If only Ed had stayed awake long enough to hear the two doctors talking. If he hadn't been so worn out from being sick, his mind wouldn't have dreamt up a conversation that didn't happen. But since he only heard bits and pieces, his delusional thought process came up with it's own conclusion.

"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."

"Yes, that was probably a good idea. It's easier to control him."

"I don't know what we're gonna do with the younger brother."

"We'll figure something out." There was a soft knocking.

"Is everything okay?" The younger Elric's voice broke into the discussion. Ed's mind was screaming for him to wake up and tell Al was what going on but he couldn't even open his eyes.

'Did they drug me or something. That has to be it. Who knows what else they've done to me. We can't stay here.' But there was no way to tell Al what was going on and it made his mind start to panic. If they were determined to keep them separate, there was no way he could get to Alphonse to warn him. This fever was making it difficult to think straight.

"We'll leave you to your work, Dr. Mason." Ed could hear the sound of Al's armor leaving the room with the one doctor. There was nothing Ed could do.

oOoOo

The hospital was always quiet at this hour. Dr. Mason had gotten what he needed and seemed optimistic about the outcome. After sitting down with Al and talking to him about the substance Rivers had dumped on Ed, he concluded that was definitely what was the cause of all this.

"It has many components to it, but from what I observed was this liquid is usually absorbed through the skin. I really don't think the man you were after was trying to cause this much trouble. If your brother didn't have automail, he wouldn't have gotten this sick. If used the appropriate way, all it would have done was slowed Fullmetal down some. Probably a couple of hours at best. Unfortunately since his nerves are directly connected to his arm and leg, this virus attacked his nervous system pretty quickly."

"So is there a cure for it?" Al was so relieved that they at least knew what they were dealing with.

"Yes, I've already gotten him started on several different antibiotics. It's gonna take some time and he might get worse before he gets better. We've got the medication going directly into his port so it doesn't have to waste time going through his whole system."

"Would I be able to see him now?" It had been more then half a day since Al had to stay out of the room which felt abnormal for him.

"It shouldn't be a problem but you need to let him get his sleep." The armor sitting across from him nodded, contently.

"Don't worry, I will. Thanks for your help." Once the doctor left, Al headed down the hallway back to the room Edward was in originally. He was sure that Ed would feel better now that he was back in a normal hospital room. The large suit of armor stood over the bed, silently. He didn't want to wake his older brother up as he carefully reached down and picked up the damp cloth that had fallen onto the pillow from Edward's forehead. Getting it wet again and wringing it out, he put it back in place. Ed still looked flush and was breathing heavily through his mouth. Glancing over at the wires and tubing connected to his arm port, Al wondered if he was feeling any better yet.

"What are we going to do when I get my body back and we're both vulnerable to these kind of attacks?" Alphonse smiled mentally to himself. There was a slight groan in response and Ed moved his head some on the pillow. 'When I get my body back, we won't have a need to chase after people like Rivers. We might actually have a normal life, whatever that looks like,' The armor concluded in his mind as he pulled a chair up to the bedside.

oOoOo

Several silent hours went by and it was coming around four in the morning before Ed tried to shift onto his left side. As he turned, the machine connected to his port wouldn't allow him to. He let out a frustrated noise that caught Al's attention, who was still reading the journal. He moved over, patting Edwards' head.

"Brother, just sit still." For some reason that seemed to help and the suit of armor took his seat again. Now that he wasn't in such a hurry to find answers in the book he was reading, he came to the conclusion that Rivers really didn't know how sick his concoction could make a person. Ed just seemed to have bad luck. The room was quiet again for a couple more minutes before Al heard Ed say his name. Bringing his book down, he noticed him squinting up at him. "Are you feeling any better?" Ed glanced over to his right and brought his hand over, feeling the foreign device that was not his arm.

"What is this?" It was clear that he was still out of it and Alphonse let out a sigh, knowing he had to now explain what was going on. Before he had the chance though, Edward turned back to him. "We can't stay here, Al." The younger Elric narrowed his eyes.

"Why, now what's wrong?" Al's tone was flat with fake concern. He figured this was just his brother's way of getting out of this place. Ed shook his head angrily.

"You have to listen to me. Those two doctors are up to something bad." Alphonse leaned on his hand and sighed loudly.

"I don't think you can consider trying to get your fever down and find out what's making you so sick as being bad."

"I know what I heard, dammit!" Ed was getting exasperated, even more so when Al brushed his hair out of his face and removed the washcloth again.
"Brother, I know you're miserable but you have to stay here till we know you're all better. Dr. Mason was the one that found out that the stuff Rivers dumped on you got into your automail and that's what caused all this."

"I'm telling you, they're evil." Edward brought his left arm up to rub his temples. "Why don't you believe me?" Al wrung the cloth out again and placed it back.

"Because you've been talking in your sleep for hours now. You've been saying crazy things all night."

"But this was real..." The older Elric inhaled deeply several times, resting his hand on the washcloth, keeping it on his head.

"See, you're already feeling better." It was clear Al was patronizing him and Ed groaned in response.

"I don't like anyone else messing with my automail," he admitted, "But I know we need to put some distance between us and Winry right now."

"You'll feel better in the morning, I promise." There was another groan back and Al went back to the journal. Ed was sleeping again in minutes.

oOoOo

It was around nine in the morning when Dr. Mason knocked on the door.

"Just coming to see how everything is." He told Al. The armor stood politely from his seat, giving the doctor room. As he looked over Ed's arm port Al cleared his throat.

"So my brother thinks you're evil." The doctor let out a laugh and glanced up at the armor.

"Well so much for a first impression, he hasn't even technically met me yet."

"Sorry, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think you're evil."

"Thank you, that means a lot." After a couple more minutes, he finally removed the washcloth and placed his palm on Ed's head. "His temperature seems normal. I think you'll be able to leave today."

"Really? That would be great. He'll be so happy to hear that."

"Let's see if he can keep his breakfast down, but I'm pretty sure he'll be alright. I cleaned his automail so you should be good to go."

oOoOo

When Ed woke up, he was alone in his room. Glancing around, he wondered where Alphonse was. He could have sworn he was here last night.

"Or maybe I dreamt that up to," he told himself and rubbed his head again in hoped it would make things clearer. "What am I loosing my mind" He tried to sit up but couldn't. Glancing over to his right side, he was still hooked up to that machine. Rolling his eyes, he tried to pull away from it with no luck. Before he had the chance to do any damage, the door opened and Al walked in with his breakfast.

"Brother, don't break their equipment."

"Tell me that's food. I'm starving." Alphonse set the tray in his hands down and moved around to the other side of the bed. Within seconds Ed was released from the wretched thing and was able to sit up finally. "Wish you'd done that sooner."

"That thing is why you're better," Al was explaining but by now Ed was preoccupied with reaching the tray of food. "Never mind." Alphonse offered to help. Despite the lack of his one arm, Ed had mastered eating with his left hand only a long time ago. He ate his breakfast unusually fast even for him. "You should slow down, you'll choke if you're not careful. Also the evil doctors say we can probably leave today." Ed's shocked amber gaze shifted over to Al.

"Really?" His answer was muffled by the bite of food in his mouth.

"Finish eating first." Once he was done eating, Al helped him get his automail back in the ports. For some reason it wasn't so bad this time when the nerves connected.

"You think they numbed it or something? Maybe Winry is just mean on purpose." Ed moved his arm back and forth, getting used to it again.

oOoOo

By the afternoon Ed was given the go ahead to leave. He and Al headed down the street to the train station. On the way, Ed let out a huff.

"The nurses didn't have to act so happy when we left."

"You were pretty aweful to them though."

"Doesn't a guy get a break for being sick." Al let out a quiet laugh that caught his older brother's attention. "And what's that about?"
The suit of armor waved his hands back and forth in denial.

"It's nothing."

"You're a horrible liar, you know that, right?"

"No, I mean it, well there was one thing. Remember I said you were talking in your sleep?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"You just said some funny stuff, that's all. I was just thinking about it." Edward narrowed his gaze as he kept staring up at Alphonse.

"What kind of funny stuff, Al?"

"It was all pretty random, you mentioned Winry a couple of times." Al didn't have to say anything else as Ed's face started to match his red jacket. He coughed and cleared his throat, trying to get some composure back.

"What did I say, exactly?" Alphonse started walking again towards the station.

"I'm not telling you." He took off running and Ed was quick to chase after him.

"You can't do that!" Al laughed back at him, happy to see that he had made a full recovery. It would have been bad if he was still sick when they reached the North. It was such an unknown territory to both of them, Alphonse wanted to be prepared for anything that came their way.

*End*

A/N- I actually felt bad about ending this story cause I know so many of you were enjoying it. Thanks for reading and thanks for the great reviews. Now if I could just write a story where Ed doesn't get hurt, hah.