Chapter 5 – What Am I Missing?
"That's what you get for having such a bad temper!" I snapped as Zoro sagged back to the ground after shouting at Luffy. Gently I gripped ShuShu around the middle and coaxed him to open his jaw. "Good boy ShuShu, we aren't here to hurt the store." I said going back over to Zoro and pressing the ragged, blood-soaked clothe that had, at one stage been my shirt, against his injury (perhaps a little violently).
I looked up and noticed Nami standing nearby. "Oh look, it's our navigator Nami." I smiled and waved at her, she ignored me.
"Okay, okay, I believe you now, stop showing off." Zoro mumbled.
"Shut up, I'm still angry with you!"
I turned, just in time to witness Nami reach for the key.
"You did save me before." She said chucking the key to the ground.
"The key to the cage! Did you go get it just for me?"Luffy said, grinning at Nami
"Don't misunderstand me. I don't want to owe you anything, that's all." Luffy began reaching for the key.
"Yeah, that key's a gonner." I said loudly, just before ShuShu swallowed the key. I laughed loudly, holding my ribs tightly. Despite the tight bindings spread around them (which was now the only thing covering my top half) A dull ache had begun to set in my right side. That run in with the marine had made them worse. Stupid marine.
"You knew the whole time that was going to happen! Why didn't you say something sooner!" Zoro shouted at me over the sound of Luffy strangling the poor dog.
"I'm not going to mess with the future, geeze." I rolled my eyes. Everyone knows you don't mess with history, or in this case, the plotline.
"HEY!" A loud voice called over the ruckus we had created. I frowned, realising my hands were covered in someone else's blood and I had open sores on them. Don't freak out! You're fine! I doubt Zoro has any nasty diseases. I began to hyperventilate a little before shaking my hands and refocusing on the situation at hand.
"You should see a doctor immediately!" The old man exclaimed, looking at Zoro. I guess I missed most of that exchange. I quietly followed the mayor and Zoro into a nearby house, rubbing my hands on my shorts slightly.
"There wouldn't be a shirt here I could use would there?" I asked the mayor. He went and brought me one and I quickly pulled it over my head. Leaving him to tend to Zoro's wound I found the bathroom myself and began washing the blood off of my hands. Once they were clean, I found a towel and dampened it, using it to wipe the half dried blood on my knees and face.
I had a small gash on the right side of my head, it wasn't very serious but it had bled quite a bit. Head wounds tend to bleed, I thought to myself. My knees were just grazed, nothing particularly unusual for me. I often fell over on the asphalt when I was a child and even in adult hood I had been known to trip over imaginary things upon occasion.
My hands were a different story. Both had shredded finger pads and my right hand had a deep and long gash from my incredibly stupid mistake. "Well, at least I'm left-handed," I grumbled to myself. Opening a cabinet below the sink. Nothing useful here. I thought before leaving the bathroom to find the mayor.
"Excuse me!" I called quickly, just before he headed out the door. He looked at me, waiting for me to continue. "You wouldn't happen to have any disinfectant would you?" He nodded and led me into the kitchen.
"It's in with your friend, he's asleep by the way, but I thought it might be best for you to eat something. You look awfully starved." He said before darting back out of the kitchen and leaving the house.
"Thanks," I called after him. He was right after all, I was completely famished. I opened the cupboard and pulled out a small loaf of bread. Don't eat too much, you'll be sick. I reminded myself and sliced a piece of bread off of the loaf to eat.
As I forced myself to eat the bread slowly, I made my way to the room Zoro had been taken into. He was, as usual, sound asleep and snoring his head off. I refuse to believe that he is human. I walked over to the small bedside table that was next to his head, and quietly sifted through the medical stuff that covered it. I picked out a few cotton balls and some medicinal hydroxide.
Taking a seat against the wall, I began dabbing at the cuts and grazes I had acquired. I had just finished my knees when I heard Zoro stir. I looked up, he was looking at me. This is weird… "What are you doing awake? Go back to sleep." I said standing up.
"When did you get injured?" I blinked at him. Is he fucking serious! Was he half hallucinating when I turned up? Did he not see me?
"When I was being hauled away like some kind of cow by the marine." I replied shaking my head and walking over to his side. I pressed the back of my hand to his head. He doesn't feel feverish… He's sweating though. I frowned and made a place on the bedside table for me to sit against before using the cotton buds to disinfect my hands.
"If you got your injuries from being dragged across the ground how did you get a knife wound?" Zoro asked when I began dabbing at the palm of my hand. Shit, can I just lie? Would he let me live it down?
Deciding to swallow my pride, I told the truth. "I cut my hand on my knife while I was trying to cut through the rope." Well part of the truth. He looked at me and shook his head before falling back into a deep sleep. Okay then… how does anyone just fall asleep, especially when they have to be in a lot of pain?
Once I finished my disinfecting I gave my right palm another look. The cut probably should have had stitches, but I was not about to start sewing my skin together without a local anaesthetic… Nor was I going to willingly request getting a needle. Fishing out some band aids from the medical pile I pulled my skin tight together and then, because I'm a little anxious when it comes to infections, I wrapped a cotton bandage around my palm. I didn't bother covering the grazes, they weren't particularly bad, and I couldn't think of anything to do for my fingertips.
Am I forgetting something important? The thought burst into my brain. Zoro's supposed to sleep, Luffy fights that guy on the lion and they go find Buggy. Zoro fights that weird acrobat then I'm pretty sure he passes out and sleeps while Luffy fights Buggy. I tapped my chin lightly, pacing the room. What am I missing? I could feel some heat radiating from, what I assumed to be the store, which means I somehow missed the sound of Luffy crashing through buildings. I shrugged and peeked through the window.
There was no one in the street. Just ShuShu mourning the loss of his treasure. I felt my throat constrict, that poor dog. He's lost everything. I moved away from the sad sight and sat against the cupboard door. An odd pain ran through my chest, homesickness? I thought, I've never had homesickness before. Of course I've never been so far from home. I sighed and hugged my knees.
What's happened to my parents? My little brother? Emily? Am I a missing person, or have they found my body? If I'm in a coma, how long would it have been? I shook my head, trying to clear away the depressing thoughts. I'll think of that another time, right now I need to figure out what I'm forgetting.
I walked over to the window and noticed that everyone had regrouped at the flaming building. Luffy was returning a bag of dog food. BUGGY BALL! I dove into the closet and shut the door, not knowing how much time I had left. It turns out I had made the right call as seconds later I heard the whistling of the exploding cannonball.
A/N: Sorry this is so short AND it took forever to upload. I have no excuse other than being sick. Please review :)