Mysteries
"Huh?" Bepo hummed to himself as he watched his captain carry the mysterious blue haired girl into the sub. He had no idea why his captain was bringing a stranger onto their sub. Nor did he know why he kept smelling something sweet in the air when a battle had just broken out on the island. He should be smelling a heavy combination of smoke and gunpowder not sugar.
"Bepo!" Shachi screamed. "What are you doing?!"
"What?" Bepo looked at the hatted man standing at the door of their home.
"Get inside!" Shachi pointed to the open door. "We have to submerge! Or do you want the navy to come capture us after coming this far?!"
"What?! No! I'm coming!" Bepo said, rushing through the door. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Geez," Shachi said once the bear passed him. He grabbed the large door and pulled it closed. With a heavy clang, the door was in place and he turned the lock, sealing them in and the water out. "What a time to doze off into a daydream."
"I wasn't daydreaming," Bepo said, panting from his intense sprint inside.
"Sure you weren't," Shachi said. "You were there just contemplating the meaning of life."
The sub started moving without anymore more words passing between the two. It prompted the two Heart Pirates to stop their argument and help make sure they escaped the navy without any problems. So they headed on through the sub, making their way down to the control room. Bepo sniffed the air as they went. Curiously the sweet smell had followed them in somehow. Either that or it was just stuck in his nose now.
…
Law remained eerily calm as he trudged through the sub amongst the shouts and running about of his crew getting the sub prepared for diving under the surface of the water. His mind was racing far too much for him to form a clear though at the moment. Did he really just see Corazon back there? His eyes dropped down to the girl in his arms. It couldn't have been a dream. The girl was proof of that. He still couldn't believe he had actually brought her here. He just couldn't believe he just brought a complete and total stranger on his ship without even thinking about it and without the slightest bit of hesitation. And why did he do this? Because of Corazon, as insane as it sounded to him. Corazon, the dead man who's been dead for years, told him to bring this girl to his ship, told him to not leave her behind.
How reckless could he possibly be?
He knew he could be reckless at times, but this was just unbelievable, even for him. He wasn't really sure what bothered him the most. That he had brought this strange girl onto his sub without thinking about it just because he saw, or thought he saw, Corazon. Or that he deep down, for whatever reason, he knew he had made the right move by bringing her here. But how would he possibly know it was the right move? Other than saving her from getting raped, how could anyone possibly think bringing a complete and total strange onto your ship was the right move? It was insanity. That's what it was.
But here he was. Continuing on with carrying her up to the medical bay to tend to her many wounds instead of leaving her behind like he should have. Insanity for sure.
He felt even more insane while passing by his subordinates. The crew was tossing him, their captain, and the girl curious glances. And they all had the exact same question running through their minds: Why?
He easily studied their eyes from underneath his hat while they studied the strange girl sleeping firmly in arms, but no one questioned him. He knew, that despite their growing curiosity, they wouldn't ask, at least not right now. He was grateful for their ability to hold their tongue in the moment. They knew they had jobs to take care of right now. So they just quickly turned back to their current duties of leaving this island and evading the navy. He didn't have an answer for them. And telling them exactly what happened was completely out of the question. They wouldn't believe him anyway, he knew they wouldn't. He wouldn't believe it himself if he wasn't there. He was there and still didn't believe it.
Law did what he had to do, or thought he had to do. He never really returned any of their glances as he continued through the sub's halls and up to the top floor of the sub where the medical bay was. His mind was spinning with the image of Corazon kneeling before this girl. It replayed over and over in his head. He wondered again if he really did see Corazon there or if he was just imagining things. If he was just imagining things, then why did he bring this girl, this stranger with him?
Seconds later, he finally got to his destination and placed her down on the operating table. He paused to study her facial features when his eyes drifted to her face. She once again felt very inhuman to him. Pushing the feeling aside, he brushed her long, raggedy bangs away from her eyes. Once again the question of how old she was swam through his mind. Like the first time he really got a good look at her, she came off as a child. He tilted his head and at another glance, she looked like a young adult, possible close to his age. But her looks quickly went back to that of a child. It was like she was playing with his head somehow in her unconscious state.
His released a low, irritated grumble. It annoyed him that he couldn't take a simple guess at what her age could possibly be. And it was starting to really annoy him that he even brought her here. He had the urge to pick her up again, take her back out on the deck, and warp her over to a navy ship and let them take care of her. But before he could even reach for her, he felt the sub submerge under the waves of the sea. It was too late now to leave her behind.
He had no choice but to pushing aside his aggravation for now. So he walked over to the door of the operating room and closed it. Since she was a female, he didn't want his all male crew glancing in on her. He knew they would be professionals, after all a few of them were medics and they all wouldn't have improper thoughts over a child no matter how cute she was. But he still didn't want them stumbling in here for the moment.
He then walked back over to the girl and removed her shirt or dress or whatever it technically was. He rolled it up and tossed it into a near by wastebasket. There was no way she was wearing that filthy thing again even if they did clean it. It was going to be burnt later. He turned his eyes back to the bleeding wound on the left side her stomach. A light gasp escaped his lips when he noticed the angle of the stab wound.
Mindlessly, his fingers reached for the wound on her stomach while he leaned down for a closer look. Before his skin could connect with hers, there was a knock at the door. Penguin's muffled voice asked, "Captain, permission to enter?"
"Just a second." Law stepped over to one of the cabinets. Reaching in he grabbed a couple towels and laid them over the unconscious girl's exposed body before allowing his subordinate to enter into the room with them. "You can come in now, Penguin."
Law walked over to the sink to serialize his hands before going to the drawers where his surgical supplies were stored and pulled out all the equipment he needed to clean and stitch up her wounds. The door opened. It was followed by a few footsteps of the man's boots and the closing of the door. Penguin's voice then reached his ears again while he placed the items on a silver tray. He said, "Reporting, we successfully escaped without damage. It doesn't appear that the navy is pursuing us. It's possible they have their hands busy with what happened on that island."
"Good," Law mumbled. When he turned back to the girl, Penguin was eyeballing her with caution and curiosity. He released an internal sigh when Penguin's hidden eyes wandered to his. The captain could immediately tell that his subordinate wanted to question the girl and why his captain brought her aboard the sub, but he dutifully remained silent. He was thankful for that. He still had no idea what he was going to tell his crew. "Assist me."
"Aye, Captain! What would you like me to do?" Penguin asked.
"Get some water, soap, and some washcloths," Law calmly ordered. "We need to clean her up so no infections get into her wounds."
Penguin nodded. "I'll go get it all right now."
Law didn't respond as the man left the room. He continued doing his own job. He placed the tray of surgical equipment on a near by medical trolley then shoved it closer to the operating table. Before starting to sew up her cuts, Law flushed out the dirt in her wounds, wondering how this girl hadn't gotten any infections from all of the dirt on her. His eyes then landed on the freshest wound on her stomach again. And once again he noticed the angle of the cut.
"I got i-" Penguin's voice paused when he noticed his captain's intense stare at the girl's stomach. He closed the door behind him before walking over to the operating table. "What is it, Captain? Is something wrong?"
"She tried to kill herself," Law plainly stated.
"What? What do you mean?" Penguin asked, he placed his basin of water, soap, and washcloths down on another medical trolley before looking down at the girl's exposed stomach. His eyes ran over all of her wounds on her exposed flesh, trying to figure out what his captain was talking about. She had so many cuts covering so much of her skin, they were all over her arms, legs, torso, neck, they were just everywhere. He hasn't seen many wounds from suicide attempts so he really wasn't sure what his captain was talking about. "Could you point it out for me? I'm not seeing it."
"The angle of this wound." Law pointed at the specific wound he was talking about. "It couldn't have been done by anyone but her. If it was done by someone else, then the angle would be more straight, not slanted like it is."
"But why would she try to kill herself?" Penguin asked. He grabbed the washcloth, dipping it in the warm water before rubbing soap into the fabric and turned back to his captain's patient. Gently, he started to wash off the dirt on her exposed skin. "What was she doing when you found her? Trying to kill herself?"
"Nothing." Law just about whispered, he trailed his eyes slowly over her other wounds, carefully taken them and their angles in. "She was unconscious on the ground. And she was about to be taken advantage of by three men. There was a knife laying beside her, at first I thought that it belong to one of those m-Room!"
"Captain?" Penguin looked up when his captain formed a small Room around them. He gasped when Law cut part of the girl's neck off of her body. It shocked him, he wasn't prepared for such a bold move. "C-Captain, wh-what are you doing?!"
"This just isn't possible." Law felt his facial expression mixed with curiosity and confusion as he inspected the girl's neck. "It's just not possible."
"What is it, Captain?" Penguin questioned. "What's not possible? What's wrong?"
"This cut here." Law pointed to the scar on the girl's neck he was holding. "The angle of it… she also stabbed herself here. In fact, just about all of these were done by her. However, with this one, she should have died."
"Should have?" Law turned the piece of her neck towards Penguin. Penguin stared at it in complete and utter confusion. "I'm still not following you, Captain. Could you explain it to me? Again?"
"She hit her carotid artery," Law explained to the confused man while showing him the cut. "She should have bled out within minutes from this wound."
"Maybe a friend of hers bound the wound and took her to the hospital before she could bleed out?" Penguin suggested while going back to wiping down her body.
"No." Law shook his head. He put the girl's neck back in order and let his Room fade away. "She doesn't have any friends back on that island, possible none at all, ever. I spoke with a village woman about her. She said this girl only showed up on that island three weeks ago. This wound is about a week and a half old. And she always runs from people when they get too close. There's no way someone could have gotten her any help unless she was unconscious. And that clearly didn't happen since there are no signs of scar tissue from stitches. It defies all medical knowledge that she survived this stab wound."
"Well, is it possible that she has some kind of devil fruit powers?" Penguin asked. He dropped his eyes back down to the girl so he could clean her skin better. He opened his mouth to continue with his question but stopped when he got a strange feeling coming from the girl. She felt inhuman to him. "What the…?"
"What is it, Penguin?" Law asked, noticing how carefully his subordinate was studying the girl now. He had no doubt that Penguin was picking up on the same inhuman feeling that he was. "Do you sense something?"
"I do, but it's not possible," Penguin said, shaking his head.
"What do you sense?" Law asked.
"She doesn't feel human," Penguin said. He looked up at his captain. "But that's not possible, is it? She's clearly human. Maybe she does have a devil fruit after all? One that it could heal wounds like yours does? Perhaps she did want to kill herself, but changed her mind after she stabbed herself? She could be a zoan type. Think any of those have healing abilities?"
"I doubt it. I've never heard of an animal that could stop itself from bleeding to death. Besides, typically devil fruit powers are unique, one of a kind. And zoan types only turn into animals." Law crossed his left arm over his chest and tapped his chin in thought. "But since we don't know everything about all the devil fruits in the world, I suppose it is possible that there's some kind of variation of my own devil fruit."
"Captain!" Penguin suddenly shouted.
"What is it?" Law asked. He looked at his subordinate's confused expression before dropping his eyes down to the girl where Penguin was staring.
"Her wound isn't bleeding anymore!" Penguin pointed at the wound on her stomach. Law leaned down to inspect the wound he had just looked at minutes ago. His eyebrows rose on his forehead. His subordinate was correct. Her wound had, somehow, stopped bleeding. "How is it possible? Did you do something with your powers to make it stop?"
Law shook his head lightly. "I haven't done anything yet."
"Such a mysterious girl," Penguin mumbled, going back to wipe down her skin like he was ordered to do. As he did, his hand came close to the towel lying over her chest, lightly bumping it. His face flushed immediately at the unplanned contact. "Sorry, Captain!"
"Don't worry about it. Just clean her skin that is visible to you," Law said, stitching her wounds closed. "I'll handle the rest when you are gone."
"Of course! Yes, sir!" Penguin nodded furiously. He was grateful for that order. He didn't want to overstep his, or the girl's, comfort zone despite her being unconscious. It was best to leave her unmentionable parts for the captain, a doctor, to clean. He might like women, a lot, but he never would take advantage of one, especially one as young as this girl here. The two men then continued their tasks in silence. Only small, muffled sounds of some other members of the crew passing by the room could be heard for the duration of her treatment. When Penguin was finally done with her visible skin, he moved to her hair and tried to clean it as best as he could. With her lying on her back, he couldn't do much with it. But when he got it to a point of satisfaction for his captain, he dropped the cloth back into the basin. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do, Captain?"
"Get some fresh water for the basin," Law said.
"Aye, Captain," Penguin said. Picking up the basin, he stepped over to the sink to refill it with steamy hot water. He knew by the time his captain got to it the temperature would have cooled off to the right degree. He then placed it back on the trolley and turned to his captain. "Anything else?"
"That will be all," Law calmly ordered. "I'll handle the rest from here. You're free to go. Be sure to inform the crew to knock before entering this room until I'm finished working on her."
"Aye, captain." Penguin turned and walked over to the door. As his hand touched the knob, he paused, a very strong thought rushed through his mind. A thought he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask his captain or not. But, despite his doubts, he turned back to his captain. There were several questions running through his mind about their blue haired guest, but one he felt like he had to ask before he could leave the room. He swallowed before asking, "Hey, Captain?"
"What is it?" Law asked, not looking up at the man.
"What are you going to do with her?" Penguin asked.
Law's hands paused. He looked up at Penguin, studied the man and his question. He noticed Penguin was patiently waited for him to answer. But did he actually have one? What was he going to do with her?
Several intense seconds later Law finally found himself answered the question that seemed to be hanging around in the air like a stubborn odor that wouldn't leave. He said, "Drop her off at the next island."
"Aye," Penguin said before heading out the door.
Law didn't hear Penguin or the door open then close. His mind was locked on the words that fell out of his mouth. "Drop her off at the next island." He didn't like it. He didn't like the words he had said. He didn't like the thought of just dumping her off on a strange island with strange people who would do who knows what to her. And he didn't like that he didn't like it.
He had absolutely no obligation to this girl, this stranger, yet here he was worrying over her like he's known her for years, like she was a member of his crew, or something. Without thinking about why he was doing it, he cursed Corazon under his breath. He blamed a dead man for his own actions of bring this girl onto his sub. "Curse you, Cora! Why did you have me bring her here?! This is your entire fault! If I could knock you out, I would! You better thank God about that you're dead already! If you weren't, you would be after putting me through this!"
Law shook his head. He had to be losing it. He brings this girl here because of a dead man. Now he's cursing and threatening that exact same dead man. A dull throb pounded behind his eyes. Nothing about this day made any sense.
Finally finished with stitching her wounds up, Law moved to the other side of the operating table. He wet the cloth sitting in the basin then began to work on the girl's concealed body parts, grumbled about it every second. Once her body was completely, and officially, clear of dirt and grim, he wrapped her up in bandages after putting antibiotic cream to keep infections at bay.
He then searched for a pair of scissors to straighten up her bangs, another action to which he had no clue as to why he was doing it. Perhaps it was his own preference at work this time. He hated when his bangs got too long and fell into his face. He always kept them short. He needed to be able to see after all. His work was a dangerous one, both as a surgeon and as a pirate. He didn't need his hair getting in the way of making a fatal mistake. His crew counted on him.
Once her bangs were to his satisfaction, he set to work on taking the girl's vital signs, measured her height, made an educated guess on her weight from when he held her and assumed she was old enough to have already started her menstrual cycle since her breast were large enough to fit that time frame as well. His mind then wandered back to what the woman has said before. "She won't accept clothes, money or even food."
Law clicked his tongue in annoyance. If this girl was offered food and didn't take it, how is it possible that she's survived for so long? It was obvious she hasn't eating in a long, long time.
Law clicked his tongue again then pulled out a needle. If this girl was going to be with them until the next island, he had to make sure she didn't have any kind of diseases or illnesses that would spread to himself or his crew. When he slid the needle into her arm, the girl whimpered slightly, but showed no other signs of waking up. He pondered on the idea of keeping the girl sedated while pulling the needle from her arm once he had all the blood he needed to run the tests.
He shook off the idea. The woman from before never said the girl was violent. So what possible harm could such a small, fragile girl cause him and his crew anyway? Even if she wanted to try and attack them he knew they could easily over power her easily enough.
He then set to work on examining her blood. He placed her blood sample under his microscope and adjusted the lens. He carefully ran his eyes over the sample, checking for anything and everything he could possibly think to look for. A drawn out sigh left his lips when he saw her blood was showing nothing. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, or what he expected to find exactly. But several minutes later, he rubbed his tired eyes in frustration. He didn't find anything. Not a single thing. She had no diseases or illnesses, which was a good thing, but also a disappointing thing. Her blood was just blood like everyone else's. It disappointed him for some reason.
Abandoning the blood sample for a moment, he grabbed one of his notebooks, a pen and scribbled down everything strange he found about this girl and all the questions that kept popping into his brain. He viewed back into the microscope then scribbled a few more notes. He rotated back and forth like this for a good half hour before finally stopping. His head spun as clouds gathered in his brain. He couldn't think clearly anymore. Plus, he made himself a bit dizzy from jerking back and forth from the microscope to his notes. He decided he had enough of all these mysteries and put them aside, for the moment, anyway.
…
Penguin paused outside of the operation room. He really didn't want to leave his captain alone with that girl. But he knew he didn't have the right to stay or any justifiable reason for staying. His captain was a grown man with a devil fruit and a high bounty. If anything happened, he knew his captain would be more than capable of handling himself.
He just couldn't shake this indescribable feeling settling in his body. It wasn't like his captain at all to bring complete and totally strangers onto the sub. And it certainly wasn't like his captain to help a stranger like this, even if this girl was just a child. He had to force himself to move away from the operation room.
He shoved his hands back into his pockets and walked away. Going back downstairs, he found himself lost in thought until he reached the rec. room on the level below the medical bay. He peered inside of it. No one was there. It didn't really surprise him that his crewmates weren't there. They were still traveling by use of the sub's engines. That meant they were down in the control room. And he knew they all were already talking about their captain and the strange girl that was now aboard their sub, their home.
He continued on. Passing by the rec. room he wandered even farther down the sub. The halls of the sub were oddly quiet for a rowdy crew like them. Filled with an out of place thickness that could be sliced up with a knife. A shiver ran down his spine, causing him to physically shake. He hoped that this wasn't some kind of calm before a violent storm thing. That girl looked so fragile and helpless. Yet she had already turned a lot on the sub upside down with in just a few seconds of his captain finding her. So was this really the calm before the storm? Were they in danger from this girl? Were her innocent looks just a cover? Would she try and ambush them when she woke up? Should they chain her down to the bed just in case? Should they turn around and give her over to the navy? They weren't very far away from the island they just left. They could easily hand this girl over to the navy and they could take care of her.
He just wasn't sure what to think. He wasn't sure what to do. All he could do was continue to put his faith in his captain's choices. After all, his captain had brought them this far. They were in the Grand Line. A rough place where many pirates didn't make it to the destination they were currently heading to. They had. They were working their way through the Grand Line and to the New World.
"I just don't understand it."
"I know. This isn't like the captain at all."
"Bepo, did he say anything to you about her?"
"No. He just said never mind her."
Penguin looked up when he heard his crewmates voices. He was mere feet away from the control room. And from all of the shadows cast on the ground, he knew he was correct in his assumptions. They all were in the control room. He exhaled before walking into the room, making his presence known to them. He braced himself for their questions.
"So? What happened?" Shachi asked.
"What's the captain going to do with her?" Conner asked.
"Why did he even bring her on the sub?" Archer asked.
"Okay, just hold on a second," Penguin said as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "Nothing really happened. I just gave my report to the captain then helped clean off her skin while he tended to her wounds." He paused, wondering if he should mention the fact that the girl has tried multiple times to commit suicide. He decided not to and leave that up to his captain to tell. He didn't want to cause pain in his crewmates by implying their captain might have brought an unstable child into their home. "He does, however, want us to knock on the operating room door before entering. He doesn't want to expose her to us."
"Makes sense," Archer said. "We are men after all."
"Thanks for pointing that out, Bud," Conner said, rolling his eyes. "We never would have known we were men if you hadn't told us."
"Shut up!" Archer snapped. "I was just saying!"
"How is the girl?" Bepo asked. "Is she going to be all right? She looked like she has been through a really rough time."
Penguin turned his hat covered eyes to the bear. It didn't surprise him at all that the only animal on the crew was the one to ask about her like that. "She'll be fine. Her wounds really aren't as bad as they look. The captain should be finished with her soon."
"That's good," Bepo said with sigh. "She just looks so small and helpless."
"Yeah." Penguin nodded. He looked around at the men before him. He could tell that they were just as curious and worried as he was. He knew they were all wondering why their captain did this. And they would keep wondering until their captain opened up and told them everything. "Oh, yeah. The captain also said we're going to drop her off at the next island."
"That quick?" Archer asked.
"Why even bother bringing her onboard if he's just going to kick her off on the next island?" Conner added.
"I don't know," Penguin said. "I'm not even sure the captain knows himself."
"What do you mean by that?" Shachi asked.
"Just the look in his eyes," Penguin said. "I can see he's rather confused about his actions as well. Despite knowing we all want answers, I think we all should keep our questions to ourselves for a while."
Reluctantly, the crew agreed with him.
"So how close are we to another island?" Shachi asked.
"There should be one about three days from our current location," Bepo said when their eyes turned to him. "I was looking at my maps this morning. And the log pose has reset."
"Then there's nothing to worry about," Shachi said. "She'll be gone in a few days then."
The crew mumbled in agreement, all but for Penguin. He wasn't so sure. Apparently his crewmates didn't sense the odd calmness that he did, at least not yet.
…
Once Law was done running every test he could possibly think of, he was mentally exhausted. He ran his hand over his face before standing up from his chair. He walked over to the operating table where the girl was still sleeping. He pressed his fingers to her wrist, taking her pulse. It was very low. It was eighty nine over fifty nine. He didn't like it.
Slipping his arms under her slim body, he lifted her up. He couldn't help but turn towards her when her head rested on his shoulder. He breathed in, noticing a strange sweet smell had entered into the room. His eyebrow lifted in confusion before he brushed the thought aside. The crew was probably eating snacks or something and the smell floated up here. Or his nose just could be playing tricks on him. He decided on that one since he's smelled things before that weren't there.
He walked her out of the operating room. Working his way down the hall, he turned into the first recovering room he came to. He laid her down on the bed then pulled the cover out from underneath her body. After laying the cover over her, he stepped away to pull the heart monitor machine over to her. He hooked her up to it. He watched the lines jumping across the screen while the beeping filled the area. He then wandered out of the room. Going to his medical supplies again, he gathered an IV for the girl then went back into her room. Thankful he left part of her arm exposed, he inserted the needle into her skin. And like with the blood he drew, she whimpered in her sleep when the needle pierced her skin, but didn't make anymore sound.
He then found himself sitting down on the bed. His eyes were locked onto her face, his mind racing with all his questions again. He had no idea how long he sat there just staring at her, trying to figure her out, until there was a knock on the door. His eyes drifted over to the noise.
"Captain, are you all right?" Bepo asked, stepping into the room.
"Yes. Why?" Law inquired.
"You've been up here for hours," Bepo said. "Supper's ready. We're all already down in the galley."
"Oh," Law said, surprised at how long he had been up here just staring at the girl. He stood up and stretched out his stiff muscles, suddenly very hungry. "Let's go then."
"Aye, Cap-" Bepo started to speak but paused when he caught the sweet smell again. He sniffed the room, trying to locate the smell.
"Something wrong, Bepo?" Law asked, walking over to the bear.
"No, sorry. I just keep smelling something sweet." Bepo stepped aside so his captain could leave the room. His eyes drifted over to the girl. With all the bandages on her body she looked like a mummy. His gaze lingered on her for several second until he heard Law calling his name.
"Bepo," Law said.
"Coming, Captain," Bepo said. He turned and left the room. During their walk to the galley, the bear kept taking glances over at the man beside him. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he remained quiet like Penguin did before him.
"You can ask about her, Bepo," Law said.
"I'm sorry," Bepo said. "Is she… is she going to be all right? She has so many wounds."
"Physically she'll be fine," Law said. "Her wounds, despite the number of them, aren't all that bad. Some of the scars are deep though. So she's going to always have them on her body. Her mental state, however, I'm not really sure how she's going to be when she woke up."
"Why do you say that?" Bepo asked.
Law stopped walking. He looked up at the bear. "Penguin didn't tell you?"
"No," Bepo said.
"I see," Law said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He should have known Penguin wouldn't say anything about that. "It's because she's tried to commit suicide multiple times."
"What?!" Bepo asked.
"Yeah." Law continued walking. "I won't know until she wakes up what kind of mental state she's in. But with how thin she is she shouldn't cause us any problems."
"I wonder what happened to her," Bepo said, following after his captain. "Where do you think she came from?"
"I don't know," Law said. "We won't really know anything about her until she wakes up and tells us."
"So what are you going to do when she wakes up?" Bepo asked.
"Nothing much," Law said. "Just ask her some questions. If she can tell us where she came from, we can send her back that way."
"So we're playing the waiting game then," Bepo said. "Oh, by the way, we should be arriving at another island in about three days. Penguin said you wanted to drop her off there. Do you think she'll wake up before then?"
"I don't know," Law said. "She might."
The closer the two got to the galley the more they could hear the playful banter of their crew. The banter died out when they entered into the room. All of their eyes went directly to Law. He sighed, knowing what they already wanted. He sat down at the head of one of the many rectangular tables in the room. He placed his hat on the table then laced his fingers together while leaning against his elbows. He then told them everything he had told Penguin and Bepo, even about her suicide attempts.
"That's just great," Conner said. "A nut bent on self destruction is exactly what we needed on this ship."
"Oh, shut up," Archer said with a glare. "We don't know anything about her. She might just be to the point of thinking she doesn't have any choices. She just a kid. We should wait until she wakes up before making assumptions. I'm sure she's just scared or something. She's obviously had a hard life."
"Fine. Whatever." Conner grabbed his fork. Jamming it into his fish, he shoved the bite into his mouth.
Everyone started eating then. The conversation of the girl quickly turned to their plans of heading for the New World and building up their reputation in the eyes of the navy and the world. Law dropped his eyes down to his plate. He picked up his fork but didn't eat yet. His mind was still back with the girl up in the medical bay. Mindlessly he started eating.
…
It had been three very long days since he had brought the girl onto his sub. She still hadn't woken up yet. And he was still puzzled by this girl lying in his medical bay. Nothing with her had changed a bit. Her blood pressure was still low. And the only noise she ever made was when he pierced her skin with a needle. He had run a few more tests on her in the days she's been with him. Still he found nothing. She was still normal as she could be. He also noted that just about every single one of his subordinates also felt the inhuman nature around her, but none could make a guess why or how it could be possible she would give them all this feeling. Most of the crew avoided her. Only, Law, Penguin, and Bepo would enter into the room. And that was only to check on her condition.
Now, Law's eyes were constantly darting between his notes, his blood samples, and the still unconscious girl lying in the room. The only sounds in the room were the heart monitor and the soft hums of the sub engines. The sub was slightly warmer due to the hot weather outside. Other than that, it was a normal day. And the day they were finally going to get rid of this girl. He decided to drop her off at the hospital on the island they were going to land on and give them all of his notes on her medical condition. The medical staff would handle her from there. They would be able to get answers from her when she woke up then take the necessary steps to get the help she needed.
As she lay there, completely oblivious to the world around her and soon to be off his sub, Law continued to quietly observe her. All of the questions he had about her were still pounding his brain with the force of a hurricane. Who was she? How was it possible for her to survive a stab to her neck? How could she have possibly survived all these stabs she had done to herself? How could she still be alive with how malnourished she is? Why did he even care about her? Why did he bring her to his sub? Did he really see Corazon with her?
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
For all of his medical questions, he blamed his inner doctor. Being the surgeon he was he wanted to know how she had survived like she did. Those questions alone were making him want to keep her on board. It defied all kinds of logic that she survived. She must have some kind of powerful lucky star or a powerful guardian angel watching over her for her to have survived this long.
Law tapped his pen on his notebook while these questions and many more ran through his mind. He rubbed his eyes with a heavy, frustrated, tired sigh. At least he was soon going to be rid of her. Then it would be 'Out of sight, out of mind'. He hoped. A knock on the door pulled him from his muddied thoughts. "Yes, come in."
"Captain." Law turned his eyes to Shachi. "We've arrived at the island. Shall we go ahead and dock? It doesn't seem like there's any navy ships in the area."
Law divided his lips to form his answer "Yes" but his voice caught in his throat when something flickered in the corner of his eye. He turned towards the girl. His eyes widened, his heart pounded, his skin grew damp from sweat when Corazon smiled at him. His pencil fell from his hand, clanking on the floor before rolling to a stop.
He was here again. The tall, older, yet dead man had his arms crossed over his chest. He leaned against the recover bed as he looked at Law then turned his eyes to the unconscious girl. He then reached out for her, brushing the back of his hand over her cheek before crossing his arms again and looking directly at Law.
A sense of dread began to fill Law's chest. His heart struck against his ribs, making it hard to breath. He was getting ready to drop this girl off on an unknown island with a bunch of strangers. How could he possibly do that to her?
Shachi instantly noticed the color draining from his captain's face and called out to him with worry. "Captain?"
Law didn't reply. He didn't even hear his subordinate.
Shachi took a couple steps closer. While moving his position, Shachi's eyes followed his captain's transfixed stare. He was confused at what made his captain so unsettled. The only other person in the room was the still unconscious girl. And there was no way she could be causing the strong captain such distress. Shachi cleared his throat and called for his captain again. "Captain? Captain, your orders?"
Law flinched when Corazon winked and smirked at him. When Law blinked his eyes, Corazon was gone just like the first time this happened.
"Captain? Uh... Captain?" Shachi tried again.
"Y-yes?" Law's voice was dry when he came back to reality and registered the other man in the room was speaking to him. "What is it?"
"Are you all right, Captain?" Shachi inquired. "You look completely disoriented. It's not a look I'm use to seeing on you. It's like you saw a ghost or something."
"Maybe I did," Law whisper, but not low enough.
"What do you mean by that?" Shachi asked.
"Nothing." Law forced his eyes away from the bed. He noticed the concerned look Shachi was giving him. He cleared his throat and let his voice rise back to normal. "Was there something you wanted?"
"Yes, we're near an island," Shachi reported again. "Are we still dropping her off?"
"No." Law's answer caused Shachi to cock his head to the side in a silent question. "Keep our course."
"Uh, Aye aye, Captain." Shachi nodded then left the room completely confused at his captain's behavior and his desire to not leave the girl on the island like he had previously ordered.
Law pinched the bridge of his nose with another heavy sigh. He couldn't believe he just did that. He couldn't believe he had just said that. Why? Why did he want to keep this girl on his sub? And how was it possible that he saw Corazon for the second time? And at the same exact time of wanting to leave her behind? No way all of that was just a coincident. And now he had another, more important, question running through his head.
What was he going to do with this girl when she finally woke up?
