The textures had changed, almost drastically so. Holding his breath slightly, the man tried to check more of his surroundings. Everything felt heavy, weightier than lead. The feeling was not welcome in the least.
A small, uncomfortable groan slithered out of his throat, his body twitching faintly with his groggy effort to try and move. A soft, familiar little clink sounded from somewhere close by, and a firmer force kept his wrist from moving anywhere. Groaning a little louder, the pale form realized what the material he believed to be clamped around his wrist was when a familiar throb and feeling of almost total paralysis rippled over him. This had to be seastone.
How did he get here? Where was here?!If he could coax his eyes to cooperate and focus when he opened them, he may be able to find out. For now, though, it was just a blurry and dark mass of shapes that his mind was not yet awake enough to name. The cloudy irises were glazed slightly, and his form allowed them to be covered by his lids, leaving more of his head to think and try to figure at least something out.
He knew he had gotten off the ship without incident, at least. A pang of fear shot through his head when he remembered the feelings he had been experiencing as he walked off into port. It was almost paranoia; there always seemed to be eyes pinned on his back no matter how or where he turned and the space seemed so small and exposed, shrinking around him. It was as if he were an animal, being herded into a tighter and tighter space by something that he could not quite see, but simply knew that going close to it would end badly.
Crowded streets where he could hide in the middle of them, wormed in-between clusters of shoppers or couples out for a stroll were his sanctum. He had managed to break his way into one, holding in his nerves as best he could as he tried to disappear into it. There were others here who were just as tall, if not taller; he shouldn't have stuck out too badly. He had not been completely alone there, either, so hopefully that would have made him safe.
Maybe he had made himself feel too secure… He might have seen whatever this was coming if his mind had still been sharpened with paranoid thoughts to drive him. There had been a prick. Everything had started to go dark right after that, an unknown arm wrapped around his shoulders and keeping him upright enough to guide. He had passed out against that arm before a face had been seen.
He was being kidnapped. The confirmation in his own mind made him panic, and he tugged fruitlessly on the shackle, again. He could not stay here, not for even a second longer! What if it was them, again, and-!
Before his body truly had time to struggle, there was another little prick, right where he knew a vein to be on the inside of his elbow. His attempts at shouting and protesting were muffled with a rag stuffed inside his mouth and a hand covered his eyes. He could already feel the injection spreading and robbing his mind of alertness and a willingness to fight against these hands. A voice spoke curtly down to him as he fell back into the smothering darkness.
"Rest. You may not know what is going on, but you will be safer where we put you than know."
This was different in a welcoming way. There was the soft, but constant, beeping of a machine, and he had never been so thankful to hear a heart monitor. He felt the normal, starched cotton of a sickbay cot stretched over a lumpy, hard, but usable mattress as his nerves responded normally for what felt like the first time. There was no clinging sensation of velvet, no feeling of air or hands where he didn't want them, and the room was filled with voices who kept themselves at soft murmurs.
"You're sure he'll be well enough to come back?" a familiar, female voice tittered. So she was here… He could hear other, more masculine and varied voices that were still known to him piping up similar comments, but more softly than usual.
"Rest assured, given a couple days to finish recovering, he will be completely recovered, physically," a strange person replied. "You have my address, so send for me if he needs any other care."
"I believe we can take care of him just fine," Chikao's wizened voice grunted.
"I must insist for his safety-"
"No. I must insist for his safety that you let us take care of this from now on. I'm his doctor. I've been assigned to this pain in the neck since he finished boot camp, and I know what he needs and how to get it to him." The man in question held in a grin, laying still and continuing to pretend he was still asleep. If he could help it, he wished for the conversation they would all have to wait until later.
"…If you're sure you know what you're getting into," the only unknown voice replied, a forced politeness apparent. There was the rustling a papers being set down close to his side and many feet shuffling and stepping away. "I'll take my leave." There was brief silence as this outsider opened and closed the door.
"Alright, men! Make sure our guest finds his way off the ship and get back to your stations! We have a lot of ground to cover if we're going to catch up to the Straw Hats!" the one female voice called, her tone crisp and seeming to bubble with renewed excitement.
"Hai, Tashigi-chan~!"
There was the usual stomping and cheering that came with commands from the young Captain as the sickbay was basically evacuated to leave him to rest. Even Chikao, in his good mood from chasing off the outsider who was trying to take command of his crew's care, left him to his own devices. As the quiet died down to nothing but silence, a pair of calm eyes slid open that had never been so glad to see the cracks in the ceiling he had counted dozens of times over.
The file caught his interest, though. He knew something had gone down, but…. The memories were blurry and trippy at best from his perspective. This was just for closure on what happened, he insisted to himself as he sat up, carefully, and plucked the file from the small side table. There was a harsh enough burning sensation engulfing his pelvis that he laid back down as soon as possible.
The first few pages were in-depth blood works, drug tests, physical reports that he could skim over for a basic description of what he had just been though. They were all useful information in their own rights, but not all of it was something he needed to know, right now. He felt a pit of disgust swirl in his stomach as he read some of it over what actually had been reported. Those bastards had…!
His anger turned to shock when he turned to the next page in the file. Pictures… They were grainy black and white images, and he wasn't sure what they were of, but he knew what they were most similar to that he had seen, before. These were images given to couples, not people like him.
"There's the head…" a somber, but still calm voice murmured from over his shoulder, a familiar aged finger coming in and tracing over the grainy image. "It leads to the beginnings of the spine here, and this little bulge right by the head is the heart. It's split into four chambers, now, and will start beating on its own soon. There are probably little buds coming out from the sides that will grow into arms and legs."
"How….H-how long?"
"Five to six weeks. It's only the size of a lentil, right now, but after the twelfth week, it will grow much faster," Chikao sighed, glancing away to check the IV making sure the largest problem he'd had in here was healthy. "I already have a prescription of prenatal ready for you. Unless, of course…"
"No! No, I…! It hasn't done anything, it's innocent! Why would I-! Don't… D-don't make me do that!" He didn't want to break down sobbing, but his body had other plans. He tried to hide it, smothering the sounds with the far too fluffy pillow. He couldn't even draw up enough of anything else to tell the doctor off as the file taken away.
"I know, I know… I had to present both options. You know this isn't going to be easy, especially here," the elder sighed, putting on a bedside manner he usually had to reserve for newer recruits. "If you need time away from here to try and figure out what's best for… both of you… Keep me informed. I'll make sure you have everything you'll need. I'm already looking for a place that'll give me enough nicotine gum for this. The last thing you need is second-hand smoke."
There was the sensation of blankets being tucked and fingers being pried off the pillow to be replaced by tissues until his cheeks were drier. Chikao made sure he was comfortable enough to sleep some of this off and calm down.
"Do… they know?"
"No, not yet… No one's sure who did this, and no one here would think for a second to just leave this be," the Navel Medic huffed, patient as usual with him. "I'll do my best to keep this quiet as long as you need me to, but knowing them… They're still going to care, and that means doing anything to set things right. It can't stay just between us forever. Now get some rest while you still can. I'll see about getting some real food in here for you." He couldn't really argue with that…
As the memory faded out, he realized he had woken up, and forced his eyes open against the blinding light.
