came to that, though. He couldn't let the boy work himself up into a panic.

They turned to the boy at the sound of rusting sheets and the slightest whimper.

"Brother?"

Edward had buried himself under the sheets. Roy came closer along with the doctor. He rested his hand on Edward's shoulder through the duvet. The boy made no move to pull away, which surprised Roy. The boy never liked anyone to touch him, but Roy had been informed that it was worse now than before.

"Fullmetal?" Roy asked out of habit. He gently shook the kid's shoulder assuming that the boy was just ignoring the touch. Edward limply followed the movement. Roy had expected Edward to fight against the hand just to spite the person who shook him, but he didn't.

Roy shook Edward's shoulders again, ignoring the fact that he might be causing Edward unnecessary pain.

Alphonse uncovered Edward, pulling the blankets away from his older brother's head.

Edward had his eyes screwed shut. He didn't act like he knew that they had removed the blanket at all.

Doctor Wise, the one who had approached with Roy, took Edward's wrist into his hand. Finding Edward's pulse, Doctor Wise pulled out his pocket watch, watching how the pulse corresponded with the ticking.

"His pulse is far too fast for him to be asleep."

"Then what happened? Why is he acting like he's asleep?" Alphonse demanded in a panic. He was worried. Edward hadn't done this before.

"Why isn't he responding to anything?" Mustang questioned.

"I, unfortunately, don't have an answer for you. It can be because off a wide range of reasons. I don't know how this originated. It could be something similar to a panic attack."

"Then what are you going to do about it?" Alphonse asked, worried and hopeful.

"I don't know. We can't just use a medication." The doctor placed his hand on Edward's cheek, the side that wasn't covered with a bandage because of burns. Edward didn't react. Next the doctor thumbed open one of Edward's eyes. His eye was glazed and unfocused. "That's different," Doctor Wise muttered quietly.

"What is it?" Alphonse asked.

"His eyes are unfocused. It's like he's asleep while still being awake. It might just be refusal to respond. He also might be unresponsive because of something that is hurting him."

They sat there waiting for something to happen. Time passed by at a slow pace as they waited there for the boy to snap out of the dazed, sleep-like state he was trapped in. The minutes felt like hours as they stockpiled.

"I- I'm- I'm so sorry!" Edward shouted in a panic. He shivered and curled up on himself. His abrupt shout surprised the group. They all jumped up on surprise.

Alphonse grabbed his brother's shoulder gently. "Brother?"

Edward sat up on the bed, wincing in pain. He looked terrified. He was panting and looked tired. "What...?" He noticed Roy Alphonse and the doctor watching him.

"He's..." Edward trailed off. He gasped and stopped moving. "I don't want to go back there..."

"Back where?" Roy questioned. Edward didn't answer. He didn't even try to read Roy's lips. He just stared at his hands in horror.

Hughes entered the room at that very moment, looking lost when he noticed something was very wrong with everyone in the room. "What happened?" Maes slid in, quietly whispering to his friend.

"We don't know. It kind of reminds me of the..." Roy trailed off and looked into his confused friend's eyes. "Hughes, I have a bad feeling."

Edward was sucked out of the darkness and into a field. It was familiar like a nightmare was. He looked around, watching the grass be whipped by the wind. He himself was blown by the wind a well. Everything was silent. Completely silent. It seemed so out of place in the field. The wind should have whistled and the flailing grass should have filled the air with its arrangement of noises. Where were all the noises?

Edward spun on his heels. He was faced with a train speeding towards him. No! Edward couldn't speak; he couldn't move. He just stood there as the train derailed. It was coming at him with an incredible speed, digging a furrow into the soil. He couldn't move; he couldn't even run.

The train hit him, and his body passed through the walls of the engine. He fell to the ground and looked up at a brown haired man who stood above him barring a pipe. He knew what was coming. The jagged end of the pipe ripped through Edward's flesh. He wanted to scream, but his voice refused to work.

Edward looked for someone to help him, but he was alone with a man that wanted him dead. Edward didn't even know why which is what scared him most.

"Die for your crimes!" The man shouted. It was the only thing Edward could hear. He lunged at Edward.

"I- I'm- I'm so sorry!" Edward tried to defend himself. He curled in on himself in pain. He shut his eyes, feeling blood seep from his wounds. A gentle touch. One that was so welcoming. He opened his eyes. He was back in the hospital.

Edward sat up against the the pain in his whole body. He was taking fast breaths. What just happened? He was going to ask those around him when he realised that they were staring at him. He stopped.

It took Edward a moment to realise that the doctor, who had a similar build and brown hair, was not the man who attacked him. He's not the one. Edward didn't even know that he started saying that out loud only to trail off.

Edward gasped and froze when it dawned on him that he had never actually been in that field. "I don't want to go back there..." He told the others.

Edward stared down at his clean hands there wasn't any blood on them. That terrified Edward because it had felt so real. How could there not be any blood?

He didn't notice Roy's question or Hughes coming in. He was fixated on finding out why he had dreamt that, because he could have sworn that he had been awake, so why did he dream something like that while he was awake?

Mustang stole glances at Edward as they left the hospital. His hair was limp and loose as he was being pushed out the doors in a wheelchair by male nurse.

Edward's unresponsiveness earlier in the hospital had almost caused him to have to stay at the hospital longer. An extended stay at the hospital was not what Edward needed. The hospital staff had already told Roy that Edward was likely under a lot of stress. Getting out of the hospital early like he was was only because they didn't think it would be healthy to keep him much longer. He needed a safe environment. Not that the hospital wasn't safe, just that he wasn't going to heal as quickly if he was always anxious.

Roy couldn't help but wonder if his home was going to be any better. Edward might feel just as panicked and stressed at Roy's home as he was at the hospital. Edward and Roy had a strange relationship, not stable in the slightest. Rocky at best. Wouldn't that just make Roy's home a cesspool of anxiety and stress? Add to that that Edward might be having flashbacks. Roy only guessed that because Edward's reactions earlier reminded him of his own flashbacks. Ones that his best friend, Maes, had pulled him out of. This was not how Mustang had imagined everything going. He hadn't really understood what he was getting himself into.

Roy glanced at Maes this time. They locked eyes. Maes nodded. It was like Hughes could read Roy's mind. The confirming nod made him realise that he wasn't alone in this. That was a relief, because he knew that he was going to need all the help he could get.

A/N: I am aware that the pipe that cut Edward's side was not the one that Pierce used, but Edward's memories of the incident aren't all there. He is just trying to fill in the blanks.

Sorry about the chapter this is my third time rewriting it. It isn't getting any better.

Please review! Thanks for reading!

-UNAU/IME