The Language I Spoke Yesterday

11/10

"I hope not." I sighed with relief. "I don't want to be a burden."

Weis patted my shoulder. "No one thinks that. You made it pretty clear today that you're not a lamp."

I couldn't help but snort. "Thanks again, Weis." My face fell into a more serious expression. "How long do you think...?"

He left his hand on my shoulder, giving me a warm, comforting look. "Between Captain and Iruka, those three will be just fine. I'd give it three or four hours before you even think about worrying. In the meantime..." He cringed. "We don't have a cook..."

"Oh boy..." I mirrored his expression.

/-/-/-/

Four hours and one disastrous attempt at cooking by Uni and Clione later, Iruka and several of the nurses meandered into the kitchen. I had been playing cards with Weis and Fuyu to pass the time, while mentally preparing myself to tell Law about being poisoned, and I burst out of my seat when the doors opened.

Iruka gave the crew a tired smile. "Penguin and Shachi will be on light duty starting three days from now. Ikkaku is on bed rest for the next week. They'll all be fine."

A cheer was raised for the medical staff, and I sighed in relief. "Iruka, is Captain still in the sick bay?"

"Ah. Just finishing up the paperwork." Iruka sank into a chair near the doorway as normal conversation resumed in the cafeteria: As normal as talking about torturing a human trafficker and a marine captain ever could be.

I stood and stretched, and made my way through the ship. Every step sent fire crawling up my legs. The rotation of my shoulder caused lightning to crackle down my arms, tingling in my fingertips. Even breathing hurt, though that was probably due in part to the smoke.

It'll be fine. I told myself. There's no reason to worry. Reason or not, my heart rate increased the closer I got to the subdued energy coming from Law's office. I hesitated at the door, hand poised to knock, breath caught in my throat.

What's wrong with you? Just tell Law that you're sick.

Stop being so dramatic.

"Tomato-ya." His voice was quiet and strained, but still held a faint note of amusement. "Your haki is climbing the walls again."

I hung my head. "Sorry."

"Come in."

The door swung silently into the room where Law was making notes on one of their charts. His hat was on the desk, and his black hair stuck out at wild angles. At my angle, the dark rings under his eyes were highlighted, making his exhaustion even more apparent. His fingers were slow, movements sluggish. Even shifting his eyes in my direction seemed to take an immense effort.

"Did you need something?"

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. There was no way I could tell him now. I shouldn't tell him now. But the constant pain radiating throughout my body was more than I had ever dealt with before. I might have retained full function of my limbs, but it was so many times worse than my back injury.

"No, not really." I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorway. "Just wanted to ask you about Ikkaku..."

His eyes narrowed very slightly before relaxing again, and he leaned back into the chair with a sigh. "Ikkaku-ya will be fine after some rest. I'm sure Iruka-ya already told you, so why are you here?"

I shook my head. "It's not important. It's something I can ask about later, and right now you look totally drained." I took a tentative step into the room. "If you're done with their charts, I can file them for you?"