It was now evening and things had quieted down a bit. Alphonse had pulled a chair up and was sitting outside in the hallway, looking over the journal. He hadn't even gotten the opportunity to show it to Edward yet. Ever since the alchemy incident earlier, his older brother had pretty much been out of it. As a precaution, the doctor decided to remove his right arm as well. Even though Al really wanted to show him the journal, he knew he'd be livid at this point.

Dr. Griffin was off, running some more tests. He still wasn't sure what was the cause of Ed's illness. Other then the consistent fever and confusion, Ed had thrown up twice now. Whatever he had was getting worse. Even though he tried to act tough, Al knew this was taking it's toll on him. Letting out a quiet huff, the suit of armor glanced back down at the book in his hand. He wondered if he could really find the answer in these notes. Even so he would dutifully continue to study it in hopes that something jumped out at him.

Sometimes he wished Ed didn't have to take these assignments but he knew it was part of being a State Alchemist. It just seemed to be more trouble then it was worth. Al had hoped that the Furer would just let them be but this seemed to be one of his ways of keeping tabs on them. The thought of them being watched so closely frustrated the younger Elric. Of course there was nothing he could do about it either. If they disappeared, it would put Winry in danger. Until they knew she was safe, they had to stay out in the open.

After Alphonse went through the journal a second time unsuccessfully, he heard the doctor coming down the hallway. Looking up, the armored boy noticed there was another doctor there as well that he didn't recognize. Without saying a word, the two men entered the quarantined room, closing the door behind them.

oOoOo

It was difficult getting any decent amount of sleep on such an uncomfortable bed. However despite that, it was the constant aching that kept pulling Ed back to harsh reality. He wondered how long he'd been here. Rolling over, he let out a groan when he realized his right arm was missing as well. He already felt bad, now he felt horrible. His stomach wrenched and he tried desperately to not be sick.

Ed hated being in this predicament, being stuck in the hospital. His instincts were telling him to find a way out but he was physically unable to. Normally Winry was the only person who handled his automail and she would never leave him without his limbs. She knew enough about her customers to know that leaving them in this state had a negative affect on them mentally. His mind kept telling him his limbs were there when they weren't.

'They probably just don't want me using alchemy,' he told himself, trying to stay calm. 'Al must be really worried. Wonder what's going on with me.' He shifted onto his side in an attempt to get more comfortable. Settling his head against the pillow, Ed tried to forget the fact that he was immobilized. Just as he started to doze off again, he heard the door open and two people walking in. He had no desire to look up or acknowledge their presence.

"So I wanted you to take a look at him, Dr. Mason. I know you've worked with automail patients before. I really think this is more in your area of expertise." Ed heard his doctor say to the other man in the room.

"I'll see what I can do. You mentioned the younger brother said something about water?"

"Yes, it was some kind of liquid chemical. The only conclusion I can come to is that it got in the port and that's where this infection came from.?" As the one doctor explained his theory, Dr. Mason was busy getting a closer look at Ed's arm port. By this point, Edward was starting to dose of, missing a lot of the conversation.

"What are the side affects?"

"He's had a bad fever since he was admitted and I think it's causing him to hallucinate. Originally we removed his arm so that he couldn't perform alchemy but I got a closer look at the connection on the automail to find a high content of the infection."

"Yes, I see what you're talking about. I'll most likely have to take a lot of the casing off to get a better look. Do you think it could protentally kill him?" Dr. Griffin shrugged back.

"We really need to find which antibiotics will work the fastest. Any fever that gets out of control can be fatal."

"I'd be more concerned with nerve damage. Depending on how much of a strain the automail causes on the host." There was a light knock on the door and Al poked his head in.

"Is everything okay?" Dr Griffin turned with a grim smile on his face.

"We might have a lead. Did you find anything from that book yet?" The suit of armor shook his head.

"Nothing helpful."

"Well don't worry about it, this is Doctor Mason and he's an expert on automail. I really think he can help." Al's crimson eyes lit up at this small developement. Maybe a specialist was all they needed to figure this out. It was enough to make him hopeful.