Edward opened his eyes slowly. He could feel the pain emerging that had been masked by pain killers. He groaned and lifted his left hand to rub the sleep from his eyes but found he was unable to lift his arm very much due to the IV and that it caused a lot of pain to do so. Deciding that arm was useless he tried to lift his right and discovered he had no right arm to move.

"Ah fuck," he sighed looking at his right side. "What the fuck happened to my arm?!" He added with a little more energy and annoyance.

"Edward," he heard from his left in a soft, hesitant voice. Recognizing Elysia's voice immediately he turned to look at her. She sat up on the couch she had been sleeping on as she waited for Edward to awake.

"Elysia, what are you…how long…" Edward stammered swallowing slightly ashamed for cursing in front of her yet glad she was there for him.

"A while," Elysia explained getting up to stand next to his bed. "You came out of surgery early this morning."

"You don't look so good," he said smiling.

"As if you should talk," Elysia said with mock indignation. She smiled, tears suddenly springing to her eyes, relieved that Edward seemed to be his old self. Seeing Elysia's tears Edward began to feel guilty as the memory of why they had ended up in the hospital room in the first place. He didn't realize they were just tears of joy seeing him awake and talking.

"Elysia I'm so sorry about that girl…" he began to apologize before being cut off.

"Oh Edward, that doesn't matter anymore," Elysia said exasperated having completely forgotten about seeing Edward with that other girl. "All that matters now is you not moving so you can heal."

"But it does matter," Edward said trying to ignore the pain that was getting worse. "I wasn't thinking straight. Actually, there's really no excuse for what I almost did. I'm just really sorry. I want you to know that I won't ever do anything like that again."

"Okay," Elysia said. To her he didn't need to apologize but she appreciated that he did. Now that she thought about it again, it still hurt remembering him with the other girl, but she was glad that she had gone into the tavern. It kept Edward from doing anything that would have hurt her even more. But to her that was all in the past now. All she wanted was for Edward to recover.

Edward felt somewhat relieved. He could see that Elysia believed him and would never hold it against him. But he still felt awful about it and the sedatives that were wearing off quickly did little to help any. He tried not to show how much he was hurting but he couldn't hold back any more. Elysia noticed the flicker of pain cross his face.

"Are you in pain?" She asked. Edward nodded slightly which just made him hurt even more.

"I'll get a nurse to give you something," and Elysia swept out of the room quickly.

She returned soon with a nurse who set to work with a syringe and a small bottle of sedative. Edward was hurting too much to even complain or try to get away from the needle. He realized he was too old to behave in such a way, but if he had the strength and his arm and leg, he would have bolted out the door. Feeling the sedative quickly mask the pain Edward felt relaxed and was able to focus on Elysia. The nurse left instructing Elysia not to hesitate to come get her for anything else. Then they were finally alone together.

"I'm glad you were here when I woke up," Edward said looking at Elysia reaching for her hand. She smiled down at him.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she told him.

"Good," he said smiling gratefully. He looked up at Elysia. He was filled with wonder and love for her when he remembered how she had pointed his gun at the man who shot him. He hated that she had been put into a situation like that but he was proud of her. He couldn't help but be proud of how cool and calm she had been. Just like her father, Edward thought. Edward smiled at her again and laughed.

"What?" Elysia asked.

"You're my hero. You saved me."

"Well, you owe me," Elysia told him with a smug look. "Big time."

"I intend on making it up to you," Edward said looking deep in her eyes.

"How do you intend on doing that?" Elysia asked coyly with a playful smile.

"Come closer and I'll show you," he instructed and Elysia leaned in close so he could kiss her.

"I wanted to do that when I came back, but then I saw Jol," Edward explained when they parted.

"I wondered if you had," Elysia said starting to feel guilty now. She knew she didn't invite Jol over but she hated the fact that Edward had seen him at her house.

"I saw you return. I didn't know my mother had invited him over so I snuck out to come see you."

"I'm sorry," Edward said again feeling like a fool for acting like a jealous idiot. He thought that if he had just stayed home and trusted Elysia he wouldn't have been in the situation he was now in. "I'm sorry you had to see this happen. Were you scared?"

"For you. I was more angry and full of hatred." She had never felt such hatred before. It had surprised her that she was capable of feeling so intensely enough to want to kill someone.

"I really wanted to kill him for what he did to you," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I'm glad you didn't," Edward said reaching up to wipe her tears away. "You don't need something like that on your conscious. I think I've got enough emotional baggage for the both of us," he added smiling.

Elysia smiled back taking his hand in hers and wiped the rest of her tears away. "You should really get some rest now."

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Edward said again looking at her sadly.

"Stop apologizing. I'm fine," Elysia insisted. "I wasn't the one who got shot."

"But you could have," he pointed out. "You were lucky he was only concerned about me."

"Don't think about it anymore," Elysia commanded gently. "Just rest."

As Edward tried to follow Elysia's advice and close his eyes they snapped back open as he remembered something. "Al!" He exclaimed drowsily as the sedative started to take affect.

"Has anyone told Al what happened?"

"Yes, he's on his way. And so is Winry," Elysia said.

"I hate for them to see me like this."

"It wasn't your fault," Elysia said trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, I know," Edward said quietly, his eyes too heavy to keep open any longer. "Will you stay with me as I sleep?"

"Yes," Elysia answered holding his hand tightly in hers.

"Thank you," Edward sighed. "One more thing."

"Edward, please, just relax," Elysia chided but couldn't help smiling at his persistence.

"I just wanted you to know that I love you," Edward said as he closed his eyes. It felt good for him to finally say those three words he had wanted to say before he had left for Xing. But at the time he had thought it was too soon. But after what had just happened he had to make sure that Elysia knew, for certain, how he felt.

"I love you too," Elysia said as she leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. "I'm relieved that you're still alive and will be even more relieved when you finally go back to sleep," she whispered in his ear. Edward smiled as he drifted off finally succumbing to the sedatives.