He had been sitting on the ship, getting some sun. It had been a long day underwater, and he was excited to get a few rays and relax.
They had just left Luffy on Amazon Lilly with Silvers Rayleigh and the Warlord Jinbei. He was happy to have cleaned up the operating theatre finally. It had been quite bloody after both Luffy and Jinbei had been worked on. He and the crew had been so focused on their recovery that they had done a quick clean of the room.
He heard a stumbling sound and then his name.
"Doctor Trafalgar Law," a woman's voice, smooth but weak sounding. "What are you doing here?"
He tilted the brim of his hat up a little to see the woman. If she wasn't sweaty and pale looking she might have been a stunner. She swayed a little on the spot, not drunk but weak. A green robe-like sweater but jeans on, she was holding a jacket awkwardly. Her hair long, even in its pony-tail.
"Why would I answer that?" he was curious about this woman, she was about his age, but she was more interested in asking than answering from the sound of it.
"Because" the woman popped her hip opposite her jacket. "I would like to know."
"Well, none of your business."
"It is if you can help me." she sounded pained as she talked, sniffing a little. "Please, Doctor."
He looked her over quickly and saw the darker stain on her side and with the shine coming from it recognised it as blood at once. He jumped from his seat and to her at once.
"How long has it been there?" he was glaring at her, needing her honesty now.
"Hours," she was not meeting his eyes, she sniffed in pain. "It makes me wish I was logia-type."
He smiled and tried to hide a laugh, supporting her weight on her strong side. "Have a name, doll?" the words slipped out. He focused on not cringing in embarrassment.
"Melody." she winced as they entered the submarine.
He blinked in shock; if this was the Fantasma Della Morte Melody, then she was just in the War at Marineford. She was part of the Creed Pirates, allies of Whitebeard, with a crew's collective bounty of over 800 million, and she had amassed a reward of 100 million. She and the Creed Pirates were known for taking out officials of the Navy and the World Government without a trace. They only way they were connected was by speculation of the Navy.
He was positive when he was at Marineford he had seen their flag in the sea of jolly rogers.
"Creed Pirates' Melody Milan?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to use the nickname the Navy smacked on her. He sat her down. "Where's your captain?"
The one before, named Altair had died of old age after he retired back to the South Blue. The new one Ezio was getting up in years now too.
"D-dead," she hissed in pain as she sat. "Bad fight with the dammed Pacifista's, I just barely managed to take it out before we made our retreat. No doctor in town wants to treat a damned pirate."
She was obviously lying, but if she could take out a Pacifista, then that was just as impressive. "That will bring your bounty up for sure."
The woman had closed her eyes and hummed in response, she looked paler now.
"Rest easy," he said, picking her up again and dragging her as gracefully as he could to the operating room.
He set her down on the table and exited the room. Shouting at once for everyone to get their smart asses to the operating theatre. Only Bepo and Penguin answered and followed him back. He ordered for Shachi to close the hatch to the outside and submerge them.
When they entered the room, Penguin made a little sound like a grunt. He naturally found the girl attractive. Bepo gasped.
"Meet, La Fantasma Della Morte Melody." he sighed as Penguin helped him stick her with an IV so she could be attached to some blood and not lose everything on the table. They used laughing gas on her, not wanting to over inject her with fluids."She's a Whitebeard ally and has been wounded for a few days by the looks of it. She's going to need antibiotics before we start cleaning and treating her wound."
Penguin slowly removed the woman's robe-like sweater and brought it to a basin on the far end of the room. From the sounds of it he was soaking it in water, it did look like it was important, it was the cleanest, apart from the blood, thing she was wearing. Penguin shrinkingly pulled up her shirt and folded it over the top of her chest, so it exposed her wound and sporty looking bra.
Law scrubbed up, not looking forward to this, trying not to stare at the woman objectively. She was a patient first. Bepo pushed over a cart and helped Law get his mask and gloves on.
"The Ghost of Death operated on by the Surgeon of Death," Bepo said softly. "And she just let you take her onto the ship?"
"Yes," Law said through the mask, keeping his hands up so not to touch anything. "She had a bad fight, I gassed her a bit just now. I don't know her resistance though, she sounds like she has a devil-fruit power."
"She's gorgeous." Penguin finally said, his cheeks were red and his mouth open, Law noticed. He was obviously had his eyes glued on her breasts. "I didn't think the Creed crew had any ladies aboard."
"Penguin!" Bepo waved his arms, trying to get the man's attention. "Stop ogling her, she needs medical attention."
"You're staring too!" Penguin said, defensively.
Bepo was still and then hung his head in shame; "I'm sorry."
Law was focused on the wound, it was a massive laceration in her side, a clean cut from a blade. It had miraculously missed her bone and was thankfully not deep enough for that, it was bleeding steadily. Blood was covering her t-shirt and dark bra. He quickly scanned for any other wounds, it looked like her hand closest to him had a burn on it, an old one but still visible on her ring finger.
He fought for his voice; "We have to..." his voice was sounding huskier than he wanted. "Cut off her bra." he swallowed. "We can salvage her shirt so she can cover up again, but the bra is in the way and soaking up the blood. If we don't move soon, it will start sticking to her body like gauze."
The two fell silent next to him. Penguin's mouth was open, his face burning red. Bepo nodded and picked up a pair of fabric scissors.
"I have a stiller hand for that," he said, heading over to the still woman.
Bepo slid the blades between the soft mounds on her chest, cutting the fabric open. The woman's cheeks miraculously looked like they were getting pink from the attention to her chest.
The fabric fell away to reveal the soft flesh, they bounced a little as they freed. They bore stretch marks, possibly from growing fast and her dark skin near the centre of each round mound was inviting. Her nipples immediately hardened from the cold of the air.
"C-cover them." Law managed to choke out, embarrassed that his crew was hearing him breaking under pressure. "With her shirt...if you can...after you get rid of the bra."
Bepo cut above each mound where the fabric remained, he carefully moved the material and held it delicately. As the fabric left the one side of Melody's body her brows knit in pain, Law was sure of it.
Bepo had been staring too; "A-are all ladies sooo.." he was pulling the fabric down of her top, so it covered her chest, her nipples piercing the clothing.
"Not without surgery mostly.." Penguin said distantly, he was still pink-faced. "Not a single stitch on her though."
"F-focus please." Law managed to get out, tearing his eyes from her chest to her wound, readying the antiseptic.
"Could have bought me a drink first," the woman mumbled, her voice weak but the playful tone there.
Penguin looked horrified, Bepo almost dropped his scissors he was still holding. Law felt his stomach churn. How long had she been awake?
"But it isn't every day a guy snips my bra off." she continued through their horror.
He found his voice again, looking everywhere but at her. "so, Nitrous Oxide doesn't work on you well, would you prefer morphine?"
"Sure," she breathed airily as if she was relaxing in the pool of blood around her. "Be gentle with me while I'm under, doc."
He felt his cheeks burn as her sea green eyes bored into his own grey ones. She had a weak smile on her lips. In those deep eyes there was a trust that he hadn't earned, he only just met her.
"I will, Melody," he whispered, not liking how rough his voice sounded.
Bepo had already hooked her up, and she was slipping out now, the moment she was out again he regained his composure.
"Penguin, wash up and help me clean her wound." he grabbed the antiseptic, ready to rinse out her side if he had to.
After an hour of cleaning and stitching, he washed up again. He helped Penguin and Shachi, who had returned from his duties on deck, bring Melody to the nearby room to recover. Still keeping her hooked up to the morphine and blood.
After his crew left the room he looked over her hand, it was an old scar, an ugly one. He decided it must be a painful reminder of something because it was on her wedding ring on her left hand. He put some ointment on it, hoping it would soothe the scaring a bit, he wrapped it up.
He made a split decision to kiss the bandaged hand, a silent promise to protect her even if she refused. She had given him a look as she had passed out that said she respected and trusted in him enough to keep her safe and treat her. He was going to do his best.
