Rob Lucci stared out the window of his hospital room. Recovering from the near-fatal wounds he had received from his battle with Monkey D. Luffy. How long had it been? Since the battle? Since his defeat?
A day? A week? A year? Or even a lifetime?
He didn't know. It didn't really matter anyway. All that mattered was that he had lost. Him! The deadly leader of the infamous CP9! To a pirate! A rookie!
It was unbearable. He felt as if he could die from the shame. A tremendous feeling of disgust and self-hatred overcame his being as he fisted the sheets beneath him on the hospital bed he lay on. He suddenly felt sick.
Why was he even still alive? He was a failure! A disgrace to the name of the World Government. He had completely failed in enforcing "justice". Nothing more then a tool that had broken and lost it's use. So why? Why!?
Why hadn't he just died!?
He continued asking himself this; even as the nurse entered the room to give him his daily examination.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
The soft voice surprised him as he looked up to meet a pair of concerned brown eyes.
"Fine," he muttered.
The nurse's didn't look convinced, but choose not to pry. Instead, she rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to take his pulse.
Lucci made not attempt to fight her or interfere in her work. Choosing only to resume staring out of the window, at the blue sky
"By the way," she said, as she refilled his medicine bag. "Your nakama stopped by to see how you were doing. Unfortunately, it's after visiting hours, so I'm afraid I had to ask them to come back tomorrow instead."
"Hm," he mumbled, not really listening to her.
"They were an interesting bunch. Two rather large men, one with long rose hair and the other with a funny mouth and a high voice, were positively wailing, when I told them you couldn't have any visitors. I felt so bad for them. Then a slender woman with glasses came in and practically dragged them out by their ears. I felt even worse for them after that," she laughed.
Lucci nodded and resisted cracking a small smirk. Kalifa was indeed terrifying when she was mad.
"Then this other gentleman; couldn't have been much older then 20, but spoke like an old man, told me to let you know that they'd be back in the morning, around 9 o'clock."
She leaned in a little and lowered her voice, less someone overheard her.
"In all honesty, we're not supposed to let in visitors until 10, but I decided to make an exception. They seem like good-hearted folks. Even the one who looked as if he was going to plow through the reception if he couldn't get in. I'm glad that bull-haired man held him back," she said smiling as she leaned back.
"You've got good friends there, Mr. Lucci. Most people nowadays, wouldn't have put in so much effort into helping you as they did. You should have seen them. Dancing in the rain to earn money for your operation. Poor things were absolutely soaked to the bone.
He made no indication that he had heard her. No reply. But the nurse just smiled and pushed back her bangs out of her eyes. His examination was finished, so with a promise of lunch being sent to him within the hour, she made to leave.
"They didn't have to..."
She stopped and turned back to him. Lucci was fisting the sheets again in his hands and staring down at them. He spoke in a calm voice, but she could still hear the pain behind it.
"They didn't have to try so hard to save me. I-I didn't ask them to. They should have just left me there. Left me to die! I'm nothing more then a monster. A worthless monster...!"
He fell silent as the nurse looked at him.
There was silence for moment. Then...
"A monster? I don't think so?"
He looked up at her to find the young woman glancing nonchalantly at his cart in her hands. He snapped at her.
"You don't know what I've done! How I failed! How many people I-!"
"I don't need to know!" she spoke with an astounding amount of authority that shocked the man into silence.
Her eyes fell on his again as she looked at him without a single ounce of hatred or judgment in them. Just calm authority and assurance.
"A true monster wouldn't have nakama who care so much about him as yours do."
She pointed to the window.
"See?"
He turned and saw a small white pigeon with a black tie hanging from its neck sitting on the window sill.
"Hattori?"
The bird cooed happily and a swiftly flew to him to take his rightful spot on his master's right shoulder.
Lucci made to turn back to the nurse, only to see that she was already half-way out the door.
"Make sure you don't let the other doctors see your little friend. Like I told you, visiting hours "are" over after all. But, I guess I can make another exception. Just this once."
And with that, she left.
Lucci absentmindedly stroked Hattori's feathers, while the nurse's words echoed in his head. That and the words of a certain Strawhat pirate, as well.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY NAKAMA!!!!!!!"
He smirked to himself.
"Nakama, huh?"
Heh. Interesting. Maybe there was hope for a monster like him after all.