Kid slammed the side of his fist against the wall, splintering the wood as he did. "What's taking so long?!" His voice boomed loudly as he glared at the two in front of him.
Stitch & Needles recoiled a little as they stood before their Captain, Kiss wouldn't even attempt to make eye contact with him as she sat behind the others with head down & attention straining to focus on the blood sample in front of her.
"Calm down." Killer stood between Kid and the Medics, trying to keep the Captain from completely losing his temper. "They are doing the best they can."
"Then why isn't she awake!" He growled at them, his eyes darting over to the table that they had turned into a bed where Abby lay unconscious. It had been two weeks but she still hadn't woken up, worse there was no islands in sight and the supplies were running beyond dangerously low.
"We can't find a matching donor." Neddy explained to him again as she hid just slightly behind Stitch. "She's an S RH- blood type, exceedingly rare and so far none of the crew has that type."
Kiss sighed heavily from where she was as she gripped her face. "This one isn't a match either…" She mumbled to herself as she marked down the results and moved onto the next one, no matter how many times the results came back unfavorably… her heart broke every time.
"She lost a lot of blood, you know this." Killer said with a sigh as he crossed his arms and eyed her, he still remembered that day vividly. Him and Kid stood at the door to the operation room during the whole procedure, she held out for a while during surgery but finally passed out from the pain when they were finishing up. They stopped the bleeding and closed her up but she was in desperate need of a transfusion. "Isn't there a blood type that can be substituted? Like the S type, isn't that supposed to be universal?" He had to admit that his medical knowledge was a bit lacking but he was in the same position as the Captain, he wanted to do something but he really didn't know what he could do.
Stitch rubbed the back of his of his head in frustration. "For standard blood types yes but the RH- is only compatible with itself. We're just lucky… that Bones is so amazing. She really… planned ahead." He bit his lip, this ordeal was almost too much for him. Even while being cut upon and worked on she kept a cool head and kept reassuring him… he could never be as good as her, he knew that now.
"Yea…" Neddy sighed as she went to the bed and began to stroke the woman's hair. "She really is the best. During our supply run she stocked up on Saline and Erythropoietin…" She smiled a little as she looked up at took note of the confused look on the Captain's face. "The first one will temporarily replace the lost blood volume and the second one will boost her body's natural blood cell production. Those two things are keeping her alive while her body naturally replaces the blood lost during the accident so as long as she remains stable then there's no risk of her dying…"
Stitch put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "We just don't know when she'll wake up…"
Kid growled again, he hated it when they used that medical talk. He didn't understand any of it outside of she's not better and they aren't doing anything else about it. "That's not good enough! There has to be…"
"Captain! Please!" Kiss slammed her hands down on the desk and stood abruptly, she looked over to them with her sleep deprived eyes brimming with tears that burned. "You're not the only one who cares!" She turned a bit a swept her arm out. "We're all doing the best we can, lots of us haven't slept in days! Do you really think yelling at us every single day is going to help us or her! At best you're making it all worse!"
Everyone stared at her wide eyed, no one had ever seen her burst out like that before and most definitely never to the Captain. After a moment of awkward silence what she did slowly sunk in and her eyes got wide as she cupped her mouth. "Oh!... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Captain…"
"Shhh…" Killer closed the gap as he hushed her and put a large hand on her head to calm her. "You're right, us being here isn't helping." He gave her a little pat and turned back around. "Come on." He said to the red head as he grabbed the others shoulder to give him a push out the door.
Kid gave another growl but conceded and turned away, being yelled at by her really pissed him off… but what could he really do. There wasn't anything he could do for Abby right now and that fact pissed him off way more than being lectured by someone who was doing something to help. "I'll be in my room… handle things for me." With that he was gone, he preferred if the others didn't see the look of utter defeat on his face right now. He'd be a shit Captain if he let his crew see him like this.
Killer crossed his arms with a sigh, the Captain's temper had been escalating lately and just about everything was setting it off. Ever since the storm it was getting worse and worse, it was almost a chore keeping him from taking it out on the crew.
"Mr. Killer?"
The blonde paused as he was about to leave. "Hm?" He eyed the shaggy haired girl that called out to him and her hands that she was wringing nervously, what's this about?
"We do… have a plan." Stitch spoke up with a look just as nervous as his companions. "Sort of."
"We just didn't want to ask the Captain." Neddy finished.
That was curious. "You guys don't usually go behind the Captain's back like this." First the pull the morning med raid and now this… he couldn't help but smirk. Abby really was rubbing off on them.
"I'll take full responsibility." Stitch stepped forward. "It was my idea so if the Captain gets mad then he can punish me."
"But Stitch…" Neddy began but a wave of his hand cut her off.
Even more curious. "What have you all been plotting?"
"We want to contact Mr. Bon." He said. "We still have his info when Bones called him, I know he could help us."
That explained why they didn't want to tell the Captain, it was no secret he didn't like that guy and that was putting it extremely lightly. "What could would that do, exactly?"
Neddy stepped forward. "He would know how to get ahold of her crew, she told me before that her entire ship is comprised of doctors." She clasped her hands together pleadingly. "I just know they'd have a blood supply on hand for her, plus anything else we would need and I know they'd help…"
Killer scratched his head with a sigh. "She's worse off than wat you told the Captain… isn't she." He already knew the answer; he could see it on their faces. Plus, if she was stable as she is now then Kiss wouldn't be staying up for days at a time running those blood samples one after another.
The others exchanged worried looks, it wasn't till the green haired girl sat back down with a heavy sigh and held her head in frustration. "If it was just the blood loss then it would be just fine but… so many things have gone wrong and we just aren't experienced enough to handle any of this…" Her grip tightened as she began pulling her hair, body trembling. "I'm sorry… God, I'm so sorry… it's all my fault." Tears began to spill over as her body trembled. "after the surgery I gave her an anesthetic… I only wanted to help her with the pain… I didn't know… I didn't know…"
"Shhh…" Neddy went to her side and began to stroke the girl's hair. "It was all of our faults, none of us checked her record…"
Stitch rubbed the back of his neck as he saw the other man tilt his head in presumed confusion. "along with having a rare blood type, she also has an inherited blood plasma enzyme. Big medical words aside, she has a sensitivity to certain anesthetics and she did not wake up when she should have. It's not like it was a secret, she had it written in her medical file…"
"We just didn't look…" Neddy sighed as she wiped away the tears forming in her own eyes. "And we got so worried about that that we didn't notice she was developing a blood infection…"
"We screwed up." Stitch could see her starting to lose it, Neddy was trying so hard to be strong… they all were. It was all of their fault that Bones was like this but still everyone who was in that surgery room was trying to shoulder all the blame… even him. "That's why I want permission to do what I must and contact her ship. I know they will have everything we need and the experience we're lacking."
Killed sighed again as he put his hands on his hips, this was turning into one giant shit storm. No wonder they lied to Kid about how bad things were, if he knew how bad things really were… there's a rising possibility he'd kill them… "No..."
"What?!" Came the combined, practically screamed, response. The boy took a defiant step forward, trembling fists clutched so tight his knuckles were turning white. "You have to! You have to let us do this! She'll die…"
The older man gave the kid a firm flick to his forehead which sent the boy back a few steps. "Don't interrupt me damnit."
Stitch hissed a little as he rubbed the, now, very tender spot on his forehead.
"I will be the one to contact the cyclops, you three will stay out of it entirely. When the Captain finds out, and he will, I can deal with his impending explosion and have much better chances of surviving it than you kids."
Looks of shock turned to wide grins as they gave a little cheer. "Thank you Mr. Killer, thank you so much." Kiss breathed a sigh of relief as she tried to wipe away the tears and finally showing a smile.
He waved it off with a smirk. "Her bad habits must be rubbing off on me too." He joked to himself. "Kiss, go get some rest. You're bound to make a mistake if you keep working with no sleep." After he said that he noted the guilty look return to her face, well damn. His choice of words sucked considering he knew she felt bad enough as is. "Do it, or I'll send Wire to make sure you do."
"You should send him anyways." Stitch teased as her cheeks got a little rosy. "Just in case."
"She's a really stubborn girl." Neddy added as her friend got even redder. "I'm sure she'll need convincing."
Killer smiled, there now. That lightened the mood and now the poor girl was beat red, perhaps he will send Wire to check up on her later… Now, if it would only be that easy to cheer up Kid once he finds out what's going on.
Eustass took off his goggles and threw them across the room yet again, he tried to do some tinkering to get his mind off things but he just couldn't focus. "Where is that damn wrench…" He grumbled as he began tearing threw his draws.
Random tools began getting tossed about as he emptied draw after draw, he ripped open another one but paused as he stared blankly at the bag in his workbench draw. The hell is something like this doing here? He pulled it free and only then did he realize it was Abby's, she shoved it in here the day of the storm but he had completely forgotten about it…
He took the bag and set it down on the bed, curiosity getting the better of him as he opened it and began rummaging through the instruments… weird little tools that made no sense to him. He pulled out the folder next and flipped it open, reading the little notes she jotted down all over the place. "Scar on left thigh…" He read to himself as he reclined on his bed. "…How did this moron get hit by an energy attack." He gave a growl; she was good enough to note the scar from that pacifista attack he got but her wording pissed him off. "Does not age well, totally looks older than 21…" He clenched the folder and could hear it ripping a little. "I do not!" He yelled at the paper like it was really her standing in front of her. He considered flinging the folder overboard or burning it after he turned it into confetti but then something caught his eye. "Hijack ship, force vacation… Dummy is overly stressed, medical issue could arise…. Possibly someplace tropical."
He relaxed his grip and kept reading through her notes, her wording sucked and she wrote down so much. A lot of it seemed really trivial, she said herself that he was healthy but all her notes… they were kind of more… preventative care measures to make sure he stayed healthy…
Damn it… he sighed as he put the folder back. What the hell should he do? What could he even do? He had his men in the crow's nest every hour of the day keeping sight for the island but there was no telling if there'd be medical supplies there.
He stood with a grumble, he had to get some air and clear his head. There had to be something he could do aside from staring at his unfinished projects, he couldn't focus on them anyways and the room was starting to feel stuffy… but where could he go on this ship to relax? His room was supposed to be his getaway place to relax but he can't even do that when she was stuck in his mind… perhaps he'd just wander the ship for a bit…
Killer sighed as he tapped the receiver against the table, with each ring he got a little more uncertain about this decision. Maybe Abby could hold out until they found the next island…
The transponder snail's face changed to a teary eyed blank expression and the voice gave a long drawn out yawn. "Yelloow."
Well, that answered his question. "I'm looking for Captain Bon, is this his ship?"
"Perhaps…" The snail gave another yawn. "What's yer biznus?"
He patience was running thin already and this guys 'don't give a shit' attitude was really grating on his nerves. "My business is with your Captain." He spoke in an agitated tone. "Tell him this is Killer of the Kid Pirates and it concerns Abby."
"Abby?... Abby… Hmmm…" There was a short pause as the face made it look like the man on the other end was thinking really hard on just who that was. "You mean Miss Abigail?! Shit mon why didn't ya say! I'll transfer ya to tha boss right away!"
The snail's expression went blank and Killer began tapping the desk again, the guys' reaction was a bit much. He knew that she was important to the cyclops but he wasn't expecting that from a random crew member. Maybe she was closer to them than he first thought…
Suddenly the snail came alive with a look of utter fury and a loud familiar voice began yelling. "What did you bastards do to my wife?!"
"Your wife?!" He exclaimed, the present urgency momentarily forgotten as that little tidbit of information sunk in. "She never said you two were married!"
"We're not!" Came the grumbling reply. "But that doesn't make her any less my wife, now what did you bastards do to her?!"
Killer growled a little, wishing he wasn't wearing his mask so he could massage away he headache that was forming. "I really don't have time for your crap…" He grumbled, it was a lie. To be honest there was nothing he could do at the moment so all he had was time but still. "Abby needs a blood transfusion, can you get to her ship and get us some?"
There was a long pause, the snails face scowling. "No, not in any time frame that would be of any help. I'm back home on the island, even if I left now it would be a month before I could reach either ship…"
"Damn it." He sighed heavily, it was worth a shot but it was still a bit depressing.
"But…" The voice interrupted the other man's thought. "Sam wasn't too far ahead of you guys when I was on your ship, do you know where you're at? Or what island you're heading to?"
"No, we've never been here before. Remember."
"Yea, yea." The face made it look as if the other man was thinking. "Was there anything nearby that could possibly be used as a marker? An island, scary monster, something?"
"Yea…" There was really only one thing like that. "About two weeks ago we sailed through a double storm, a twister and a whirlpool…"
"Whaaaat?!" the voice was yelling again. "You idiots sailed through the twins! This time of year!" The sound of something being thrown could be heard before a growling response came back on. "The fact that you survived impresses and pisses me off, what the hell were you thinking?"
"Stop making it sound like we did it on purpose!" Killer clenched the receiver so hard he could hear it creaking under the strain from his grip. "We don't know these waters and had no idea we were sailing into a shit storm!"
"Haven't you people learned how to scout for information at every damn island you stop at!"
"Will you shut it!" He yelled. "No, we weren't being cautious and Abby got hurt. We are trying to fix her up so are you gonna help or not?!"
There was another pause followed by a heavy sigh. "The island you should be coming up on is a place called Tugator, it's an island that been turned into a giant pirate port. Shady as all hell but I do a lot of business there." There was some inaudible mumbling and grumbling before another drawn out sigh. "You should make port within a few days, I'll contact Sam to meet you there. He has an eternal pose for the island so he'll find it but there's no telling how long it will take him."
Killer gave a relieved sigh, this was better than nothing and good news all around. Abby would get the medical attention she needs and they could restock and make repairs. "Thanks." He went to hang up, feeling a lot more comforted than he was.
"Wait." The voice got his attention before he could hang up.
"What?"
"How bad is she?" The face was scowling and full of worry.
"She's stable." He leaned back, finally able to relax a little more now that he knew they were heading to a decent island. "She lost a lot of blood and has been asleep since the accident but she taught our people good so there's no worries." He was lying completely with that last part but there was no way he was gonna tell this guy the truth, he barely knew him but he could tell that he'd sail at full speed to raid this ship and take her away if he knew how bad everything really was.
There was more grumbling as the snail's face got a very serious expression on it. "Who hurt her."
He arched a brow at that. "What makes you think that somebody hurt her?"
"Because I know my baby, she doesn't take risks without thinking them through." The voice gave a little growl. "It was that red haired bastard wasn't it!"
He could feel his anger growing again. "it was an accident…" he said through clenched teeth. "And that's my Captain you're talking about."
"I don't give a damn whose Captain…"
"It's Abby's captain too!" He interrupted. "We didn't force her to join our crew and there is always risks to sailing in the new world. She knows that and isn't afraid to put her life on the line. She proved that when she and the Captain saved this ship from being torn apart in that fucking storm!" He stood up as he slammed his hand down, toppling the chair he was just sitting in. "You can bitch about us all you want and insult us if it makes you feel better but you better damn well remember that she chose US!" Damn it… he really lost his cool there and that really wasn't like him…
The face glared back at him and gave a little growl, after a moments pause there was a heavy sigh. "I really hate you damn pirates…" Another long drawn out sigh that escalated into a loud aggravated groan filled the silence for a moment before he started using proper words again. "When you get to the island find a man called Remy, he's the only one on that island you can trust. He knows Abby so he'll help."
The blonde picked up the chair he had knocked over and leaned against the desk. "Why the added info?" The guy was pretty heated just a moment ago so him volunteering the extra details was unexpected and he couldn't help but be a little weary.
"Because… She might have chosen you guys but she's my baby. I'm gonna always love her more than any of you bastards and if I have to help you out to make sure she stays safe then I will."
He smirked at that. "How chivalrous…"
"Are you mocking me?"
"I'd never do such a thing, Cyks." He smirked a bit, hoping the transponder snail could mimic his facial expression well enough to get his jest across. It wouldn't be amusing if it didn't.
"Don't call me that, what the hell does 'Cyks' mean anyways?"
"It's either that or 'thumper', personally I like 'Cyks' better but your pick."
"Don't call me either, where the hell you get those stupid names from?"
"Just trying to bond with my new comrade." He sneered a little, he was enjoying teasing him.
"I hate you. I hate you so much."
Neddy sighed a little as she walked down the hall, Stitch told her to get some rest as well but she just couldn't sleep…
"What are you doing needles?"
The toneless voice made her jump, she was so lost in thought she didn't realize someone was behind her. "Oh! Mr. Heat, I'm sorry… I must have been zoned out." She turned to face the taller man with a faint smile. "I was just trying to clear my head… things have been… stressful."
He made a noise of acknowledgement. "So I hear, my room is currently occupied by one of your staff." He pointed over his shoulder with a smirk. "I doubt she's giving Wire a check-up though."
"Huh?..." She blinked a few times at his little smirk before it actually clicked. "Oh!" With that she blushed a bit at the implication. "I didn't think she'd actually go to his room." She started to laugh a little bit. "We were just teasing her."
"You can blame Wire." He crossed his arms in front of him. "She was actually passing out in the hall and he brought her to the room, don't think he really knew what he was doing at the time either." He shrugged and put his hands on his hips. "So what are you doing here?"
"Ah, I was heading to Bones's room. I want to get her bath stuff so I can wash her hair… I know… she'd hate it when she wakes up and her hair it all oily… she really pampers her hair…" She could feel herself wanting to cry again, she was being such a cry baby lately…
Heat gave her head a pat. "You are doing the best you can." He reassured her. "I'm going to see Killer now, he contacted that smuggler Captain and I think he has good news. So don't worry, everything will be fine."
That lifted her spirits considerably. "That's great news! Thank you Mr. Heat." She smiled brightly as she turned back away. "I really need to get her cleaned up then, I'll see you later!"
He waved slightly as he watched her go, now where should he go to relax until those two are done doing whatever. He doubted they were having sex since no one would be dumb enough to break the Captain's 'No relationship' rule… while on the ship at least but he still didn't want to interfere.
Neddy smiled to herself, she was really looking forward to this new island. Soon Bones will be all better and they could all hear her laugh and the way she taught them things… everything was gonna be ok. She came to bones' door and opened it with a smile… that turned into a wide eyed shock. "Ca… Captain?" She said in confusion as she looked at his large form resting on the bed.
She took a few steps in and realized that he was completely passed out, wow… this was so weird seeing him like this. He was hugging her pillow… and snoring just a little. She smiled a bit and backed out of the room quietly so she didn't wake him… and to think, Bones doesn't think that he likes her. This kinda proved how much he was missing her…
She shut the door as quietly as she could, standing there for a moment as she smiled. He really was, a really great guy. Even if he was super scary a lot of the time.
"Don't worry Captain, she'll be back with us soon."
To Be Continued...
