The Game (luNa)

18

Nami was still waiting for her captain some time later. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't asleep. Where was her idiot of a captain? She lay there in silence for another minute before she started to worry. Was he alright? Around this point, she heard uneven, slow footsteps in the hallway. There was a pause, and heavy panting. nami was unsure of what she was meant to do. It could be her captain. It could be a complete stranger. A weak, feeble voice called her name, and she was up in an instant. She raced to the door and wretched it open. She was not expecting the scene that was on the other side. The walls and floor from the bathroom were covered in blood, and there were bloody hand prints everywhere. A familiar figure still dressed in black is slumped in a pile in the middle of the room.

'Luffy!' nami cried, rushing forward and dropping to her knees in front of the captain, lifting his head up. His eyes, thought they were distant and partially vacant, found hers and the relief was obvious in them. One hand was clutching his bleeding stomach. Now she understood. It was not sweat that had been plastering his clothing to his skin. It had been blood. And he had not been wounded in the game. Nothing had done him any damage serious enough to leave him looking like this. He had reopened his stitches. She sighed held his head close. 

'Oh my god.' she wispered. 'Your such a moron. Come on, we need to find a doctor.' her voice shook as she spoke, and she tried desperately to pick him up.

He just laughed.

'You can't lift me Nami. Plus, I'll get blood all over you. It'd be best if you bought someone to me.'

Nami nodded, hysterical, and stood darting off down the hallway. She ran through the corridors until she bumped into the man from earlier,  the man with an uncanny resemblance to luffys late brother.

'Good heavens ma'am!' He exclaimed as she came hurtling around the corner. 'Whatever is the matter... is that your blood?' 

Nami was distraught now, shaking uncontrollably as she tried to force her words out past her sobs.

'Help... help him. Please.' She begged, dropping to her knees. 'Its the stitches, the God damned stitches, he pulled them again the moron, please help him.'

By this point the man seemed to have begun to piece things together.

'The captain... opened an old wound?' He asked, now beginning to get drawn into namis state of panic. She nodded furiously and pointed down the corridor.

'Help. He needs help.'

The man nodded and told her to stay with him while he fetched the nurse. She hurried back and found luffy in much the same state as she had left him in. With tears in her eyes, she dropped down beside him and pulled him to her. he had closed his eyes and was breathing sharply, as if every movement caused him an extreme amount of pain. it broke her to see him like this, after everything they had been through together. She carefully lay him down and placed his head in her lap, neither of them physically able to say a word. with nothing else she could do, nami stroked her captain's head and cried quietly, waiting for the man to bring the help he had promised. 

he came sooner than expected, his footsteps reaching the pair long before his body. with him was a man and a woman, both dressed in what seemed to be a medical uniform. they carried a large kit between them. the party froze as they entered the hallway, paling at the bloodied hall that met them. they didn't freeze for long, as eventually their eyes fell on the source of all the blood and his distraught navigator and sprung into action. 

It didn't take them long to realise luffy could not be moved in his current state. nami was given the task of preparing the stretcher, mainly to distract her, as the doctors focused on the bleeding boy. the man helped them lay him down flat and cut off his shirt, revealing the horrible gaping wound that had caused them so much strife. they acted quickly, after confirming that the boy had fallen into a state of unconsciousness, cleaning out the wound and staunching the bleeding before wrapping a heavy bandage around his torso so it stayed closed long enough to carry him through to the medical ward where they could hook him up to more blood and stitch him up. 

when the process was complete they carefully lifted his arms and leg and placed him gently over the make shift stretcher nami had been preparing. having underestimated the weight of the rather small boy they now realised it would take all four of them to haul his limp body into the infirmary. and that they did. 

Nami, exhausted as she was, fell asleep on one of the beds while the doctors were working on her captain. she wasn't allowed into the area anyway, and they had drawn the curtain around him. the cleaning squad had been sent to deal with the mess of a hallway and staff were called in to bring Nami and Luffy's stuff out of the room. The challenge that had to face the next day could not be drawn out, but it was obvious to the staff that the pair would not be fit to leave before then. this of course meant that the crew would be stuck on this island for the rest of their lives, and none of them would ever get to accomplish their dreams.

it made them sad that this incredible team who would normally have made it through this challenge would get held back because of such an unfortunate turn of events. but that was one hell of a battle wound he had, and despite the situation, the people who stuck around this boy could not help but become engrossed in the abnormality of his character.