Prompt 164, Pills, "Transience"
Title: Transience
Series: Any
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG?
Characters: Trisha, Pinako, Ed, Al, unnamed doctor, mentions of Hohenheim
Summary: She couldn't do that, couldn't stay in bed. She had her boys to take care of.
Notes: I had a bit of a hard time shaving everything down to 500 words, so I apologise if sentences seem clipped.
Trisha knew she wasn't going to live long.
The headache set in on Monday. By Friday she had a slight cough, and by Saturday of the next week one of five meals made it down the sink instead of staying in her stomach and she had a fever.
She'd hoped it was a cold or a stomach bug being passed around, and waited another week before Pinako sent her to the doctor.
As it turned out, she had influenza. It was all over the country, and it was one of the worst bouts anyone had seen, people dying right and left.
The doctor told her it was serious, and the chance she'd be able to fight it off was slim. It was still a possibility, though, and he instructed her to get plenty of bedrest and stay hydrated. He gave her a bottle of painkillers and told her the best thing she could do was make herself comfortable.
But she couldn't do that, couldn't stay in bed. She had her boys to take care of.
She thanked him anyway, and went home. The boys were still in school and as she stood inside the front door of the empty house the information finally sank in, and she put her hand on the kitchen counter to steady herself. She had her boys to take care of. What would they do without their mother?
She numbly read the instructions on the painkillers and took two with a glass of water. She slowly ascended the stairs and changed into her pyjamas, and then sank into bed and pulled the covers up around her ears. What would her boys do without their mother? She closed her eyes and breathed in heavily. What would Van think if he came home and she wasn't there?
She woke to worried golden eyes and small hands patting her side.
"Mom?" Ed asked. Alphonse peered at her owlishly from behind him.
Trisha pushed herself up and patted their heads, looking to the clock.
"Don't worry, mommy just had to take a nap," she reassured. "It's almost dinnertime. What would you boys like?" She pasted a smile on and pulled the covers away.
"Stew!" Alphonse piped.
"Yeah, stew!" Edward agreed.
"Stew it is."
She prepared dinner dizzily, and gave Alphonse a smile when a coughing fit that lasted almost a full minute interrupted her chopping potatoes.
It wasn't long before they decided something was wrong and went to Pinako.
Pinako patted Trisha on the shoulder and she woke with a start.
"Pinako," she murmured, eyeing the clock. "Where are the boys?"
"School. You have to eat, and then back to sleep."
"I can't, I have to-" she doubled over coughing, and Pinako rubbed her back until it passed.
"Eat, take these, and then sleep," she ordered, shaking two pills out of the bottle and setting them next to the soup she'd brought up. She left before Trisha could protest.
She lay down and closed her eyes, holding back a sob.
Series: Any
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG?
Characters: Trisha, Pinako, Ed, Al, unnamed doctor, mentions of Hohenheim
Summary: She couldn't do that, couldn't stay in bed. She had her boys to take care of.
Notes: I had a bit of a hard time shaving everything down to 500 words, so I apologise if sentences seem clipped.
Trisha knew she wasn't going to live long.
The headache set in on Monday. By Friday she had a slight cough, and by Saturday of the next week one of five meals made it down the sink instead of staying in her stomach and she had a fever.
She'd hoped it was a cold or a stomach bug being passed around, and waited another week before Pinako sent her to the doctor.
As it turned out, she had influenza. It was all over the country, and it was one of the worst bouts anyone had seen, people dying right and left.
The doctor told her it was serious, and the chance she'd be able to fight it off was slim. It was still a possibility, though, and he instructed her to get plenty of bedrest and stay hydrated. He gave her a bottle of painkillers and told her the best thing she could do was make herself comfortable.
But she couldn't do that, couldn't stay in bed. She had her boys to take care of.
She thanked him anyway, and went home. The boys were still in school and as she stood inside the front door of the empty house the information finally sank in, and she put her hand on the kitchen counter to steady herself. She had her boys to take care of. What would they do without their mother?
She numbly read the instructions on the painkillers and took two with a glass of water. She slowly ascended the stairs and changed into her pyjamas, and then sank into bed and pulled the covers up around her ears. What would her boys do without their mother? She closed her eyes and breathed in heavily. What would Van think if he came home and she wasn't there?
She woke to worried golden eyes and small hands patting her side.
"Mom?" Ed asked. Alphonse peered at her owlishly from behind him.
Trisha pushed herself up and patted their heads, looking to the clock.
"Don't worry, mommy just had to take a nap," she reassured. "It's almost dinnertime. What would you boys like?" She pasted a smile on and pulled the covers away.
"Stew!" Alphonse piped.
"Yeah, stew!" Edward agreed.
"Stew it is."
She prepared dinner dizzily, and gave Alphonse a smile when a coughing fit that lasted almost a full minute interrupted her chopping potatoes.
It wasn't long before they decided something was wrong and went to Pinako.
Pinako patted Trisha on the shoulder and she woke with a start.
"Pinako," she murmured, eyeing the clock. "Where are the boys?"
"School. You have to eat, and then back to sleep."
"I can't, I have to-" she doubled over coughing, and Pinako rubbed her back until it passed.
"Eat, take these, and then sleep," she ordered, shaking two pills out of the bottle and setting them next to the soup she'd brought up. She left before Trisha could protest.
She lay down and closed her eyes, holding back a sob.