Chapter Three: Falling Asleep and Not Waking Up
Zoro ate the soup which, for being full of disgusting slimy leek, was very good.
//He's so
damned talented.// Had he
said it aloud, he would have been grumbling.
He
wasn't taking Sanji's advice, he had planned on doing it
eventually, so Zoro retired to the room that he shared with the cook,
Usopp, and Luffy. Crawling into the hammock, he noticed his nausea
had subsided.
//
That shitt know it all.//
Zoro
slowly drifted off to sleep.
When dinner rolled around, Sanji asked Usopp to fetch Zoro for dinner.
"No! I'm tired of being the victim!" Usopp said dramatically and stomped off to the kitchen. Nami and Luffy were already seated at the table so Sanji trudged to the bedroom, muttering obscenities about lazy swordsman along the way. Zoro was sleeping quietly on the hammock.
Sanji had his leg halfway to the swordsman's stomach when it occurred to him;
//Quietly?
He never sleeps quietly. Bastard keeps me up all night
snoring.//
Sanji
lit the lamp on the table and held it closer to better inspect the
green haired man. Zoro's breathing was shallow and he was soaked in
sweat. The normally golden bronze skin was a sickly pale color. Sanji
placed his hand to Zoro's forehead.
// He's on fire. Should I wake him up.?//
Sanji was not an expert in the field of medicine to say the least.
//Do
I wake him or let him sleep? Maybe he just needs to rest but, he
looks really fucking sick. I'll feel better if I could hear the
asshole say something at least. Maybe I'll just wake him for a
minute.//
Sanji
squeezed Zoro's shoulder and shook it with tenderness he had never
thought he would ever show the swordsman.
"Oi Zoro. Wake up."
Zoro did not stir this time. His head rolled in a sickly, limp motion to the side.
"Zoro." Sanji said louder this time, his shaking becoming more frantic. "Zoro! Wake up damn it!"
As the panic crept slowly inside him, his throat feeling oddly constricted, Sanji mentally checked himself.
//He's
still breathing. He just won't wake up. His fever- He's all wet from
sweating like this and he's shivering but he's so hot- We have to get
him to a doctor-//
The
door opened and Luffy peered in. "Ne Sanji-"
"Luffy something's wrong with Zoro. We need to change course and get to the nearest town quick. He won't wake up and he's got a bad fever-"
"I'll get Nami." Luffy turned and left. Sanji kept running his thumb across Zoro's forearm, hoping the contact would somehow help the idiot wake up.
//Come
on you bastard. Wake up and tell me to get my filthy hands off you or
something! Call me a pervert, please just wake up-//
Nami
burst through the door. Without saying a word she lit several more
lamps and came to Zoro's side.
"Let's move him to the couch Sanji. He'll be more comfortable that way. There's an island near here, and according to my map we should be there before dawn if the wind is favorable. Usopp is getting a towel and a bowl of water, okay? We need to try and bring his fever down-"
"But he's shivering-"
"I know. But if we put him under a blanket now his fever will only get worse. We need to try and cool him off." Nami looked determined but sympathetic. "Sanji-" She lowered her voice considerably. "I know how you feel, but we have to do something. He's not going to get better just by you looking at him." Her voice was firm.
Sanji nodded.
"I need you to carry him."
Sanji lifted Zoro from the hammock and carried him to Nami's room.
//He's
not as heavy as I thought he'd be. With all of that muscle I thought
he'd weigh a ton.//
"Sanji?
You can put him down now." Nami said. Sanji obviously thought he
was alone with his thoughts. He blushed and gently laid Zoro on the
sofa. Usopp came in, handed the bowl and towel to Nami, glanced and
Zoro, and promptly left. Nami rolled her eyes and began sponging away
some of the sweat from Zoro's brow and neck.
Sanji stood dumbly at the end of the couch, wishing he had something to do.
//There's nothing I can do. I can't fight sickness for him. He wasn't that sick when I saw him at lunch. That soup should have brought his fever down, it always worked for that old geezer when he used it on me. Did I make it wrong"//
"Sanji? It's getting late. It's best to just let him rest. I'm going to bed- "
"Where? Don't you usually sleep in here?" Sanji said, his voice somewhat hollow. His eyes had glazed over and though he seemed to be looking at Zoro, he was obviously far away.
//Did I do this to him? Was it me?//
Nami yawned. "It's nice out tonight. I'm just gonna take some extra pillows and blankets and sleep on the deck-"
"That's how he got sick."
Nami frowned. "I don't think so. This is obviously more than a cold, don't you think? I mean, the man was nearly sliced in half before and he pulled through that one just fine. It would take more than a cold to bring him to this."
The navigator got up and patted Sanji on the shoulder.
"Why don't you just tell him and get it over with?"
Wherever Sanji's mind had been drifting, it was no longer there, having been ripped back to the situation at hand.
"What?"
Nami smiled.
"You are my nakama Sanji. I want you to be happy. It shouldn't take dramatic events to make people realize how they feel about each other because by then, it's usually too late. Trust me. I know that better than anyone."
Sanji sighed. "It's not an easy thing."
"It is. Why don't you tell him now?" She said, heading for the door.
Sanji snorted. "Yeah, just when he's gonna hear me the least."
Nami took one of the lamps and left. Sanji sat down in front of the couch, his head resting on the edge.
//I
love you.//
"I'm
a coward."
//I
can't even tell him now. It's not like it's going to hurt. I'm not
afraid of it hurting. I'm afraid he won't hear me, and I'll never be
able to say it again.//
Sanji
sighed. "Zoro you jerk. Just wake up so I can say it to your
face. So that I can tell you how you've driven me insane. How much
I... love you." The last two words were barely a whisper.
Despite being exhausted for no apparent reason, Sanji did not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was Zoro, laying the way he was on the couch, floating in blackness. But the man never stirred. His shallow breathing did not even out and the only movement by Zoro was an occasional shiver despite his fever. Sanji never moved from the swordsman's side. He stayed where he was even as light spilled through the single window to the room.
"Land hoooo!" Came Luffy's voice from the crow's nest.
Sanji blinked.
//I should move.
But I don't want to.//
