Chapter 6

Lyanna had been given clearance to move around the sub for a few hours every day, so long as she kept her fluids up and rested when she was tired. Most of her time spent awake was on deck, just getting some sun and chatting with the rest of the crew.

Since it was hot, Law was getting around with his shirt unbuttoned, and Lyanna struggled not to look at the muscular form revealed. Before now, she had idly noticed that he was attractive, but this brought her opinion of him into stark reality. His dark hair and tattoos were incredibly sexy and she was struggling to stop admiring him. She watched him walk across the deck to a small chair and take a seat, then look directly at her with a smug smirk. Swiftly, she dropped her head to glare into her own lap. Unfortunately for Lyanna, he was too perceptive not to notice her gaze, and she mentally scolded herself. He kept staring at her until she looked back at him again, feeling like a hole was burning in the side of her head. He raised his hand when they made eye contact, creating a 'Come here' gesture. Feeling her own eye twitch in anger at herself for getting caught, she just hoped he wouldn't embarrass her too much. He appeared to be feeling quite smug, judging by the smirk on his face, which Lyanna couldn't deny she found sexy. This just added to her problems.

"What can I do for you?" She asked with forced politeness as if nothing had happened.

"See something you like?" He answered with his own question, making her purse her lips. He had made this comment to her before, but she brushed it off.

"I noticed the tattoo on your chest. How many do you have?" She wasn't lying, but just omitting the reason for her looking at him.

"A few. And you?" He glanced down toward her thigh, and the shorts she was wearing were long enough to cover most of the tattoo on her leg. However, it was more visible when she sat down and the short leg rode up.

"A few." Her answer was designed to be cryptic, mostly because she just wanted to escape the embarrassment. "Show me yours?" She asked, trying hard to distract him.

When he stood up from his chair and shrugged his shirt off his shoulders, taking it off, she felt herself begin to scream internally, realising that she'd made a mistake. He revealed the hearts on his shoulders, and then turned to show her his back. She had seen his hands, but he still showed her anyway.

"Your turn." His smug expression didn't disappear, but he seemed genuinely interested, so she obliged.

"I have my Jolly Roger, of course. Uh, I also have the one on my thigh," she lifted her short leg to reveal the tattoo underneath.

It was a hand fan with a flower pattern on the fan itself. Her mum had always used a hand fan just like it. Just underneath the fan was a colourful scarf, which her father wore everyday. This was her way of remembering them, since she could barely recall their faces.

"The last one, I can't really show you." This one was in a more intimate place. It was a flower just underneath her sternum but required her to be practically topless to see.

"Maybe later then." He knew exactly what he was insinuating with his comment, making it less subtle when he licked his lips. She rolled her eyes at him before she walked away, feeling him watch her as she headed inside.

Once out of his view, she let out the breath she'd been holding. They had flirted occasionally over the past few weeks, but that was a little more forward than she had expected. Law was a straightforward guy, so it shouldn't have surprised her that he just came out with it, but it still caught her off guard. She couldn't see him from her spot around the corner, but she peeked around the door frame out of sheer curiosity. Caught red-handed again, Law looked straight at her while running his fingers across his goatee. She groaned audibly and threw her hands up before marching back to the kitchens to escape him. Taking her mind off it by helping out would be a good start.

Clione was in the kitchen prepping a meal for everyone for lunch, and she happily helped him out. She'd established early on in her stay that she wouldn't be idle and would help out as best she could to earn her keep. Everyone came in after being called to eat, and they chatted, laughed and enjoyed the meal altogether. Lyanna had utterly forgotten about the strange interaction with Law from earlier, but it was still on his mind. He was trying to imagine where her other tattoo was. He kept his examination subtle and thought about asking Ikkaku, who had changed her into clean clothes when Lyanna was unconscious. He had been teasing and flirting with her, so maybe he would find out what and where it was sooner rather than later.

Once they'd all eaten, Law went with Hakugan to the helm and stayed with him for an hour or two before he headed to his quarters to tidy up a bit. He heard the sound of glass smashing and quickly walked to the kitchen to figure out what had happened. Uni was there, apologising, and Lyanna was smiling and waving him off.

"What happened?" Law asked.

"I knocked a glass off the counter, and it hit Lyanna." Uni admittedly apologetically with his head bowed.

Lyanna was standing over the sink with her hand dripping blood, so she wouldn't make a mess on the floor.

"It's fine. Accidents happen; nothing to worry about." Her tone was polite and unfussed.

"Uni, get a cloth. Lyanna put it around your hand, and I'll stitch you up." Law commanded, and they both did as they were told.

Law strolled with purpose towards the treatment room, Lyanna in tow, not realising that she was also leaving a trail of blood behind her from an undiscovered cut on her thigh. They walked inside, and Law closed the door behind them as he told Lyanna to sit on the cot. He washed his hands, put on gloves and got out everything he needed. First, they'd need to clean it up and stop the bleeding. He also wanted to check and ensure there were no glass fragments in the wound. When he saw her resting her arm weirdly on her leg, he raised an eyebrow.

"I've cut my leg too." She answered his silent question sheepishly.

"Show me."

She lifted her arm up, and he finally noticed the trail of blood running down from her thigh to her calf, ending up on the floor. The cut on her leg was worse than on her hand, so he wanted to stop the bleeding and then deal with that first. He passed her gauze and told her to keep pressure on her leg, and then he did the same on her wounded hand. With his free hand, he grabbed his magnifying glasses and turned on the bright overhead light to check her wound. After the bleeding had stopped on her hand, he examined it to ensure there was no glass. When satisfied, he did the same on her leg, which was fine too.

Opening a jar, he scooped some ointment onto his gloved finger and carefully ran it along her cuts. This would numb it for him to stitch it up. Lyanna did her best to keep a straight face, but he was sure it was uncomfortable. She didn't make a sound nor change her expression while he began stitching up her leg and stayed quiet again with her hand. Once he was done, he ran another ointment over it before bandaging them up, which would help promote healing.

"Will I have scars?" She asked suddenly as he wrapped the bandage around her hand.

"They are clean cuts, so it shouldn't scar." He answered softly.

"Damn." She exclaimed as if she was disappointed.

"You wanted a scar?" He enquired and tied off the bandage.

"Yeah. Haven't you heard the saying? 'Chicks dig scars'." Her tone was full of mirth, and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what it means." He didn't mind playing along with her. "It's about girls liking when guys have scars. Not having scars themselves."

"Tsk, that's nowhere near as cool as having your own scars."

He huffed in response and took off his gloves. "You barely have any scars as it is. Don't add to them." His doctor persona took over, and she made a stern face and saluted.

"Yes, Doctor!" She said in a soldierly fashion.

"While you're taking my orders, show me your other tattoo."

He prodded to see her reaction but was surprised when she thought about it for a minute, then used her non-injured hand to pull down her top. His eyes went wide, but he could only see her impressive cleavage and no sign of a tattoo. This was also fine, though, so he was more than happy.

"This isn't going to work. It's on my sternum." She frowned at her cut hand, figuring it would make daily life a little more challenging until it healed.

"Lay back." He said with a slight upward inflection, making sure that it was okay with her first. He was already somewhat worked up after seeing her cleavage, but it was only going to get better.

Law's primal instincts took over, but he was careful to avoid her injured leg as he stood over her while she lay on the cot. He lifted her shirt, ghosting fingers over her skin as he went and began to see traces of colour emerging between her breasts. The skin beneath his fingers was as soft as it looked. Unfortunately, her bra was in the way, and he wanted to rip it off her but figured she wouldn't appreciate that. Lyanna seemed to guess he still couldn't see it, so she lifted her back off the cot, slid her good hand underneath, and unclipped her bra. Law swallowed thickly as she did and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. He lifted the bottom of her bra slightly to reveal the flower tattoo underneath. It was pretty, but it was the location that he found far more interesting.

"Happy now?" She asked jokingly with a smirk on her face.

When he looked up to make eye contact with her, her smirk dropped through as she saw the expression on his face. He knew he probably looked like a man starved, but she needed to know how she affected him. Unfortunately, ravishing her wasn't the best option with her being injured. Biting his lip with just enough force to cause pain, he stood back to his full height and looked away. Lyanna sat up, and he only turned to face her again after she struggled to clip her bra back up with one hand. Feeling bad that he had left her in that predicament, he swiftly reached around to her back and clipped it up for her. Then he pulled her top back down, spun his back to her, and tidied up. He heard when she got down from the cot and walked over to him, placing a hand on his back to get his attention.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Her voice was slightly subdued, and he worried he might have upset her with his abrupt demeanour change.

"Mm." He grunted in reply and continued cleaning up, unable to look at her without wanting to ram his tongue down her throat.

Her hand brushed against him softly as she stepped away, and he listened as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Once alone, he bit his curled pointer finger in frustration, knowing that he had made a stupid mistake in pushing the tattoo question. If she wasn't injured and was receptive, he definitely would have fucked her then and there. Asking to see her tattoo just started something that couldn't be finished now. He guessed (or hoped) that because she felt comfortable enough to show him the tattoo, she might not mind showing him more of her bare skin, but he felt stupid for being impatient. The flirting between them had heated up over the last few weeks, and spending so much time in close confines hadn't helped. He couldn't escape her. Watching her slowly come out of her shell and even start to smile, laugh, and make jokes with his crew made him more interested. She only had just over a month left before the end of their bargain, and although he highly doubted it, she still might decide she was better off dead. Getting involved might not be a good idea after all, just in case she hadn't overcome her suicidal ideations. If he allowed himself to cross that line, only for her to die, it would only end up hurting. Both as a man and a doctor who couldn't save a patient.

It probably took him three times longer to clean everything up than it should have, and he went straight to his quarters afterwards, not emerging for the rest of the night…