The pain crawled up your hanging leg, waking you up. The light beeps from the nearby monitor told you where you were before you could open your sticky eyes.
The infirmary was white as always.
You blinked a few times, trying to adapt to the light.
Several injured marines were occupying the cots aligned against the wall. Friends and relatives were entering the room, the muffled chattering bouncing against the aseptic walls.
Your leg was in a plaster cast, and an intravenous line was attached to your arm.
You rubbed your face with your hands, feeling all your muscles sore.
«Oi.» you called a nurse with raspy voice «How much time have I spent here?»
She checked the medical records on the bottom of your bed.
«One day, unconscious.»
You groaned, trying to sit.
«You shouldn't move.» she warned.
«Yeah, yeah.»
The nurse shrugged and walked away.
You took a look around.
It was a recovery hall, the marines hospitalized there seemed quite relaxed while talking to their loved ones.
Your lips automatically pressed against each other.
It was not the first, nor the second time you woke up in such a place. Honestly, you weren't keeping count anymore.
And like every time, your comrades had plenty of people around, worried for them, like it was supposed to be.
The two men beside you were particularly lively.
You glanced at them.
The one in bed was that former official who had recently been downgraded. What was his name again? Fullmuscle? Fullbody?
His friend sat on the mattress, joking around with him, strange glasses and strange goatee.
You didn't recall a single time someone came to check on you.
Okay, stop. No self-pity allowed.
With a brief sigh, you carefully moved your leg on the floor and grabbed the crutches, which were ready against the wall. Slowly but surely, you limped out the infirmary.
«Sorry I was late, man.» Jango said, adjusting his hat «They didn't allow anyone in for awhile. We were all kept waiting outside, even if it was visiting hours.»
Fullbody nodded.
«No kidding.»
«Huh? You know why?»
«Yeah, Admiral Aokiji was here.»
«What? Aokiji?!»
The marine pointed at your empty bed.
«Have you seen that girl? She's Surprise D., the sniper who follows him everywhere.»
«But she just left alone...»
«Aokiji stayed beside her from when she arrived until the doctor said she was clear. I guess an entire day was already enough for someone like an Admiral.»
Jango frowned.
«Impressive. I wonder if the girl knows.»
Fullbody shrugged.
«Who knows? Now, tell me about my beloved Hina-sama! How is she doing?»
«[Y/n], stop. You're not coming with me, this time.»
You tried to scream, but no words came out.
Aokiji was farther and farther, in the snow.
The whimpers he never heard, those flew weakly from your mouth.
«Don't leave me behind.»
A feeble whimper left your lips as you slightly moved between the sweated sheets.
Sounds of dragged chairs and muffled words started to enter the blurriness of your mind.
«She moved!»
«I think she's waking up!»
«Thorin, quick, fetch the doctor!»
You grimaced when your muscles tensed. A sharp pain was pulsating in your head.
More words, a door opening, some bustling beside you.
A small hand slid in yours.
«Girl? Squeeze my fingers if you can hear me.»
You tried to comply.
«Very good.»
Disclosing your mouth to take deeper breaths, you finally attempted to open your eyes, despite the headache.
The wooden ceiling was stained.
«Welcome back among the livings, marine girl. How do you feel?»
Your vision was still haze. You groaned.
«Like Eustass Kid walked all over me.»
«That happened days ago, and you already recovered from it.»
The doctor's voice.
«She's being sarcastic.» someone whispered «It's a good sign, isn't it?»
«I got the feeling she'd be sarcastic even on the verge of death.»
You passed your hands over your eyes and tried to pull yourself up.
«Woha, take it easy, girl! You were down for two days.»
«Two... days?»
Blinking continuously, you were finally able to distinguish the outlines in the room.
«Apparently, one of the enemies had a poisoned blade. He just inflicted light cuts to a few of us, and you were the only one small enough for the dose to be effective.»
Grumbling lightly, you watched the doctor fixing the little tube in your vein, then you turned your head on the pillow and faced the other side of the infirmary.
Your eyes slowly widened.
«What the hell...?» you whispered, your hand frantically pulling up the sheet on your bandaged body.
The whole crew was there, staring at you.
Well, not exactly all the men, but almost.
The recruits were missing, probably busy taking care of the ship.
No Killer. No Kid.
All the others were there.
«Doctor.» you lowly called.
«Hm?»
«Dozens of pirates are here. They are looking at me.»
He bent his mouth, glancing at them.
«Yeah, annoying. In the last two days they took shifts, with four or five constantly here. But now that you woke up, they all gathered.»
You shook your head.
«Why?»
Heat was the closest one. He was also covered in bandages and it seemed like his movements were a bit stiff, but he took a step forward.
«[Y/n], are you in pain?»
Wire sat in a corner, eyes fixed on you. The Mohican was nervously rubbing his forearm, gaze lingering on your wounds.
Looking more carefully, you were able to read their expressions.
Stress.
Concern.
Relief.
The images of the battle came back to you, replaying in your mind like an old movie.
You blinked again.
«Heat...! Heat, are you okay?»
The pirate averted his eyes, scratching his nape.
«Yeah... thanks to you.»
«She looks fine!»
«Doctor, she's out of danger, isn't she?»
«Someone call the boss, dammit!»
A couple of coughs erupted from your throat, and they immediately shut up, turning to you with eyes wide in worry.
«She's fine, you idiots.» the doctor sighed «Just give her a few moments to emerge from the coma.»
Sighs of relief echoed all over.
«I told you she was a tough one!» Booka snickered, elbowing Thorin.
«Whaaat? You spent the mornings here, so worried you couldn't even talk!»
The Mohican laughed.
«Not even the boss can handle this one, those Charlotte jerks didn't stand a chance.»
«Speaking of the boss, at least now we can relax. I was afraid he was going to kill someone soon.»
«The recruits are all beaten up.»
«He beat you up too.»
«Shut up!»
You were staring at the group of big rough pirates in front of you, laughing and quarrelling about who spent the most time in the infirmary by your side.
After all the times you had been in an infirmary, and no one even noticed.
Before you could realize it, your lower lip was trembling and your eyes became watery.
Whatwhatwhat?!
Damn body, so numb it was out of control.
You jerked your head to the side, letting your hair fall to shield the tears that lined your cheeks.
«Girl.» Wire called «Are you crying?»
«No!» you sniffed.
«Liar!» the Mohican uttered.
«Shut up!»
«Oh no, doctor, what's wrong?»
«She's in pain, do something!»
Heat hesitantly brushed your arm.
«[Y/n]?»
You started to weep properly, hiding your face in your hands, tears pouring from your eyes, shoulders shaking.
This upset the pirates, who started to fidget around and urge the doctor to act.
«I'm fine!» you managed to mutter between your sobs.
«Can we do something?» Heat quietly asked.
You shook your head, wiping the tears away.
«I'm fine.»
Finally able to control yourself, you took some deep breaths.
The Mohican sighed.
«Women. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand them.»
«I think this one is particularly hard though.» Wire observed.
Soon, laughs and words filled the infirmary again.
The doctor handed you a soft rag so you could dry your cheeks, shooting a knowing glare at you.
Your face was buried in the tissue when the door was opened and silence fell in the room.
You raised your eyes.
Eustass Kid stood in the entrance, Killer leaning against the jamb behind him.
Your reddened eyes immediately locked to his amber ones.
You swallowed at his serious expression.
«You're up.»
You opened your mouth to answer, but feeling your voice could betray you, you changed your mind and nodded.
A few seconds passed.
«Good.»
Kid turned and walked away.
The silence lingered in the room.
«He's really bad with emotions, isn't he?» the Mohican murmured.
Killer stepped inside.
«Doctor?»
«She's not in danger anymore, but it will take some time for her to recover completely. Not too much though, she's fairly strong.»
The Massacre Soldier hummed.
«[Y/n].»
You tried to focus where his eyes would be.
Killer's look felt intense, even if you couldn't see it.
«Thank you.»
The whole crew held their breath.
«Thank you for saving my comrades. Thank you for saving my captain.»
Your heart missed a beat.
«I...»
«I'm sorry to say you're still considered a prisoner, at least until Kid decides otherwise. But from now on, you'll be free to roam around the ship as you please, as long as you don't try to flee. You will eat with us, work with us, travel with us.» he tilted his head «I would say no one will harm you, but I'd be more worried for the man who tried.»
The Mohican chuckled, and Heat rolled his eyes.
«As if someone would.»
The doctor sent everyone out to change your bandages and allow you to rest.
You groaned at how numb your body felt while you tried to help him.
«Ugh, what the hell...» you grumbled, placing a sweated hand over your eyes.
«Don't complain, girl.» he warned «We were about to lose you.»
You peered at him with a scowl.
«Was it that bad?»
«More. I'll be honest with you: when they brought you to me, I thought there was nothing left to do. You were a goner.»
A surge of fear washed down your chest.
«Then... then what happened?»
The doctor glared at you, still busy bandaging your leg.
«Then Eustass Kid happened.»
«What?»
«He ordered me to save your life. I believe his exact words were: "I don't fucking care if you have to drag her back here from the hell's gates, if the girl doesn't live you don't want to know the consequences". Or something along those lines.»
A subtle smile threatened to tug at your lips, so you shoved your chin in the sheets.
«Sorry.» you mumbled.
«No, you're not.»
«Thank you for saving me.»
The doctor hummed, completing the bandage.
«Honestly, I'm happy you finally woke up. For two days you were fighting between life and death. The captain was unapproachable, and the crew too nervous.»
Your gaze trailed the marked skin of your thigh.
«This is... fucked up.»
He didn't reply, reorganizing the drugs on the desk.
After a few minutes, Heat knocked with a plate of vegetables and meat.
Just seeing it triggered a sharp sense of nausea in your guts.
«I don't think she's ready for solid food yet.» the doctor sighed.
Heat seemed a little disappointed.
«I'll feel better soon.» you tried to reassure him, you didn't even know why.
He nodded and turned to the doctor.
«You should join us for dinner, doc. The others are waiting for you.»
«Yeah, yeah.»
The little pirate collected a few things and headed to the door.
«I'll drop by to check on you later. Try to rest, girl.»
You weakly waved at him as he left.
«[Y/n]?»
A light shiver ran down your spine.
It still felt really strange to hear your actual name among the crew.
Heat was probably the only one using it so far, along with Killer.
And Kid, but just when...
A slight shade of red dusted your cheeks at the thought.
«Yeah?»
Heat seemed hesitant. He scratched his nape, not directly looking at you, searching for the words.
«I just wanted to say, hum... if the boss acts, like, coldly now, it's not because you did something wrong or anything.»
But I DID something wrong.
I saved his life.
«It's possible he'll be harsh towards you for a while. Please, just give him some time and–»
«Heat.»
Killer's calm warning cut into the conversation.
The blond was on the doorstep, even if neither of you heard him approach.
Heat stopped talking immediately.
«The doctor said she has to rest. Come back to dinner. Kid is getting nervous.»
«Okay.» Heat looked at you «Later, [Y/n].»
«Later.»
He was still limping slightly while he walked out the cabin.
The blond was about to follow him, but you called for his attention.
«Killer, wait!»
The pirate turned to you.
«Do you need something?»
Once again, I'm supposed to be a prisoner, not a guest.
But you were indeed about to request something, so you bit your tongue back for once.
«I... since I'm stuck here, may I ask for something to read?»
He tilted his head slightly, like you went insane.
Oh, don't you look down at me, damn blondie!
However, you were too weak to retort. The nausea and the headache were growing, and you felt like you were going to pass out soon.
«I think you should just rest.»
«There's a book.» you continued, ignoring him, eyes fixed on the sheets «In K– Eustass' cabin. He... he'll know which one. Probably.»
You nibbled at your inner cheek. Killer was still staring at you.
«Just ask him, okay?» you blurted.
«Fine. Now try to sleep.»
He stepped out and closed the door.
You fell asleep almost immediately.
The night was tormented and painful.
It seemed your body was not able to thermoregulate on its own, so it was always either freezing or burning.
Your chest was hurting like hell and the nausea was squeezing into your dreams.
You woke up and fell back in a comatose state several times.
During one of your blurred moment of wake, you rolled on your back and your eyes searched the darkness of the cabin.
Your feverish gaze dropped on the nightstand.
"The tale of Captain Jack" was right beside the first aid kit.