Title: Don't Go Where I Can't Follow
Day: Whumptober 2023, Day 16
Prompt: "Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" Gurney/Flatline/ "Don't go where I can't follow."
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Word Count: 1323
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: T
Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang
Warning: NA
Summary: A few years after the Promised Day, Mustang has a chance to ask Hawkeye the same thing she asked him to promise all those years ago. "Don't go where I can't follow."
Notes: Fun fact! The electrocardiogram has been around since about 1877, if my research is correct. It, of course, wasn't as good as the ones we have today, nor was it in common use, as it was brand new at that time, but since the bulk FMA takes place in 1914-1915, and they already have advances like automail, I figured it's not unreasonable to think that heart monitors were starting to be used in hospitals! However, CPR wasn't invented until the 1960s, and shocking hearts through the chest wasn't done until 1957. So those two things I am most definitely just fudging and saying that the FMA world invented them earlier than we did.
Don't Go Where I Can't Follow
"We need help!"
Havoc's voice boomed through the emergency room. Mustang leaned heavily on Breda as they quickly limped after Havoc, who was carrying an unconscious and injured Hawkeye. Mustang could hear Falman and Fuery coming in after them, Fuery keeping a hold of Hayate.
His eyes, though, were only on Hawkeye. She was limp, pale, with electrical burns, and from this angle he couldn't even tell if she was breathing. His eyes didn't leave her. They couldn't. Not without knowing if she was going to be alright.
A doctor rushed over and Havoc's call, calling for a gurney that was already being pushed over by an attentive nurse. Havoc carefully laid Hawkeye down on it, quickly explaining to the doctor what had happened.
"She took an electrical shock, pretty bad," Havoc said, sweeping dripping hair out of his eyes. "That was after she was soaked."
The doctor grimaced, even as he was examining her. "Get her back to a bay!" he snapped at his team. "Get cardiac down here, stat! Get someone to see after the rest of them."
"I'm staying with her," Mustang said.
The Doctor was already moving off with the gurney. "No. You'll just be in the way, sir."
"I'm staying with her," Mustang growled. There was no way that he was leaving Hawkeye's side, not after she took that hit for him.
He could still see it. The alchemist had already blown a water main, soaking them. It had been a strategic move, as, as soon as he had a chance, the man had sent a blast of electricity at Mustang. Hawkeye must have anticipated it, because she had thrown herself in front of it, taking the shock herself. Mustang would never forget her scream, and the way she had dropped to the ground, unmoving as soon as the electricity left her body. Havoc had seen his opportunity in the midst of the man's action, and had shot the man dead, ending his alchemy. The rest of the team had taken some hits, but none as bad as she did. Havoc had scooped Hawkeye up, Breda had thrown Mustang's arm over his shoulder, and they had all rushed to the hospital.
The doctor made a dismissive noise and promptly ignored Mustang, clearly not having time to deal with him right now. Instead, he focused all of his attention on Hawkeye. Breda and Mustang followed after the gurney, Mustang watching anxiously as the nurses and doctor began their assessment of her.
"Get me vitals on her now!"
"IV line is in."
"Breathing is erratic."
"Pulse is erratic."
"She's got burns—at least on her arms."
"Strip her down and check elsewhere."
"On it!"
"Where's cardiac!"
"Here!"
Three men rushed in, pushing some sort of device that Mustang had never seen before. One man directed a nurse to cut away Hawkeye's shirt. Another immediately started hooking wires from it up to Hawkeye's chest.
"What is that?" Mustang demanded, as he saw a needle on the machine begin jerking around, making a squiggling mark on a strip of paper.
"New technology," one of the men said. "It's called an electrocardiogram. It can monitor what a patient's heartbeat looks like." The man grimaced as he looked at Hawkeye's readings. "Oh, that's not good."
Mustang looked at the squiggles, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. He didn't know what a normal one would look like, but apparently, the small, erratic squiggles that jumped around on the page were not good things.
"Heart and lungs first!" the doctor said. "Burns later."
"Uh-oh," the man who was watching the strip of paper said. Mustang looked at it, watching as the needle stopped moving and started drawing a single, straight line instead. "She's flatlining!" the man yelled.
The doctor cursed, and Mustang lurched forward, only held back by Breda. "What does that mean!" demanded.
"It means that her heart stopped," the doctor snapped out.
Mustang felt like his own heart stopped in that second. No. No! No, she couldn't die! It was like the Promised Day all over again. She was dying in front of him and there was nothing he could do. Mustang's breath caught in his throat.
"Bag her! Get CPR started! Cardiac, get that thing ready!"
"Already on it!"
A nurse had climbed on top of the gurney and was already doing compressions while another applied a mask with a bag on it to Riza's face. There was a building whine in the background.
Mustang wanted to lunge forward, to grab at Hawkeye's bedside and beg her not to leave, like he had all but done once before. He hadn't cared then who had seen, and he didn't care now. The only things keeping him from doing that were his ribs, and the firm grip Breda had on him.
"It's ready!"
"Everyone stand clear!" the doctor ordered, and Breda pulled Mustang back a step. Mustang's chance had passed.
They both watched as all of the medical staff pulled away, and the cardiologist laid two metal plates on Hawkeye's chest. As soon as they touched her, Hawkeye jerked as if she had been shocked. He pulled them back, and looked at the one who was looking at the strip. He waited a second, then shook his head. The plates were laid down and Hawkeye jerked up again. Again, the strip stayed in a flat line. Once again, the plates were laid down and Hawkeye jerked up. This time, though, the man called for them to wait. The needle moved a bit, and then, suddenly settled into a very specific and repetitive pattern.
"Normal sinus rhythm!" he said after a moment, and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Pulse is steady. Breathing is returning to normal."
"Okay," the doctor said. "Let's keep an eye on that and attend to her burns." He glanced back at Mustang and Breda. "She's alive and stable at the moment. You two need to leave and be seen yourself.
Slowly, Mustang nodded, attempting to straighten up, but wincing as his ribs protested it. "Of course," he said. "But keep me updated."
The doctor made some sort of affirming response, but before Mustang could demand more, Breda was pulling him away. Another doctor was standing nearby, and Mustang let himself be let to another bay. The doctor ended up sending him for x-rays, and it was discovered that, as Mustang thought, he had broken some ribs. They were wrapped up, and he was sent back to wait with the rest of his men, who had also been seen by this point.
It seemed like hours before the doctor finally came to see them. They were all relieved to find out that Hawkeye was likely going to be fine, although they did want to keep her a few nights for observation. Mustang was allowed to go see her, and he did, with Breda and Havoc following to stand guard.
Mustang pushed open the door to Hawkeye's room. It was quiet, with Hawkeye lying asleep on the bed. Mustang pulled up a chair and carefully sat beside her, reaching out to take her hand.
For a moment, he just held it, looking her over as he did. Finally, he let out a breath and bowed his head. He was silent, words stuck in his throat until finally one phrase escaped him, one that echoed something she had said to him only a few short years ago.
"Don't go where I can't follow," he said. "Do you hear me, Riza Hawkeye? Don't go where I can't follow."
She had made him promise that once to her, and now he'd make her make the same promise to him.
"Don't go where I can't follow. Even if it means that we give up and spend the rest of our days lying around, and forgetting about the world around us, I'll stay next to you. So don't go where I can't follow."