Chapter 3

Drip… Drip… Drip…

Sanji felt himself clench and unclench his jaw with each rhythmic beat of the sound, it was grating on his nerves. He knew it was the steady sound of dripping in the I-V, but it was so damn loud. He didn't know how long he had been awake, all he knew was that it had been long enough for him to become increasingly pissed off at that noise, and about the fact that he really needed to go take a piss. He hadn't tried opening his eyes again yet though, and he would be damned if he ever acknowledged it, but he was afraid. The thought that he still might not have his sight back was making him hesitate. Behind his closed eyelids he had noticed that the amount of dancing spots had diminished, but it had been replaced with shining golden threads instead. He let out a frustrated growl; he was being foolish.

I didn't come all this way just to be defeated by something as stupid as momentarily blindness. He clenched his jaw shut and took a deep breath; before he slowly let his eyelids rise. He had barely opened them a fraction however, before a piercing light hit them and he shut them again. What the hell?

He tried lifting his hand to rub them, but found that he couldn't move it; in fact, as he tried to move any part of his body it refused to listen. "Nnnn," He needed to get someone's attention, but he hadn't heard anyone move or make a sound since he'd woken up. "Nnnn," he tried moving his head again, nothing. "Shit, fuck!" He had wanted it to come out as a shout, but it was barely above a whisper. What the hell is going on?

Just then the door creaked open slowly. The sound was so earsplittingly loud that he thought his ears might have started bleeding, and he was sure that the whimper that escaped him at that moment would haunt him forever.

"SANJI?" He knew Chopper had said it with a calm voice, but it sounded more like he had screamed it on the top of his lungs.

"Nnnn, not so loud," it came out as barely a whisper, and he again tried to move his body, "Ugh, can't move."

"What?" Chopper had moved over to him, and relief washed over him when he heard him whisper it.

"Can't-," he strained his muscles, trying to make something move, "move my-," there was nothing, not even a twitch, "fucking body."

He heard Chopper do a sharp intake of breath, if it was in shock or fear he wasn't sure, but he didn't like that reaction. "W-what's happening to me Chopper?"

"I-I don't know Sanji," Chopper still spoke in a low whisper, but there was a high-pitched edge to it as if the little doctor was restraining himself hard to not make a lot of noise. "It hasn't even been ten minutes yet since you fell asleep," he heard Chopper climb onto his chair, the squeaking was like knifes cutting through his eardrums, "I just went to tell the others, since you wanted me to let them know…"

Not even ten minutes, but how? He knew he had to have been lying there awake for at least a minute already. Had he really not gotten more than a few minutes sleep? But his head felt fine, apart from the whole blindness thing, and the sudden extreme over-sensitivity towards noise. He didn't have a headache anymore and he wasn't nauseous either. He was in fact wide awake and in soon to be in desperate need of a toilet.

He felt something touching his hand and lifting it up, he tried to fight against the motion, knowing that Chopper was probably testing his mobility. But there was no response; he had no control over it at all.

"Um… Chopper," He hesitated.

He heard the little doctor gasp, and he winced at the sharpness of the sound it made, "You- you can't feel this?"

"I can, I just can't do anything to aid the motion or fight against it." He sighed, "But that wasn't what…" He trailed off.

"Oh, okay good, that's better than nothing." He felt his hand being lowered down again, but Chopper didn't let it go, "what is it?"

"Ah…" he hated this part of being bedridden, "I-, I need to piss…" He hated how childish he sounded, he was a grown man for fucks sake, he shouldn't need help going to the fucking toilet. He wanted to groan and rub his face, but he couldn't move his damn body.

"I- I can put in a catheter if you want?" Chopper sounded apprehensive, and Sanji knew why.

"No!" He growled, "I'd rather bear the humiliation of having to be carried and helped like a toddler than living through that hell again." He felt an involuntarily shudder go through his body at the thought of it. Well at least I still have some unconscious movements, that's something. "I still have control down there, and I want to keep it."

"O-okay then, just wait a second and I'll help you," he heard Chopper jump down on the floor, and the unmistaken sound of him switching to his humanoid form was far too loud.

"H-hang on," he gritted his teeth. "Can-, can you cover my ears with something? Everything is so damn loud; it feels like my ears are bleeding."

"Oh, yeah, just a second." He heard as Chopper rummaged through something, and the noise was almost deafening. He gritted his teeth as he was unable to shut it out, he desperately wanted to cover his ears with his hands, but they were just as unresponsive as they had been a moment before.

He heard Chopper breathe an "aha", before coming over to him again. "I- I don't know how well they'll work, but it's the best I can do right now," he felt the large furry hands touch his head before it was turned to one side, and then he felt something being put into his ear. It felt as though his ear had been submerged in water. Then his head was turned to the other side, and the same happened to his other ear. It was bliss, pure bliss.

"How's that?" He heard Chopper ask, but it was muffled and a lot quieter.

"Better," he sighed.

"Do you want me to cover your eyes as well, or are you fine keeping them shut on your own?"

He had been doing a good job keeping them closed by himself up to this point, but he didn't know how well he would keep his restraint on it once he was lifted up and carried around. And it would be even worse if he by some chance heard his beautiful ladies speak. "I think that would be a good idea," he said a bit dejectedly.

"Okay," he heard the sigh Chopper let out at that, but he wasn't sure it was out of relief or worry; it was harder to tell now that all the sounds around him had been substantially subdued. He wasn't able to think more about it however as something was pushed over his head and covered half his face and ears, subduing the noise even more.

"That okay?" He barely heard Chopper ask him, and he could feel himself smile a little at that.

"Yeah, it's perfect."

"Okay, I'm gonna lift you up now, and if anything hurts you have to tell me right away okay!" Chopper's stern doctor's voice made him want to grin.

"Yes, doctor."

oOo

It hadn't hurt, and apart from the humiliation of the whole thing, it had gone pretty well. He suspected Chopper had given strict orders to the others to leave the infirmary area alone while he was out of commission. Probably knowing, or at least suspecting noise would become an issue at some point. But he could be wrong. He had at least not heard anyone around them when Chopper had helped him through the whole humiliating ordeal.

"I'm going to start doing some tests on you now, okay?" Chopper said meekly as he laid him back onto the bed.

"Okay," he said gruffly, "What kind of tests?"

"Well, I need to take some blood samples for one," there was a brief pause, and Sanji wished again that he could have seen his face, he was so much better at reading peoples, or humanoids he corrected himself, face's than their voices, and it was especially hard now that his ears were muffled as well. "I might have to do a lumbar puncture-"

"A what?"

"A lumbar puncture, or spinal tap if you will, it just means that I have to insert a needle into your spine and collect some cerebrospinal fluid," He heard Chopper say calmly as if it was just as normal as taking a blood sample, "But, that's only if I find something in your blood first," he suddenly rushed to add, and Sanji guessed it was because another involuntary shiver had run through his body at the mention of a needle.

"Okay, and what if you don't find anything?" He tried not to sound too anxious, but he wanted Chopper to be honest with him, he needed to know how screwed he was.

"I don't know, there are so many things that might be causing your problems, and it'll take me time to test for all of them." He listened as Chopper went around the room collecting vials and other things as they clinked together, he was now very thankful his ears had been muffled. "I'm going to be checking for clotting and other things that might indicate a blockage in your arteries first of all," he felt Chopper touch his arm suddenly and to his surprise he felt it flinch. That was all though, and he frowned as he tried to move it again and nothing happened.

"Did-, did you do that Sanji?"

"Not voluntarily, no," he said through clenched teeth as he continued to try and force his hand to move again.

"That's strange."

"How so?" He could feel himself starting to sweat from the excursion.

"Well, it doesn't fit with the symptoms of any of the illnesses I've thought could be the cause."

"Not any of them?"

"No, also the fact that you can still speak coherently and clearly is a sign of it being something I haven't encountered before."

Cold dread ran down his spine at that. "Does that mean there's nothing you can do?"

"Don't be stupid! Of course there is, it'll just take a little longer finding the cause is all." He heard the clear hurt in Choppers voice, but there were also a determination there Sanji rarely heard from the little guy. "Now, I'm going to take four vials of blood, okay?" He felt Chopper tie something around his bicep and tighten it, "I'm going to count to three before I stick the needle in so you'll have time to prepare for it. One-"

"I'm not a child damnit!" Sanji growled.

"Two-"

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm his nerves. He hated needles, and he was almost glad he was blinded now so he didn't have to see it.

"Three-"

He hissed loudly as he felt the sharp stab in his elbow as the needle was pushed through his skin and into the artery. He had never been so hyper-aware of the feeling of his blood being drained from him as he was now, and it was making him uneasy. Usually he would have had something to focus his gaze upon, something to distract him with. But now there was nothing. He heard as each vial was picked up, filled and placed back in the container and for each one he was getting more and more light-headed.

"I'm getting dizzy," he mumbled as Chopper was filling the final vial.

"Almost done," he thought he heard a trace of panic in the young doctor's voice as he said it, but as he was about to ask if something was wrong he found he couldn't form the words. His mind felt like it was being filled with cotton and it was getting harder and harder to have a coherent thought, the only word left in his mind before it went dark was, shit.

oOo

It was quiet. Completely and totally devoid of sound and he sighed with relief.

He was lying on the ground again. Yes, again. He knew now, he had been here many times before. He let his eyes open and stared up at the flux sky, letting himself drown in its infinity for a few moments, before he gingerly sat up and took a deep breath. He relished in the fact that the world seemed to again move at a speed he could comply with.

He allowed himself to move his hands over his body, feeling every inch of it, making sure it was all there. It was a strange feeling, being able to feel every part of it so intensely and simultaneously feeling so disconnected from it. He felt the tightening of his muscles as he stretched his legs, and the tingling in his toes as he wiggled them inside the black shoes he saw he was wearing. He frowned at the sensations; they felt so odd, almost as if they were artificially real. He shook his head. Maybe that was how it was supposed to be, and he had only thought of it as strange because he had imagined it should feel different. He stared up at the sky again; it was as it always had been, in flux between dusk, night and dawn. There were no stars and no moon he could focus his gaze upon and so he felt himself staring out into the endless expanse of it.

He wanted to lie back down again, to cross his arms underneath his head and use them as a pillow, so he could gaze into that infinity just a little longer. But he knew that would be a mistake, he needed to get up, to stand on those legs and to move them.

As he felt the weight of his body supported by those long legs he felt a warmth surge through him. Like a piece of the puzzle had finally been put in the right spot. He lifted one of them as high as he could, stretching it over his head until it was taut. He was amazed but not surprised by it, like he knew he could do it but had forgotten how until the moment he did it.

As he lowered it back down and let the sole tread fully onto the ground he felt it, a tug, or more like a pull from something behind him. But he did not jump at it, or turn around towards it in shock. He just breathed in the crisp air, and smiled.

As he was about to turn around and greet it, a pain so strong he gasped for breath pierced his back. His vision blurred and he felt like he was drowning; he wanted to scream but found he could not, yet again, make a sound. He felt his knees hit the ground as another agonising pain pierced his spine. What is going on?

He tried to draw his breath, but his lungs would not comply with his demand, and for each torturous second that passed he felt his vision steadily darken, until everything was gone.

AN: Why do I always torture Sanji? Good question, maybe because he's my favourite?
Anyway, hope you are enjoying the story so far, and as always please fav/follow and or leave a review if you do.