Warning: A tiny bit of reference to suicide. It's pretty subtle, but again, just in case.
A pretty short update because something came up, but i'm adding the rest tomorrow/later. I just can't seem to get the pacing right just yet but i haven't updated for a couple of days now.
His mother once told him that no matter how nice, polite or helpful you are, there would always be someone who dislike you just because. It's something she would always repeat at any stage of his life, whether it was because the grumpy cat next door scratch him after giving it food, or because the police captain in one district held an open hostility towards him because he once accidentally bumped his dirty uniform against the man's new white jacket.
(Lieutenant Borsalino did say that Captain Sakazuki isn't the friendliest even to his men, however, so he probably shouldn't really count that.
But he's digressing)
Altercations like that happen in his life, as he's sure it will happen to anyone, but never in his life did Ace actually ever see someone looking at him with so much unabashed scorn and contempt.
Not until this very moment, because he saved the man's life.
His mouth was open but not a word escaped the young man. HIs mind slowly digested the implication in the words he had just said, and with every fraction of understanding, he became even more confused, even more worried, even more speechless. What do you say to that, what do you say in reply to hearing something like that?
Eventually, Dr. Newgate saved him from the effort. He looked away from Ace, once again face to face to his deceased brother staring down at him with his hand clasped in front of his mouth and the rest who simply stared at him with disbelief, "Please leave. I do not wish to receive any visitors,"
"I, i just wanted to help—"
"And you've 'helped' enough," those words were cold, made even more so by the fact that the person speaking them refused to even see him, "If you're still trying to be 'helpful', then please, leave me alone,"
"No, please," from the other side of the room, someone who Ace only barely recognized as Haruta called out through the louder, rushing sound of his blood in his ears and the chair behind him creaking violently as he stood up. Dr. Newgate still steadfastly turned his head to the other way, "Please, Ace don't listen to him. You can't leave him, not when he's like this, he doesn't mean it—"
Another thing that his mother, and father, and plenty other people in his life often told Ace, is that his temper rose so easily. It clouded his mind, judgement, and right now, it made him fall deaf to any other voices in the room and just about anyone else but the haughty man on the bed, who doesn't even deign him with a single eye contact while telling him to get out, "Fine, i'll be going," he spat, teeth gritted and hand balled into a fist, "You're welcome, you ungrateful asshole,"
He could hear his name being called repeatedly from the inside, but they were cut off as soon as the door was slammed shut behind him.
"So, uh. Everything alright there? Did something happened?"
"Yeah, of course. I'm fine. Nothing's wrong,"
"You sure?"
"Uh-huh, absolutely. Why'd you ask?"
When a few seconds of silence ensued, Ace didn't even need to look at the bed to know that Koala and Sabo were giving each other looks, that creepy silent communication one that only old couples that seems to be together for like, centuries are able to. Or his parents. Or the people in his life who acted like they're his parents, which those two definitely do, "Well, probably because you slipped away after coming here without everyone noticing and just suddenly came back stomping around like an elephant then just fume and sulk in the corner for, like, 15 whole minutes now,"
"I'm not sulking,"
"You're pouting,"
Consciously, Ace retracted his bottom lips, biting them with his upper row of teeth, "It's nothing,"
"…Okay, if you're sure,"
"Hmm,"
In the end, probably deciding they're not going to get anything more out of him, the blond couple began to talk in between each other again, mostly about plans surrounding Sabo's eventual discharge in less than 2 weeks. Ace huffed, leaning back against the sofa.
Okay, so maybe he didn't actually need to be that mad, but he shouldn't feel as guilty as he is feeling now for shouting at Dr. Newgate like that. He's pretty sure he's at least 30% justified for his actions, because a little thank you doesn't hurt anyone, does it? Not that he actually wanted to be thanked for what he did, he could care less, really, but what kind of slap in the face it is to tell someone who saved you from dying a painful death - he'd seen a lot of horrible, slow deaths out there and Ace is pretty sure slowly bleeding out from the hole in your stomach is probably one of the worst ones - that you don't appreciate it because you want to—
Suddenly, he felt mentally tired, with a single sigh seemingly deflating every ounce of power in his body.
Ace's mind wandered back to Dr. Newgate's empty room, and to the miserable expression on his face just before he noticed him. Then he was reminded of the faces of the doctor's family around the room, who had looked much too happy to see him, as if there was nothing better to see someone coming in to visit their brother. How much they obviously cared for him even. 5 years to their deaths, and the amount of pain in Izou's face when Dr. Newgate first told him off.
In a perfect world, there should be voices in that room, complete with ugly glittery get well soon cards and smuggled contrabands to show just how much that family obviously cared and loved each other. Like Sabo and Koala was doing, the Newgates should be talking about going to their favorite restaurant to celebrate and fighting with the patient over jell-o that comes with the food tray because it's the only edible thing in the lot. They shouldn't have to watch their beloved brother and son, so close yet in a different plane of existence altogether, slowly fade away, and only relying on stranger's kindness to be able to reach out to their loved one.
No one should spend all day in the silence and emptiness, despising life.
He let out another long sigh, using his hand to slowly rub his face up and down.
"Ace, seriously, what's going on? You're driving me crazy,"
"Okay, say you guys felt sorry for some guy who has like the worst luck in the world, but he's a complete prick yet you can't help but feel guilty at snapping at him even though it's completely justified because he's an asshole about it but you kinda can't blame him for being an asshole at his position," the sofa creaked as Ace straighten himself up and turned towards the bed, both hands moving animatedly in his explanation. He glanced between both Koala and Sabo, and gestured one more time with his hand, "Do you guys feel guilty for that or what?"
There was a period of silence, until Sabo gave his reply first, short and succinct, "What,"
"Um," Koala raised her hand, as if this is one of her most convoluted classes and Ace is that half-mad teacher who rambles instead of actually lecturing his students, "Can you repeat the question? I zoned out after the 'okay',"
Ace pursed his lips and suppressed another sigh, "Okay. Say you guys felt sorry for some guy…,"
He failed to continue when on the corner of his vision, something poked out of the doorway, and with a quick glance he found that Thatch had followed him here, and was now poking his head inside, eyes darting from corner to corner. He stopped when he caught sight of Ace, then proceeded to phased entirely into the room with an apologetic grimace and a pleading tone, "Can i talk to you? Please?" When Ace simply stared at him - causing Koala to hum in confusion simultaneously with the telltale squeak that meant Sabo was slowly realizing what's happening - the pompadoured ghost stepped further inside, both of his hands even clasped together in front of him, "Look, i'm so sorry for what happened earlier, and i get that you're pissed off, but please, don't walk away from him. We really need your help, Ace,"
Perhaps Ace felt a lot more guilty than he let himself believe, after all, because it didn't take long for him to decide to stand up, as reluctant as his motion was, "I'll be right back," he tossed halfheartedly to his friends, before following Thatch outside.
In this time of the day, most of the visitors for other rooms has already made their way inside, and the doctors rounds for this place seems to have ended a while ago. Ace stepped out to a completely vacant halls, where he leaned against the door and spoke before Thatch could, "He doesn't want any help. Or anyone for that matter,"
"That's why i said we're the one who needs it. Us, his family, because we couldn't stand him being like that anymore," Thatch sigh, less frustrated like Ace's and more just out of plain sadness, "And we know what Marco's trying to do, it just hurts to hear it out of his own mouth,"
No shit. Izou earlier looked like he's either going to shank someone or all out bawled right then and there.
"Still, please, don't take it to heart, and please don't give up on him yet. If you do, then we'd have no chance at all that he'll have someone who can help him get out of this state,"A pair of translucent hands reach for Ace's own, a feeling of nothing more than a cold sensation over his skin, "We just want him to live, and actually want to, instead of spending each day mourning us. That's not living. No one has ever gone through to him because he had pushed everyone else out of his life. You're the only hope we have left that someone will care enough for him, to show him there's still something worth living for. If you don't want to do it for him, then do it for us,"
Though Ace couldn't physically feel those hands on him, he could see just how hard Thatch was trying to grab on to him. He imagined that if those flesh still had blood running under them, it'll be cut off by the strain of it.
Dr. Newgate was still in the very same position when Ace entered his room, Thatch floating - quite literally - behind him. The raven haired man shut the door behind him none too gently, face pulled into a stern expression that refused to falter even the blond man glared at him, "You again? I told you i don't— where are you going?"
Ace ignored him as he stomped over into the bathroom just near the entrance door, snatched the one thing he found out from Sabo's room would be placed underneath the sink and filled it to the brim with water. He exited the bathroom a bit more carefully on account of the item in his hand and the water inside of it, and ignored the doctor's confused stare. Once he was sure the position was safe enough, Ace lifted his other hand, where he held a single stem of yellow chrysanthemum he had snagged from Koala's bouquets, and placed it inside to float. He then sat down with his arms and legs crossed, staring defiantly at Dr. Newgate, daring him to protest and comment.
Which he did, "What exactly are you doing?"
"Isn't it customary to bring flowers to a sick patient? Well, there, that's your flower. But you only get one, because you were an asshole,"
The look of confusion was still there, but it's slowly hiding behind the rising anger and impatience, "You're using a urinal bottle. As a vase,"
Ace scoffed, which only serve to irritate Dr. Newgate even more, "Well, i'd look for a better one, but i don't really like you so i'm not going to bother,"
Face red, Dr. Newgate gave an audible exhale, which kind of reminded Ace of his mother whenever she's trying from keep from yelling at people for their stupidity, or when she's getting ready to shout the house down because of her son or husband's antics. Apparently, he's professional enough to do the former, "If you dislike me so much, then why did you even come back? I already told you to leave,"
"Because," he glanced to the side, meeting the eyes of every deceased Newgate family member, all who were staring at him with either disbelief or while trying so hard not to laugh. Except Newgate Sr., because Ace couldn't really tell. He seems thoughtful, maybe even silently judging, but the stare he gave Ace wasn't one that made him uncomfortable, it was just one of a silent observation. He met those eyes levelly, and forced down the urge to nod when the man did in acknowledgement to him, "I need to be here,"
"Again, why? Nothing is keeping you here. I certainly don't want you here,"
The freckled man broke eye contact from Mr. Newgate to glare again at his son, "Well, good thing i'm not here for your sake then,"
"Then why?" Dr. Newgate's voice hitched at the end of his hissed out sentence, and though he tried his best to make the movement subtle, Ace caught him wincing and slipping a hand to his stomach. He did just get out of surgery yesterday, so it's probably best not to get riled up like this.
With a huff, Ace reach over for him and helped him ease down on to the bed, the way he had seen Koala do a couple of times for Sabo. He remembered her saying that it's because his body is in too much pain to move on their own, and a helping hand could ease the pressure. Or something like that, he doesn't usually deal with any injured person after he got them out of a burning building after all. When his hand first made contact with the doctor's body, he felt the man jolt, hand already twitching and darting towards him only to give another pained gasp. Ace used the opportunity to push him even further down, until Dr. Newgate was fully lying on his back, "If you wanna sit up and stuff, shouldn't you be using the remote on the bed to had it up instead of moving around? I thought a doctor would at least know that,"
"Shut it," the words may be harsh, but the man was too preoccupied by his pain to actually put the bite into his tone. He grunted again, eyes squeezed shut.
Ace was becoming slightly worried, and he saw Jiru rushing over to the bed, the boney and melted appendage that was his hand. From what Ace was told, he had been a paramedic in this hospital right before his untimely death, "Do— do you want me to call a nurse? Or some other doctor? Did your uh, stitches open up or something—"
"No, don't call anyone, just," he cut himself off with a deep breath, "It's probably nothing,"
"I wouldn't say it's nothing, but it's nothing major. He just pulled on the stitches," Jiru told him from the other side of the best, and Ace is trying his best not to look at his general direction for discretion sake, and also because he might be wrong, but he swore he just saw the spectre shoving his hand inside of his brother's stomach from the side, which is probably what he's doing to be able to see the problem. That sounds mighty convenient, if not a little sickening to think about, "But please, don't rile him up like that. They might actually tear next time,"
"Sorry,"
Dr. Newgate rose his brows at him, and gave a little sigh, "No, it's… it's not your fault. I should've been more careful,"
"Huh? Oh, uh," Oh right, he must've thought Ace apology was to him, "Yeah, i guess,"
The room goes quiet once more. Dr. Newgate's breathing was still ragged but they're calming down significantly, and deciding that he already assisted as much as he could, Ace sat back down, leaning slightly towards the bed. It was broken by a tired sigh, "So you're really not leaving, then,"
Ace's grey orbs flickered upwards, to meet Dr. Newgate's own blue ones, "Do you really want to be left alone that badly, or is it because it's me?"
He actually expected the reply to come swiftly, but that's not the case. Dr. Newgate stared at him for a while - with the kind of expression not unlike the one his father gave Ace, unbeknownst to him - before he shifted his gaze away, "Do whatever you want,"
Somewhere in the room, someone gave a loud, relieved sigh.
Did i go too fast, too slow, i mean, they started talking on chapter 4, surely there's a rule against that? Or something. Just let me know, please.
But at any rate, thank you so much for reading and hope you liked it!