Rayne's Pov
I never did like to be awakened in the early morning. With a groan I glare over at the mass of white fluff in an orange jumpsuit. His nose twitches, beady black eyes blinking at me soullessly. How he can pull off that look in the way he does astounds me.
"Breakfast."
"Ugh, fine." I swing my legs over the bed and stand up. As I shoo him away out of the room I shut the door and turn to go and get dressed. However I smack into the dresser by accident and things fell out of seemingly nowhere and onto the floor.
I kneel down and pick them up. Most of them are papers and documents but a few are pictures; pictures of Vein. I think that this is Vein's biosheet but it doesn't make sense that it was shoved behind the dresser like Law was trying to keep it a secret. Shuffling to the documents now I look down at the pages, scanning over them. My brows furrow though, these looked like letters written by my father.
Hunter is turning into quite the promising recruit. He's hardworking and willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top. There's just one concern I have; he's been around here for a while and Rayne is getting attached more than I would like. They're actually out in the courtyard right now; he's brought her another book from his last mission and he's teaching her to read. For right now it's harmless but what happens if he loses control and hurts her? Especially with all of the the tests we're running with him now.
I look at the next letter, dread washing over me. What was my father talking about? There's no way that Vein was there when I was little, I would've remembered him.
I have to do it, Vein will have to be relocted to a protected cell. Not only has Doflamingo caught on to the fact that we have Vein but Hawkeye as well. He's furious and demanding that we give his son back lest he come in and take him back himself. I can't risk Rayne's or my wife's security, he will have to be moved... tonight. It could be an issue though, he's become incredibly attached to my daughter and vice versa; so much so that Rayne will cry when he walks out of the room. It's concerning, I don't know what to do when we move him away; Rayne will hate me for sure but for her safety I'll endure.
I drop the pages on the floor and clap a hand to my mouth. Memories race through my head, one's I'd forgotten. These letters weren't lies; Vein was, for all extent and purpose, the older brother I never had. How could I have forgotten all about this? Why would my father keep this from me? It makes no sense and it scares me to think that there was truly a part of my life that I didn't remember.
Bepo knocks on the door and I quickly throw some better clothes on. After I come to the door he puts a hand on my shoulder to steady me just in case and we hurry out of the room. "Rayne, are you okay? You smell distressed."
"I'm fine Bepo, I'm just missing Law." It's been about three weeks since Law had left and I was missing him terribly. I never realized how much of an impact Law had around this place. With him gone it was as though the sub lost a lot of its spark.
"Rayne! Good-morning! Have some juice!" Claire yells as she places a large glass of orange juice in front of me.
I look down at it for a moment before bringing it up to my nose. I wouldn't put it past Claire to get her glass and mine mixed up. She and her brother drank alcohol like it was water. I still can't figure out how they're not constantly drunk. The juice doesn't have the weird tang that alcohol gives it though so it seems safe to drink.
Claire gives me a look, "Oh come on, I've gotten better!"
"I know but I'm just checking, we're almost at the end of the pregnancy and I'm not taking any chances." I take a sip from the glass and lick my lips. From there the rest of the dishes are set on the table and breakfast begins.
"This is good Darwin, did you do something different?" I ask.
He shakes his head, "I didn't cook today, Tema did actually."
Tema nods, "Mhm, I made the eggs with brie cheese mixed in."
I stop chewing and instead spit it out of my mouth. Taking my napkin I start to wipe my tongue, this was not good. "Rayne what's wrong?"
I slam my chair back and it clatters against the ground, rolling for a few seconds before hitting the wall and coming to a stop. "Oh my god, this is bad! How long have you been putting brie in food?"
"A few days now, why?"
I can't even think anymore. Unpasteurized dairy foods are prone to listeria and Brie cheese is included in that very long list. I remember Law drilling it into my head that I was to avoid unpasteurized foods like that among other foods too. The fact that I've been ingesting this food for a few days now is horrible, I need to go and see the doctor on this island now.
I burst into the room and rummage around for the piece of paper that old woman gave me weeks ago. I had yet to go to his place yet for a checkup but I guess today is the day. Upon not finding the paper I shove everything off of the dresser and start emptying the drawers. A piece of paper falls onto the floor and I snatch it up in seconds. With a quick look to make sure this is the place I need I hurry out and up the stairs.
Darwin and Bepo are flanking me as we get up to the deck. I slide down the ladder and as soon as my feet touch soil I'm off as fast as I can go. I need to know right away if this is going to affect the baby or if I've caught it early enough. I didn't notice any sight of blood or any telltale signs of a miscarriage.
"Please move! Please get out of the way!" I cry pushing past the villagers around the market. They wanted to stop and say hello to me but now was not the time.
The houses go by one by one until i stopped at the place the piece of paper indicated. It's a shabby lookiing place with paint peeling off the walls and the door looked broken in places. It was sketchy and I didn't want to walk in. In fact I'm scared that I'm going to get something just by walking in.
Still for my baby I would do anything.
I knock on the door only to have it slide sideways, threatening to fall off the hinges and onto the floor. I keep back but edge the door open none the less. Stepping inside the musty scent of age wafts across my nose. It makes me sneeze, a sound which reverberates around the empty house. In the corner of the hallway in a flight of stairs and straight ahead is the doorway into what I think is the kitchen.
"H-Hello? I was told the doctor lives here, c-can you please help me?"
For a moment all is silent and I think that there's no one here. Though two seconds later there's a flurry of footsteps and a large man comes to a stop just at the bottom of some stairs. He rolls his shoulders back and tips the hat on his head back. That bad feeling I had just multiplied.
He looks me right in the eyes, "Rayne...."
"Vein."
I step back a moment to look at him better. He's got dark circles underneath his eyes and he doesn't look so good. In fact he looks beyond exhausted. Vein is thinner than the last time I saw him, his clothes even more tattered. His poor hat looked like it was about to fall apart here and now. That thing had seen better days that was for sure.
"Wh-what are you... wait are you the doctor?"
He gives me a rueful smile, "Yeah, that's me. After I escaped Law and the submarine I traveled around for a while until I made my way here. The villagers were nice enough and they took me in, made me one of them pretty quick. It was nice, so I became their doctor to give back some of the kidness they showed me."
I step back as he reaches for me, "Please don't be afraid of me."
"I... Y-you killed Oz! How can ... I can I forgive you for that?"
"It wasn't on purpose, you should know that it's a horrible idea to try and corner me, I freak out. I have always been that way."
"It doesn't change the fact that he's dead and by your hand. I'm sorry but I–"
"You're here because of your child right? You don't look very pregnant after all." He gives me a once over and I place my arms around my waist. I feel vulnerable when he's looking at me like that.
"I..." He's right though. The thought of my baby being in trouble just because I wouldn't get over this. I'm sure that he won't hurt me and I need to know. "Fine. I need your help, I-I ate unpasteurized dairy and I know that's bad for children. I need you to help me... I don't know if the baby is healthy or not."
"Then wouldn’t you be interested to know that you’re not pregnant?” Vein says, as though he hadn’t just said something completely ridiculous.
“Vein, you’re so full of shit, get out of here before I call the rest of the crew to run you off the island.” I try and step away from him again. Despite Vein looking the part of being at ease there was something in his eyes that made me think twice.
“Your lover lied to you Rayne. You’re not pregnant. I mean it and you wanna know how I know that?”
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Yeah I know this is late and of course a cliffy but the fact that I updated is at least a positive point! Lemme know what you guys think?