I might be late for the next update because I spend my time talking to my fiance on face time because the poor guy is infected with the Corona virus, fortunately this chapter was already ready for publication so as not to make you wait.
Many thanks for your comments, I hope you will enjoy this new chapter.
Chapter20: Bad joke.
When he woke up, Law felt like he was in a dream, his vision was hazy and his ears were ringing, the only proof that he was in reality was the sound of the beep indicating his normal heartbeat and the pain in his abdomen, the memory of the night at sea and his gunshot wound slowly came back to his mind, apparently he had managed to survive despite the gravity of the situation, he was sure Penguin had saved him, because no one else could not have done it for him.
Since he was a doctor and had medical knowledge, Law took a long time to start moving in order to avoid making a sudden movement, slowly he turned his head to the side examining his surroundings with his eyes, it didn't take a long time because he immediately recognized the intensive care unit of his hospital, he was relieved to find he was home, at least now he knew they might have escaped the boat before Crocodile's men arrived, his memories of that night were all blurred, the last thing he remembered was successfully killing the man who injured him, after that he plunged into utter nothingness.
In a slow, painful movement, Law lifted his hand and brought it closer to his face, then removed the oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose because he felt suffocated and he wanted to breathe normally, as expected, he felt much more relieved and awake too, he didn't know how long he had been sleeping or how his health was, that's why, he didn't try to stand up fearing that his body could not stand it, he was aware that he had escaped death, according to its position the bullet must have hit a vital organ, causing him to lose a lot of blood.
"You are finally awake." Penguin rejoiced after he ran into the room.
"How..," Law tried to say before he felt short of breath, he had to make a painful effort to get his voice out because his throat was so hot and dry. "How long have I slept?" He continued with suffocation.
"Thirty-one hours to be exact," Penguin replied as he began to examine his boss. "You worried us a lot."
"I want to sit down." Law said, feeling completely numb.
"How impatient," Penguin commented before being stunned by Law's gaze. "Ok, ok I'll help you do it."
The day after he woke up, Law was feeling much better and he was recovering quickly, he had even started to walk which was quite an achievement in his case, moreover, due to the many visits he received, he was much more in a hurry to heal because he was not a social being and above all, he hated that his living space was invaded by his noisy allies who had no respect for a patient who needed calm, the only person who relieved him was his sweet little sister, just for her, he was trying to get back on his feet, because he didn't want to draw tears from Lamy's eyes anymore.
But oddly, Nami hasn't visited him since he woke up, according to Penguin and Shachi she had come once when he was unconscious and even though she was informed of his awakening, she did not come to see him, his subordinates also told him that she had been very sad and that she had even cried for him, which made him delighted as he had discovered he was important to her, however, why didn't she visit him?
Law didn't know why he had a bad feeling every time he thought of the red-haired woman, he felt she was sulking, he was sure he hadn't done anything wrong lately to make her angry because he was in a deep sleep and before that, their relationship had improved a lot and they had started to get along, besides, Shachi had confirmed his assumptions that she was angry, his subordinate told him that she was back to being a cold woman as before and she didn't talk to anyone, she stayed locked in her room to avoid everyone.
During the visitation period, Law remained silent, watching without paying attention to what was going on around him becauseif he focused more on the Straw Hat antics, he would feel the time passing too slowly which will cause him more pain than the wound in his abdomen, the only solution he had found was to disconnect from the real world and enter a daydream, but suddenly a discussion between his ally and his sister caught his attention as Nami's name had been mentioned.
"She was scary." Luffy stopped laughing remembering the aura that Nami gave off, the woman in front of him looked at him with wide eyes.
"It's my fault, I should have introduced myself properly," Lamy whispered with cheeks flushed with shame as she was sitting on the bed next to Law's feet. "I didn't notice her because I was too sad for my brother."
"Love drives people crazy," Luffy muttered, shaking his head at his discovery, which made Law even more curious about whom they were talking about. "She was jealous thinking you were his wife."
"What are you talking about?" Law asked, silencing everyone in the room with his hoarse voice.
"About Nami," Luffy replied after noticing that the question was addressed to him. "When she saw Lamy, she had gone mad with jealousy because she had believed that your sister was your wife."
"Coming from her, nothing surprises me." Law sighed with a smirk, it was fun to find out that the reason for the woman's disappearance was jealousy, the most likely explanation that came to the man's mind was the woman's morbid addiction, during rehab Nami's brain had experienced some sort of violent earthquake and since then she imagined improbable things and convinced herself that it was real.
"In the end we know why she is acting weird." Shachi smiled as he felt a lot more relieved than his boss, as if he was the main stakeholder in the story.
"So like that, there is something between you two," Sanji said after taking a puff of his cigarette, not respecting the hospital rules or the patient he was visiting. "I understand why you were so protective last time." He added as his apparent eye pierced Law.
"I have to clear up the misunderstanding," Lamy jumped, clenching her fists determinedly as she made her decision, unaware that she had moved the bed abruptly, which woke up the pain of her brother's injury. "I'm going to talk to her and explain my relationship with Law."
"It's a good idea." Luffy slapped his palms excitedly as he pictured himself wearing a cupid outfit, ever since he had noticed the tension between Law and Nami he had wanted them to be together.
"No," Law growled after the pain caused by his sister had subsided. "I have a better idea."
"It gets interesting." Zoro commented as he shared a knowing look with the surgeon of death, he had somehow understood that Law would not make things easier for Nami.
"What are you going to do?" Shachi asked apprehensively, he was the first supporter of Law and Nami's relationship; he didn't want the situation to get complicated between them.
"Lamy," Law called looking at his sister sadistically, the woman swallowed several times as she was surrounded by a morbid aura. "You will be playing my wife in front of Nami-ya the next time you see each other."
"You're not serious!" She exclaimed shaking her head agitatedly.
"It looks cool." Luffy rejoiced, this time imagining himself wearing a Satanic outfit, with two horns on his forehead and a long red tail running down his lower back, he was a huge fan of drama series and what he learned from them was that love is more fun when it isn't easy and there are a lot of issues between the people who are lover.
"No I can't do it, it's immoral," Lamy cried before starting to look at everyone in the room, looking for an ally who shares her point of view, but Luffy, Zorro, Sanji and Shachi were all chuckling dangerously. "You are my brother, it's disgusting to pretend we're a couple." She insisted with a disgusted expression.
"Stop dramatizing," Law said, raising an eyebrow to intimidate his sister. "Can't you do your brother a favor who just barely escaped death?"
"Don't play with my feelings," She pouted before uttering a series of moans. "Making a woman jealous is such a stupid idea, it could backfire on you." She tried to dissuade him but unfortunately she was ignored.
"I bet 200 Berry she'll burst into tears," Sanji whispered after he and the three other men gathered around Law. "Women are sensitive and emotional creatures."
"In your dreams poor idiot," Zoro spat as he pulled out two 100 Berry bills from his wallet. "I'm saying she's going to send Law into a coma a second time."
"I say she's going to send Lamy into a coma." Luffy whispered a little loudly as his voice reached the ears of the brown haired woman who widened her eyes at hearing this.
"I think she's going to run away." Shachi said as he accepted the money from Luffy, he was in charge of keeping the money from the bet.
"I'm sure I'll win this stupid bet," Law sneered with a look of disdain. "I say she's going to hold her head up and make appear to be insensitive." He paused before turning to Shachi. "Lend me 200 Berry because I don't have any money on me right now and go call Nami-ya."
"What?!" Lamy boomed as she stood up quickly, rocking the bed in motion, causing a gut-wrenching pain in Law's body. "No, I'm not ready." But before she finished her sentence, Shachi had already left the room.
"I'm so excited." Luffy shivered, no longer able to control his hyperactivity.
"Now each of you must keep it serious," Law ordered authoritatively. "Especially you Straw Hat-ya."
"No, no, no..." Lamy repeated like a mantra as she paced back and forth, feeling stressed.
"Now is not the time to panic," Law growled as his sister started to irritate him, luckily she snapped out of her madness and stopped her unnecessary pacing. "Now stand next to me and hold my arm."
"Caress his face when Nami is here." Zoro proposed, raising his eyebrows.
"And kiss him every now and then." Sanji added with a suggestive voice.
"You talk to my sister, you fool." Law spat in an annoyed tone before moaning from the pain, his wound was about to open because of his allies.
"Stupid cook." Zoro muttered provocatively.
"Shut up now, I don't want her to hear us." Law ordered, knowing a fight was about to break out.
When silence reigned after a few minutes of bickering, Law started to think about the stupid thing he was going to do, apparently he was coming back in age, or maybe he was living his teenage years late because he never did it before, since he was a child he had always been a serious boy who put his studies first, he knew the value of time, that's why he didn't waste it on unnecessary things like games or the first crush, but now he was sure what he was doing was because of Luffy, ever since he allied with him, Law had started to lose his principles little by little because apparently Straw Hat's stupidity was contagious and he was a bad influence on him.
There was also Nami, since she came into her life, Law had started to have new feelings, at first, he hadn't wanted to accept them because he felt weak every time he approached the red-haired woman, but over time he had started to appreciate his situation with her and it had become a pleasure for him to see her face, besides, he knew she was interested in him too, not only had she tried to sleep with him the day after they met, which meant she found him physically attractive, but also lately the woman was blushing whenever he approached her which confirmed that she was affected by him.
Law stopped to think when Shachi entered the room and as he was about to ask him where Nami was, an orange tuft invaded his field of vision and he almost forgot his plan when his golden eyes met the chocolate brown orbs which doubled in size the moment they noticed all the faces in the room, but it didn't last long because it wasn't long before Nami controlled her surprise and she took a stiff expression on her face.
"You called me?" Nami remarked with a voice that sounded like a question, looking suspiciously at the people in the room, she didn't understand why everyone looked serious, the proof was that no one had greeted her verbally, each of them had nodded in greeting, which was not normal because from her experience with The Straw Hat gang, they were all talkative men, there was also Law's wife who was clutching his arm like a leech, apparently the feeling she shared with Nami was mutual because her face was as white as a leaf, which meant that she was uncomfortable around the redhead, Nami wondered if the woman had sensed the rivalry between them as she had felt herself.
"Yes," Law replied with a satisfied smile, inside he was chuckling because not only had he enjoyed seeing Nami fighting herself in order to appear insensitive, but he also won the bet he made with the idiots who revealed something was wrong with their unusual calm. "I wanted to make sure you hadn't taken advantage of my absence to run away."
"As you can see, I didn't." Nami pointed out as she raised her hands in the air ironically, implying that she didn't count on arguing with him anymore. "I accepted my fate."
"Well," Law nodded before turning his head to his sister looking at her affectionately. "Nami-ya, this is Lamy."
An electric shock hit the redhead after hearing that Law hadn't used the suffix when saying the other woman's name, further proof that he was close to her.
"Nice to meet you." Lamy said cheerfully, making a great effort to act and fighting the urge to run away from the room as the air grew more and more stuffy for her from the dangerous aura the red-haired woman gave off.
"Me too," Nami lied with a fake smile as a tick appeared on her forehead, luckily no one could see the evidence of her irritation as it was hidden under her orange bangs, she was restraining herself from going to wring Law's neck, because she could see that he was enjoying the situation and he wasn't the only one, the silent viewers were all laughing silently and whispering to each other from time to time. "I am glad to see that you are doing well." She added after she felt the silence had grown a little too heavy, besides, she had no choice because everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to say something.
"Thank you," Law growled, looking at Nami in awe, trying to break the mask of indifference she wore, after reflection, he decided to provoke her because that was the only way to get the result he wanted. "I heard that you were very sad about my condition, I didn't know that I mean that much to you."
"Yes I was," Nami asserted narrowing her eyes as she exchanged a threatening glance with the Surgeon of Death, the other people in the room could see sparks bursting from her. "Lately I've neglected my treatment, remember the one you gave me?" Law nodded, prompting her to continue. "That's why, I'm not well psychologically anymore and I have fits and…"
"Do you want me to believe that you don't care about me?" Law asked, interrupting the woman's insane lie, but unfortunately when he was about to checkmate because he could see that Nami's facade had started to crack, Luffy had chosen to laugh out loud, which prompted Zoro, Sanji and even Shachi to do the same.
"Oh my god, it's much better than the TV series I'm watching on channel 3," Luffy shouted pointing his two index fingers, the one of his right hand at Law and the one of the left at Nami. "Besides, you look a lot like the main characters, the woman is jealous all the time and the man takes advantage of that."
"Stop…" Law tried to stop his idiotic ally, but his voice couldn't reach Luffy's ears as he was busy laughing, plus he couldn't increase his voice because of the pain of his injury.
"The show was worth a lot more than the 200 Berry I lost." Zoro chuckled while holding his stomach, trying to calm his fit of laughter.
"I fell in love with Nami even more because she showed great mental strength despite being a sensitive creature." Sanji said with a seductive tone circling around Nami with a heart shaped eye.
"And you, what is your comment?" Nami asked Shachi because he was one of the spectators, the man quickly stifled his laughter in his throat before running out of the room, not being able to face the woman, after that the redhead turned to the only person who could give her an answer. "Can you tell me what's going on?" But Law remained silent, looking at the three men in rage. "And you?" Nami's question was addressed this time to Lamy who was trying to hide her face with her hands.
"I... I," Lamy stammered, feeling intimidated by the impatient gaze of the redhead, she had almost torn off her brother's arm without noticing it, squeezing him very hard, she didn't have time to think of a way out and she couldn't lie because she was a bad liar, besides, it was not wise to try to lie to a scary woman like Nami. "I'm Law's sister and he wanted to make you jealous because Luffy said you thought I was his wife and you were angry about it." She revealed everything without even pausing to breathe.
After that, silence reigned in the room again as everyone had started to look at Nami apprehensively, waiting for her impending explosion, but contrary to what they thought, she said nothing and for the first time since arriving, her expression changed, a sad frown crept across her face and a mixture of confusion and surprise colored the orbs of her eyes, Law hadn't had the courage to stare at her for too long because he regretted what he had done, he was responsible for the pain she was feeling right now, luckily for him, without another word Nami turned on her heel and left the room which had been a reprieve for him.