Roy Mustang's sister

Chapter 13

When I awoke, I was lying in a hospital bed. I was groggy, and pain radiated from my body, but I was alive.

I froze, eyes flying open and looking around in a panic. Where was Ed? Was he okay? Where exactly was I?

As I lurched upwards, a comforting hand pushed against my shoulder, and a voice rang out beside me.

"Easy. Easy, Reyna. Easy. Ed's fine, if that's what's gotten you so huffy about. Take it easy."

I knew that voice.

I turned and found the smiling face of Hughes beside me. His hand was on my shoulder, and he looked happy to me.

"Hughes?" I asked breathlessly.

That's when I felt the cloth wrapped around my neck.

I lifted my hand, feeling my neck tentatively. It was wrapped all the way around, and it hurt. I felt like I had swallowed sandpaper.

Hughes, seeing that I wasn't going to try to leap out of bed, sighed in relief and turned his body slightly in the chair he was in. He picked up a glass of water with a straw in it from the nightstand and held it up to me.

I reached for it with shaky hands, but Hughes gently batted them away. "Just, let me help you, okay?" He asked gently, a brotherly gaze shining in his eyes.

With a small sigh, it hurt even to do that, I nodded, and allowed him to hold the water up to me.

I drank slowly, and Hughes began to talk.

"Honestly kid, I thought the only one who could scare me that badly was your brother, or my wife, or my darling little daughter. But damn, you can't do anything by halves, can you? Is it just a Mustang trait or something?"

I was finished completely with the glass of water by the time he was done speaking, so I just gave him a sarcastic smirk. My throat felt better, but it still probably wasn't okay to talk too much right now.

Ah, what did I care about self-preservation?

"Sorry, Hughes." I muttered softly with a small, apologetic smile.

Hughes sighed, running a hand through his short hair, before he smiled back at me kindly. "You know, I really need to do something about that lack of being able to stay mad at Mustang's." He said thoughtfully.

Then he leaned forward, putting a strong, reassuring hand on my shoulder, "Just try not to scare me that badly in the future, okay? You're giving a man gray hairs just thinking about it!" He chided softly.

I smiled at him, "Thanks for being here." I kept my voice low and soft, so I didn't irritate my aching throat worse.

Hughes just patted my shoulder, before leaning back. "Roy was here for a bit too. But he didn't stay long. Said something about work. Honestly, couldn't pull that man away from his work with a crane in my opinion!" Hughes joked cheerfully.

The knowledge that my brother had been here, but he hadn't bothered to stay long enough to see me wake up, had me torn between wanting to smile and wanting to cry.

When I didn't say anything, Hughes pinned me with an intelligent look that made him appear as if he was dissecting my every move. "You two had a fight. Didn't you? Roy was tenser than usual. And he wasn't himself. I know he would have stayed until you woke up in the past, but he didn't even stay five minutes. What happened? And don't lie to me. I know you too well." The seriousness in his tone reminded me that Hughes wasn't always a cheerful, happy go lucky guy. He was a man who had seen wars, was incredibly intelligent, and had kept my brother alive for a long time.