Comfort
S J Smith
K+ for language
Disclaimer: If these were my characters, I so wouldn't be living in Indiana.
Summary: Flash fic for an image that literally popped into my head: Ed and Winry, in the hospital, after Lab 5. Ishte was kind enough to make a comment and, voila! Fic.
"Don't do such stupid things, Edward!" Winry was furious with him, not that he really cared.
Brushing off her hands and concern, Ed shoved through the doorway to his hospital room. It felt like Number 48 cut into his side again and he fought to keep from flinching. His hand reached for the wound, slyly, he thought, but Winry's sharp eyes caught the movement.
"Ed, you need to lie back down." Her order came rough and stern to his ears and Ed ignored her, heading for the closet, where he knew his clothing waited. "Ed!"
He whirled at the sound of his name, spoken so desperately. "Winry, I have to go! Al's…Al's out there!" Ed stabbed a finger at the window. "And he believes, dammit, he thinks," his voice trailed off and Ed shook his head, twisting the doorknob to the closet viciously.
"I know, Ed." Winry laid her hand on his and Ed stiffened, his metal fingers clacking on the knob. "I know. I heard everything." She tugged at him and Ed, sighing, let Winry chivvy him to the bed.
The thin mattress gave a little as Ed sat down, his head hanging. "I just feel…Winry, he doesn't really believe it, does he?" Daring to glance at her through his bangs, Ed felt surprised to see how close she was.
Winry stepped even closer, her thigh nudging his automail knee. Her arms came around him, holding onto Ed as tightly as she had held him on the roof, as if she was afraid he'd try to chase after Al again. And yet, it felt different, with her chin resting on his shoulder, that scent, light weight motor oil and metal and honeysuckle that meant Winry to him, rising in his nostrils, a loose strand of hair tickling his cheek. "No," she whispered, so close that he could feel her exhalation on that word, "no, Ed, he doesn't, not really. He's just hurting and," Winry tightened her embrace, as if she'd run out of words to explain Al's actions.
And slowly, tentatively, Ed's arms rose to return the hug.