• ❁Alchemic Scars [Editing]❁ •

Chapter 21 - In Comes the Worried Auto-mail Mechanic

(art above does not belong to me!!)

Chapter 21 - In Comes the Worried Auto-mail Mechanic

"Oh my god!!" Winry yells, dropping her box of tools in the doorway. She looks upon Edward's limp form, covered from head to toe in white bandages. He is laid upon his hospital bed, tucked neatly in with clean sheets. At the foot of his bed stands Sergeant Brosh. Next to the soldier, sitting on the ground is Alphonse. Next to the door, leading in Miss Winry is Major Armstrong and Second Lieutenant Ross. "No one told me you were hurt this badly!" Winry informs the boy in the hospital bed, fussing over him like a worried sister would.

"Well, I was hurt only half as badly as I am now but..." Edward tries to explain.

"You can thank the Major for Edward's injuries now," I state. Against the wall, next to Edward's head and closest to Winry is where I stand. I haven't been discharged from the hospital ward yet, but I still hate the idea of being cooped up in a bed all day. So I requested free roaming of the building, giving my word that I will stay within the compound. With much arguing, I managed to get my wish. I'm not officially healed, but I can deal with the pain.

"What do you mean?" The young lady asks, glancing horridly over to the Major standing by the door.

"Once he was informed of how exactly Edward was hurt, the Major came over as quickly as possible. He nearly flattened a few people on his way to this room." I take a glance at the Second Lieutenant who was almost one of those victims. "Long story short; the hug he gave Edward bruised and re-broke some of his bones."

From the corner of my eye, I see the Major strip down to his bare chest and strike a pose. He flexes his muscles as Winry takes a worried glance at the bulging part of his arms and back, quickly starting to scoot away afterwards.

"Major," I scorn. "I suggest you put your shirt back on. It's best not to hospitalise another soldier."

With that, the next time I look up to the man, his shirt is back on, looking like it was never removed.

Winry turns back to Edward to scold him. "Sheesh... Don't scare me like that."

"What are you telling me for? Tell it to him!!" Edward shoots back, pointing defensively to the Major. "Dammit. Thanks to him, I'm stuck in hospital even longer."

"It's your own fault for not training yourself hard enough." The accused man declares, gaining glares from the small male.

"You can't expect him to be a match for you, Major!" Winry exclaims. "But... Even without the wounds inflicted by the Major, your injuries are still really severe."

"This is nothing," Edward reassures the worried female. "Wounds like these heal quick. I'll be out of here in no time. Just you wait." He looks up to Winry after not hearing a remark of any kind from her. After seeing the sad look on her face, he decides to speak up again. "What's wrong?"

"...You were hurt because your auto-mail failed you," she explains, clenching her intertwined hands tighter together and looking down to her feet. "It's my fault for not being thorough enough when I built it. I'm sorry."

Edward looks around to the many staring faces around him. As the room falls silent, gloom ensues.

'Is that what she was worried about?' I think. 'I didn't know she could be so... cute.' I stare at Edward for a moment before I catch his attention. I look him straight in the eyes before indicating towards the downcast female.

"It-It's not your fault Winry." He tells her in a hurried pace. Her head lifts up a bit from the ground as she listens to his words. "First of all, the reason it broke was because I was too rough with it! Your work was flawless as usual! Plus, when my arm broke, it kept from getting even more beat up! So don't worry about it! All right?!!"

Every time a new word leaves his mouth, the look in Winry's eyes seem to brighten. It almost seems like something has worked out well for her. As if she knows something we don't.

"You're right!" She finally replies. "It's not my fault! Okay then, let's talk about my fee for coming out here to make repairs!"

'I take back what I said earlier; She's not cute at all.' I think.

"Hrm! Don't get so excited, Edward Elric." Major Armstrong states, ignoring the female beside him interested in the unfinished glass of milk. "You must take it easy and nurse yourself back to health. And to do that you need plenty of nutritious food and rest."

"...You didn't drink your milk." Winry states bluntly, indicating the bottle of white substance she had found on the boy's bedside table. Winry looks up to Edward with a stern look. At the same time, Edward stubbornly looks in the other direction, away from the female's glare. There is silence for a moment before Edward speaks up.

"...I Hate milk."

"That's why you're always gonna be the size of a pea!!" Winry yells at the boy.

"Shut up!!" He yells back. "I'm not gonna drink some opaque white liquid that was secreted by a cow!!!"

"You're just being stubborn, Edward Elric!!" Armstrong intervenes, taking Winry's side on the matter.

Unnoticed by everyone else but myself, Alphonse sneaks his way through the door and out to the hallway. I look after him in question. He and my siblings have been silent all day. I genuinely wonder if something terrible has happened. I try to brush it off as best I can. I'll confront them later about it.

As the arguing of the two teenagers continues, I take the small glass bottle of milk from atop the table. I hear small screeching sounds from my auto-mail arm as I retract it back to my side. I sigh and look back to the other occupants of the room.

"Hey, where'd Al run off to?" Edward asks, his voice distorted my having Winry pinching his cheek.

I just shrug my shoulders in response, not knowing myself where he intends to go. I raise the bottle in my hands up to touch the edge of my lips. My arm creaks again, and this time I wince a bit, feeling a rush of pain in my shoulder.

"Elleah?" Winry calls to me. "Is something wrong? Your arm didn't sound too great just now."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lie through my teeth. "You need to worry about getting Edward's arm fixed." I raise the milk back up to my lips taking a short swig from it. I sigh with content and close my eyes.

"Hey! That's Ed's milk. He needs to drink that!"