Cover The Truth

Hit in the Gut

Neo stared at her now empty glass of water, she had no clue how long it had been since they almost got knocked overboard by that idiot of a man. She felt pain in her stomach, and it grumbled, nausea pulsing through her with every breath. She had no clue how long it had been since she had eaten, all she had done was drink water...Neo cleared her throat, it felt sore while a stomach ache began to form within her gut. The 13 year old slowly stood up, rubbing her temple as she grabbed her glass and put it in the sink. No light shone out through the small circle windows, and Neo stood on their toes to try and look out it. Stars twinkled about the black ocean, the moon just coming up. She frowned, scratching the back of her head. It must've been hours...

Neo shook herself out of her short trance, as the stomach ache continued to slowly grow in pain. Neo didn't think much of this, as the occasional stomach ache was bound to happen. She opened the door, her eyelids slowly getting heavier. The black haired 13 year old sluggishly walked up the steps that led to the upper deck. Neo opened the door slowly, the hinges creaking. The smell of booze and saké rushed up her nose, and she blinked blearily, trying to clear her watery eyes. She walked out a few steps, closing the door behind her as a headache began to form. Buggy and Shanks sat to the side, playing something that looked like a game of cards, and Roger was sitting down near the mast, and he turned around, holding a bottle of some kind of liquor, clearly either drunk or at least a bit tipsy. Neo slumped down against the railing, the headache quickly getting worse. "Good god..." she mumbled, trying to keep the nausea down. "Heya kid," Roger slurred, before talking enough drink of his booze.

Neo felt something rush up her throat and she quickly stood up, before holding her head over the railing as she vomited. Shanks and Buggy immediately looked over, while Roger chuckled. "Am I really that bad lookin?" Rayleigh, who was standing near the mast quickly shot Roger a glare, he looked like he wanted to throw Roger into the ocean. Neo coughed, her eyes growing watery again as her throat burned. Everything felt like it was closing in, and her stomach sent a shot of pain through her, and she vomited again. Neo felt the ground shake a little and she was quickly lifted up, two grey eyes looking her up and down in concern. "Put me down..." Neo grumbled. Roger turned Neo so she was now facing him, and Neo stiffened slightly. "Ya alright lightbulb?" Neo stared at Roger. "Does it look like I am alright, dipshit?" Neo muttered, before her head flopped to the side, giving Roger a tired look. Roger chuckled weakly, and Neo's vision began to double. "Go put that kid in a bed Roger," Rayleigh said in a stern tone as he picked up the bottles of booze. Roger nodded and Neo felt themselves being pressed up against something as Roger walked through the door that led down below deck. Neo let her head lean against whatever she was being held to, and heard something that sounded like a heartbeat, and then Neo realized she was being held against the man she hated. She was too tired to care at the moment, it felt like her stomach was on fire. Roger carried Neo down to the medical ward, before grabbing a small hand towel with his free hand. He placed Neo on one of the smaller beds, and Neo had a tired look in her eyes. She felt something roughly wipe away any of the vomit that had dribbled down her chin. God I must look so damn pathetic...

Roger placed his hand on Neo's head, his hand looked massive compared to the kids head, and he removed it quickly. "Kid yer burnin up..." Roger mumbled as he soaked the rag in in the sink, and wrung it out, as curious made him wonder what made Lightbulb sick that. He folded the rag, and placed it on Neo's head, holding it with his hand. Roger saw the look of relief go over the kids face and he realized this is the first time the kid ever let their guard down, even if it was just slightly. Neo opened her eyes, everything blurry. She let her muscles relax as the cold rag was pressed to her forehead. Neo tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back down by a large hand on their chest. "No, just lay down lightbulb, everything is fine..."

Neo didn't respond, and closed her eyes, her breathing slowing down. "Cmon kid, don't die now, ya just got here..." Roger muttered to himself, turning the rag over. "My ol' heart couldn' take losing anyone on this ship, even some brat who jus' got 'ere." Roger did a dry chuckle, more laughing to himself to make himself feel a little better about this. Is it something on the ship that made the kid sick, or was it stress? Roger couldn't tell, he was no doctor, all he knew was that this kid was sick as holy hell. He let out a grunt of dissatisfaction, pressing his hand against the kid's gills try try and calm em. Lightbulb groaned, her hand weakly coming up to move his hand away. Roger chuckled softly, not moving his hands as her hand grabbed ahold of his ring finger, trying to pry his hand away. "Yer such a pain.." 

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Neo waved at the boat sailing away from the shore. "Come back soon mommy!" Elora waved back, a blank look on her face. Neo say down, crosslegged, and hummed to themselves, watching as the ship faded away into the distance. Neo sat there, for days on end, hunger eating away at their innards. "Mommy will be back, mommy will be back..." Neo rocked herself back and forth, tears forming. "I'm hungry...I want mum..." Neo flopped over onto their side, staring at the water. It was hot, and Neo didn't want to disobey their mother so she stayed put. Her stomach hurt like hell, screaming in again and pain, begging for food.

"Please come back soon..."