SIX
Zoro woke up, hands tightly clutching his hospital robe while his lungs desperately gasped for air. Every part of his body was shouting at him; his heart was beating fast, his throat was burning, his head was throbbing. It was as if someone had been using a jackhammer inside his head.
He felt all those at the same time, but none of them could compare with the pain he felt in his chest as he saw Sanji slowly moving away from him until he faded into the heavy fog. He did not know what it meant but he knew that whatever it was, it was better to not think about it at all. That dream might be a bad omen, an unpleasant premonition of what was about to happen. Or it may also be a nightmare, an awful dream created by his fucked up mind.
"Shit. This is not the time to become pessimistic. I've got to believe in him. He is strong enough to battle against death." The green-haired man thought.
He slowly stood up, taking the IV drip out of his skin and walked towards the window.
The horizon was tinged with yellow as the sun slowly rose, waking up the whole town with its blinding brightness.
He stared blankly at his surroundings until he heard the door creaked open. He ignored it until a tall dark-haired man in a white robe emerged at the corner of his eye. The man looked like a vocalist of an underground rock band, with his raven hair and eyes that were lined with dark eyeliner. Plus, his hands were also covered with tattoos and Zoro was sure that there were some more on the other parts of his body.
"I see. You're finally awake." The dark-haired man said though he got no response from the other man.
Zoro continued staring at the horizon, taking every inch of the view in and completely ignoring the unwanted presence. He then sensed the other man's movement as he took a few steps toward him. The dark haired man stopped at the foot of his bed, clearly assessing the damage that Zoro had inflicted on himself.
Zoro sighed exasperatedly before facing the other man. "What do you want?" He asked through rough and emotionless voice.
The other man cocked his head to the side, clearly amused with Zoro's reaction before he answered. "I am Dr. Trafalgar and I am your attending physician."
"I am not asking you who the fuck you are, I am asking why you are here. What the fuck do you want with me?" Zoro growled at the other man.
The doctor only smirked at his response before he invaded Zoro's space, leaving only an inch between the two of them.
"Looks like your doing fine Mr. Roronoa." Trafalgar said as he held Zoro's hand up to his face to show him the blood dripping from his hand. "I see, you've been too rough on yourself." The doctor commented.
Zoro snatched his hand away from the other man's grip. Though to his movement only made the other man snicker as he took Zoro's hand again in a tight grip. "This will surely swell up if you will not treat it properly, Mr. Roronoa."
"Let go of me." The green haired man said in a controlled voice as he tried to keep calm. It seemed like the doctor did not hear anything he said since he was now properly treating the wound that Zoro inflicted upon himself. Though, Zoro had no idea where or when the other man took his supplies.
After cleaning and putting bandages on Zoro's hand, the doctor finally let him go and headed to the door. But before he finally left Zoro alone, he once again faced the green-haired man. His eyes were full of seriousness and his facial expression became too expressionless.
"Take care of yourself, Roronoa. This wouldn't be the end of it. They would not stop here. This won't be the last time that someone dear to you would be put in a situation like this." The doctor said before slamming the door close, leaving Zoro open mouthed and confused.
Zoro's mind went blank. What was that supposed to mean? What did that doctor know? What the fuck was he talking about?!
Suddenly, Zoro remembered the sight of Sanji lying down the pavement, lifeless and covered with blood. All his strength seemed to dissolve into nothingness. All of a sudden, he was on all fours on the cold tiled hospital floor. There might be something wrong on the Earth's gravitational pull or maybe that doctor gave him something to make him weak without his knowledge. That must be it. That was the only thing that could properly explain this sick fuck.
"Shit." He groaned as he tried to sit up properly. He tried to grab the nearest thing to him to use it as a source of balance, but it did nothing to help him get back on his feet. He was almost losing his patience when he heard the door clicked open, he then looked up expecting to see the doctor, to his surprise the figures were not from the doctor but from his children and the old man.
"Daddy!" Little Sun burst through the door and threw himself towards his father.
"Little Sun! You should not just jump on daddy like that!" The green-haired child said as he walked into the hospital room with pouted lips.
Zoro was once again speechless. He did not know what to say or do. What he did the last time he saw them was enough to make himself feel bad, embarrassed even, for not being all father-like to his children.
"Don't space out on us, you shitty plant!" Zeff shouted at him as he offered his hand to help the other man get back on his feet.
Without hesitation, Zoro took it and steadied himself to welcome his children. He motioned for them to come near him so that he can hug and kiss them. His children grew up faster than he expected them to be, the next thing he'd, was that they would be leaving his side; they would travel down their own path and find their own life.
It was kinda painful to think about it at this point of time, but he couldn't help it. Seemed like the situation made him too sappy and emotional. Sanji would probably laugh at him when he told him these kinds of stuff.
"You know what daddy, I saw papa earlier. He was sleeping soundly, even if I try to call his name; he does not respond at all. Then uncle Chopper said that papa is tired, that's why he needs a lot of sleep, b-but how long will papa sleep, daddy?"
Zoro felt pained after hearing little sun's story, but he should not worry his children further, he should assure them that everything was fine. Not wanting to make his children sad, Zoro smiled and put the both of them on the bed. He first gently swiped away the strands of hair covering little sun's eyes, before he crouched down to meet their eyes and patted both of them on the head.
"Daddy! Don't touch my hair! My eyebrows are showing!" Little Sun said as he fixed his hair with his lips pouted. The action only made everyone in the room laugh. Making the atmosphere lighter than before. Surely, his kids were brought up so well. It also seemed like both him and Sanji finally did something right, something that they would forever be proud of.
After a few minutes, the echoing laughter of everyone slowly ceased and was replaced by a warm atmosphere. The green-haired man then fixed little Sun's hair back in place and mindlessly murmured, "You really are like your Papa."
"Indeed! Cause I am my father's son!" The blond child said enthusiastically, while he jumped up and down the bed.
Amidst the loud commotion, Little Marimo whispered. "I already miss papa." Zoro heard him loud and clear. It was as if the child shouted those words in front of him amplified by countless massive speakers.
Every word sending arrows straight to his heart and brain. As for every parent, there was nothing more painful than seeing his child sad. He or she would do everything just to ensure their happiness, though, in this case, Zoro couldn't do anything but wait until the other man finally woke up.
He would wait for him, and while doing so, he would make his children happy as much as possible. It didn't matter if he himself was not, all that mattered were his children.
Taking a deep breath, the green-haired man forced himself to smile and faced his children with hopes that everything would be alright.
"Do you know the story of sleeping beauty?" He asked.
"Yes. It was about a princess who sleep for a very long time because a bad witch cursed her."
"Right. And just like her, your papa will soon wake up from his sleep."
"Really papa?!" Little Sun exclaimed. "But if papa is like sleeping beauty, does that mean that we have to also kiss him?"
"Do you want to?"
"I do! I do!" The blond-child said, his blue eyes sparking with glee.
The child's enthusiasm made Zoro's mood lighter. Leaving no trace of melancholic thoughts. The children stayed with him for another hour, they fed him with stories about what they have been doing since that day. Like the first day when they stayed with the old man or even the stupidly cute things they did. Zoro was immensely happy to be with them. It seemed like his children were doing their best to make him happy. Indeed, as a father, he should be ashamed for defending on his children too much, but what could he do? He felt an overwhelming joy when his children were spoiling him.
Zoro fell asleep in a dreamless sleep when they had left, but before that, the old man first lectured for being an ass. He even kicked him when he found out that his only source of nutrition was the glucose from the IV, which he had already removed earlier. For Zoro, it was a miracle that the old man accepted him, he even treated him like his own child.
His previously peaceful sleep was abruptly interrupted by a loud crashing sound. His vision was still blurry when he sat up on his bed and saw someone on the floor near his bed. When his eyes already adjusted, he realized that the person on the floor was none other than their little doctor. It was not a surprise for him to see Chopper in the hospital, but what confused him was why he was crying his eyes our on the floor.
Out of reflex, he got out of his bed and walked towards Chopper.
"Chopper," He said as he try to calm him down and force him to lift his face up, so that he could see his face properly. "look at me. What happened? What is going on?"
Upon seeing Zoro's face, the teenager cried even louder, making Zoro even more confused and worried. After a few minutes, Chopper stopped crying. He then looked at Zoro in the eyes and hold his hands firmly. His actions made Zoro terribly worried, he had no idea about what was happening and his head was messing with him, sending lots of disturbing images on his brain without his permission.
"Zoro, are you listening to me? Did you hear what I said?" Chopper asked him. Zoro shook his head and looked intently into Chopper's eyes, waiting for him to repeat what had he said cause he knew that at this point, he could not trust his voice.
"Z-zoro, h-he," Even before Chopper finished his sentence he once again broke down, crying his heart out. The teenager somehow remembered that he was speaking to Zoro, so he wiped his tears and forced his tears to be obedient.
"It's Sanji."