Hiding the Truth (One Piece)

Chapter 37 - Disbelief At It's Finest

The blurriness that clouded my vision and dulled my hearing slowly receded to where I could make out the faint beeping of a heart monitor, the grey metal ceiling coming into focus above me. With my head precariously lulling to the side, my thoughts were all jumbled and merging together, no doubt my mind still drunk on confusion and drugs. Turning to where a dull ache could be felt, I see a small bundle of IV needles sticking out of my arm, and connecting to them were several bags of fluids, ranging from clear to a dull yellow. 

Light snoring close to my side directed my attention to the source of the noise, seeing a battle-injured Jinbe leaning against the far end of the room, his large frame making it tight fit for the Fishman in the small room. The metal interior was clear in pointing to the fact that we weren't on a ship, but the gentle rocking of the waves against the vessel made it obvious we were still in the ocean. Still incoherent to my surroundings, I slowly pushed against the plush mattress beneath me, sitting up against the soft pillows though the effort was strenuous against my damaged body, stitches and bandages tightly pulling against my movement.

It seemed my struggling woke Jinbe, who was quick to jumped up from his slouched position and rush over, seeing as I was trying to get out of the hospital bed.

"You mustn't move Lana. You put a lot of strain on your body during that fight. Please, rest" Jinbe chided, his voice rough from having just woken up, as he helped me to settle back down. I looked around with blank confusion, my memories only reaching up until my fight with the three Admirals. My lack of memories left me disjoined, but the blaring fact that remained unanswered left me desperately grabbing at the Fishman's arm. 

"W-Where's L-Luffy? And A-Ace?" I asked, my words barely audible as my throat burned with the simple words. Jinbe refused to answer immediately, looking down with uncomfortable silence and sadness. Seeing his expression caused my mind to run a thousand miles a minute, trying to make sense of what he was implying. Desperate to see my brothers and make sense of what was going on, I hurried to push away the suffocating blankets, rushing to get out of the room to find the two. Jinbe jumped forward, physically pushing me back down onto the bed, my efforts only becoming more frantic as the restriction.

"Lana-San, please! You must not move. Luffy-Kun is still in a coma, he's recovering from his injuries. Unfortunately, Ace-San..." Before he could finish, I was already shaking my head in denial at the insinuation, despite the motion caused shots of pain to strike the back of my neck and down my spine, I still refused to listen.

"No. No, I don't believe it. It can't be possible, it's not true" I denied over and over again, but the pain and anguish only deepened as Jinbe made no move to deny the conclusion I'd come up with.

"We-We went there to save him. It's not possible, please! Tell me its not true" Crying with sorrow, I repeated my words like a mantra, as if reiterating those words were going to make them come true. 

My breathing was starting to come in short breaths, a large restricting in my chest preventing my breathing as a huge surge of panic and fear paralysed my body. It felt like I was frozen, the torment and heartache leaving me breathless, speechless, and motionless. 

I could barely make out Jinbe's yells, calling for someone but the rush of panic left my ears blocked, as if my head was being shoved into a bucket of water, everything transpiring around me unintelligible and meaningless. As time passed, I was becoming more aware of someone holding me against them gently, their words spoken slowly and sternly acted as an anchor. I still couldn't make out what was being said, but the words became more comprehensible as the anxiety lessened with the warm embrace. 

"..Oka...There... Concentrate on your breathing...Slowly, no rushes... Take deep breaths. There we go" Seeing Trafalgar Law hover over my shoulder, as he continued to caress my hair left me burning with confusion. Again, the randomness of his appearance made my breathing pick up again, the puzzlement sending waves of panic to build once again.