Chapter Three
"Brother, it's going on seven thirty in the morning. Don't you have to be in Central today?" a very worried Alphonse asked, slowly opening the door to said blonde's bedroom. "And why hasn't your alarm clock gone off yet?"
"I turned it off at two in the morning." Ed replied, unmoving under the blankets.
"You can't keep doing this. You make Colonel Mustang worry sometimes, you know." Al insisted.
"Well let him worry. I feel like crap today." Ed answered, standing his ground. He didn't feel like he should go in to work that day. He'd been up all night with stomach pains. Slowly, he lifted the covers off himself and sat up to face his younger brother.
"What's wrong with you?"
"My stomach hurts, I'm dizzy, my back hurts, my head hurts, and I'm tired because it kept me up all night."
"Maybe it's the flu?"
Ed rolled his eyes, letting out a sarcastic laugh, "Sure, Al," he remarked, "My stomach hurts and all but if it were influenza I'd probably already be-"his thought was interrupted as he suddenly turned his head to the side, leaning over the bed and coughing. Al heard him start to cough and choke and he rushed forward and grabbed his hair, consoling him because it was the only thing he could do, wishing that he had ears to cover up and block out the sound. Ed continued to throw up for the next couple of minutes. Every time he thought it was over he would start up again until it was finally done. He didn't bother with finishing his sentence. "I need a shower." He decided, wiping his mouth with the back of a pale hand.
"But brother, you're really sick. You can't just shrug this off." Al began to protest, watching Ed stand up and slowly cross the room, "Get back in bed."
"Not right now."
"I'm calling you a doctor."
"Don't worry about it. It's only a stomach virus. It'll go away on its own, so all I need to do is wash the puke out of my hair and get as much sleep as possible." The blonde insisted, crossing the room.
"But that doesn't explain the back pain!" Al called after him, "What if it's Meningitis!?"
"You're paranoid!" Ed called from the hallway, already on his way to the bathroom. Al sighed and accepted defeat. He couldn't argue with his older brother when he was so insistent like that.