One Foot In Front of the Other

Chapter 2 Grave Consequences

Den barked to announce our approach, though it was unnecessary; Ed had been screaming Granny's name since the moment the house had come into sight. The two brothers stumbled up the steps just as Granny yanked open the door, with Winry right on her heels. Their eyes widened as they took in the scene, emphasized by Ed's breathless begging. "Please, help her..." He was panting heavily from the long run, and from his own wounds, yet his concern was solely for me. Al wasted no time in getting me to one of the beds the Rockbells used for patients, but backed out of the room as soon as he'd set me on it; a seven foot suit of armor tends to get in the way, and he didn't want to slow anybody down. Ed stayed, though, hovering incessantly. "Ed... he's hurt too..." It was a struggle to speak, but somehow I managed it. Winry glanced towards Ed, but he shook his head. "Worry about her. I'll be fine." He was lying, but I knew arguing would do nothing but waste my already fading strength; Edward Elric was the most stubborn person I knew. My thoughts were sidetracked by Winry's groan. "What? What is it?!" Ed couldn't stop the hint of panic that bled into his tone, though he hid it quickly. Winry bit her lip and glanced at Granny, waiting for a more experienced confirmation. Granny nodded. "Her arm... and her leg. Between the damage from the shrapnel, and the damage from the actual explosion, they're too mangled for us to save. We just don't have the means to do it here. Our only option is to amputate them. We'll replace them with full steel auto-mail prosthetics." A dark look came over Ed's face at Granny's words. "No." Winry looked up at him in astonishment. "Ed, it's her only chance!" He shook his head stubbornly. "I'll take her to a hospital. They'll be able to do more..." He trailed off lamely, desperation clear on his face as he searched frantically for another option; any way he might have overlooked that would keep me from sharing his fate. "Brother," Al said softly from where he stood in the doorway, "There's not enough time. You said so yourself." Ed winced. "No, you can't do this!" He cried angrily, "You can't mess with her life like this! You can't condemn someone to this agony when they have another choice...!!" Tears welled up in Winry's eyes. "Edward, she doesn't have another choice. If we don't do this, she's going to die." Ed recoiled as if Winry had slapped him. He had no words left to argue. He knew that she was right; had known it from the very beginning. His eyes fell to the floor, and he wouldn't meet her gaze, or mine. Panic gripped me as I realized what was about to happen. "Could you at least give her something to... or... or knock her out so she doesn't have to--" Ed's voice was thick with emotion, and halted unsteadily when Winry placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ed," She said gently, "You know the nature of the surgery. We can't do that. Besides, look at her. If she passes out, she's not waking up." Ed's hand involuntarily moved to the scars from his own surgery. "I just... I don't want her to suffer like... like I did..." He whispered shakily. "Ed, sometimes there's things that can't be helped." Granny sighed. Then the two left his side to prepare for my surgery. "No... please... no...!" I begged weakly, with the last of my strength. Surely this couldn't be happening! Ed's face contorted with pain at my words. "I'm sorry." He whispered, fighting tears as he turned away from me, "I'm so sorry." He fled the room, furious at his inability to protect me, and suddenly unable to face me. Al sighed and went after him. I heard Ed cry out in fury, and the house shook as he punched the wall. I heard Al trying to calm him down, but he was too angry. "What good is it?!" He screamed, his voice echoing through the building, "What good is being a state alchemist; a dog of the military? What good is it being their human weapon if I can't even use my power when I need it the most?!" Then I think he was crying; crying broken, heart-wrenching sobs. I couldn't be sure, since I was so out of it and since Ed rarely displayed his deepest emotions, but it hurt to listen; it sounded like he was falling apart. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew that I couldn't because I was the source of his pain. That fact tore my heart out.

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 So this chapter is a little shorter than the last one. Since I already have this all written out it's pretty hard to find good stopping points since I rarely divide my stuff into chapters as I'm writing it. So that being said, some chapters might be short and others might be super long lol I have no idea yet. All in all this stuff took me a couple of days to write but I'm still not sure how many pages it is when it's typed so yeah. I should be posting more often as I now have freedom to post... (My editor got a wattpad account and is following me that way so I have permission to post on my own now) so it shouldn't be long before I have all my chapters up. I'll try to make the next one longer, but no promises. Enjoy!