Riza Hawkeye walked to the bathroom, ignoring Rebecca's calls of concern behind her. Her steps were urgent and rushed as she tried to keep a level head. She checked the stalls. Empty. She pulled the broom through the door handle and leaned against the door feeling the tears well up and slip down her face.

She ran to the sink and pulled hot water on. She desperately ran her hands underneath the steaming liquid, clawing at her hands with her fingernails. Get it off, get it off, get it off, she thought desperately. She could still see the red blood on her hands though it had washed off days ago.

Her sobs echoed in the empty bathroom. Riza sank to the floor, her hands still in the running sink water. Her burning, feverish forehead leaned against the cold sink. She squeezed her eyes shut, they burned from all the crying she'd done in the past six days.

"Riza!" she heard at the door, "Hey, Riza!"

Riza turned her head away from the door when she heard Rebecca kick it. It slammed open and Riza felt someone's arms around her.

"It's okay," Rebecca said, pulling the other woman into her arms as she hacked out dry sobs. She was done crying. She had no tears left.

She hadn't let anyone see her cry. Only Fuery had seen her cry that day. Until she went to Rebecca's apartment. She had finally broken down on the third day.

Riza opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. The room she was in was dark and she could hear a faint, steady beeping. Then she remembered and she jerked in surprised. She'd fallen asleep at the hospital. In his room. She had been laying her head on the side of his bed, just trying to listen to his uneasy breathing. She must have fallen asleep. Riza looked up to where he lay; asleep. His black hair was completely…well, ruined. He probably would have lit something on fire if he could see it. It was all rustled and out of place.

Riza stood and blinked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. His hair still looked soft once she had helped wash the blood from it. She reached out and barely touched the tip of his hair, then pulled back with a sharp jerk. This was stupid. What was she doing? She looked at his face. She so desperately wanted to see his eyes open. To remember what they looked like when he was angry, or when he smiled, or when he gave the enemy a cold stare. She would even be content with a sarcastic look or smirk, but she couldn't get his desperate, dying eyes out of her head.

His heartbeat was slow, but steady now. Riza could see the outline of the large bandage wrapped around his chest. It just barely peeked out above the white linen sheets. The hospital smelt of alcohol and medicine. The smell of iron, from his blood, was very faint, but prominent enough to make her sick.

She looked at the clock and felt her heart sink. It was past seven p.m. She'd come during her lunch break. Riza sighed and tucked her clipboard under her injured arm and opened the door with the other. She looked back, watching Roy breathe for a few more moments until she walked out.

Riza's boots squeaked on the floor of the empty tiled hall of the hospital. She turned a corner and ran into a young doctor.

"Sorry" was all she said, unusually cold for her.

The young man looked up from picking up his clipboard and handed her hers. She put it under her arm again.

"I've seen you here a lot recently, haven't I?" he said. His large blue eyes seemed tired, but kind.

"Yes, my superior is here," Riza said, ready to go home. She would still have to go to work to grab some papers. Fuery might still be there…

She realized the doctor was talking, "What?" she said, "I'm sorry."

He smiled and said: "Nevermind. I'll see you around. By the way, I'm Doctor Cory. Let me know if you or your superior needs anything."

"Thank you," Riza's arm began to throb in its usual fit of pain. Once he'd turned around she gripped her shoulder through the sling and bandage. Making sure there was no one around, she winced.

She walked her way to the office, up all the stairs and down the hall to the office. The light was on. She opened the door with her left hand. Fuery looked up from his desk. His black eyes were huge behind his glasses. "Lieutenant," he said.

Riza didn't answer. She felt like she was being rude, but didn't want to explain why she'd been gone for seven hours. She grabbed a stack of paper from her desk and carried it carefully with her good hand into the colonel's office. She kicked the door closed with her foot and stacked it on a pile near his deserted desk. She grabbed the small pile atop of his desk so she could take them home to sign for him. She would tell people that she'd gone to the hospital for him to sign them. She'd known his signature for years since he kept falling asleep while filling out forms.

She opened his door with the folder under her arm. She locked the door behind her and looked up to find that Fuery had left. The office was dark and she could bet the whole building was empty at eight o'clock. She scooted down the door behind her and sat on the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and stared into the empty space of the office, feeling the tears build up.