~Sweet Dreams and Sour Awakenings~1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6kU0sEkjs
1032Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjSS6N4m5b
The small window on the infirmary door was crowded with faces trying to see inside. Shachi and Penguin pushed and shoved against each other to get a better view.
"Get out of the way! I wanna see!" Shachi leaned closer and glared at his friend.
"I want to see her too! I'm just as worried as you are!" Penguin pushed Shachi's face away, causing him to fall backwards.
"I'm more worried about her than you are, idiot! I should get to see her first." Penguin tried to peer into the open space but his collar was yanked and he found himself pulled onto the ground and caught in a hold by the angry engineer.
"No way! I'm way more worried than you could ever be! Besides, you're the one who knocked her unconscious in the first place! Who says she even wants to see you?"
"She said she understood! I was forgiven!" The two continued to wrestle on the ground, completely forgetting that they wanted to be the first ones to see the injured girl. Bepo, who was standing passively nearby, stared calmly at the men's impromptu wrestling match in slight confusion. He really couldn't understand why they were arguing. Everyone was worried about Summer, and the noise probably wasn't good for her rest.
Law, to the surprise of the crew, had returned from getting some fresh air with Summer in his arms. After the initial cheer of relief, they noticed the dozens of red scratches covering her small body. Instantly, that happiness had turned into worry.
Their mother henning, as Law would have described it, was no help to Summer's recovery. He set her down on one of the infirmary beds (the same one she had used before) and immediately set to treating her injuries.
Despite the crew's desire to see her, Law ordered them out of the infirmary on the grounds that their 'incessant noise would prevent him from working properly.' They understood that peace and quiet was important at this point. So, being the good men they all were, they retired to their own sleeping quarters for the night to wait patiently for her to awaken in the morning.
Shachi and Penguin were not skilled at waiting patiently.
Both men and bear looked up as the door to the infirmary swung open, nearly hitting Penguin square in the face if he hadn't have rolled away from it in time. There stood Law. A very angry Law at that. Frowning in irritation, he held his nodachi tightly in his left hand and gripped the door frame with his right. His eyes were narrowed and he said nothing.
The engineers took on a deer-in-headlights expression, scared into silence. Bepo looked on with a blank stare.
"I believe I told you before to keep it down." He said quietly after a long pause, the threat quite evident in his low tone. Both men nodded vigorously, scrambling to their feet and saluting hastily.
"Aye, Captain." They said in unison. Immediately, they ran away as quietly as they could manage in the halls leaving Bepo and Law standing there alone.
Law sighed deeply and turned back to the infirmary. He left the door open, a silent invitation for Bepo to follow. Closing the door softly behind him, the bear looked over at the sleeping girl.
Still wearing the Kuja attire, her arms, legs, and torso were wrapped in bandages and stitches were visible along the right side of her jaw line. Her breathing was relatively normal, if not a little fast. Her expression was one of pain, not peaceful like the bear had hoped it to be. Bepo eyebrows furrowed in worry, and he turned to Law who stood beside him.
"Will she be ok, Captain?"
Law nodded slowly. "Yes, but she will be sore in the morning. Those scratches may become infected as well, though I cleaned them as best I could." He turned to clean his medical equipment while Bepo continued to watch Summer.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Law watched Bepo as he gently laid a paw on top of Summer's head. Then the polar bear lowered his paw down to her hands, and she unconsciously held onto it in her sleep. Her painful expression cleared up and was replaced with a small smile. She hummed in quiet satisfaction.
Law couldn't resist but smirk as he watched the interaction, too distracted to continue cleaning whatever tool he was currently holding. Summer was truly smitten with Bepo and Bepo with her. She had only been onboard the sub a week now. He chuckled as he watched her nuzzle up against the paw and her smile grew wider. Bepo was now smiling as well, happy he could help Summer relax a little. He could smell her fear easing, if only a little.
"What do you mean you can't find her?" Viper hissed at the man, causing him to retreat a few feet in fright. He held his hands in front of him in protection.
"Sir…none of our spies have reported seeing her anywhere. She's not on any of the islands." Viper's fist came down hard on his desk and the man yelped. The large pirate captain stood up from his chair and crossed the room. The man tried to back away but Viper's hand shot out and grabbed the man's neck.
"She has to be!" He shouted, squeezing tightly. The man tried in vain to pry Viper's fingers off of him. "She can't just disappear, dammit!"
"I…don't…know…" He tried to reply, coughing in between words. The man's vision began to fade, little white dots hovered at the corners of his eyes.
'I'm going to die.' He thought.
Viper seemed to remember the situation and let go. The man fell to the floor gasping and coughing while Viper walked back to his desk and sat in his chair. He steepled his fingers, closing his eyes in thought.
"How large is the area we are searching right now?" He asked several minutes later. He appeared to have regained his composure, as his voice was calm and steady. The man had gotten up from the floor at this point.
"A 100 mile radius, sir." His throat hurt when he spoke and his voice was hoarse, but he knew not to speak about it. Angering him further would only make him more dangerous.
Viper nodded slowly. "Increase the radius to 200 miles. I want her on my ship by the end of the week. Now leave."
The man nodded, quickly taking his leave from the unpredictable captain behind him.
"Dammit…" Summer groaned as she regained consciousness. She brought a hand to her head in an attempt to rub away the forming headache. She sniffed the air and tensed just a little.
'At least it's familiar.' She cracked open an eye and immediately closed it.
'Stupid medical lights…'
"Don't move around too much or your bandages will loosen." A voice told her. She opened them again and looked to the source.
"Liam." She said, giving a small smile in reply. She rubbed her eyes trying to see him more clearly. He sat in the stool next to the bed with a magazine in his hand. He grinned at her and closed the paper.
"You were pretty scratched up when Captain found you. We were all worried."
"Law found me?"
"Yeah, it was pretty late at night when you came running through the forest like that." He stood up and walked closer, inspecting the tight bandages on her torso. Glancing down, she found she was still in the skimpy Kuja outfit. The white cloth wrapped closely to her breasts and she suddenly became very self-conscious. She covered her stomach and looked away with a blush.
"U-um, who did my bandages?" The medic glanced up at her face, opening his mouth to answer.
"I did."
Summer frowned as she turned her head to the familiar voice. Law strode into the room wearing his damned smirk with his hands in his pockets. Liam straightened and waited for orders as the captain approached. Law nodded towards him.
"You may go."
"Aye, Captain." Liam scurried away out the door, leaving Law and a glowering Summer in the infirmary.
The two remained silent; Law hoping she would be the first to speak and Summer praying that he would just go away. It was a battle of wits and both were evenly armed. To Law's pleasure, she broke first.
"I swear to god, if you took off this outfit to put on the bandages-"
"I didn't." She visibly relaxed; satisfied that she at least had some dignity left to her. However, Law continued to smirk down at her.
"Although, I have to say that look rather suits you…" A pang of irritation shot through her as his grin grew wider.
"Shut up!" She said crossing her arms in front of her to try to cover her chest though all it did was push her breasts closer together. She looked away so he wouldn't see her blush.
'Damn pirate captain…'
He chuckled quietly before moving away to Luffy's bedside. He worked in silence while Summer stared into his back. She was sure he felt her intense gaze, but he gave no sign of it.
"Why were you gone so long?" He asked suddenly, not turning around from his position. She frowned as she talked to his back.
"Those Kuja idiots brought me along for the 'grand tour' of the island. It turned out to be a really boring history lesson." She grumbled, rolling her eyes.
He turned back to look at her, his eyes hard with anger. "You were gone six hours. Explain how a tour of a village that small takes that long."
She sighed at his insistence. "They took me around and insisted I meet every single one of them. Then they explained every important thing that ever happened to them. Which, by the way, is a ridiculously long list." Law listened intently, as if waiting for her to lie to him. "After that, they took me to get new weapons. Speaking of which, where are they?"
Law nodded towards the side table where all four daggers rested. She released another sigh of relief.
"Good. I was worried I had lost them."
"So, what made you return?" He turned to face her finally, crossing his arms like hers were. She looked away.
"They told me once I joined them I couldn't leave. They kept saying it was for my own protection, but I don't need their damn protection." She refused to look Law in the eye. "I don't need anyone's protection. I can take care of myself."
'No you can't.' She frowned at her own thoughts.
'You know what, little voice? You can shut the hell up now, thanks.' Somehow, she was able to look back up and meet his gaze.
Law didn't say anything as he stared at her. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. There were too many emotions going through his eyes.
"Then, what are you so afraid of?"
He watched as her eyes became blank, but she remained silent. Her entire body became closed off, a mental defense mechanism. Their breathing and the mechanic beeps were the only sound in the room.
His smirk returned despite his inability to get information from her. Her stubbornness wouldn't be swayed this time. There were plenty of chances for getting her to talk in the future. He walked away from her, facing away from her as he spoke.
"You are not to leave that bed until I'm satisfied that your cuts won't become infected. I'll have someone bring you lunch a little later." Again, she didn't answer.
He could feel her stare until he shut the door behind him.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
