Law had begun to wonder more and more if he was being stalked intentionally or not, because over the next several weeks, he had several sightings of the blond haired man who had helped him. Sometimes it was from a distance, and all Law would get out of the encounter was to catch sight of the man seemingly stumble over anything and everything. It was rather fascinating, in a way, to see just how many different things the blond haired man managed to trip or stumble over.
Cats, dogs, cracks in the sidewalk, other people, trash cans, doors that opened in his path and even his own feet. Law had no idea why the man's clumsiness made him crack a smile whenever he saw him, despite the stress the surgeon felt most days. And Law couldn't help but feel that even when they didn't make eye contact, the blond somehow knew he was in the vicinity.
It was suspicious that Law had seen the blond haired man so much, but no harm came out of those odd encounters, so the surgeon didn't think too hard on the fact that it was likely not coincidence any longer.
Other times, however, Law would actually run into the blond haired man up close and personal, and it was usually in some embarrassing, awkward and potentially dangerous situation. The one time that the surgeon had nearly walked into traffic was the worst time yet so far. Luckily enough he had suffered no injuries. And the reason for that was because the blond haired man had, quite literally, run into the surgeon and had taken them both down, inadvertently saving Law from being hit by a speeding car.
The dark haired surgeon had been tongue tied when the blond got up, heavily embarrassed that he'd all but pressed Law down against the pavement. When the man could speak, he had asked if Law was all right, completely ignoring concerned bystanders as he stared at the surgeon intently. When Law had managed to speak, it was to bluntly say that he was quite fine, as he would have otherwise been crushed by a speeding car and more than likely mangled and dead if not for the blond. He was a bit scraped up but Law had continued on by stating that being scratched a bit was better than the alternative. And because Law wasn't sure what to do after that, he'd reached out and studied the cape on the back of the blond's hand and had inquired if he was fine as well, since he had farther to fall then he did since he was taller.
It had rather amused Law to see the blond have a blush rise across his cheeks before he'd freed his hand with a quick nod to answer Law's question. The blond haired man had then made his escape into some nearby shop after sneaking one last peek at Law over his shoulder. And then the blond had tripped himself into the store from looking back.
Law had forgotten to ask the blond's name that time as well at the time, because he'd been taken aback at the blond's response to his words. Even if Law did recall that even his roommates said that he could be blunt and straight to the point if need be.
As the weeks passed by, Law was appalled with himself and all the danger he'd come across after first catching sight of the blond haired man falling over in that restaurant. It seemed like a long time ago when it had in reality only been a little over a month. The dark haired surgeon wondered again if the man had been stalking him but dismissed it, even if the blond haired man did have an unusual knack for turning up when Law found himself in trouble.
When Law didn't see the blond for a week straight, he wondered if that was the last sighting he would have of the man. At the time, the dark haired surgeon had no idea that he would be seeing the other man the very next day in yet another dangerous situation; one that Law unwittingly walked into.
-x-
There was a commotion outside of the operating room. Law had just finished a difficult procedure that had lasted hours and he felt annoyed that there was so much noise. His patient needed quiet to recuperate. It would do no good to get the patient's heart racing when there was still a chance of them bleeding out if everything didn't go as planned. The noise was not planned, and Law did not appreciate it one bit as he cast a look his patient's way. The man woman was still asleep, so she would not yet be bothered by the sound. The surgeon knew that all of the hospital staff knew better than to raise a ruckus.
Law gave it a minute or so but when the noise failed to die down and in fact got louder, the dark haired surgeon decided to go take a look himself.
"Keep an eye on her vitals. I want to make sure that she is stabilized enough to have the chance to recover. She shouldn't need any further surgery so long as she does not overexert herself."
"We'll keep an eye on her, Dr. Trafalgar."
"You go make that nuisance out there calm down."
With a nod in the direction of the nurse and the assistants, Law turned and headed for the door. The surgeon paused briefly before it as he realized the noise that was being made was coming from a single person. It appeared to be male, and angry, for some reason or another. Law shook his head irritably and exited the room, only to stop short at the sight that greeted him.
Staring down the barrel of a gun, no matter from what distance, was very surreal.
Things became a blur after that as the owner of the gun raved and threatened to see his ex to 'finish up' when the police suddenly stormed the corridor as if that were their signal to do so. A multitude of shots rang out in quick succession at the same time Law felt something warn and solid collide with him and take him to the ground. And since he'd been taken to the ground before, Law had to wonder if it was the same person who had been helping him the past month or not. Everything became eerily silent after the screaming and yelling died in the wake of the gunshots, but what Law was hyper aware of was of the body that appeared to be shielding him. And the person in question didn't seem to be moving.
Had they been shot?
Law stilled as the person over him shifted slightly. The surgeon only had time to briefly register the police uniform before he saw a shaggy mess of blond hair and heard the now familiar soft voice.
"We really have to stop meeting like this."
A helpless laugh was dragged out of Law at the absurdity of it all, though the surgeon's voice was quite steady, even if it was slightly muffled due to the fact that other man still half on top of him. "I'm not usually so danger prone as I have been of late." Law was rewarded with a dazzling smile as the blond haired man propped himself up to one side to stare down at him. The sight of that smile made Law's brain malfunction for some reason, so he struck to the facts. The other man was a police officer.
An officer.
Suddenly things clicked into place and it made a lot more sense with the reason of why the blond had helped him out. If he was a police officer, he would likely know the trouble spots of the city if he went on patrol, and even off duty, he clearly had no problem stepping in to help Law out of some dangerous situations.
Finding out that the other man was a police officer was something that Law had no trouble processing, but even facts were hard to stick to when someone was nearly in your personal breathing space. Law wondered if the blond was trying to figure out if he really was all right or not. At most, the surgeon figured that the wind had been briefly knocked out of him, and that he had not been shot. Law returned his gaze to the blond haired officer, and felt that the man was certainly staring him in the eyes with what appeared to be a mixture of concern and relief.
"Hey, let him breathe." There was a laugh from overhead somewhere. Another officer, no doubt. "I can't believe you tripped over your own feet to get the doc here out of harm's way."
Law traded glances with the blond and amended his previous thought. A clumsy police officer, who was still half lying over him and who now wore a sheepish expression. Not that Law was truly bothered. He was grateful to have not have ended up with bullet wounds. But the way that the blond looked at him made Law wonder just why the officer had helped him, apart from the idea that it perhaps stemmed from his profession.
"I suppose that I am lucky that you've been around to save me, Mr. Officer." Law said wryly, when he realized that the other man still hadn't moved from where he was. As if the blond was concerned that something or someone else was going to try and harm him. The surgeon didn't blame him; Law felt that he was in danger far too often as of late. He wouldn't have been surprised at this point if there had been another shooter around. The dark haired surgeon was distracted when the blond spoke in return to his semi-sarcastic way of giving thanks.
"Rocinante." The blond haired officer smiled again as he carefully moved back to allow Law to rise. "It's Rocinante."
"Or Corazon." One of the other officers said slyly. "He likes his nicknames, don't you?"
"Which do you prefer to be called?" Law asked mildly. The dark haired surgeon decided that he found Rocinante or Corazon or whatever it was he chose to call himself to be quite adorable when he blushed. Even more so when, as he got to his feet, Rocinante somehow managed to fall right back over for no apparent reason. It was another sign that Law had a problem when he found the sight somehow endearing in a way. The dark haired surgeon had no clue as of yet that he had further dug himself a hole in that regard to his reaction to Rocinante as he added. "If you ever injure yourself with all those falls, I can patch you up, if you'd like."
The genuine smile that Law received happened to make the surgeon happier than he had been in days, which was quite a feat. Once Rocinante had left with the other officers and everything had wound down to normal again, Law went back into the operating room to check on his patient. But as the dark haired man went to fill out some paperwork, he remembered with a jolt that he had no way to contact the other man again. Though Rocinante being a police officer narrowed down where he worked a great deal.
Law didn't know what to do about it, so he stuck to work in the hospital because it was familiar and predictable.
-x-
Law had forgotten that his roommates were likely to have heard of the shooting. Therefore, the surgeon had not been prepared for them to intrude upon his personal space as soon as he walked in through the front door of the house with demands to know if he was unhurt. Outwardly, Law remained aloof as he reassured them both that he was fine, but in the inside, Law was genuinely pleased that his roommates did continue to worry about his well-being, whether it be from danger or that he had forgotten to eat a meal.
The dark haired surgeon thought of the blond haired police officer ten minutes later and spent a good half hour cursing up a storm as he remembered yet again that he had no way to contact Rocinante.
"Law, are you all right?" Penguin decided to ask the question after Law spent the better part of an hour after his curses pacing and muttering crossly under his breath.
"I'm not sure." The dark haired surgeon caught himself mid-step and sat down on an open chair on the living room with a sigh. "I think I'm losing my mind."
"Really?" Shachi grinned over at his other roommate from where he was seated on a second chair. "That would be a first."
"A police officer got me out of the way of a gunman today, remember?" Law figured it would be all over the news by now, if not the next morning, by the welcome home he had received from Shachi and Penguin.
"And being saved made you lose your mind?" Penguin was skeptical.
"No, it was just that he'd been the same one helping me from before." Law said, as he frowned briefly at just how many times Rocinante helped him get out of whatever predicament he'd happened to get himself in to.
"The blond haired man you were talking about from before?" Shachi and Penguin exchanged glances, before the latter spoke. "He's the police officer that helped you today, then?"
Law nodded, but couldn't quite explain what he'd experienced after a few exchanged words. However, he'd been occasionally bringing up the encounters with the blond haired man, and the reasoning behind the man continuing to show up to help him. Rocinante really had no reason to go out of his way to prevent anything bad from happening to Law, after all, even if he was a police offcier.
Penguin and Shachi again exchanged glances with one another, apparently due to the dark haired man's sudden inability to speak. And then, just like that, both of them ended up beaming at Law.
"Sounds like someone has a crush." Shachi said teasingly.
"It does. Who'd have thought? I thought he was going to be grumpy and alone for the rest of his life." Penguin sounded amused. "If nothing else, he'll have someone to talk to other than us."
Law tried to disagree with his roommates' cheerful jabs, but he didn't try very hard, mainly because he knew that they were happy for him more than anything. But there was no use denying how he reacted to the thought of Rocinante. It was different than how he felt around his roommates, his other few friends, and his colleagues at the hospital.
But how the dark haired surgeon's feelings factored into the whole grand scheme of things changed nothing about the fact that Law looked forward to running into Rocinante again, whenever and wherever that may be.
