Knowing You're Here

~Spoilers, because this happens after the final battle~

Author's note: I feel like I'm on a writing spree whenever I'm on Spotify's Focus playlist :3

This is my take on what happened when Roy wakes up at the hospital, not knowing that he's sharing the same room with Riza. Ya like some WAFF? I'll give you some WAFF! Enjoy, and please leave a review!

The day Roy woke up at the hospital, he was blind, but strangely calm. He could feel his eyes blinking, but having his eyes open and having them closed made no difference. The panic that had washed over him before the battle was now replaced by a strange wonder.

Was it just him, or did his ears feel suddenly more sensitive? Did his skin feel like it could pick up the subtlest movements of the air around him? Could he pick up the light traces of different scents all around him? Is that Riza he could smell? Was that her scent he picked up on, amidst the plethora or hospital scents around him?

All of a sudden, he remembered her injury, and the way she still insisted on assisting him in the final battle with The Father. Is she okay? Is she here? Is she awake? Where is she? WHERE'S MY LIEUTENANT?

The panic spread through him and he attempted to sit up, but the sudden pressure on both his hands caused him to hiss in pain. Ah, damn it. Forgot I was injured there, too.

"Sir?" Ah, that voice. "Sir, are you alright? Do you need anything?"

"No, lieutenant. I'm fine. I just…" I just what? What did I want? What did I want other than to touch her, to hold her hand, to feel her pulse under my fingers… Alive, beating, fighting to survive.

He heard the creaking of the bed from her side of the room, and then the shuffle of slippers being put on. The left side of his bed dipped ever so slightly, and he could smell her there, sitting at the edge of his bed, her breathing even and calm. He could smell her unique scent, behind the hospital-issued soap she had used to wash herself. He clung onto that scent, inhaling deeply in an attempt to seal that scent into his memory.

"Sir, you may want to sit up, it will help with your breathing."

Roy moved his hand in her general direction, a signal that he would indeed like to be helped up. But in reality, he just wanted an excuse to have that exquisite scent on his hand, on his arms, perhaps everywhere else.

Riza gracefully pulled him up and helped him ease back onto the headboard of the hospital bed, one arm around his rib and her forearm supporting the back of his head, let he fall back too roughly onto the concrete wall. She then pulled him closer and placed a pillow behind him.

"Thank you, Ri—Lieutenant."

As she pulled away, he could feel, almost in slow motion, as his fingers brushed against her elbow, her forearm, her wrist. And in that split second before he lost contact, a flurry of thoughts rushed into his head…

If I let go, I'm alone in the dark. If I let her slip away, she might go back to her bed and put that distance between us again. That damned, insufferable distance. If I can't feel her or smell her or hear her, I'm lost. Wait, wait, wait, don't go.

In a moment of panic, he grabbed onto whatever part of her remained in his grasp, which in this case were her fingertips. He may have grabbed on a little too tightly, as he heard her almost inaudible gasp, felt the bed shift slightly as she tensed up. Cautiously, he loosened his grip, but not enough to convey that he wanted her to pull her hand away from his grasp.

His heart was pounding, he may have been on the verge of a panic attack. He could hear his blood rushing to his ears, his cheeks getting warmer.

There was no way for him to know the expression on Riza's face. And in a way, he was thankful he couldn't see her reaction. Was she angry? Was she embarrassed? Was she confused? Was she—

"It's alright, sir. I'm not leaving you." It was all he needed to hear.

She then took his hand and placed it on her cheek. His thumb rested on the edge of her lips and he could feel them moving upwards into a smile. Even in the darkness, he could clearly see the smile that she reserved only for him.

For now, that was enough.

AN: Like I said, please leave a review if you've got the time!