-Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight-
"Stop being so stupid and listen to me! All you're going to do is stay put because if you go anywhere or do anything, you're just going to get lost!" Nami snapped as she angrily tossed both mine and Zoro's swords over the balcony and into a nearby tree.
"Hey, stop that! What do you think you're doing?!" Zoro snapped right back.
"Nami!" I scolded as I watched how the swordsman was quick to lean over the railing in a desperate attempt to grab at the swords...only for them to fall further down the tree the second his fingers brushed against them. Without a second thought, he threw himself over the railing in an attempt to reach them—to prevent them from falling too far down and forever being lost or permanently damaged. If I'm being honest, I wasn't really that concerned about my own swords. It was her treatment of Zoro's swords that upset me since I knew how much one of them in particular meant to him—I knew how much he cherished his Wado Ichimonji because it used to be Kuina's.
"I'll put this in simpler terms for you—you have no sense of direction" Nami stressed, trying to get it through the swordsman's head why she needed him to stay right where he was. "So I'm going to go find the others with Skylar and after that, we'll come back for you."
"And why exactly do I have to go with you?" I asked, raising a questioning brow.
"Because you're easier to handle and your sense of direction is a lot better than his" she simply responded.
"Fair enough" I shrugged, seeing no reason to argue.
"Hey!" Zoro snapped, dangling from the railing of the balcony as he continued to try and grab hold of the five swords that were precariously balancing on the branches of the tree. Nami only ignored him as she dragged me back into the hallway of the building.
"Hey, you!" we both flinched as the sudden deep and authoritative voice that called out to us. "What are you doing over there?!" the Marine snapped as I silently pressed myself flat against the wall, trying my hardest to just blend in with it so as not to be seen by the man who came storming toward us. "Enough with the slacking off, little missy! Now get back to cleaning!"
"Aye, aye! Sir!" Nami saluted, ready to follow the man without question before halting and tensing up the second he suddenly stopped and turned his head in my direction.
"And who might you be?" he asked, eyes now narrowing in suspicion as he carefully examined me.
"She's...uh...she's the new recruit!" Nami nervously laughed, quick to say the first lie that came to mind as she warily watched how the man hummed to himself in thought as if he was considering her words before eventually he nodded.
"Very well then, let's get you a uniform then—it's unprofessional to be walking around without one, doesn't matter if you're a new recruit or not" and with that, he motioned for us to follow. I bit my tongue the minute I was given a standard Marine uniform to change into before Nami and I were eventually led to the doors of an old gymnasium.
"Your next assignment is to clean the old gym!" the Marine instructed as I uncomfortably pulled at the shirt of my uniform, barely paying attention to the instructions he was giving us on exactly how clean he wanted this place to be by the time he returned. It felt...strange...staring down at myself in this outfit—it was unpleasant really as I had hoped there'd never be a day where I'd ever find myself stuffed into such a uniform. Already in the back of my mind, I could hear those familiar voices whispering praises that sounded so far from comforting.
"You look just like him back in his rookie days."
"You're above wearing such a low-ranking uniform—you shouldn't be wearing such drags, he'd be disappointed if he were to see you."
"This is your future and you know it—you wouldn't be such a disappointment if you'd only just accept it."
They were all lies—lies that wormed their way into my skull and made me want to rip out my hair. Lies that made me want to scream and cry in frustration and deny it all...they were lies that made me want to claw and bite and bring nothing but absolute harm to myself. It was a familiar urge, one that terrified me and made me want to draw back and hide in shame. It was an urge that always seemed to linger just in the corner of my mind, a sickening desire that was born out of desperation and only seemed to grow whenever things would get too much...
Pain has always made for a good distraction.
It always has been and right now, I wanted to just inflict it upon myself with the hopes that it would distract me from the reality that those cruel whispers were right. I did look just like him...only a smaller more pathetic version of him. Where he stood tall and proud in his old photos during his rookie days, I could only slump and curl into myself with the desire to do nothing more than hide.
"Aye, aye! Boss!" Nami saluted while I weakly raised my own hand, watching as the double doors were thrown open and the curtains drawn back to help brighten the room and highlight just how filthy it truly was. "Clean all this...?" the ginger weakly questioned, dumbfounded by just how spacious and filthy the room was. "And we got to do it by ourselves...?" she asked as if she couldn't believe he was expecting only two people to clean this entire room by themselves.
"I want to see it sparkle! Boy, would I hate to be in your shoes right about now!" the man laughed as he turned and left.
"This disguise was clearly a mistake" Nami whined, shoulders drooping the minute the man left.
"Clearly.." I grumbled, rolling my eyes at her overdramatic reaction. Mother's punishments were far crueler than this, so having to clean such a filthy room was no issue—it was far better than being forced to join in on any training. Heaving a sigh, I motioned for her to follow as I turned around, already knowing that if we were going to get this place cleaned up then we were going to need plenty of buckets of water. "Come on now, a bit of spring cleaning isn't going to kill you" I softly huffed when she started to whine and complain before lowering her head and grumbling when she saw I was sympathizing with her as we got our buckets of mop water. Walking back to the gymnasium, I soon stopped and lulled my head to the side, boredly watching as she angrily dropped her buckets and began to pout.
"If I keep that up, I'll be dead before they catch me..." she pitifully muttered.
"Nami..." I muttered, watching as she only ignored me and continued to childishly pout. "Nami, please..." I sighed, trying my best to see things from her point of view and understand what was so bothersome about doing such menial labor outside of the time it would waste in finding the others...but it wasn't like we could simply abandon this task without it raising some suspicion.
"Hold it!" the angry shout up ahead was enough to startle the ginger into grabbing my wrist as she dragged the both of us into a nearby closet—slamming the door shut behind her as fast as she could before anyone could see. She stared at me with wide, frightened eyes as we now stood there in utter silence saved for her labored breathing.
"Help me! Help!" I heard Chopper cry which was then followed by the sound of hoofs clomping against the floor and a shadow dancing past underneath the door.
"I said hold it!" the voice from before shouted as more shadows ran past.
"I guess those guys weren't looking for us..." Nami sighed in relief once the footsteps faded and got further away before perking up when she realized we had taken refuge inside a closet. "Cleaning sucks...got to find a new disguise..." she muttered to herself, looking around in hopes of finding a new disguise before suddenly her face lit up the second she spotted something tucked away in the far corner of the room on a rack. "Well, look at that" she grinned.
"Look at what?" I questioned, head swiveling around only for my face to instantly fall. "No."
"No? What do you mean no?" she frowned as she made her way over to the rack of nurse uniforms and quickly began to shuffle through them in hopes of finding our sizes.
"I don't do dresses—especially not a nurse's outfit" I frowned right back, crossing my arms as I turned my head. There were many reasons why I didn't do dresses, some practical and some personal. Perhaps if things had been different I wouldn't have minded them or skirts as much as I currently do...it was hard to look at them and not think back to how stuffy they felt when worn or how they always seemed to draw unwanted attention that made my skin crawl and my stomach churn. There was something discomforting about showing too much skin...
"Skylar, please—this disguise will be so much better than our current ones" Nami huffed, snatching up two of the dresses off of the rack before tossing me one. I made no effort to catch it, only letting it hit my chest and crumple to the floor. "Pretty please, for me" she pleaded, batting her eyelashes when she saw me make no attempts to pick up the piece of clothing.
"Stop looking at me like that!" I snapped when I saw the wide-eyed puppy dog look she was giving me—her eyes already teary as her bottom lip jutted out into a quivering pout. "Ugh! Fine, I'll wear the damn thing if it'll make you happy..." I groaned, throwing my head back before finally bending down and snatching up the uniform.
"Yay! You're the best, I love you!" Nami joyfully clapped before tightly hugging me as I only grunted in response. Pulling away, she turned her back to me and began to strip without a second thought. For a few seconds, I just glared down at the fabric in my hands before lowly grumbling to myself as I slowly started to strip down as well. "I look pretty good in this if I do say so myself" the ginger grinned once she was done, giving a little twirl as she admired herself and how she looked in the uniform.
"Really? Because I feel silly..." I groaned as I peered down at myself, cheeks flaring up in embarrassment the minute we stepped back out into the hall. Despite how modest and professional-looking the uniform looked, I couldn't help but feel like I child playing dress up as I looked at myself.
"I bet the work won't be nearly—" Nami stopped the minute she spotted the crowd of nurses rushing down the hall and straight toward us. "I'm so sorry!" she hastily apologized as I only grunted, tugging at the bottom of the dress as if afraid that it might be too small despite knowing that it wasn't. I wasn't used to this, I wasn't used to wearing something like this—I liked my pants, I liked my ability to freely move without the risk of it riding up or giving someone a chance to sneak a peek at something they shouldn't.
"What are you apologizing for? Just get to the infirmary already!" one of the nurses scolded as she and the others began to usher us forward.
"What? Where...huh?" Nami weakly questioned, not quite understanding what was happening.
"The infirmary?" I raised an eyebrow. It's not that I was surprised that they were heading to the infirmary since we were nurses and we were on Marine base after all—injuries were bound to happen on a daily basis. I just hadn't expected us to get dragged there so soon, especially not with how peaceful the base seemed to be at the current moment.
"There's been an emergency! All nurses must report immediately!" one of the women ordered as a few linked their arms with our own the second they saw we weren't moving quickly enough for their liking despite it being an emergency.
"I knew it! I'm screwed no matter what disguise I pick!" Nami wailed.
"What did you expect to happen when you chose to dress as a nurse on a Marine base?!" I snapped, not really understanding why she even thought that the work of a nurse was going to be any less tedious than the work of a rookie Marine.
"One! Two! Three!" was the first thing I heard when we burst through the double doors and into the infirmary, all of the women quickly scattering away from us and about the room as they now set to work helping the injured men.
"Wow, these people are all in really rough shape" Nami remarked. "Did they get hit by a cyclone?" she worriedly frowned.
"You don't think this is the guys doing, do you?" I whispered to her, staring at some of the men who were bedridden in concern. It didn't matter that they were the enemy, the pain they were suffering was something I wouldn't really wish on anyone.
"It might be" she whispered back with a shrug.
"Don't just stand there! Treat the wounded!" one of the nurses snapped the minute she spotted the two of us just standing there doing nothing.
"Right!" Nami jolted as she and I hastily set off to work helping the other women in treating the wounded Marines. "Oh! I'm sorry!" the ginger quickly apologized when she accidentally tightened a man's bandages too tight.
"Here, move" I sighed, quickly ushering her away as I moved to help in loosening and fixing the man's bandages. "You can't be too rough, you need to be delicate when bandaging the wounded" I lightly scolded...my medical expertise wasn't amazing like Chopper's, but I understood the basics and how to properly bandage up nasty injuries having done it many times for my brothers and watching them do it to me.
"You look like you've done this before" Nami remarked, watching as I moved on to the next patient that needed tending to.
"Some of the older kids back on the island weren't...well, to put it lightly, weren't very kind growing up—Sora and I would sometimes have to patch each other up whenever Cloud wasn't home...we'd sometimes have patch Cloud up too if he was the one to get hurt" I softly explained, not really going into too much detail.
"Is that so?" Nami murmured, quietly staring at me as I slowly nodded.
"You know how kids can be, especially older boys..." I muttered, quickly wanting to brush past the conversation. "Sora would also get sick a lot when we were younger as well, so taking care of bedridden patients isn't that much different—you just need to be patient and gentle" I said.
"Doctor, what do we do?!" looking over, I watched as the nurses suddenly gathered around a young woman with wavy, short purple hair—all of them desperately looking to her for instructions.
"Okay, let's see...painkillers—he needs fifty milligrams of painkillers" the woman instructed, her posture stiff as she shakily looked around her at the injured men who still needed treatment—that clearly looked like they needed more than medication and band-aids.
"Shall we prep the O.R.?" a nurse asked as I found myself curiously wandering over toward the group, trying my best to get a better look at the doctor they were looking to for guidance. She was dressed as you'd expect of any doctor, but the air she exuded made it seem like she was fit for the position.
"That's right...operate...I must operate..." the doctor mumbled, shakily pushing her glasses up as her gaze wandered around the room, looking at each man that was laid up in bed. I flinched when she suddenly fell back, loudly hitting the floor as she fell unconscious.
"Doctor?!"
"Doctor, pull yourself together!"
"We don't have time for this!"
"Tell us what to do!"
"Doctor! Doctor, please—you got to wake up!"
"Ma'am, are you okay?!" all of the women spoke over one another in a panic as they crowded around the unconscious doctor, desperately trying to get her to wake back up and guide them on what to do during this critical time.
"What kind of doctor faints...?" I mumbled as I tried to peer past the crowded women in hopes of catching another glimpse of the passed-out doctor. She looked the part, but everything else about screamed otherwise—the way she nervously spoke and acted made it clear that her fainting was a result of anxiety and fear, both things a doctor shouldn't feel during a time of crisis.
"I'll be directing treatment today!" Chopper's voice suddenly rang out, causing me to twirl around on my heel and watch in confusion as the disguised reindeer—now in his human form—gave out orders to the nurses who quickly flocked toward him for guidance. Eagerly waiting to hear what he had to say and what he needed them to do...
Exactly what was going on?
"Yes, doctor!" the women firmly nodded before scattering as they began to transport all of the men in the room to the operating room.
"Come on, snap out of it!" Chopper pleaded as he quickly rushed over to the unconscious doctor and attempted to shake her awake. Nami and I exchanged curious glances with one another before finally, we walked over to the reindeer.
"Chopper?" we questioned.
"Nami? Skylar? What in the world are you doing here?" Chopper blinked the second he peered up and spotted us—the three of us plus the unconscious woman now the only ones left in the room.
"I should be asking you that" Nami said.
"Is it just you? Have you seen the others?" I curiously asked before sighing when the reindeer only shook his head.
"Excuse me" we perked up at the doctor's voice, watching as she finally started to wake up. "But could you please tell me what's going on—where is everyone? I seem to have fainted" she sheepishly admitted as she shakily stood before silently thanking me as I moved to help her. "Wait—you're a doctor!" she gasped in realization the second she spotted Chopper. "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but I'm glad you came along—you sure saved us with your expertise in extractions!"
"No one's saved yet, doctor" Chopper shook his head, quick to dissuade the woman from carelessly thinking such a thing as to make sure she wouldn't go and accidentally neglect her patients just because she thought he had already taken care of them.
"What?" she blinked, face crestfallen.
"The situation doesn't look good—without emergency surgery, many will die" Chopper explained.
"Yeah..." she weakly mumbled as she nodded in agreement, making it clear that she knew exactly what would happen if the men didn't get the proper treatment that they were in desperate need of.
"There's no time to lose, you must operate on the critically injured now!" Chopper urged.
"Yes...operate..." her voice sounded weak as her legs started to violently tremble once more before finally, they gave out and she fell back into her chair.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?" Nami worriedly asked as we quickly surrounded the woman, checking to make sure that she was truly alright.
"Are you alright? You look a bit pale" I noted.
"I...I can't do it!" she finally whimpered once she found her voice.
"Do what?" Nami frowned.
"I can't stand to see people in pain or bleeding or worse!" the woman confessed. "Honestly, I can barely administer a shot! So the thought of putting stitches in or cutting someone just..." she shivered at the thought, looking just the tiniest bit woozy the longer she thought about it.
"Oh, come on!" Nami scowled. "Just perfect—this is a Marine base, you know? How can you call yourself a military doctor when you can't stand the sight of a little blood?" she huffed, baffled by the woman's confession.
"It is quite strange, as a military doctor, the sight of blood and operating on people shouldn't bother you that much" I pointed out. "In fact, it should be second-hand nature for you by now" I said.
"Actually, my field of practice is children's medicine" the doctor sheepishly admitted.