Brief
Commentary:
-hums Leva's Polka- Those who haven't heard such a wonderful, God-given song have not yet lived. If you want to see/hear it, go to my DA account where I have so kindly provided the link. -grin- Anyway, I've been extremely fortunate this week - TWO CANS OF MOUNTAIN DEW! -bounces around- Unfortunately it's all gone. D: Anyway, I figured it was about time to get on with the story, so in my spare time I've typed this up. I hope it's not flamed too harshly. -whimpers and creeps off to re-read Eclipse for the billionth time-
Reasons
Not For Your Ears
Chapter Fourteen
Although Winry did sleep that night, she was restless and mostly half-awake, as she was vaguely aware of her surroundings even while she slept. For perhaps thirty minutes at most, she would experience the inviting blackness of sleep, only then to find herself staring through filmy eyes at the ceiling, her brain exhausted from all of the racing it had done the day previous. It was roughly 5:00 AM when Winry was awake entirely, just lying there and trying to forget the injured, familiar stranger who was currently occupying the couch in the living room/kitchen. She stared blissfully at the ceiling, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dark as she tried to lose herself in all of the white...until there was a groan from said combination of rooms.
Snapping to attention, Winry quickly slithered out of her bed, ignoring the chill at five in the morning as she crept past her grandmother's room to investigate.She felt her stomach clench as she glimpsed the top of Edward's golden head, and noticed with alarm how much he was moving- no, thrashing around.
Delirium, a small voice in the back of Winry's head informed her.
Cautiously circling around the couch to take a closer look, she had to quickly duck to avoid a flailing arm. Peering up at him, Winry's lips pulled into a grimace as she took in the expression of fear and rage that contorted the already stony features of his face. For several minutes, the blonde teenager could only stare at him warily and wonder if it would be a good idea to actually wake him up. It was when he began muttering and moaning that Winry had decided enough was enough.
"Edward!" she grasped onto an arm and struggled to hold it still, tugging on it in hopes it would get some sort of reaction out of him. For some one who was supposed to be in something quite similar to a coma, he could certainly apply a lot of subconscious strength to his arms. "Edward! Wake up!"
She grunted as his arm jerked again, taking her with it as she banged her knee against one of the couch legs.
"Ow," she bit her lip in frustration, feeling extremely tempted to vigorously rub her sore limb. Ignoring this urge, she tugged at his right arm again, growing impatient as she realized her method of waking him was not as nearly as effective as she had first thought. And he was still moaning, so terribly...
Winry quickly moved her hands to his shoulders, beginning to shake him violently as she hissed,
"Edward!"
After perhaps a minute of this, one eye opened lazily, the pupil still clouded from illness. He seemed to notice her presence, at least, for the eye grew slightly wide, which lead to the other eye opening so that he could see more clearly. He opened his mouth, just barely, and let out a hoarse, rasping sound, before closing it again. Winry felt her insides squirm as Edward stared unblinkingly at her for several minutes; some how his hazy, unfocused eyes seemed to bore right into her. After another thirty seconds or so of silence, she repeated his name again.
"Edward."
This seemed to jolt some sort of reaction out of him, as he blinked hard and struggled to sit up on the couch. There was another long stretch of silence before he attempted to bolt from the blood-stained piece of furniture, but Edward's attempt was completely foiled as he tripped over Winry, who was sitting, frozen, in surprise. He landed with a loud grunt as he hit the floor, and she could hear him grind his teeth together as he tried to stifle a cry of pain. Without seeming to realize who she was, Edward allowed her to assist him back onto the couch. However, as he began to close his eyes, he managed to put two and two together, his body going stiff and wary. Regarding her with nothing but slight anger and a multitude of suspicion, Winry cleared her throat as Edward glared at her.
"Hi...Edward," was all she seemed to be able to manage.
He glowered stonily at her and remained silent.
"Uh, I found you lying on the street yesterday," Winry winced at her straightforwardness.
Edward's glare intensified.
"You were in really bad shape," her voice grew quieter under his heated gaze as she stared humbly at the floor. "so I brought you to my apartment. We've gotten the bullets out, but we need to make sure you don't get an infection or anything...because one of the bullets was really close to your spine, and spinal damage can lead to paralysis, which is still going untreated because all of your nerves just shut down...and the arm that had the bullet in it is also dislocated, so that needs to be fixed soon so that you can maintain total control over it..."
Winry felt her cheeks flush as she realized that she was rambling. "Ummm..."
"You," he hissed through his teeth. She gave a jerk in surprise. "You are Winry Rockbell?"
His tone was so menacing that she could only manage a single nod of her head before she was too intimidated to move.
"You're extremely lucky that I can't break your neck at the moment, Rockbell-san," Edward addressed her icily, eyes shooting daggers at her shivering person. Had the temperature in the room just dropped? Winry scrambled for an answer as she opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by a sudden voice.
"Winry, what the hell?"
She watched with surprise and dread as her grandmother, fully dressed, walked calmly into the room and observed Edward's conscious state and her granddaughter's anxiety. Her stare as her piercingly wise gaze landed on the former seemed to comb over every visible inch of the boy's body, before Pinako said gruffly,
"At least he's awake. Morning, fucking idiot."
"What the fuck was that, old hag?!"
"Just what you thought it was, damn shit-head."
Edward snarled at her grandmother angrily, looking ready to leap from the couch and strangle her - if he was in any condition to do so. Pinako ignored him and turned to look at Winry, who was still emitting a shiver every few seconds.
"Winry, did the stupid punk say anything about being hungry?"
"Um, no, not real-"
"What the fuuuuck? I eat just fine, dammit!"
"Shut the hell up," Pinako glared at him, "You're suffering malnutrition, for fuck's sake."
"W-what should I get him, Baa-chan?" Winry glanced at her grandmother hopefully, eager to end or at least escape the heated conflict in their kitchen/living room.
"Soup," was all she said in response, before walking stiffly over to Edward. He glared at her.
"I'm just going to change your goddamn bandages," Pinako rolled her eyes at him. "They're probably dirty again; even worse with you moving around so fucking much."
"Shut up, old bitch!"
Winry quickly scrambled over to the cupboard, rummaging around until she managed to find a can of tomato soup on the second highest shelf, balancing on her toes as her fingers groped for it. It took several tries before she managed to grab it and set down on the counter, quickly reading the directions on the label.
As instructed, the young Rockbell pried the lid open after the use of a can-opener and poured the contents into a porcelain bowl, then stepped over to the refrigerator to pull out the milk. Pouring the opaque liquid into the empty soup can, she then added it to the bowl and stirred it a few times. Carefully, she placed it in the small microwave she and Pinako had been provided with and set it for four and a half minutes, chewing her lip as it began to heat the soup.
Four and a half minutes could seem like an incredibly long time, Winry quickly realized, as she tried her best to ignore the argument her grandmother and Edward were currently in engaged in not five feet away. Often the f-bomb would be dropped, followed by another string of curses from either side - the blonde-haired adolescent could practically feel her ears burning away from the profanity. There was a great rush of relief as the microwaved beeped to alert that it was done, and after allowing the tomato soup to sit for a minute, Winry pulled it out with slightly unpracticed hands and set it on the counter to fetch a spoon. Dropping the piece of silverware in and stirring the liquid contents again before she grasped it in her hands, she cautiously padded over to the two shouting figures to present the soup to Edward.
"You're being incredibly immature about this, you fucking little brat!"
"I thought I told you to shut the hell up - I'm fine, dammit!"
"I've got the goddamn medical knowledge here, not you!"
"You wish, fucking hag! I'll kill you!"
"Uh," Winry quietly intervened, stepping close to the couch, "I have the soup ready."
"Shut up!" Edward snarled, knocking the bowl from her hands. She whimpered as she felt the hot soup soak into her clothes, and heard the porcelain bowl shatter on the wooden floor, pieces of it cutting and burrowing into her skin. There was a long moment of complete silence, before Winry looked down to examine herself, and nearly choked from the pain in the front of her torso. The skin there was obviously, badly burnt, and, in several places, pierced with porcelain shards. An on-coming wave of nausea shook her to her core as she noticed several of the shards sticking out of her stomach and arms, their usually white surface now red with her blood.
"Fucking idiot!" Pinako screeched at Edward, smacking him with her hand before turning to her granddaughter to keep her steady. Edward only looked incredibly bewildered. "Winry, keep calm, okay? I'm sure it hurts like hell, but let me handle it."
The young Rockbell nodded, her face pulled taught with her pain and a grimace prominent on her face as her entire body shook.
Okay, it's not violent...but it's painful! And the soup label directions are totally true - I have a tomato soup can with me right now for reference. -grin-
