May 21st, 1955

The world returned the way it usually did, slow and yet immediate all at the same time. It wasn't like coming out of sleep, but just returning to the world as if he had left it. Edward had done that a few times; he knew what it was like.

It didn't take him long to figure out where he was either. Even without opening his eyes he recognized the familiar feel of crisp sheets and the scents of sterilized metal and floors. He was in a hospital.

But why was he in the hospital? He ached all over, inside and out. Obviously something had happened. It always did, and if he waited patiently for a few moments he knew it would come to him.

In the mean time, he took stock of the situation; Aches and pains, and an odd sensation in his middle that wasn't empty stomach. His limbs felt heavy, and thoughts of moving them produced twitches that told him they still worked, but it seemed like far too much effort.

His stomach growled, he was thirsty, and he felt warm all over. Was he sick? Possibly, but that wasn't why he felt an odd sense of anxiety. He wouldn't mind some water either…

Water. That triggered it. The memories came out in a rush and Ed's eyes popped open as he remembered nothing past hitting the shore line. What am I missing?

Plain white ceiling stared back at him, but apparently his sudden intake of breath had caught someone's attention because there was a definite shifting sound next to the bed on his left side. "Brother?"

"Alphonse?" The word came out softly as Ed turned his head to get a better view.

Al looked like he hadn't slept much recently, or at least not well, and his clothes were rumpled. There was an anxious eagerness about him as he saw Ed was awake and smiled, some of the tension leaving his body. "Thank goodness. How do you feel?"

"Like a half-drowned rat," Ed retorted, still confused. Even talking took effort. His lungs ached, but given the workout he'd given them and the water he had swallowed, Ed wasn't all that surprised. "What happened, Al? The boy? Where's Winry!" He tried to sit up, but barely made it an inch before he fell back on the bed.

"Relax, Ed," Al put one hand gently on his left shoulder. "The boy's fine. He swallowed a lot of water, but he'll be okay."

Ed tried to get up again, but his body betrayed him, and Al's hand had him firmly pinned. "And Winry?"

"She's right here," Al spoke more softly, though he looked anxious at Ed's struggles. He pointed across the bed.

With a sigh, Ed lay back and relaxed. He really didn't have the energy to argue. He felt awful. He turned his head and looked at the other side of the bed. In one of the few stuffed chairs the hospital had, Winry was curled up, though she was blinking tiredly as if he had woken her up with his startled pronouncements. "Edward!" She came awake all at once when she saw him watching her. Almost jumping out of the chair she was at his bedside in a heartbeat. "Oh, thank goodness!" She kissed him, and took his right hand in hers over his body, grasping it tightly.

"People keep saying that," Ed frowned. There were dried tear marks on his wife's face, and she looked like she might start again at any moment. Like Al, she didn't look as if she had slept much or well. He had probably interrupted what little she had. "What's going on, guys?"

He didn't like the way Winry and Al shared worried glances over him. Winry looked like she was definitely going to cry. It was Al who spoke. "You almost died yesterday," he replied simply.

Ed's first reaction was to yell, but instead he closed his eyes, letting the words sink in as he tried to come to terms with what they meant. He hadn't even been close to drowning… and that explained why he'd blacked out, the ache in his chest… the too familiar ache that he had feared for so long. "It happened again."

Winry's hand tightened on his even more. "You saved that little boy, Ed," she said softly, and he wasn't sure who she was really reassuring, him or her. "He would have died if you hadn't gone in after him. It was just…more than you could handle."

"Yeah." Damn it! It shouldn't have been so difficult. If he had thought to do something else sooner, or if he had been stronger… well, what ifs wouldn't do him any good now. "What's the damage?"

"We're waiting to find that out," Al replied. "Doctor Gray went ahead and did the tests and scans while you were still out."

Ed opened his eyes again. He could see both of their faces now without having to do more than turn his head a little. "You said yesterday. How long was I out?"

"Twenty hours," Winry replied. "Damn it, you had me worried!"

"Sorry for being so…inconsiderate," Ed smirked weakly. What he wanted to do was curl up and cry, but he couldn't do that in front of Winry. He hadn't seen her this upset in quite a while. He had obviously missed a rather traumatic span of time. "What exactly happened? I don't remember anything past crawling out of the lake, and that's kind of fuzzy."

Winry worried her lip with her teeth. "You collapsed. Someone else ran for a phone and called for an ambulance almost as soon as you jumped in the water… for the boy. No one thought you'd need it."

I know I didn't. Ed hadn't even thought about it at the time. The kid needed help. "I doubt it was there when I hit the shore," he commented dryly.

Winry shook her head. "No, but the way it happened, I guessed and I pulled this out of your pocket." She pulled out the little bottle Doctor Gray had handed Ed two years ago; one dose, enough to possibly stop a heart attack. The bottle was empty. "Getting it down your throat was a trick."

Once more Ed had cheated death. "I need to stop making a habit out of this," he sighed softly. "Thanks, Winry." She had saved his life. He squeezed her hand back with what energy he could muster.

"Yes, you should," Doctor Gray's familiar voice commented wryly as she entered the room and came into his field of vision. She looked tired. Had anyone slept? "Not that I can blame you for being a hero," she added then. A small smile crept to the corner of her mouth. "That five year old is getting a very stern lecture from his mother about going off and jumping in lakes without permission."

"I'm surprised I haven't gotten the same lecture," Ed joked. It was easier than breaking down. "Just give me the bad news and let's get this over with okay?"

Gray nodded and handed over the results of the latest echo cardiogram.

Ed had seen plenty of these stupid things in the last couple of years. Fuzzy as they were, he knew what he was looking at and he grimaced at the damage. "Damn."

"You may be the luckiest man I've ever met," Gray commented, "Or at least the most stubborn to still be alive after all this."

Ed wasn't sure how lucky he felt, but he knew it was true. "Do I even have to ask what this means?" He knew she would give him the lecture anyway, but he knew what was coming, and she didn't disappoint.

"You'll need to take it easy for a while," Gray nodded. "Work back up the way you did before. No combat classes; light exercise, and we'll see how it goes from there. I'd like to keep you here for a couple more days, just for observation and to make sure you actually get some rest, but you can go back to work after that when you feel up to it as long as you stick to classroom instruction… assuming your superiors approve." She didn't glance in Al's direction, but Ed knew who she was referring to. It was up to Al and Breda.

"Thanks, Doc," Ed replied softly. What else could he say? This wasn't her fault and he wouldn't have let the kid drown even to save himself. At least she wasn't going to advise that he should give up work entirely.

Her expression softened a little then. "Get some rest, Edward. We can discuss any further details later."

Ed simply nodded his consent. He noticed that Gray didn't take the images when she left. For several long seconds, the room was silent. He almost didn't want to let go when Winry took the photographs from his hands and looked them over. Her eyes flooded, and a silent tear ran down her cheek as she looked at them. Then she seemed to shake herself. "It could be worse," she commented quietly.

"Yeah," Al chimed in, obviously trying to sound positive. He always did that. "You're still here to annoy us," he offered a smirk.

Ed smiled back half-heartedly, but he couldn't maintain it. His heart wasn't in it. "Right, Al. You going to let me back at HQ?"

"Of course," Al snorted, as if insulted by the question. The emotion in his eyes made it clear he felt like crying as much as Winry did, though he didn't shed a tear. "But the way she said; classroom only. You're the only brother I've got." He shifted then and stood up. "I should let everyone know you're all right. How do you feel about visitors?"

Ed hadn't thought about it yet, but everyone was probably worried. The whole family surely knew by now, and who knew how many other people. "Not right now," he replied. He was still trying to absorb everything that had happened. "Who knows?" he asked.

"All of Central," Al admitted with a dry chuckle. "You were the front page story this morning." He picked up a copy of the Central Times and held it up to Ed could see the headline: Hero at War and at Home: Fullmetal Alchemist saves Drowning Boy.

"War hero?" Ed snorted. The media shredded him when he was having problems, and lauded him when he did something they approved of. Whatever suited them... bunch of hypocrites.

"Leave it be, Ed," Winry squeezed his hand again. "The rest of the world doesn't matter right? But a lot of people are worried about you."

"I'll be back soon," Al promised, before slipping out of the room.

When he was gone, Ed turned to Winry. "I'm sorry," he apologized softly. "I made you a promise, and it looks like I'm lousy at keeping them."

Winry looked confused for a moment then shook her head. "Do you really think I would be mad at you for saving that boy? No one else was close enough, and he told his mother he was caught in a net and you saved him. Ed… you used alchemy didn't you?"

She had seen the explosion of water, she had obviously guessed. Ed let his eyes close. The lids felt heavy. "For all the good it did. We both almost drowned. I made myself one of the victims."

"But you both survived," Winry startled him by shifting from the chair to the bed itself, wrapping her arms gently around him. Her tone was still that sweet, positive, sensibility she always had when he needed it most. "You'll be all right. You heard Doctor Gray, a little rest and rehabilitation is all you need."

Ed leaned in, resting his head against her chest, his arm going around her waist; her warmth the only comfort he could find in the room. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, Winry," he whispered. He wasn't going to break down, really…he wasn't. He ignored the damp feeling in his eyes.

"Hush now," Winry gathered him closer, and he could feel her breath as it stirred the hair on his head. "Rest and we'll take it one day at a time."

Ed wanted to argue, but exhaustion weighed on him, and he let himself slip back into oblivion.

Winry cradled Edward while he slept, still shaken from the horror that had struck her yesterday morning when Ed had collapsed on the shore and she had realized what was going on. Even as she wanted to cry in anguish, her mind had gone immediately into emergency mode. She hadn't panicked, but remembered immediately the dose of medicine Gray had provided for just that emergency. It had been a trick getting Ed to swallow it, but he had, and she had held him until the ambulance arrived, and during the ride to the hospital. She had gotten used to seeing injured and wounded, but to watch Ed – without a scratch on him – his body struggling just to function, had been more than she could take. She could only imagine how terrified Ed must have been the first time, all alone in the house. Several times she was sure he had stopped breathing entirely, or his heart had stopped, and then she would feel it; he would gasp for breath, or shudder.

At the hospital they had made her wait while the Doctor and her assistants did what they could for Ed. She was just grateful they had managed to get him stabilized. When they finally let her in the room with him, it had been all she could do for hours not to completely lose hope. She had waited for him to wake up, refusing to leave his side in case something happened and she wasn't there. Not even when Alphonse joined them after Winry made a brief call home and told Ethan what was going on.

She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but exhaustion had claimed her. Now, Ed was unconscious again, but she knew he was all right. Or at least, he would be, given time. She had lied though, just a little. She was mad, but not because Ed had nearly killed himself rescuing the boy from drowning. She was mad at how unfair it all was, and frustrated with how these things always seemed to happen to Edward!

She didn't want him to stop being who he was, but Winry couldn't stand to lose him either. Not like this, and she knew as well as Ed probably did that, given another situation where Ed was the only one who actually could help, he would if he had to. And when that time came….

May 24th, 1955

Edward spent another couple of days in the hospital resting. He refused visitors other than Winry and Alphonse. He just wasn't ready to face the world yet, not when he still felt frustratingly weak and tired. Still, after two days he was allowed to go home, and he was relieved to get back to the sanctuary of the house, even if what he did was go straight up to bed at Winry's insistence. Ed would have argued, but just getting out to the car and then into the house had left him tired and he knew that he would have to be patient if he wanted to get back to the rest of his life, whatever he was allowed to do with it.

He tried to think positively for Winry's sake, but it was hard, and he had no way to vent his frustrations. That really irked. He couldn't work out. He couldn't get drunk, or pig out on junk food – not that the last held much appeal at the moment, his appetite seemed to have vanished – and he didn't even have the energy to lose his temper. He was almost afraid to do that given how rarely he could relax and be distracted enough not to notice the rhythms of his own heartbeat. If he really lost it he wasn't sure he could handle it right now. That, more than anything else, terrified him.

So Ed slept a lot, or at least tried to. He got up and took a shower at one point, and he ate whatever Winry brought him, though he could hardly remember after what it had been. He tried reading, but found concentrating difficult. Still, it passed the time between dozing off again.

It was the afternoon the day after he got home that he finally managed to get past the first couple of pages. He was curled up back in bed after going downstairs long enough to eat lunch and stretch his legs; lying with his back against the pillows that stacked up on the headboard.

"Hey, Dad."

Ed looked up and saw Ethan standing in the doorway. "Hey. What's up?" It was hard not to say kid. Ethan wasn't eighteen just yet, but he sure didn't look like a boy anymore, and he now stood almost an inch taller than Edward, though he seemed to be about done growing.

"Can we talk?" Ethan asked, looking a little uneasy.

"Well sure." Ed had no idea what the problem was, but Ethan had seemed to have something on his mind the last couple of days. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ethan came over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was thinking… maybe I should stay in Central in the fall and keep taking classes here… or maybe take a break for a while and just work."

"What for?" Almost as soon as the words left his mouth though, Ed understood. "In case something happens to me?"

Ethan nodded, though now he looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah. I mean, you could still use me around the house right now and I don't want to be so far away if… hell, I can't even say it and I work in a hospital."

Ed put down the book and offered his son a small smile as he shook his head. "You should go. What else are you going to learn around here anyway? You know almost everything your mother could possibly teach you, and more than you'll ever need about auto-mail, old Stevenson said that East City had the best University for medical school practically on the continent and me…" he sighed and shrugged. "I've been a pretty lousy teacher the last couple of years." He hadn't cracked an alchemy book or drawn a circle in two years. Until a couple of days ago he hadn't performed a single transmutation. If what had happened was the result, he wasn't in a hurry to do it again any time soon either. Ed wasn't sure he had the energy in him to handle it.

"Can we afford it?" Ethan asked another question instead of responding. "I mean, with all the medical bills and such?"

At that, Ed had to smirk. "This won't even touch the fund I've got stashed away for your school, Ethan. I've told you not to worry about that. The entire thing is covered."

Ethan looked exasperated. "Yeah, but how? I mean, I know we aren't poor but that's years of college to pay for, no matter how fast I manage to get through it." He had already finished most of the first year's worth of classes or tested out of them. All the credits would transfer to the University in East City too.

"Can you keep a secret?" Ed asked conspiratorially. Okay, so it wasn't entirely top secret anymore.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "What, did you win it in some illegal gambling ring?"

"More like legal gambling in a casino against a man selling illegal alchemical artifacts," Ed smirked.

Ethan's eyes widened. "You're joking."

"No, I'm not." Ed shook his head. "You remember years back when your Mom and I went on a mission for the military but never said what?"

"Vaguely," Ethan replied. "I was what, seven?"

Ed nodded. "Well, the truth is, there was a fake stone that turned up in the hands of this guy down in Aerugo who dealt in alchemical artifacts and rare ingredients – legal and otherwise. Your Mom and I went down undercover to get a hold of it. Long story short, there were a couple of very high stakes games of cards and we pulled the acting jobs of our lives. I got to pocket the winnings from that trip, stuck them in the bank, and having touched them since."

"Do I get to know how much is in that account?" Ethan's eyes lit up momentarily.

"Not a chance," Ed barked a laugh, "But it's more than enough to cover the rest of your schooling plus some by now. So don't you worry about your mother and I. I'm still here, and that's not going to change anytime soon if I have anything to say about it."

Ethan looked like he wanted to object, but logic wouldn't let him. He had already been accepted to the University at East City, or ECU as the kids referred to it these days. The one in Central was commonly called simply UC. "All right," he sighed. "I just don't want to go away if I'm needed here."

"I'm telling you to go," Ed replied firmly. Then he smirked. "This is a good opportunity and you shouldn't miss out on it. Besides, there are plenty of people here who can play nursemaid and nag me. It'll be nice to have one fewer of you."

"Well when you put it that way," Ethan chuckled, "It sounds like you'll be glad to get rid of me."

"Only temporarily," Ed assured him. Really, he was going to miss his son like crazy. He still felt guilty about how unnecessarily rough he had made Ethan's last couple of years, despite the fact his son insisted that he wasn't mad at Ed anymore about what had happened. "When you get done with all that education I expect to see some results of that research of yours." He knew Ethan would succeed. There was no doubt in Ed's mind that his son was going to achieve something special. He hadn't doubted it from the first time his son had told him why he wanted to study everything he did at the age of eight. Ten years was a long time and Ethan had come a long way.

Ethan smiled back at him. "It'll take that as an order."

"You'd better," Ed retorted.

"Yes, Teacher."