Chapter 10 - Food Poisoning! Hospital Lock Down!
"Luffy!" the Straw Hats shouted, running through the hospital waiting area, "Franky! Where are you guys?"
"This is a hospital! Please be quiet," A nurse scolded from the front desk, "People are resting!"
"Sorry," Chopper said, apologetically, "We're just looking for our friends. I believe they're here. One is a rubber man and the other is a cyborg."
"Oh, you're friends with him, " the nurse said sympathetically, "You poor things. I'm so sorry to inform you…"
"He's dead! Isn't he?" Usopp wailed.
"Luffy!" Chopper cried.
"No, he's not dead," the nurse quickly rushed to correct the misunderstanding. She spoke in a hushed tone so no other people in the waiting area would hear them, "He has food poisoning and your other friend...the pervert, he's fine and he's in there with him."
"Don't scare us!" Nami yelled, shaking a fist towards the nurse.
Chopper gaped at the navigator. "Would you really hit a medical professional?!"
Ben's gasp interrupted Nami from responding. "Food poisoning? Here?! Are you sure, Nurse Shiyo?" he hissed.
"Yes," Nurse Shiyo replied sadly, shaking her head, "Dr. Clayton is in there with him now."
"Can we go see him?" Chopper asked.
"No, I'm sorry," Ben said holding up his arm and blocking Chopper from speaking more to the Nurse, "At this point, I'm going to have to ask you all to wait here."
"Why? It's just food poisoning!" Nami demanded.
"Shh, not so loud!" Ben said, covering her mouth with his hand and looking worriedly around him. Thankfully, no one seemed to be alerted by Nami's outburst.
"Let go of me!" Nami said through his muffled hand.
"Sorry, but I can't let go until you promise you won't say the two words again," Ben said apologetically.
"What? Food Poisoning?" Zoro asked, yawning and stretching out his arms.
"SHHHHH! YES, THAT!" Ben said looking frantically around again, "I'll explain, okay? Just please keep it down."
Nami nodded as the rest gave their permission too. Ben motioned for them to move towards an empty corner of the waiting room and explained softly, "Food poisoning is very rare on this island. When it does happen, it is treated with a thorough investigation by the royal family."
"Why?" Chopper asked.
"It's because of the current Royal Chef," Ben sighed.
"The Royal Chef?" the Straw Hats asked.
"Yes, no one knows why but ever since the King hired the current chef, the castle has been ordering bulks of food from the different food stalls in the market," Ben explained.
"You mean the Royal Chef doesn't cook?" Nami asked, "That's ridiculous!"
"Some say it's because he's too lazy to cook. Some say it's because he's so terrifying even the king is scared to ask anything from him. And some say it's because the king is addicted to street food and that the chef is just a poor neglected man waiting to show off his skills," Ben said.
"What does that have to do with food p-" Usopp started to say before Ben shot him a warning look, "Er, I mean, the illness?"
"Well, since the king gets his food from the people, each vendor is checked thoroughly for food and preparation techniques by the Red Cloaks. Any signs of food poisoning could potentially mean an attempt at killing the king," Ben explained.
"But you can't possibly check every food vendor every day. You don't have that many people!" Robin pointed out.
"We don't check every vendor," Ben said, "A list is created every morning and given to the food checking unit to the select vendors they are ordering from that day. The vendors don't know they are picked until the same day."
"I see, so there can be little time for them to plan the poisoning," Robin surmised, "But who makes the list?"
"The king's personal body guard and the highest ranking commander, Commander Doru," Ben said, "Even the king doesn't know which vendor is picked."
"So it keeps the level of people involved at a minimum to reduce tampering. Genius," Robin marveled.
"It was one of the many ideas from Commander Rei that has helped this country," Ben said bursting pride.
"Yeah, yeah," Zoro said exasperatedly, 'We get it. He's a genius. Move on."
Usopp raised an eyebrow at the swordsman's response. People did annoy him easily but it was still rare for someone to get under the swordsman this quickly.
"So why can't we see Luffy?" Nami asked bringing the subject back to what was important.
"Once the hospital identifies a case of food poisoning, they have to report it and the hospital goes on lock down. No one leaves the hospital and the patient with food poisoning is only allowed to be in the same room as the doctor treating him and anyone who came in with the patient," Ben said apologetically.
"What?! That means we won't see Luffy until much later," Nami said dejectedly.
"We'll just need to find an inn to stay at," Zoro said while sitting in the farthest corner of the waiting room and propping his feet up on the seat across from him, "And come get him in the morning."
"He's with Franky," Usopp said reassuredly, "He'll be fine, Nami."
"But, that means we won't be able to get the treasure tonight," Nami pouted.
Is that what you were worried about? the rest of the Straw Hats thought to themselves.
"What do we do now?" Usopp asked.
"All we can do is wait until they send over an investigation team and they give us permission to see Straw Hat Luffy," Ben said.
"And permission for us to leave," Brook pointed, "Since the hospital is now technically on lockdown."
"Yes, that's right," Ben said taking a seat in one of the waiting chairs, "Your other friend is coming over with John so we have to wait for them anyways. We might as well get comfortable.
"He already is," Usopp said pointing a thumb at a now napping Zoro.
Meanwhile in room 102, Luffy was being treated by Dr. Clayton with Franky by his side. Several nurses rushed in and out of the room, alternatively dumping out the contents of the vomit-filled buckets into the large bins marked "BIO-HAZARD".
Dr. Clayton was average built. He had a dark blue beard that was combed straight. His hair was combed straight back as well. He wore thick glasses that reflected the light. He stood over Luffy's bed and wrote things down occasionally on cold, metal clipboard. "Are you sure you don't want to get your stomach pumped?" the doctor asked Luffy, who was green in the face and with dozens of buckets next to him.
"I don't," Luffy wheezed, pausing to throw up in a newly emptied bucket, "Want a tube shoved down my throat!"
"Now let me ask you, one more time, do you remember what you ate?" Dr. Clayton asked.
"He ate at every food stall, doctor-bro," Franky answered for his captain, "So it's hard to remember exactly what."
Dr. Clayton looked at Franky in shock and horror. "That's more than a hundred!"
"I'm a rubber man," Luffy gasped faintly.
"That's not a valid reason to eat so much," Dr. Clayton said throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.
"So what do we do now?" Franky asked.
"He needs to stay here overnight and we'll watch over him until he gets it all out," Dr. Clayton said.
"No, I want to leave this place and be with my friends," Luffy pleaded before turning his body to vomit into one of the buckets.
"You shouldn't move, Luffy," Franky argued, "But I will stay here with you. The rest of the crew will need to find a place to stay overnight."
"No, I want to leave," Luffy muttered half heartedly, too weak to really put up a fight.
"The less you move, the faster you'll get better and you definitely want to feel your best tomorrow," one of the nurses said encouragingly as she brought back a newly emptied bucket.
"Why?" Luffy asked.
"Tomorrow is the day of the dead!" she said giving Luffy a thumbs up. She continued to explain more about the holiday and the festival the island is preparing for.
"FESTIVAL!" Luffy yelled, jumping up from the bed. He immediately fell back down to vomit more.
"Luffy, THE SEXY NURSE JUST SAID, you shouldn't move!" Franky cried out, pinning Luffy back down on the bed, "Just lie back down and think about tomorrow. All the fun, the people, the masks.
"And the king will make his annual speech too!" the nurse added, blushing a little from being referred to as sexy.
"The king," Dr. Clayton said quietly to himself with a snarl that faded away just as fast as it had appeared.
"Dr. Clayton," Franky suddenly asked, startling Dr. Clayton, "Do you mind if I stay here and watch over Luffy?"
"Not at all," Dr. Clayton said, beads of sweat running down the back of his neck, "In fact, you are actually required to stay here with him as it is required by law for the government to ask you a couple of questions."
"Are we in super trouble?" Franky asked.
"No, not at all, we just treat food poisoning really seriously here and want to get to the bottom of it before anymore people suffer," Dr. Clayton said reassuringly, "I have some other patients to attend to I'll leave you two for a little while but I will be right back!"
He hurriedly ran out the door before Franky could ask anymore questions. Dr. Clayton ducked into his office, shutting the door behind him and locking it.
Thank god, he thought to himself, Thank god they didn't catch my outburst. I need to be calm and composed, even at the mention of the damn king, or else my cover will be blown.
He took a couple of breaths to calm himself. He instinctively ran a hand across his hair, smoothing it out and making sure none of it was out of place. He looked into a mirror by his desk and adjusted his glasses. Should I warn the boss that the Straw Hats are here? he wondered, Nah. They're going to be too distracted by the festival tomorrow anyways to intercept our plans. I'm being too paranoid. I need to compose myself.
Purupurupurupuru.
A muffled transponder snail ring brought back Dr. Clayton's attention. He rushed to his desk, unlocked a drawer and pulled out a small black snail.
Catcha.
"Hello. This is Dr. Clayton."
"Hey, Doc," sang a smooth male voice that made the hairs on the back of Clayton's neck stand up, "I heard there was a case of food poisoning."
"Yes, Boss," Dr. Clayton said quietly so no one outside his office would here, "I just finished treating him and asked him a couple of questions myself."
"Any way this can get traced back to me?" his boss asked.
"No, not at all. In fact, he ate at every food stall so there's no way anyone can tell which vendor got him sick," Dr. Clayton said reassuringly.
"Good. Very good," the voice at the other end said, "How about the other thing? Do you have an update for me?"
"Yes, Boss," Dr. Clayton said in a whisper so no one outside his office would here, "The shipment is being prepared right now and will be there by tomorrow morning."
"Good," said his Boss, "You've not let me down, Doc. I like that and you will be rewarded for your efforts."
"Thank you, Boss," Dr. Clayton said enthusiastically, "Does this mean I can -"
"Now, now, Doc," sang the male voice, "Don't get ahead of yourself. You are not in a position to request anything from me."
"I didn't mean any disrespect, sir," Clayton babbled out, quickly backtracking.
"I know you didn't," the male voice said silkily, "You'll get what you want when you fulfill your role to me and the Web Gang."
"Yes, Boss," Dr. Clayton said nodding.
"Good, now I have another matter to attend to," the Boss said, his voice growing slightly annoyed, "Apparently, one of underlings got caught by that brat, Rei."
"No way," Dr. Clayton gasped.
"Yes, he's probably about to get interrogated by the jailer if I don't intervene," the Boss said, but this time in a more relaxed tone, "But no worries. It's a problem I can fix easily with my….connections."
At the sound of the last word, Dr. Clayton gulped and wiped a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. "Do you want me to get rid of Straw Hat Luffy?"
"Are you an idiot?!," the Boss yelled. His voice had changed completely into a barking growl but Dr. Clayton knew it was the same person, "If anything happens to Straw Hat Luffy under your care, you're the first person that stupid punk, Rei, will suspect!"
"Sorry, sir," Dr. Clayton gasped, "I just wanted to make sure no one would be able trace this back to you."
"You are very sweet," the Boss sang now back to his calm and silky voice. "But I've already made preparations. I will deal with the Straw Hats myself."
"If you're sure," Dr. Clayton stammered.
"Of course, I'm sure! I'm always sure!" The Boss shouted again before clearing his throat and regaining his composure, "Just focus on our shipment. It is important I get it by tomorrow."
"Yes, Boss Tarantula."
With that the transponder snail hung up and Dr. Clayton was left staring at the snail as he trembled in fear.