The first thing Zoro became aware of was a painful pounding in his head that threatened to crush his skull with each beat. There was an enormous pressure on his chest, pinning him to the ground. His eyes felt heavy. So very heavy. As if they were being weighed down by a steel blanket that wanted to pull him back into peaceful darkness. He only barely registered the ringing in his ears, despite it growing louder and louder until it seemed to play ping pong inside his skull. Lost, his thoughts floated around in a jumble. Unable to grasp even one of them, he lay entangled in a strange limbo between unconsciousness and wakefulness.
All of a sudden, a light forced its way through a narrow slit in his heavy eyelids, sending his mind spinning and he fell.
In a panic, he tried to grab something to hold onto, to keep him from falling any further. The mere attempt to move sent a wave of pain through his entire body, almost robbing him of the shred of consciousness he was trying to cling to. A pitiful moan pierced the numbness that held him captive, and all at once a flood of painful sensations crashed over him with full force as his consciousness fought for control of his mind.
"Fuck, he sounds weird."
For a short moment, a glimpse of curled eyebrows appeared in his narrow field of vision. They quickly disappeared, giving way to a far too bright light that drove a stabbing pain through his head. Zoro groaned and tried to turn away, away from the path of the irritating light, but only managed to move the slightest bit.
"There, there, son. It'll be all right," an unfamiliar but strangely soothing voice reached his battered head and something cold was placed on his forearm, "I'll give you something to ease the pain. You'll feel much better soon."
A sharp, pointy pain on his arm signalled to Zoro that something familiar was about to happen, something he didn't like one bit.
"No" Zoro wanted to shout vehemently, but all he could manage was a pathetic mumble that would have shamed him had he been fully conscious.
He tried to sit up, at least a little, but was overcome by a sudden fatigue. So it seemed that what they had given him was already working. Damn. He hated when that happened. But most importantly, he couldn't just doze off now. Not now. Not until he knew if everyone was okay, if...
"Luffy...I have...to..." in a desperate attempt to eliminate the cause of this involuntary drowsiness, he grabbed his forearm with one hand and clasped the cold sheath of a syringe with his fingers. His body instantly repayed this recklass act and he doubled over, groaning as the pain began to rip through his side.
Then, suddenly there were strong hands, pushing him down again, too strong for him to resist at that moment.
"Just stay still for once and relax, shitty moss-head." he vaguely recognised the irritating voice of the ero-cook who obviously intended to annoy him into passing out.
Any sly reply though was lost on the tip of his tongue. In its place, Zoro muttered something incomprehensible even to himself, and against his better judgment, he slowly slept into nothingness.
Silently, Nami watched as Sanji struggled to lay their injured swordsman back down, a lone tear running down her cheek. Zoro, always so strong and strong-willed, seemed so strangely fragile at that moment. She shuddered at the thought of how she and Usopp had found him on the deck. Pale, lifeless, covered in blood. At first she had thought he was dead. She quickly covered her mouth to stifle a sob, the memory still haunting her mind. To make matters worse, Luffy was injured as well, adding to the already terrible situation. And the worst part? No one had any answers or explanations for what had happened. None whatsoever. It was one big nightmare.
Nami watched as Zoro's resistance slowly subsided, his head drooping onto the pillow. His eyelids fluttered shut, and his weakened body finally relaxed, a scary stillness settling over the resting swordsman. Nami drew in a shaky breath. Only once before had she seen Zoro look so lifeless. That was from the injuries he had sustained in the fight with Mihawk. She had convinced herself that she would never have to see that again. Zoro had promised Luffy. He had promised that he would never lose again. So what had caused him to break that promise? Or more importantly, who?
"That idiot never listens" Nami swore she caught Sanji muttering quietly to himself as he adjusted the thin blanket around the swordsman with unusual care, staring at the red marks the syringe had left on Zoro's skin when he had struggled against it.
"Sanji-kun...", Nami swallowed as the tears began to overwhelm her again, drowning out any attempt at consolation. She felt so utterly helpless.
Clearing his throat, a white-clad figure in the room drew attention to himself, closing the briefcase with a demonstrative click before taking it in his hand. "I gave him a sedative to help him relax. Resting will do him good now."
Nami's eyes turned to the small, thin, grey-haired doctor they had brought in from the mainland.
"Thank you." she smiled weakly. "Will he be...um... is he ... I mean..." The question that weighed heavily on her mind couldn't find its way out of her mouth.
"Going to die? It's still very much a possibility, yes.", the doctor said cheerfully, which Nami found very irritating in this situation. "He certainly took a beating, that much is true. There's bruising on his stomach and three broken ribs. There appears to be no internal damage though, which is good. However, I am concerned about his head. There were a few splinters, which I removed, and a nasty gash, which is now dressed. Judging by his reactions earlier, he probably has a severe concussion. If an internal haemorrhage were to occur now... well that would be... say... certainly not... good. It's...it's still too early to tell though. For now, he must be monitored with great attention in order to assess the severity of the head injury and determine the appropriate course of action. That's why I wanted him to lie still and not move."
The doctor paused, smiling in the direction of Nami, who averted her gaze to the ground. The old man frowned as he looked back and forth between Nami and Sanji. "Why are you two looking so grim? You look like you've just been informed of the end of the world! Let me assure you that I have certainly seen a lot in my day, all kinds of injuries and illnesses, and let me tell you one thing: what your young green-haired friend suffers from is not that bad compared to some of the things I have seen. I've seen a lot worse, trust me."
"I don't understand what's not bad about it. All these things sound pretty awful." Nami said and glanced over at Sanji, who was leaning against the wall with his head down and lips pinched together.
"Yes, yes, dear. It is certainly very painful, there is no denying that. As far as I can tell, however... for the moment... the injuries are not life-threatening. That's the most important thing right now, is it not? As for the rest... we'll have to wait and see when he wakes up."
"Mmh, I guess" Nami muttered, hardly persuaded. Everything the Doctor had said flashed through her head and she desperately tried to process it. Not life-threatening. For the moment. Zoro was not going to die. For the moment. The most important thing. That was the most important thing. What was the most important thing for Zoro? To become the best swordsman in the world. He always said it was. It was his dream. It was his goal. Not life-threatening. Not fatal. For the moment. But did that also mean that Zoro's dream, the most important thing for Zoro, was still attainable for him? That he would not suffer any permanent damage? Not life-threatening. But did that also mean he would make a full recovery? What would become of the swordsman if he could no longer follow his dream? Nami bit her lip as more tears welled up in her eyes and shook her head. She shouldn't let her mind wander to such dark thoughts! They were of no use now. She had to believe that everything would be all right. For Zoro. For all of them.
"Yes, of course it is. I'm so relieved. Thank you very much, Doctor." She put on her usual friendly smile, masking her worry, something she had learnt to do when she had been forced to work for Arlong. Everything would be all right. Zoro was too stubborn for some injuries to stand in his way. He would be all right. He always was. Why would this time be any different?
At the other end of the room, she heard Sanji scoffing and muttering something as he hurried out of the room, as if he couldn't stand the sight of the injured Zoro any longer. Nami looked after him with a thoughtful expression. Sanji had insisted on putting Luffy and Zoro in separate rooms. Why this was necessary, he had not clarified. Nor had she been able to get anything concrete out of the cook about what had happened on deck during their absence. Although she had the sneaking suspicion that he knew more than he wanted to disclose, she didn't have the strength to probe any further. At least for the moment.
"...and these are all things I could certainly do if I had the right financial ... say... incentives. The ingredients for medicines and remedies are getting more and more expensive, you know. Certainly, I only offer you the best of the best. After all, my healing potions are known throughout the island. I've never had a patient who tried them and complained about them afterwards. But you know, everything has become so expensive. I could offer a good price for you, of course, a much reduced price, given the situation of your friends here. If you're interested, I can prepare some healing potions for your two friends and they'll soon feel better. That's almost a guarantee...I mean, there's certainly a very good chance that it will reduce the recovery time..."
The doctor's babbling caught Nami's attention and the money lover's alarm bells immediately started ringing. That old quack! Was he trying to profit from her nakama's tragic situation? Instead of smacking him, however, she forced a tired smile onto her face. Only the angry twitching of her eyebrows conveyed her actual state of mind. "Do as we agreed, Doctor. Luffy and Zoro will manage the rest on their own."
The grey-haired doctor seemed to have picked up on the underlying warning tone of her voice, because he merely nodded and was suddenly in a great hurry to gather his things and leave the room. "Yes, certainly. Certainly, dear. Er, yes. I'm going to go ... uh... I'm going to check up on the black-haired boy now."
"Luffy" Nami said, "his name is Luffy and that would be much appreciated!"
She watched as the old man hurriedly left the room. When the door slammed shut, the air in the room suddenly felt much heavier. The tension of the last few hours now found its way into her thoughts and she allowed tears to fall for a minute. The entire situation was a complete disaster. And that wasn't the only issue. Whoever the attackers were, they had managed to take out two of the strongest members of her team, and that scared her. Only rightly so, she thought. She only hoped that they had been satisfied by their recent victory so they wouldn't attack again. Her eyes fell on Zoro, who looked almost pale under the white head bandage. Sighing, Nami wiped the tears from her cheeks. Right, it would be all right.
"Don't you dare let me down," she whispered in his direction. Then she left the room as well, leaving Zoro in the silence of his own breathing.