"Contrecoup concussion, extensive bruises, broken collarbone, reduced dislocated shoulder—thank you Zoro, for your field work in that," Chopped paused and Zoro nodded curtly. He continued, "heavy abrasions to her wrists, subungual trauma with multiple nail involvement, two broken ribs, right lower lobe pneumonia, vaginal and anorectal lacerations, acute kidney injury from dehydration, and twenty-three separate first degree electrical and surface burns." Chopper had tears in his eyes as he dried his hooves thoughtfully on a once-clean towel. " I've treated and dressed the open injuries, performed lavages, and placed dissolving sutures. She's on an antibiotic drip piggybacked on fluids. Luckily the shoulder and clavicle injuries are on the same side, so I've got a binding dressing to stabilize the joints. I'm giving them a chance yet, but I think I'll have to remove three more fingernails. We'll see. It's hard to decide where she's at with the concussion; she may have been a bit delirious from pain, the circumstances, head injuries, or poor kidney function. Hard to say. Of course, she's sedated right now, but as she comes out of it, we'll see what her mental state is at."

Zoro's fists clenched as the little reindeer ticked off his patient's injuries. He wouldn't soon forget the shocked and terrified look on the doctor's face as he'd carried Robin in to the infirmary. After he'd set her down, her imprint remained on his white shirt in blood, matching his arms where he'd held her. He would never tell anyone, but he'd silently sobbed as he washed in the sink in his room a short time later. Usopp had wailed when he saw her—the others had remained silent, gobsmacked, horrified at her fate.

Zoro's fingernails dug into his palms. "Do you know when?" he asked

"Hm?" asked Chopper, distracted.

"Do you know when she'll wake up?"

"Probably two or three hours still. I—I dosed her pretty heavily. I didn't want her to…to wake up and hurt." Chopper's eyes welled up and he sniffled.

"You did good, Chopper. You did the best anybody could do." Nami said quietly.

"I hope so." The doctor forgot to fawn in the compliment as he ordinarily did.

"I know so."

Zoro grunted and left to stand at the ship's railing, staring out at the open sea. He hoped they wouldn't all try to crowd in the moment the poor woman opened her eyes. He didn't want her overwhelmed; likely she'd wake in the same terror-stricken state she'd been in when she fainted. Things would go incredibly south for her if she woke surrounded by people, whether she knew them or not. Better to see if he could talk them into allowing him to be there with her alone. He scoffed. Screw that. He'd wouldn't take no for an answer. If he had to bar the door against his well-meaning crewmates, he would. His job was to protect these people. Goddamned if he'd let anything, however well intentioned, stand in his way of protecting her now.

Her breathing was his first indication. It slowly shifted from the deep, measured breaths of sleep to more shallow, varied. She swallowed and gave an almost inaudible whimper. Zoro leaned forward from where he'd been sitting next to her bed and gently placed his right hand on her warm, dark head.

It hadn't been much of a challenge to convince the others to allow him to stay with her alone, waiting for her awakening. He had Chopper to thank for that; his eyes had lit up when Zoro stated his intention and he confirmed that he thought that was an excellent idea.

Her eyelids squeezed shut before opening. Of course, her right eye was still so bruised and blackened, she had no hope of opening it, but the lashes seemed to flutter just the same. "Hey," Zoro whispered. He stroked her head, fingers lightly combing through her hair. "Hey."

Panic raced across her face and her body stiffened. Robin tried for a moment to sit up; Zoro braced his hand against her back, not trying to stop her. Raising herself only a few inches, she kicked her legs out, grabbed wildly at the sheet covering her, and would have collapsed back on the bed, had Zoro's hand not been there to lower her gently. "It's okay, Robin. You're safe now," he murmured, and began stroking her hair again.

She opened and closed her mouth, silently, drawing sharp breaths, white knuckles gripping the sheet so hard her hands trembled with the effort. "Robin," Zoro murmured again, keeping a soothing rhythm with his hand.

No matter how questionable her awareness just now, he knew she would be able to pick up on his emotional state, and he made sure to keep his voice and body calm, just as he would if rocking an infant to sleep. He waited. The trembling slowly eased, her breathing slowly resolved into a regular pattern, her grip slowly loosened, her gaze began to focus. Long minutes passed. "You're safe, Robin."

With noticeable effort, she turned toward him, looking at him several moments before venturing a whisper of her own. "Zoro?"

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm here. You are safe, Robin." He kept his face close to hers, and continued calming her with gentle strokes in her hair.

"Z-Zoro?" her voice cracked. He looked at her more sharply. Panic? Fear?

"It's me, Robin. I'm right here."

"Zoro? I…Where…Zoro?"

"It's okay. You're safe. You're back on the Sunny."

"Sunny? It…it's over? Zoro? It's over?" her voice scratched, throat tight in near sobs. "It's over?"

He kissed her forehead again. "Robin" he whispered, voice heavy. "It's over. I've got you, sweetheart. It's over and you are perfectly safe."

She met his eyes and he could see the tears brimming. He drew his arm protectively around her, encircling her on the pillow, hand coming to rest on her far shoulder and kissed her forehead a third time. "Robin…it's okay now. " she raised her head and he slipped his arm underneath in a half-hug. She rested her head on his bicep and closed her eyes as tears came. Zoro reached out and found her hand, and held it, stroking the back with his thumb. After a few minutes of quiet release of emotion, he felt the change in her breathing again. Exhausted, she had drifted off to sleep.