Karmen sits in the crow's nest with a thermos of tea, trying to decide if she should up the dosage of her daily poison. A steady Kink, Kink, Whump has been sounding for hours now. She leans over the wall and watches the first mate swinging 500 kg on a pole-like a sword despite his injuries.
"Screw it." She sits back down and drops an entire grain of bloodroot extract into the thermos and gives it a good shake. "I can't get stronger if I'm afraid to take a full dose." When it's well mixed, she pours herself a cup and drinks a good amount. "This time I won't let myself throw up." That's when Vivi yells that Nami has collapsed. Concern runs down Karmen's spine as Sanji runs from the kitchen in a full panic.
She swings down from a slack rope. Before she can run to the navigator's side Sanji grabs the front of her shirt and holds her against the mast. His actions aren't forceful, but they convey a certain level of conflicted hostility. "Tell me you didn't."
Karmen is too stunned to speak for a moment. "You can't possibly think that I would… Of course not!" She slaps his hands away. "I've kept the bloodroot on me at all times and I never let my cup or thermos out of my sight! I don't even wash them in the sink!"
Usopp runs over and pulls Sanji away. "Karmen would never poison Nami. There has to be some other explanation."
A thought washes over Karmen like arctic seawater. "Oh Nami, tell me you didn't." She runs over to her roommate and grasps her hand. "Nami. I need you to focus and answer something for me. Did you touch or eat any of the plants or liquids that I had in corner of the anchor room?" Nami shakes her head. "Did you have any contact with my cup or poison?" Nami shakes her head again. Karmen looks up at Sanji. "I really don't want to ask this, but I have to be sure. You didn't mistake them for herbs and try to cook with them, right?"
"Of course not!"
Sanji and Zoro carefully pick Nami up and move her into the cabin. Vivi follows them and Luffy stands in the doorway.
Karmen stays kneeling on the deck. "It can't be the bloodroot. It would make her skin clammy. She's burning up."
Usopp stands Karmen up and holds her gently by the shoulders. "Think carefully, Karmen. Can any of those plants you brought back cause these symptoms?"
Karmen shakes her head. "I don't know. I haven't been able to examine any of them yet to even know if they are poisonous. That's why I wouldn't let anyone help me with the basket and I didn't set up my equipment in the bedroom or storeroom. I even washed my hands several times to make sure…" She holds up her raw red hands and looks over at the door. They've laid Nami on a bench and are putting a cold cloth to her head. Karmen finds herself grabbing the front of his overalls and laying her forehead on his bare shoulder.
"Karmen, you're shaking." He wraps his arms around her.
"This could be climate sickness." Vivi's voice cuts through the panic. "People not used to the weather of the Grand Line get suddenly sick like this. It can be deadly." Luffy moves inside.
Usopp leads Karmen into the cabin. She lets go of him and sits on the floor by the wall, rolling her thermos in her hands. When Vivi asks if there was anyone with medical experience, the men point to Nami.
"What about you?" Zoro asks Karmen. "You said in small doses some poisons can be used like medicine."
"Not the bloodroot." She shakes her head. "And I don't even know what the others are. I'd test them on myself before I gave them to someone as sick as Nami. All I could do is try to extract the oils anyway. That takes time. I don't have the experience or knowledge to try something like that."
Sanji steps over, looking ashamed as he sees the state of her hands. He kneels and bows until his head touches the floor. "I'm sorry I accused you. I know you took great care in keeping us away from anything harmful."
Karmen shakes her head. "Get up, Sanji. I thought the same thing at first. I'm sorry I insulted your knowledge of seasonings."
Karmen goes to the next room and brings out the ship's log and begins to write the events as they happen.
Ship's Log 13: Sickness
Nami fell ill. Vivi says it may be a deadly disease called climate sickness. Nami put on a big show to make it seem like she was fine. She says that she's been hiding the newspaper form Vivi because she didn't want to worry her with the knowledge of things getting worse in Alabasta. We need a doctor, but Vivi's people are in danger. Nami still has the energy to yell at Zoro, which is a good sign. She had enough presence of mind to navigate us away from what would have been a deadly water cyclone, but she's fading fast. Vivi put on a brave face and asked us to find a doctor as quickly as possible so that we can get to Alabasta.
I'm scared.
Karmen stands, leaving the log on the floor, and goes outside where Zoro is lifting weights. The first few flakes of snow start to fall. "Are you alright?"
Karmen looks down at the thermos in her hand, her voice shaky. "Usopp was right. I never should have brought anything like this on board." Karmen raises her arm to throw the thermos into the ocean. Zoro catches her hand.
"Don't go making hasty decisions because you're upset." Karmen tries to pull away so he can't feel the tremors running through her. He lightly tightens his hold. "You said that you don't know what you have in that room back there or if it could help Nami. Is there any good way to find out?" He feels her begin to calm down and her body stills. He lets go of her hand when her breathing evens out.
Karmen hooks her thermos onto her belt. Her eyes narrow as she starts to set a plan in place. "Sanji! Get me a bowl of ice! Luffy, come with me once I'm ready." She disappears into the anchor room. When she comes out she is wearing spotless rubber gloves and has a small sheet of plastic and a syringe in her hands. She goes into the bedroom where Nami has gone to rest. Vivi moves aside as the captain, cook, and secretary approach.
"Nami," she says. "I don't know if I have anything that can help you, but if do, then I'm going to need some of your blood to find out." Nami pulls up her sleeve and offers her arm. "I only watched a doctor do this back home, so sorry if I stick you a few times before I find a vein." Karmen stretches Luffy's finger and ties it around Nami's arm tightly until a vein appears. "Sanji does a good job of keeping us all hydrated, doesn't he?" She is able to draw blood without any problems. She lets Luffy go, wrapping the syringe in the plastic and laying it in the waiting bowl of ice.
"What are you going to do?" Luffy asks as Karmen takes the bowl from Sanji.
"I'm going to try to be useful," she answers.
She returns with the blood to her corner of the anchor room where Usopp has hung plastic from floor to ceiling. They made sure the window had a chimney that vents any fumes away from the deck. She has her equipment lined up on the table and several drying racks hung from the ceiling lined with half the samples she had acquired in Little Garden. She pulls the Krieg gas mask over her face and sits on the stool while Luffy and Usopp step into the room to watch her work, staying outside of the plastic.
The next hours are spent examining slides of blood under a microscope as she exposes them to varying doses of plant extracts, powders, and smokes. It's a slow process because she's having to constantly check books and wait for certain extracts to reduce or dry out. Finally, she lifts the gas mask and turns to the men. "Have Sanji make Nami a broth while I clean up."
Fifteen minutes later, Karmen meets everyone but Zoro in the bedroom with a fold of paper in her hand. She mixes a small amount of white powder from it into the broth as she speaks. "I'm sorry Nami," she says. "I found three poisons, fifteen useless plants, a few dozen flowers that can be made into perfume, and only one bit of bark that seems to negate some of the symptoms that affect your blood. I don't think it'll cure you, but you should be able to rest a little better." Nami lets Karmen spoon broth into her mouth. "It should bring down the inflammation some. I made a reversing agent as well, so if you start feeling off, tell me as soon as possible."
"What's more 'off' than this?" she jokes. The broth goes down slowly since Nami has little appetite and her breathing is labored, but after thirty minutes her breathing becomes less ragged. Karmen sits poised to pop a cork off of a small glass bottle if things go badly while glancing between the clock and Nami. Her free hand steadily jots down notes with each change. "What do the flowers smell like?" Nami asks after a while.
Karmen gives a relieved smile and sets the bottle on the nightstand. "They smell really nice. We're going to get you better and get Vivi home. When we get there we three are going to be the envy of Alabasta. Just think. We'll be the only ones in the entire kingdom who have perfume made from flowers that are supposed to be extinct."
"That sounds good," Nami says as she fades into sleep. Karmen checks her pulse while Vivi checks her temperature again.
"Her fever's gone down some," the princess confirms.
"Good," Karmen responds. "Let's let her sleep for now. If her breathing slows too much pour some of the liquid from that bottle into her mouth and come get us."
"What are you going to do now, Karmen?" Sanji asks.
"I need to check the slides again to make sure there are no delayed effects. I don't know much about the extract I just used. For all I know, I could have just made her worse."
"She looks better," Usopp says.
"For now," Karmen agrees. "But sooner or later the stuff I just gave her is going to wear off or make her sicker and we still don't have a qualified doctor. With the attack that happened on Little Garden, I only gathered enough bark for one more dose."
After making sure the next dose was tested, secured, and the slides are checked, Karmen makes her way up on deck. She sits with her back against the cabin wall. "You look exhausted," Zoro says, dropping the binoculars from his face as she pours herself some tea from her thermos. She drinks a capful and puts it away.
"Right before Nami collapsed I upped my dose and drank a lot of it." She leans her head back and lets snow fall on her face. "I feel like my arms are going to fall off if I pick up any more bottles."
"How much did you add?"
"I used a full grain."
"And you were able to test all those plants in that state? I'm impressed."
"The muscle weakness didn't kick in until two hours ago." She would have waved off his comment, but her hands feel like lead.
"How are things below deck?"
"Nami is sleeping. The powdered extract I gave her makes it a little easier for her to breathe. We're just treating the symptoms. She's still really sick."
"You did good." He smiles at her.
"It was a fluke," she says, returning his gaze with a small smile of her own. "Out of all the plants in that jungle I just happened to grab one that can be used as medicine. I guess we're the kind of people who get by on flukes though, aren't we?"
"Some of you, maybe," he agrees. "I get by on skill."
Karmen chuckles and leans her head back again. "I need to make antidotes for the three poisons I found. Maybe I'll make little flower arrangements in every room with all the useless stuff I gathered. Oh. I almost forgot." She holds up a wooden bowl containing a green paste. "This seems to have some anti-bacterial properties. Put it on your legs when you change your bandages. I have no idea what is is, so if it starts to itch more than a regular healing wound, wash it off."
He accepts the bowl and stores it carefully beside him. Karmen falls asleep, despite having insisted on making antidotes as her eyelids drooped. Zoro checks her breathing and her pulse before throwing a blanket over her and carrying her into the cabin. "Be proud of her, Usopp," he whispers to the empty room. "Our little secretary has gotten stronger."