Hello my dear readers! I hope you're all well!
Here's a new chapter for you all

It contains as always enough angst, so prepare yourselves for it. Also Luffy's condition will be more explained, so I hope that it also makes sense to some extent haha
I hope you enjoy it and would be very happy to receive feedback of any kind.

️Warnings: Description of Vomiting.

If you are sensitive to this content I would advise you to stop reading at this point.

And for those, who have no problem with it, have fun!

Zoro was completely taken by surprise, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge claw emerged from the dark bushes, and the next moment he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his right side.

"ZORO!"

The force of the attack threw him through the air with Luffy on his back. Together, they were about to hit a tree, and the sick teen would have taken the brunt of the impact, if Zoro hadn't been able to land with both feet on the ground in time to slow down and come to a stop just in front of the tree.

The swordsman barely had time to process what had happened in those few seconds he had been careless and lost in thought, when he looked up from the ground at the others and recognized the oversized tiger now standing menacingly in front of his friends.

Without hesitation, the merciless creature was about to lunge at Zoro again with its claw, when Sanji suddenly reacted and blocked the attack with a powerful kick. The kick hurled the beast a few feet away from the crew, giving them some time to turn their attention to Zoro and Luffy.

"Zoro! Are you okay?!" asked Nami, still in shock, as she came running up to her two friends with Usopp and Chopper in tow.

"It's all right...hahh...It's just a scratch." Gasped the green haired man, grabbing his right hand to the large wound on his side, from which a great amount of blood was leaking.

Suddenly, a small, painful moan reached Zoro's ear, causing his heart to skip a beat and his eyes to widen.

Oh no…

Had the beast hit Luffy, too?

Please no…

Slowly Zoro turned his head to his shoulder to look into Luffy's face and could see under his black bangs, which covered part of his face, how his features were distorted with pain, more than usual.

"That doesn't look like a scratch at all Zoro, and besides, Luffy got hit too!" Chopper exclaimed in panic as he took a closer look at the wound.

Nami and Usopp, who were standing next to him in the meantime, held their hands over their mouths in shock and could hardly believe what they were seeing.

Zoro froze in horror.

How could he allow his captain to get injured, especially when he was still sick? That was unforgivable. He could never forgive himself for this mistake. The creature would have to atone for doing this to Luffy. He had probably spared it too much the last time, but now he would definitely send it to hell with his own hands.

"But…But it seems like his claws just grazed Luffy. He's not bleeding as much as you Zoro." Chopper added, a bit relieved. A serious wound was the last thing Luffy needed.

This statement made Zoro breathe a sigh of relief as he turned his gaze to the wild beast. His own wound was forgotten as he seethed with rage.

"Shit, that animal won't let up." Sanji cursed, when the tiger had picked itself up and was coming at them again at a fast pace. Just as the blond chef was preparing to kick again, he was immediately stopped by Zoro.

"Hold on, curly brow, the creature has it in for me! I'll take care of it!" Zoro called out to Sanji while he untied the knot of the suit jacket around his stomach with nimble fingers.

"Usopp and Chopper, you take care of Luffy! I can't fight with him on my back, he'll only get worse. Keep running to the Sunny, I'll follow!" Zoro gave the order as Nami helped Chopper to put Luffy's still unconscious form on Usopp's back.

An uneasy feeling spread through the longnosed sniper as Luffy's seemingly burning body came into contact with his. He had to swallow hard while he positioned his hands under Luffy's knees to hold him tightly.

It was not easy for Chopper to leave the wounded Zoro behind, but in this case the captain was their highest priority.

"All right, Zoro. We'll meet you at the ship! Come on guys!" Nami agreed after quickly putting Sanji's jacket around Usopp and Luffy to tie a knot on Usopp's stomach, as it had been with Zoro before.

After a final check to make sure Luffy was securely fastened and as comfortable as possible, all the straw hats, except for Zoro and Sanji, continued running toward the Sunny.

"I told you to run to the ship, ero-cook! You better let me handle this!" Repeated Zoro reluctantly, while at the same time he ran towards the wild tiger to attack. He wished he had his swords back, because that would make it a lot easier.

"As if I would take any orders from you, moss head! Besides, you'd never make it out of the forest on your own without my help." Sanji said, visibly indignant, while at the same time continuing to try to stop the tiger, which was even angrier than before. It actually seemed to be a tough animal. No matter how many kicks and punches it took, it always got back up.

While the two fought the tiger and argued as always, the other members of the crew came closer and closer to the Sunny.

So far there was no further disturbance and they could pave without any problems a way through the jungle.

"Is it still very far? Luffy seems to be getting worse by the minute." Usopp said in a shaky voice, strengthening his grip on Luffy's knees.

"It shouldn't be much longer. Let's just run faster!" Nami replied and ran alongside Usopp, always keeping an eye on her unconscious captain. They would make it in time, they just had to. They couldn't lose Luffy yet.

Suddenly a soft groan came from Luffy's lips as he slowly blinked open his tired eyes.

"Luffy? Are you awake?" Usopp inquired, hearing Luffy whisper something indistinctly.

The sniper noticed, that Luffy was getting rather restless, as if something was bothering him. Suddenly, a wet cough reached his ears, and the next moment he felt something warm and moist on his shoulder. Usopp's eyes widened in shock as he guessed what it could be.

"I-I *cough* *cough*" Luffy tried to say something, but he then weakly pressed his hand against his mouth, so as not to stain his friend's shirt even more with his blood.

"Luffy? Are you all right?" A silly question Nami had to ask anyway when she noticed Luffy's discomfort.

Luffy's head felt unbearably hot and woozy, so he could barely register the question. All he could focus on was the uncomfortable bubbling feeling in his stomach and the violent urge to cough. The latter feeling, however, almost began to subside again.

"I-I *cough* f-feel…sick…" After these words, Usopp stopped in his tracks along with everyone else, who had also overheard the weak words of their sick captain. Together, they turned to Luffy with great concern.

"D-Do you need to throw up Luffy?" Usopp asked uncertainly, automatically reaching for the knot on his stomach to untie it.

"Uh huh." Luffy uttered as he felt the burning sensation in his throat grow stronger.

Franky reacted quickly by helping Luffy off Usopp's back and carefully lowering him onto his wobbly arms and knees. Just in time, as Luffy began to retch. In the next moment, nothing but thick bile landed on the floor, the smell of which caused quite a stir among the rest of the straw hats.

Nami, who surprisingly didn't mind much, knelt down on the floor next to Luffy, only to put her hand on his back and stroke it in a circular motion, hoping it would calm his upset stomach. She bit her lower lip with a frown, when she realized that there was practically nothing in his stomach that he could throw up. Which is why the raven haired began to dry heave after a short time.

Nami looked up at Usopp and gave him a venomous look.

"Usopp, did you jolt Luffy too much while carrying him, which is why he is in this state right now?"

Then everyone looked at the sniper with an expectant look, while Usopp let his gaze wander and shrugged his shoulders.

"M-Maybe…?" The longnosed boy muttered softly, while scratching the back of his head nervously. He looked back at Luffy and saw that he had stopped vomiting and was breathing heavily, convulsively holding his aching stomach. Usopp felt bad at the sight.

Was he really to blame for this?

"Are you feeling better now Luffy?" Chopper drew the attention to himself again with this question. The small reindeer had moved next to Luffy and examined him anxiously. He was more than worried about the black haired teen's condition and he knew that this long trip to the Sunny was responsible for making the captain's illness even worse.

Luffy, who was completely out of breath after his seizure, could only nod slightly in response, when in the next moment his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness again. Franky caught him just in time before he hit his head on the hard floor and then took Luffy's whole limp body in his big wide arms.

"Come on, we have to hurry! His body can't take much more of this! He can barely stay conscious without collapsing." Chopper said in total panic, unable to take his eyes off his heavily breathing captain.

"This time I'll carry him on my arms. Maybe that should be more comfortable for him." Franky said, whereupon he immediately started to run.

With even more haste than before, the straw hats continued on their way to the ship, where they finally arrived after some time.

Once in the infirmary, Franky placed the feverish boy in his arms on the bed, whereupon all crew members were ordered by Chopper to leave the room immediately.

While the rest of the straw hats sat glumly in the galley at the table waiting for Zoro and Sanji, who were still missing, Chopper began treating Luffy without hesitation.

Since the relatively shallow wound on his right side had already stopped bleeding, he didn't think it necessary to treat it directly. There were far more important things that he had to take care of first.

To do this, Chopper reached into his closet, from which he took out his thermometer to take Luffy's temperature properly and to check if his fever had dropped a bit, due to the remedy he had given him earlier in the forest.

To his horror, Chopper found that the fever had barely gone down. He feared that if his temperature didn't drop soon, he would suffer unthinkable damage from it. Something that even Chopper himself couldn't undo. The ship's doctor wanted to prevent this worst-case scenario at all costs.

No matter how much the reindeer doctor wanted to devote himself to his lungs, which were hardly getting any oxygen, he first thought it was very important to bring down his high fever. And to achieve that, he had to resort to measures other than medicine.

Chopper quickly changed into his human form to lift Luffy's sweaty body onto his arms and then took him out of the room to join the others in the kitchen. His friends were startled by his sudden, panicked appearance, as they hadn't expected Chopper to come out of his room so quickly, especially not with Luffy in his arms. They expected the worst, but the little reindeer only needed the help of his comrades.

"Chopper-" Nami started and she was one of the first to get up from her seat at the table.

"Guys, Luffy's fever just won't go down! Can one of you run a quick bath? The water should be as lukewarm as possible." He interrupted Nami as he made his request.

"I can do it!" Robin then agreed to take over this task, whereupon she instantly left the galley to go to the bathroom.

"I would also need someone to help me with Luffy." Chopper exclaimed as he looked up from Luffy's face to his friends, growing impatient.

"I'm coming with you, Chopper." Nami's answer came quickly as she then walked out of the kitchen together with the reindeer doctor and the feverish captain in his arms, leaving the rest of their friends in the galley.

Sighing deeply and with bowed heads, Usopp, Brook, Franky and Jinbei remained sitting at the table, waiting patiently for Zoro and Sanji, who had still not returned. They knew that if they followed Chopper and the others now, they would only be standing uselessly in the way, since there would be nothing else for them to do anyway.

Besides, out of respect for Luffy, they didn't want to watch their captain being bathed half-naked in water all together. This whole situation had to hurt his dignity anyway. Therefore, they had no choice but to hope and pray that everything would turn out well.

~Meanwhile in the bathroom~

Robin had almost filled the bathtub with water as she dipped her hand into the liquid to check that it was indeed the right lukewarm temperature. At the exact same moment, Chopper entered the room with Luffy in his arms, closely followed by the orange haired navigator.

"Is the tub full yet, Robin?" Chopper wanted to know as he then knelt down next to the bathtub, leaning Luffy against his own body in a seated position and began to undress the raven haired boy, with Nami also joining him.

"Yes, and the temperature is right, too. So we can put him in already." Answered the archaeologist, as she finally turned off the running water.

"Alright, well let's put him in quickly, Nami. His temperature doesn't seem to be dropping at all." Chopper said with a serious expression, not taking his eyes off Luffy's deeply flushed face.

When the young captain was stripped of his clothes down to his boxers, Chopper grabbed him by his torso while Nami took both of his legs and together they gently placed him in the bathtub.

Luffy whimpered softly and his facial expression relaxed the second his overheated body made contact with the cooling water, but his breathing remained shallow and irregular. His dry lips were parted as he struggled to take quick, small breaths. Nami watched as if in a trance, how the sweat, that had accumulated on Luffy's forehead slowly slid down his face and finally dripped into the bathwater.

However, the navigator didn't notice that Chopper said something to her, that showed how lost in thought she was at that moment.

"Nami? You hear me?" Chopper asked after a while, when the orange haired girl didn't give any reaction to show that she had heard him. Hesitantly, the reindeer put its hoof on Nami's shoulder, which instantly startled the young woman.

"Huh...did you say something, Chopper?" Immediately she put on a forced smile as she turned her head toward the ship's doctor beside her.

"I told you to keep his head above water like this." Repeated Chopper as he left Luffy's limp head for the navigator to hold.

"Oh…okay. I can do that."

Then Chopper looked over at Robin, who in the meantime had picked up Luffy's sweaty and blood stained clothes from the tiled floor and thrown them into the laundry basket.

"Robin, could you get Luffy some fresh clothes from his locker?" Chopper asked, getting a slight nod from the black haired woman in response as she then disappeared from the bathroom, with the intention to do just that.

"Nami, are you okay?" Chopper wanted to know as they both couldn't take their eyes off Luffy, looking at him worriedly.

A deep sigh escaped Nami's lips as she simultaneously dipped her hand into the water, only to place her moist cool hand on Luffy's forehead and let it linger there. This way she could clearly feel how bad he was actually burning up.

"To be honest Chopper...no, I'm not well. Not since our captain has been in this state. I just...I can't take it anymore. It hurts so much to see him suffer like this." Nami spoke, her voice becoming a whisper towards the end.

Chopper just nodded in understanding as he let his gaze drift away from her again, not knowing how to answer Nami to make her feel better. He knew that nothing but Luffy's recovery could cheer her up, and that was entirely up to the little ship's doctor. It was his job to heal their captain, but he was simply unable to do so. Chopper couldn't even protect him, which had led to the fact that his condition had only deteriorated.

"I know you feel compelled to cheer me up with words now, but you don't have to." The orange haired girl broke the silence again and then, with the same hand that was still on Luffy's forehead, took a handful of water and poured it over the young captain's mop of hair, with the intention of cooling him down. Chopper followed her movements with his round eyes.

"I also know how guilty you feel for his condition, especially since you can't heal him just yet. We all feel the same, but we still have to firmly believe, that together we will manage to heal him." Nami continued as she carefully ran her hand through Luffy's pitch black mane. And a sniffle could be heard from her, so that Chopper only now realized that a few small tears had crept out of her eyes and were now running down her rosy cheeks.

The reindeer felt his eyes also fill with hot tears, but when a sudden tremor went through Luffy's body, he wiped away the salty drops in one go, only to turn his full attention back to his patient. Now was not the time to sit and cry. As a doctor, he had to act.

"Huh, Chopper what-" Nami started as she also briskly wiped away her tears, but trailed off when she saw Chopper quickly straighten up from his sitting position.

"Nami, that should be enough now. Being in the water too long wouldn't do him any good either. His fever should have dropped a bit by now. Wait I..." Chopper said, but broke off his last sentence, while he frantically searched his pockets.

"What's wrong, Chopper?" Nami inquired as she now also got up from the floor.

"I must have left my thermometer in the sick room. I'll get it right now, but let's get Luffy out of there first, before he gets any more cold."

"All right."

While Chopper lifted him out of the bathtub, Nami quickly grabbed a large towel from the towel rack to wrap Luffy in and dry him. Then Nami sat down on the floor with Luffy leaning on her shoulder as Chopper quickly went to get his thermometer.

The navigator could feel how strongly Luffy was shaking, while at the same time unconsciously seeking for some warmth. As Luffy's head fell limply to the side on her chest, she could also clearly feel on her own skin how ragged his breathing was. Every single hot breath that escaped from his slightly open mouth in short, quick puffs of air, gave her goosebumps all over her skin. She raised her hand to gently stroke the tangled, damp strands from his face with her delicate fingers, only to better feel his forehead under her palm as she checked his temperature.

A relieved smile formed on her lips when she noticed that he wasn't burning up as much as before, which meant that the bath was a success.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the bathroom, causing Nami to turn her gaze toward the door, and the next moment the green haired swordsman appeared with Robin in tow. The latter was carrying Luffy's clothes in her hands, which she had gotten from the men's quarters.

"Zoro, you're back! Are you and Sanji okay?" Nami wanted to know as her eyes fell on his rather bad wound on his side, which fortunately seemed to have stopped bleeding.

"Yeah yeah, everything's fine, but how's Luffy? And where's Chopper, huh?" Zoro asked the two questions as he bent down to Nami and Luffy on her lap. He examined the dark haired closely and put his hand on his forehead. He also gave a relieved sigh when he could no longer feel the incredible heat radiating from his body.

"I don't know if you can call it better, but at least his fever seems to have gone down a bit. Chopper is just about to get his thermometer from the infirmary. He'll be back in a second." Nami answered and tried to dry Luffy with the towel he was wrapped in, thus preparing him to get dressed.

After that, Robin sat down on the floor with Nami to carefully dress Luffy in his shirt, which was not easy to do at all, since Luffy was completely out of it and felt like a heavy sack. At the same time Chopper came back with his thermometer in his hand, which he immediately put into Luffy's mouth.

"Zoro, thank goodness, you're okay! What's with your wound? I must-" Chopper panicked when he saw the green haired man's injury and this time had a better view of it through the light than in the dark forest before, but was then immediately interrupted by Zoro.

"Chopper now calm down! Luffy needs you more than I do. Take care of him first." Zoro tried to calm the little reindeer, when suddenly a shrill beep sounded, drawing all attention back to Luffy.

Chopper took the thermometer out of Luffy's mouth to read the temperature on it.

"Hmm...107.6 degrees. Definitely not as high as before, but still too high. Still, it's nothing I can't handle with my medicine." Chopper exhaled in relief and put the thermometer in his pants pocket.

"Nami and Robin, thanks for your help, I'll take it from here together with Zoro. It would be better if we put his underwear and pants on him." Said Chopper as he lifted Luffy's body out of Nami's lap.

"Er... yeah sure. Robin and I will go back down to the galley." Nami returned and a slight blush could be seen on her cheeks.

"C'mon, Robin"

As Nami and Robin stepped out of the bathroom, Zoro helped Chopper finish dressing Luffy, whereupon the first mate then put one arm under Luffy's neck and the other under his knees, then lifted him bridal style onto his arms. As Luffy's head fell limply back over his arm, Zoro nestled him closer to his own body so that the black haired boy's head was now leaning against Zoro's shoulder.

Luffy's weight felt alarmingly light in the swordsman's arms, which definitely indicated that he had lost weight. Of course, this was not surprising, as Zoro could hardly remember the last time Luffy had eaten anything. In addition, he was constantly throwing up.

Together with Chopper, he then made his way to the infirmary, where he gently laid his unconscious captain on the snow white bed sheet and then took the blanket at the end of the bed to place it over Luffy's freezing body.

"You can sit in my chair until I'm done with Luffy, Zoro. After that, I will immediately attend to your wound." Explained Chopper, as he ran frantically back and forth, gathering his utensils.

Nodding, the first mate accepted Chopper's offer and took a seat in the doctor's narrow swivel chair, his tired legs thanking him for it.

The green haired man followed Chopper's every move with his eyes and saw the little ship's doctor take a syringe with a clear liquid in it, apply it to the crook of Luffy's left arm and empty the contents into his bloodstream. Zoro didn't understand anything about what Chopper was doing, but he found it quite interesting to see how concentrated the reindeer was working on their captain.

The next thing Chopper did was to fill a small bowl with water and dip a small thin towel in it, after which he wrung it out to put it on Luffy's forehead. Then he lifted up Luffy's shirt, and with his stethoscope, which he had already put around his neck, he began to listen to Luffy's chest. The worried expression on Chopper's face didn't seem to please Zoro at all. Nevertheless, he decided to stay calm and not disturb the doctor.

Chopper put his stethoscope back after a while and covered Luffy again, when he suddenly seemed to be in a hurry and ran to his respirator. He connected it directly and put the breathing mask over Luffy's mouth and nose. Zoro was also aware that Luffy was having trouble breathing, which he had personally witnessed when he almost lost him on the beach. Hopefully, the respirator mask would help him breathe well enough.

After Chopper grabbed an empty syringe to take a small blood sample from Luffy that would hopefully reveal more about his condition, he went over to his small refrigerator and pulled out a bag full of some clear liquid. He attached an IV tube to it and carefully inserted the needle at the end of the tube into Luffy's arm, after which he hooked the clear bag on the IV stand next to the bed.

When that was also done, Chopper took one of the two syringes, he had prepared beforehand, and one by one added the contents to the IV bag with the transparent liquid. The little reindeer decided at the last second not to add his remedy prototype, as he strongly suspected that it had little effect anyway, but he would have to ask Luffy about more details later.

Lastly, the ship's doctor ground up a few different herbs, of which Zoro had no idea, and then processed them into a liquid form by adding other things. The result was a dark green mixture that Chopper emptied into a small bowl and poured into Luffy's mouth. The young captain's swallowing reflex instantly kicked in and he unconsciously grimaced in disgust.

Zoro shuddered at the sight, as he could already imagine how the broth might taste.

After the whole process, Zoro was very surprised that Luffy hadn't regained consciousness for even a second. This fact gave him an uneasy feeling.

However, before Chopper finally attended to the green haired man's wound, he quickly mixed a strange ointment, which he then applied to Luffy's wound after carefully disinfecting it. Zoro averted his eyes, unable to look at the small injury on Luffy, as it reminded him of his own shame for being unable to save his captain from such an incident. This was exactly comparable to a wound on his back, although he would probably prefer such a wound on himself over an injury on his beloved captain, who had also been completely helpless.

Unforgivable

"What's the status of his condition now, Chopper? Is he going to get better?" Zoro curiously interrupted the silence between the two, while Chopper was cleaning his wound and then applying the ointment.

"He is not out of the woods yet, but I have managed to stabilize his condition so far. I've given him antibiotics, which I hope will help with his infection, and some more medicine for his fever and pain. As soon as I am done with you, I will check his blood under the microscope." Chopper explained to him in summary as he got some white bandages to wrap around Zoro's wound.

Zoro immediately noticed from Chopper's behavior and manner of speaking that he was hiding an important point from him.

"I sense a but in all that you have explained to me, Chopper. Come on tell me." Said Zoro, whereupon Chopper bit his lower lip, inwardly cursing that he was acting too conspicuously for the swordsman to easily expose.

The reindeer doctor heaved a deep sigh.

"Promise me you won't tell the others. After seeing Nami so down earlier, I don't want the crew to feel any worse. They are already going through a very hard time and this information would take away all hope." Chopper spoke in a deep voice and the sadness in it was hard to miss.

"I promise. I don't want our friends to be any sadder than they already are, either." Zoro answered honestly and swallowed hard, preparing himself for what Chopper was about to tell him.

"It's…because Luffy's body is already too weakened from the disease and lack of nutrients that it barely has the strength to fight this lung infection. So there is a possibility...that he could die...within the next 24 hours. However, if he survives these 24 hours, then there is a chance that he will overcome the infection." The little reindeer explained and just to say it out loud was very difficult for him, which almost made him howl.

However, Chopper eventually lost it against the rising tears and fell crying into Zoro's arms, who put his hand on his back and stroked him soothingly. At the same time, Zoro's frozen gaze was fixed on Luffy's vulnerable form on the bed in front of him. And he asked himself only one question at that moment:

When was this nightmare finally over?

"Luffy...He will get through this somehow, Chopper. I'm sure he will." The sentence only came in a whisper over Zoro's lips, after which he felt a slight nod from Chopper.

~After a while in the galley~

"Tell us Chopper, will Luffy survive this?" Usopp was the first to ask this question, impatient and scared at the same time to know the answer.

Just like the first time the little ship's doctor had reported on Luffy's condition, all eyes were expectantly on Chopper. The reindeer's throat felt tight, but he quickly tried to pull himself together.

"The infection in his lungs is indeed pneumonia, as already suspected. However, pneumonia with a milder course."

The expressions on the straw hats' faces suddenly darkened after this statement, as they had hoped that it was not pneumonia.

"Luffy's condition is now stabilized and his fever has been controlled, but it could still rise again during the night. The antibiotics I gave him seem to be relieving the symptoms of the inflammation." Chopper continued, concealing the information he had already given to Zoro.

"However, the news about his actual disease is more worrisome. I have rechecked his blood and the changes are drastic and I fear that my prototype medicine will no longer be useful." Chopper added, when he paused briefly to look around. Loud gulping was heard during the absolute silence. To get it over with quickly, Chopper decided to explain further.

"As I explained before, Luffy's disease is affecting his cells. From the looks of it, the illness has progressed, which now means that it's not only affecting the cells in his tissues, but also those in his blood. This is the reason why his blood cells have started to decrease."

It took the straw hats a while to process what they heard from Chopper's mouth. Some were not even sure if they understood it correctly.

"Could you please explain this in more detail, Chopper?" Nami asked, although she could already imagine the result of this diagnosis, only she didn't want to believe it.

"So...as his blood cells decrease, that means he has fewer red blood cells in his blood, which leads to anemia. In addition, this will lead to a lack of oxygen in the body and it will make his heart, which is weakened anyway, work twice as hard. He will also be constantly tired and short of breath, which is already the case and is not only due to pneumonia. I also found out that he caught the infection from a lack of white blood cells, which are important for the immune system. All of this is leading back to the reduction of the cells in his blood."

"Woah, wait Chopper, that's a lot of information. I'm not that familiar with this stuff, you know that." Usopp exclaimed, from which you could tell by his face that he was quite overwhelmed.

"Exactly, plus it all sounds pretty bad." Brook also spoke up with a serious voice.

"It…it is." Chopper replied hesitantly.

"He absolutely must never get out of bed until I have finished the cure, or there could be fatal consequences if he overexerts himself, and since it's Luffy, this most certainly will be the case." The reindeer warned.

"I see, then we all need to be more careful than ever before." Nami said understandingly as she looked at each of her friends who nodded in agreement.

"Despite all that, there's still a chance we can save him, right Chopper?" Nami inquired to be sure, since she didn't at all like the whole situation Chopper had explained to them about Luffy's deteriorating condition.

At this question, everyone turned back to the little reindeer, fervently hoping for a positive answer.

"Y-yes..." Chopper said after a short moment of hesitation.

Relieved sighs could be heard in the room.

"Then everything will be SUPER!" Franky shouted, still full of hope.

"The next island is not very far, guys! Let's keep looking for the medicinal herbs there!" Nami shouted encouragingly, despite the strange uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, which she of course didn't let on.

Chopper could only watch silently as his crewmates, despite this worsened situation, could still find new courage. Which was perhaps due to the fact that their captain was still breathing and very much alive, inside the infirmary.

But what the rest of the crew didn't know was the fact that Luffy could succumb to the infection within hours, and even if by some miracle he survived, which wouldn't be unusual by Luffy's standards, there was a second point that put Chopper under a lot of pressure.

Due to the unexpected rapid progression of the disease, Luffy's life was shortened by about a month.

For now, Chopper thought it would be a better idea to hide this part of the harsh reality, as hard as it was for him.

It was only the best for the straw hats.

TBC

Sooo that's it again for this chapter!
I hope you are satisfied with it!

The next chapter will feature wholesome moments between Luffy and his friends, which I'm looking forward to writing!

So take care and see you next time!