Wow, it's been... way too long. I'm going to try and start writing and updating more especially with my other fics since it's a good outlet and my writing skills have improved a lot over the last year. Anyway, without further adieu, have some chapter three.

The waiting room felt like hell on Earth.

Roy and Riza had long since ceased creating a rut in the linoleum floor from their pacing, and were currently sitting on a bench in the waiting room, crouching over paperwork. The gang had just arrived; Breda had been first, then Falman, Fuery, and lastly Havoc along with Alphonse, both sprinting down the hallway toward the rest of the group and ignoring any and all annoyed glares they received from the nurses. Everyone would have preferred to wait directly outside the O.R. to be closer to any urgent news, but Roy and Riza were only allowed to do so as Ed's guardians, and they both figured that it'd be better to be with friends and explain the situation to Alphonse.

Also, the fact persisted that they were neither Ed's real guardians nor married, but that was pushed aside for now. At least, mostly. When a nurse had come up and called them "Mr. and Mrs. Mustang", everyone had difficulty hiding their stares. Riza quickly explained the situation, taking Mustang's hand for emphasis and making him blush almost imperceptibly. Of course, the now cigarette-less Havoc might as well have been Hawkeye herself for his detection skills, and seeing Roy's blush, shot the Colonel a sly grin and low-key thumbs-up. Roy rolled his eyes, and the normal action felt out of place in the sterile room they were seated in.

That was a little while ago; as Roy shielded his eyes from the morning sun cutting through the glass doors and glanced up at the clock, he noticed grimly that Ed had been in surgery for a little over an hour and a half now. No news had come since the boy had been wheeled into the room; perhaps it was for the better, Roy figured.

It meant Edward hadn't died yet.

Roy shook his head furiously, banishing the traitorous suggestion from his mind. No. Edward Elric was stronger than that. Edward Elric would not die. He would not.

The colonel sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, fighting an oncoming headache at the endless amount of forms on the hospital's clipboard. He felt Riza shift closer to him, looking over his shoulder at the paperwork.

"Hawkeye, I can assure you, I am doing my paperwork."

Riza gave a short, tired laugh. "Believe me, Colonel, I'm sure you are. The irony isn't lost on me, either. I was just wondering if you wanted me to take over for a bit - you're going to wear yourself out trying to list every single time Ed has been hospitalized."

Roy looked at the additional two sheets of paper he had requested from the front desk. The offending question had been a supposedly simple one to answer.

Name any significant injuries the patient has ever suffered, along with any insignificant injuries within the past three months.

Apparently, it had been a busy three months for the Elric brothers.

Roy had listed the obvious, to begin with: the automail. Then Havoc had chimed in with the time Scar had beaten the brothers up; Riza had reminded him of the gang of theives a while back who had left Fullmetal with a scar on his right calf; Alphonse recalled the recent battles with Gluttony, Envy, and the like; and, before Roy knew it, he had two full sheets full of bruises and contusions from Ed's childhood to the present day. And that was excluding everything insignificant or not in the past three months.

Maybe he could use a break...

Roy handed the clipboard to Riza with a grateful smile and a deep sigh, and Alphonse sauntered over to Riza to help her with the more private things like Ed's social security number and the like. Hawkeye looked over at the bags under her superior's eyes and gave a weak grin. "Try and get some sleep, sir." He tried to protest, but was cut short by another, more stern command. "Shut up and do it, you look like crap."

Roy tried not to blush as the rest of the gang snickered and Alphonse looked at the lieutenant in mild surprise. Realizing that she wasn't going to give in and that arguing would just make her agitated, he reluctantly complied, slumping down in his chair and resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. He looked at his second in command with a slightly threatening glare. "I trust I don't need to tell you that I'm going to be royally pissed if you don't wake me up at any new development."

Riza rolled her eyes as she continued to fill out forms. "Regardless, you just did. I'll wake you up if Edward so much as breaks wind, sir. Now try to catch a bit of shut-eye." She glanced across at Havoc, Fuery, Falman, and Breda with the stern eyes of a superior officer. "You too, boys. You're no use to anyone tired, and you'll need to be alert when Ed comes out of surgery."

The others complied out of drowsiness more than anything else, not having had their usual five-am coffee fix. The four men soon formed a massive pile of unconsciousness, with Fuery looking rather uncomfortable in his position under Breda.

Roy followed suit, closing his eyes and snuggling into his leather jacket. After a few minutes the rumbling snores of his subordinates could be heard across the coffee table, though he himself was having difficulty drifting off to sleep. He tried for a half hour to find comfort in the realm of unconsciousness, but every time he started to drift off he was suddenly jolted awake by the haunting image of Ed limping across the floor with only an arm and a leg, or the terrifying screams the boy let loose as Roy tried to keep the boy from bleeding out in the car.

After several more unsuccessful attempts at sleep, Roy felt a gentle hand guide his head to the side to rest on something cushioned. He opened a single eye drowsily, and felt his cheeks warm up a little at the warm smile Riza gave him as she set the clipboard of finalized paperwork down and brought his head to her shoulder, her spare jacket serving as a makeshift pillow. She herself gave a yawn and settled down into the bench a bit, moving the jacket-pillow to Roy's shoulder and resting her own head on it before mumbling a muffled explanation.

"Don't be so stubborn, Roy. It's okay to let other people... *yawn*...see you concerned for someone..." She was soon breathing evenly and deeply, her head relaxed on Roy's shoulder. He closed his own eyes and gave a small chuckle, mumbling something drowsily that he barely registered saying.

"I suppose there's no shame... in taking a nap...with a beautiful...woman..."

Only Alphonse, eternally awake, witnessed Riza's half-conscious blush, and their hands as they subconsciously clasped together for comfort.

Whoops looks like I let some shipping in here after all

Starting on the next chapter now. It's a bit difficult to type since my parents just dropped an 80-pound TV on three of my fingers on my right hand. Whoops

Please review~