Chill
By Henrika
Henrika- And now for the shocking twist of this story...!
Enjoy and review!
"Full Metal." The man paused. "Edward."
Ed opened his eyes and shut them quickly as they were invaded by the harsh light and bright white color of his surroundings. "What…?"
"You're in the hospital Full Metal."
"Huh?" He tried to look at the speaker and failed miserably as the light stung his eyes and forced them shut again. He heard the vague pattering of rain outside and shuddered.
"Was…" He swallowed thickly. "It Scar? What happened?"
There was a prolonged pause. "Full metal, the incident with Scar occurred months ago."
"What?" Ed's eyes snapped open and he struggled to sit up, but the Colonel (he realized it was the Colonel) held him down.
"Easy. You're not strong enough to be moving around yet." Against his will, Ed settled down, but remained perfectly alert.
"Then why am I in the hospital?" He demanded. "Where's Al?"
"Alphonse is picking up your things from your hotel."
"Oh."
"And you're in the hospital because you haven't been taking care of yourself, again. You collapsed in the rain just as you reached headquarters. You've been out ever since."
"Oh." The word came out small and meek, which reminded Roy uncomfortably of Al bursting into his office with the gaunt, tiny, pale-looking figure that was his older brother. "And you said Scar…"
"Was months ago; though we still haven't captured him." Mustang completed. "Was that what you were dreaming about?" He asked, making the logical jump between the subject and the fragments of speech that had spilled from the boy's lips in his sleep.
"Dream?" Ed wondered aloud hazily, his mind drifting as his head fell back against the pillows.
"You were thrashing about in your sleep and fighting me so much…it scared me." The last part was barely a whisper, but the entire sentence pierced its way into Edward's steadily fogging thought process.
So the hand was Mustang's. And I was dreaming about Scar and the Gate and Mom and Al. And…the Colonel… He mused on that for a moment, reviewing the fragments of that nightmare that were fast slipping away from him. he ran his flesh hand through his unbound hair, realizing it was very damp and chill from his own sweat. That must have been the Colonel then. He decided, recognizing the voice that had snapped the dream apart. He was the one that told me to "live". Weird.
And then Ed's thoughts ground to a halt as he finally examined the whispered part of Roy's last sentence. He was scared for me? The blonde looked over to where the Colonel was anxiously fiddling with straightening out his sheets. He looked twice, just to confirm that it was the cold, smirking, indomitable bastard that was Colonel Roy Mustang. Yeah, it's him all right. And he comforted me. He stayed with me and he worried about me.
A voice in his head whispered, he's just making sure his dog is well enough to fight. Ed calmly brushed the voice aside, the last bits of nightmare going with it.
He actually cares about something other than himself. Ed leaned further back into the pillows, trying to convince himself the sudden dizzy feeling was from his fever.
"Ed?"
"I think I'm going to go back to sleep." He felt the words slip from his mouth. A sudden irrational fear seized him as he thought of all the tiny hands latching onto him in the Gate. "Will you stay?"
"Of course Full Metal."
"Thanks. Sorry I worried you." Ed didn't know who was more surprised by his words as he fell asleep; the Colonel or himself.
Roy smiled gently and stood up. "Always making people worried Edward; still just a kid trying too hard to be an adult." He paused, then went to the room's tiny sink and washed his hands in warm water. "I'm just surprised you didn't yell at me for having cold hands. He smiled again and returned to his seat, drawing Ed's human hand from under the covers and into both of his own; warming the clammy flesh. "Sleep well Full Metal. I'll protect you as long as I can."
Henrika- It has to suck when your memories can easily be your nightmares. And Mustang was being half-sappy on me again. Agh!