Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Second Time's the Charm ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Red Daaawwwwwn!!! I’m back, with another chapter. ^^ I do still want reviews, though…please? *shakes collection tin*

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Ed blinked slowly. He wasn’t sure where he was, but wherever it was, it was quiet and dark. Realizing he was lying down, he tried to push himself into a sitting position, but fell onto his right side. Ed looked down at his shoulder, and started to panic when he saw his automail and port were missing, replaced by bandages. After a few moments, realizing his leg was gone as well, Ed started to remember the events of the past day, and rolled onto his back, much calmer than he’d been.

Glancing around the room, Ed realized it was probably a hospital room. Looking at his left arm, he could see some sort of IV drip hooked into the back of his hand, the medicine from it leaving him slightly dazed. That was odd. Why would he have a needle in his hand? He hated needles; it would have to go. In his drugged state, he tried three times to reach with his right arm and take out the needle before he remembered it wasn’t there, and then he began twisting his fingers around in an attempt to reach the drip, to no avail.

The door opened with a quiet click, and Ed looked up, still trying to reach the needle. A short, brown-haired woman stood in the doorway, looking across the room at him. She smiled, walking towards him. “You’re awake, Mr. Elric,” she said happily, pulling the curtains back at a window. “How’re you feeling?”

“Tired,” Ed mumbled, focusing on getting rid of that damn needle. “Where’s Al?”

The nurse smiled again, moving to stand next to his bed. “Al is in a room not far from here. You can visit later, if you’re feeling up to it. You lost quite a bit of blood.” She studied the readouts from a machine before continuing. “What are you doing?”

Ed frowned at his hand. “Don’ like needles,” he said, shaking his hand in an attempt to dislodge the IV.

“Well, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to leave that alone for the time being. Your immune system reacted rather badly to a blood supplement we gave you, and that’s taking care of the problem,” she said, taking his hand to make sure he hadn’t gotten the needle away from his vein. “Now, you go back to sleep. We’ll be taking the IV out before long, so just leave it for now. Okay?”

Ed murmured some sort of agreement, lying his arm down on the bed. “’M hungry.”

“I’ll bring you something to eat,” the nurse said, walking towards the door. “My name’s Stephanie. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything!”

The blond nodded as Stephanie left the room, closing the door behind herself. He yawned, stretching out on the bed. Central’s hospital had always had really comfy beds, he thought sleepily, and by the time Stephanie came back with his food, Ed had fallen asleep.

~-~-~

Winry Rockbell was not happy. Ed had left her behind in Risembool again, running off to play the hero by himself, and gotten himself landed in the hospital again. She’d gotten to Central just in time to intercept Rose and the Tringhams on their way to the hospital, and as she sat in the clinic’s cafeteria drinking a carton of milk, she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to hit Ed for almost getting himself killed, or kiss him for somehow staying alive. She sighed irritably, standing to throw the empty carton away. Ed’s nurse had said he’d been awake a couple hours earlier, and that he was up again now. She decided to go pay him a visit before she settled on a what she’d do to him.

On her way up to Ed’s room, Winry peeked into Al’s room. She’d visited earlier, but wanted to have another quick one before reaching Ed. Seeing the younger Elric’s sleeping form, she decided against it, and passed the room by. When she reached Ed’s, Winry walked in and leaned against the wall. The blond was hungrily eating the food that his nurse had brought him, and didn’t notice her at first. “Ed…”

The teen looked up, his fork poking out of his mouth. “Wihnwy,” he mumbled around the food in his mouth before swallowing. “What’re you doing here?”

Winry gave a slightly strained smile. “I just came to visit my best customer, and my friend. That a crime?” she asked, sitting down at the foot of his bed.

Ed shook his head, taking another bite of food. “Jusht thought you were in Rishembool,” he said between chews.

“Yeah, well, I’m here now, so shut up and let me see your shoulder,” she sighed, standing and walking around the bed. When she reached the head of the bed, Winry unbuttoned Ed’s shirt, pulling it away from his shoulder. She ran a hand over the bandages, pursing her lips. “Well, it doesn’t look too bad. I can reattach a port for you, and replace your automail pretty easily. But I have to say,” she started buttoning the shirt back up, “it certainly was rude of that Gate to take your port away. It’s gonna hurt like hell putting that back on.” She smiled at Ed.

The boy swallowed the bite of food in his mouth before frowning. “The Gate didn’t take my port. Al got my limbs back, and I gave them away again.” He sighed, looking wistfully at his now-empty tray. “He’s gonna be pissed at me for that.”

“Oh, Al’s not one to hold a grudge. You know that, Ed,” Winry stated, now examining his leg. “Your nurse said she thinks you can move around now, if you want. She should be bringing a wheelchair up before long.”

“I want to see my brother,” Ed said quickly.

Winry sat back down on the bed. “Al’s sleeping right now, you can visit later. Anyone else you’d like to see?”

Ed frowned. “Fine. Take me to the cafeteria,” he said, laying his tray on a table next to the bed.

“You just finished eating!”

“And I’m still hungry. My food’s gone, and I want some more!”

The blonde stood and walked over to the tray. “You’ve still got some milk you could drink.”

Ed tensed. “You know how I feel about that disgusting stuff, Winry.”

“Yeah, and you know that it’s because you won’t drink it that you’re so short!”

“Who’re you calling so small that a single crumb of bread could sustain him for a year?!”

Winry smirked. “You, Ed. I’m surprised they didn’t put you in the children’s ward, really!”

“What?!” Ed yelled. He began ranting incoherently, and Winry promptly stuck the bottle of milk into his mouth. She tipped his head back, and forced the white liquid down his throat. Ed began sputtering and coughing, fighting the milk, but most of it made it past his opposing lips. “Winry!” the blond whined when the bottle was pulled away, and wiped at some milk on his chin. “That was so gross!”

“Why are you so opposed to milk anyway, Ed?” Winry asked, setting the bottle back on the tray. “I know you didn’t like it when we were kids, but really! You’ve only gotten more immature about it as you’ve gotten older.”

Ed was silent for a moment before he mumbled, “It’s a thick, white liquid, Winry. What’s it look like?”

The girl blinked, thinking. When she realized what Ed was getting at, she pressed a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Ed…You are so perverted!” she yelled, punching him gently on the shoulder as the laughter escaped.

“Well, it’s true!” he whined. “Why the hell would any sane guy want to drink that?!”

Winry just smiled, sitting down in a chair near the bed. “There’s plenty of men who like that, Edo,” she said, laughing quietly at the face he made in response to the remark.

“Excuse me, Edward?” The two teens turned to the door, seeing Stephanie standing with the promised wheelchair. She crossed the room, leaving the chair next to the bed. “Need anything?”

Ed shook his head as Winry helped him into the chair. “Nah, I’m fine.”

“All right,” Stephanie said with a smile, as she took his tray and started towards the door. “Don’t be shy, now!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ed cracked his neck, turning to look at Winry. “To the cafeteria?”

Winry smiled, pushing the chair out into the hall. “To the cafeteria.”

~-~-~

Roy sighed, dropping into a chair in the cafeteria. He frowned, gently touching the bandages wrapped around his head. Just walking from his room to here had resulted in him nearly falling three times, crashing into Hawkeye twice, and he’d stubbed his toe. “This is gonna take some getting used to,” he said quietly as Riza sat down across the table from him. He reached out to the tray of food she had, grabbing at an apple and missing.

Hawkeye handed the fruit to him, unwrapping a slightly greasy sandwich for herself. “Well, the doctor doesn’t know if your sight loss will be permanent or not yet, so hope for the best,” she said, taking a bite of the sandwich and making a slight face.

“You’re right, I guess,” Roy said, biting into the apple. “I could heal.” And if I don’t, the loss of depth perception just might be enough to get me a little pity sex from the ladies, he thought to himself. Pity sex is always good.

“Colonel Bastard, what’re you doing here?”

Roy turned, and saw Ed and Winry coming towards him. “Eating lunch,” he said boredly, taking another bite of his apple. “What happened to your arm?”

“I lost it,” Ed replied as Winry left to get some food. “What about your face?”

“This is just a little something to remember Frank Archer by.”

Ed grinned. “Oh, the bandages? That’s not what I meant. I’ve just always wondered what happened to your face in general, or maybe you were just born that ugly.”

Roy blinked slowly. “Really. Well, I’ve always wondered if you were born that short, or if your mother left you in the bath too long one day and you shrank.”

The blond twitched. “Who’re you calling so short that he has to sleep in a dollhouse and eat using a baby’s spoon?!” he yelled angrily.

“Quit terrorizing each other,” Winry said as she took a seat next to Hawkeye. She slid a tray of food across the table to Ed, who immediately began stuffing his face.

“Really, though, Fullmetal,” Mustang said, placing his apple core back down on the tray. “What happened to your arm?”

Ed stopped eating for a moment, and grinned. “I got Al back,” he said, his voice quiet.

Roy’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really. Where’s he at?”

“Sleeping,” the blond replied after swallowing another bite. “I’m gonna visit him later, though.”

“Hm. I might come by to congratulate him, myself,” the colonel said, standing up. “For now, I think I’ll take a page from his book, though. A little nap sounds good right about now.” He turned and started out of the cafeteria.

Hawkeye rose from her seat before he was out of sight. “I should go, too. The colonel isn’t too steady on his feet just yet.” She turned, walking in the direction Roy had gone in.

Ed grinned as he heard a loud, “Ow!” from Mustang, and turned back to his food.

~-~-~

“Come on, what’re we waiting for?” Ed whined as he threw the remains of his lunch into a nearby trashcan. “You said he’s up, let’s go!”

“You’re so impatient, Ed,” Winry sighed as she began pushing him from the room. “Al’s not going anywhere, you know.” The blonde had chosen to take a walk earlier, rather than watch Ed eat his lunch, and found that the younger Elric had woken up, and as soon as she mentioned this to Ed, the boy had decided he’d eaten enough and began demanding to visit Al.

When they reached Al’s room, the teen looked up from a book, smiling. “Brother!”

Winry wheeled Ed over to Al’s bed, and walked back to the door. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said, giving Al a meaningful look.

The younger sighed, waving at her. “I know, Winry, I’ll tell him.”

Ed blinked as Winry left. “Tell me what, Al?”

Al smiled. “Oh, nothing. It can wait.” Al reached a thin arm out to touch Ed’s leg. “I thought I got you back…”

“You did,” Ed replied quickly. “The Gate wanted my limbs back for you, though. I guess that still wasn’t enough, though,” he said, looking at the bandages wrapped around Al’s left wrist.

Al followed Ed’s gaze. “It’s okay, brother. I wouldn’t feel right if I was whole and you weren’t.”

Ed frowned. “But it isn’t fair. You’re my little brother, and that stupid Gate wouldn’t just let you go.” He sighed, then remembered what the Truth had said. “Hey, what’d it do to you?”

“What d’you mean, brother?”

“The Truth said it changed something about you, but wouldn’t tell me what it did,” Ed explained. “Do you know what it did? And what did Winry want you to tell me? Does it have something to do with that?”

Al nodded slowly. “Yeah. I…I know, and Winry isn’t going to give me any peace until I’ve told you, now that we’re both up.”

“So..?”

“Well…brother…” ; Ed leaned his head back in annoyance. “Al, just tell me. If that bastard Gate did something to you, I should know. You’re my brother!”   Al swallowed. “Actually, I…I’m not.”   The blond blinked. “Huh?”   “Brother…the Gate turned me into a girl.”  

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