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When Winry Rockbell called around three in the morning, Roy had fallen out of bed trying to get to the phone in time. It was rare for him to get a call from the Elric brothers let alone the Rockbells. His initial assumption was that Edward had gotten into trouble again. However he groggily remembered that both Fullmetal and Alphonse were back in town and not out on a mission. So he grew a little wary of why Miss Rockbell would call so late in the night.
Roy picked up the phone, “Hello?”
“Colonel Mustang? It's Winry.” The person on the other end of the line said.
He frowned, “Miss Rockbell? It's quite late, what's wrong?”
Winry laughed a little on the other end though it was more of a nervous sort of giggle than anything funny, “Well about that… Do you think you could go to the hospital? It's Ed, Alphonse called and said Ed's sick. Grandma and I can't catch a train till morning.”
Roy's frown deepened, “Why didn't they call me then, if you don't mind my asking?”
The girl sighed and suddenly Roy got the impression that things were a little more serious than they seemed, “From what Alphonse told me, it seems Ed's having issues with his automail. If it's what we think it is, then they'll likely need to take Ed in for surgery. Alphonse is trying to keep Ed in his bed at the moment so that's why I called. If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you be there? At least until we get there? Ed listens to you.”
He resisted the urge to laugh at the notion of Edward doing anything resembling listening to him, “Yeah, yeah I'll be there.”
Winry let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you so much Colonel! We'll be there in the morning, for now keep Edward calm and in the building. Thank you again!”
Roy said his goodbyes as the young Rockbell girl hung up. He was quite awake now though he still put on some coffee. While his lifeblood brewed, Roy threw on some proper clothes. He eyed the ignition gloves under his pillow and decided against bringing the cursed gloves into a place of healing. Tying his shoes and grabbing his coffee, he made his way to the hospital. It didn't take him long at all, given it was Fullmetal they were talking about. Upon arrival the nurses pointed him in the right direction though Roy found that he didn't really need to follow the directions so much as he needed to head toward the obnoxious screaming. He stalked along the corridor until he rounded a corner to see Alphonse standing in a doorway.
“-brother you know what Winry said, you must stay in bed!”
“No! I'm not staying here for them to poke at me and bring out needles!”
Ah, there was Edward. He didn't sound too terribly sick though? Roy was curious as to what exactly was wrong with his subordinate. He came up to Alphonse who jumped in surprise and moved out of the doorway which had Edward, who was on one leg, tripping through it and crash landing on the floor.
Fullmetal groaned, “What the hell Al…”
Alphonse greeted Roy happily, “Colonel Mustang! You're just in time.”
Edward shot up at mention of Roy's presence and Roy smirked, “Colonel Bastard is here? Al you traitor!”
The younger Elric simply shrugged, “I didn't call him. Winry did.”
If Edward was reluctant to see Roy, he all but paled at the mention of the blonde girl. Alphonse shuffled his brother back into the hospital room and Roy gave the annoyed nurses a sympathetic smile. Edward grumbled as he sat back in his bed. He was in the standard pale hospital clothes and an IV that Roy hadn't noticed prior was connected to his hand. Fullmetal was missing his automail leg as well as his automail arm. Curious.
Roy raised an eyebrow, “So what exactly had me here at four in the morning.”
Edward grumbled and looked to the wall as Alphonse sighed in exhaustion, “Brother has an infection in his ports.”
He didn't really know what that meant, being unfamiliar with the inner workings of automail and all, but he assumed that was fairly serious given it had Edward in the hospital. The kid was notorious for loathing all places of medicine. Roy had been chaperone to enough physicals to know that by now. Roy nodded along with Alphonse's explanation.
“The doctors want to perform an operation to remove the infection. They gave brother some antibiotics for now, though if he gets any worse they may operate before Pinako gets here…” Alphonse finished sounding concerned.
Roy could see why, it could be worrying to not have someone you trust cutting you open. Still, he had a feeling he was missing something important about the whole situation… regardless, he excused himself to call Hawkeye and let her know that he likely would be late to the office.
The phone rang once before his lieutenant picked up, “Colonel?”
He was the only one who would call at such an hour so it didn't surprise him, “Sorry for the early wake up Lieutenant…”
She hummed on the other end of the line and Roy continued, “I'll be late to the office today, Edward has gotten himself admitted to the hospital. Something about an infection? The Rockbells will be here later in the morning once the trains start.”
Roy could hear the concern laced within Hawkeye's voice, “I see. Take care of Edward while you're there, I'll let the team know.”
They said their goodbyes and Roy began walking back to Fullmetal's room. He made it all the way back right as Edward threw up. Alphonse held a trash can for his brother while gently patting Fullmetal on the back. He'd only been gone for about thirty minutes but in that timeframe Edward had lost most of his color. Roy watched as his subordinate heaved into the can.
Alphonse called him over, “Colonel would you mind? I need to talk to one of the nurses.”
Roy nodded, “Of course Alphonse.”
Edward weakly tried to stop his brother, “Al, I'm fine. Dont- don't tell them, please.”
Roy could feel the guilt radiate from the metal armor as Alphonse kept walking. He did not want to be in Alphonse's position needless to say. With the youngest Elric gone, that left just Roy and Edward. Seeing as most of the vomiting was over with, he sat the bucket of bile back on the ground.
Edward glared at him, “What?”
Roy rolled his eyes, “Nothing. Just thinking.”
His subordinate scoffed, “You can do that? I didn't think you had it in you. What could you possibly think about anyways.”
He ignored the insult, “Well I was wondering why you're so against getting help for this. Clearly you don't feel well.”
Edward looked at him, eyebrows furrowed like he was trying to figure out some sort of puzzle. Like Roy had said something that made no sense.
Edward frowned, “How much do you know about automail exactly?”
Roy snorted, “I'm an alchemist Fullmetal, not an automail engineer.”
His subordinate glared, “Just answer the question smartass!”
He sighed, “Not much. Some guys back in Ishval had automail but I don't know anything aside from the basics.”
Edward's gaze hardened, “Are you aware it's connected to your nerves?”
Roy nodded, “Yes, I told you I know the basics.”
“Well clearly you don't because then you'd know that to make sure the automail is connected to the nerve endings, the recipient has to be awake and feeling.” Edward snapped.
Roy frowned but Edward wasn't done.
“When you get an infection they dismantle parts of the ports which are connected directly to me. Then the ports have to be fixed and reconnected. It hurts like nothing you've felt before.” Edward finished.
Roy's mouth felt dry. He understood the desire to leave now. At least, a little better than he had before. Edward was scared. Roy didn't mean it in a teasing way either. Fullmetal was easily the most stubborn person he'd ever had the displeasure to work with and Roy had seen the kid take on threats that no sane person would have. He'd had the pleasure of seeing first hand on multiple occasions just how high Edward's pain tolerance was. To say that Edward Elric was scared was more a testament to how terrible the situation has to be.
He didn't continue the conversation after that. Instead he sat like a coward in the chair next to Edward's bed. Eventually Alphonse returned and nurses took Fullmetal away to prepare him for surgery. Apparently if the infection got too bad it could get into his blood which could kill him. Theoretically the antibiotics would help prevent that but time would tell. It was such a tiny thing too. If Roy cut himself and it got infected then he just had to clean it and redress the wound. If it got bad maybe he'd get the wound cleaned professionally but it still wouldn't be the endeavor that automail was.
Edward was truly remarkable. Roy was reminded of that on a more common basis than what he really wanted.
The procedure wasn't a long one, when they returned Edward to them he was barely lucid due to anesthetics. Alphonse left him temporarily with Roy as he wanted to call Pinako to alert the older woman of Edward's state. So once more Roy was left alone with Edward.
He was still pale, skin a little too clammy. Edward had bandaging on his stumps where the infection had been. The kid fidgeted though. Twisting and shaking violently. It made Roy concerned. The second Alphonse returned he asked the younger about it.
“Is he okay?”
Alphonse cocked his head at him before he realized what Roy meant, “Yeah it's normal for him. Brother has never really processed anesthesia very well. The lack of limbs doesn't help either. Most doctors either dose him too much or too little.”
Roy frowned as a wave of pity washed over him. Edward was certainly a trooper for dealing with it. He watched in morbid fascination as Edward twisted and sweat, mumbling anxiously despite his eyes still being closed. Roy tried to make out what he was saying to no avail.
“Mom.” Alphonse supplied.
Roy raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”
Alphonse hummed, “He's saying ‘Mom’. It's a nightmare. He gets them a lot when put under like that.”
He felt a little nauseated at that. Because suddenly the body in the hospital bed was too childlike. Roy was forced to remember unbidden that Edward was still a child and so was Alphonse. A child who was dealing with the pains of being a double automailee and the grief of losing their only parent, as well as the likely heavy burden of guilt that came with turning your brother into a metal monster. When Roy met Edward that day he had seen a fire in that shell of a boy's eyes. The desire to change the situation they had created. A burning, raging fire. Roy knew fires.
Roy discreetly took Edward's hand in his own and ran his thumb over it. He wasn't good at soothing people, let alone kids. But Edward wasn't really your average kid so he had faith that it was enough.
After this was all over, Roy made a mental note to pick up some books on automail.