Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!

I am sorry this took so long to get out, but here it is

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Marco hummed to himself as he was preparing dinner, just doing what he needed until it would just need to make itself by boiling or being in the oven. The kids were drawing by the table, which was Haruta, Ace, Thatch, and Namur. He had noticed Ace seemed to like to draw and Marco had often seen Ace drawing when he was in his room, but Marco had to say he didn't really find many drawings. Ace also seemed to like to use colors and he was great with details and making lines. As the food was ready to just boil and be in the oven, he dried his hands as he went and looked at the table the children were drawing, and they were all seeming to concentrate.

Haruta was drawing a garden it looked like, Thatch was drawing a cake, Namur was drawing fish and other sea creatures, and Ace was drawing what looked like someone on the top of a mountain with his hand up as the person was on top. It had a lot of colors. Ace was so good at drawing and Ace seemed to enjoy it. He watched his children draw for a bit, also having a half eye on the food. After a bit, he did say they needed to clear the table in about 5 minutes, which everyone nodded too. They seemed almost done. After a minute, Thatch said he was done and showed the cake drawing and it looked amazing as it also had a dragon and a forest on it. Marco smiled at Thatch. "That looks good, Thatch. I like the dragon, yoi." Thatch nodded. "Yeah! And the toppings are mushrooms and trees! And bushes! Can I put it up?!" Marco nodded. "You can. yoi." Thatch then looked excited as he went and put it on the show board they had.

The show board was a cork board they could put up their drawing if they wanted to, same with images they had taken, notes, things they needed to do, and so on. It was a large cork board. Thatch hung it up and looked proud, which was good. Namur and Haruta also put theirs up, and Ace looked at it, before he looked at him. "Do we need to put it up?" Marco shook his head. "No, yoi. It is your choice. If you want to see it or for us to see it, you can hang it up there if you like it or feel proud of it. If it needs to be taken down, it gets put in a folder we have, as I like to look at your drawings, yoi. But it is your choice what you want to do with your drawing."

Ace nodded and seemed to be thinking as he looked at his drawing, before he went and put it up as well, but placing it more to the side than what the others did. As it was up, everyone looked at it and Haruta gave a gasp. "It's pretty!" Thatch and Namur nodded and said it looked amazing as well. It was a man on top of a mountain, hand up and had a backpack on his back that was outlined while his entire shape was black, and the view had different colors. The mountains had different colors and shades, some clouds, and the sky was like a rainbow. It was very well made. Ace really had a talent for this.

When they had cleared the table and everyone came to eat, Thatch mentioned the drawing Ace had made to Whitebeard, who looked at it, before he smiled at Ace. "That is a very good drawing, Ace. Very colorful. Have you gone climbing or hiking before?" Ace gave a small shrug. "I went on a school trip once. I enjoyed it. It was very… silent and pretty. All the colors of the sky as the sun set and we saw a rainbow." Whitebeard nodded and looked at Ace. "If you want to, we can go on a hike one weekend? There is a trail not that far away from here." Ace blinked. "We… can?" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes. It's not a mountain with a high top, but a bit, and it has a lake. It is about a 3 hour hike up and down." Ace blinked, and nodded. "I would like that… if we can." Marco smiled at Ace. "We can try next weekend, yoi. If the weather is good." Ace looked a bit excited with it, and the same did the other three kids. They liked nature as well.

After dinner, the evening went on, before Monday came and the kids all went to school, and after Marco got home as he had a calm day with minimal things to do and had home office, so he could clean the second floor where the bedrooms were. Whitebeard was also home, but did just paperwork and looked over things. Marco didn't need to clean too much, as they all knew to keep their rooms clean to some extent. But Marco went over and cleaned the floor and hung out the pillows and duvet covers, same with the mattresses to air them, if the sun was up, which it was. He also changed the covers and sheets, even though he did tell the kids to change it each Friday, to take off the old and put it in the hamper, and put on new ones. He would help if they needed it, but they usually always managed.

As he was done with Haruta's room, Marco went on to Ace's room, starting with the bed. As he put the sheets and covers to be washed, he lifted the mattress to take it out on the terrace, when he saw there was a box that was under the bed. Marco put the mattress down as he moved to lift the box. It was a box they had around if they needed to store small things, it was a square box with sides about 9 inches, but it was a bit bigger. Most likely from being squished from being under the mattress. He had three drawers under his bed to store things, that would be better to place things in, so he was sure it was to hide it. Why would Ace hide something under his mattress?

Curiosity got the better of him as he opened it, and saw it had many folded papers in it. He could see they had something written on them. He grabbed one and unfolded it and saw the text said 'I miss the bed I could hide under, it made me feel safe until it was found out. I can't hide under it here since it has drawers. I would feel safe until I was found, a safe place to sleep, to cry, and not be too scared. My safest place, but also my prison. If I was silent, I wasn't always found'. Marco saw something through the paper and turned it over to see it was a drawing. And as he took it in, he needed to sit down as he felt his heart ache as he felt sadness as he took it in.

The drawing was made by different shades of gray and black. It was a drawing off a bed that had sheets that hung down almost the the floor, but a large hand was lifting the sheets to see under the bed, where a young boy was, and he felt this was Ace drawing himself. The child had a teddy bear in his arms that he was hugging very hard, the child's face was molded in fear and eyes were wide and full of tears, same with tear tracks down his face sideways, meaning he had been under there a while and had just been found. The fact it had no colors made it seem even more impactful, especially as Ace usually always used colors in what he drew, but that was around them. This drawing was so sad and awful, everything was black around the child. He knew that the other young ones, Thatch and Haruta, and even at times, Namur, were scared to look under their bed, the reason they all had drawers, so monsters couldn't be there. But Ace felt the spot under the bed was a safe place until he was found. He would get Ace a new bed maybe.

Marco saw the folded paper under the one he had taken had a drawing of a boy writing a speech bubble on the wall that said 'I'm ok', each word its own line, and the boy had on a blue sweater and dark hair. There were some people a bit to the left of the boy, at the edge of the paper, not the fold, that had a smaller one that said 'Are you okay?'. The paper was folded and the speech bubble the boy had drawn was on the fold but seemed incomplete. When Marco unfolded it, the rest of the speech bubble was visible, and now it said 'I'm not okay' And Marco got it was the fold was a sort of corner, and where it said 'I'm ok' was what everyone saw, what Ace wanted people to see, but the truth wasn't it and hidden behind the corner. Ace said the truth, but either it was overlooked or ignored, that people saw what they wanted to see.

Marco turned the paper and saw it had some text as well. 'Everyone always asks how I am, and I always say I am fine, I am not allowed to tell the truth. No one asks more, no one looks around the corner where the rest of my words are, how I truly feel. I am ok, and nothing more'. Marco felt sad, he felt he wanted to cry. Marco couldn't help it and took up another paper and this one had the text on the side he saw over the fold, so he unfolded it and read 'I always have to smile, look normal. People always just look at my smile, never on my whole face, my eyes. I feel people care about my smile, and I feel I look normal for half my face, the rest is like a cage I am trapped in, but no one looks at that half, they just look at my smile Even if they just looked into my eyes, I can't say anything, I feel silenced'

Marco felt more sorrowful as he looked at the other side, which had two drawings, one each side. Both were also colorless, and one to the left was off a lower face, from a bit above the nose and down was a normal expression, maybe neutral. But the rest of the way up was a cage with harshly drawn lines and inside it sat a person with their knees to their chest and head down in it with their arms around them. The drawing on the right was an eye that had a couple tears falling from it, but inside the iris and pupil was an image of a child that had a very large hand over his mouth, obviously not the child's hand.

Marco moved a hand and grabbed one more, he had noticed most had the drawing inside and hidden, the text outside, and it was the same with this and he unfolded it and read the text. 'It is as he said. No matter what I do or try to escape, my mind never believes his words. No matter how fast I run, no matter how much I sleep to escape the world, it is always there. When I try to escape in my mind, even there it is awful. There is no wonderland I can run to. I am never safe for long. As long as he and I are alive, I am not safe. I feel hollow.' Marco turned the paper and and this had a drawing of a child who looked naked based on what he could see, but it cut off just below where the armpits where and the child had a hand up and held onto something which was sort of strings to a balloon but it went the lines were everywhere and some even intertwined with what looked like thoughts or smoke from the boys head and they spelled out the words 'You can't escape from your mind', most likely a thing Akainu had said. But the boy's eyes looked hollow, he could see no pupils and they had dark circles around them, and he felt Ace made it like that on purpose.

There was one more paper and Marco took it up and unfolded it so he could read it. 'I am not sure who I am or what I am. I am a boy with a body, but what more. Am I something more? Will I maybe be able to find out who I am, or is this just another false safety? I am a body, but what else'. Marco turned the paper and it was a drawing of a boy's body in pencil, a well made drawing, but from the neck and up, it was a mass of lines and circles in black color, just chaos.

Marco didn't know what to do with this, he felt this was how Ace felt, seeing as this box was hidden under his mattress. After looking at them as he had placed them on Ace's desk, Marco closed his eyes and took a breath, needing to try and keep from crying right now. He took up his phone and sent a message to Whitebeard that if he had the time, to come to Ace's room. Marco felt somber and was worried if he left, these drawings would disappear. As he had sent the message, it took just a few seconds before he heard the door to the office open and Whitebeard coming up the stairs.

When Whitebeard came into the room, he looked worried. "What is it, Marco? Is everything okay?" Marco took a breath. "I found a box Ace had hidden under his bed, yoi. It had these drawings with some text on the other side, and I feel so bad for Ace. These drawings and words are… awful and sad." Whitebeard started to look at the drawings and read what Ace had written on the other side of the drawing, and he could see Whitebeard feeling bad as well. When he had looked them all over, Whitebeard sat down as well. "Oh God." Marco nodded. "I know. Ace feels so horrible, yoi. I don't know how to help him." Whitebeard nodded, looking to feel the same.

After a few seconds of Whitebeard taking it in, he spoke. "Maybe we should tell him Akainu is dead? He says here as long as either of them are alive, Ace is not safe." Marco nodded, that was true. But still. "I don't know. What if it makes it worse, yoi?" Whitebeard thought for a few seconds. "What if we bring this thought to his psychiatrist? Tell and show him these? I can arrange a meeting before Ace has his meeting." Marco nodded. "We should. He knows better than us, yoi. I don't want Ace to know we found this either. And I'm not sure I will be able to explain these drawings, how many feelings there are here, and how much I can't see that he can probably see."

Whitebeard nodded and looked to be thinking, before he took his phone out and opened his camera. "We should take pictures of them and show them. I will put them in a secure folder so the others don't see them accidentally." Marco nodded, that sounded smart, so Marco helped do it. Ace had his meeting on Friday, Marco would take him, and this felt like Ace getting down what he felt and didn't want to tell Ace about this and make him stop.

As they had taken pictures of it all, he put them back in its box and back to where he found it. As he had, he gave a breath. "Are we able to do this? Are we able to help Ace move on, yoi?" Whitebeard moved and hugged him. "We will do all we can, and it will be a long road. But now he is at least safe. He has made improvements already. It will be hard, not only for him, but also for us." That was true and Marco hugged back and they hugged for a bit as Marco had no idea Ace felt like this, how much he held inside himself. He would do his absolute best to help Ace get better.

When they parted, Marco went back to cleaning and put the mattress out, and went on. He made sure to take Ace's mattress in first, before he was done and all was back to normal in every room, before the kids got back home. The day then went on, and the next day, Whitebeard said that Ace's psychiatrist had an appointment available on Thursday and Marco would drop by then and show and talk about the drawings and what Ace had written, and ask if maybe they should tell Ace Akainu was dead.

He just hoped the days would pass fine before that appointment and when Ace had his.

-x-

Ace woke up with a start from his nightmare, but because of the way he was laying, it made him fall off the bed and to the floor and he landed on his right hand which almost had him scream in pain as it hurt a lot, but managed to just keep it to a whimper. When he got himself up, he cradled his hand as it hurt, before he looked at it and saw it was a bit swollen and maybe a bit blue, and it hurt.

He used a few seconds to breathe through the pain, before it felt easier to handle the pain. Ace then found a long sweater and took it on, as his wrist was getting more and more blue, even a bit purple, and he knew what would happen if he was injured. So, Ace would not show he was injured and it would heal by itself. Ace then did his best to go on with his day and use his right hand as little as possible. When someone asked if he was fine, he said yes. Ace thankfully didn't have gym today or something that required his right hand a lot, the most was writing, but it was okay. He could feel his wrist throbbing in pain almost always, but tried to ignore it the best he could. It was Wednesday so it wasn't a long school day thankfully.

When school was over and he was back home, he was asked by Marco if he could set the table, and Ace nodded and started to, as he didn't want to say no as it would make him ask why and Ace didn't want to tell why and show he was injured. So he started doing it and used only his left hand, but as he was almost halfway done, Marco hummed. "Ace, is your right hand okay, yoi? Why aren't you using it?" Ace felt panicked for a second, before he said. "No, sorry. I'll go faster." Marco hummed. "It is okay. I just wondered, yoi." Ace nodded and tried to use both his hands, although he was careful with his right one.

But as he moved a plate with his right one, he winced as it throbbed in pain as he moved the plate a bit in his hand, which made him drop the plate which shattered to the floor. Ace barely heard it over the sound of blood rushing in his ears as his wrist throbbed even worse in pain as he cradled his hand as his eyes closed. When he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he opened his eyes to see Marco looking at him worriedly as he had crouched down in front of him. "Are you okay, Ace?" Ace felt scared and worried that Marco would see his wrist, and Ace tried to speak, but only managed to whimper as his wrist hurt really bad.

Marco looked more worried and moved his hand to his right hand, which had Ace try and retract it and hide it, when Marco tightened his grip on his arm a bit so he couldn't. "No, let me see, yoi." Ace shook his head, but he didn't manage to speak before Marco moved his sweater up above his wrist. And as his wrist was visible, it looked even worse as Ace hadn't looked at it at all since this morning. It was deep purple and really swollen. Marco looked even more worried and very lightly touched his wrist, which had Ace wiper out loud, which had Marco looked worried. "What happened, yoi?" Ace didn't know what to say, and couldn't help it when he started to cry, not because of the pain, but since he was scared, but the pain didn't help. "I- I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

Marco blinked. "It's okay, yoi. I can replace the plate, Ace." Ace shook his head, more tears going down his face. "I didn't mean to hurt my wrist! I'm sorry! Please don't be mad!" Marco looked confused and worried. "Ace, I'm not-" Ace whimpered as his wrist throbbed again and Marco nodded as he stood up. "We're going to the hospital, yoi. This looks bad." Ace felt even more worried with that and didn't want to, it would heal on its own. As he tried to say this, Marco said this wasn't up for discussion, they needed to check his wrist out, before Marco told Whitebeard what was happening and looked worried when he saw his wrist, before he also said they needed to go as Whitebeard took over preparing dinner as they got to the car and started the ride.

Ace felt so worried as they drove, Ace feeling more and more anxious and scared as they drove. When he could see the hospital and they parked, and as Marco moved his hand to the door to head out, Ace shook his head. "I'm sorry! Don't make me go inside! It will heal! I don't want to!" Marco blinked and looked at him. "Ace, what's going on, yoi? Why don't you want to go inside? They will help you." Ace shook his head as he gave a sob. "No! I don't want to! Don't make me!" He didn't want to. He was already in pain, he didn't want more.

-x-

Marco blinked as he looked at Ace, who seemed terrified and scared as he pleaded that he didn't want to go inside. Marco moved his hand to Ace's leg. "Ace, what is it? You need your arm checked out, yoi." Ace shook his head. "I don't want more pain! Please don't make me!" Marco blinked, moving his hand to stroke Ace's back. "Ace, what do you think will happen, yoi?" Ace gave a sob, before he spoke. "They will strap me down and give me shots and mock me for being in pain! Please don't make me! I'm sorry I got hurt! I didn't mean to!" Marco blinked, feeling more worried. "Ace, has that happened, or is that something your previous guardian told you, yoi?" Ace shook his head as he sobbed. "He- he showed me! I don't want to! Don't make me! I don't want more pain!" Marco shook his head and carefully brought Ace into a hug. "No no. They won't hurt you, yoi. They will lessen the pain. And I will never once leave your side. I would never let them hurt you more. I promise."

Ace gave a sob. "Y-you promise?" Marco nodded. "I do, yoi. I would never let anyone hurt you. It is not your fault you got hurt." Ace nodded and still cried a bit, so Marco did his best to comfort him so he didn't cry anymore, before Ace seemed more collected. They then walked into the hospital, Marco holding Ace's good hand, before they got to the desk and he said that his son had hurt his wrist and showed how bad it was, before the man behind the desk said their names would be called. As that was done, he told Ace to sit down on a chair a bit to the left, not far away, but not too close as he looked at the man behind the desk. "My son was adopted recently by me, yoi. You can see a bit in his file if you pull it up. But he has been told that if he gets hurt and comes here, you would for lack of words, torture him. Could you just make sure the doctor is aware of that, yoi? To not make any sudden moves." The man blinked, but nodded. "Of course. Thank you for letting me know." Marco nodded, before he went and sat down next to Ace.

After a small bit, maybe 10 minutes, 3 other patients being called up, another doctor came from a set of doors, and instead of just calling the name of the one they were after out loud as they had up until now, the woman went to the man behind the desk and shared some words, before the man pointed to them and the woman walked over with a kind smile. "Hi. Are you Ace?" Ace looked scared, but nodded. The woman nodded as well. "Okay. I am doctor Bay. I heard you hurt your wrist?" Ace nodded and hid his wrist more, and the doctor nodded. "I see. Come, let us head to a room and I can check it and see if we can fix it, okay?" Ace didn't look sure, so he looked at him, who nodded. "We should, and I will not leave, yoi." Ace nodded and they stood up and headed after the doctor.

When they got to the room, the doctor asked Ace to sit on a hospital bed, and when he did, the doctor smiled kindly at Ace. "May I ask how this happened?" Ace looked scared as he spoke. "I… fell out of bed when I woke up…" Marco blinked. That meant Ace had been in pain all day. The doctor nodded. "I see. May I check your wrist?" Ace looked scared and cradled his arm more protectively. The doctor hummed. "How about your guardian showing me your wrist? I won't touch it if you don't want me to." Ace gave a small nod, before Ace looked at him, and he gave a supporting look before he moved his hands carefully and lifted the sweater to show Ace's wrist, holding it a bit up.

The doctor looked at it and nodded. "That looks very painful, Ace. Could you move your fingers a small bit? Or are you unable to?" Ace moved his fingers a small bit, which had the doctor nod. "Good. I think we need to take an x-ray. Have you done that before?" Ace shook his head, which had the doctor nod. "That's fine. But we need to head to another room. Follow me, okay?" Ace nodded and got up and they headed to a room in another hallway close by, Marco holding Ace's good hand as they walked.

When they got to the room, Ace sat down in a chair in the middle of the room when the doctor motioned for it. When he was seated, the doctor moved the x-ray machine a bit down from the ceiling. "Okay. This looks very large and maybe scary, but it is a very fancy camera. So fancy that when it takes a picture, it can see your bones inside your arm. And it doesn't hurt at all. You won't feel anything, just like taking a normal picture. But you need to keep your arm still." Ace nodded while the doctor got the x-ray in the right position, always telling Ace what she did. When it was right, the doctor looked at Ace. "Good. Now comes the hard part, but it will only last a few seconds, okay?" Ace looked worried, but nodded.

The doctor then pointed to the left to a door and a large window. "See that door and window?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor continue. "While this x-ray camera is very fancy, it can't have many around it when it takes pictures. So, your guardian and I will head in that door, but you can see us through the window at all times, and we can hear you and speak with you. Okay?" Ace didn't look sure, so Marco squeezed his hand, which had Ace nod carefully, so Marco gave a hug to Ace as he said. "I'm never far away, yoi. If you don't want to, we won't do this." Ace nodded a bit. "I think it is okay…" Marco nodded and gave a comforting look to Ace as he headed through the door with the doctor, Ace looking at them as they walked and looked unsure.

When they were in the other room and could see Ace through the window and Ace could see them, the doctor pressed a button, before she spoke. "Okay, Ace. I will dim the room a small bit, okay?" Ace nodded and the doctor did, Ace sitting still, but looking unsure and worried. Then the doctor spoke again. "Good. You're doing great. Now, a very very small sound will sound from the machine as it takes the pictures." Ace nodded, and the doctor pressed a button, and Marco didn't hear anything, and Ace looked at the machine as it most likely took the pictures.

After a few seconds, the doctor nodded and turned the lights on again and they headed inside the room Ace was in again and the doctor smiled at him. "You did amazing, Ace. I now have the pictures. Let us head back to the first room, okay?" Ace nodded and they headed back and Ace sat down in the bed again. The doctor then went to a cupboard and took something out, looking like a thin water filled plastic bag, which was blue and maybe 4 inches wide.

She then halted a bit, before she took out a second one, this one red, before she went over to Ace and showed the blue one. "Feel this? It is full of a liquid, a special one." Ace nodded and touched it. "What kind?" The doctor hummed. "It has this way too complicated name. But feel how it feels like normal temperature?" Ace nodded, before the doctor moved and snapped it a small bit in the middle, before Ace looked shocked and the doctor smiled. "And now feel how it is really cold?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor chuckled. "Good. It is very fancy as well. Now, I want you to do this with it-" Said the doctor as she took the one she had around her wrist, wrapping it around. "To cool down the wrist and hopefully the swelling will go down and the pain lessen a bit, while I look at the pictures and grab a few things, okay?" Ace nodded and did, which had the doctor smile. "Perfect, Ace. Now, give me a few minutes." Ace nodded and the doctor left.

As she left, Marco sat down on the bed next to Ace, hand moving to his leg. "Are you doing okay, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yes. And the pain is better with this cold thing." That was good. They then spoke a small bit about stuff, before the doctor came back and held some pictures, dark ones. "Hiya. Is it feeling better with the cold?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor smile. "Perfect. Now, see here-" She said as she went to a sort of screen with light and turned it on, before she hung up the x-ray pictures on it so they could see the bones. "This is your wrist." She then mentioned all the bones name's they could see, before she pointed to the radius and ulna bone. "See this very very faint line here and here?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor continue. "That shouldn't be there. It should be all clear, not have a line, which means you fractured both your ulna and radius. But, this is a type 1 fracture, which is good. It means we don't need to realign them, or reduction as it is called. They are the right place." That was good.

Ace nodded, and the doctor then grabbed some things from cupboards. "Now, we need to put on a cast. This is to keep your wrist stable and still so it can heal well. It won't hurt. It might take a bit of time, but it is needed for the wrist to heal well." Ace nodded, and the doctor then showed a few different colored plasters. "Which ones of these colors would you like?" Ace looked at them, and there was white, blue, pink, red, black, and purple. Ace gave a small hum. "Maybe purple..?" The doctor nodded and grabbed it. "Good choice." She then moved over to Ace. "Now, to get this cast on, I do need to touch your wrist and arm. Is that okay?" Ace nodded a small bit. The doctor nodded. "Good. Now, if you feel it is too tight, tell me, okay? Or if it suddenly feels very hot." Ace nodded, and the doctor got to it. It took maybe 15 minutes before it was all on, and now they just needed to wait for it to harden, and the doctor said to Ace to keep his arm and wrist still, which Ace did.

And as Ace sat still, the doctor said she needed to go get something, before she came back a few minutes later, hand behind her back. "Now, I have a small surprise." Ace nodded and looked unsure, before the doctor moved over to him, which had Ace move his good hand to Marco's, and Marco squeezed it for comfort, before the doctor smiled and moved her hand that was behind her back to be in front of her. "Here. He also broke his right wrist. And he's also very scared and could use a hug and comfort. Could you take care of him?" She said as she showed a teddy bear with a purple cast on his right wrist like Ace had.

Ace blinked, but nodded and took it, looking at it, before he placed it in his lap, and the doctor smiled. "Good. He could use a good friend like you. He is also very scared about this." Ace nodded and gave a small smile as he looked at the bear. The doctor then chuckled. "Now, soon done. It has already started to harden. Now, each day, morning and night, and at least once during the day, you need to move your fingers like this-" She said as she moved hers a bit and Ace did the same, before the doctor nodded. "If it suddenly starts to hurt when you do this, or you can't do it, you need to tell your guardian, okay?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor smile. "Good." Then the doctor went over a few things, like if the pain got worse, if he felt numb, his fingers changed color, to tell Marco, and Marco would keep an eye out as well.

When she had, she hummed. "Also, you need to keep it dry. So when you shower, you need a bag over your cast. And I know it might get itchy, but try and keep the urge to use something to itch under the cast, okay?" Ace nodded, which had the doctor smile. "You are a very good kid, Ace. Now, when you sleep or relax, it might hurt as you try to relax. And if it does, keep your wrist over heart level. Which means higher than your heart. Do you know where your heart is?" Ace nodded and moved his left hand to his heart, making the doctor nod. "You're smart as well. So, when you sleep or relax, use a pillow to have it high, okay? And if it hurts, tell your guardian so he can help." Ace nodded.

The doctor then went to a drawer and took out two pens, one white and one black and went over to Ace. "Now, you need to wear this cast for a bit, you will come back in 3 weeks and we will see how it is then. It was a very clean break, so I think it will heal fast. But know what you can do when you have a cast?" Ace shook his head and the doctor showed the pens. "You can have others sign the cast. To wish you well and a quick recovery. A way to show they care for yoi. May I?" Ace nodded a bit and the doctor showed the pens. "Black or white? I think white will stand out more, but it's your choice." Ace seemed to think before he said white, and the doctor nodded and put the black pen in her pocket, before she used the white pen to write on Ace's cast carefully. When she was done, she looked at Ace with a smile. "There. What do you think?" Ace moved to look at it and Marco did as well. The doctor had written 'You will manage this perfectly!' and it was signed with Dr Bay.

Ace seemed to like it, and looked at the doctor. "I like it. Thank you." The doctor smiled. "It is nothing, Ace. Now, I will see you in 3 weeks, okay? I will send a letter to your guardian. Should anything happen, call and ask for me. I will always do my best to help you and not scare or hurt you." Ace nodded. "Okay. You seem nice." The doctor smiled. "That's good to hear. You seem kind and nice yourself, and are very brave. I am sure you can care for the bear perfectly. He needs a good friend." Ace smiled and nodded, seeming glad.

The doctor then handed the pen for Ace to use and Ace was shocked but took it when the doctor insisted, and Ace seemed glad. Marco then asked to borrow the pen and wrote 'I'm proud of you' and Ace gave a smile to him and Marco felt proud of Ace. He did this so well. He then gave the pen back, and Ace put it in his pocket, before they left after giving a goodbye to the doctor, who waved them off. This doctor was perfect for Ace and Marco was glad they got her and would have her next time as well. She was very kind and always told what she did and asked permission before she did anything.

They then paid for them and left and when they were in the car again, Marco sent a quick text to Whitebeard saying they were on the way home, before he looked at Ace. "That went well, right, yoi?" Ace nodded. "It did. I like her, she was kind." Said Ace as he looked at his bear. That was good. Ace then seemed to get an idea and got the pen out, and started to write on the bear's cast. When he was done, Marco looked at it and saw Ace had written 'You're not alone', and that made Marco smile. Ace was kind. They then started the drive home and as they did, Marco spoke. "I am sure everyone will want to sign your cast, yoi." Ace looked at him. "You think so?" Marco nodded. "I am sure. They all care for you as well, yoi." Ace nodded, seeming a bit glad but also doubtful. He hoped Ace would get better, and he would do his best.

Marco also hoped this helped show Ace being injured wasn't his fault, and no matter what, Marco would never be mad at him for being injured, and when they get home, he would try and speak to Ace about this, that no matter what, Ace should not be scared to show an injury. And he hoped this doctor helped make Ace not as scared of doctors. He would also mention this for the psychiatrist tomorrow as well.

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!

All of the drawings, save for the first one that Marco found, will be on discord. I couldn't find the first one as I saw that many years ago and just remember it and it had so much in it as in feelings

If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!

I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!

If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter