Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig!
Ok, so here we are back to Appendicitis, and hopefully it should finish this chapter. I think…
Chopper ran through the underbrush, his heart beating wildly inside of his chest as he sprinted at full speed back to the beach.
"CHOPPER!" Sanji's voice, a scream of desperation that echoed through the trees signaling that something had gone very wrong.
The animal shifted speed point, ducking his head for less wind resistance as a thousand panicked thoughts whirled through his head. Was Zoro ok? Had the infection spread faster than he had previously calculated? Or was it something far worse?
The answer to the reindeer's question came in a way that was at the very least, unexpected, for as Chopper pelted through the bush in his race to get to his patient's side, a pair of hungry jaws snapped at his hind legs, causing the animal to give a yelp of fright. Looking behind him, he saw the glowing eyes of a wolf pack, led by one scraggly, thin, scrap of a black wolf. He ran next to the pack leader, his head bowed in submission, even as he gazed hungrily at their quarry, and Chopper heard their voices loud and clear.
"See Alpha," the black rogue yipped to the pack leader "I told you there was food, and there are two more on the beach, we'll dine well tonight!"
"Be silent," Alpha snarled causing the black wolf to whimper "you have done well showing food to the pack, but whether we will allow you to rejoin us as a member is still to be decided, for now focus on the hunt, and show me you're worthy to be our brother once more."
The rogue wolf set his starving gaze on the reindeer, and Chopper gave a squeal of fright at his next words "Consider it done!"
Diving forward, the black wolf put on an extra burst of speed, his glistening fangs snapping closer and closer to the straw-hat's legs. Chopper screamed, and began to zig-zag through the trees, trying to shake off the wolf, and the rest of the pack, from following him, but hunger was a powerful motivator and the wolves hung on, shadowing Chopper's every move. The reindeer, his patient in mind, leapt into the air, giving a powerful hind kick, catching the black wolf right on the side of his gaping maw, sending him flying backwards. Landing lightly back on his feet, Chopper continued his desperate run, praying that somehow by reaching Sanji, he would find safety.
…
Sanji, despite his bandaged hands, struggled to hold Zoro down as the man writhed on the ground, his body convulsing in a violent seizure, while the cook hovered overhead hoping that the movement would dislodge the tube from his side and get sand in an already infected wound. The lone emerald eye had long rolled into the back of his head, and all the cook could hear from the swordsman's mouth was a muffled choking gasp, a sure sign that not enough air was reaching what were probably burning lungs.
"No, nonono," Sanji moaned, his blue eyes wide with panic "This is my fault; I got you angry, and made this happen."
Finally after what felt like an eternity to thrashing, it seemed Zoro's body finally lost the strength to keep moving, and he sank to the sand, his muscle bound body twitching and trembling feebly as his chest moved in shallow wheezing pants. Sanji sat back on his heels, his arms and hands shaking with uncontrollable tremors both because fatigue from holding the swordsman down during his seizure, and also sheer insurmountable panic fluttering in his chest.
"Please don't die," Sanji whispered desperately "please don't die, I'll let you off dish duty for a month, I'll stop getting mad when you tease me about taking care of the ladies, I'll even clean your swords for you, just please…don't…die!"
The cook waited, hoping for the snarky comment that Zoro always made signaling his health and his stubbornness to survive, but none came. The swordsman simply lay on the sand, his breath becoming softer and increasingly shallower with each passing moment, and Sanji felt an overwhelming flood of helplessness grip his heart in its icy chains. It was the kind of feeling you get that makes you want to just hug your pillow and cry, simply because you are left with no other option. Sanji sniffled, rubbing his nose with one hand, and fought back the tears. He couldn't give in now. Sure he was stressed, tired, injured, and more than a little angry at himself for pushing Zoro when he should have been insisting the green haired man rest, but he still had a job to do, and that meant no emotional meltdowns until he was absolutely certain they were safe, AKA, until they were back on the Sunny.
"SAAAA-NJIII!" and panicked scream bellowed from beyond the shelter.
The cook scrambled to his feet, immense relief at Chopper's return giving energy to his bruised and battered body. Racing out of the homemade shack, the cook felt his face fall as he watched Chopper sprint across the beach, with an entire pack of wolves behind him. His knees turned to jelly, and the cook almost stumbled to the ground, but picked himself back up before he made contact. He was so tired, and here was that stupid black wolf back again, trying to eat them. Sanji was officially ticked off.
His mouth a sneer of contempt, the cook activated his special technique, making his leg glow as if it held the fire of a volcano within the bone and sinew. Sprinting forward, the man skipped his usual battle cry announcing his attack and channeled all his anger and frustration on the enemies charging him. Digging his fiery leg into the beach, the cook smiled as he felt the sand melting around it, kicked the resulting glass up out of the earth. Jumping up, the blond kicked with his other leg, smashing the glass into shards, and sent them hurtling towards the pack of wolves.
Chopper screamed as he saw the barrage of glass flying towards him, and dove for the sand, whimpering as he heard them whistle overhead, narrowly missing his crouched body.
Many of the wolves yelped in pain, scampering back into the forest, but a decent portion was spared, and they continued their assault. Sanji ran forward, standing between Chopper and the wolves, bending his knees to prepare to attack, when suddenly the beach was rocked by a loud explosion sending the remaining wolves scattering. Turning around, the cook almost began to weep with relief when he saw the familiar silhouette of the Thousand Sunny mooring into the beach while Franky stood on the prow, his hand still transformed as a bazooka. The shipwright gave them a cheerful wave, and Sanji laughed in response.
Soon their crewmate was running across the beach, and Sanji met him halfway between the ship and the shelter "You're late," he growled.
"Sorry Sanji-bro," Franky shrugged "we made it a ways before we realized we were missing you, and then we chased down the marine ship thinking you guys were left fighting it, and then Nami thought that maybe you were swept overboard and might have swum to the nearest island."
"Count on Nami-swan to be brilliant and save our lives!" Sanji crooned.
"Oi," Franky said, his eyes becoming wide as he was struck by a sudden thought "where's Zoro-bro?"
The cook's happy cooing was cut off by the cyborg's question and he looked back to the shelter where the swordsman lay, and Chopper was currently working "…Well…"
As if he were the answer to Franky's question, Chopper came rushing out of the shelter, his eyes wide with fearful panic "We need to get Zoro to the infirmary NOW! His body's gone into sepsis, and he needs immediate treatment!"
Franky's eyes went wide as shock caused his features to become slack with shock, before he shook himself back into reality and ran across the sand, squeezing his hulking mass into the shelter and stepping back out carrying the swordsman. Zoro's skin was a flushed bright red, his body trembled weakly in the cyborg's arms as he gasped for air. Without another word, the crewmates ran as one towards the sunny, all screaming for their crew to prepare the infirmary, and get out of the way.
…
Sanji stepped out of the shower, his muscle bound body dripping with hot water, even though his hands were covered by fresh ointment, bandages, and wrapped in plastic so not to irritate the burns. And though he was humiliated, because he needed it, the cook allowed Usopp to assist him in washing his hair and body. Of course this made him angry and irritable due to the embarrassing sight of him standing with his hands outstretched away from the water while Usopp scrubbed his blond head making the hair glossy and sand free.
In no time though, he was standing fully dressed in front of the door of the galley, only to find that Robin and Nami had kicked him out.
"Consider this a well deserved, and much needed vacation Sanji-kun," Nami had chirped brightly.
"You work so hard to feed us, it would be wrong to expect you to work when your hands are so badly burned," Robin contributed with her usual gentle smile.
Sanji of course had spun out of the room, exuding hearts as he cried out his admiration and love for two such kind, beautiful examples of femininity, but after he had left the galley he realized that he had nowhere to go, and so was left standing helplessly on the stairs. With a huff, the man tried to light a cigarette, but his bandaged hands were clumsy as they fumbled with the lighter. Finally with a groan of exasperation, the cook threw the lighter down on the floor, and stomped on it, only to groan at his temper tantrum when he realized what he had done.
"I'm so pathetic," he growled softly as his eyes drifted to the infirmary door.
It had been almost four hours since Chopper had run inside with Zoro in tow, the reindeer had given Sanji enough attention to treat the burns and re-bandage his hands, but that was all he had seen of the doctor after that. Wandering over to the door, he looked up on the wall to see if the light was on signaling that the surgery was still in process. However the hall was dark, and the cook softly kicked the door in a form of knock, hoping and yet dreading that Chopper would answer the door.
Soon enough, the doorknob turned and Chopper peeked around the wood only to smile at Sanji "He," the small animal hiccupped with tears in his eyes "He's gonna be ok!"
A rush of relieved breath left the skinny blond, leaving him feeling vaguely lightheaded "Seriously?" he asked in a tired rasp "The infection is gone?"
"Not gone," Chopper shook his head sadly before perking up with a hopeful smile "but it will be soon. He's on an IV with strong antibiotics right now, and his fever's already gone down to a manageable level."
"Good," Sanji nodded, slumping against the doorframe and a fatigued smile tugged at his lips "Good,"
…
Zoro slowly came to, his gaze fuzzy and unfocused until after a few moments it sharpened to reveal that he was laying in one of the many infirmary beds. The green haired man slowly turned his head, mentally scowling at how heavy his body felt; which was a sure sign that Chopper had drugged him, something he hated with a passion. No one was in the room, though one window was open, allowing a cheery breeze to blow through the chamber, carrying with it the sounds of his captain and various crew members playing on deck. Zoro smirked as he suspected that it was probably the usual suspects playing a game of tag, or chase hide-and-seek, and no doubt Nami would be yelling at any moment for them to shut up.
Sure enough, he heard Nami's enraged screech, and the swordsman let out a dry cough as a chuckle tried to spring from his cracked lips. The motion caused a small throb to resonate from his abdomen, and the man looked down to see the familiar (though now sanitized) tube sticking out from his side in between swaths of bandages. It was dripping a yellowish substance that Zoro could only assume was the infection from his burst appendix and whatever else gunk had gotten inside him during their stay on the beach.
Suddenly the memories from the shack sprang back into the forefront of his mind, and Zoro gave a harsh wince when he remembered losing his cool in front of Sanji over his guilt concerning Kuina's death. A large bony hand clumsily raked through his hair, as the drugged man gave a groan of frustrated embarrassment.
"What is it with me," he snarled to himself "I can't even keep myself in check anymore."
Suddenly a bang resounded outside the door, making the swordsman jump, the drugs currently in his system making every message and alert from his brain thrice more painful and thus he immediately curled his hands around his head giving a moan of pain.
"Zoro?"
The man in question looked up to see the one person he would have preferred to avoid for at least a few months, which of course was the cook. Unfortunately Sanji wasn't a mind reader, and neither was Zoro, so of course neither of them knew what the other was thinking. Their thought processes went something like this…
"Aw man," Sanji winced "He's glaring at me; he knows that it's all my fault his infection got worse because I pushed him too far on his past."
Zoro's scowl deepened "Why is he wincing? Unless he thinks I'm a weakling and can't handle anything he can dish out anymore. That JERK!"
Sanji gave a small gulp as the scowl became an all out death glare "…Oh yeah… He blames me all right…Maybe I have just enough time to write a loving letter of farewell to Robin-chwan and Nami-swan before I meet my impending death on the end of his swords."
"He looks like he wants to say something," Zoro thought as he raised one eyebrow "What's his problem anyway?"
"Is-Is he CHALLENGING ME?!" Sanji thought suddenly getting angry by Zoro's risen eyebrow that seemed to mock him "What, does he want me to ADMIT that it's my fault? THAT JERK!"
Zoro watched the cook slowly become incensed with anger and rolled his one good eye "That weirdo better say what's bugging him, because this cannot be good for his blood pressure."
"HOW DARE HE ROLL HIS EYE AT ME?!" Sanji screamed in his head while a fiery aura encased his body "What, is he waiting to accuse me himself for making him worse? He's got some nerve considering I'm the one who took care of him most of the time on that beach anyway!"
Finally the two broke their inner monologue long enough to snap at each other unison "JUST SAY IT ALREADY!"
"No, I'm not saying anything until you admit to what you were going to say!" The blond growled.
Zoro looked confused "I was going to say what?"
"Th-that you blame me!" Sanji stuttered through his snarl.
"Blame you for what?" The swordsman yelled.
"For making you worse!" Sanji shrieked, tearing at his hair at Zoro who was apparently playing dumb "You want me to admit that prying into your past made the infection worse!"
"Why would I care about junk like that?" Zoro growled "Besides, you're the one who came in here treating me like I'm some pathetic weakling who can't take care of himself."
"Who says that I thought that?!" Sanji bellowed spreading his hands wide in a helpless gesture.
"I could tell because of the way you looked at me!" Zoro retorted a pout jutting out his bottom lip.
Sanji started to yell back, but then a thought came to him which caused him to pause, then to sigh, and then to crack up laughing. Zoro's jaw fell open in shock, and his hand itched to reach forward and check to see if the cook had contracted a fever.
"Uh, hey wonder brow," the green haired man ventured "you…ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," the cook chuckled "I was just realizing how I'm really horrible at reading facial cues."
Zoro paused, then a smirk twitched one corner of his mouth, and a small snicker escaped his lips "That might be the first thing we found that we have in common."
The two men met each other's gazes for a little over a second before busting up into laughter "You," Sanji chortled you looked so serious, I thought for sure you were gonna kill me!"
"What about you?" Zoro chuckled incredulously "You came in here all scared and quiet, it freaked me out!"
The two lapsed into another round of laughter before Sanji stood up, shaking his head in amusement, and poured a glass of water "You thirsty?"
Zoro ran his tongue, which felt incredibly thick and slow, around what he soon realized was a sandpapery mouth "Yeah, actually."
The blond handed the swordsman the cup, adjusting the pillows and helping his nakama into a sitting position so that Zoro could drink it more easily. The green haired man took a long swallow, a sigh of relief as his parched mouth was rescued by the cool drink.
"Nothing like a dose of dehydration to make even the best of drinks pale in comparison to a glass of ice water, huh?" Sanji chuckled softly
"You can say that again," Zoro grunted his voice echoing slightly from the cup as he took another gulp.
"Nah, too long,"
Both men snickered at Sanji's joke before silence once again reigned in the room. Zoro set the cup down on the bedside table, pursing his lips as the conscience he normally pretended didn't exist urged him to reassure Sanji of his innocence.
"Oi, curly cook," he said in a quiet voice barely above a whisper "I don't blame you, and it wasn't your fault."
"But…" Sanji glanced up with shocked blue eyes "but I pried into your past, and I got you angry, that was when the attack hit."
"No," Zoro shook his head, "It had been building even when I was bandaging your hands, and even before that with the wolf, it just decided to hit at a stupid time, that's all."
"Oh,"
Silence once again fell, and Sanji chewed on his lip, feeling like he should finish his earlier sentiment that had been interrupted by Zoro's seizure.
"Oi, moss head,"
The swordsman quirked an eyebrow at the cook and nodded for him to continue, causing Sanji to stumble on his words, hesitating just a moment before taking a breath and plunging on.
"I think that you didn't steal Kuina's dream," he said softly turning his blue eyes to the floor "because she knew that you respected her as a swordswoman, enough to want to use real swords because you were so desperate to get an honest win against her, she wanted to use real swords against you too so that she could give you that chance.
"I mean, it's not like you tripped her down the stairs," Sanji continued, suddenly turning serious eyes on the bedridden man, his voice turning commanding and firm "in fact you were probably miles away doing some ridiculously heavy training all in preparation for your next spar, and so it doesn't make sense that her death would be your fault. She would have had to go down those stairs eventually, be it for water, or to buy groceries, or even to just play outside like a normal kid. Those stairs existed before you ever got there, you didn't build them, and I'm sure you never went up those stairs wishing that people who were better than you would trip down them. You're not that kind of person.
Suddenly the cook looked back down at the floor, his tone becoming hesitant and soft again "So what I'm trying to say is, don't beat yourself up, ok? It isn't your fault, nor has it ever been. I'm sure Kuina would be proud of the man you've become, but it would probably break her heart to see that her closest friend was killing himself on the inside with a sword of regret and guilt. So don't do it anymore, ok?"
Zoro opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. This was something he couldn't sum up in words, and he had no idea what to say. He gave a heavy swallow, a thick ball of an untold emotion and…gratitude for the cook's words, the man who was quickly becoming one of his closest friends. Finally with a nod, the green haired man rasped his reply in a voice husky from repressed emotion.
"I promise,"
WHEW! That was hard. As anyone on here knows, writing friendship feel good fuzzy conversations with these two is HARD!
Ok, Appendicitis is FINISHED!
Make sure to leave a review about the arc!