A/N: Hah, my first multi-chapter fick in English. Hope you'll like and enjoy it! I dedicate the whole story for my beloved KareKazeshini and Dicodin. I also want to thank IshiIchiMari for being my wonderful beta. Love you all.
It was mid afternoon when Roronoa Zoro, a green-haired man, entered the enormous building of St Joseph's Hospice. He had been a volunteer here since he was twenty-two and he never once regretted his decision. His friend, Saga, talked him into it, and now—after four years spent here—Zoro was really grateful to the man. He liked, no... he loved being here—helping those in a great need of having someone near them and making them feel less lonely. By coming here he felt like he was doing something important, good.
He approached the reception and leaned on a tabletop.
"Yo, Camie," he said to the girl standing behind the desk, "what's up?"
"Hi, Zoro," she greeted him with a sweet smile. "Nothing new, everything's the same as always. Here's your ID." Camie gave him a plastic card with his name, surname, photograph and a big inscription saying VOLUNTEER on it.
"Thanks." He started walking away but he was stopped by the girl.
"Zoro, wait! I forgot to tell you something!"
"Huh? What?" He turned around and looked at her, raising his eyebrow.
"Saga said he wouldn't be here today and asked if you could look after the patient he's taking care of. His name's Sanji Black, room twenty-three on the second floor."
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Roronoa smiled and went to the locker room.
He undressed, slid the ID card into one of his pockets and checked what was yet to be done and who should be visited. He had a lot of tasks at St Joseph's Hospice; he cleaned and spent time with patients in many different ways—if there were kids, he played games with them, read them books or went for a walk. If he looked after adults—he mostly talked and listened to them or just was by their side so they weren't alone. He gave patients their medicine after it had been prepared by nurses or doctors. He helped their families dealing with the great pain of someone they loved being terminally ill. He told them how to treat them, how to talk to them and how to give them their support. Sometimes he was also assigned to take care of only one person. He loved this part of his work the most, but also hated it in the same time since it always hurt so much when they died.
Zoro didn't have his "own" patient anymore because the little girl who was under his care passed away two weeks ago. For the green-haired man that was something horrible since he had known her for almost six months. He really got used to the kid; she was innocent and truly amazing due to her never-ending optimism and happiness, despite of her serious condition. She always smiled and laughed from the bottom of her heart even when she was in terrible pain. She walked around the hospital and talked to everyone that seemed sad, saying things that gave them hope. For Zoro it was just something incredible. She had so much strength and willpower in her, that it looked almost unrealistic. Her death was a big loss not only for him but for other people, too.
He sighed quietly and looked at the schedule again. Everything was done for now so he decided to check on this Sanji guy. Zoro wondered what kind of person he was. Depressed? Happy and enjoying every day as much as he could? He had no idea—Saga refused to talk about hospice and people living there after working hours. And when men were working they never had enough time to exchange any words with each other, they were just too busy.
Zoro walked towards the room number twenty-three and when he finally got there, he knocked twice and, not receiving any response, peeked in. He saw a tall, pale and slim man with blond hair sitting on a windowsill. Something about the man hit Roronoa—the fact that his aura was a mixture of depression, anger and total indifference. His facial expression was melancholic as well as apathetic. Some would even say he looked almost bored. Leaning his head against the cold glass, he looked out the window with an empty gaze.
The very moment Zoro saw him, he knew the blond was this type of a person who had lost all their hope—they didn't want to live anymore, they didn't see any reason in fighting the illness; they just didn't care about anything at all. Observing patients like Sanji made Roronoa sad and hurt.
After a while, the green-haired decided to step in the room.
"Hi," he said with a little smile, "I'm Zoro, one of the volunteers here." The blond didn't glance at him, nor did he say anything. He just kept looking out of the window with invariable face. "Saga won't be here today. He asked if I could take care of you, so here I am." Roronoa informed the blond, still not getting any answer. "I hope you don't mind that little change, do you?" Silence, no response. Zoro started considering the possibility that the other man was deaf or mute. He tried to draw him into a conversation once more. "Your name is Sanji, right? How old are you?"
Sanji Black finally gave him a quick glance. He had only one visible eye—the other one hidden behind a fringe—which was blue, dark and utterly matt. Their eyes met only for a few mere seconds, though, since the blond almost immediately turned his stare at the window again. Zoro got the message. He was seen as an intruder and a nuisance, and he didn't like that. The guy's attitude quickly started to get on his nerves. He hated when people treated him like that—insolently ignoring him—without saying a word. The blonde could have said something like "leave me alone" or "I don't want to talk to you" or even "get the hell out", he could have said anything, and that would be okay. He could have pointed at the door giving him to understand he was unwanted—that would do fine, too. But remaining all silent and motionless, ignoring the person who came to help, was just... Just... Well, unfair and inappropriate.
He collected his cool and sighed. "Okay," he said, "it's time for your medicine so I'll go get it and be right back. Do you need anything?" Once again, he received no reply. He slightly clenched and unclenched his one fist. "Fine. Think about it and if you need something, tell me when I'm back."
He left the room and started thinking about the blond. He wondered if he was always like that or it was just because Zoro was a stranger? Did Sanji act differently around Saga? Did he ever smile? He truly wanted to know.
He stopped in front of the door with NURSE ROOM sign on it and knocked.
"Please, come in." Roronoa did and greeted a lady in her mid-forties with a nod. "Oh, good afternoon, Zoro. What brings you here?" She asked.
"Good afternoon. I'm here to take medicine for the patient, Sanji Black, who lives in the room number twenty-three," he answered and quickly added, "I also want to ask a few questions about him."
"Mister Black?" The lady seemed a little surprised. "Why? Isn't Saga taking care of him?"
"Usually, yes, but today he couldn't come so I'm in charge instead."
"Oh, I see, I see... Fine, I'll prepare the pills." She got up from her chair and approached a big, glass cabinet. "So, what do you want to know about him?"
"Um," Zoro wasn't quite sure what he should ask first, "why does he live here, for example?"
"Well, mister Black has lung cancer," she replied in a sad tone. "He went through one operation and a couple of sessions of chemotherapy but, unfortunately, none of it helped... He has year and a half ahead of him, maybe even less."
The man put his hands into his pockets and shifted back and forth and bit his lip slightly. "Does anyone visit him?"
"Not really." The woman put four pills on a small, white plate and handed it to Zoro. "There are those two young men who do visit him, but it's really rare. The first one, who is mister Black's childhood friend, comes once a week and the second, I believe he studies medicine from what I've heard, once per two or three weeks..."
"Does he have no family or what?" Roronoa was surprised. Only two people visited him? And so seldom? What kind of friends were they? It was like they left someone they consider as "dear" just when the said person needed them the most?
"He does not."
Well, that seemed like some kind of explanation why the hell Sanji was so gloomy, depressed and even angry. He was all alone, he didn't have any support, not counting those two friends of his and Saga. Maybe it was also the reason why he was so withdrawn and reticent.
"Is that all, Zoro?" The lady asked.
"Oh, yes, yes... Sorry for disturbing and thank you for your time." The green-haired wanted to leave but the last question popped in his head. "No, wait, I need to ask something else. Is Sanji always so... Silent? Do you know anything about that? Is he mute?"
The nurse laughed. "No, no, he is not. From what I know, he indeed is silent. He isn't the talkative and social type, but mister Black isn't mute. He usually spends all day in his room doing only four things: reading books, sleeping, laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, and looking out of the window."
Zoro nodded to himself, said good-bye and left the woman's office. He came back to the room number twenty-three and found Sanji exactly in the same position as he had left him—sitting on a windowsill with his head leaned on the glass. He reminded Roronoa of a marble statue—frozen, unchanging, lifeless. And it was so, so sad.
"I'm back," he said, not really expecting any response. "Here, your medicine." He came closer to the blond-haired man. "Take it."
"Don't want it."
It was the first time Sanji had said anything and it greatly shocked Zoro. To his surprise, Black's voice was very pleasant—soft and almost soothing.
He stood there stunned and speechless for a longer while but finally stuttered out, "W-what?"
"Are you fucking deaf, stupid moss-head? I said I. Do. Not. Want. Any. Fucking. Pills."
Okay, he changed his mind. The guy's voice wasn't pleasant at all.
"And I do not care if you want or don't want them," Zoro growled and handed the plate with medicine to the blonde. "You must take them. Now. And I am not a moss-head!"
Sanji shot Roronoa a death glare. "I won't take them," Black declared. "And of course you are, shitty marimo. Just look at your fucking hair. What normal person would dye their hair green, for God's sake?"
"Better look at your eyebrow," he pointed to the funny curled eyebrow. "And my hair is not dyed..." Zoro grumbled. "It's natural. I have a genetic defect... Wait, why do I even tell you that?" He narrowed his eyebrows looking a little confused. "Nevermind. Take the pills."
"You even have a brain of marimo, you're so dumb." Sanji snorted and went back to looking out of the window.
Roronoa used all his willpower not to strangle the blonde. Seriously. The first moment he saw the man, he felt nothing but sadness and compassion. Right now, though, when he looked at the other, he wanted to punch him in the face. That dart-brow was insolent. Ungrateful. And acted like some smart ass. It really pissed Zoro off.
But nevertheless, he was still a patient, an ill person who waited for death. He had to calm down.
"Take. The. Pills." He insisted, drawling each word slowly.
"If I do, will you leave me alone so I won't be forced to look at your shitty face?" Sanji asked in an irritated voice.
"If you want to get rid of me so badly—I will. Just take the fucking medicine already."
"Fine." The blonde took all four pills and put them into his mouth. Zoro watched as Sanji swallowed them and then gave the green-haired man a cocky smirk, yet a little forced. "Satisfied? Yes? Then get the hell outta here and don't you dare come back."
Roronoa growled angrily, muttered something under his breath and finally left, leaving Black alone. Sanji sat unmoving for a little while staring at the door and listening to see if anyone was coming. When he felt safe and not observed, he hopped off the windowsill and approached a wardrobe. As he opened one drawer he begun to search something among his clothes, finally pulling out a little plastic bag filled with numerous amount of various pills—white, blue, pink, yellow, big and small ones. He moved it closer to his lips and spat out the medicine he had been given by Roronoa. He always did that, almost automatically: taking pills, hiding them under his tongue, pretending to swallow them and then, when nobody saw him, getting rid of them from his mouth. No one ever suspected a thing.
Sanji put the bag back to the drawer and searched again, this time taking out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He checked if anyone was coming one more time and, being assured that he was safe, opened the window, put a cigarette between his lips, lit it and took a long drag.
"Naive fucker," he whispered and closed his eyes.
Zoro was going home and couldn't stop thinking about the lean, blond-haired man he met today. He just couldn't. Sanji was all over his mind and he was unable to concentrate on anything else. In his mind he still saw the sad, empty blue eye, the indifferent face. He also remembered how the blonde had treated him and how much he had pissed him off. But even those two facts couldn't stop his thought wondering around the other man.
He felt as if he was being drawn to him in some strange way, and he wanted to help him, get him out from this depression state. Sanji also simply intrigued him.
That's why Zoro was so mad at himself, for letting the blonde to drag him into this little game of his; for not being strong enough to resist, and for letting his emotion flow the way they wanted.
He kicked the can that was lying on the ground and grunted. He needed to know more. He wanted to know more.
He pulled out a cell phone out of his pocket, selected a number and pressed the green button. He didn't have to wait long to hear a man's voice at the other side.
"Hallo?"
"Hi, Saga, it's me. Hope I don't disturb you or something."
"Oh, hey, Zoro. No, no, we can talk. What's up?"
"Well, I know you hate talking about this stuff when you're free from work and all, but I need to ask you about this guy I was looking after instead of you, Sanji Black."
"Goddamnit, Zoro, couldn't you have called me for some nicer reason?" Saga growled. "Especially if it's about him."
"Huh? Why? You don't like him?" Zoro was surprised. His friend had never said anything bad about people under his care, so he thought everything was well. It seemed he was wrong.
"Don't like him? Hell, Zoro, if I could, I would—I don't know—strangle him to death or smash his head on the wall! I fucking hate this guy!"
Yes, he was utterly wrong. Saga's voice sounded mad and Roronoa could almost see a steam puffing out of his ears.
"Erm... Really? Why? Is he so bad?"
"Jesus Christ, I can't stand him, I get pissed off by only seeing him or even thinking about him! When someone says his name I almost go on rampage! I've never met someone so unbearable as him, Zoro. He's an ungrateful bastard, who doesn't even know such words as 'thank you' or 'I'm sorry'." Saga was barely controlling himself, trying not to shout to loud.
It was worse than Zoro thought. He supposed that Sanji was so impolite towards him because he didn't know him. But he was wrong, again.
"Was he like that when you first met?"
"Well, yeah, but a little bit nicer... Only a little. At the beginning I wanted to get to him, make him smile, talk, whatever. I was patient and all, I believed he could change and the way he acts is because, you know, he's dying. But no, he hasn't changed at all. I would say it's quite the opposite—he's even worse. I gave up on him. Sure, I come to him, bring him medicine, but I don't spend time with him, I don't try to talk to him. I even avoid looking toward his direction. Seriously, Zoro, he's a devil in human's body."
Then suddenly an idea hit him—popped in his head out of nowhere. He grinned widely and said in a happy voice, "Then, why don't you let me take care of him?"
"Roronoa, are you deaf, stupid or crazy? Or maybe all in one? Haven't you heard a thing I've just said?"
"I have, that's why I want to look after him even more."
"You're out of your mind." Saga sounded shocked.
"Yeah, probably..." Zoro laughed lightly. "So what, wanna put him under my charge?"
"Ya sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Fine, you can have him. And may God have you under His care."
"Thanks, but I don't believe in any God."
Zoro smiled like Cheshire cat and felt so damn excited as he had never been before.
Hope you all liked it! Now I'm off to start writing the second chapter :)