Riza frowned at her book. She wasn't really reading the book so what was the point? Reading but not reading, she felt tired. Idly, she kept an eye on Redfern and Benn who were practicing sutures. Benn was still willing to learn whenever he had free time and was willing. Considering that he was still training Riza on top of his duties as first mate, it wasn't a lot of time. She would feel bad for him but he doesn't have a merciful bone in his body when it came to training.
Riza glowered down at the medical journal. Her mind was occupied with what Shanks said. Stewing on what he meant but like Benn, she didn't have a lot of free time for that. She had a job to do and insuring that the Red Hair crew stayed healthy as possible.
"Damn."
Riza glanced up and smiled at the sight of Benn sucking his thumb like a toddler. "That's not exactly sterile, Benn."
"Fuck off." Benn grumbled and went looking for a bandage. Cursing under his breath that he wanted a cigarette. Riza banned him from smoking in her medical bay after he smoke four in one visit and Riza had to scrub everything to eliminate the lingering odor.
Riza inspected his work and held up a tool he was stubborn to not use. His hands were larger than her own, so it made even more sense to use them but no... "That's why I use these to prevent stabbing myself."
"Yeah, yeah." Ben snapped and returned to clean up his spot and his practice banana. "Can I borrow this?"
"Fine, I have plenty."
Another week on sea and another week of training meant Benn and Riza were at each other's throats. In the nicest way possible. Both had no mercy with the other and niceties were dwindling by the day. Riza craved land and space from the first mate or she might be tempted to try to drug him for a couple of days. Riza watched Benn leave her medical bay with a suture kit before turning her gaze on Redfern. "Try it with your eyes closed." Riza suggested.
"No, I have been trying but I'm not there yet."
Shouts and yells sounded from over head and Riza grabbed her bag. "Stay, I'll call if I need you. Keep practicing." Riza made her way to the deck. "What happened?"
Rex and Bonk pulled Aaron down from the rope ladder, his boot was caught in a rung. Riza grimaced at the man's leg. The knee cap was displaced, horribly. She rushed over as Aaron screamed as the leg was jostled. "Hold him down." Riza ordered, kneeling next to his dislocated knee. Bonk placed a gross, germ ridden mop handle in Aaron's mouth and Aaron's teeth sunk into the old wood. Bonk held Aaron's shoulders back and Rex just sat on his uninjured leg. Riza placed a hand on the burning hot patella and grasped his ankle. She pulled his ankle to straighten his leg while guiding the cap back in place. The knee cap snapped back and Aaron yelped in shock. "Don't move your leg... Boards, Rex." Riza told the engineer while she pulled a roll of gauze out.
Boards were supplied and set on either side of the knee which Riza secured with the gauze to keep the joint from sliding out of place. "Okay, I need him to be brought down to my medical bay. He needs a leg brace." Rex and Bonk drugged the musician down to a bed.
Redfern abandoned her work to join Riza. "Leg brace." Riza ordered as she cut his pants to his mid thigh then took a moment to inspect and feel the patella Aaron hissed as she forced his leg to bend. "Looks to be in place, good... Not doing that again. Are you?"
"I was showing off." Aaron groaned, looking away from his red and swollen knee. Roughly four times the size it should be. "No, never. Doc, sorry."
"Tricks and rope ladders don't mix." Riza lectured. She clicked her tongue in disapproval. "On a boat of all things. You could've fallen off. Hit your head or fallen into the sea and drowned."
"Ship, she's a ship."
"Whatever." Riza growled.
Redfern passed the brace and shined a light in Aaron's eyes, checking for signs of concussion. Riza fixed the brace in place. The brace was designed to kept the leg straight much like a cast for a broken bone. Give the stretched muscles a chance to heal. Riza felt a little pity for the singer and grabbed something for pain relief.
"How are you feeling?" Redfern asked.
"Three days of bed rest and an additional week on light duty, Aaron." Riza ordered. "Get him ice once you are done, Redfern." The doctor passed a cup of water with a straw and two pills into Aaron's hands. Riza muttered to Redfern to take over and wrap up with Aaron. She wandered into the last private room with her book for peace and quiet. Hoping to get some sleep or find peace. To escape dwelling on memories and thoughts. She's read the devil fruit book, once. Now, she was rereading and making notes.
About an hour after Riza fell into a light daze when someone knocked on the door. Riza stared at the door. She wonder who it could be or if she wanted to know. She was warm and comfortable. Riza found peace. A break from questions from herself to herself and a sinking guilt that still gnawed on her consciousness. Another knock followed. Riza sighed, "Yes?"
"We dropped anchor, you wanna come to shore?"
Riza muttered but hauled herself off of the bed. "Yeah, desperately." Rex smiled down at her when she swung the door open. "Let's go." She brushed past the engineer and headed to the door.
"Wanna grab your med pack?"
Riza cast a sideways look at Rex. "Why?"
Rex shrugged.
Riza scowled, "Rex, why?"
"Well, there are buildings on the island but Yasopp hadn't spotted any movement. Zero. No sign of people at all." Riza considered the effort of checking through the pockets and resupplying the bag. She wrinkled her nose. She wanted land beneath her feet now and not a rocking ship. What was the worst that could happen? A splinter? Sprain? More cuts that were easy and simple to return to the ship to treat. "Better safe than sorry, eh?"
Better safe than sorry... Riza cursed as her teaching and being a trauma surgeon. She couldn't go on shore without her pack and need it. She'd rather have her bag and not need it than need it and not have it. Muttering dark things, Riza rummaged through the backpack to added gauze. After a moment of consideration and paranoia, Riza added a couple of things that could be handy in a pinch. "Fine, mother. Can we go now?"
"Nah, that's Nat. Not me." Rex shot back.
Riza jerked back at the memory and her scowl deepened. "Can we go now?"
Rex nodded but kept looking over at her on the way off the ship. Stormy and Nat joining them on the beach. A short rocky beach like on from her home island but instead of a harsh winter island, this was a brutal summer island. Dry and low humidity. A ruthless and cloudless sun beating down on her head and shoulders. She wished she had a hat like Shanks or an umbrella to shelter under.
A suffocating heat wrapped around her like a wet blanket. Breathing in the super heated air was a task on itself. Riza checked for water in her pack and told her group that they needed keep drinking water and to stay hydrated. Dehydration wasn't something fun or something Riza wanted to treat if one of the crew was stupid enough to not drink water. Riza applied an spf lotion and tossed the bottle to Nat who was closest.
"I don't need this."
"You will or I am not treating your sunburns."
And so the bottle was passed around before they set off to explore the summer island.
Riza eyed the beach. The world's most uncomfortable beach that she's come across. Riza could feel the heat soaking through her shoes to her feet which made her want to keep moving. It was barely enough to be called a beach, way to short and not sandy. Large sandstones and sharp rocks were obstacles to crawl over. Nearly too hot to touch and it was only mid morning. Riza could see a steep pathway up, leading deeper into the island. "How are you doing?" Nat asked.
Riza frowned at the back of Nat's head as they headed up the path, growing frustrated. All she wanted was fresh air that wasn't full of a salty sea smell and solid land under her feet, not more questions. "What?"
"Nothing."
Riza tried to let it go, really but she was tired of it. "Really, what."
"Well."
Stormy and Rex glanced back at the doctor lost the color on their flushed faces as Riza brushed a hand to a holster of scalpels on her thigh. Nat and Rex picked their pace up, leaving Stormy distracted and left to answer Riza. They only needed to be faster than the slowest among them. "Well, when you went AWOL after Johnny... We were worried. You weren't there with us to remember... Your friends laid it all out?"
Riza straightened and she suddenly felt cold despite the triple digit heat. Her stomach dropped and with steel in her voice, she asked. "What?"
"How you deal with grief."
"what."
"Yeah, Captain! We'll be right there!"
Rex and Nat sped up at Riza's whisper. Quiet Riza seemed infinitely more mysterious than volcanic temper Riza. Unpredictable. Too much unknown to gauge how Riza's potential reaction could be to know they wanted no part of it.
"They wanted us to be aware of how you might react and to leave you alone... And Mark, maybe, told us some of your coping skills." Stormy squeaked. Blushing a fierce shade of red and sprinted to catch up to Rex and Nat who in turn bolted to not be last.
Her friends weren't wrong. Drinking and sleeping with inappropriate men were poor coping skills due to crappy family. Crappy father who abandoned her for a shiny new family and work obsessed, emotionally abusive mother. She was doomed to not to have normal reactions. Riza hissed dark things about Mark as she followed the group. She knew her friends meant well but... She didn't understand why Mark had told them, the details. Riza could asked him later when she got back on the ship. Riza knew the answer that plagued her for the past week and honed her in annoyance on one man. Riza kept her frustration to herself as she silently, rejoined the group at the end of the steep path. Rex, Nat and Stormy still gave her a wide berth.
Riza shoved whatever emotions down to enjoy the new experience and the new island. A tree nearby caught her eye. The first of many littering the sun bleached island. No green in sight but this tree was grey with no leaves but huge balls seamed to be growing from branches. The spheres varied from fist size to melon or squash size. Riza wandered closer to touch and inspect. She reached to brush her hand against the tree and it was silky smooth. It was surprisingly soft and cool under her fingertips. Riza gazed at nearby trees and realized that they were different. One had streaks of shiny black and another had a mix of teal, green and seafoam stripes wrapping around the trunk. One's slate had an ombré of red and rose hue to the stony bark. Different varieties littered and circled around the island's town. Riza started to pull her hand away. Her hand slipped down the trunk and hissed in pain as the slate sliced her fingers. Droplets of scarlet blood splashed on the pale sand. She stuck her forefinger and middle finger in her mouth to suck.
"Figures I'd get injured first... Bloody doctor am I? Fucking Hell." Riza settled down on the dusty ground to wrap a quick bandage around her fingertips.
"Riza! Come see!" Riza spotted the trio in front of a building nearby with dusty windows and swinging doors. Not far. "Bar! With booze!" Shanks and the others were out of sight probably in another building. Riza was a little surprised that Shanks hadn't found the bar and appropriated the booze.
Riza joined them in the saloon. Rex and Nat had already claimed a dusty bottle each for themselves. Everything was covered in several inches of fine glittering dust and unlike most bars, the furniture was made of carved stone. Riza inspected it closer to see gems set in the stone of the chairs and tables. "Do you see this?" She asked. Riza wandered deeper and was in awe of the bar's countertop. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds laid in the top behind glass in beautiful patterns of lush green trees and colorful flowers. We're they real? It seemed to be used too casually to be real.
"Pretty!"
Riza rolled her eyes and stood at the bar with a good overview of the large room. Some chairs and tables were set like a group was just sitting there. With colorful glasses and a dried up bottle place on the tabletop. Everything was covered in cobwebs and grime. Others were smashed and thrown to the floor broken. Old and dark stains splattered the once gleaming floor of the saloon. Something felt odd about this. It didn't match up. The room was split. The scene seemed like a snapshot in time.
Half of the room was peaceful and empty as if everyone left with the intention of coming back to finish their drinks. However, the other half was chaotic and void of life. Old stains that could only belong to blood splatter across furniture and the floor. This felt wrong so, Riza explored some more. She heard Shanks' booming laugh as she wandered further in the building. She found the owner's office with the sage open under their desk. Riza crouched down to investigate. Piles of gemstones and berri sat untouched. A handful of bullets fallen out of a ammunition box that had a lighter pile of dust marking the outline of where it was. Odd that the valuables were left and bullets taken. That was the only thing out of place in the room. Stone furniture was unmarked and left in place. A soft gasp left her lips as she set her eyes on the most valuable item within the safe. Far surpassing the money and sparkling diamonds.
"Hey, Riza! Whatcha find?"
With trembling hands Riza pulled the soft, squishy item out to show her Captain. Blue and it felt weird to touch but she knew what it was. Something she hadn't seen in person yet. Only seen pictures of them in her books.
"A devil fruit."