The ride to the hospital was nerve wracking, to say the least. Roy had been allowed inside the ambulance, but Havoc and Riza were forced to trail behind by car. Jean gripped the edge of his seat nervously as Riza expertly followed close behind the ambulance, not daring to mention the growing white of Riza's hands from her vice-like grip. Her steely eyes were locked onto the van in front of them, as Havoc's leg bounced anxiously. He desperately wanted a quick smoke to ease his nerves and the growing dread in his stomach, but he knew better than to try and smoke around Hawkeye, much less in her car.

The ride wasn't much better for Roy either. Edward had regained consciousness about halfway there, eyes glazed over and unfocused. He mumbled something about Al and his mother, before fading out as quickly as he had come to.

Roy sat on the side of the van, hands folded neatly under his chin as he leaned forward, as if any minute the machines temporarily hooked up to Ed would give off that shrill, blood-freezing tone. The nurses worked quickly around him, cleaning off the area around the wound and trying to keep him stabilized. Sweat shone on Ed's skin and his now bare chest. Cold compresses were pressed against his side to try and bring down the fever he was sporting as a result of exhausting himself in the heat.

The bullet didn't hit anything vital.

He's going to be ok he's just lost a lot of blood.

Do you know his blood type?

The nurses bombarded Roy with various questions and reassurances, but they did little to ease his worry. In all honesty, Roy doubted his worry would cease until Fullmetal waltzed into his office, angrily demanding a new assignment and throwing countless curse words at him. However, Roy knew it would be a while before the young alchemist would be back in the field; not like Ed would particularly enjoy hearing that. For the time being, Roy concluded he would feel better once Ed got some of his color back, and stopped looking seconds away from death.

The drive, while only about ten minutes, felt like hours and Roy's legs ached from the tension as he stood when the van slowed to a halt. Paramedics were quickly pulling open the back doors and rolling Ed out into the surgical wing. He was going to be ok, so they said, as long as they got the bullet out quickly and cleanly. There was risk of infection the longer they left it in, and it wasn't helping his body heal it at all.

Roy tried to press after them but a few of the other doctors and staff members were quick to usher him into the waiting area just on the other side of the surgical wing. Fists clenched and teeth grit, Roy sat down with a huff of frustration. He logically knew he wasn't going to be allowed back there, but he still didn't enjoy receiving orders from non-military personnel, and this was Edward dammit.

Stiff heels against tile pulled Roy's attention from his angered stewing as he glanced up to see Riza and Jean make their way over to him.

"How is he?" Hawkeye asked immediately, Havoc close behind her, kneeling slightly to catch his breath from their quick dash into the building.

"I don't know. He just went into surgery to remove the bullet," Roy muttered. "He woke up once on the way here but wasn't coherent, and was back out in a matter of seconds."

Hawkeye bit her lip and nodded sternly. The both of them took seats next to Mustang, their bodies aching from the stress and drained adrenaline.

"Has Alphonse been contacted?" Mustang questioned, throwing a glance at Riza.

"I called him as soon as we got here, before we found you actually," Jean grunted in response. "He should be here shortly."

"Thank you."

"Mm, no problem."

The trio waited in silence for what seemed like an eternity, Roy chewing the inside of his lip anxiously. They had seen doctors rush in and out, but there had been no updates on Ed's condition as of yet.

About thirty minutes in Alphonse arrived, panicked and fumbling around, which started to scare the staff and other residents. Hawkeye had ended up running down to retrieve him, and he soon was sitting with the rest of them, waiting nervously.

"W-will he be ok?" Alphonse spoke up once the initial shock wore off.

"I don't know," Roy frowned. "I think so; I think he just lost a lot of blood. The doctor's said it didn't hit anything vital."

Alphonse hummed a response, throwing them in silence for a little once more.

"I can't believe he got shot," Alphonse whimpered, to no one in particular. Riza tore her eyes from where he was sitting, and Roy placed his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry Alphonse," Jean muttered after a moment.

Everyone jerked at that, turning to stare at him in bewilderment.

"H-Havoc? What are you talking about?" Al pondered.

"When Ed first walked into the building, I knew something was off with him; he just didn't seem like himself. But I didn't push it…maybe I should have. If I had, he'd have been here a lot sooner and probably in better condition. I'm sorry." Jean hung his head, looking as if someone had just sucker-punched him in the gut.

"You're no less at fault than I am Havoc," Riza spoke up. "When Ed came upstairs, he seemed ill, or at the very least not well. I asked him if he needed a hospital, and what was the matter, but he just told me he needed to speak to Mustang and walked in. I…I should have stopped him, should have noticed the wound, noticed…anything. I'm just as much to blame."

Mustang shook his head at this, slowly bringing it from where it was resting in his palms.

"No, it's neither of your faults. I'm the one that sent Ed out in the heat, that sent him to chase down this guy. I didn't even need him to do it, it was just a stupid pick-pocketer, something the local police could have managed. He had just been bugging me about assignments lately and I was getting tired of hearing him complain about desk work, so I sent him on the first little thing I saw. I…I should have been more cautious, or at the very least waited to give him an assignment until it had cooled down." Roy hung his head shamefully, guilt plain on his face.

"Ed's a smart kid, he shouldn't have been shot in the first place. Ed's got better reflexes than all three of us, he should have been able to use alchemy, or dodge it, or restrain the perp before anything happened. If I'm guessing correctly, he was just overworked from the heat. I shouldn't have sent him out. I know about his automail…. I…I know-"

A sharp cough jolted him out of his guilty rambling.

"Roy, Riza, Jean, as much as I'm grateful you aren't blaming Ed for what happened, I just know he'd be pissed to find out about you all having a pity party on who can take the most blame for something that was none of your faults."

Maes Hughes had shown up as soon as the word spread that Fullmetal had been shot and rushed to the hospital. He knew that Roy would likely blame himself for whatever had happened, but he hadn't expected all three of them to be trying to take responsibility for it.

"Hughes!" Roy stood up to greet his friend. "I'm glad you made it, he's still not out of surgery yet."

Hughes nodded, sparing a glance at Alphonse who was currently sitting on the floor, staring a hole into the door to the surgical ward. Kneeling in front of him Maes rested his hands on the cool metal shoulders.

"He's going to be ok," He smiled. "Ed's a tough kid."

Alphonse just nodded back, presuming his staring contest with the solid doors. Smiling grimly, Hughes turned to sit down next to Roy when the doors burst open.

"How is he?"

"Is he ok?"

"Can I see my brother?"

All of them were quick to lurch to their feet, barraging the doctor with a multitude of questions and having to be pushed back by Hughes.

"Edward will be ok," the doctor reassured them once everyone stepped back a bit. "The bullet was removed successfully, and he's currently resting in room 236 down the hall. He'll be out for a little bit, but he was incredibly lucky it missed anything vital. He'll need to be off work for at least two-three weeks to recover, and his bandages will have to be changed once a day for this first week. There's more to go over later, but for now I'll let you go back and see him," The doctor quickly informed them.

"Please keep it to one or two people in his room at a time," He called after them as the group turned to walk down the hallway. Havoc tossed a thumbs up back at the doctor to show that they'd mind the rules, albeit begrudgingly.

Everyone silently agreed to let Roy and Alphonse in first, they were the two that needed to be in there. Mustang would never dare say it out loud, but everyone could see that he worried about Edward just as much as any of his other subordinates, almost more like he would for a son.

Ed was still pale, but breathing easier and deeper. His eyes were sunken in and he had bags forming under his eyes from the strain of the event, but he looked peaceful and less likely to keel over anytime soon. Thick white bandages enclosed his chest, and an IV line was providing any needed pain meds and fluids. He had likely been dehydrated when they had brought him in, from the heat and from losing so much blood. Roy would later find out he had to have two transfusions, but for the time being he was content to pull up a chair and wait with Alphonse until he woke up. Which he did about two hours later.

Ed's eyelids felt like lead as he struggled to pull them open. His entire body ached, but nothing near what it did earlier. He was vaguely aware of two soft voices, and the steady beep of equipment seated next to him. Ed knew he was in the hospital, though he didn't recall making it there. Pulling himself together Ed peered up at the ceiling, wincing slightly at the brightness of the pale room. The notion hadn't gone unnoticed, and soon Mustang and Al were by his side.

"Brother! You're awake! Oh thank goodness," Alphonse was jittering anxiously, his metal creaking at he seemed to ponder what to do. Edward huffed and attempted to sit up, gasping as the pain in his abdomen flared up.

"Hey, hey, take it easy now," Roy snapped, more with worry than anything. "Slowly, you just got out of surgery."

He placed a hand behind Ed's back and helped him sit up carefully, pausing when the alchemist's face contorted in pain every so often. Soon Ed was sitting on his own, glancing up at them.

"How did I get here?"

"Mustang carried you out of Central Command and the ambulance brought you here," Alphonse supplied. "I can't believe you got shot brother! What were you thinking? Why didn't you just go to the hospital straight away? Why did you walk halfway across-"

Roy cut him off before he could get any more worked up.

"Hey calm down, why don't you go get your brother something to drink? You can yell at him later for all I care, but I'd rather not have to listen to it," Roy rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. Alphonse ducked his head and sighed, leaving the room.

"Oh please, you'd never miss a chance to watch me get lectured," Ed scoffed. "And did you really carry me? Who said you were allowed to do that, Bastard…"

Roy grumbled, and walked to the side of the bed, staring harshly into Edward's eyes.

"Normally I'd love to hear you get pestered but I'm tired from sitting out in those hellishly uncomfortable chairs waiting for you to get out of surgery. And I don't know, maybe if you had been conscious, I wouldn't have had to." Roy stated plainly, trying to keep his voice level.

"You know damn well I couldn't have helped that," Edward snapped.

"Why didn't you just go straight to a hospital then?" Roy demanded.

Ed's gaze softened and he opened his mouth for a moment before pausing, unsure of what to say.

"I don't know..." He muttered.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I said I don't know!" Ed yelled, gritting his teeth into a frown.

Roy sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had sent Alphonse out of the room so Ed could get a breather after having just woken up, only for him to turn around and do the same thing. However, Ed's frown softened when he noticed how run-down the Colonel looked.

"Ok. I know... I'm sorry. You just really scared us today," Mustang said. "When you stopped responding, I-we thought you weren't going to make it."

Ed paused for a moment, staring back down at the hospital sheets with feigned interest. His eyes were wide at the thought of Mustang apologizing to him, and the slight slip.

"I…I'm sorry too…" Ed drawled softly after a few moments. If Mustang hadn't been paying attention, he likely wouldn't have heard it.

"I should have come straight here. I wasn't thinking straight."

The kid had to have been in pain, or exhausted, or both for him to apologize to blatantly. Roy placed a hand on the edge of the bed to get Ed's attention, and was still relieved to see clear golden eyes staring up at him.

"I'm just glad you're ok," He said with a soft smile.

"I brought water, how are you feeling brother?" Alphonse waltzed into the room, carrying a tray of plastic cups.

"I'm fine Al, don't worry so much," Ed grumbled, reaching slowly for the drinks.

"Maybe if you stopped giving me reasons to worry, I wouldn't have to," Al chided back, but there was no malice in his voice.

"Oh please, if you didn't have me to worry over, you'd just turn to the next unsuspecting thing- I swear you spend more time worrying than thinking sometimes," Ed chuckled between sips.

Alphonse feigned surprise, but was giggling all the same. Roy couldn't have been more relieved to hear the two of them bickering lightly, Fullmetal was going to be just fine.

He turned to head out and let one of the other officers in.

"Hey Colonel Bastard!"

Mustang turned around, rolling his eyes in mock irritation, though he couldn't have been happier to hear those words.

"Did you catch the guy?"

"In case you didn't realize we've been a little preoccupied, but I'll send a team out right away. He couldn't have gotten far, I doubt he's even left the city," Roy reassured him.

He normally would have been quick to get a team out, and he had had the time to make the call, but he had been too worried and stressed to do anything else. Not that he'd reveal that to Edward. It would only make him feel guilty.

"Yeah well fucking step on it, I don't want that asshole to go shootin' up any more innocent people," Ed grumbled.

"Sure thing shrimp," Mustang chided slyly.

"Hey! Who the hell are you calling shrimp?!" Ed screamed back at him, but was quick to cut it off with a wince as he placed his hands gingerly around his abdomen.

"Don't strain yourself Fullmetal, just take it easy. I'll come back to check on you later," Roy explained, turning once more to leave.

"Thanks, Bastard."

Roy smiled, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. It wasn't a perfect thank you, but he knew Ed meant it. Riza and everyone were quick to hound him about details, but he shrugged them off to make that phone call to his team, telling them to see for themselves. There may have been more than two people in Ed's room after that, but what the doctors didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Ed was discharged a couple days later after the stitches healed up a little more, and he could walk without doubling over in pain. Roy swore he had gained a couple grey hairs throughout the entire ordeal, but Hawkeye just rolled her eyes at him every time he started fretting about it.

The pick-pocketer was brought in the day after Ed was brought into the hospital, facing a few additional charges aside from just petty theft.

If he was also sporting a few nasty burns from the encounter, no one dared to question it.