Ed's heart fell to his stomach. Al ran straight past him, straight to Winry's side. Ed froze in the doorway, staring at her, staring in shock. He knew what had happened, but nothing could of prepared him for this, to see her like this was more than enough to break him. For the sake of Winry (and from being made fun of by that damn Mustang bastard standing in the corner) he held himself together.

Oh, he could already hear the jokes:

Mustang: Hey, Ed, remember that time you cried like a baby?

Ed: I was not crying!

Mustang: Well how was I supposed to know? I just assumed you were crying. I couldn't see you behind the bed. You know, you really should drink your milk.

Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE MIDGET THAT'S SMALLER THAN A SPECK OF DIRT YOU STUPID OVERGROWN OVERPAID BASTARD!

Yep, that sounded about how the argument would go. Ed's face started to go red with anger, and if Winry hadn't spoken to him right at that moment he was pretty sure he would of yelled at Mustang about an argument that had happened in his head.

"Ed…" A fragile little voice came from the bed and Ed realized he must have been standing in the doorway for a good few minutes just staring at her, "Ed, it's okay."

Edward slowly made his way towards the bed, heart pounding, eyes burning. "Winry, I'm so sor-"

"Don't you apologize, Ed, this is not your fault."

Ed seemed to get angrier at this remark, which honestly surprised Winry. On the other hand, Ed got mad at everything.

"I should have been there to protect you!" Ed yelled, but he wasn't sure who he was yelling at. Mostly himself.

"Maybe we should go."

That voice was familiar. Lieutenant Hawkeye. Ed realized he had been so caught up in his own feelings he hadn't noticed there were other people in the room. It was probably wise to check his surroundings. Yep, he was right. Hawkeye, Mustang, Pinako, Alphonse. Not just Winry and himself, which is all he really wanted it to be.

"I think you're right, Lieutenant," Mustang stated calmly as he walked to Winry's bedside, "Miss Rockbell, I hope to see you better soon. I would very much like to taste that apple pie of yours, until then…goodbye. Come, Lieutenant."

Riza slowly walked to Winry's bedside, "Winry, I know this is hard, but I really need you to pull through."

Winry had a confused look on her face. Whilst she'd had a few conversations with the lieutenant they were never really that close.

"I need you to pull through because us women have to stick together."

She then whispered something in Winry's ear, which made the rest of the room extremely interested in what she was going to say.

"I can't take care of Mustang and Ed on my own. Those two together get into so much trouble. What would they do without us?" At this Winry let out a little giggle, Ed didn't care what Hawkeye had said anymore, he was just glad to see his Winry laughing.

They slowly left the room, walked down the hallway and then they were out of sight. Pinako thought it was a wise idea to leave Ed and Winry alone for a while, "Al I need some help bringing some of Winry's clothes back to the hospital. Will you help me?"

Al was, well, a little annoyed that it had to be him to leave Winry and not Ed (he always was a bit clueless), but he had never been one to complain so he smiled gently and stood up to leave.

"You hold on, Winry, I'll be back before you know it and I better be seeing your smiling face when I walk through that door."

Winry smiled at him and gave a little nod. Oh, how Ed just loved that little smile. It made her look so innocent.

"Ok, Al, let's go."

Soon they were walking down the hall and, just like Mustang and Hawkeye, they disappeared.

Something inside Winry wondered if that would be the last time she would see Al and her granny. The thought brought tears to her eyes. The thought of dying terrified her.

Suddenly, Ed became aware that he was alone with Winry, just like he'd wanted. He pulled up a chair and just stared out the window.

"Ah, Winry, I leave you alone for five minutes and then…" Ed looked down at Winry's face and stopped talking immediately. Winry was crying.

"Wi-Winry…please don't cry, what are you crying for?" Only then did he realize that was probably the worst question for this situation. She had only been stabbed, she was only moments away from death. Nothing to cry about. Right.

"Ed…what if…what if that was the last time I will ever see Al and granny?" Winry broke, tears now streaming down her face.

Ed was shocked, his eyes widened as he tried to come up with an answer to calm and comfort her, but there was nothing he could say.

"Winry, you'll be fine. You have to be the toughest girl I know."

"Ed, that's not going to save me…I could still die… Ed…I'm scared."

That was it. Ed's heart broke in two. His head dropped, he was staring at the floor. Winry could have sworn she saw a tear roll down his face.

"Winry, you're not going to die."

"But Ed, how can you…" She was cut off again.

"Winry, you're not going to die!" Ed lifted his head and stared into Winry's eyes, her beautiful eyes, "Because I won't let you."

Winry's eyes shot open, tears streamed down her face like a waterfall. Ed's hand reached across. He was holding her hand. Oh My Gosh! Edward is holding my hand. Winry felt a shot of electricity shoot through arm.

"If you die, then I have no reason to live anymore either. So trust me, I don't intend on letting you die anytime soon."

Winry swore her heart just melted into a puddle. The boy she had loved for so many years, was it possible he loved her too? Was it possible that he loved her now that it was too late?

Winry started shivering, she had at least three blankets on her, but she was frozen solid. Her hands were as cold as ice.

"Ed…I'm cold."

"I'll go find you another blanket," Ed let go of her hand and stood up to leave. As he turned to walk away he felt a tug on his shirt and turned around to see Winry holding his shirt, looking down at her sheets.

"Please, Ed, I'm cold. Don't leave…please."

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Ed sat on the side of her bed, staring at Winry. She tugged again. Ed slowly lowered himself until he was lying on the bed next to her, staring into her eyes. They were starting to look lifeless, causing Ed's heart to beat so hard and so fast in mind-numbing terror he was sure it could beat for both of them. Then he realized how close his face was to hers, how close his lips were to hers. Winry was still shivering, he felt so helpless. Slowly, ever so slowly, he started rubbing her arm, desperately trying to get some precious heat into her frigid body (and it felt nice, but what the hell).

"Ed.."

"Yeah.."

"If you had to say goodbye to me, what would you say?"

"I'm not saying goodbye, Winry. You're going to be fine."

Ed started to get annoyed, annoyed that he couldn't convince Winry she would be okay. She would be okay. She had to be.

"Ed, humor me."

Reluctantly, Ed decided he'd better do what she wanted. She was in a hell of a lot of pain. He could tell from the way her jaw clenched as she spoke, the way she winced when she exhaled, when she inhaled.

"I would say: 'Don't worry, Winry, I will find a way to save you. If I cant, I'll see you soon…. I have no intention on living without you. There would be nothing left for me without you.'"

While Ed was rather proud of himself for that rather romantic speech, Winry's eyes got fired up.

CRAP! That's the look she gave me when she was about to throw a wrench at my head! He was pretty sure if she had one (and he was shocked there wasn't actually one at her bedside) he would be unconscious right about now.

"Don't say that, Ed… what about Al? You would just abandon him? Promise me, Ed. Promise me that no matter what happens to me you will keep going, you will stay strong for Al."

Ed was speechless. He didn't want to. He knew it was selfish, but if Winry was gone he just didn't care about anything else anymore.

"Ed! Please promise me…please."

Another tear rolled down her face and Ed caved. He'd never been able to resist her tears. He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped it away, so maybe he wouldn't have a reminder of the promise he was about to make, the promise it almost killed him to make.

"I…I promise."

"And Ed, you always need to protect Al, okay? You know how naïve and innocent he is," She gave a little smirk and Ed couldn't help but laugh a little. Al was really naïve.

"And Ed."

"Yeah?"

"I need you to do something really important for me, it's so you can protect Al…properly."

Ed was a bit confused, what would change the way he looked after Al? "What's that, Winry?"

"You need to drink your milk," Winry let out a little giggle as she said this and tapped him on the nose. Ed, however, didn't think this was very funny. Usually he would have yelled at her about now, usually he would storm out. This wasn't usually, though. For the first time in his life, Ed didn't care that someone was making fun of his height (even though he was taller than her now). He was just happy to see Winry smiling.

"Hah, you think I would go that far for you, hey?"

A smile grew on Winry's face. It was then that he noticed his hand was still on her cheek, but he didn't care. Then he noticed Winry was still shivering, more violently than before. Without thinking, he put his arm around her and pulled her in close.

"Come here, your freezing."

Winry's heart pounded. He was holding her. They were lying on a bed together and he was holding her. She tucked her head into his neck and just laid there and for the first time in months she felt peaceful.

"Winry, you should try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay, but Ed, please…please stay."

"I will, on one condition."

Winry looked up into his eyes, "What's that?"

"When I open my eyes in the morning, you have to open yours too."

"I promise."

At that Ed kissed her forehead. Electricity shot through his body, a thousand bolts finding every nerve ending his body possessed. He wanted to hold her, hold her and never let go. She tucked her head back into his neck and soon fell asleep. Ed held her in his arms and drifted off, praying that when he next opened his eyes; she would keep her promise.