Chapter 2
Zoro would have assumed that the man was no longer alive given his current state, but the painfully slow rise and fall of the bare inked chest proved otherwise. The surgeon was bound to the table by what could only be Seastone cuffs - since the whole room would probably have been already taken apart otherwise - around his ankles, wrists and neck, blindfolded, laid out on the table like nothing more than a corpse in a morgue, wearing nothing but a white sheet that had been spread across his hips. With growing disgust the swordsman took in the numerous surgical scars running across the inside of the other pirate's left leg, the outside of the right, parts of his upper arms and stomach. His palms were turned upwards, a thick needle stuck in the crook of each arm. Both seemed to serve the purpose of injecting liquids into his system that were stored in bags hanging on poles standing next to the table, one lucent, one crimson. The torch's flames shed little light, but the numerous dark red and blue spots on the skin of his forearms were still clearly visible, which indicated that whoever had pushed those needles into his veins had done so several times and had not been too careful about it. Lines of dried blood ran from the corners of his mouth down to his jawline.
Zoro tightened his grip on the sword in his left hand, feeling anger surge inside him. It was very unlikely that the Warlord had consented to being tied down to a table in a windowless hellhole so he could be used as some kind of lab rat. He himself had seen his fair share of blood and violence, but it had been in battle. This was different. This kind of torture was humiliating, despicable and countless times crueller than injuring someone in a fair fight. The swordsman had not known the surgeon for a very long time and was far from putting his complete trust in him, but he had come to respect him and acknowledge him as an equal and ally.
If Law had been dragged down here the day he disappeared he had been chained to that table for more than a week. Which meant that he would probably have died of dehydration unless he had been kept alive so far by artificial means and those injections were the only things keeping him from dying. Death was probably not too far away from overtaking the surgeon who bore his name since he had not shown any reaction to the intruder. He was either unconscious or already too weakened to respond.
Zoro hesitantly sheathed the black blade and stepped towards the table. He would have to find the keys to the cuffs since he was unable to cut them himself. He would also need to get back to find the others, but he did not really want to leave the other pirate alone in this room now that he had found him. Law had still not shown any sign of life other than taking slow, ragged breaths. Zoro lifted his hand to carefully remove the black cloth that covered the other man's eyes, fingertips brushing against his forehead, noticing that Law ran a fairly high temperature. The raven's lids were closed, brows pulled together slightly in a pained expression.
Whatever perverted bastard had done all this to him must really have been a sick fuck.
The sound of footsteps coming from the corridor had him turn towards the entrance, sword at the ready. It did however not take him long to identify the familiar footfall of heeled sandals.
"Zoro? You here?"
Funny, he would never have thought that one day he would be this glad to hear the red-haired witch's voice.
"'m in here." He said, lowering his blade.
Nami entered the main section of the room, carrying a torch and the three separate parts of her Clima-Tact.
"You done down here? We're finished with our section, there's really nothing-"
"Nami."
She now stood in the entranceway of the separate section, giving him a puzzled look.
"What? Did you – oh. Oh no."
She almost dropped her torch when she saw what he had discovered. Brown eyes widened in shock as she took in the state Law was in.
"Is he…?" "No, he's alive. But he might not be for long."
She stared at the man tied down to the stony surface who still had not shown any sign of life other than drawing slow, laboured breaths.
"What the hell happened to him? Why would someone even do this?"
Zoro shook his head, his gaze remaining fixed on Law. "I have no idea. But we need to get him out of here as soon as possible."
She swallowed, nodding. She tucked the Tact away and raised her hand to lightly touch the seemingly unconscious man's bare shoulder. He flinched at the contact, but did not open his eyes.
The two Strahwats exchanged glances. Nami shifted her gaze back to the Warlord.
"Law?" she said softly.
