Riza drove toward the cabin in her neighbor's car, quietly fuming. The Colonel was a brilliant tactician, and undoubtedly an excellent man in a sticky situation, but he could be incredibly dense. She knew that he wanted this trip to be perfect for a variety of reasons, but letting Ed come down with…who knows what would certainly throw a wrench in the works. She shook her head. Colonel Mustang and the Fullmetal Alchemist were the two most stubborn people she'd ever met. Usually, however, Ed and Mustang were at each others' throats. She shuddered to think about how impossible they would be on the same side. She could imagine Ed firmly denying that anything was wrong until he shivered himself into an early grave, with Mustang doggedly supporting the insanity. The least she could do was be present to ensure that didn't happen.

Still, she wasn't thrilled that she had to abandon her own plans - rare as they were - and come rescue the Colonel and Ed from their own pride. She sighed. It's not the first time, and it probably won't be the last.

Mustang answered the door when she knocked. He at least had the grace to look apologetic as he took her bag and welcomed her inside.

"Lieutenant. You didn't have to leave Central, you know. I'm sure that you had plans."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, but I felt that it was best." She craned her neck around Mustang and looked for Ed. He was sitting by the fireplace wrapped in a blanket, looking miserable. She raised an eyebrow at her superior officer, voicing her displeasure as much as she felt was appropriate. He looked away, and Ed glanced up from his seat on the fireplace.

"Hi, Riza."

"Hello, Ed," she said. "How are you feeling?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "I'm fine," he said, sounding infuriated. "It was just a…."

"A hiccup," Mustang volunteered. "A small hiccup in an otherwise uneventful trip."

Ed nodded vigorously. "Exactly. See, everything's fine. Do you like fishing?"

Riza didn't know if she liked fishing. She rather doubted that she would. In fact, she thought that she remembered Mustang complaining about fishing. But Hughes had liked it, which was good enough for him.

Mustang cleared his throat, breaking into her thoughts.

"Well, since you're here…I'll give you the tour and you can unpack." He began walking toward one of the two bedrooms.

"Sir, it's no trouble. I'll take the couch." She eyed it dubiously. It didn't seem very comfortable, but she didn't want to impose on their trip too much.

Mustang shook his head decisively. "No, you can take the room on the left. I'll sleep on the couch."

She opened her mouth to protest, but then reconsidered. The Colonel was staring at her with a mixture of embarrassment and determination, and she realized that the room was his olive branch, an apology for making her cancel her plans.

Riza sighed. Trying to take care of both Ed and Mustang while simultaneously making sure that they still enjoyed what was left of their trip seemed exhausting. But even if she didn't owe it to Mustang, she certainly owed it to Ed. His life was hard enough as it was, and she didn't want to take away any of the small pleasures that he might have. She simply didn't have it in her.

Ed drew himself up from his spot next to the fire and wandered over to the window. He was still clutching the blanket tight around his shoulders, but his coloring seemed to be coming back a little, at least. As she watched, he peered out of the window, eyes narrowed, face unguarded.

"Look," he said. "The sun is setting. Colonel, can we make a campfire again tonight? Please? And have more s'mores?"

Mustang didn't answer Ed, and instead looked to Riza for approval. Ed saw what he was doing and looked to her too. "It's great, Riza," he said. "Have you ever sat around a campfire? It's really fun and really...safe."

Behind Ed, Mustang nodded vigorously. Riza resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Staying with these boys for more than a couple days was going to be impossible, not if she didn't want to go insane.

But Mustang was right, Ed really didn't seem to be doing to badly. He was still a little pale and shaky, yes, but she had only heard him cough a couple of times and his eyes were bright and excited. Maybe she would only stay a night, just to make sure that Ed didn't get worse, and then she could leave and let them finish out the rest of their trip in peace.

"Yes," she finally said, to both Ed and Mustang's visible relief. "Yes, I could use some dinner. Let's make a campfire."

Four hours later, and Mustang was trying to find a comfortable enough position on the couch to fall asleep. Sitting around the campfire with Ed and Riza had gone...not as badly as he had expected, to be completely honest. There was one awkward moment where Ed had started excitedly telling Riza about the "Tavern Wench," and Riza had shot him a disgusted look, but aside from that it had been fairly uneventful. In fact, he had rarely seen his lieutenant look so relaxed. At one point, he swore he had seen her giggle. Everyone needed the occasional break from Central, he supposed, even her.

The couch was a little too small for Mustang to lie fully stretched out, but he managed to find a comfortable enough position, with his legs tucked into his chest and his head pillowed on one arm. He closed his eyes, and tried to force himself to relax enough to fall asleep.

But he couldn't, because of Fullmetal's incessant coughing. Every few seconds, he would hear the kid start hacking again from the other room, like he was threatening to cough up a lung. It had been like that ever since he had laid down to go to sleep.

It wasn't the noise itself that was bothering Mustang. Much worse was the way that his chest twisted every time the kid coughed. All he could think was that all of this was his fault. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened, and Ed would be completely fine right now. He lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Ed cough, wishing that he could somehow go back in time and change things. It wasn't the first time he'd had that thought.

Eventually, he couldn't stand it any more. He got up from the couch and crept into Ed's room. The constant hacking couldn't be comfortable, surely Ed wasn't asleep? But when he peered into the darkened room, Ed was curled peacefully on the bed, sleeping through the coughs shaking his small frame. Mustang shook his head, unsure why he'd come. Of course Fullmetal was alright.

Still, it was nice to know that someone, at least, was getting a good night's sleep. Exhausted, Mustang returned to the couch and collapsed. He closed his eyes, and in spite of Ed's coughing, was finally able to fall asleep.

He was woken from an uneasy doze by Fullmetal coughing excitedly above his head.

"Wake up! We need to show Riza how to fish!"

Mustang sat up and stretched. His back cracked and he winced. The couch was not the most comfortable. He looked at Ed skeptically. The young alchemist looked fairly good, if a little pale. But his cough was dry, with a hollow rattle that Mustang didn't like.

"You really want to go fishing?" he asked, leaving "after what happened yesterday" as subtext. Ed heard what he hadn't said and frowned.

"Yeah. I never got to reel that fish in. I want to actually catch something."

Mustang sighed. "Alright. But I would advise against waking the Lieutenant. It's bad enough that she had to come all the way up here."

Ed saw the logic in this and nodded, no more willing to risk the wrath of Lieutenant Hawkeye than Mustang was.

"Why don't you eat breakfast while we're waiting?" Mustang suggested, looking vaguely toward the kitchen. "Surely there's still something left?"

"Ehhh, I'm not that hungry."

Mustang simply stared at Ed, unable to believe what he'd just said. "Fullmetal, I packed food for five days. You ate half of that the first day we got here."

Ed shrugged. "I dunno, I'm just not hungry. I'll eat later. When do you think Riza's gonna wake up?"

"I'm up," Riza said, emerging from the other room. "The excitement was hard to sleep through."

That comment went right over Ed's head, and he smiled and walked to the tackle box. Pausing to cough, he turned to her and said "Hey, Riza, do you wanna know what a spinner does?"

Riza stared at Ed. "You're not...you still want to go fishing, after nearly drowning? I don't think that's a good idea at all."

"No, it is a good idea. I'm really fine. See?"

The kid just stood there for a few seconds. "What is it that you're doing, precisely?" Riza asked after a moment.

"I'm not coughing."

Riza shot Mustang a look, as if silently asking him if he was going to stand for this. Mustang involuntarily backed up a few steps.

"Come on," the kid whined. "We're having so much fun fishing. I love fishing."

Mustang was pretty sure that Ed had said the exact opposite of that just two days before, but he wasn't going to complain. He just looked at Riza, waiting for an answer.

"Fine," she finally sighed, throwing her hands up. "We'll go fishing. But only for a couple of hours."

As it turned out, Ed could barely even last that long. Riza watched as he started to slowly deteriorate over the course of the day. Some of the color that he'd gained back overnight vanished, and he started coughing so much that he was having a hard time catching his breath between bouts. But still, he kept smiling and proclaiming how much he loved fishing. He even managed to catch a small one, with quite a bit of help from the Colonel. Even though he was starting to seem quite ill, he was still clearly enjoying the trip.

The whole time Riza was watching Ed grow weaker, she was also trying to keep an eye on Mustang. He grew quieter as the day wore on. He was clearly unhappy about the boy's condition, and Riza suspected that part of him wished he had forced Ed to get medical attention right after falling in the lake. But it was more than that, Riza knew. It was something bigger, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

And then she caught him whispering.

She had no idea what he was saying, exactly, but it wasn't the content that mattered. Seeing him speaking out loud made all the pieces fit together. Mustang was talking to Hughes. She didn't know what he might be telling him, exactly, but she knew that Hughes' death was weighing on the Colonel even more while he was here than it normally did. She wasn't exactly sure how Ed's presence was going to play into that, but she was sure that it would. She wanted to comfort him somehow, but she knew that if she tried to say something, he'd only be mortified to know that she'd guessed at some of his pain. She had to wait for him to come to her, and knowing the Colonel, that could take quite a while.

Anyway, her main concern right now had to be Ed. The Colonel could wait, but Ed was looking worse by the minute. And almost more worrying than his clammy skin and rattling cough was his lack of appetite. Riza had never known Ed to miss a meal, but he couldn't even eat the fish he caught. And although he'd wanted to sit by the campfire outside, he'd started coughing almost immediately from the smoke. Looking absolutely miserable, he'd left the fireside and gone to bed early.

It wasn't an early night for Riza. She still wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with Ed, but she was horribly afraid that it wasn't just a cold. She sat up for quite a while, just listening, and the light from the living room told her that the Colonel was doing the same.

The next day, Ed was too sick to leave the house. He could barely draw a breath in between coughing fits, and his face had a hectic shine that Riza didn't like. She resolved silently that if Ed hadn't gotten better by the next day, she would take him to the hospital despite any protest he gave.

They spent the day playing board games and trying not to damage Ed's ego with their clear worry about his health. Mustang tried to teach Ed how to play chess, which was an unmitigated disaster. Riza wasn't surprised. Even if Ed had been completely well, she couldn't imagine that he would have any fun playing a game that Mustang would win every time.

As the day wore on, Ed seemed to have more and more trouble drawing breath. Watching him struggle, Riza felt her own chest ache, but every time she asked if Ed was okay, he snapped at her. But his eyes told a different story. They were beginning to look glassy, and sometimes she thought he wasn't quite sure what was happening. Like the previous night, he went to bed early. He was clearly running a fever.

Worried, Riza resolved to stay up with him. His cough seemed to be getting worse, if that was even possible, and she didn't want him to wake up in the night and be unable to breathe. She pulled up a chair beside his bed when she was sure that he was asleep, and settled down for a long night. She hoped that the Colonel was sleeping. The previous morning, he'd looked like he'd spent the whole night awake. He'd seemed oddly distant for the rest of the day. Riza thought he was worried about Ed, but she wished he would just talk to her. She shook her head. Worrying about Ed was bad enough, but having to keep her eye on Mustang, too…she was exhausted.

Then, the door opened and Mustang entered.

"Colonel. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

He stood in the doorway, the shadows hiding his face.

"I couldn't sleep," he said softly. "Why don't you go rest?"

Between them, Ed groaned quietly, tossing and turning fitfully under the blankets. His eyes were closed, but Riza wasn't sure if he was really asleep. He seemed trapped in a fever world somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness. His breathing was labored, his hair pasted to his forehead with sweat. Two fever spots sat high on his cheekbones.

"I...I don't want to leave him," Riza whispered. "What if he needs help? His fever is so high I'm not sure if he'd know what he needed, if he'd even be able to call out…."

"Is he asleep?" Mustang asked.

"I'm not sure. He's...it doesn't seem like he knows what's going on though…."

"Edward?" Mustang said, voice a little bit louder. The alchemist stirred faintly, but didn't react aside from that.

"Colonel!" Riza whispered sharply. "Don't wake him."

"See?" Mustang said, softer now. "He is asleep. We don't need two adults to watch over a sleeping kid. I can do it on my own. Just...go get some rest."

Riza opened her mouth, prepared to start protesting again, but then she realized what Mustang was doing. He still felt guilty over what had happened to Ed, and he was trying to take responsibility for that, and offer Riza this small kindness. Normally, Riza wouldn't trust the Colonel with something like this, not with taking care of Ed in this way. But she could see in his eyes that he understood the severity of the situation. Ed would be safe with him.

"If he gets any hotter, you can run a washcloth under some cold water and put that on his forehead. Don't make it too cold though. You might need to get some more blankets from the closet if he starts to shiver again. He might wake up and want a glass of water, so make sure you get that too. And make sure you watch his breathing, make sure he's taking in enough air…."

"Lieutenant, I know," Mustang said gently, cutting her off. "I...I can do this. Just go sleep a little bit. I'll wake you if he changes at all."

Riza stood up and walked past Mustang to leave the room. She watched him settle in the chair she had just vacated, and he stared intently enough at Ed that she was satisfied. She didn't think she would get much sleep that night, but maybe she could snatch a few hours.

"Be careful with him, Colonel," she whispered, right before leaving the room. It was quiet enough that she wasn't sure he heard.

Mustang watched Ed toss back and forth in the bed, his forehead shining with sweat. He was completely exhausted, he'd been intently watching the kid for a few hours and his eyelids were starting to droop. He dropped his head into his hands. He couldn't believe that everything had gone so wrong in such a short time. He should have watched Ed more carefully, should have gotten him out of the water more quickly, should have taken him to a doctor immediately. There was so much he'd done wrong.

"I really messed up, Hughes," he said, softly enough so Ed wouldn't hear him. "I don't know how you managed to have two lives…sometimes it feels like one is more than I can handle. I certainly can't handle two."

In the bed, Ed coughed violently, fighting to breathe. Mustang shot to his feet and hovered helplessly over him, unsure what to do. But then, the coughing stopped, and Ed sucked in a huge breath.

Mustang also took a deep breath and sank back into his chair. Ed turned over and made a small sound. A moan? Mustang frowned and got up again. Was the red on his cheekbones more pronounced? He peered at Ed's face, but he couldn't tell. Gingerly, he rolled up his sleeve and laid his wrist along Ed's forehead, like Riza had done. He frowned. Ed felt hot, but how hot was bad? Wasn't everyone's core body temperature slightly different?

Still, he supposed that a cold washcloth wouldn't do any harm. He got up and did as Riza had said. When he came back, Ed was finally lying still in the bed. Mustang felt his forehead. It seemed a little hotter, but Ed wasn't tossing and turning anymore, and that had to be a good sign. He laid the washcloth on Ed's forehead and sat back down. Ed looked even smaller than usual lying in the big bed, surrounded by mounds of blankets he'd kicked off, and Mustang felt another rush of guilt. Somewhat self consciously, he patted Ed's shoulder.

"Sleep well, Fullmetal," he whispered, then wheeled around at the sound of footsteps. Riza entered the room, yawning.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Better, I think," Mustang said uncertainly. "At least he's sleeping now."

Riza frowned and walked over to the bed. She bent over and felt Ed's forehead, then straightened, wide-eyed. She turned to him, fear and a little anger in her expression.

"He isn't sleeping, he's unconscious! His fever is dangerously high. We need to get him to a hospital immediately."

Mustang felt like he'd been stabbed in the stomach, and he knew what that felt like. "...what?" he gasped.

"Can you carry him to the car? We need to leave now."

Numbly, Mustang wrapped one of the blankets around Ed and lifted him into his arms. He felt Ed's skin burning with an inner heat, and he chastised himself for not recognizing it sooner. How could I have been so stupid?

Ed stirred faintly when he felt himself being lifted. "'What's goin' on?" he murmured, eyelids fluttering as he struggled to stay conscious. He squirmed a little in Mustang's arms, and Mustang tried to adjust him so he would be more comfortable. The kid's automail arm was digging sharply into Mustang's sternum, but that was the least of his concerns. All that mattered was keeping the kid as comfortable as possible, and getting him to safety.

"We're taking you to the doctor, Fullmetal," Mustang said.

"No," he whimpered softly. "I wanna stay here…."

Ed's eyes were glassy with fever, and he didn't seem to be able to hold them open longer than a second. His face was flushed. His hair was damp with sweat and the water from the washcloth Mustang had put on his forehead, so it looked almost like he'd just been fished out from the lake again.

"We can't help you here anymore, your fever's too high…."

This time, Ed didn't respond. Mustang wasn't even entirely sure the kid had heard him. His head lolled helplessly against Mustang's chest, bobbing faintly with each step that Mustang took. Every few seconds, he would emit a faint cough.

"He's talking?" Riza said sharply. "Ed? Ed, can you hear me?"

But Mustang shook his head. The movement had briefly stirred the kid from the haze of sickness, but the fever had dragged him back under again. "He's out cold," Mustang said. Riza swore softly, and Mustang's eyes widened slightly in surprise. If the Lieutenant was swearing, than this had gotten pretty serious.

Mustang carried Ed through the main room of the cabin and then down the three steps that led to the cars. There was no way to completely avoid jostling Ed when Mustang stepped down, but he winced in sympathy along with the kid. Fullmetal whimpered slightly, but didn't wake.

"We're taking my car back, right?" Mustang said. "I'll just put Fullmetal in the back, and you can sit back there with him…."

"No," Riza said firmly. "I slept for a little while last night, you've been up for almost twenty-four hours. You are not getting behind the wheel of a car. The last thing Ed needs is a car accident."

"But…."

"But nothing. We're taking my car, and I'm driving. You'll be in the back with Ed."

Mustang wanted to argue, but every time he closed his eyes, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to open them again. She was right, as usual. Without further argument, he opened the door and set Ed down in the back. Ed moaned softly and slid down the seat. Mustang climbed into the car and steadied him. One glance told him that Ed wasn't going to be able to sit upright, so he squeezed as far into the corner as he could go and let Ed stretch out flat.

"Okay, Lieutenant, I think we're ready."

Riza looked back and shook her head. "Colonel, just put Ed's head in your lap. He shouldn't be lying flat anyway. If he's elevated, it'll be easier for him to breathe."

She started the car and pulled out of the driveway as Mustang blinked at Ed. He never would have thought of that on his own. Carefully, he grabbed Ed's shoulders and pulled the kid's head onto his lap. Ed shifted slightly, but didn't wake.

I'm really not cut out for this. Hughes, you kept asking why I didn't settle down… He looked down at Ed, who had begun coughing again. He watched helplessly as Ed's shoulders shook. Well, this is why. Because I have no idea what to do in this situation, and this wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for me. This is all my fault.

Riza drove through the forested roads as quickly as she dared. She glanced in the rearview mirror, which she had angled to catch the backseat. Ed's eyes were still closed, but his whole body was shaking from the constant coughing, and he was drenched in fever sweat. They weren't that far from Central, maybe an hour, but she was still worried that it might be too long. Ed looked awful.

She returned her gaze to the road before her and did her best not to be angry at the Colonel. She knew that he had just taken Ed at his word, but Mustang had enough stubborn pride that he should recognize it in others. She was angry at herself, too. She should have insisted that Ed go to a hospital immediately, she should have stayed up with him instead of letting Mustang do it. She could have caught his fever earlier, and they would have reached the hospital by now. She should have done more.

Then, the Colonel broke the silence.

"I should have listened to you. Actually, I shouldn't have brought Fullmetal here in the first place. I…I don't know what I was thinking. I just…coming up here alone felt wrong…I wanted...I thought Hughes would have wanted…" He broke off. Then, after a moment, he continued hesitantly.

"It was a mistake. I'm trying to be something I'm not, and now…Fullmetal's sick, all because I wanted to…."

He trailed off, and Riza's eyes widened in a sudden epiphany. She'd known the Colonel felt guilty about Ed's illness, but she hadn't realized quite how much it was tying into his distress over Hughes' death. No wonder the Colonel had been taking it so hard. She glanced back, intending to say something reassuring, and paused as she saw what Mustang was doing. Ed was curled in Mustang's lap, and the Colonel was carefully brushing the boy's matted hair off of his forehead. It was very possibly the most tender thing she had ever seen the Colonel do. He was touching Ed like he was afraid the boy would fall apart if he wasn't gentle enough with him. Riza felt her heart tighten.

"Colonel, this is not your fault," Riza said softly. She wasn't entirely sure that she believed it, but that really didn't matter so much right now. "You did your best. And Ed...he's going to be fine." Riza smiled a little. "He'll probably just remember this as a really fun week."

For a long time Mustang didn't say anything, just continued to push Ed's sweaty hair away from his face and touch his trembling shoulder in a gesture she assumed was meant to be comforting.

Finally, he said something so quiet that Riza couldn't hear it, looking down at Ed the whole time.

"What was that, Colonel?"

"Is...is he going to die?" he finally whispered.

Riza felt her body stiffen slightly. She had rarely ever heard the Colonel sound this afraid. There were already so many ghosts in the cabin for him, she didn't think he could handle another. If the kid died, she didn't think he would ever recover. Especially if he was taking part of the blame.

"No," Riza said, as firmly as she could. "He is not going to die."

"But he's...he's barely breathing."

"He'll be fine."

Riza glanced in the rearview mirror again. Ed had mostly stopped coughing, but his breathing was shallow and uneven, which seemed somehow worse. She could hear a faint rattle in his lungs every time he inhaled. He would sometimes open his eyes for a few seconds, but he didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings at all, or he would have protested the fact that his head was in Mustang's lap. He couldn't keep them open for more than a moment. His body was completely limp, still aside from faint tremors that wracked him every few seconds.

"Colonel, do you still have a blanket you can put over him?"

"But he's burning up…."

Riza thought the shivering might be because the fever was chilling him, and maybe if he had a blanket it would ease some. He seemed like he would be a little more comfortable, at least. But really, Riza had no idea if that would be the right thing or not. The Colonel clearly had no clue what to do about any of this, but really, Riza was just as out of her depth. She had never been trained in anything like this. She didn't know what she was doing either.

But before she could say anything else, Mustang had fished the blanket off the floor of the backseat where it had fallen and spread it tenderly over Ed. Ed barely seemed conscious, but his small body did seem to relax a little with the extra warmth. Mustang tucked the edges of the blanket around Ed, making sure that it wouldn't fall off again.

"He'll be alright," Riza said, to herself as much as to the Colonel. But in the rearview mirror, she saw the Colonel look up gratefully. Painfully aware of the hollow nature of her words, Riza drove on through the night.

By the time they reached the hospital, Ed's breathing had gotten even worse. Every time he tried to fill his lungs, there was a horrible wheezing rattle. The skin around his lips was a dreadful tinge of blue, and the rest of his skin had lost all color except for the fever spots high on his cheekbones. Mustang felt out of breath just looking at him. There was no way Ed was getting anywhere near enough air to survive, he thought. He was almost glad that Ed was mostly unconscious, because at least he wouldn't be aware of his own lack of air. It was like he was drowning on perfectly dry land…Mustang couldn't imagine a worse feeling.

"Can you carry him?" Riza said, her voice high and panicked. "Come on, we need to hurry…."

Mustang opened the car door, then turned around and scooped the young alchemist into his arms. He came to slightly with the movement, and grasped weakly at Mustang's arms, unable to muster enough breath to say anything. His eyes opened slightly, and the look of panic in them made Mustang's heart ache.

"Hey, Fullmetal, you're alright. You're going to be just fine. Just...please hold on a little longer. Please."
The kid gasped for air, and Mustang turned towards the hospital and ran.

Riza got in front of him and pushed the hospital doors open. By this point, Ed's eyes were closed again, his head tucked into Mustang's chest as he fought frantically for breath. In the back of his head, Mustang registered that Riza was talking to one of the nurses, but Mustang wasn't listening to any of that. All he was aware of was Ed fighting for life in his arms. All he could hear was the kid's ragged, labored breathing.

And then someone was taking Ed from him. At first Mustang didn't really understand what was happening, and he automatically backed up a few steps, cradling the kid against his chest. But then he realized it was a doctor, and his arms slowly unlocked and he relinquished the young alchemist. He watched as Ed was laid out on a gurney and wheeled away.

Ed's eyes were sunken into his face, his lips blue with lack of oxygen, his whole body limp and soaked with sweat. He looked very young, in that moment. He looked dead.

The doctors rounded the corner with the kid, and in that moment, Mustang wasn't sure he would ever see him again. He automatically stepped after the gurney, but a doctor stopped him.

"You can't go back there right now." He paused, looking at Mustang quizzically. "Are you…any relation?"

Mustang wavered. Ed's familial situation was…messy, but he was pretty sure that the doctor wasn't going to take "It's complicated" as a valid answer. And he had to get into that room. He couldn't leave the young alchemist to go through this alone. But then Riza stepped forward, and, as usual, she knew exactly what to say.

"Doctor, his parents are…gone. If you're looking for an adult relative, you won't find one. That's the Fullmetal Alchemist, and this man-" she indicated Mustang- "is his commanding officer."

She looked pointedly at Mustang, who pulled out his pocket watch. He showed it to the doctor, who shrugged. "Good enough for me. I don't want to get in the way of the military. You should be able to see him soon."

"He'll recover?" Mustang asked incredulously. He realized that up until now, he'd fully expected Ed to die.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Pneumonia. Good thing you got him here when you did, and he should stay here for a while, but he'll be fine."

Mustang closed his eyes in silent relief. Behind him, he heard Riza make a small sound and knew that she was feeling the same way. Shaking with delayed terror, they walked to the wall of chairs in the waiting room and sat down.

About an hour later, the doctor returned to the waiting area and led them into Ed's room. He was asleep, and Mustang thought that he looked better. His breathing was still labored, but he wasn't blue anymore, and his fever seemed to have broken. Mustang walked over to the chair by the bed and sat down.

"He won't wake up for a while," the doctor said.

"Then I'll wait."

The doctor shrugged and left the room. Riza took the other chair, and they settled in for a wait. They sat silently for a while, both of them exhausted by the worry of the past few days. Mustang saw Riza looking over at him, uncertainly, as if she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to begin. He didn't help her. He was far too tired.

After a while, Riza left the room to get them something to eat. Mustang stayed with Ed, in case he woke up while she was gone. He yawned. He hadn't slept in a day and a half, and he wasn't sure he could keep his eyes open much longer. Maybe if he just closed them for a minute….

"Hey! Colonel!"

Mustang started awake to find Ed poking his shoulder with a gleeful expression.

"Fullmetal. You're awake."

"Sorry for waking you up," Ed said, not sounding sorry at all. "I just wasn't sure if you were actually asleep."

"That's alright," Mustang replied, swallowing a yawn. However long he'd been asleep, it hadn't been long enough. But that could wait. He looked at Ed carefully. The young alchemist's color was starting to return. He still looked pale, but he didn't look as if he was at death's door any longer. Mustang felt cautiously optimistic.

"The doctors said I have to stay here," Ed said, sounding displeased.

"Yes, well, it was a near thing," Mustang told him. He swallowed uncomfortably, not entirely sure how to go about saying what he had to.

"I'm sorry, Fullmetal," he finally said. "I should have taken you to the doctor immediately. If I had, you probably wouldn't be here right now."

Ed blinked at him wordlessly. Mustang frowned. He'd expected his apology to be slightly better received. Maybe Fullmetal hadn't heard him. Should he repeat himself? But just as he was preparing to start again from the top, Ed spoke.

"It's okay, Colonel. I told you not to take me, and you couldn't have known."

Mustang still felt guilty, but he nodded awkwardly and sat back in his chair. He and Ed sat in silence for a few minutes, and just as he was beginning to drift off to sleep again, Ed cleared his throat.

"Umm, Colonel?"

Mustang opened his eyes and waited.

"When I'm better, can we maybe…"

"Yes, Fullmetal?"

"Can we go back to the cabin?"

"If you really want to," Mustang said, slightly taken aback. Ed nodded happily and lay back down. He shut his eyes and was asleep in a few seconds. Mustang listened to his breathing, which was easier. His eyes closed, and at long last, he slept.