Disclaimer: …Do I really need to say it again?
Chopper sat patiently on the edge of the chair and swung his legs back and forth as he waited for the man to return. Earlier that morning, he'd been sent to Dr. Trafalgar's office for a checkup. Now, the doctor was off checking something or other, and Chopper was left to wait.
He glanced around and caught sight of the white coat Dr. Trafalgar had left hanging on a hook by the door. With a quick pause to listen if anyone was coming, Chopper leapt off the seat. He made his way over to the coat. Standing before it, the boy bit his lip in anxiety. What if Dr. Trafalgar returned? He'd get angry, probably refuse to treat Chopper again. The thought made his heart sink. He liked Trafalgar. However, despite his doubts, Chopper could not resist the lure of the immaculate white doctor's coat.
He stretched on his toes to reach the collar and reverently lowered it. The boy held it delicately. After another moment's hesitation, he shrugged it on over his shoulders. It was—quite predictably—much too large for his small frame. The end of it reached below his knees, and the sleeves hung over his fingers, making him seem even tinier than he already was. Chopper couldn't care less. Giddiness bubbled up inside of him. He was reminded of all the times his father would allow Chopper to wear his coat and go about the clinic.
With an enormous grin, Chopper twirled, the coat flapping wildly behind him. He went to a counter, grabbed the clipboard Dr. Trafalgar had left on it, and went to the chair he had previously been sitting upon. He pretended that someone was sitting there, waiting for Dr. Chopper. The boy grinned.
"Good afternoon, er…Bill." Chopper nodded. Yes, Bill seemed like a good enough name for the patient. "Are you ready for your checkup?" After an imaginary response, Chopper proceeded to go through an entire checkup with 'Bill'. He checked his hearing, sight, blood pressure, etc. He felt like a true doctor. "All done!" Chopper exclaimed with a smile.
"You forgot to check his reflexes."
Chopper jumped and dropped the clipboard he had been holding. Dr. Trafalgar was smirking at him from his position leaning against the doorframe. The boy felt a strong blush overcome his cheeks. Dr. Trafalgar probably thought he was so childish and pathetic. The man pushed away from the wall and walked over to him. He looked down at Chopper, still with that same sly grin.
"Would you like to help me organize the new medicines that just came in?" Dr. Trafalgar asked. Chopper looked up at him in bewilderment. The question was unexpected and threw the young male for a loop. "I, umm…okay." Chopper eventually responded.
Law nodded and made to head for the lab to get the medicines, but was stopped by the arrival of Nami. She walked in, nose red and eyes just a little watery. "I told you two, I'm fine. I don't need you to come with me," she said, looking over her shoulder at the two people behind her. Luffy and Sanji walked in, keeping close watch on their orange-haired friend.
Luffy crossed his arms resolutely. "We need to make sure you don't die." Sanji nodded and added, "And there's no way I'd leave you alone with this moron and the weird doctor."
Nami rolled her eyes. "I won't die from a cold, idiot." She looked at Chopper and gave him a smile before turning to Trafalgar. "Law, do you think you could give me some medicine for a cold?" she inquired before giving a violent sneeze.
Law seemed thoughtful as he looked her over. "Hmm…" Nami gave yet another sneeze, and Law turned to Chopper. "What do you think?" Chopper glanced up at him. The question seemed strange, but the boy knew what he meant. It looked as if Nami had more than a mere cold. Her face was flushed and a hardly noticeable sheen of sweat had formed on her forehead. "She has a fever," he answered. Law nodded. "Do you want to treat her?" the man asked.
Yet another surprise. Dr. Trafalgar would let a mere teen nurse his charge? Chopper wanted to finally attempt and tend to a patient—for real, not pretending—and now was his chance. But he had doubts. He'd only ever treated his imaginary sufferers. He could give her the wrong medicine, make it worse. But…
Dr. Trafalgar was staring at him expectantly. The man's expression was blank. Chopper let out a breath of air. "Okay. I'll do it." Nami grinned at him. "I'm all yours, Dr. Chopper."
"Calling me that doesn't make me happy, idiot!"
The fever broke two days later. They sat in Law's exam room. Chopper pulled a thermometer out of Nami's mouth and checked it. 98.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The aspiring doctor gave a sigh of relief. He'd done it. For the past couple of days, Chopper had persistently checked up on Nami and given her medications, insisting that she stay in bed. It was only a fever, and a pretty minor one at that, but he had cured someone for the first time ever.
"Well done," Dr. Trafalgar complemented after Nami had left. "I was a bit worried about how you'd do, considering how your disorder affects your awareness."
Chopper tilted his head—a habit he had picked up from Luffy. "You know about my disorder, Dr. Trafalgar?" The boy figured he should have been nervous, but he had long since grown accustomed to the people here. They were nothing like the ones back home. Sure, there were some who were quite a bit unfriendly, but no one seemed to have any prejudices against another.
The man chuckled. "Call me Law," he said. "And of course I do. I am your doctor." Rubbing the stubble on his chin, Law looked him over curiously. "Depersonalization. I've never met anyone with that illness by itself. I've only ever seen it as a symptom of other conditions."
Chopper decided that now was a good a time as any to ask a question that had been eating away at his mind ever since he'd been diagnosed. "Dr. Traf—"he shook his head. "Law, will my disorder affect my goal to become a doctor?"
Standing up, Law walked over to a cabinet and shuffled around. "Come here. You promised you'd help me organize the medicines, and I'm holding you to that." He pulled out a few packages and bottles. Chopper walked over. "Each package is labeled according to the type of pill they hold." Law explained and handed Chopper a chart. "Every bottle will hold a different type of pill, and this chart will tell you how many of each to put in."
Chopper nodded and began organizing, a bit disappointed at Law's evasion. The pair worked in silence for a while, until Law finally responded to the boy's initial inquiry. "No, it shouldn't affect anything too much. As long as you go to a good medical school and achieve good scores, you should be accepted just fine. Especially here." He closed the lid on a bottle and put it into its proper cabinet. "I have a condition as well, one that could've actually stopped me from entering the medical field if I had let it." At Chopper's questioning look, Law expanded. "Sadism. Clearly, not a reassuring illness for a doctor to have. Your disorder shouldn't be a problem for your goal."
Turning back to the pills and bottles in his hands, Chopper grinned. He'd do it. He'd become the best doctor in the world. He clenched his fist and Law smirked down at him.
"Can you hand me another bottle?" Law asked.
Chopper watched, a warm, familiar feeling overcoming him. He felt unaware and as if he were in a sort of dreamlike state as his hand reached out for a bottle and handed it to Law. He sighed. Another episode. The rest of their work passed in silence. Chopper performed his task diligently, doing everything without even thinking, his body moving on its own. Law noticed Chopper's uncharacteristic hush, and gently grabbed the supplies from the boy's hands. The shorter one looked up at him curiously.
"I'll take care of what's left." Law stated. "I can't have you mixing up my medicines. Go get some rest." The man turned back to his work. Relieved, Chopper nodded and mutely made his way out of the room. He was thankful that Law had let him leave. He hated how his disorder made him feel during those episodes. It made moving and interacting become a burden on his mind.
He thought back to how it had all started. Years ago, just when he was a toddler, he'd developed lycanthropy. He had truly believed, with all of his heart, that he was a reindeer. He'd gone through his days acting, thinking, and being a reindeer. The children had made fun of him, but he never understood why. He'd been that way for years, and once he'd finally realized that he was not, in fact, a reindeer, it was strange. He had from then on been required to begin behaving like a human, speaking real words and walking normally.
Never before had he done those things. His father had never tried to convince him that he was a human. He was content with his reindeer boy. So, as a result, Chopper was kept at home. He never went to school and only occasionally went with his dad to the town.
After he had gotten past his lycanthropy, Chopper was so unaccustomed to being human that he began living unconsciously, constantly feeling as if he were in a dream. Soon after, he was clinically diagnosed a condition called depersonalization.
Chopper opened his door and plopped onto his bed. Rest, he decided, was in order.
Sanji and Thatch jumped simultaneously at the sound of the door opening. They turned around to look at who had entered, only to see Luffy standing in the doorway. He was tightly holding onto a corner of his pillow, looking like a lost child. He suddenly grinned. "Hey, guys!" He bounded into the kitchen and stood in between the two chefs, looking curiously at the contents of the pots on the stove. "What are you making?"
Dumbfounded, the pair only stared at him. Luffy looked at them confusedly. "What?" Sanji shook himself out of his surprise and asked, "What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be in bed?"
Luffy went to the counter and lifted himself onto it. He ignored Sanji's protests of "get your dirty ass off the counter."
He swung his legs and answered, "Mm, I was in bed, for a little bit. But then I had a nightmare and I woke up, then my stomach growled at me—really, I had to shout at it and promise it food to get it to shut up, silly stomach—and so I thought, 'Hey, Sanji and Thatch like to cook at night, don't they?' so I came here to see if you'd give me food, and here we are!"
It was then that Sanji noticed the lingering anxiety in Luffy's eyes. He seemed haunted by whatever he'd seen in his dreams, and it was obvious that he was trying to forget it and indulge in other things to distract himself—namely, he wanted comfort food.
Sanji didn't ask what they had been about, and neither did Thatch. They set about to work, completing the snack they had been preparing. The servings were smaller, since they weren't expecting a third party, but they didn't mind. And if Sanji made Luffy's share just a little bigger, then Thatch didn't say anything.
After finishing, Luffy didn't return to bed. He sat on the counter watching the other men clean up. Thatch left first, leaving Sanji to rinse the final dish. He held it under the running water, and glanced at the boy. Luffy was looking down at his legs. Sanji couldn't see his expression. "You should go to bed," he suggested.
Luffy shook his head. "You go. I'm going to stay here for a while. I don't want to go to sleep again yet."
"Well, then I'm staying too. You'll just raid the fridge."
With a laugh, Luffy replied," Don't worry, I promise I won't eat anything else. I'm not hungry." At that, Sanji momentarily paused in his cleaning. He quickly resumed his work. "I need to finish drying this cup anyway. I'll stay until I'm done."
Luffy smiled at him. They went on to have a long conversation, switching topics randomly, talking about anything and everything. Neither of them cared how long it had been. Sanji had wiped down his cup at least one hundred times over, but Luffy didn't comment. Eventually, Luffy yawned and announced that he was going to bed. The teen went out the door, pulling his pillow across the floor and dragging his feet. Sanji wiped the cup one last time and put it in the cupboard.
Luffy closed the door behind him and smiled. For all of his rough behavior towards men, Sanji sure could be a nice guy.
He walked over to the bed. Ace and Sabo were still sound asleep. Luffy tried his best not to look at them, as their faces caused images of fire and blood and an angrily crazed voice from his dream to flash through his mind. The teen squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn't understand why he'd had that nightmare. It was so out there, so wrong, so terrifying. He couldn't understand why that man was there. He never really knew him all too well, only running into him occasionally within the walls of the facility. He couldn't understand why Ace and Sabo were there, lying still, cold and unmoving. He shivered. Nothing like that will happen, he told himself. It won't; it can't. Ace and Sabo were strong. They weren't going to die.
Poor Luffy. If only he knew they already did die.
Chopper's disorders. I already pretty much described lycanthropy in the chapter, but I'll explain it anyways. Clinical lycanthropy is when you believe that you are or can transform into an animal. He doesn't have it anymore, though. That was only during his early childhood. Depersonalization disorder is his current one. Depersonalization is when you have periods of time or episodes in which you feel detached from your own thoughts and actions, and it's a bit like you're in a dream—doing things, but not truly controlling yourself. I wasn't going to include lycanthropy at first, but then I thought about it some more, and it just fit all too well with everything else. So, yeah, sorry Kitsunelullaby, I told you that you weren't right, but you were. Blame my constantly changing mind. :P
Also, we are now at 153 reviews, and I kind of want to give you all something special for that. I was thinking of writing a bonus chapter once we reach 200 reviews, but I want to plan in advance, so I'm asking you all for suggestions! I'm thinking of just doing a bunch of short little random scenes. Anything you want to see?
To my guest reviewers,
Daniella- Thank you! ^^
Kristin- Thanks! At first, I didn't even mean for it to be this way, but it just kind of happened. I guess I have a contradictory imagination, and I don't really mind that. Hmm, now that I think about it, you're right. I'll try not to do that often. They might be curious initially (especially with Luffy, considering the oddness of his) but I'll try not to make them overly nosy that way. Thank you. :) Don't worry about the mistakes. You speak the language well enough, and I've heard English is one of the hardest languages to learn.
Bell- Chopper's cuteness knows no bounds. :) Actually, I think the next chapter will be another chapter like that. Probably. Thank you so much! ^^
Okami- No, not creepy. :) I'm really happy you like this enough to do that. Thanks for reviewing!
Well, this author's note turned out a bit longer than expected. Sorry 'bout that. Until next chapter! :D
-Spoons