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When Luffy first had reached out to push the man infected with Queen‘s artificial virus back, who‘d gotten uncomfortably close, Chopper had, for a moment, hoped that Luffy would, like always be fine. He‘d actually not even noticed what was happening until O-Kiku‘s panicked shout had drawn his attention towards the most reckless person he‘d ever met and awy from the danger, closing in on them.
He felt as if the blood was straight up freezing in his veins.
When the first patches of that grisly, green rash had started blooming all over his Captain‘s body, he wanted to cry. Or yell and maybe punch Luffy in the face while he was at it. Seriously, what if he wouldn‘t be able to find a cure for whatever Kaido‘s subordinate had cooked up?
And it got even worse. Instead of maybe falling back and for once worrying about himself,, Luffy completely ignored what was happening to his body and charged at a whole mob of infected inmates, not caring about the fact that he was taking more and more of that dreaded illness into his body. Not caring that blood was running from his nose and mouth in concerning amounts, while claiming that he wasn‘t feeling it at all, which Chopper knew was a lie.
Luffy was scarily good at hiding pain and only due to Chopper being his doctor and having known his Captain for quite for some time made him able to actually see through that brave facade, see that Luffy was literally screaming on the inside while once again doing the impossible and ignoring his own limits in order to help someone else.
After he‘d more or less blown up the warden, the situation finally calmed down a bit. Of course, there was still the matter of the highly contagious sick and the absolute mayhem Luffy and Big Mom had caused earlier, but at least, no one was shooting at them any longer or was trying to attack them. They could now actively start caring for all the diseased and injured in earnest.
In all the chaos of trying to motivate the sick to move away from everyone else and have the ones that were still somewhat able to move drag or carry the ones that had already succumbed completely, the reindeer had, to his great horror, lost sight of his Captain. He was just happy that Kiku and the other Samurai were keeping an eye on Tama and Momonosuke. He couldn’t afford to loose time by babysitting those two while fighting a deadly disease at the same time.
“Luffy? Hey, where are you?!” In his small form, it was easy to slip through the mass of prisoners and all the rubble. Sadly, like this, he didn’t have a very good view of the area and was forced to run around and search only his direct vicinity. Like this, it would be only due to sheer luck, if he managed to find Luffy right away.
There was still a lot of dust in the air. Cursing, Chopper called out again, hoping to get a reply from his Captain. Still without success. And really, he hadn’t actually counted on getting one. Luffy surely must be in a horrible state by now, at least judging from the way the other infected were behaving.
Even his nose wasn’t much help right now. The foreign smells and the thick smoke and stench of disease made it impossible to actually find anyone by scent alone. If he’d had the option, he would have very much liked to cover his nose all together. The entire prison smelled absolutely atrocious. Unwashed bodies, human waste and misery were the most prominent among the odors, he desperately tried to ignore. Seriously, he felt pity for anyone, who’d been forced to live in these conditions over a prolonged amount of time.
This was also the reason, he was so distracted, he almost ran past his Captain, only being alarmed by something like burning rubber in the air. It was out of place and definitely something, he’d come to associate with the Strawhat.
Luffy looked horrible. The rash on his skin was now covering more then half of his body. His complexion looked almost gray and sweat was beading on his face while he desperately gasped for breath against the obviously immense waves of pain, crashing through his body, coughing lightly from time to time as the blood still flowing freely from his mouth and nose got into his airway.
“Oh my god, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! Seriously, how stupidly reckless can you get? This is a new record, even by your standards! Just look at what you did to yourself this time!”
“Ch’ppr…?” Luffy was shivering as if he laid on ice, instead of moderately warm dirt and rubble. Even without touching his Captain, the young reindeer could feel the high fever ravaging his friend’s body.
Hearing the weakness and pain in his Captain’s voice made the doctor completely put aside his anger and irritation for the time being. “Yes, I’m here, Luffy. How are you feeling?”
Half lidded, dark eyes stared at him, though Chopper really wasn’t sure how much the other pirate was able to take in right now. “Nrggg… ‘m hot…”
Blood was now running down Luffy’s neck and dripping onto the ground below.
“Hmm, you do have a really high fever. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to do much until I can safely touch you. For now, we need to get you somewhere a bit more comfortable. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you manage to get some rest. And in the meantime, I will work on a remedy for whatever that virus is.” Honestly, he didn’t think a change of scenery or some sleep would do much good, but still, anything must feel better then laying on the rocky naked dirt that made up the majority of Udon. “Do you think you can manage to get up?”
Every instinct he had as a doctor told him to not have his patient move at all, but still, he needed a safe place to work and didn’t want to leave Luffy either. He’d really like to just pick the young man up and carry him somewhere warm and comfortable, but if he didn’t want to get ill himself, he’d have to either motivate his Captain into moving, or find another sick person who wasn’t completely miserable yet and have them carry Luffy for him. Both options were equally bad.
He felt dread when Luffy just nodded and grit his teeth, before slowly rolling onto his side and starting to push himself into an upright position on badly trembling arms. “I’ll manage…” If possible, his face seemed to loose even more color, the contrast between bright red blood and ashes skin more alarming then ever.
It was terrifying to see someone as strong as Luffy struggling to do something as simple as walking a couple of meters. They needed to stop every couple of steps, so Luffy could try to catch his breath when a particularly bad wave of burning pain shot through his body, stealing his breath and killing what little sense of balance he’d left. After this had happened a couple of times already and they were still not even close to shelter, tears burned in Chopper’s eyes. He couldn’t take this for much longer. After a fight, He could apply bandages and medicine, Luffy would sleep and eat and after that, be fine in no time. But this right now? He couldn’t even comfort Luffy with anything but empty words of encouragement. Until he’d managed to manufacture a fitting medication, he was virtually powerless.
He didn’t know for how long he’d watched his Captain’s struggles, but when they finally reached a completely demolished cluster of cells that now looked like more of a natural cave then anything else, he decided that this was good enough. He couldn’t stand to watch Luffy suffer through more right now.
“Let’s settle down in here, Luffy. You can’t go on like this and I can just as well work from here. The watchtower would definitely have had better supplies, but we can have one of the Samurai get us what we need.” He really hoped, his Captain wouldn’t be stubborn and insist on continuing to walk.
Luffy, who was currently leaning against the closest boulder, fighting down another wave of pain, only nodded, as a barely bitten back cry escaped him and he doubled over, hugging himself fiercely, too miserable to speak right now. As he curled in on himself and spat out another mouth full of blood, Chopper actually started to doubt that he would be able to get his friend through this swiftly. Those symptoms were just way to extreme to not leave the body completely exhausted after running their course.
“Come on, just a few more steps, then you can lay down for a bit.” His own voice was trembling now, as the small reindeer did his best to fight back the tears that had threatened to fall ever since he’d found Luffy a little while ago.
While keeping an eye on his patient, Chopper lead the way, praying that his Captain would not collapse before reaching their destination.
The inside of their new hideout was just as messy as he’d feared, but at least, it was dry and not too visible from the outside. Luffy needed peace and quiet, not a bunch of curious onlookers.
Luffy, for his part, didn’t seem to mind the less then comfortable conditions as he simply flopped down onto the nearest, remotely clean, patch of dirt in a boneless heap, as soon as they’d entered, not moving another inch as his body obviously had enough for the time being.
“Just rest, Luffy, you did really well. I’ll see if I can get you a blanket and some water. Then, I’ll get right to work. I promise, I’ll get you back on your feet in no time.” He didn’t get a reply. Dropping his ears sadly, he continued to listen to Luffy’s strained breathing and occasional whimper for a couple of minutes, before stepping back out into the prison mine.
He really hoped that the blood coating his friends face only came from the soft tissue in his mouth and nose. If not, then they were talking legit internal bleeding with the lungs and stomach most likely being affected. If this was the case, the sick wouldn’t have much time left.
In the gray daylight, he blinked a few times to clear his vision. Now, where would he get a blanket in a place like this? Not to mention all the equipment he would need in order to start working on the medicine for Luffy and the others. He might have a small amount of materials with him, but not nearly enough in order to make anything of the caliber they very likely needed here.
“Hey, there you are, Chppaemon!” O-Tama and Momonosuke were running in his direction, looking a bit intimidated by everything they’d seen happening In the last hour, as well as the fact that they were basically surrounded by criminals and in a literal prison. “Did you find Aniki? Is he okay? We lost sight of him when you guys got attacked by all those weird people earlier.”
“Oh, Tama, Momonosuke, what are you even doing here? I thought Kiku and I told you to stay outside!” Seriously, wasn’t it enough that Luffy lacked any sense of self preservation?
Blushing slightly, the little girl looked at the ground sheepishly. “I… I’m sorry, but when we saw them closing up the place again, we didn’t want to stay out there and do nothing… Also, I really wanted to see Aniki again.”
Next to her, Momonosuke nodded along, muttering something about being a proud samurai and refusing to run away from this or something. Really, Chopper didn’t listen to him all that much.
“I see. Listen, please make sure to stay away from all those sick people out there. You can’t, under any circumstances touch them, got it? If you do, you’ll fall ill as well.”
“Okay, fine, but what about Aniki?” She started looking really impatient right about now, pouting as she stared him down, demanding an answer. Really, no wonder that girl and Luffy were getting along so well. They had the exact same stubborn streak.
Sighing, Chopper resigned himself to the upcoming conversation. “Yes, I did find him, but for now, you should leave him alone. He’s resting and needs some peace and quiet.” He was very careful to keep his face and voice as neutral as he could.
Smile on her face, the young girl nodded, almost vibrating on the spot and ready to move. “Oh, that’s okay. We can be quiet. He’s in that cave, right?”
He really didn’t want to erase that smile from her face, but at this point, he didn’t know how else to keep her away from Luffy. “Yes he is, but Tama… I don’t know how much you guys saw earlier, but he’s just as Ill as the others. I’m sure I can find a cure for them all, but in order to do that, I’ll need time to work, as well as supplies. If you want, you can come with me and search for anything useful and after that, you can stay in there with me and Luffy, as long as you promise to keep your distance and do exactly as I say, got it?”
He hated making them cry, but in situations like this, honesty and clear communication were key. With tears in their eyes, both children nodded, though the future Shogun clearly still tried to keep up a brave face. Tama not so much. “Okay, but … is there anything we can do to make him feel any better? Being sick is no fun and he took care of me after I drank that poisonous water, so I really wanna help him!”
Chopper really needed to remember to ask his Captain about this once he was feeling better. Luffy was a strong fighter and a good friend, but his medical knowledge was, to put it lightly, horribly inaccurate. Gently putting his hove on her shoulder, he smiled at her. “Just come with me and we’ll figure things out. The sooner we gather everything I need, the faster I can make them feel better. Also, I’m sure Luffy would really appreciate some company, so by just being there, you’ll be able to do plenty.”
He just really hoped Luffy would be fine until they were back. Actually, he’d also preferred to drop both kids off somewhere safe and far away from this, but something told him that if he tried, it wouldn’t take long for them to escape again and come back here.
“Let’s move. Maybe that old man can help us find what we need.” Transforming into Walk point, he allowed the two young humans to climb onto his back. Like this, traversing the rocky ground was a lot more easy and fast. Briefly, he wondered what the rest of the crew would do if they were here. Secretly, he was happy they weren’t. When it came to Luffy, they all tended to get a bit protective and stopped thinking rationally. Zoro for example was the type to ignore his own health and get sick on purpose, just so he could be by his Captain’s side. He couldn’t have more of the crew sick right now. There was no telling how long the effects of that virus would last, even with proper medication. He wasn’t even sure he’d get their Captain back on his feet in time for the raid. So not having to worry about anyone else was definitely a small mercy.
Once he reached the small group of Ninja’s, Samurai and Yakuza, he was glad to find out that Raizo had apparently spend quite some time snooping around the place and would be able to guide him to where he needed to go. The prison mine had a small infirmary, a laboratory and a whole bunch of things, he’d rather not think about and hoped deeply, his Captain hadn’t been acquainted with. Once he could once again safely touch Luffy, he’d definitely need to examine the young man thoroughly.
One room in particular had his fur standing on end. Even without opening the door, he could clearly smell old blood and other bodily fluids, leaving not much room for imagination in terms of what that place was being used for regularly.
Udon definitely had deserved its bad reputation.
Shaking his head violently to get his thoughts back together, he swiftly instructed Tama to grab some water, rubber gloves, towels and a blanket from the infirmary. He himself transformed into his human form and sifted through the drawers and cupboards in the laboratory next door. Thankfully, this place seemed to have been set up by someone who understood a thing or two about what they were doing and soon, he was rewarded with a wide variety of tools and ingredients he would definitely need.
Looking outside, he noticed with horror that their small excursion had taken way longer then expected. They had reached Udon around noon and the whole mess with Big Mom hadn’t taken longer then an hour. Now though, the sun was starting to set.
The needed to get back to Luffy right away. How could he have lost track of time to this extend? He didn’t know enough about this artificial disease to comfortably leave a patient unattended for this long!
Packing everything up, he didn’t even bother with explanations as he picked up both children and their supplies.
“Woah, Choppaemon, what-”
“We’ll head back now!”
“O-kay…”
Hurrying back through the rapidly darkening prison, he didn’t bother to halt to check on anyone else. There still were enough injured and ill, but right now, his Captain needed him. And before he’d managed to find a cure, he wouldn’t be able to help them anyways.
People were now retreating into their usual sleeping places, meaning a bunch of more or less wrecked prison cells and briefly, Chopper wondered about the place Luffy had been kept in up until now. The future pirate king hated any form of restraint and to be kept behind bars like this and under strict supervision must really have been hell for him.
Within record time, they made their way back to the literal hole in the wall, he’d left Luffy In earlier. To his surprise, someone was already there, waving at him. It was the old man, Luffy had befriended and protected during the fight with Big Mom.
“Hey there! I though our young friend here might enjoy some company, so I stayed and kept an eye on him for a bit.”
Despite the situation, Chopper felt himself smile. “Definitely! Thank you so much, I didn’t mean to stay away for this long. How is he doing?”
“Hmm, I’m actually not too sure. As far as I can tell, he’s been either sleeping or unconscious for the most part.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you.” While it was good to know that his Captain had gotten at least some rest, it still didn’t sit well with him that Luffy had been this quiet. For the Strawhat, this never was a good sign.
“Hey now, no need to look so sad. I don’t think he’s gotten worse at least.”
“You’re right, sorry. I just don’t like seeing him like this. It just feels so… wrong for him to be this sill.”
At that, the old man laughed. “Yes, that is also the impression he gave me. Now then, take good care of him. And if you need anything, just ask for old man Hyo. I’ll see to it that you’ll get everything you need as long as it’s in our power to provide.”
A warm feeling spread through his veins. Luffy and his incredible gift for finding friends in the most unlikely places… “Thank you, I will.”
Now turning towards the cave, he addressed the two kids still hanging from his shoulders. “Now remember you two, do as I say and don’t get too close to Luffy. If he’s awake, you can talk to him, but absolutely no touching!”
“Got it, Chppaemon.”
“Y-yes, we’ll do as you ask.” Suddenly, he felt skin shift to scales as the young boy turned into his dragon form, betraying his composed face and making it obvious how worried and scared the kid actually was.
In the now very sparse light of the cave, he could barely make out his Captain’s prone form on the ground. The only noise in here was Luffy’s raspy breathing, echoing off the walls.
Gently kneeling down and putting all they’d gathered, as well as the children down onto the ground he then preceded to take out a couple of lanterns from one of the bags. Lighting them swiftly, he asked Momonosuke to place them around the cave as he changed into his small form again, finally able to start working properly.
First things first. He needed to more thoroughly asses Luffy’s condition. It was good that the pirate was still alive, but aside from that, he didn’t know much else.
Stepping closer to his Captain, he could barely resist the urge to gently place his hove on the man’s shoulder in order to rouse him. Raising his voice instead, he addressed the sleeping Strawhat. “Luffy? Hey, can you hear me?”
Taking a closer look at Luffy as he waited for a reply, he noticed that there was now a lot of dried blood on the lower half of his face. Apparently the hours of rest had at least somehow managed to slow down the bleeding for a bit. But aside from that, nothing much had changed.
Next to him, he could hear Tama gasping in shock. “Aniki? Hey, are you sleeping?” She could barely hide the tremble in her voice. “You need to wake up. Choopaemon said he wants to help you.”
Gently gripping the back of her kimono, just in case, Chopper watched as finally, Luffy started showing signs of actually waking up.
However, his relief was short lived as he saw the absolute agony in his friends eyes, which shone bright with fever, barely able to focus. However, despite all this, the second his foggy gaze found the little girl, all signs of discomfort were forced away, replaced by a tired smile.
“Tama?… When did you get here? Didn’t you want to get back to the old nose guy?”
“Aniki!” Tears were rolling down her round face now. “I… I came to get you out of here, together with Choppaemon and Momo-kun. We even brought O-Lin to destroy the gate for us!”
Seriously, if she’d known of the relationship between Luffy and Big Mom, she would probably not have brought that up as proudly as this. Chopper really had hoped he would never have to admit to Luffy that he’d basically sicked that crazy pirate lady on him without much of a plan.
“...O-Lin?”
Of course, he didn’t recognize that name at all. Thank god.
Before Tama could continue, Chopper decided that for medical reasons of course, he would cut this conversation short. Keeping Luffy calm right now was important and exhausting him with drawn out conversations surely wouldn’t do him any favors either.“Well, since you’re awake now, we can get started. I’ll do my best to work on something that’ll neutralize the virus those guards used. For that, I’ll need some of your blood. Also, I need you to be absolutely honest with me when I ask you something. Every detail might help, do you understand?”
By now, Luffy looked half asleep again, but nodded anyways. “...kay.”
“Good. First, please tell me about all your symptoms in detail.”
“Hmmm, I still feel really hot and sore. Also… head hurts and… feel dizzy and sick.”
“Do you think you can manage to drink something? Your fever is still very high and you need to stay hydrated.” Pouring some water in a cup he’d brought from the infirmary, he placed it close enough for Luffy to reach. “It doesn’t have to be much, but please try at least.” Just from the way Luffy’s usually smooth and elastic skin had started to wrinkle in certain places, he could clearly tell that the man was very close to dangerously dehydrating right about now.
It was heartbreaking to see his Captain too weak to sit upright without clinging to the nearest wall desperately. Still, under Chopper’s watchful eyes, he did as he’d been asked and very uncharacteristically slowly, sipped his water, pausing from time to time when his body decided to make it’s current displeasure known, causing him to almost drop the small cup a couple of times, whenever another cramp ran through his muscles or he got so dizzy, he was on the verge of falling over again.
Now that this was settled, he focused on the next problem. How to draw blood without touching his patient. In his human form, he might be able to get on those rubber gloves he’d found earlier. They should be able to protect him, though if for some reason, they wouldn’t there would be no one left to take care of all the sick.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself. He decided to risk it anyways. The guards had been able to work with this stuff as well without getting sick, so direct skin contact seemed to be the only thing he needed to worry about. This really made him feel better. Luffy would surely benefit from a gentle touch.
While he changed to his larger form again, Luffy was still clinging to the wall, looking absolutely miserable behind his forced smile as Tama rambled on about the crocodile shark they had arrived on and about her training and whatever else went through her small head.
As a precaution, Chopper decided, just to be safe, to put on two pairs of gloves over each other. He hated wearing these things, but right now, this really was the only option.
“Okay Luffy, now give me your arm please. And try not to move. I’d rather not have to do this multiple times.” In one hand, he held a medium sized syringe, as well as some rubber tubing and disinfectant while he had the other one outstretched, waiting for his Captain to place his arm in. “I promise, I’ll be as quick as possible.”
“But-”
“I’m wearing protective gloves, so you won’t spread the sickness to me.”
“Are you sure?” Despite his terrible condition, Luffy still, first and foremost, worried about his crew mates before himself.
No, he wasn’t but that didn’t matter right now. “Of course. Now let’s get this over with.”
Luffy still didn’t look very happy and considering the fact that the young Captain hated needles, this was to be expected. Due to his stretchy and tough skin, getting any kind of needle in there without using quiet a bit of force was impossible, often ending in quite painful ordeals for the young man.
Despite the fact that Chopper was aware of Luffy’s fever, he was still shocked when his rubber clad fingers made contact with sweat slicked, burning skin. He couldn’t quite keep the horror from showing on his face. How on earth was Luffy even conscious right now? A fever this high was definitely reaching ‘potential brain damage’ territory.
“Woah, you’re really feeling awful, aren’t you?” Despite the fact that he knew Luffy’s aversion to pity, he couldn’t quite keep it out of his voice this time around.
Not waiting for a reply, he swiftly tied off Luffy’s arm and prepared to start drawing some blood. After the struggle to force the thin piece of metal through his Captain’s skin, he started to relax a bit. Blood was slowly filling the small glass vial and soon, he’d be able to start working on making his friend feel better. And to his great relief, the rubber gloves had done their job and had efficiently blocked the virus from spreading to him. If it had, he’d surely be feeling the effects of it by now.
When he finally pulled the needle back out and quickly covered the small puncture with a fitting bandage, he noticed the bruising and raw skin all around his Captain’s wrists. How he hadn’t noticed this before was a miracle to him. Those injuries were quite visible and looked rather painful. Upon closer inspection, he also found similar marks around Luffy’s neck, briefly remembering the heavy looking metal contraption the young pirate had worn earlier today.
How dare they chain him up like some animal? Vividly remembering his earlier explorations, he searched Luffy for any further injuries, relieved to only find some minor scrapes and bruises. He’d need to take care of those as well. But for now, medicine was his first priority. Kaido and his people would pay for this. Breathing deeply a couple of times in order to swallow down his anger, he was more determined to get this antidote done then ever.
Putting his supplies away, he used the opportunity to gently brush sweaty strands of dark hair out of Luffy’s face, causing the Strawhat to instinctively lean into his touch for a moment, before tensing up and curling into himself again in obvious pain. Thankfully this time, Chopper was able to at least keep a steadying hand on Luffy’s shoulder, offering support and comfort in the process.
“Hey, what’s happening? Talk to me, Luffy!”
Panting heavily and shaking in pain, Luffy only whimpered pathetically and incoherently for a moment. This particular episode lasted for a couple of minutes, before slowly, he seemed to slightly relax, sweat once again beading on his face as fresh blood ran out of his nose and slightly opened mouth again. He looked absolutely exhausted by now.
“Damn it! You should lay back down for now. Here, we brought you a blanket and a pillow, you should be more comfortable with those instead of just lying on the ground.” Patting Luffy’s head once more, Chopper really needed all his will power in order not to gather Luffy up in his arms and hold him close until he felt better.
Somewhere in the background, he could here Tama and Momo talking quietly, obviously terrified. He didn’t have time for them right now.
Once he’d pulled Luffy away from the wall and laid him on his side, his hand stayed clamped onto his Captain’s shoulder for a moment. “Hey now, what’a going on with you? What just happened?”
“J-just happens… sometimes…”
“Luffy-”
“...burns…”
This wasn’t good at all. For his stubborn Captain to admit this much, it must be really bad. He needed to hurry. “Okay. Just… try to sleep again and hang in there. I’ll make sure you’ll be fine again in no time.” After tucking the blanked tightly around his by now semi conscious Captain, Chopper hurried back to his supplies. He needed to get this done now!
Chopper worked through the night, only stopping from time to time to check on Luffy when he was experiencing another wave of pain like before. From the looks of it, those got more frequent with each passing hour and sadly, more violent each time. After one particularly bad episode, Luffy actually had curled up into a tight little ball, gripping his head fiercely and seemed on the verge of crying, unshod tears gathering in the corners of his tightly shut eyes. The poor guy must have been absolutely exhausted at this point. Chopper was just happy, the kids were sound asleep and didn’t have to see this. They would have been terrified.
After the first rays of sunlight had broken through the dark of night, Luffy had finally managed to get a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep, his body obviously unable to go on for longer without rest.
Chopper could by now make out the sounds of the prison population starting their day as tired shuffling of feet over gravel alerted him to the fact that people were definitely up and about by now.
Until the early afternoon, nothing more happened. To the doctor’s great surprise, none of the sick had died so far. They were definitely heading in that direction, but from what he could tell, his medicine would be ready before that. He’d identified the ingredients needed for the antiviral medicine and had added everything together. Now, they only needed to wait until it was done.
Sadly, peace and quiet didn’t last for long as slowly but surely, loud voices could be heard from the outside, gaining in numbers and volume with each minute, soon drowning out the few people who were trying to settle everyone down.
Once it got loud enough for him to hear what that debate was about, he would have liked to hit someone. How dared they, after all, Luffy had done for them, reject him like that? He was so lost in his anger at this injustice that he only realized, his patient had moved, when it was already too late.
Seriously, for someone deathly ill, it shouldn’t be possible to rip out a huge bolder from the nearest wall and use it to chase the country’s future leader out into the open like that without falling over.
He was so scandalized, he couldn’t even yell, at Luffy for this. Though honestly, with his Captain, this really shouldn’t have surprised him that much.
Once Momo was out of the cave and doing his part, Luffy was once again left on the verge of collapse, almost hyperventilating as he stood swaying on the spot, before more or less gracelessly sinking back to the ground, now obviously completely spend, while a steady stream of blood was once again running from his nose.
From there, it didn’t take long for Luffy’s condition to deteriorate even further and by the time Momo got back to them, it had gotten so bad, the poor pirate was writhing on the ground, screeching in agony.
He really didn’t have the heart to scold the young man for his reckless behavior right now.
Thankfully by now, Chopper had managed to finish his first batch of hopefully effective medicine. He really hoped it worked. There was no time for further testing. Luffy was at the end of his rope and needed help ASAP. He honestly didn’t know what to do if his concoction wouldn’t work. And if his Captain, who was no stranger to extreme injuries and pain was in this state, he didn’t want to imagine how bad the other prisoners were faring.
Despite his sorry state, Luffy was still with it enough to actually swallow, trusting Chopper blindly and not asking any questions. (Honestly, he probably wasn’t able to):
Almost immediately, his body relaxed and the screaming stopped. “That’s it, Luffy, just let the medicine do it’s work and rest. I’m sure in a little bit, you’ll be all better.”
“Is… is Aniki okay now?” Tama looked almost as pale as Luffy right now, obviously scared out of her mind.
Sighing deeply, the reindeer only shrugged. “We’ll have to give it another couple of hours before we can be sure. However, in the meantime, we’ll need to make more medicine for everyone else. Can I trust the two of you to bring the finished vials out to Miss Kiku and tho others?”
“Of course!” Both kids seemed happy to have been given something productive to do rather then to just sit and wait.
Now that he only needed to throw together ingredients and cook them down, Medicine production didn’t take long at all. After only a couple of hours, he had made enough for all the sick, who, just as his Captain, were almost instantly relieved of their pain to a point where they could fall into a relaxing and much needed, deep sleep.
To no one’s surprise, the first thing Luffy demanded upon waking up was food, which was promptly delivered by Wano’s most beautiful samurai in large amounts. This was a good sign. Luffy needed food in order to recover, his fast metabolism doing wonders in terms of distribting nutrients to where he needed them to go in order to feel better fast.
Chopper still didn’t leave his Captain out of his sight though. The last couple of hours had gone by much more quietly then the previous night and he was relatively certain that Luffy would be completely fine again in a couple of days now, but still, this didn’t mean that the dark haired male wasn’t still feeling at least somewhat unwell.
He was still pale and had a fever, although not as alarmingly high as earlier. Sometimes, he still looked like he was in pain, as cramps ran through his body, stealing his breath a few moments at a time. But at least, that awful rash was gone completely already and the bleeding from his mouth and nose had stopped as well. And the best thing was that he wasn’t contagious anymore, meaning Chopper could actually take care of him properly now.
“Really Luffy, never do something like this again! What if I hadn’t been able to find a remedy in time? That was one of the most foolish things I have ever seen you do so far!”knocking his hove gently against his Captain’s still aching head, the furry doctor couldn’t help but scold the man for his lack of common sense. “You can’t just rush into stuff like that without a plan!” Furiously rubbing a damp towel over Luffy’s face and upper body, Chopper did his best to clean away all the grime and dried blood, that were still clinging to his Captain’s skin stubbornly.
“...’m sorry Chopper, but since you were there, I just knew that it would be fine. After all, you’re the best doctor I could ever ask for!”
“Stop with those stupid compliments! I’m still really mad at you!” The way he was positively cuddling into his Captains side did definitely not have anything to do with that, thank you very much.
Like this, the small reindeer fell asleep, by now completely worn out. He’d been so worried that resting hadn’t really been an option ever since finding Big Mon on that beach a couple of days ago. And now, with Luffy gently cuddling him and scratching lightly behind his ears, resisting the pull of exhaustion he’d been fighting was absolutely impossible.
Sadly, the peace and quiet didn’t last for long. The next time he opened his eyes, Luffy was gone. He’d expected to wake up, still pressed to the other pirate, warm and contempt and definitely able to check Luffy’s condition freely, as soon as he was up again. Sadly, as it appeared, his Captain had other plans.
Though, it only took him a very short amount of time to actually find him again. Apparently, his not quite fully recovered patient had decided that it was high time to get in some last minute training before they took on Kaido. And not some simple physical exercises like maybe running or something. No. Of course it had to be something as energy consuming as Haki. Damn his idiot of a Captain.
He ran out of their cave, eyes wide in absolute horror. Didn’t that moron realize how close he’d come to actually dying just yesterday? “LUFFY! What exactly do you think you’re doing?! You need to go back and rest right now! You’re body still hasn’t nearly had enough time to recover from being sick like that!” Not caring about the few people staring at them in a mixture of shock and amusement, Chopper fiercely grabbed on to Luffy’s kimono and tried tugging that stubborn mule back towards their temporary home. “Move! I’m serious about this!”
“Oh, Chopper? You’re awake again!” Smiling at him like the sun itself, Luffy didn’t even seem to notice his irritation. “Don’t worry, I’m feeling great. Also, I really need to figure this out before fighting Kaido. I’ll rest later.”
He definitely wasn’t happy about this at all, but from the look on his Captain’s face, this wasn’t a topic he’d be changing his mind on any time soon. So instead of arguing, the reindeer only sighed deeply. “Fine, but you will take regular breaks and let me check you over. Also, If I find your condition worsening again, you will go back to bed.” Sitting down next to old man Hyo as the guy yelled instructions at his Captain, Chopper resigned himself to spend the day closely monitoring Luffy’s training. He only left his post once in order to go check up on all the other prisoners, who were definitely better but still needed some time before being up to no good again.
Until they left Udon, every effort he made to stop that stubborn idiot was in vain. Every plea fell on death ears as Luffy continued to pulverize anything, that old man, who was definitely just as crazy as the Strawhat himself, told him to practice on.
When on their way back to Amigasa, Luffy finally decided that he may actually need some more rest, Chopper would have liked to cry in relief. He’d watched the other carefully and was definitely positive that he was still feeling the lingering effects from his illness but had out of sheer stubbornness, decided to ignore this completely, so he could finish learning, whatever the old Yakuza had taught him.
Luffy was definitely good at hiding it, but the simple fact that all the other Prisoners who’d gotten sick were still unwell enough to warrant lots of bed rest, made it pretty clear that his Captain definitely shouldn’t overexert himself either right now. Another dead giveaway was the fact that now that he was carrying Luffy, he could clearly feel that the young man was feverish again.
Stomping his hooves angrily as he walked, he wondered, not for the first time, what had caused Luffy to become the way he was in the first place. Had no one ever taught him that rest was important? That sickness needed to be taken seriously? Or the simple fact that being in pain shouldn’t be taken lightly or be considered normal?
Later, when they finally reached the old sword smith's hut, he was just glad to have a place were Luffy might actually be able to sleep off the rest of his illness in a somewhat comfortable environment. He even managed to gently lay Luffy down inside, without waking him and cover him with a blanket to combat the slight shivering caused by persisting fever in his Captain.
The silence lasted for less then an hour.
The loud arrival of their Nakama ruined the tranquility of the bamboo forest completely. Annoyance clear in his face, the reindeer stepped out of the small hut, glaring at the humans that had all become his family over time, dead serious. “Keep it down.”
Now, everyone was staring at him, dumbfounded.
“Oi, Chopper, what’s got you so worked up?” Zoro stared at him, obviously waiting for an explanation. “Also, where’s Luffy? That little brat told me he was with you.”
Groaning inwardly, he nodded. This really wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have right now. He needed to get back inside and monitor Luffy in order to make sure that idiot would actually rest for the time being. And having to give a full explanation to everyone would definitely get in the way of that.
“He’s sleeping. And if any of you wake him up I swear, I will punch you.”
“That’s not much of an explanation you know.”
“I know, but-”
“Oi, Zoro!!!”
What had he done to deserve this?
Like a vaguely human shaped ricked, Luffy shot out of the open door, straight at their swordsman, who caught him mid flight, almost effortlessly.
“There you are! Good to have you back, Sencho.” Really, Luffy was the only one able to make their Swordsman smile like that.
“Shishishi, I wasn’t gone that long.”
“Well, long enough.” There was something in Zoro’s gaze that told Chopper he’d caught on to the fact that something wasn’t quite right about their Captain. “Are you doing okay? You look a bit pale.”
Next to Zoro, Nami nodded, frown on her face. “He’s right, Luffy. You really don’t look all that well.” Just as she reached out for him gently, their Captain only laughed, dancing out of her reach completely and detaching himself from Zoro In the process.
“Sure, I’m great!”
“NO, YOU’RE NOT, GO BACK TO BED!!!” He’d had enough with their stubborn leader. “I don’t care how fast you heal of what exactly you and that old man were up to! You still have a fever and need to rest! And don’t you dare tell me that it doesn’t hurt anymore. I know you well enough to see right through that!” Breathing heavily, he didn’t give a damn about the fact that he was definitely making a scene right now.
“But Chopper, that so boring! Also, I need to-”
“Need to do what exactly?” If looks could kill, the doctor would have definitely murdered his patient right now.
The other Strawhats were dead silent as they watched the drama unfold in front of them.
Apparently, Luffy noticed that Chopper wasn’t playing around right now. The young Captain seemed to deflate a bit, before making his way back towards the reindeer.
“Can’t I at least stay out here with everyone else? I really missed then and-” Whatever he was going to say was lost in a barely bitten back groan as he almost doubled over, in pain.
“See, that’s why I keep telling you to rest! Your body isn’t ready to go at a hundred percent again yet. At least take a break until your fever is gone completely.” Now, Chopper’s voice had turned a bit more gentle. “You won’t be able to beat Kaido if you fall over in the middle of the fight, right? We still have about a week left, so no need to rush it and strain yourself.”
Sighing deeply and with a longing look at their by now clearly confused friends, Luffy made his way back inside, uncharacteristically quiet and unsteady on his feet, Chopper right behind him. When he cast a glance back at their comrades, he knew, he should have handled this a bit more professionally.
Of course after his outburst, he needed to give them an explanation. The expressions on their faces were reaching from mildly concerned to scared to absolutely murderous right about now.
Once they reached the run down hut, the reindeer watched with a sad frown as Luffy carefully tucked himself back into to old futon, Tama had provided them with earlier. It was a testament to how truly exhausted Luffy still was, that he didn’t try to argue further and actually fell asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.
As Chopper watched on, he saw another shudder run through that flexible body before him, indicating another bout of pain, though thankfully weak enough to not wake their Captain. He really hoped Luffy would be feeling better soon. It was strange and worrisome to see him still and hurting instead of running around and playing foolish games or beating up marines and other pirates.
The doctor sat with Luffy for another couple of minutes until he was absolutely certain, his Captain wouldn’t be jumping back up onto his feet any time soon, then preceded to gather his thoughts and step back out into the bamboo forest in order to face their Nakama. He’d let them wait long enough by now.
He hadn’t even gotten three steps out of the door, before the entire crew surrounded him. Shaking his head slightly, he waved his hove in order to signal them to step back a bit. “Let’s just go and sit down comfortably, then, I’ll explain.”
“You’d better. Captain looked like shit.” When Luffy was concerned, none of them dared to make light of the situation, least of all Zoro. “I swear, If they did anything to him in that prison…”
None of the others said anything else, but just from the look in their eyes it was clear that heads would roll for this.
Raising his hooves in a calming manner, he made quick work of dispelling this particular fear. “No, no. I actually had the same though, but I checked him over and couldn’t find any signs of torture or abuse besides some marks left from the kairoseki cuffs, they used on him.”
Settling himself between Nami and Robin, Chopper decided that it would be best to just go for it and tell them straight out what happened. His explanation however did nothing to soothe the still very upset group of pirates, surrounding him and once he neared the end of the story, they still looked just as murderous as before. “...-and then, I made a cure for that Virus, which took me about a day. Luffy’s gonna be fine in a bit, though he’s still feeling the effects from that illness to some extend. My best guess is that he’ll probably have to rest for another day or two. If he’d done that from the start, he might have been fine again already, but as I just told you, our Captain decided to be an idiot about it.”
“Thank you, Chopper.” Next to him, Robin gently run her slender fingers through his fur. “I’m sure the entire situation must have been quite scary.”
Sniffling a bit, he nodded. “It… it was and Luffy… He… he was feeling really bad for a while and I couldn’t do anything at all. I never want to see him like that again.” He was sure, he would be having nightmares about this later on.
“And, you’re sure he’s fine again?” Usopp looked just as scared as Chopper had felt a couple of days ago.
At that, he nodded with a small smile. “Yes. He’s been eating again and has way more energy then he should have after something like this. I’m positive he’ll be completely symptom free in a couple of days.
“Thank god, imagine if we had to fight Kaido without him…”
“Usopp, I think the only way that would happen is if our Captain died. And even then, he’d probably refuse to stay dead and come back as a ghost to finish Kaido off himself.”
“Please stop saying stuff like that, Robin. Why do you always have to be so creepy about things?!”
Their Archaeologist only laughed lightly.
“Well, now that that’s settled, I think I’m gonna go stay with Luffy for a bit and make sure he doesn’t escape. Chopper, is there anything I need to do besides making sure his butt stays in bed?” Nami rose to her feet swiftly, clima tact in hand. “You should take a break. Worrying about that moron must have worn you out and I’m sure we’ll be needing you at full strength during and after the fight as well.”
An immense wave of gratitude rushed through him at her offer. “Thanks, Nami. I really appreciate it. Just make sure he rests and try to cool him down and get him to drink something if his fever gets worse again. There is really not much else to do.”
And with that, she was off, shortly followed by Zoro, who placed himself in front of the door, ready to strike down anyone, who’d dare interrupt his Captain’s rest.
Now, with everything settled, Chopper could finally relax. He wasn’t alone anymore and had all the support he needed in order to keep Luffy contained. Just as he’d cuddled up to their Captain the other day, he now got comfortable on Robin’s lap, snuggling into her and finally, after what felt like forever, relaxed enough for a deep and restful sleep.