• ❁Alchemic Scars❁ •

Chapter 19 - Waking Up in Hospital

"I see," I mutter. Just as I'm about to go and speak again, the door to the room opens up to reveal two figures.

"Oh!" Sergeant Brosh exclaims as he walks through the door, closely followed by Second Lieutenant Ross. "Edward, Elleah. It's good to see you two are finally up."

"Where are we?" Edward asks immediately.

"It's a clinic run by a friend of Second Lieutenant Ross. We thought it best not to take you two to a military hospital in case they started asking questions. You can stay here until you are well, Sir, Ma'am."

I try to sit up calmly in bed, but wince once or twice in the process. I hear a few pops from my shoulders - metal and flesh - and choose to fall back onto the mattress for safety. I lift the covers up a few centimetres from over my chest to peer down at my body. What I see isn't too pretty; my whole upper and lower torso is wrapped in bandages. The blood from my many wounds is seeping through the fabric and staining it a putrid red-brown colour. My skin is red raw, and my right hip seems to be slightly burnt - my assumption being from the fire I held in my hands in the fight.

"Damn," I mutter, feeling gingerly across the lump that has accumulated on my jaw with my left hand. I wince after pressing a bit too hard on it to see how injured it had actually become. I roll my right, auto-mail shoulder back and forward a few times. I hear some clicks and screeches from the metal; sounds I didn't particularly want to hear right now.

"Damn, it hurts..." Edward grumbles from the bed to my right. He leans forward slightly and clutches his side in pain.

'He must have been hit there pretty badly.' I ponder. I feel a small pull at my chest area at the thought of him being badly hurt. I brush the feeling away, thinking it only to be my injuries flaring up.

He rests his left elbow onto his bent knee, propping himself up as he speaks. "I was so close to finding out the truth... This is no time for me to be stuck in a hospital!"

From beside his bed, Sergeant Brosh and Second Lieutenant Ross share knowing glances to each other. They nod once with straight faces. Brosh makes his way slowly around to my side of the room and stands beside my bed. He helps me sit up in bed - with great difficulty - and turns back to Ross, still holding in her previous position by Edward. They nod once again before speaking in loud voices.

"Fullmetal Alchemist, Sir, Crimson-rose Alchemist, Ma'am!" They shout in unison, hurting my ears with their volume. "Please allow us to apologise in advance for our rudeness!"

"Huh?" Edward mutters in confusion. The two of us stare at the soldiers with sceptical looks.

Without too much hesitation, both Brosh and Ross' hands come swinging down and across Edward's and my cheek. In my groggy state, I am unable to respond in time to stop the slap from happening. All I can think of is that I'm lucky they didn't hit my browsed cheek. After their job is done successfully, the two adults in the room await our responses.

I sit still in bed, looking to the side in the way Sergeant Brosh's hand had hit it too. I don't speak, I don't move, I don't even blink.

"Major Armstrong specifically told you three not to go off on your own!" Ross yells at us in a mothering tone. Edward just stares at her as he listens to her words. "You disobeyed a direct order!! He knew that is was going to be dangerous - that's why he told you to stay put in you lodgings!! Because you disobeyed the Major's orders, you almost got yourselves killed!"

Brosh stands to the side through all of this, agreeing to all of the Second Lieutenant's words. Ross lightly rubs her temples with her pointer and middle finger, making small circles before continuing on with what she has to say.