CHAPTER 2 – A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL

Hey people =) thank you for the reviews and faves, everyone.

Now, a sort of warning: this chapter and the next can be defined as slow in action, so please bear in mind that I want to have a plot, so Winry "torturing" Ed will have to wait a little but… I'm already writing it, so yeah. Weekly updates probably (okay, hopefully)! Neways, enjoy!

Oh, the disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. If I did, I'd never have let Hughes die *watery eyes*

The guards were whistling, but Ed couldn't hear them. His ears were now filled by a persistent buzz that caused him to him forget his surroundings and focus on the girl lying in his arms. She wasn't moving; he noticed that he had some blood in his hand. His mouth went dry as he opened it and closed it mechanically, trying to think of something else to say besides her name – that wouldn't really help her, he had tried already.

So he called the guards and tried to calmly request for an ambulance. The man he had punched was knocked-out cold, but his colleagues (who were right behind him and had been half-crushed by the fall of his massive weight on them) were yelling at Ed and the guards. Apparently, they weren't from around there and had no idea who Ed was. The guards, however, had recognized the FullMetal Alchemist (the title had carried on…) and explained to the men that if they did not shut up and cut the crap, they'd all be under arrest. So the men quieted down and resumed to literally tow away their passed out whale-impersonation of a colleague.

After many exclamations of 'oh's and 'ah's from the people around them, Ed finally managed to get an ambulance there to carry the still unconscious Winry to the Hospital; the firemen had told Ed that if she had fallen, she should be properly stabilized so they'd prevent any possible injuries to her spine from worsening.

All he did was nod and grunt and wail silently, all the way from the Station to the Hospital's examination room. The trip was quick, thankfully. The waiting, however, was not. He kept huffing and yelling at and bullying the nurses so they'd let him in so he could see what the doctors were doing; but to no avail. Someone had the not-so-bright idea to suggest he should go outside for some fresh air and leave the nurses alone, and he nearly punched a nearby vending machine to death – which is a complicated thing to do, if you think about it (of course, he had to fix it afterwards).

After some time he decided he should call Al – he hadn't planned to do it so he wouldn't startle his younger brother, but he needed someone to talk to right now.

The phone rang. Once, twice, three times… "Come on Al, pick it up." he thought. Five times, six… His nerves were building. Finally he heard his brother's voice.

"Elric brothers, who is it?" he asked.

"… 'Elric brothers'?? What are we, a couple of car salesmen?" Ed grumbled as he thought of how silly Al had sounded – especially because his voice had cracked a little when he said 'brothers'. Ah, the joys of being a growing teenage boy.

"Wow nii-san! Hi. You're in a bad mood… Ummm, are you mad at Winry?" he asked.

"No, not really, I… well, actually…" he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. How was he going to say it?

"… 'Cause you know, nii-san, I thought that you were taking a long time to get here because maybe you had gone out for coffe or something…"

"Al, let me talk…"

"… Actually, I was hoping you'd be having fun, but then I remembered that you could've also gotten mad at each other for some reason and-"

"Al!" he cut his brother off, "Let me speak!" he paused and waited for Al to become silent, which he did quickly.

"Okay now, don't be too startled but… Ummm… Winryfellonastair at thetrainstation and nowwe'reatthe frickin' hospitalandshe'sbeing like observed bythedoctors and I'mstillwaitinghere an I'mfreakingthe fuck out!!"

He blurted everything out so fast that he had to repeat part of it; after he did, he could even hear Al's voice going pale.

"Oh gosh… Is she okay?" he asked slowly, as if speaking too loud or too fast would make her any worse.

"I… Have no idea little bro." Ed leaned over the wall next to the phone booth, his right arm covering his head as his forehead touched the cool wall, in hopes that would calm him down. He could hear Al breathing in an erratic way.

"She'll be fine, nii-san. Don't worry… You're with her. Do you need me to go there?"

"No, it's okay Al. Thanks," he paused, since a nurse had called his name. "Oh? Al, I havta go! Talk to you later."

"O- Okay nii-san! But, should I tell Granny?" Al asked innocently. Ed managed to hear that just before he hung up, so he half-yelled at the phone, "NO way in hell! Don't you dare tell that old hag yet or I'm dead beef!" and then he hung up and quickly ran to where he had been beckoned.

XXX___XXX___XXX

While he was been talking on the phone – in those few minutes – the medics had finished observing her and had moved her to a nearby room. He walked in, pacing in large steps, and looked straight ahead; there was a nurse near the closed curtains that concealed the bed.

The two doctors turned to face Ed. "She seems fine… Physically all she has is a minor concussion, nothing serious at all. She might get some minor headaches but, that's it!" the tallest one said with a half-smile.

"… Oaky, but why did you take so long with her? It's been an hour and a half! Physically she's okay, so, is there anything wrong with her at all?" he demanded briskly, turning to face the doctor that spoke.

The other doctor replied instead, looking a bit nervous, "Well, she feels drowsy for now and that's understandable. So maybe that will explain her amnesia." The doctor spoke while looking at the curtain instead of Ed, because it felt like the boy's eyes stung a little.

"Her… Her what??" he had been waiting to the end of the conversation with the doctors so he could run to the curtains and pull them apart to he could see her, but now he turned and stepped towards the bed where she lay, determined to look at her right now. But one of the doctors, the tallest one – a fair bit taller than him really – grabbed his arm and pulled.

"Listen, no worries. Sometimes it happens to people when they hit their heads and it's usually temporary; her damage was very little so, she should only have her memory confused or blurry for a while" he told Ed. The boy looked at the man's face and snorted.

"Well then, it's temporary huh? How temporary?"

The shorter doctor said, "Hours probably; days if you're unlucky, but not many. If it's a bit more… serious…" he made that word sound very small next to the others, "it could take up to a week or so. But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." and he tried to pull on a reassuring face.

"Holy shit." Ed cursed under his breath. A week without knowing who she was, and who they were? Oh man… not good at all.

"She might have relapses, though-" one of the doctors spoke, but since Ed had his back turned on them he didn't care to know which one did. So he didn't really listen to that, nor to the part where he mentioned some probable personality disorders and/or mood changes (which should also be temporary). He headed straight for the curtains.

"Thank you. I'll call you if we need anything." he told them dismissively and waved his hand in the air. So they nodded and, with the nurse, left the room and closed the door.

He now stood next to the curtain. He pulled at it and pushed it aside. Her sleeping form lay in bed, tucked underneath a satisfyingly thick blanket. He sighed in relief when she spoke with a groggy voice.

"Mmmh, who's there?"

"It's me, Winry. How do you feel?" he asked as he sat down on her bed. He leaned closer to look at her as she heaved to sit up straight. She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"A bit sleepy, that's all. And my head hurts a bit, but I feel okay otherwise. I just can't remember much…" she pressed her index to her lips, as if that would help her think. "Thanks for asking. By the way, do I know you?"

His heart sank a little when he confirmed his fear - she didn't remember him. Him! Her childhood best friend and - more recently - boyfriend.

"Yes, you do. We're, uh, best friends, and my brother Al-" he stopped talking when he noticed the way she was looking at him – as if he were a very interesting new type of screwdriver. And that implies quite a lot.

"You look familiar, actually. Hmmm…" she said as she squinted her eyes. Then she realized something and blushed a little, exhibiting a large smile. "Not only do you look familiar, but you're kinda cute too, aren't you?"

He scoffed and his cheeks' color turned pink; he started to scratch the back of his head and let out a nervous chuckle.

"And modest! Wow." she chirped happily and hopped off the bed.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he asked.

"I don't know for sure but… I don't really want to stay here." she said as she stretched her relaxed muscles. He was of the same opinion: he didn't really like hospitals, at least when he had to be the one treated there.

"Besides," she walked around the bed and looked at his face closely, "I feel like I have to go with you somewhere. Like I was already going somewhere with you before… well, before I got here."

"So, you don't remember how you got here, Winry?" he got up and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't remember being pushed by that big fat oaf and falling an hitting your head and-"

"Nope," she said, "Nope, nope and nope. Not a thingy, it's all blurred up inside my head. The doc says I'll probably be okay by the end of the day though." she shrugged.

"Well, I'll tell you on the way if you like. Come on then." He was clearly pleased that he didn't have to go through many explanations or conversations to get her out of there, and he was sure no one would stop them from leaving; besides, his place was the best place for her to be at right now.

"Where are we going to?" she asked, hopping a bit behind him. That kind of unnerved him.

"My place, so to speak; we kinda borrowed it. It's where I'm living with my younger brother, Al. You remember him?" he looked at her and when she shook her head, he let out a long sigh.

"Don't worry!" she chirped, "I'm sure he'll look familiar to me just like you, Edo. Maybe I'll remember him."

There was a small pause as Ed processed that last sentence.

"Wait, what did you say?" he was confused since he didn't remember telling her his name in their previous conversation.

She waved her hands apologetically. "I'm sorry! I don't know why I called you that. What's your name by the way?"

"My name's Edward. Edward Elric! People usually call me Ed, you sometimes go for Edo. You remembered." he said with a gentle smile.

They were already outside the hospital, and he waved at a military car standing nearby so it would take them home, avoiding walking the snow; though it was only snowing very lightly and their house wasn't far away. Thankfully, her luggage was already inside the car.

"Really? That's great," she cooed, as they slipped into the car. She entered right after he ushered her inside, and she was moving slowly - she was still drowsy. "So I guess you have an oven?"

"An oven? We do, yes. Err, why?" his eyes turned to meet hers, and saw the mildly puzzled expression on her face.

"Donno, but oddly I feel like baking some apple pie…"

Okay then, that's it! I'm done on this one :) R&R people, so I'll know what you're thinking. I should post the next one pretty soon enough.

Next Chapter: Their House