Chapter Three
Where Edward agrees to stay
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
As if on cue, Sara's condition deteriorated overnight. The skin of her face became hot to the touch and several of the blisters on her arms burst open from her thrashing in sleep. A pitcher of water was kept on the nightstand beside her and the lights were left on throughout the night. Edward sat in the chair at her bedside for the remainder of the night, wiping the girl's fragile skin down with a wet cloth periodically.
"As far as I am concerned," Edward began, slowly moving the washcloth down Sara's arm. Droplets of water slid over her burns and soaked into the comforter. Kerstin stood impatiently behind him. He could tell the woman was still uncomfortable around him. "The sickness has only affected her externally. This means that it will be much easier to cure since we obviously do not have access to the drugs required for internal treatment. It will take several weeks of washing her down to remove the radioactive particles from infected cells."
The blonde woman nodded slowly, struggling to comprehend his words. She had never studied anything in science class so advanced before and her father did not bother to tell her anything, she was a literature major! "What exactly does that mean?" Kerstin asked stepping up to her sister's bedside. "Will she be entirely healed?"
"Most likely, no," he sighed, retracting his hand. He turned and rung the cloth out over the pitcher, releasing the stored water. "Sara will be left with several nasty scars on her arms and other places of her anatomy, as well. I have not checked her legs or her torso yet…" The faintest color of blush dusted Edward's cheeks.
Kerstin crossed her arms under her chest; the sheer nightgown she had pulled on was pulled tightly over her shoulders and chest by doing so. She ignored the color slowly flooding his face. "You mean to tell me that you have not been healing her other limbs?" she asked, raising her voice as she vented. She could see Edward's shoulders grow tense, probably at her tone. "I apologize for yelling."
"You're worried," he dismissed, dunking the washcloth into the pitcher again. Edward lifted Sara's dry arm and pulled it over her chest, beginning to slowly rub the cloth against her irritated skin. "And you have good reason to, so I don't mind."
She looked hesitantly from the back of his head to her sister lying helpless. Sara was wheezing; she was having trouble breathing. "Is there anything I can do? Get you something to eat or change out her bed sheets?" Kerstin offered.
The corners of his mouth turned up as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "You're too kind to strangers," Edward observed. "No, thank you, I don't need a thing. Although, I may be going to bed soon so the pitcher of water will need washed out thoroughly and refilled in the morning. Do that if you are willing to help."
"Refill pitcher, got it." Kerstin turned for the bedroom door. "Should I check on your brother?"
"Yes, please," he answered quietly, returning to his work. From the look of it, Sara's skin will have dried out entirely and will be too flakey to wash in the morning. He would have to stay longer than until sunrise if he was going to finish what he started. Edward would not focus be able to focus on his work in Munich if he left her after this, knowing that she was still sick. Beside, Sara could not die; she knew how to get them home to Amestris. "I am almost certain that he is asleep by now, though."
The blonde shrugged, her hair falling limply over her shoulders. "I will be careful not to wake him, then," she promised as she stepped into the hallway. Kerstin was nowhere near feeling relaxed around Edward, but she was willing to trust he could help Sara. She drummed her fingers gently against the door next door, and when there came no answer, she assumed that Alphonse had fallen asleep.
The rest of the night continued smoothly. Edward eventually retired to the shared room with his brother. He fell asleep quickly after the exhausting night he had, though, not quickly enough that he was able to keep the thoughts of going home from his mind. He felt bad that he was using the girl while she was injured – and most likely dying – for his own reasons. But Alphonse was not happy in this world; he may be good at hiding it but Ed picked up on it eventually. He wanted nothing more than for Al to be happy. On the bed beside Edward's, Alphonse was also happily dreaming. Sara had been out for hours by then. Kerstin had tucked herself into bed, finding herself staring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. She finally found her peace of mind when she remembered that the pair of brothers would be gone in the morning. Somehow, though, that was not enough.
When morning arrived, Kerstin invited the boys to anything in their kitchen if they found it. She was indebted to Edward for his effort to help her sister and felt that she needed to show it. After rinsing out the tin pitcher they had used to hold water in with bleach, washing it, and then refilling it with water, Kerstin returned upstairs. She tiptoed into Sara's room, eager to find her awake.
Merely hours after the yellow-eyed man had begun treatment, Kerstin could see the color returning to the brunette's face. Tousles of chestnut hair fell around her face, resting in unkempt knots on the pillow. Burns and blisters on her face had been slightly reduced; they were not as inflamed as they had been earlier. Kerstin pulled her silk sleeves over clenched fists to protect her hands from the infected cells – Edward had informed her that they spread easily. She gently nudged Sara's shoulders, trying to shake her awake. Sapphire eyes fluttered open; Kerstin could see their resemblance when she looked into her sister's eyes, they had both inherited the color of their irises from their father.
"You can't take anything from me!" Sara screamed, about arching off of the bed. Her eyes were pale and hollow, as if she was seeing a dream and not her sister's face. Suddenly, she began withering under Kerstin's touch, struggling to break away from her state of fear. She released a deep sigh and proceeded to take shallow breaths until she was able to calm herself down. Tears had stained her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she murmured, "I'm sorry."
"What…" Kerstin stopped, unable to think of what she was going to say. She was at a loss. "What was that?" She was gasping now.
"Nightmare," Sara sniffled, wiping her nose.
"Don't do that," the blonde scolded, yanking Sara's blistered hand away from her face. "Your face is healing and I don't need the infected cells travelling in through your mouth."
"I am sorry if I startled you, Kerstin," she apologized, her voice muffled as she coughed into her sleeve. Sara settled into silence, she closed her eyes again as if she was trying to fall asleep again. Dark circles had formed under eyes, despite the hours of much-needed sleep. Her body was weak; the blisters on her skin had either worsened or begun peeling which must have been bothersome. "I was just scared."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Nightmares tend to go away when you talk about them," the older sister informed. "What was the dream about?"
Sara sighed. "I do not want to cause another burden for you," she said. "I am one enough just being here, we have only known each other for a month."
"Thank god that you fled France," Kerstin smiled reassuringly, taking the risk to stroke her sister's hair. "I love having you here. I would be deathly lonely without you here. Now, why don't you tell me?"
"I was in…an entirely white void – that much is still vivid. I don't remember much else. Well, except that I was sitting before this huge black doorway. It towered over me. I was so scared," her voice cracked and Sara broke off, panting. Sweat had begun to trickle over her forehead; she was really worrying about this. "Then there was this voice, it may have been a woman's but it was too difficult to tell. It told me that I was going to be punished for summoning 'The Gate' which I did not understand at all. I did not want anything to be there, I wanted to be here. Then the voice started laughing and, the next thing I knew, some invisible force was sucking my legs away from me. I was just disappearing before my own eyes…"
Kerstin nodded reassuringly, smiling gently like it was a silly child's dream. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I can promise you that you have both of your legs."
"Why did you wake me?" Sara asked, shaking her head to clear her mind.
"It was worrying me that you were sleeping so long," the blonde admit. It was not the whole reason she had wanted to find Sara awake, but it sounded more reasonable than telling the truth. "I suppose that I should let you sleep now."
Sara's eyes lit up in realization, she grinned knowingly. "Kerstin Amsel, do you mean to tell me that you do not want to be left alone with the man kind enough to be paying me a house call?" Her bickering with Yellow-Eyes – Edward – the previous night had nothing to do with the fact that she owed him her life. She could at least convince Kerstin to like him since she did not.
"Now that you mention him, I should go tell Edward that you are awake. He will want to know." Kerstin gave her one last, measly smile as she stepped away from the bedside. She felt that she had been smiling more lately, even if there was not much to smile about. Figuring that everyone just needed a smile at a time like this, Kerstin proceeded out of the bedroom.
She took her time travelling through the manor. After living in the house her entire life, the extravagance of things had seemed to wear down; it was only times that she chose to pay attention to the manor that Kerstin saw its beauty. The dark, hardwood staircase that curved around the wall creaked underneath her weight, causing Kerstin to recall a time as a young girl pretending she was a glamorous movie star gliding down the stairs. Of course, at the time, she had weighed only about half as much as she did now and glided down without a sound. She carefully continued through the foyer, the wood gleaming in the morning sunlight. Silverware clanging against plates in the kitchen could be heard at this point. Kerstin was somewhat glad that the brothers had helped themselves to whatever food they had. She drew in every detail of the extensive hallway – from the scratches from her mother's high heels on the floor to the smudges on the walls from who knows what, after surviving years of cleaning – until she finally stepped inside the kitchen.
Edward and Alphonse were seated across from each other at the dining table, plates of eggs placed before both of them. Al appeared to be pushing the food around his plate politely while Ed was clearing enjoying what could have been assumed to be his cooking. "So he is a doctor and a chef?" Kerstin thought with a sarcastic smirk. She slid into the seat beside the younger brother.
"I woke her up to check on her," she informed, folding her hands delicately in her lap. Kerstin could see the obvious question forming on Edward's tongue, light brightening his eyes. "She seemed fine. She could speak in complete sentences and had no memory troubles. I do not think that she slept very well, though. Sara had a nightmare." Kerstin shrugged it off casually.
It might look too strange to ask what the nightmare had been about, so Edward kept his mouth shut. He shoveled another bite of eggs into his mouth. Lines of worry were already beginning to form in Kerstin's face. He had a feeling that it was his being in her home that was causing her such distress. "I am sure it was the fever's doing," he dismissed. Edward took his plate and began to rise from his seat.
"You don't have to go if you aren't finished eating," said Kerstin. She was looking at him softly.
"I promised that I would leave this morning, I would like to keep to that," Edward insisted, slowly sitting back down. "I will check on her once more, though, before I leave."
"What are you planning to do in Munich?" the blonde sister asked sharply. She may not particularly like having him in the house, but it was better than watching Sara die without any hope of living at all.
He raised his eyebrows curiously. "Nothing extremely important," Edward answered. "I was actually planning on talking with your father about chemistry research."
"I would like for you to stay and take care of Sara," she requested. She waited for the disgusted reaction that did not come. "I know that it is not as productive as talking with my father, but I can always speak with him about stopping home if you stay. I just…don't want to see her go without the hope in her eyes. She deserves better."
To their surprise, "Yes" was his answer.
WOWIE! This story is so much more popular than I expected it to be. For that, I would like to thank my readers/reviewers. Your responses are just awesome. Also, there was a bit of character development and plot development in here! Not so much plot development but oh well… Sue me!
Hoping you enjoyed it, until next chapter!