The Doctor And The Soldier: Chapter 1
Characters: Roy, Dr Knox, Madame Christmas
Summary: Dr Knox and Roy Mustang, throughout the years. As time goes by, the problems can't be fixed so easily any more.
Rating: G (for this chapter)
“Doctor Charlie?”
Knox looked up from his book as the plaintive voice broke through his concentration, a quavering note of hurt in its tone sparking his concern. He smiled at the young boy standing in front of him, grass stains on his shirt and mud on his shorts. Chris would be amused but Emilia would be furious.
“Yes, what is it, Roy? Don’t you want to play with the other children anymore?” A frown crossed over the boy’s face but he said nothing. What could be the matter with him? Was dealing with his own little boy going to be as difficult when he got to the same age? Knox tried again, doing his best to keep his voice free of the condescending tone that most children barely noticed but Roy hated. “I know you’re sad that Elizabeth couldn’t be here today, but her mummy’s very ill right now. She’ll be able to come next year, I’m sure. In the mean time, all of the children here are very friendly...”
“It’s not that,” Roy interrupted, his arms crossed and his face still painted in an impressive scowl. “I hurt my knee.” He lifted up one leg of his corduroy shorts, displaying a large, angry scrape, speckled with dirt and tiny pieces of gravel. It certainly looked painful but the kid hardly seemed fazed by the injury. Still, Knox supposed, Roy was quite different from other boys his age.
“You hurt your knee? Why didn’t you say so before, silly?” Roy shrugged and batted Knox’ hand away as he reached down to ruffle the boy’s hair. Knox put his book down and knelt on the grass next to Roy, examining the scrape more closely. It was quite shallow but needed to be cleaned out as soon as possible. Luckily, Chris had asked him to bring his first aid kit to the park. He guessed she knew far more about the carelessness of young boys than he did.
He got to his feet, taking Roy’s tiny hand in his own. Roy looked up at him, a question in his eyes: well, what are you going to do about it, then? Knox smiled down at him, leading him towards the shade of the large oak tree where Chris sat, looking regal as she sipped on a glass of champagne. “Okay, Roy, first we need to get your cut cleaned up and then put a plaster on it. Then, once all the nasty stuff is out of the way, maybe we’ll go see if we can find you an ice cream, if your auntie says that’s alright. How does that sound?”
Roy grinned at him in reply, almost forgetting his injury as the promise of ice cream hurried his steps towards the tree. Once they were there, Knox sat Roy down on an abandoned deck chair, struggling to hide his smile as Chris scolded Roy for being so careless. Both the doctor and the boy could tell that there was no real anger behind her words but they played along anyway. Roy gave a quick hiss of pain as Knox cleaned out the scrape but made no other complaint. Knox hadn’t treated children since he was a young intern at Central Hospital but he was sure they weren’t all as easy to deal with. Knox stuck a plaster on Roy’s knee, pretending to ignore Roy’s hopeful, expectant smile as he packed away the medical kit.
Knox walked over to put the medical kit back, winking at Chris when Roy stared at him open mouthed, confusion and betrayal creasing his boyish features. As Knox began to walk away, Roy ran after him.
“Doctor Charlie! Doctor Charlie, you promised!” He caught up with the doctor, pulling at his jacket and it was all Knox could do not to laugh. He’d never known a kid who could frown so petulantly.
“Oh yes, Roy-boy? What exactly did I promise? You see, I don’t remember saying anything at all...”
“You said that after I got a plaster put on my knee I could...” Roy glanced back at his aunt, sudden nervousness painted across his face in comical stripes. His voice dropped to a whisper. “You said I could have an ice-cream!”
“Really? Did I now... well, I don’t know about that.” He turned back to Chris, pleased to see that she too was struggling to hold back her amusement. Knox knew that Chris was bemused by the unlikely friendship between the grouchy doctor and her little hellion of a nephew but that she was incredibly grateful for it. Even now, a year after his parent’s death, there were still very few people Roy had managed to grow close to. “Let’s ask your aunt, shall we? Do you think he can have an ice-cream, Chris?”
Chris pursed her lips, turning her head to the side and bringing her hand up to her chin in a pantomime of intense indecision. Knox thought that was over-playing it somewhat; Roy was only five but he was an intelligent kid; he would surely be able to see through such a transparent ruse.
“Well... alright then.” Chris said finally. “But make sure you come back here when you’ve got it so your auntie Chris can have some.” She smirked as Roy’s excited cheering turned to a groan of annoyance. “And no strawberry sauce or any of those sugar sprinkles. Can’t stand that stuff.”
“Yes, auntie!” Roy called, already turning away from her. He took Knox’s hand, pulling the doctor along with him as he hurried towards the ice cream van.