A Much Needed Respite
“It’s cold.”
Doc hummed as they busied themselves messing with something in a nearby cupboard. I was standing in the middle of their “office” wearing only my underwear as I waited to be examined. My near-nakedness didn’t really bother me that much, but the temperature was a bit lower than I would have liked, leaving me rubbing my arms as I waited for the doctor to finish... Whatever they were doing.
I took a look around the office, though lab might have been more appropriate. It was a dark space with the only light coming from a window looking outside the ship. There was a cot in one corner, sheets perfectly made. Did they sleep in here?
Various medical tools lined the walls, from calipers to at least three different sets of bone saws hanging neatly in a line. Below that, a bundle of rags were neatly folded and pressed against the wall. They were off white and splattered with blood had soaked into the fibers, leaving dark stains. A pile of bandages and a suturing kit sat beside that, both clearly well-used.
There was a shelf along the right wall lined with books detailing everything from history to medical jargon. Opposite that, was a similar one lined with jars full of murky green liquid that made the contents completely indistinguishable. I was somewhat happy about that as I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know what was inside.
A large desk sat in the back of the room, by the window, covered in papers splayed about messily. I craned my neck to see if I could catch what was written on them, but the handwriting was too messy.
“Stop fidgeting.”
I blinked, turning to find Doc standing right beside me. I hadn’t even heard them approach.
“It’s cold,” I repeated.
“You’ll live.” Doc stated. Their eyes traveled down my body, not ogling, just examining. They took a step around me, viewing me from all sides, and I felt somewhat self conscious as they frowned once they got back in front of me
“Hold your arms out,” they instructed.
I did so, extending my arms to either side. Doc’s hands—which they had thankfully covered—ran along my arms with featherlight pressure. I winced as they hit a particularly tender spot on my forearm, but otherwise kept still.
“Multiple healed fractures in both arms,” Doc murmured, more to themselves than to me. “Improperly set, but functional. Significant scarring consistent with repeated blunt trauma and lacerations. Hmm... Your muscle development is surprisingly robust given your apparent state of malnutrition.”
I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an observation, so I said nothing.
Doc moved around to my side, and I felt their hands hover near my ribs. I tensed instinctively, which earned me a raised eyebrow from the doctor.
“Relax. Tensing will only make this more uncomfortable.”
“Easy for you to say,” I muttered, but I tried to comply, forcing my muscles to loosen.
Doc thankfully left my bruise alone for the remainder of the checkup, spending time checking over the rest of my body. They pressed on various joints, looked inside my ears, and even checked underneath my tongue. I half expected them to pull out a tiny rubber hammer and ask me to take a seat somewhere, but they weren’t being quite that thorough.
“You are not in danger of dying anytime soon,” they announced, stepping back and peeling off their gloves. “Your ribs are cracked but not broken, which is fortunate. Improperly healed fractures in your arms and legs will probably make you stiff for the rest of your life, but there’s nothing we can do about that now As for what we can fix, I’d suggest you make a stop in the kitchen for lemons as you are experiencing bleeding in the gums consistent with the early stages of scurvy. It would be best to nip that in the bud before it gets any worse.”
I nodded, filig the device away as Doc grabbed some bandages and made their way over to me. They began to wind them around my torso, leaving them tight enough to hold my ribs in place but not enough to put too much pressure on my bruise.
“The bandaging will help with the pain and hopefully let your ribs heal properly,” Doc explained as they worked. “I’ll also provide you with a mild analgesic for the discomfort. Take it with food if possible, as it may upset your stomach otherwise.”
I nodded, watching their hands move. As Doc leaned in to secure the end of the bandage, I paused as I caught sight of a line of stitches, just like the ones on their hands, running from just below their hairline down until it disappeared beneath the collar of their lab coat. My eyes traced the line downward. The collar of their coat had shifted as they worked, revealing more stitches crisscrossing their skin in patterns that suggested an expert hand. I could see a glimpse of more descending down their back, disappearing into the fabric of their shirt.
Strangely, there weren’t any scars to go with them. the grey flesh wrapped around the stitches like they had been there from the doctor’s conception. From their hairline to the middle of their shoulders, they were a patchwork of thread that had been applied so neatly that they may as well have been born with them.
As I wondered whether or not I was being tended to by some kind of Frankenstein, Doc seemed to sense my eyes upon them. They secured the bandage between their fingers expertly, tilting their head slightly to regard me with bored eyes. “I am a man.”
I blinked. “What?”
Doc looked up at me, and this close, I could see that there were even more stitches on his face. Small, nearly invisible ones that traced along his jawline and up toward his temples, so fine that I hadn’t noticed them until now. How many did he have?
“When people stare at me,” Doc continued, securing the end of the bandage with a small pin, “they are usually wondering after my gender.” He straightened up, adjusting his coat with a slight tug. “Currently, I am a man.”
Currently?
I put the thought out of my mind, shaking my head. “I wasn’t thinking that but... good to know?”
Doc just nodded and stepped back as he finished his work. The bandages wrapped around my ribs and stomach, making it a bit hard to turn but also keeping things where they were supposed to be.
“You may dressed,” Doc said, turning away to wash his hands in a small basin. “Give me a moment and I’ll retrieve your medicine and then you may leave me in peace once more.”
I had barely reached for my clothes when the door to the lab swung open behind me. I turned to find the familiar face of Rachel grinning back at me in the doorway. She had a bundle of fabric clutched in her arms, held slightly in front of her.
Her grin was slightly nervous, which was probably owed to the second woman glaring a hole in the back of her head. She was short, with spikey brown hair, yellow eyes, and a painted face which was currently screwed into an angry expression clearly meant for her captain.
Must be the First Mate, I thought as Rachel stepped into the room.
“Hey there!” she said, presenting the bundle to me. “I brought you some clothes! Should be leagues better than those rags you were wearin’ earlier! Go on, try them on.”
I looked down at the bundle in Rachel’s arms, then back up at her grinning face. The coat she was holding was a deep navy blue, well-worn but sturdy looking, with brass buttons that caught the light from the window. Beneath it, I could see a simple white shirt and a pair of dark trousers—nothing fancy, but she was right. They were infinitely better than what I showed up in.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said. “I’m not planning to stay too long.”
“Course I did,” Rachel replied, shoving the clothes into my arms. “Can’t have you walkin’ around in those rags. You’d freeze the moment the wind picks up!”
The woman behind her snorted derisively. “Or she could freeze anyway. We don’t know anything about her, Rachel. She could be a spy for the Navy for all we know.”
I snorted at the accusation, and that turned out to be a mistake as the woman’s ire focused entirely on me. She bared her teeth, reaching down to one of the daggers sheathed at her waist. “Something funny?”
“Nera,” Rachel tried to interject, but I met Nera’s angry eyes with my own.
“Yeah, the idea that I’d want anything to do with the World Government after what they did to me,” I said sarcastically. “I’ve heard Stockholm syndrome can be a bitch, but I’d have to be pretty fucked in the head to be a spy for the people who made me a slave for my entire life.”
My words seemed to bring Nera up short. Her eyes widened minutely at my confession, but my attention was taken by a click behind me. I turned to find Doc looking at me, his face lit up in apparent revelation.
“That’s what it was,” he said, striding to his desk and picking up a piece of paper, jotting something down.
“What what was?” I asked.
“The brand on your back. I was trying to place its origin but couldn’t manage to remember quite where it came from.”
I stared at him. “You don’t know the symbol of the most powerful entity in the world? It’s plastered everywhere.”
“Doc has memory issues. Always has,” Rachel said, seeming happy to step past the encounter with myself and her First Mate. “We’re lucky if he remembers what year it is. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to throw out old supplies because they expired years ago and he was still using them like he bought them yesterday!”
She laughed, but her mirth was cut short as Doc fixed her with a look. “My memory comes and goes as it pleases, but I’m certain I can tell the freshness of my own medical supplies. Just as I am certain you are due for a checkup any day now, my dear captain.”
Rachel’s face paled several shades at Doc’s reminder, and she let out a nervous laugh that was entirely unconvincing.
“Welp! Can’t keep our new guest waiting!” She announced, grabbing my arm with her free hand and practically dragging me toward the door. “I’ll just show her to her room then! Come on, Irana, let’s go!”
I barely had time to grab the clothes she’d given me before I was pulled out of the room. As I was ushered through the doorway, I glanced back over my shoulder to find Nera still standing there, arms crossed and eyes narrowed at me like a hawk watching a snake that had wandered too close to its nest. I raised an eyebrow but she dimply stared me down as we disappeared from view.
Rachel led me down the corridor to a part of the ship I hadn’t yet seen. It was near the back, just under the helm if I was right. Crates and barrels were scattered around, as well as a few treasure chests. Rachel chatted my ears off the whole way there, only stopping once we reached our destination.
“Here we are!” Rachel announced, pushing the door open with a flourish “Crew quarters! You can take any bunk that tickles your fancy.”
I stepped inside, taking in the space. It was pretty small, though they made good use of the space. Around a dozen or so hammocks lined the walls, with a few actual bunk beds pushed against the back of the room. There were a pair of windows on either side of the room, peering out at almost eye level with the waves just beyond. Each hammock and bunk had a dedicated storage locker.
It was sparse and kind of cramped, but compared to the cell I’d been living in for the past four years, it might as well have been a palace.
“It’s nice,” I said, taking it all in.
“I know it’s not much,” Rachel said, leaning against the doorframe. “But it’s warm and dry and the beds are actually pretty comfortable once you get used to the rocking. I speak from experience.”
Striding to the back, I ran my hand along the edge of one of the bunks, feeling the rough grain of the wood beneath my fingertips. The mattress was somewhat thin, but it was clean and the blanket folded at the foot of the bed looked thick enough to ward off the chill of the sea. It was more than I’d had in years.
“Does anyone actually stay here?” I asked, glancing around at the empty bunks. “The bunks seem kind of empty.”
“Nah, not enough bodies to fill ’em.”
I turned to look at her. “How many crew members do you have?”
Rachel squinted, taking a moment to think. “Five—wait, no, four. We lost one just recently. Hope to find him again real soon, though. He was a bit odd, but good people.”
I eyed her. “Four? That’s it?”
Rachel nodded, her earrings jingling with the motion. “Hopin’ to increase that number, of course, but we manage well enough.”
Luffy and his bunch managed well enough with only a few people for a crew, but barring a couple of them, every single one of the Strawhats were some brand of freak so they had the advantage. Even if it was the East Blue, making a go of it with a skeleton crew was pretty ballsy.
“Well,” I said, setting the bundle of clothes down on the nearest bunk. “Thanks for letting me stay.”
“Don’t mention it!” Rachel waved a hand dismissively. “Like I said, we’re headed to Kara Town anyway. It’s no trouble at all to drop you off.”
I nodded, turning my attention to the clothes she’d brought me and began to undress. I shrugged off my clothes without shame and pulled on the white shirt first. It was a bit loose in the shoulders, but it covered me well enough. The pants were a similar story, hanging slightly loose on my hips but cinching tight with a belt that Rachel had thoughtfully included. The coat was last, and I slipped my arms through the sleeves, letting it settle over my shoulders. It was warm.
I turned, holding my arms out for inspection, and Rachel tilted her head.
“Seems like it’s missin’ something...” she mused, a hand on her chin. “But it’s much better than watcha were wearing earlier! You look like a proper sailor now!”
“Thanks,” I huffed, feeling much more comfortable in fresh clothes. I could have done with a shower or at least a soak in water that wasn’t cloyed with salt, but this would do for now.
Rachel clapped her hands together.
“Right! I should let you get some rest. Doc says you need to take it easy for a few days, and I won’t have you straining yourself on my ship, okay? Captain’s orders.”
“I’m not part of your crew,” I said, mildly amused.
“You are while you’re walking the halls of my ship,” Rachel declared with a bright ginn. “Dinner’s in a few hours. We’re having it a mite early since you’re a guest and you look like you haven’t had a proper meal in years.”
I gave her a dry look. “I haven’t.”
Rachel’s expression flickered with sympathy and her voice softened a bit. “Well then you’re in for a treat. Brogy’s stew is the best this side of the Baratie! You’re gonna love it!”
With that, she disappeared through the door, leaving me alone in the crew quarters.
I stood there for a long moment, just taking in the space. The silence was strange after so many years of constant noise, though not exactly unpleasant considering before my days were filled with shouting, clanging, and the occasional sob.
I made my way to the bunk I’d claimed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. It was softer than I expected, and I found myself sinking into it with a sigh. My ribs protested the movement, but the bandages held them in place, and the pain was more of a dull ache than the sharp stab it had been earlier. I laid back on the bed, staring up at the wooden ceiling and just listening to the ship creak as it rolled over the ocean waves.
What was Umi doing right now? Or Jerrik? Had they made it out of that storm? Were they safe aboard a stolen marine vessel, or were they drifting aimlessly in the sea? I felt horrible not knowing, but I knew better than to work myself up into a panic over something I couldn’t control. Instead, I let the worry sit there, a tight ball in my chest that I hoped would come undone once we reached Kara Town.
Be safe, both of you, I thought as my eyes slowly drifted shut.
I slowly drifted off, lulled to sleep by the sounds of the sea and thankfully didn’t dream of anything at all.