AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS

Yes, I am a terrible person for leaving this for so long. No, I don't care. Yes, life did catch up with me and hit me over the head with a shovel. I have the bruise to prove it. Enjoy~! XD

"I told you to leave me alone Mustang, what's done is done. Besides, it's not like you give a damn anyway." Edward yanked his coat on, pulling his braid roughly out of his collar. He and Mustang were alone in Edward's hospital room, and Edward was fed up with Mustang promising to find Al.

"Come on Fullmetal, we can do this, I know that you can do this. We'll find him!" Edward whirled on Mustang and raised one automail fist, ready to sock his Commanding Officer with all he had.

"Don't you get it yet Mustang?!" He yelled, throwing a light punch at Mustang's head, "We're not gonna find him because he's not-" Instead of continuing with his frustrated rant, Edward dropped to the floor, coughs racking his small frame. Instead of staying down like he should have, the alchemist began to stand with shaking arms pulling him up, even with blood dripping down his chin. Another coughing fit stopped him in his tracks and Mustang leapt forward, putting one supporting hand on Edward's left shoulder.

"Edward! Sit down, breathe, remember what that nurse told you! If you push it, they're taking your automail away." Mustang pushed the blonde down a little and crouched down next to him on the floor. Edward shoved him away again and pulled himself, laboriously, onto the hospital bed.

"And I told you, this isn't my automail. This is a loner from Pinako. Winry makes my automail." Edward managed, doing as best he could to get his breathing under control before trying to stand once more.

"That's not the point EdWard. You're wearing it, so for the moment, it's yours. Now stop fussing and do what you're being told for once in your life." Mustang was frustrated with how obstinate his subordinate was being. If the blonde didn't start listening, he was going to disappear, and fast. They already knew that the alchemist was probably going to die young, and now this illness was killing him faster.

"I already told you Mustang, I've got limbs, so I gotta go track that bastard down. Wouldn't you?" Although Edward was being an immature brat, he had a point. His brother was missing, and there was apparently some villain that had the power to manipulate Truth. Mustang had no idea how though, and he was no closer to decoding Edward's code than when he started.

"I don't know what you wrote yet Edward. You have to give me more time." Mustang pleaded with the small alchemist.

"To hell with more time! You've had that for a fucking year and a half! If you can't crack it by now-" Another violent coughing fit stopped the alchemist in his tracks and he collapsed against the pillows.

"Edward!" Mustang cried out again as the smaller man began to splatter the white sheets with flecks of blood. The coughing didn't stop quickly and Mustang fumbled for the call button. The thirty seconds it took for a nurse to appear in the door took far too long and felt like an entire year had passed. In that short amount of time, Edward stopped moving completely.

"Fuhrer Mustang Sir?" Mustang sighed in relief as the middle-aged woman finally appeared in the doorway. Quickly, Mustang gave her a fabled excuse as to why the two were fighting.

"We were having an argument over a report, he started to cough again and passed out." The nurse glared at him and took out a pen before walking over to the machines monitoring Edward. When she saw the IV ripped out, her glare turned even colder. She adjusted Edward's sleeve and stuck him once more before hooking up various monitors again.

"Sir, we've told you a million times, you can't excite him or his condition will be aggravated! Honestly, he's been with us almost two years now, you two should both know better." she checked the screens of the each monitor and her eyebrows flew away into her hair, "Look at the state of his vitals! Sir, you need to leave. If he gets this upset again, he might have to have another surgery. I'm sure that you don't want that now Sir." Mustang looked at his hands before looking back to the nurse.

"Are you positive that I can't stay Nurse?" he asked, trying to not let his worry show on his face. The nurse shook her head firmly and pointed towards the door with her left hand while recording some figure or other on her keyboard.

"Goodnight then Edward." the Fuhrer said to the still unconscious subordinate. He walked into the hallway where a woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes stood, waiting for her superior faithfully.

"Are we leaving so early Sir?" she asked, not allowing her surprise to color her voice. It was only 8 o'clock, the Flame Alchemist had only been at the hospital with Edward for two hours. Usually the man made a point to sit with his subordinate, conscious or otherwise, for four hours. That had been, and most likely would continue to be, his schedule in the evenings since the Brig. Gen. had first been admitted in critical condition.

"Yes Col. Hawkeye," Mustang lied to his subordinate, "I have more paperwork at home that I need to finish."

"You finished all your paperwork though Sir." Hawkeye responded, giving the man one last chance to tell her the truth.

"No I didn't Col. Hawkeye," Mustang said, his voice filled with an anguish that never showed on his emotionless face, "I still have some to complete. I'll be needing some time alone."

"Yes Sir." The two walked in silence to the parking lot and then to their respective cars.

Mustang's drive home was in complete silence through dark streets. The winter months were never ones to shed light on anything, but in this instance, the Fuhrer of Amestris didn't give a damn. The security detail that followed in silence was not ignored, but completely unnoticed. No one on the team minded though, they were used to the silence and unobservant way. With them on the job, the Fuhrer was allowed his peace of mind, or turmoil at his own leisure.

AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS

Love me, hate me, just review me and I don't care. Just don't flame. If you want to though, they will be used to make s'mores and feed my hungry-troop mates. One of whom is on here... No flaming just 'cause you want s'mores! You know who you are! Anywho, let me know what you think guys! And guess or give suggestions. Nothing's set in stone. Except torturing Edo-kun. But how I do it might be up to you guys! Please type in the magical box with the clickies! XD