Hospital Gossip
To make things perfectly clear, Edward hates everything about Mustang.
In fact, he wishes that Mustang would just rot in hell for all eternity. He wishes that he would stop being a bastard and get that fucking pompous smirk of his face. He wishes that he would get his filthy feet out of his mouth and that he had something better to do than send him on pointless missions full of unnecessary pain and bitter disappointments. He also wishes that said bastard would stop calling him short, it’s not his fault that everyone is just freakishly tall dammit!
The fact that Edward was currently waiting in the hospital, sitting in a stiff chair and growling at anyone who came by, while waiting for word on Mustang’s condition didn’t mean a dam thing.
Nope, it didn’t mean anything at all.
A nurse suddenly walked towards Edward, a slightly flirtatious look on her face and an over exaggerating sashaying of her hips. As she neared him Edward’s scowl seemed to deepen but she paid it no heed.
“What’s a handsome lookin’ fella like yourself doing here?” The nurse asked, batting her eyes in a supposed attracting way. She was a rather pretty nurse, someone Mustang wouldn’t mind talking to at least. She was slightly taller than Edward, dark brown locks and caramel colored eyes. She wore the standard nurse’s outfit, although it seemed that a few inches were missing from her skirt, and had an average sized bust for those who cared to notice. Her face held a child-like appearance to it with just a touch of makeup on. Her plump lips were a stark red, the most defining point on her pale face, a red that eerily reminded Edward of blood. Edward decided nearly instantly that he didn’t like this woman, whoever she may be.
“Do you know Colonel Roy Mustang’s condition?” Edward asked, deciding that although he may not like her, she could hold some valuable information for him. The nurse seemed slightly disappointed before a thoughtful look crossed her face.
“Is he the one with the black hair? That State Alchemist?” She inquired. Edward nodded in response. “Hmm. Well, the Colonel was brought in with multiple injuries, if I remember correctly. Word spreads quickly about that sort of thing ya know. But I don’t know any details, I’m working in the natal today, but I could find someone who would know, if you’d like.” Edward sighed through his nose; perhaps this nurse with the bloody lips wasn’t so bad after all. He nodded tartly and she spoke again, “Okay than, I’ll get right on that. Oh and by the way, if they give ya any trouble give them my name, Emily Dawnson, they won’t give ya any problems so long as ya give my name.”
Slightly confused but thankful nonetheless Edward called a short “thank you” to her quickly retreating back before sitting back down. Edward blinked, when had he stood up? ‘The chairs,’ Edward thought to himself, ‘you would think that a hospital could afford some better chairs the cheapstakes.’
Edward closed his eyes wearily. It was only a matter of time before the others heard of what happened. No doubt he would be swamped by an endless amount of questioning later on. In fact, Edward was surprised that no one had come yet.
‘Well,’ Edward reasoned, ‘It IS late, around 2:30 if I remember correctly.’ Edward glanced around the room. So early in the morning only a few people littered the waiting room. No one in their right mind would come to this place so early in the morning unless something important had happened. ‘Sorta like me.’ Edward mused with a shake of his head.
In an attempt to distract himself, Edward continued to observe those who gathered in the waiting room with him. Three seats down to his left, Edward saw a tall man with a blond beard fidgeting in his seat. He had been constantly glancing at the clock for the past half hour and he had fallen into a pattern of getting up, pacing for about five minutes, glance at the clock, scowl, sit down and fidget nervously for a few minutes, glance at the clock again and repeat. He was wearing an old grey shirt with a pair of plain brown slacks, wearing nothing but a pair of fuzzy green socks on his feet. To his right, five seats down there was a mother holding her sleeping son, he had a slightly flushed look on his face so he probably had a fever. She rocked softly, cooing the sleeping boy in her arms as she waited for the doctor to get to her. And in the seats behind him, Edward knew, there was an old man sleeping. Edward didn’t know why he was there, only that he was there long before Edward had arrived.
The man with the fuzzy green socks paced passed Edward again and Edward rolled his eyes slightly.
“First time?” Edward called to the pacing man. He stopped suddenly, as if just realizing that he wasn’t alone in the waiting room, before nodding.
“Yeah, came as a bit of a shock.” He replied, his voice, although strong, held an undertone of worry. Edward nodded in understanding.
“Don’t worry she’ll be fine, the doctors here are good.” Edward reassured the man, not sure himself why he was even speaking to him. The man seemed thankful though and smiled wearily at him.
“What about you, kid? Got a reason for being here so late?” The man asked. Edward twitched slightly at the kid comment but he let it slide, too tired to deal with him at this hour, besides the man had enough to worry about
“My boss did something stupid so I’m making sure the bastard doesn’t die.” Edward replied bitterly, scowling lightly at the tiled ceiling. He heard the man stifle a gasp as he took in Edward’s appearance for the first time. Of course anyone would be startled, he WAS covered in blood after all.
The man seemed to sense that Edward didn’t want to talk about it so he changed subject, “So what do ya do anyway?” The man asked. Okay, so it wasn’t an entire change of subject but it was the best he could manage right now.
“State Alchemist,” Edward replied shortly. The man raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to conitinue, “State Alchemist, I’m Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist.” The man nodded, not pressing the issue.
Another nurse walked out heading in Edward’s and the man’s direction. They both stiffened as they awaited her approach. “Mr. Wilson?” The nurse asked, the man nodded confirming his identity, ”Mr. Wilson your wife is just fine. There were some minor complications so your wife needed a C-section but she just fine now and is waiting for you in her room. Congratulations Sir! You’re the father of a brand new baby girl!” The woman exclaimed with a smile. Wilson let out a hoot of a cheer as he pumped his fist into the air. He quickly followed the nurse to where his wife rested, completely forgetting about Edward in his joy. Not that Edward blamed him, of course, any man would be ecstatic to know that their wife and child were both okay.
Edward smiled lightly before frowning as he remembered his own reasons for being in the hospital.
It was supposed to an easy mission (aren’t they all?). A mission as a bit of a break from his hunt for the Philosopher Stone, not that Edward wanted it, of course, but after being threatened with a court marshal from the colonel himself Edward finally relented. He was supposed to find those responsible for a recent ring of kidnappings. It was a tough case to crack, Edward admitted, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, the only reason that the military was involved was because one of the General’s sons had been taken that and the fact that seventeen children missing is more than enough to get the military involved. The mission had been pushed onto Mustang who pushed it onto Edward. Edward, although pissed, understood the intensity of the situation. Children had been kidnapped and no randsom for any of the seventeen children had been made yet. The first kidnapping happened a little over a month ago, and the most recent happened just a few days ago.
Edward followed every lead he could, but he constantly hit dead ends. He went to every source for information he could find and eventually he found one that seemed promising. Apparently, a group of men had been planning a mass kidnapping like this for awhile. They wanted to start of small and work their way up the social latter so they could hold the city at large for randsom. Edward was confident in his informant’s abilities and he went searching for these kidnappers. He knew it was a matter of time before the kidnappers made a stupid mistake and revealed their location.
After a week of searching Edward was confident he had found where they were hiding. Each of the kidnappings had been no more than seven kilometers from the warehouse district. Each kidnapping happened at some point where the parents left their children alone, meaning that the kidnappers chose their targets before kidnapping them. None of the children have been held for ransom yet, meaning that the kidnappers probably wanted to cause as much fear and confusion as possible so that they could get more, which also meant that the children were more than likely to be alive. It was only a matter of finding where the exact location of the kidnappers.
Mustang told Edward that he was to be constantly informed of his findings. “For,” Mustang told him, “a General’s son has been taken, that means that we are personally involved. This means that if we don’t keep everyone happy here than certain higher ups are going to be sticking their noses into everyone’s private life, understand?” And Edward did understand. It wasn’t Mustang who wanted to be constantly informed (well he did but he knew Edward well enough to know that he wouldn’t) it was those in positions of power higher than Mustang. And if they wanted to know something they would learn it. Meaning that they could learn about Al. Which, in turn, led to a whole lot of trouble. So in order to keep Al safe, Edward told Mustang of what he had found out so far. Mustang had seemed please with the news and told him to keep searching on the condition that he didn’t do anything stupid.
‘It’s Ironic,’ Edward thought, ‘he told me to not do anything stupid then he goes and does that.’ He shook his head, ridding his head of memories he couldn’t deal with at the moment. When he stopped shaking his head he saw another nurse walking his way. He felt himself stiffen again as he mentally prepared himself for the worse.
“Mr. Elric?” The nurse asked and Edward nodded, “Mr. Mustang has just left surgery. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen and a single bullet entered his chest cavity. The bullets were removed during surgery and his left lung was clipped. His right kidney was completely destroyed by the blow so he is going to be on dialysis for a while. He lucky though. If the bullet in his chest had been even a little more to the right he would have hit his heart, a bit more to the left and some major arteries would have been the target and in either case, we wouldn’t have been able to help him.” Edward nodded shakily, letting out a trembling breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. “You can’t see him just yet,” She stopped him before he could ask, “he’s being moved to Recovery right now. Once he’s stabilized than you can see him.” With that she turned on her heel and walked out.
Edward let out a short laugh, it was loud and it sounded a bit hysterical. He was just so relieved for some reason. Not that he cared of course. He was just a bastard. And it would be troublesome if he died that’s all. Just troublesome. The woman on his right looked to him is surprise, but she smiled lightly before continuing in her cooing of the boy. A doctor came over to her and spoke some words softly to her. She nodded and stood, shifting her son carefully so he lay in her arms. The two of them walked into one of the patient rooms. The old man behind him had stirred lightly and woke up with a yawn. He glanced at the back of Edward’s head before shaking his head softly and shifting in his seat and standing up. He moved next to Edward and plopped himself down. Edward turned his head slightly and gazed quizzically at him through the corner of his eye but the old man stared a head.
He seemed old. He was wearing what at one point might have been a white shirt and a thin grey jacket with many holes in it and he wore very old sweat pants. It looked as if he hadn’t bathed in ages and smelled like it too. His beard was full and bristly. His hair was graying and his face was aging but his crystal clear blue eyes seemed to hold mischief and a sense of wonder in them. His eyes alone made him appear about ten year younger. They were determined. But he didn’t look at Edward he just stared ahead. The man was relaxed and seemed to be waiting for someone. It filled Edward with a stage sort of peace to see someone he had never met trying to comfort him in a way only men could understand.
So they sat like that; neither saying anything but basking in the strange comfort that they offered each other. A content silence filled the usually bustling hospital. Somewhere to his left was the nurses’ station. A few of the nurses converged there and were gossiping loudly. It floated in the air, drifting towards the two men, breaking their peace as their loud chatter interrupted their individual thoughts.
“Did you hear!? He’s a state Alchemist! None of the doctors know what happened to him yet! They don’t even know if he’s gonna survive the night!” One of the nurses, a blonde in her mid-twenties said to two of the other nurses.
“I know! I heard he was working on that kidnapping case! He must have found the kidnappers or something. But he looks much too young to be in the military!” An older nurse in her mid forties said, “I hope he’s okay!”
“Hey ya know that little boy that was here earlier?” Another nurse with brunette hair said suddenly joining the conversation, “I heard that he was here for three hours before the doctors got to him. He had a fever of 105 so they put him on ice right away! They have no idea what’s wrong!”
“The nerve of some doctors! Judging other people like that! It’s just wrong!” The blonde nurse from before exclaimed loudly, as if willing for everyone to hear her.
Edward snorted to himself softly whispering the word, “Hypocrite,” to himself, not quite soft enough for the man next to him not to hear. He let out a deep chuckle. And the gossiping woman hushed at the sound, just realizing that they weren’t alone. Not that that would stop them however.
“Hey you see that blonde kid next to the old man?” the older woman whispered, receiving several nods of acknowledgement before continuing, “He’s the one who brought that Mustang guy here! He was completely soaked with blood by the time he got here ya know! He was panicking and going into hysterics, I was one of the ones who had to calm him down, he just kept sayin’ something along the lines of, ‘Don’t you die you bastard, don’t you dare die,’ over and over again. Eventually the doctors had to sedate him.” The younger nurses looked at Edward with wide pitying eyes and Edward stiffened at their talk but the old man next to him place a great big calloused hand on his shoulder, stopping him from saying anything.
“Do you think he has anything to do with that guy’s wounds?” The brunette asked in no more than a whisper.
“I don’t think so,” the older woman began, “He was too…upset, I guess. Maybe he’s that guy’s son or something…”
“A son!? At that age! How scandalous!” The brunette exclaimed, forgetting to keep her voice down. At that, Edward very well near exploded. He felt his body stiffen and the words come to his mind. He knew exactly what he should say, exactly what he wanted to say. They started in his thoughts and danced their way to the tip of his tongue, ‘I hate that bastard! I would never want him to be my father!’ The words where there. He could feel them like a well known lullaby, something he knew he should be able to say automatically. But for some reason, the words that had once danced on his tongue and lips died. He couldn’t bring himself to say them. It was as if something had changed in the span of several hours between than and now, nothing made sense anymore. The world that Edward had created: a world in which he didn’t need a father, a world in which he could take care of Al on his own, a world where he could bring back his brother’s body if he just tried hard enough, a world where he didn’t want a father, it had shattered like broken glass. And now the pieces are all mixed in with one another and none of them seem to fit where they should anymore. His world was shattered, and subconsciously Edward knew that if Mustang didn’t survive this night, if Mustang died, that it would never be the same as it was before.
He just couldn’t figure out why.
Edward stared forward in silence, lost in thoughts deeper than most adults could manage. The old man beside him seemed to realize this and said nothing. Edward was going over everything in his head. From the instant he left Mustang’s office just that afternoon to where he was now.
It was bright and sunny outside of that stuffy military building. The sun shined through the clouds like a smile on a child’s face. If only the cities mood were brighter. Normally there would be market vendors lining the streets, yelling to be heard above rival vendors, trying to sell their cloths and foods and jewelry, while the more refine stores chose to allow their customers to find them. Normally, children would play in the parks and on the side walks without a care in the world. Now, the streets where cold despite the bright sunlight, no child could be seen outside, mothers choosing to keep their children inside in an effort to protect them. The entire city was terrified. No one wanted their child taken from them. Edward’s uneven steps seemed to echo throughout the entire city. As he walked he heard windows slamming shut, and doors locking. He heard children crying in fear and confusion as their mothers tried to clam them.
Edward was going to fix this.
Unthinkingly, Edward began heading towards the warehouse district. He knew it was a stupid idea. There were well over two hundred warehouses in that area but Edward was determined. He had already narrowed down the list to about fifty warehouses, ones that made the seven kilometer mark. It was stupid and foolish but Edward wasn’t thinking common sense just than. He was thinking about the children who used to be able to play without fear and the happy people who never had too much but where never without either. He thought of those children and those people and he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if those children were hurt. And this is why Mustang put him on the case anyway, he knew that Edward would get the job done.
For about three hours Edward checked each warehouse, one by one, looking for his target. There were only about fifteen warehouses left to check. Letting a sigh out through his nose Edward thought of his own brother, safe in the military barracks, he was probably worried out of his mind for Edward. And Edward knew he probably should have called but god he was so close. He knew it was only a matter of time now. He would finish this.
A slight cry caught his attention. His fingers stopped inches away from the handle to the warehouse. Edward strained his ear, searching for the sound. There it was again! It was a strangled cry of someone doing their best to hold back tears.
Without thinking, Edward slammed open the doors and rushed inside.
A sudden clearing of a throat startled Edward out of his thoughts. Quickly, Edward straitened himself out and stood up as he faced the doctor, a middle-aged man with a kind face and bronze hair. Edward stared at the man expectantly who chuckled in response. Without a word he turned around, knowing that Edward would no doubt follow. After navigating themselves thru a series of a winding maze of stark white hallways, the doctor stopped short at one of the rooms, nearly causing Edward to crash into him.
The doctor turned around and began speaking in a slightly hushed tone, “You’re friend is stable now, he’s currently sedated and we had to give him several units of blood. He is also is using a breathing mask right now to assist him with his breathing. I believe the nurses have already told you of his injuries so I won’t delve into that. You can see him but he most likely won’t be up for several more hours. Is there anyone I should contact for you?” Edward thought about it for a moment before giving the doctor both his room's phone number and Riza Hawkeye’s number. The doctor nodded and stepped aside. Edward took two long, confident strides too the door and turned the knob without a moments hesitation.
When Edward entered the room he was hit by the strong unsavory smell of antiseptic and charred flesh. Closing the door behind him softly, Edward strode over to where Mustang lay, pausing for a moment when he reached his bedside and taking in all of his injuries. He was lying in the middle of the plain white hospital bed. Bandages took the place of a shirt as they were wrapped around nearly his entire torso. He left arm was also bandaged around the fore arm in the same soft white gauze. A breathing mask was set almost delicately on his face, fogging up as he breathed out before clearing quickly. Around his right ring finger a grey plastic clip had been placed, leading to the heart monitor where the soothing, constant sound of Mustang’s heartbeat could be heard clear as day.
Bee-beep…bee-beep…bee-beep
Two separate needles were taped on Mustang’s right forearm as well. They both led to separate fluid bags. One of them was a clear, water-like substance, tinted just the slightest sheen of green. Antibiotics most likely. The other held fluid of a slightly morbid variety. It was deep red in color. Edward watched in a strange kind of awe as the blood dribbled from the blood bag into a medium sized tube where it was held temporarily as it made it’s way steadily through the smaller tube and into Mustang’s own bloodstream. The site of foreign blood made him shiver slightly. Someone else’s blood was running thru Mustangs veins. And it bothered Edward to know that he had no idea who it was that was entering Mustang’s bloodstream. Was it some prostitute’s disease ridden blood? Was it some little kid’s blood? Crook’s? Murderer’s? Kidnapper’s? It may have been immature and childish to some if they knew that Edward was worried about who’s blood was running thru Mustang’s veins. A person’s history wasn’t defined by blood and blood didn’t define them in the world of medicine. Of course, that’s the world of medicine. To everyone else, to those who are doing everything they can to not think about who may be laying in the hospital be receiving the blood, to those who are doing their best to distract themselves from having to look at pale beaten bodies, it is a big deal who’s blood it is.
Blood, it was dripping into Mustang. It was dripping into Mustang because he didn’t have enough. And Mustang didn’t have enough because he had enough holes in him to audition for a part as swiss-cheese. And he had those holes in him because Edward went and did something stupid. Again.
The children were cowering fearfully in a corner of the warehouse. Shackles and handcuffs bound their wrists and ankles and their bodies coated a dusty brown from dirt. They all seemed thin and pale beneath the grime, several of them had bruises in different stages of healing littered across their bodies. They looked at Edward with wide,fearfull, hopeful innocent eyes. Hoping in a way that only children could, that Edward was there to rescue them. Doing his best to keep calm, Edward quickly looked for others in the warehouse, not spotting anyone immediately, Edward made a beeline towards the children. He did his best to keep his expression soft and alowed a small, comforting smile to spread on his face as he approached the children. Some of them flinched back from him, others kept their gazes to the ground, several gazed at him with a determined look in their eyes but all of them seemed to be filled with hope.
“Who’re you?” A boy of about eight years of age said rudely. For a moment, Edward saw himself in the child’s face before getting back on task. Briskly, Edward pulled out his State Alchemist’s watch and showed it to the children.
“I’m a State Alchemist. I’m here to get you out of here.” Edward said quickly, quietly, not liking how smoothly this was going. The children perked up at this and shuffled closer to get a better view of the watch.
“My dad has one of those! He’s really here to help us!” A seven year old boy exclaimed loudly. Immediately Edward put his hand over his mouth and shushed the others. Straining his ears for any shouts of alarm or stomping footsteps; after several tense moments of nothingness, Edward removed his hand from the boy’s mouth. The boy, Edward realized, was probably that General’s son; short for his age with brown hair and bright green eyes. A slightly annoyed look about him, most likely for having a hand placed over his mouth.
“Do you know where the men who took you are?” Edward asked as quietly as he could. Nearly all of the children shook their heads, mumbling out soft ‘no’s to Edward. One girl who appeared to be around twelve looked at Edward as if remembering something.
“I overheard them talking,” she began hastily, “They went out about two hours ago. They could be coming back at any minute!” This seemed to panic the children as some of the younger ones began to sniffle and cry and others shifted and mumbled nervously to each other.
“Calm down. I’m going to get you out of here. Now this is important so listen up okay?” Several nods of approval, “How many men were there? Are any of you seriously injured? Did they say what they wanted at all?”
“Dose bad men huwt Tommy an’ Alicia,” a young voice called from the back. Edward nodded. Quickly examining the two children in question. They were battered and bruise and the one name Tommy looked as if he might have a broken arm.
‘One, two, three,’ Edward began his mental headcount of the children, ‘thirteen...fourteen…fifteen.’ A jolt went through Edward’s body. Fifteen. That meant that two children were missing.
“Where are the other two?” Edward asked, his voice taking on a slightly sharper tone. The children glanced around eachother, as if just realizing that two of their own were missing. Several mummers of ‘I don’t know’ s later and Edward was sure that the kidnapper had them for some reason or another.
“Look, I’m going to find them ok,” he said to the children as their attentions returned to him, “But I need you guys to get out of here. Take this change, and run to a pay phone. There won’t be any in this district but you could find one if you head towards main street, it’s not that far from here. Call this phone number and ask for a Colonel Mustang. Don’t talk to anyone other than him. He sounds like a pompous ass if it’s any help. I need you to talk to him and tell him where you are so he can find you and keep you safe. I trust him. He’s going to ask you where I am. I want you too tell him ‘Warehouse 72 South Side’, got it?” There were several nods as he handed the coins and the phone number to the one who looked to be the eldest child. Quickly, Edward hearded the children too the door. He peeked his head out looking for anyone suspicious, before quickly hasting the children out. They ran like frightened animals, trying to get as far away from the warehouse as possible. Edward watched them leave, nodding to himself when the eldest quickly led them towards Main Street.
Edward turned and headed back inside, knowing that soon the kidnappers would come too him and he would take pleasure in beating their faces in when they did.
Edward wasn’t sure how long it had been since he took his seat on the hard plastic chair next to Mustang, his knees touching the side of the bed. He couldn’t bring himself to break his gaze from the man before him. The man who always seemed so big and strong and indestructible in Edward’s eyes, now looked thin and weak and fragile. The constant beeping of the heart monitor and the movement of Mustang’s chest as he breathed in and out were Edwards only assurances that Mustang was not dead.
The sun was beggining it’s daily trip through the sky now, as beams of light made their way through the large window on the left and framed Mustang’s face in both light and shadow. Dust danced gracefully through the air, rising and falling, floating in the air with out a care in the world. Birds chirped merrily and the city seemed to yawn as its residents began to awaken in preparation for a new, brighter day. The fresh, green grass out side the hospital glistened with morning dew and morning mist covered the city like a blanket. The sun is peaking over the horizon now, painting the sky in hues of pinks, yellows, oranges, and purples. Half the sky was still dark and stars twinkled desperately, fading away as the sun rose higher still, spreading it’s light across the city below it as well as the heavens surrounding it. The moon was beginning to fade slightly, but held strong as the sun rose, remaining in the view of the people even as it’s star brethren faded with the new dawn. Holding strong, and not giving up even when those around it did, not fading, and remaining as a constant reminder to the sun that it wouldn’t fade as easily as the stars.
Mustang’s room was nearly encased in the early morning light now. And Edward was still there, watching with exhausted eyes as he continued breathing deeply. Eyes glazed over lost in thought, seeing but not really seeing at the same time.
A slight change in the heart monitor jolted Edward form his thoughts. In his bed, Mustang shifted slightly before letting out a quiet moan. His brow furrowed slightly and his breath hitched as he began to awaken from drug-induced sleep. Mustang’s eyes, fluttered open for a moment before drifting shut again; with a slight sigh, Mustang opened his eyes again and blinked the sleep away from his eyes. He lifted his right hand to his face before frowning at the slight resistance that the wires and needles gave him.
Edward released a breath he had been holding in a shaky laugh. This caught Mustang’s attention as he turned his head in the direction of the sound. His eyes widened slightly when he took in Edwards bloody, bandaged appearance. Not knowing how much of that blood was Edward’s or his own. Mustang tried to speak, before stopping when Edward met his gaze. His eyes were so tired and his shoulders were hunched slightly, his hands gripped the chair he was sitting on so tightly, that if listened closely you could hear the plastic crack. His hair, caked in dry blood, was half-pulled out of its braid, as if someone had been worriedly running their hands through it all night long.
The two of them just stared at each other, one taking in the others bloody, disheveled appearance and the other watching the as his companion breathed in life-giving air, as if relieved to see him alive.
“You got shot,” Edward supplied, his unnaturally quiet tone filling the even more silent room, “Four times. Clipped your lung, killed your kidney. Most of the blood’s yours.” He gazed at the in the bed, his eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the information before nodding slightly his eyes asking another question as they searched Edward for his own wounds, “I’m fine,” eyes narrowed in disbelief, “A bullet grazed my arm and neck. One of them tried to stab my leg but when your leg is made of metal it doesn’t really do much,” a quiet snort before eyes locked again, telling not to leave anything out, “It’s mostly bruising,” Edward said, putting a hand around the darkening skin around his neck that suspiciously look like a large hand, “Doctors said any longer and we’d have a problem. Didn’t count on the bastards knowing alchemy.”
“So you know alchemy do ya? Well to bad for you, so do I!” Edward yelled rushing forward to meet the dozen or so men ahead of him, not noticing the one off to the side drawing a circle with chalk.
“Dam coward, hiding in the shadows like that.”
A blue light shone to Edwards left. A curse slipped form his mouth as stone hands wraped themselves around his legs holding him in place, before more grabbed his arms and pulled them apart to prevent alchemy. A fifth hand rose and placed itself around Edward neck, squeezing tightly before his body was slammed against the wall in a spread eagle position. Completely defenseless.
“My automail's damaged, Winry’s gonna’ be pissed.”
In the corner of Edward’s eye, he noticed the last two children cowering behind a large crate. Giving no indication that he saw them, he turned his gaze to the man approaching him. A man around Mustang’s height with long red hair and cold mint green eyes, wearing a light beige suit. The man glared at Edward before nodding to the man in the shadows. At the apparent signal, the hand around Edward limbs tightened. He held back a pained gasp as slight crack was felt in his flesh limbs.
“Got some minor fractures in my arm and leg too, stupid bastards.”
“Where are they?” The man before him asked calmly.
“All that bastard wanted was those kids.”
Stone hands tightened around his limbs, making Edward gasp out lightly.
“Didn’t care what it took to get them back.”
Breathing was becoming difficult as the stone hand closed around his airways further.
“I don’t even know why he wanted them.”
“Where are they?” The man asked again, an undercurrent of frustration entering his voice.
“If I hadn’t sent those kids to call you…”
Edward smirked as the man got in his face.
“If you hadn’t come when you did…”
He opened his mouth.
“If it lasted for even a few seconds longer…”
And spat in his face.
“I’d probably be dead.”
End of Part 1
Part 2
Hospital hos·pi·tal (hŏs'pĭ-tl, -pĭt'l)
noun
1. A charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm, or young
2. An institution where the sick or injured are given medical or surgical care