hmm. My take on the first part, i.e. Ed's denial. I read it thinking that Ed was gravely injured, as he often is, and was just denying how serious his injuries were. He has survived being taken apart by the Gate AND being run thru with a metal beam after all. Ed hates hospitals so I was of the opinion that he was downplaying his injuries to get out of the hospital that much sooner. Roy bantering with Ed helped to reinforce this opinion. "Surely," I said to myself, "Roy wouldn't be teasing Ed if Ed wasn't going to get better. Right?" It made it seem like, even tho Ed had yet again visited Death's doorstep, he was on the mend and they were doing their usual back and forth bickering to reassure themselves that it was soon to be situation normal again. It wasn't until the doctor said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Elric. You have a terminal illness", that the reality of this fic jumped up and slapped me in the face. Knocked the breath right out of me you did. For a minute, I was actually mad at Ed for lying to himself and us. His plans for calling, going home, and writing letters to Al suddenly seemed so pathetically sad. :( I can appreciate Ed's desire to get out of the hospital and face his end elsewhere because there can't be a more lonely death than one in a hospital room. :(

The second part, the dream/flashback, confused me at first. It didn't seem to fit until I realized that it actually was a dream/flashback! (Didn't feel too smart about that one. ^_^) I gather from this that Ed is dying of whatever it was that Trisha had. The small solace I get from that is that Trisha didn't seem to die in pain and that makes this a bit more bearable. *wibbles* The second part here didn't come across as being "morbid and tear-jerking" probably because by now we've all accepted Trisha's death and it doesn't have the impact it once did. :/

Oh, side bit here, the girl calling Ed "Pa" and Winry "Ma" made me cringe a bit. Not meaning to sound snobbish or anything but that sounds so...country. >.< Ed never called Trisha "Ma" (it was always mom or mother. we won't discuss what he called Hohenheim!) and as well as I can remember, Winry never referred to her parents by such names either so why the girl called Ed and Winry by these names seemed a bit odd. :/

Direct answers to your questions now. (Can I babble or what? ^_^) First section was very good. It's a very nice little set-up for that body slam of reality you got me with. :) Ed seems in character if not somewhat deranged in his denial. Necessary. I don't see why it wouldn't be. It IS the story after all. ^_^ Dreary and heavy. mmm. Those words are too strong. Heartbreaking and heartwrenching - yes. A story about our beloved Ed dying can't help but be a downer but dreary and heavy? No. Tedious and strange - no, no, just sad with all the dying and deranged denial. :(