Chapter 12: Women
A week had passed since Riza had awoken from her coma, and Dr. Swann had moved her to a mobile hospital set up by the military. Although Riza felt that she was fine physically and did not need further medical attention, Dr. Swann had insisted on keeping an eye on her for just a couple more days. This being the case, Riza had spent the past several days confined to her bed in a beige white room.
Riza was honestly glad to leave the dingy classroom with its faint smell of chalk. The room was rather large for a single teenage girl, and when she was by herself, it made her feel rather lonely. That was often not the case for Roy was usually with her, sitting quietly beside her on the bed. Within the past few days, Roy seemed like he was turning back into his old self little by little. Although it was only a tinge of his old self that had returned, Riza could not be happier.
Her father also dropped by occasionally to check up on her, but he always had that same tired look in his eyes. Riza could tell something had changed in him. Recently, she got the feeling that although he was physically there, something seemed missing. It was as if he had become detached from the world. Her father would ask her how she was feeling and how her day was going but never much more. Riza would simply answer his questions, and after that, the master alchemist would leave without a sound.
A sudden knock on the door startled her from her daydreaming, and Dr. Swann entered shortly afterwards with her usual warming smile.
"Good afternoon, Riza. How are you feeling today? Any changes from yesterday or still the same?"
"Same as yesterday."
"No change is a good thing." Dr. Swann notated on her clipboard. Riza sat still as the doctor ran through her usual routine of measuring her temperature, and checking her blood pressure, and other doctor-related things. "I really can't find anything wrong with you. You're eating fine and sleeping well. Although neither I nor the other doctors have figured out why you experienced so much pain upon waking up, there hasn't been a recurrence yet. I think I've kept you here long enough."
"So I can leave today?"
"Yes, of course. I just need to file a medical report, and you'll be on your way. I'll be back shortly to guide you out. Is there anything I can get you while I make you wait just a little bit longer?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you."
"Okay then. See you in a bit." Dr. Swann opened the door to find Roy waiting patiently outside. "Oh, perfect timing. Roy, can you keep Riza company, while I file some paperwork. When I'm back, we can walk her out together."
"She can leave?" Roy asked surprised.
"Yup. I just can't seem to find anything wrong with her." Dr. Swann grinned and disappeared around a bend in the hallway.
"She's finally letting you leave?" Roy asked with surprise as he entered the room and sat down beside her on the hospital bed.
"Seems like it." Riza replied in a daze.
Roy waved his hand in front of Riza's face, snapping her out of her trance. "Why do you always get like this after Dr. Swann checks up on you?"
"Huh?" Riza replied, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you mean."
"Hmm, really?" Roy answered, unconvinced. "For the past week, you always seem slightly flustered after Dr. Swann is in here. Well, not really flustered. Uncomfortable might be the word. Well, I don't really know." Roy scratched his head trying to think of the best way to describe what he saw.
"It almost sounds like you are the flustered one right now." Riza teased playfully, diverting from the topic.
"Hey, how'd this become about me." Roy sighed as a small smile tugged at his face. "Well, suit yourself. I was just curious."
Actually, Riza knew exactly what Roy was vaguely referring to. The way Dr. Swann acted around her was what Riza considered motherly. Since her own mother died when she was very young before she could even remember, Riza was quite unused to so much attention. Thus, whenever Dr. Swann was present, Riza always felt pleasantly jittery.
Riza eventually found out the reason why the doctor seemed to spoil her with care. During one of her daily checkups, Dr. Swann mentioned how Riza reminded her of her own daughter. Her name was Miranda, and she was older than Riza by only a few months. She lived in East City with friends of the family whenever her mother was summoned by the Eastern Army, which was quite often.
However, she knew better than to tell Roy all of this. It had only been two weeks since his parents' tragedy, yet Riza could tell he was slowly recovering. She feared explaining this would cause Roy to revert into a lifeless shell and to lose the progress he had made. Having him talk again was already more than enough to make her secretly overjoyed.
"Riza, there's someone who wants to meet you outside." Roy spoke quietly. "She's in the hallway right now. My aunt. Is it okay if I bring her in?"
"O-of course, Roy." Riza stammered.
Riza could tell he was hiding something from her, and she had a vague idea of what was about to happen. She watched nervously as Roy headed for the door and opened it. Riza swallowed hard, trying to quell the nervous butterflies fluttering about inside her.
"It's okay to come in, Aunt Christmas."
A rather gruff-looking woman walked in behind Roy. She carefully watched as Roy hopped back onto the hospital bed to take back his spot beside the teenage girl. Her eyes met those of the girl, and she knew immediately that she would like her.
She was used to people staring at her with disdain and even disgust for the way she dressed or the way she looked or for her line of work. However, this girl propped up by pillows in the hospital bed watched her without any judgment or prejudice. They were eyes filled with compassion and caring for her nephew. They were they eyes of someone in love though she knew the girl had yet to realize it. Nevertheless, she could detect a hint of fear and uncertainty. They were also eyes that vaguely knew she was here to take Roy away, to take him away from the small town of Edinburgh, and to take him away from her. The woman felt guilty for the conversation that was about to follow.
"I'm Riza Hawkeye." The girl held out a hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Chris Mustang, but you can call me Christmas." The woman walked forward and shook Riza's hand. "Robert Mustang was my older brother."
"Riza." Roy spoke up. "I have something I need to tell you abou-."
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Riza interrupted softly. "You're leaving Edinburgh."
"How did you…" Roy stammered.
"I just had a feeling…" Riza replied sullenly.
"What happened two weeks ago was due to a Drachman forward scouting party." Christmas interjected, deciding that it would be better to enlighten the two about the current situation. "However, the main Drachman force has been moving about the northeastern border of Amestris. Lieutenant General Grumman of Eastern Headquarters has dispatched several battalions to the northeastern region as a deterrent, but since Edinburgh is rather close to the northeastern border of Amestris, the military recently released a statement highly recommending that everyone evacuate in case Drachma decides to invade. If they do, Edinburgh will be one of the first cities to come under attack. The same situation is occurring in all the other cities and towns near the here as well."
Roy and Riza listened to Aunt Christmas in disbelief. Roy knew that he was leaving with his aunt because she had taken legal guardianship over him after the death of his parents. However, he had no idea that a looming war was also part of why he was leaving Edinburgh.
"Wait!" Roy nearly shouted. "Riza, what about you? Aren't you evacuating as well?"
"I'm not sure. My father hasn't said anything to me about evacuating."
"That doesn't make any sense. There's no way you are staying, right?" Roy regretted what he said the second the words left his mouth and reached his ears. A sudden creeping sensation made him feel like he had just jinxed the entire situation.
"When are you leaving?" Riza asked in return, avoiding Roy's question.
"After the funeral…" Roy's voice trailed off. "Tomorrow morning."
Riza winced. Tomorrow morning was much too soon.
"If you and your father need a temporary place to stay, you two are welcome to come to Central with us." Christmas suggested. "Your father's name was Berthold, wasn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am." Riza replied, feeling a little more hopeful.
"I'll try to find him later and mention it."
There was a knock on the door, and Dr. Swann entered the room with her usual smiling demeanor.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important, but I've filed the report on Riza. You're set to check out now. Just let me know when you're done here."
"It's okay. We were just about finished here." Christmas replied. "I'm sure Riza is ready for sunlight and fresh air once again.
"Of course." Dr. Swann spoke with a slight hint of regret. "Let's get you to the front door and out of here."
With the familiar tingling sensation of being around Dr. Swann returning, Riza nodded silently in reply and hopped off of the hospital bed. With Dr. Swann in the lead, the trio headed for the front door. As they were walking down the hallway, Riza noticed that Roy was watching her nervously as if afraid she would suddenly collapse again.
"Well, it looks like this is goodbye." Dr Swann spoke up when they reached the front door. "If your father drops by later, I'll let him know you've left."
"Thank you for looking after me, Dr. Swann."
"Yeah, thank you for everything."
"You are quite welcome. Now, you two take care of yourselves and each other, okay?" Dr. Swann's smile seemed to disappear for a split second before she regained her composure. "I hope to never see you back here again!"
Riza was stunned for split second before catching on. "Me neither!"
"Thank you, doctor." Christmas added in before following the Roy and Riza down the stairs. "I'm sure they owe you a great deal."
"All part of the job." Dr. Swann replied briskly.
Riza turned around to give one final farewell wave to the doctor before she disappeared back into military's mobile hospital.
"Didn't you two get along pretty well?" perplexed, Roy voiced his concern. "What was that just then?"
"Oh, Roy…" A smile crept onto her face. "It's not that hard to figure out, is it?"
"What?" Roy's confusion was even more prominent now. "I don't understand. Tell me, Riza."
"No." Riza replied playfully. "I'll explain it to you later, but it would be good for you if you figured it out on your own."
"Aww, come on." Roy pleaded.
"I already told you. No."
Christmas Mustang watched from behind as Roy and Riza argued. If she did not know better, it would appear as if the tragedy two weeks ago had never happened and there would be no funeral to attend tomorrow by the way the two were acting.
"Roy-Boy, you are one lucky guy to have girl like her." Christmas whispered under her breath as she watched the two bicker with one another.
"Why don't you just tell me? You can be so stubborn sometimes."
"I am proud of my pig-headedness." Riza shot back with a grin.
"I just don't understand you women at all!" Roy cried in exasperation.
