I have officially finished writing this (yay!) and have a sequel idea ready to go! This will be 14 chapters, so I hope you continue to enjoy it!
It was very early the next day when Riza regained consciousness. It was quite the effort too because she felt so weak from the fever, and from not eating anything for quite a while. She felt so warm and tried to kick the blankets off her as best she could. But, once she'd succeeded in uncovering herself, she felt so cold, as though the temperature had dropped by over fifty degrees. She scrambled to pull the covers back up but then felt hot again.
Well, there was one battle she wasn't going to win. She figured she'd leave a sheet on top of her, though that also seemed way too heavy. Sighing, she opened her eyes and found that the early morning light was struggling to peek through her blinds. It was a strange light that was in her room, and she had never seen the sunlight hit the walls the way it did. Then again, she also never slept in. There was a first for everything, she supposed.
Riza didn't feel hungry but knew she hadn't eaten in awhile. She also didn't feel nauseous, though she really didn't want to push her luck. Then again, she figured it would be best to try to keep down some toast and water. The goal was getting better, after all. And, with every goal, you had to be willing to inch a little closer to it.
The first step would be getting out of the bed. Riza pulled the now warm cloth off of her head and lifted the blankets off of her once more. It was freezing, but that was soon replaced by the heat of exertion when she tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed and stand up. She was very wobbly on her feet, but she steeled herself and leaned heavily on her nightstand, almost knocking over the beloved picture of Black Hayate.
Taking a moment first to be sure she could support her weight, she then started to move. Left foot, right foot. Left, right. She inched along the wall, holding onto it for support and stopping where she needed to. After what felt like an eternity, she reached her door and entered the very small hallway, which connected her bedroom, a bathroom, and a small guest room with a futon and an office desk.
Her next challenge was the stairs. She was fearful of falling down them, but they did have the added benefit of the railing, which she leaned on more heavily than the wall. One foot down, other foot. Next step, other foot. Riza never imagined she'd be in a position where she'd take ten minutes walking from her bedroom to the bottom of the stairs, but here she was.
At the bottom of the stairs, she could either go right to the kitchen, left to the living room, or straight out the door. Her goal, of course, was the kitchen, but something told her to peer around the corner and into the living room. And it was there that she saw her Colonel sleeping on her couch.
Her face turned red in shock before her memories came back to her. They were fuzzy, and she just barely remembered waking up. In fact, she remembered getting up for work and then waking up that morning, and somewhere in between, she talked to the Colonel. Placing a hand on her head, she took a long and steady breath. Man, she was really out of it.
She moved, slowly, to the kitchen, letting the Colonel sleep. She wanted to tell him there was a futon upstairs that might be just the smallest bit more comfortable, but it was too late now. So, she worked on getting some toast made and slowly sipped some water as she leaned on her kitchen counter.
The pop of the toaster was what woke the Colonel and he jumped up off the couch. He glanced around the room and saw no one, not even Black Hayate who had fallen asleep at the end of the couch. When Mustang realized the dog was on the furniture, he thought about shooing him off but decided he did have enough room in his heart for a dog who was likely worried about his owner.
But, then he heard something in the kitchen and went to investigate. It was there, as he stood in the doorway, that he found Riza chewing on a piece of toast like her life depended on it as she stood over the counter, one hand holding the toast and the other gripping the surface so she wouldn't fall. Roy paused there and watched her, noting how thin and tired she looked. Her face was pale with patches of red flush, and he could tell her back, under arms, and chest were all soaked with sweat.
"Lieutenant!" Roy called and Riza jumped, nearly losing her grip on the counter. He felt bad for just a moment for scaring her but was worried about her being up and out of bed like this. "What are you doing?"
She glared at him. "Eating," she mumbled through her clenched jaw. She winced, feeling pain in her head and tried to make herself less tense. She chased down the toast with some water.
"I could have brought something to you," Roy said, a little more gently this time, and walked over to her.
"You were asleep," she retorted. "And I forgot you were here anyway. I'm fine, sir."
He looked at her in bewilderment. How in the world could this woman say she was fine? Not even the loosest definition of 'fine' would match what she looked like right now. In fact, under antonyms of 'fine' in the dictionary was her picture! Then again, he couldn't blame her. He would have said exactly the same thing in her situation. Maybe Havoc was right. A match made in heaven.
Shaking his head of the thoughts, he placed a hand on her back and forced himself not to recoil from the sweat. "Lieutenant, you're burning up."
"I'll sleep when I'm finished," she said firmly.
"Please let me help you." Roy tried, but she didn't respond. Well, Roy figured, he'd tried to be nice for an entire five minutes, and seeing as that was a new record for him, he was going to have to try something else.
"I order you to let me help you."
Riza's head snapped up and she looked at him with shock. She couldn't believe that he-well, she could believe it. But, it seemed so strange to her, that he would want to take care of her while she was like this. The man was stubborn, though, and while she was able to argue, she was too exhausted to disobey an order.
Her shoulder slumped a little and she leaned against the counter more heavily. "Yes, sir." she finally said and Roy felt bad, but not badly enough to leave her be.
Roy took her arm and wrapped it around his neck, helping her move back up stairs and to her room. He had a sneaking suspicion that her sheets were soaked, and found that he was correct, so he pulled out new ones. Unfortunately, he didn't really know how to make a bed properly, so he sort of haphazardly threw the blankets on and hoped for the best. But, with how warm she was they would likely need changing later anyway.
Riza had taken the opportunity to change into clean clothes in the bathroom and came back and sat in the chair. She watched Roy fight the sheets and stifled a small laugh. By the time all was well with the bed, she had dozed off.
"Alright," Roy declared in frustration and turned, finding his Lieutenant fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile at how her head rested on her shoulder and her hair covered the front of her face. Even now, with her face looking thin and worn, she was beautiful.
He lifted her and she stirred but fell right back asleep when she was laid down in the covers. Roy placed another cool cloth on her forehead and made a mental note that he would have to be vigilant to ensure it stayed cool. No more falling asleep on the couch!
Roy went downstairs to clean up Riza's makeshift breakfast and then stood, peering around the small home. His first thought was to help clean something, but Riza's house was spotless. Everything was organized and in its place. It looked like a model home, and he bet her landlord would enjoy showing prospective tenants the house if she ever moved out.
He walked back into the living room and looked around. A radio, a television, and a lamp were the only electronics in the room. It was clear from the three tall bookshelves that Riza much preferred reading, and there were a few stacks of newspapers sitting on the coffee table. He sat down in a chair and looked over at the mantle to his right. There were some personal pictures. So, Riza wasn't a robot!
There were two pictures of Black Hayate, one of which included Edward and Alphonse, a picture of her parents, and there was also a picture of the team. Roy stood to peer over at it. They all looked so much younger, but he noted the picture was taken not long before he met the Elric brothers. It was also, he realized, not the standard squad picture, but instead the silly one they had taken right after. Each man was doing a pose and Havoc had Roy in a headlock. Riza, never one for acting silly, was smiling softly her gaze angled down at her Colonel. Roy smiled back as he gazed at the picture for a long while. Despite his many frustrations with them sometimes, he loved his team. And, he was glad it seemed Riza did as well.
A knock at the door startled him and he spun around, partially confused, and partially angry that someone would dare visit Riza. He pushed the second emotion away, as it was rather irrational, and made his way to the door. Upon opening it, it found himself face to face with a short young man with long blonde hair. They both jumped and screamed.
"What the hell are you doing at Hawkeye's house?" They both shouted at each other. Then they glared, falling silent as they dared the other to speak. Edward was the one who gave in.
"I was looking for a certain lazy-ass Colonel who wasn't in his office to sign my leave papers!" he said irritably. "What the hell are you doing at Lieutenant Hawkeye's house?"
"Why the hell would I need to sign your leave papers?" Roy grumbled, crossing his arms like a child as he ignored the boy's second question.
"Because, uh, you're the highest ranking officer who can sign them. Duh," Edward dropped his tone in a mocking way and tried to peer into the house. What was Mustang hiding that he didn't want Edward to find out? "Where's Riza?"
"Wait, why do you need an officer? Are you joining the military?" Roy asked, completely perplexed. The oldest Elric brother had run off after all was said and done to spend time in the country. He had no idea if the boy had left, or was still in the ranks, or what. He hadn't told anyone anything, but then again that was pretty typical of Edward.
The boy shrugged off the question. "Yeah, I guess. I figured, why not? Got kinda boring out there and thought I'd try it out."
Now, that irritated the Colonel. "The military isn't something you just do because you're bored!" He shouted, but Edward shrugged again and thrust some papers at him. Roy realized he'd need to go inside and get a pen, and he knew Edward wouldn't stay outside. "Ugh, whatever. Just give me a moment."
As predicted, Edward followed the older man into the house and looked around. "So, uh, wanna tell me where Riza is?"
Roy was bent over the coffee table, signing the papers. He glanced up at Edward and sighed heavily. "Lieutenant Hawkeye," he began with a correction, "Is sick."
"Holy shit, she can do that?" That earned the boy a very dangerous glare. "I mean," he tried again, "I know she just got out of the hospital, but I thought she was doing alright."
"Yeah, well, so did we," Roy mumbled, his eyes now firmly trained on the papers. Edward studied him for a moment. Something seemed very wrong, and he got the sinking feeling that this wasn't just a normal cold.
"Shit, it's that bad?" Edward asked, starting to sound a little more gentle. Colonel Mustang got on his very last nerves sometimes, but he knew the man had very special feelings towards his Lieutenant. And, as Ed had learned, if anything at all happened to Hawkeye, the world had better watch out.
"Yeah," Roy breathed out tiredly as he moved onto another piece of paper. There was a silence, and he knew Edward wanted him to say more about the Lieutenant, but Roy struggled to put it into words. "She, uh," he tried. "She was supposed to come to work yesterday and didn't show. I came over and found her passed out on the floor here. She's been awake, eaten something, but her fever still hasn't broken."
"Did her wound get infected?" Edward asked. Like Roy, he wanted to know the cause of her illness. Both men firmly understood that bad things happened, but understanding why those things happened made everything a lot easier. Not knowing why killed them.
"No," Roy said shortly. "I have no idea why." He finished the paperwork and handed them over to Ed. "Go file these. And I'm sure the Lieutenant will be back good as new next week." But, Roy didn't sound very convinced of that, and Edward could tell.
"Have you been home?" he asked the older man and Roy looked at him oddly. It was then the Colonel realized he was wearing his white shirt with his military bottoms, his jacket discarded on one of the chairs in the kitchen.
"No, I haven't." Roy shrugged.
"Well, I'll stay here and you can go home and change and get some clothes," Ed offered, a surprisingly kind gesture for the boy who liked the antagonize the Colonel as much as possible.
The surprising gesture wasn't lost on Mustang, but he also knew he couldn't turn down the offer. "If anything happens," he said in a low, warning tone, "You get me immediately, got it?"
"Yup," Edward said cheerily. "Hey, it's the least I can do. We're gonna be work buddies now!"
"Don't remind me," Roy groaned as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
"By the way, Colonel, your handwriting sucks ass!" Edward called daringly.
Roy considered going back and setting him on fire for the snide comment, but he also wanted to get back to Riza's side as soon as he could. So, he decided to cut his losses and hurried down the street, content to roast the boy later when things settled down.