Chapter 13: A Brother's Wounds
Edward was in bad shape.
Roy knew that just by looking at him. He didn't awaken when Havoc fervently tried to shake him. He didn't wake up when the paramedics arrived. He didn't wake up when he was loaded into the back of the ambulance.
He just kept shivering
And shivering.
And shivering…
Roy protested being loaded up into the second ambulance, wanting to stay by the young boy's side. However, Hawkeye was quick to intervene and force him into the large vehicle. Havoc went with Edward while Armstrong stayed to assist the military police. Breda and Falman were also apparently meeting him there as well. He wasn't sure if that was right. Riza was speaking to him, but the cacophony of his worry was overlapping against her words.
The medics in the ambulance quickly gave him a painkiller, but didn't touch the knife quite yet. He groaned as they mentioned surgery to get it out safely.
Damn that bastard!
The rest of the ride was uneventful and moved painfully slow. Roy's thoughts moved like molasses through his subconscious.
When they arrived at the hospital, Roy was quickly wheeled into the emergency room, despite his insistence that he could walk just fine. It seems that the medics had opted to tune him out, which left him grumbling in annoyance.
He was wheeled into a room and was greeted by an old doctor who looked ten years too old to still be working. His voice was flat and dull. He was thankful Riza was answering for him, he couldn't find himself able to make any sense of the man's words. He blamed it on the drug still pumping in his veins.
He barely felt his coat and shirt being cut away.
He barely realized the cold sensation around his shoulder.
He then registered Riza, gripping his hand.
Why the hell was she doing that?
"This will only hurt for a moment," he heard the doctor say.
Then the pain began. Roy gasped and clenched his teeth as he plummeted back to awareness. He looked over to see the doctor injecting him with a large needle. The area grew cold with fluid, then blistering hot before dulling to nothing. He slowly released his ice-like grip on Riza and let out a few shaky breaths to steady himself.
"Worst part is over. Let's get this knife out, aye?" The doctor smiled.
"Back with us, sir?" Riza asked kindly. He noticed her golden hair was falling out of its signature bun. A few of the strands fell and framed her face in a gentle, rounded way. In other circumstances, he would maybe compliment her on it.
But his mind was on other things.
"Edward?" He asked, his voice hoarse.
"Him and Havoc arrived just before you did. They've taken him back to surgery," She explained, moving a cup of water up to his lips. He wasn't even sure where she got it, but it didn't matter. He gulped it down greedily, allowing the cool liquid to coat his throat.
"He's going to be okay. He has to be okay… Right?" Roy's voice wavered on unassurance. He didn't care how pathetic he sounded.
"Edward is strong. He's pulled through worse." Riza smiled, her voice also quivering ever so slightly.
"All done!" The doctor chimed. Roy quickly turned his head back to his injured shoulder to see it wrapped up in thick gauze.
"Already?!" Roy asked, dumbfounded.
"The powers of numbing medicine are truly remarkable…" He said longingly, moving to put his arm in a sling. "Was a nasty wound, but thankfully it struck the fleshy part of your shoulder and didn't harm much of anything. You may need some physical therapy to repair the severed muscles, but I expect a full recovery." He explained happily, securing the sling around Roy's neck.
"Thank you doctor," Riza replied for him. Mustang gave her a look of gratitude before nodding to the doctor in affirmation.
"We'll need to admit you for about a day to monitor for infection. I'll prepare a room for you." The doctor explained, turning to leave.
"Excuse me, doctor," Riza asked, stopping the man from leaving. He turned to her,
"If possible, please place Colonel Roy Mustang and Major Edward Elric within the same room together. They were both just involved in a rather delicate matter and it will be easier to stand guard if they are together."
Mustang could kiss her.
"I'll see what I can do." The doctor said with a wink before moving out of the room. Everything grew silent once again, but the room was far from quiet.
Both Riza and Roy couldn't stop thinking about the small boy they swore to protect.
…
A few hours went by. Mustang was settled in his new double room, thanks to Hawkeye's quick thinking. However, the other half of the room remained empty. Edward was still in intensive care and none of them knew if he was even alive. Havoc was sitting on the open windowsill, puffing a long drag of smoke out into the air. Armstrong had left the investigation once Breda and Falman arrived in order to retrieve Alphonse from the house. Knox and Feury stayed behind, not wanting to get in the way.
The sounds of quiet shuffling were all that indicated life was in the crowded room.
They all jumped when a knock came at the door.
The doctor from Edwards first admittance had slid it open, a tired smile on his face. Everyone's hearts stopped, their heads turning to lock onto the small military doctor.
"I must say, I've never met anyone so tough." The room melted at his words.
"How is he?" Mustang asked urgently.
"As well as he can be for someone with his list of injuries." The doctor began, he flipped through a small chart in his hands. "Let's see… On top of his previous injuries, he's now tacked on a large burn wound to his forearm, a few more cuts and scrapes, and a large hand-shaped bruise around his neck… None of those however compared to the hypothermia that was setting in. We've been spending the last few hours just trying to get his body temperature up to semi-normal. I have him started on some antibiotics to combat any pneumonia that is inevitably trying to form. He'll be on oxygen for a few days as well to help with his breathing." The doctor rambled. Mustang could hear Alphonse's armor stiffen as the doctor explained.
"His automail?" Mustang asked, painfully remembering the splay of wires coming from the boy's leg.
"We've removed it. The damage is not irreparable, but will cause him a great deal of pain if left attached. I assume his mechanic will be called to fix his arm anyways? If not, our automail specialist can come look at it." The doctor asked, tilting his head towards Mustang. Mustang swiveled to glance at Alphonse.
"U-um… I'm not sure what Ed will want to do… We should wait for him to decide." Alphonse said. Mustang understood where Alphonse was coming from. Edward always put on a tough front, but especially did so for a few select people. Winry and Alphonse were at the top of that list. He had let them see him broken so many times, but still tried his best to hide all of the pain from them. If they called Winry without his knowledge…
Well, it would probably do more harm than good.
Mustang nodded and turned back to the doctor.
"Understood. We will keep his leg secure until then." The doc said, once again plastering his smile across his face.
"When will we see him?" Alphonse jumped in.
"We will wheel him down after this first round of antibiotics. I will ask that only a few of you remain in the room at any given time. His immune system is shot and we want as little exposure as possible. I do understand that the nature of your mission was… Sensitive, so I'll be lenient for now."
Mustang thanked the doctor and watched as he bowed out of the room. Everyone let out a collective sigh.
"Damn. Poor kid." Havoc mumbled, shoving his cigarettes in his pocket.
"Alphonse. Are you alright?" Hawkeye prodded, glancing at the armored boy.
"I…" Alphonse trailed off, as if he was going to instinctively say 'i'm fine', but couldn't bring himself to lie. "Is it really all over?"
Mustang felt like his insides had been scooped out and left completely hollow. The past few days were nothing but pain and suffering for the Elric brothers. False senses of security plagued them from all sides, no wonder it was hard to believe that everything was truly safe. He didn't quite know what to say. Was it safe? Was everything truly over?
"No need to fear, young Alphonse!" Armstrong jumped in with a fake cheer in his voice, "I saw to it personally that Reinbuckle was taken directly to the prison! He won't be bothering you or young Edward any longer." Alphonse seemed to relax slightly at that sentiment. It still puzzled Roy how a suit of armor could be stiff or relaxed, or how he could emote so vividly. Alphonse was easier to read than his brother sometimes, and that was saying something.
"W-what about the people Reinbuckle hired?" Alphonse asked.
"Ah! Lieutenant Breda already has that covered. It seems that those scoundrels were nothing more than poor street gang members looking to make some quick cenz." Armstrong replied with a smile.
"So… It's really over…?" Alphonse asked again, still unsure. He was staring directly at Mustang. Roy was puzzled as to why Alphonse trusted his words so much, why he was able to quell the swirling thoughts within the boy's head with just a meager few words.
However, if it would bring him comfort, he'd say whatever he needed to, as many times as possible.
"It's over, Alphonse. You both are safe now."
But still a long road of recovery…
…
Edward was wheeled into the room a mere hour later. His bed was elevated slightly to try and minimize the amount of gunk settling in his chest. Once he arrived, everyone other than Hawkeye, Mustang and Alphonse left. The nurses seemed concerned to have a large, broken, scuffed up seven foot suit of armor within the room, but Mustang supposed that the doctor had given them the rundown. They only took a few uncertain glances towards the boy, but spared them of any dispute.
Saying that Edward looked terrible was an understatement.
Roy thought that he had seen Edward at his worst, broken and incapacitated. Crying with grief over Nina, coming to terms with Hughes' death…
But this was something that topped all of those moments.
The hospital garb was much too big on the boy, as the military hospital didn't carry pediatric sizes. His cheeks were sunken and his under eyes were dark. He was covered in a plethora of bandages, like a broken vase that you just refuse to get rid of so you keep gluing the pieces back together. His arm was wrapped tightly, hiding the unsightly burn. It wrapped all the way down and around his hand. Roy could also see a tight swathe of bandages around his torso that peeked from the too-big hospital shirt. His automail port was an empty void of once perfect machinery. It was unsettling to look at and he could make out the obvious missing leg under the thick blanket surrounding his entire body.
Edward's hair was down, tangled around his shoulders. It seemed they had cleaned the blood, sweat and dirt from it, though. Roy dully wondered how long it had been since the boy properly bathed, or had done anything to care for himself. Despite how awful he looked, his drug induced sleep was calm, almost peaceful despite the circumstances. He could see the small puffs of air on the tiny oxygen mask as Edward breathed, rhythmic and steady.
Somehow that brought Roy comfort.
Riza's eyes were locked onto Edward as well. She moved silently, with the stealth of a true soldier and moved a small chair over to his bedside. She settled in it with care and began slowly untangling the knots in his thick, golden locks with her fingers. She moved methodically with an elegance that only she could do. Roy knew that Hawkeye was doing this for Edward as much as she was doing it for herself.
Alphonse too, locked in to his brother, remained stoic.
Roy hated seeing Al so incapacitated.
…
Ed first awoke with a groan.
A low groan, quiet and pained. Riza had froze, her fingers still ensnared within the boy's locks. She slowly pulled her hand away, hovering it over the alchemist.
He groaned again, obviously in great discomfort.
"I'll go fetch his doctor," Roy volunteered, jumping out of the bed. He slipped on the hospital issued slippers and shuffled towards the door with haste.
"Agh!" Roy whined, as his slinged arm banged against the doorframe. He huffed and left the room.
Riza let out a long sigh and turned back to Edward, who was now shifting around, as if trying to wake himself. Riza put a hand on his forehead, feeling the lingering of a fever.
"Brother?" Alphonse said with the softness of a mewling kitten.
Edward's breaths hitched, then increased in speed. His brows furrowed. He reached up, clawing at the oxygen mask encompassing his face. Riza hurried to the other side of the bed, gently grabbing his hand and moving it away.
"Edward. It's alright. You need to keep that on," she said as gently as possible.
Ed let out another whimper. His mouth moved and he mumbled incoherently.
"It's alright. Breathe. The doctor will be here soon." Hawkeye reassured, holding his limp hand with a careful grip.
"Brother? Are you in pain?" Alphonse asked, trying to move his head to see him, as Riza was now blocking his view.
The room door opened again, Edwards doctor briskly entering. Roy trailed behind, a sense of urgency and worry written into the lines of his face. The doctor moved to Edward's side and began examining him. Placing a clinical hand on his forehead and listening to his heartbeat. All the while, Riza kept clutching onto the small hand. It troubled her that Edward wasn't holding it back. Roy was hovering above the doctor, catching glimpses of his subordinate, silently watching the doctor work.
The doctor quickly finished the examination and moved towards the I.V. Riza moved aside for him to adjust the dosage of painkillers moving into Edwards system.
"Well?" Mustang asked more incessantly than he meant to be.
"Fever still hasn't broken but that's to be expected. I've increased the dose of painkillers to help him sleep for a while longer. However, i'll want him to wake up soon and try to start coughing the mucus in his chest up. I'll stop back by in an hour," the doctor said, moving out of the room. "You get some rest too, Colonel." He winked before closing the sliding door behind him. Roy crossed over and moved the small hospital chair over towards Hawkeye so that she could sit and continue to hold Edwards hand. She glanced at him with warm eyes as thanks before turning her full attention back to Edward, who had settled back into sleep.
"Is he asleep again?" Al asked.
"Seems like it." Hawkeye whispered. Roy headed back to his own bed, opting to sit on the side of it.
He was in desperate need of some coffee.
A small knock at the door jolted everyone in the room.
"Come in," Roy finally said after a pregnant pause.
The thin door slid open, revealing a smiling Fuhrer Bradley.