Chapter 12

A Chapter by Keevan

He shot me, I thought, anger boiling in my veins. I couldn't remember the last time I had suffered a wound like that on the job. It made me angry.

I gasped and fell on my knees, holding my side. He didn't shoot me completely, only grazed me with the bullet. But it still hurt like hell.

"Damn it!" I screamed with force. That's when I remembered that the gun I put back in my holster was still loaded. Ignoring the pain in my side, I took the gun out of the holster and shot without aiming.

"Lucy, calm down!" Alphonse shrieked. The bullet missed Togi's head by an inch.

"DAMN IT!" I screamed again. I stood up and shrugged off my sweatshirt, revealing the white tanktop underneath, which was now half red on the bottom. I removed my hand from my wound and took a deep breath, digging it in my pocket to grab another round of bullets.

That's when I noticed Edward. He walked over with his head low and stood in front of me.

"Fullmetal, what are you--" I started.

"You b*****d," Edward said severely to Togi, cutting me off. "You're going to pay for what you did...." Edward clapped his hands together and pulled his right arm back as if he were going to shoot a bow in archery.

What I saw, I didn't expect.

His arm was made out of metal, or steel. I wasn't sure what it was, but I think it was called AutoMail.

And a big dagger-like spike ripped through his glove and was attached to his AutoMail arm.

Something tugged at my memory. A forgotten memory that was trying to be

remembered....

Either that, or I was lightheaded by the pain and blood-loss. I let go of it, thinking that was the case.

Edward advanced toward Togi, who looked amazed and frightened by Edward's surprise.

"You!" he shouted. "You're that Fullmetal kid!"

"That's right!" Edward shouted as he lunged at Togi. "I AM!"

I couldn't see what happened next; I collapsed, my hand clamped on my side. I dropped the last three bullets, and held up the gun, not looking up.

I didn't care if I shot Edward or not, I just wanted Togi dead. I shot the gun three times, and then I blacked out.

______________________________________________________________________________

AutoMail arm. HE had one. The Bad Man.

I was eight years old. My mother was a frail woman who couldn't care for my sister and I. My father, the Bad Man, was bad to her, and to us.

He hit us with his AutoMail hand. It hurt really bad.

I never had strong legs. My legs would always falter when I was pushed too hard, mostly when I had to get him a beer, and he would yell at me and hit me if I collapsed and dropped it.

"Damn you!" he would shout. My sister would come to my side and help me, but she would just get hit, too.

The Bad Man would sometimes take her to his bedroom, saying it was for big girls only, and after a long time, she would come out, her dress slightly different than when she had it on before, as if she took it off and put it on again. She would just smile at me and tell me to forget about it. Mother would start to cry.

Mother soon died. The Bad Man strangled her. My sister tried to care for me, for I was the youngest.

"Keep your chin up," she told me when I was crying in front of mother's grave. "Don't cry, Lucille. Mama's just returning to the Earth. We'll see her again someday."

She always cheered me up. The Bad Man didn't like that. My sister.....he strangled her, too.

What was her name......? I think it was....

______________________________________________________________________________

I woke up before I could grasp the name.

I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings, trying to shake off the memories that poured themselves into my brain when I slept. How long had I been out. The ceiling looked bright, so it must've been the next morning. I felt another presence in the room and looked to my left, seeing Edward sitting crosslegged on the bed across the room.

"Good, you're awake," Edward said. "Don't scare us like that."

"Us...?" I mumbled. I was in my room at the inn.

I mumbled, "Alphonse is...?" I didn't see him anywhere in the room.

"Yes, Al was worried, too," he said. "He went to go get you something to eat, I think."

"Togi...?"

"You have good aim," Edward said. "You shot my leg once, and it rebounded and got Togi in the knee. The other two bullets got his leg. He's been arrested and taken to Central already."

"Bounced off of...your leg?"

"My leg is AutoMail, too," he said as he slipped off his boot and showed me his foot. It was mechanical.

I felt dizzy. I turned my head back and stared at the ceiling.

"There's a woman doctor staying here," Edward said, still talking. "She was the one who cleaned and bandaged your wound. She said not to get up or move around today. And, we're not supposed to leave Genheim for another day or so. So, I guess it's kind of in our favor."

"The report," I said, remembering.

"Already taken care of."

I sighed. "I'm bored already."

There was a knock on the door, and it opened, the sound of metal footsteps filling the room

"I'm back," Alphonse said quietly as he closed the door. "Is she awake yet?"

"Yep," I said as I stiffly sat up, feeling my wound stinging a bit.

"What did I say?!" Edward shouted, standing up from the bed. "Don't get up!" I ignored him and reached for my cigarettes that were on the bedside table. But Edward snatched them away.

"Not gonna have you smoking in bed," Edward said as he put them in his coat pocket. I sighed and hung my head.

"Um, I got you some apples," Alphonse said as he set a basket full of red apples on my bed in front of me. I stared at them, not feeling like eating.

"No thanks, Alphonse," I said as I took a hold of the handle of the basket and set the apples on the floor. I laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

"Come on, Al," Edward said. "let's let her get some sleep." I closed my eyes as the footsteps, metal and non-metal, left the room and traveled down the hallway.

"His arm...wasn't real," I mumbled to myself. "Neither...was his leg." I opened my eyes and sat up, remembering the sleek metal arm turning into a spike caused by alchemy. And then I remembered that day in Central, when Alphonse had said something about Human Transmutaion and keeping my limbs.

Did Edward and Alphonse commit the taboo like I did? Is that why Edward has missing limbs, and Alphonse might not have a body?

My head was buzzing, and I felt a headache coming on. I laid back down and rolled on my side, covering my head with my pillow. I remembered the picture that I left back at Central Command, of the four little kids. Was the older girl with brown hair my sister? I couldn't tell because I couldn't think of the dream and the picture at the same time.

"Damn, damn, damn," I muttered as I sat up again. I rubbed my eyes and lifted the covers, getting out of bed. My wound still hurt. I lifted my shirt a little, noticing that I was wearing completely different clothes than what I came in, and saw that I had white bandages wrapped around my middle. They were a little red on the right side where I got grazed by the bullet.

I was wearing a navy blue T-shirt with dark blue plaid pajama pants, so I started wondering where my other clothes were.

That's when there was a knock at the door.

"Yo, who is it?" I called, sitting back on the edge of the bed. The door opened, and a woman walked in carrying my clothes in a neat and folded pile.

"I thought I told Mr. Elric to tell you not to get up," she huffed. "Oh, well, he said you'd probably be a tough customer, anyway." I guess she was the doctor who was staying at the inn.

"My name is Dr. Kari Marcoh," she said, closing the door and walking towards me, aiming to hand me my clothes. "You can call me Dr. Marcoh."

"Dr. Marcoh," I said, taking my clothes. "you're a complete stranger, and you changed my clothes while I was unconscious. Kind of creepy, wouldn't you say?" She just giggled and said, "That's what doctors do, believe it or not. Do you feel any pain?"

"Not a lot," I said, standing up again. "Just kind of stiff, and it kind of stings a little, whether I'm moving or not."

"It should be like that for today, but it'll be better tomorrow," she said. "Tell me, who is your legal guardian?"

I froze.

I couldn't answer that. I had no guardian.

"Well, me," I said. "I depend on myself, mostly."

"Can you take care of the medical bill then?" she asked, eying me suspiciously.

"All you did was see me naked and bandage a gunshot wound," I said loudly. "How much could that possibly cost?"

She handed me a piece of paper, and I almost fainted a second time.

prev chapter