Chapter Five

Ed's eyes slowly fluttered open. Light...It was morning. Or afternoon, who knows.

But something was...out of place. It felt different from when he fell asleep. It took him a minute to figure out why. He was in the hospital, he could now feel his arm (how he missed the numbness) and the room was empty--

Empty! Ed quickly sat up (instantly regretted it) and looked for Roy. Who wasn't there. Ed was about to go on a rampage about how dare he leave, then it hit him the Riza had Roy working more likely than not.

And so he lowered himself very slowly to the bed, and let out a strangled gasp at the pain. He sat for a while, his mind slightly blurred from the pain. When he finally started thinking, he wondered if it would be worth the pain of standing up and finding a doctor to give him some painkillers. It couldn't be much worse than this, having to draw breath then gasping at the pain as it hurt so much.

"Great. Alright, Fullmetal, up you go." Ed said, talking to himself.

"No, you stay down." Came a voice from the next bed.

Ed looked over, and saw Jean Havoc laying down and looking all together relaxed.

"When did you get here?" Ed asked, thinking about asking more along the lines of where was Roy.

"Boss had paperwork, as usual, and you need to be on 24-hour watch. You were almost assassinated, remember?" Jean said, pulling himself up.

"Vividly." Ed replied dryly. "So why can't I get up?"

"What did those doctors give you?" Jean asked, giving Ed a hard look. "You were shot! You can't get up, the wound will open and you'll start bleeding again."

"Oh, right." Ed said with an air of idiocy.

"Good. Now lie in bed like a good boy and rest. Roy will have my head if you don't heal quickly."

Ed sat there, thinking about what had been said between him and Roy the previous night. 'Or was it early this morning? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose. Like, is the glass half full or half empty? Why is a raven like a writing desk? Wait, that's from Alice in Wonderland, Winry used to read that when we were kids. Or does she still read it?'

Ed shook his head. 'How did I get on that subject?'

"What's up?" Jean asked, noticing the very confused look on Ed's face.

"Nothing. Nothing at all..." Ed said, trailing away.

"Some thing's wrong, you sound like you've been hit in the head with a rolled up newspaper." Jean contradicted.

"Just thinking about something totally unrelated to the original thought." E said in a very calculating voice.

"And the original thought was about Roy?"

"Yup." Ed said, then it dawned upon him. "Wait, what?"

"You really surprised him, you know." Jean said, smirking at his own cleverness.

"Yeah, I know." Ed replied after a pause. "But I thought I was going to die, what could I lose?"

"Well, Edward, you might have to die anyways." Riza said as she walked into the room, followed by Roy.

"You went through all the trouble of saving me and now you're going to shoot me?" Ed asked, cocking his head to the side in a very confused manner.

"No. I mean you'll need to lay low for a while, so whoever tried to kill you thinks he did." She said, sitting down in a well-placed chair.

Roy said nothing, standing like a soldier near a wall, staring at the floor. Ed couldn't help but look at him with a questioning frown.

"So, where do I go? Back to Risembul?" Ed asked, tearing his eyes away from Roy.

"Not going to happen. " She said, opening a file. "Someone's after your blood, and in some cases, if they even slightly suspect you're alive," She glanced up at him with solemn eyes, "The assassin will be assigned to all family, close friends, everyone."

Ed's eyes widened slightly. "So what--?"

"Right now, it's pretty simple. Roy, Jean and I are the only ones who now you're alive, excluding the staff here at the hospital. But they can't say anything because of the patient-doctor privacy act. And since this is a military hospital, no one else saw you." She said softly.

"...I'm going to die?" Ed said softly.

"That's the only thing we can do, Ed." She said. "You'll have to be placed in a town, far away from any where you've been. Name change, different identity, the works."

Ed looked back at the blankets, his fist tightening slightly.

Riza stared at him for a moment, then stood, and walked towards the door, "I have to talk to the doctor so the story I fabricate matches his. Jean, you should go up to head quarters and clear out all of Edward's personal items from his room and send them to Risembul."

And so, Ed was left alone with Roy, who said still nothing and continued to stare at the floor.

"You okay?" Ed asked softly.

"Not really." Roy said in an almost dazed voice. "If you're supposed to die, I won't see you for a while."

Ed realized he was right. "And you're worried about it?"

"A little. After what happened...It's gonna be like you really died for a while." Roy replied, sounding next to child-like.

Ed smiled. " Then you'll just have to find out who killed me, won't you?"

Roy looked up, smiling slightly. "I guess so."

"But I have just one question; Am I going to have to dye my hair?" Ed asked, making a face that clearly said 'I don't wanna!'

Roy was now openly smiling. "I'll give you two guesses."