"Come on, come on kid! Stay with us! Nurse! Get me 20mg…" When Ed arrived at the hospital, it was madness. He was in the worst condition the hospital had seen in a long time.

They rushed him into surgery to sew up his stomach. The acids were leaking out, and corroding the nearby organs. His lung had also collapsed from the trauma of going from a dank, dark environment into a light, loud one. He shattered his left arm in 5 places, he had a concussion, and he cracked his pelvis. His stomach and many of his cuts, including the one on his head, were infected. (Isn't this just lovely?)

Al walked into the waiting room, still stunned by the condition of Ed. How is this possible? Ed's the strongest person I know. He can't di- he'll be fine. At that moment, Roy and Riza walked up.

"Alphonse? Are you ok?" Riza looked genuinely concerned about him.

"I guess, Lieutenant. Should… should I call Winry? I mean, she's one of his best friends… our best friend… and his mechanic, too." He sounded scared and unsure of what to do. He looked up at her.

She looked at Roy for help. He sighed. "I guess I would call her. But just tell her that he's injured, so she doesn't freak out about it. Here's some money for the pay phone." He handed Al some money and directed him to the phones. He walked around the corner.

"Colonel? Do you really think Edward can pull through? I mean, I know he's tough and all, but I've never seen someone look like this before…" She looked at him, worry in her eyes.

"Fullmetal better pull through. There are too many people that care about him for him to die." With that, he walked out the door and headed back to central.

Riza headed up to Ed's room in the ICU. He was lying in bed, with tubes and wires all over the place. His chest was barely moving with each breath. He looked like a ghost.

A nurse walked up to Riza and saluted her. "Lieutenant. You know the Elric boy, yes?" She nodded. "Well, he's just come out of surgery. We stitched all his wounds and fixed his stomach, but his insides are all jumbled. He's on life-support right now. His head wound is infected badly. Right now, he has a 5% chance of surviving. He probably won't make it through the night. If he does, his change jumps to 10%, and increases every day after." He sighed and scratched his head. "I'm sorry there's not more we can do." He turned and walked away.

Metal footsteps were heard right behind Riza. She quickly wiped the tear off her cheek and turned. "Alphonse. You heard that, didn't you?" She looked up at him and could tell he had heard. He was clenching his fists. She reached out her hand and patted Al's arm. "I'm sorry. I truly am." She walked over to the window to Ed's room and looked in again. "He doesn't know how many people really care about him."

O-O-O

"Ugh. Where am I?" Ed looked around and saw he was standing in what seemed to be a hallway. Except the walls were glowing. He was barefoot, wearing only a white unbuttoned dress shirt and black pants.

At one end he saw all his friends: Al, Riza, Havoc, standing in the hospital. At the other end, he saw a beautiful open field and… "Mom? Is that you?" A bright light was emanating from behind her, making her look like an angel.

"Yes, darling. It's me. Come join me. You're in so much pain. If you join me, it'll all be over." She reached her arms out, as if to embrace him.

"No, big brother! Don't leave me! You promised!" He turned towards his friends at the other end and saw everyone crying.

He took a step towards his mother. The light got brighter, his friends' sobs became louder.

He took a step towards his friends. The light got duller, the sobs quieter.

He was stuck.

"Dammit." He was so confused. He sat down in the middle of the hall, afraid to move either way. No matter what he did, he would lose someone he love and someone he loved would lose him.

O-O-O

Ring… ring… "Hello, Rockbell residence. May I ask who's calling?" Winry sounded like she had been working on auto-mail again.

"Hi, Winry. It's Al." He paused, unsure of how to continue.

"Oh hi, Al! How are you? What's happened lately?" She sounded like her normal, chatty self.

"Well, not so good. There was a tornado here." Winry gasped. "It's ok, no one in Central was injured that badly. But afterwards we went out to search for people who might be trapped. Well, Ed went off on his own and… Winry, he's not doing too good. A whole building collapsed on him. He might not make it through the night. I don't know what to do! I can't even show how upset I am in this stupid body!"He punched the wall.

"Wha-what? What the hell was he thinking?" She started sobbing into the phone. "I'm coming out there right now!" She slammed the phone down.

Al slowly hung the phone back up and repaired the wall. What if she doesn't make it in time?

O-O-O

Ed was still sitting in the hallway, unsure of what to do. Everyone kept calling to him.

"Darling, please. Come to me. You wanted me back badly enough to give up your leg and your brother's body. You can be whole again!" A wind surrounded him and suddenly his auto-mail had been replaced with real flesh. He looked up at his mother, and the wind surrounded him again, returning his limbs to normal.

"Big brother! Please come back! I need you! I'm lost without you, and I'll be trapped like this forever!" His brother reached out his large metal arm, and it started dissolving.

"Al, no!" He leapt towards his brother, but then stopped. He was close enough to his brother to keep him whole, but still near enough his mother to keep her there as well.

O-O-O

After calling Winry, Al was trying to occupy himself by walking around the hospital. Out of everyone there that he saw, his brother was the worst off. After about an hour he walked back up to his brother's room. He figured the nurses would be out by now so he could sit in there with him.

As he was walking into the ICU, a doctor walked up to him. "Alphonse? I'm afraid that your brother is in a coma. I think this will help keep him alive, but if he stays like that for too long…"

"Yeah. He'll be like that for a long time. He'll be a vegetable. I know." He walked past the doctor and went into Ed's room. Both of his auto-mail limbs were leaning against the wall. His head and whole torso were wrapped in bandages. His left arm was in a cast. Tubes ran down his stomach, and a breathing apparatus was hooked up as well. His chest slowly rose and fell with each breath the machine gave him. In a word, he looked pathetic.

Al sat down in a chair across the room. "Big brother… Stay strong. Everyone needs you."