Chapter 3

The next time Lyanna woke up, the so-called 'Surgeon of Death' wasn't there. She didn't recognise the two people floating around the room, focusing on whatever tasks they were completing. She vaguely remembered the orange boiler suits but no faces. One of them noticed she was awake after a minute and came to check on her.

"Hi, Miss Lyanna. I'm Shachi. This is Ikkaku." He gave her a friendly smile, and a woman with curly hair came into view and smiled.

Too out of it to greet them, she just nodded and closed her eyes again. Although she still felt tired, she didn't want to sleep immediately. In fact, her bladder was about to explode, and she needed to figure out where the bathroom was.

"Bathroom," she managed to whisper and tried to sit up.

"Ah, of course," Shachi replied and helped her up. Ikkaku came to her left, supporting her as she led her to the bathroom.

Kind enough to help her pull her pants down and lower her to the seat, Ikkaku stayed quiet as Lyanna did her business, feeling relief immediately. Once she was done and cleaned up, Ikkaku helped her back to the cot and Lyanna laid back down. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, the first time before Law had spoken to her or this time. It could have been hours or days. Shachi appeared back in the room carrying a tray. Lyanna could smell food, and Shachi helped her sit up so she could eat. A bowl of soup, some bread and a cup of tea were on the tray. Although Lyanna wasn't expecting such treatment, she was grateful and thanked Shachi before she slowly ate, nibbling on the bread. It was the first thing she remembered eating in weeks, but she had eaten while intoxicated since it was the only time she could stomach food. Usually, it ended up coming back up later.

The food was good, but she ate alone once Shachi and Ikkaku left the room to do whatever they were doing. She didn't feel hungry, but she knew she had to eat something. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Law in the doorway, coming to check on her.

"Morning." He walked over to lean against the wall directly opposite her.

"How long have I been out for?" She asked in between mouthfuls of what tasted like vegetable soup.

"Aside from when we spoke? About five days." He answered, crossing his arms over his chest, his sword wedged in between.

"Shit… I don't know if I want to thank you for saving my life yet, but I want to thank you for your kindness." Lyanna stared him directly in the eye to show how much she meant what she said and tried to smile, but it mostly ended up in a sad shadow of a smile.

It seemed to catch him off guard, and he turned away while scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Lyanna huffed and continued eating, enjoying the soup. She managed to drip some on her shirt, which she suddenly noticed didn't belong to her. Law turned back around and raised an eyebrow at her in question while she tugged on the shirt.

"This isn't mine," Lyanna said, gesturing to her clothes. "Did you…" the rest of the question went unsaid before Lyanna looked at him with narrowed eyes.

He took a moment to answer, heightening the suspense. Lyanna didn't miss how he looked her over and licked his lips before responding. "It was Ikkaku."

"Ah." She replied, figuring he had just been teasing her, so she went back to eating. She was pleasantly surprised with his sense of humour, glad that he didn't appear as bloodthirsty as some people made him out to be.

Once she finished, he came over to her and leaned his sword against the side of the cot.

"Your hand?" He held out his larger one, and she put her own on top.

Law gently took hold of her wrist, placing two fingers over her pulse and focusing while she stayed still and quiet. When he was done, he put his stethoscope in his ears. He leaned over her and politely lifted the back of her shirt to put the stethoscope on her skin. After moving it a few times, he removed it, then without a hint of awkwardness he placed it down the front of her shirt through the loose collar. He remained focused and respectful and kept it brief. He nudged her head to one side, checking on the bump she had received when she collapsed. Then he used his hand on her chin to tilt her head back enough to make eye contact with him.

"Follow my finger," he commanded softly. He held one tattooed finger in front of her face before moving it from one side to the other.

He nodded satisfactorily, but his gaze dropped to her jaw. Brushing her hair out of the way, he also inspected a bruise on her jaw, deducing it must have been from the fall. During the examination, Lyanna had initially felt a hint of intimidation by his clinical gaze but began to feel relaxed quickly. Most of the information she knew about Law was his penchant for cruelty and ruthlessness, so his gentle touch and soft commands surprised her. She guessed that his persona as a doctor and persona as a pirate were two sides of the same coin. Maybe they overlapped a little, but it seemed that he could compartmentalise them.

"Thank you." She offered quietly, sounding a little meeker than she'd intended.

Staring at her for a moment, he nodded, accepting her thanks, but his expression didn't change. Despite his stoic attitude, she could see that he was much kinder than she had initially realised. Of course, being a doctor, he had genuine compassion; however, he appeared almost cold at first. He had no problem teasing or poking fun at her, and it seemed that he was a lot nicer than he made himself out to be.

It didn't take long for her to struggle to stay awake and fall back into a deep sleep…