A/N: This is a really short chapter, kind of just a filler so that we can get onto the fun parts sooner; Automail attachment and rehabilitation! Yay!
Alphonse had been sitting in the hallway for what seemed like the longest time. If he had still had fingernails, he would be biting them. Why was it taking so long? Did something happen, just as he feared?
That's ridiculous, a still rational part of his mind said. It's automail surgery; that always takes a long time, stupid. Still, fear enveloped the darker and more emotional parts of his mind.
Just then, he heard a small pinging noise like a finger tapping metal that he knew must have been someone tapping him. It was eerie to not feel someone tapping your shoulder, and only know that they had tapped you by the strange sounds your body now made when touched or moved. Al turned around to see who had tapped him; it was Winry.
"How did it go?" Al asked.
"Good, it went much better than planned," Winry said pleasantly. Al emitted a sighing noise and his shoulders slumped, awkwardly trying to imitate a deep exhale.
"Thank goodness. I was so scared that something would go wrong..." Al began to stand up. "Can I go see him?"
Winry anxiously thought back to Ed's outburst in the operating room. How would he react to seeing Al while sedated? And how would Al react to seeing Ed sedated? What if Ed said something he didn't mean? So many bad possiblities ran through her head. She decided that keeping the brothers apart would be worse than anything that could possibly happen if they were together.
"Yeah, but I've got to warn you that he's pretty heavily sedated," Winry said. "If he says anything weird or doesn't recognize you, disregard it. That's the drugs talking, not Ed."
Al nodded, then quickly went into the recovery room to see his brother. His eyes scanned the room, finding Ed in the last bed down. Al rushed over to take a closer look. Ed's eyes were closed, and he looked exhausted. His skin was pallid, and glistened with a cold sweat. The skin that surrounded the new, shiny automail ports was swollen and red. Ed's glazed eyes were now weakly opening. He gave Al a confused look at first, then began to recognize him.
"...Al?" Upon hearing his name, Alphonse fumbled for Edward's remaining hand. He held it in his large leather hand gently, afraid of breaking it with his still newfound strength.
"I'm here, Brother," Al said as clearly as he could. He had recently discovered that the new metallic ring to his voice could drown out his words if he didn't speak loudly and clearly enough.
"Good," Ed said, his gruff demeanor beginning to come back. "These automail ports hurt like a bitch."
"Brother!"
"Gimme a break, I'm exhausted," Ed whined.
"Fine, just this once."
Soon after that little quarrel, Ed soon fell asleep. Al observed that tonight, he tossed and turned much less than a few nights before. Overall, his sleep seemed to be getting more peaceful and less fitful. Alphonse hoped that trend would continue; he hated seeing his older brother distressed like that.
Granny Pinako inspected Winry's final blueprints for Edward's new arm and leg. "I don't see any faults in the design," she said. "Are you sure you're up to building them all by yourself?"
"Of course, Gran, I'll be fine," Winry said. "Ed's been my friend since we were toddlers- the least I can do for him is make him a new arm and leg." She slapped a pair of goggles on her face, grabbed her various tools and the jumble of wires and motors that were already on her desk, and began working.
A/N: Hehe, Ed's starting to develop his pottymouth! Al doesn't like that at all XP. Review, please!