With different eyes

Two lives, one promise

"I've been on the island, what happened?" I ask worriedly. "Did Fin eat something or get bitten by something?" "Fin?" I ask myself. "The man who tripped," Ace explains to me. I sense his uneasiness, too. "To both no, I made sure no one ate anything and there were no animals on the island." I state for the record. The doctor frowns and storms off again. I follow him. I was right about the damn island. I reach the infirmary and enter it. I see Fin lying in bed. I walk up to him and look at him. His forehead is shining with sweat and he is trembling. As I lift my hand and feel his forehead, I notice that it is getting ice cold. I frown, this doesn't fit, an infectious disease would cause a fever and he can't be poisoned. What happened here? I told you there was something strange. The doctor rushes to the table and mixes some liquid. I look at the patient again. No disease I know can spread that fast. I see something on his hand and take a closer look. "DOC" I call the doctor, who comes rushing over. I point to the patient's hand: Small black veins have formed at the very front of the abrasion. Necrosis? No, they are really veins, not dying tissue. Ace is silent, worried, and oh, the typical cheerfulness is gone from him. The doctor runs to the bookshelf and pulls out some books. Something tells me that he will not find an answer in them. I see Fin's lips move and I bend down and hear a few words, "Not ... guilt... sorrow... wanted... me" Is he having a bad dream? "Everything will be fine" I say in a soothing voice and run my hand through Fin's hair. Fin seems to get calmer and the words fade away too. Something rings in the back of my head but I can't quite grab the thought. "The infirmary is closed until I know what's wrong with Fin," the doctor tells me. I nod and leave.

Lost in thought, I follow Ace's instructions to the deck. There I am already greeted by questioning looks. I explain the situation and see concern appear on their faces. I walk to the railing and think. These symptoms and the murmur, everything does not fit to an ordinary illness, then also the strangeness on the island. "What am I missing?" I ask myself. "Don't worry, the doc will find a solution," says Ace anxiously. It's a nice thought, Ace, but when you feel your own restlessness, the attempt to comfort you is not very convincing, I think, smiling tiredly. Ace was a good man after all. Stubborn and unyielding but a good person. "What do you think?" asks Marco who has joined me. "I don't know, some things don't add up here" I say and explain my observations to him. He frowns and goes to Whitebeard. I feel screwed it sounds like a zebra looks like a zebra and yet someone is trying to sell me a horse. Thoughtfully I look at the sea. Suddenly something occurs to me. I am an idiot! I think and mentally hit myself in the head. "What's wrong?" asks Ace. I don't pay attention to him right now and call all of Ace and Vista's division to me. They also come to me dutifully and look at me asking. "Let's see your arms," I demand. They look at each other, but stick out their arms. I examine each one carefully. Nothing. Relieved, I exhale. Now comes the hard part. "What now?" asks Ace. "Shoes off and pants down," I say soberly. Now they're staring at me like I've lost my mind. "GO!!!" I yell, this weird "disease" is making me nervous. "But..." the first one starts to protest. "Do what she says!" gives Marco the order. Inwardly, I thank him. Under some protests the clothes are dropped down to the underwear, but honestly I don't want to see something like that, as much as I care about the safety of the people. They grew on me after a short time, whether it is because of Ace or because they remind me a bit of my family, I can not say. I look at one after the other and can't spot anything on the first 10 people and I'm really thorough. But with the 11th I see just above the knee, what I feared. Dark veins; the stupid thing is he doesn't have an injury, so nothing could have gotten into the wound. Damn. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I wave the man out of the line of waiting people and look at the rest. Four more men have black veins on their bodies, if no other signs yet. I hear Ace muttering worriedly in my head. I see Marco looking at me in question. I take a deep breath and point to the five men, "They have black veins on their bodies. I would isolate them, I have seen the same veins on Fin. It would be best if they went to the infirmary and let Doc check them out." Strange, men from both Vistas and Ace Division are affected, I think. Marco nods and sends the men to the infirmary. "What's bothering you?" asks Marco. "It can't be a poison, no one ate anything and if it was airborne we would all be affected and not just a few individuals. Moreover, men from both divisions are affected and we were in two different areas. But it's behaving completely out of character for a disease." I look at Marco. He looks worried. "Doc will find something!" he says anyway. He used to be a better liar, too. "Hmm," I say.