Thank you NewWorldRunaway for reviewing!
Happy reading!
Chapter 24
"Yes, Roy, I'm fine over here. What about you?"
"...I'm fine as well, except that I miss you terribly, Riza."
"I miss you too. You haven't skipped any meals and sleep while I am away, have you?"
"No worries about that, darling. I ate and slept properly."
"Good..."
"And what about you? How is it over there?"
"We just got here this afternoon, at around... seventeen hundred hours? We had dinner around the hotel, it was wonderful. What did you have for dinner?"
"I came back a little later than usual, so I settled with pasta salad."
"Are you sure that's enough?"
"I'd be lying if I said I'm not hungry now. But, you sure have missed out a lot, my dear."
"What do you mean?"
"The pups have grown a lot in a month. They are so chubby and adorable now; The fur is soft and the bodies are squishy. Oh, and their heads are as big as my hand now, to think that their whole body fit my hand just a month ago."
"Oh you make me jealous, Roy."
"A guilty pleasure of mine– I play with the pups for at least thirty minutes before I head to bed. I just played fetch with them."
"Sounds fun. How is Hayate dealing with the pups?"
"He's fine with them. Though Fubuki is having a rough time taking care of them because they are just so energetic and playful."
"...Well, I have just one more month to go before I come home– Technically, four weeks. What a shame, I missed out watching the puppies grow up."
"I hope that's not the only reason you miss home. But yes, they do grow up really quickly in the span of two months."
"Roy... I really do miss you. Though I suppose time flies, and I'll be home before you know it."
"I can only hope so. You have an early morning tomorrow, don't you?"
"Yes, but so do you, Roy. Don't skip breakfast."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"...Good night, Roy."
"Good night, Riza."
...
"You sure your hubby's fine without you for so long?" Rebecca asked with a teasing grin as she watched the blonde woman put the phone back down on the stand. "It's been a month."
"He'll be fine, but I'm just worried that he'll skip meals and sleep." Riza sighed, "Remind me what our schedule is for tomorrow?"
"You will be meeting the school committees in this area, umm... two schools in the morning, one at nine-thirty and the other at twelve. Then you have a meeting with Doctor Jacob Campbell at four in the afternoon, the director in charge of the second branch of Queen Elise Hospital in Central."
Riza raised a brow in confusion in response, "Why do I have a meeting with him?"
"Because he is one of the sponsors." The dark-haired woman replied, "You have yet had the chance to meet and thank him, have you?"
"Right..."
"But, I've heard a few things about this man," Rebecca continued, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, "That apparently he's involved in some drug trafficking."
"Rebecca..." She sighed, "Where do you hear all these from?"
Her assistant's dark brown eyes widened ever so slightly, her expression taken-aback, and Riza watched her cheeks slowly darken to a light shade of red, "...Havoc."
"...Oh."
Rebecca raised a brow, her tone discontented, "What's with that reaction."
The blonde shrugged, "Well, not surprised. And why does he tell you all these? Roy doesn't tell me about it."
"Maybe he doesn't want to worry you, knowing how much work you have?" Rebecca immediately countered as the blonde grimaced. "And don't you worry about the doctor, I'm pretty sure he won't do anything to you, and the military will surely do something about him."
Riza's brows crossed to a frown, and she spoke. "Tell me more about that Doctor."
"Uh, sir, it'd be better if you start working on that stack." The grey-haired Major suggested.
"Yeah, chief." Havoc joined in, a cigarette dangling between his teeth, "Sulking won't have Riza come back earlier."
The raven-haired man narrowed his dark eyes to a glare, and he hissed. "You still call her by her first name!?"
"Jealous?" The blonde teased, but let out a cough and placed his report on the Führer's desk when his glare sharpened. "Sir, you might want to read this."
"What is it now?" Roy grumbled and scanned through the papers, then raised a brow. "Doctor Jacob Campbell in Queen Elise's second-branch hospital?"
"Yes, sir."
He scoffed, "I'll leave it to you then, Havoc–" He abruptly grabbed the papers and quickly looked through the report again, and his dark eyes slowly widened. "It's where Riza is. Falman,"
The major jumped ever so slightly at the sudden change in tone. "Yes, sir."
"How long would it take to get there?"
"Three hours by train; Five and a half by car."
Roy heaved an exhale, then stood. "Havoc, come with me. The rest of you, watch the office and look out for our calls."
"Yes, sir!"
...
Havoc turned to his superior officer when he heard a sigh. "Anything wrong, sir?"
"...Young, genius doctor, Jacob Campbell, son of the director of Queen Elise's main-branch hospital, and also a former doctor in the Central military hospital."
"...Yes, sir." The blonde man replied, "Why did you decide to go there yourself, sir?"
"I remember seeing him on the list of the sponsors for Riza's project, and she just happened to be at that town," Roy muttered, then smirked. "I'll be able to see her."
"So that's the reason..." Havoc sighed.
The smirk remained on his lips as he teased the blonde. "And I suppose you wanted to see Rebecca too?"
"Uh, sir we're not–" He glanced outside the window. "We're here, sir."
Roy took his pocket watch out, "It's almost three-thirty. Contact the local military quarter to get someone to drive us to the hospital. Two people's enough."
"Aye aye, sir."
"Good afternoon, Dr Campbell." The First Lady offered a smile and a nod.
"Good afternoon, Mrs Mustang. It's an honour to have you here." The young doctor greeted back, "Please, come in, have a seat."
Riza eyed her assistant, who nodded, then turned back to the doctor and nodded, following him to his office room.
"Would you like tea or coffee, Mrs Mustang?" Campbell asked kindly, though his brown eyes stared into hers piercingly.
"I–" She blinked, resisting the urge to frown. "...I'll have coffee, then, thank you."
"No problem, Ma'am." He smiled and turned to his assistant, "Go get us some coffee please, Emma, thank you."
Riza watched the woman leave the room before averting her attention back to the doctor. "Thank you very much for sponsoring my project, Dr Campbell. I haven't gotten the chance to say so, and I'm terribly sorry for that."
The man laughed lightly, "You are very welcome, Mrs Mustang, and no worries about that. Your project is very inspiring, and it will surely bring up some future doctors. Forgive my bluntness, but I must say,"
"Yes?" She asked, and inwardly frowned as she noticed him eyeing her.
"You look very different, Mrs Mustang."
She blinked, sighing mentally before letting out a soft chuckle. "I certainly hope you don't mean it in a bad way, Dr Campbell."
"Oh, definitely not." He replied, his smile widening.
A knock interrupted them, and the assistant headed back into the room with a tray and placed their coffee on the table.
"Please, Mrs Mustang." He offered kindly.
"Thank you..." She muttered before lifting the porcelain cup to her lips and sipped the brown liquid. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she sensed a very light taste of sweetness, and her heart started to race, strength slowly leaving her limbs as her arms felt numb, and she felt her body heat up as a tingling sensation surged through her. She sighed as she placed the cup on the table.
The doctor blinked, and asked with a soft smile. "Is there something wrong?"
Riza glanced up at him, her eyes narrowing to a glare, desperately trying to read his mind. "I'll go straight to the point, Dr Campbell. Is it true that you are involved in drug trafficking? Though there's no point asking... It has something to do with the one you put in my drink, does it?"
"...I'm surprised, Mrs Mustang. Do aphrodisiac drugs not work on you? I even had it to be scentless. But yes," He spoke after a few seconds of silence, "I am. Are you going to arrest me?"
"That goes without saying, Dr Campbell–" She abruptly gasped when he grabbed her wrist, and she bit her lower lip again as she felt energy flowing out at a more rapid pace. "You–"
"So it does seem like it works on you," He sighed, then smirked as he pulled her towards him, and he held her waist. "But how are you going to arrest me, dear Mrs Mustang? You don't have anyone to help you, and most important of all, your body isn't resisting."
Her glare sharpened, and she gritted her teeth.
He chuckled, and the hand on her waist slowly travelled down to her hips, then her arse, sitting her firmly on his lap and pressing her crotch against his before leaning his lips close to hers. "You'll also lose a sponsor for your project. Also, what will you do if this goes out? The First Lady of the country having an affair with one of the sponsors... wouldn't want that, would you?"
...
"We're here, sir."
Roy and the Lt. Colonel immediately got off the vehicle, followed by a Major and three of his subordinates.
"Rebecca?" The blonde muttered as he spotted a certain dark-haired woman speaking to a military police. She turned around, her eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"
She crossed her arm, "What are you doing–"
"Is Riza in there with Campbell?" She flinched ever so slightly at the tone the Führer used when he interrupted her, his onyx eyes darkening.
"Yes, sir, but–" Rebecca was once again cut off as she watched the raven-haired man storm inside the building, leaving her and the others to stare and quickly follow suit.
...
His lips were mere millimetres away from hers, and he whispered. "So I suggest you to just stay still and–"
"You make me sick, Campbell."
The doctor's eyes widened in shock as he felt a hand grip his wrist tightly, pulling him forward, and the next thing he knew was he tumbled to the floor, his arm painfully twisted to his back and a knee wedged on his back. She stomped her foot on his free hand before reaching for her purse to fish out a pair of handcuffs. "–How can you still move!?"
She heaved an exhale and got off him after cuffing his hands together. "I figured that you would do something like this. I was trained to be immune to certain aphrodisiac drugs, though I didn't expect yours to be this strong." She grabbed his collar and lifted him to sit him up straight, then crossed her arms. "What made you think it was a good idea to do this?"
He made no effort to respond to her question, enticing her to click her tongue.
"I've met you once before, haven't I?" She continued, "You used to work in the military hospital."
"...You look different, but you haven't changed, Lieutenant Hawkeye." He finally said, raising his head to look at her, a smirk spread across his lips. It widened as she glowered at him once again, "Yes, those eyes. Those are what made you so noble and fair." He let out a low laugh, "As expected of the Hawk's eye of Ishval."
"...You speak so as if you know much about me, Campbell. I am far from noble and fair." Riza muttered, then headed towards the door as she heard a loud knock. "But I suppose it's useless speaking to you about this."
"Ma'am!" Three soldiers outside the door snapped to a salute as she opened the door.
"Catalina sent you here?"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
She nodded, and gestured towards the doctor. "Arrest him and his assistant."
"Yes, Ma'am. Major Catalina has already arrested the assistant."
"Good. Thank you." She gave another nod before leaving the room, speed-walking down the stairs to the exit.
Riza held a hand over her mouth when she felt a wave of nausea abruptly hit her, and she cursed herself for allowing the doctor to touch her. Anxiousness suddenly hit her, guilt towards her husband tugging her heart. Her heart raced; She bit her lip hard, her teeth digging in the flesh till drips of blood trickled down her lips when she realised the drug was still affecting her as her legs weakened while her body heated up.
Unable to muster the strength, she felt her knees give away, and she watched herself collapse down the stairs. She glanced behind her, reaching a hand out at the rail, attempting to grab it, but could only watch as she descended further, her hand getting further away from the rail, before bracing herself for the impact.
A grunt escaped her lips, though her eyes snapped open when instead of colliding with the hard ground, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her as she bumped into what felt like a broad chest, and she heard the ever so familiar voice that she had missed so, so much, ring in her ears, enough to make her heart skip a beat.
"Riza."
A/N: I'm just shi**y at writing cliffhangers (or just writing in general), though I still hope you liked this chapter!
Reviews are much appreciated! :)