𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲 ✗ 𝐑𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐚 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐨

eighteen

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧
𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

✗

"EASY, EASY. DON'T DROP HIM," NAMI TELLS THE THREE OTHERS WHO ARE CARRYING ZORO. "I didn't. He's really heavy. I mean, he's got a really big head. It's, like, freakishly big," Usopp exclaims.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nami questions as Amelia gently puts his leg down. The blonde girl had forced herself to calm down and stop crying, she wanted to save Zoro and that wasn't gonna happen if she didn't get it together.

"Zoro? Hey, can you hear me?" Luffy asks, but Zoro is unconscious and has no way of responding. Amelia walks around the table and places her palms under Zoro's head to support it while Usopp looks for a first aid kit.

"Where's the first aid kit?" Usopp asks, "Do we have a first aid kit?" Nami questions back. "Zoro?" Luffy calls out, Amelia looks over at the younger boy. "Don't blame yourself, Luff," she tells him, the sound of her voice snapping him out of his daze.

Nami opens Zoro's shirt, taking a better look at the nasty cut on his chest. Amelia grimaces at the sight. "These are all I could find. Where's he bleeding from?" Usopp asks, "Everywhere."

"We need more towels," Usopp says, "We need a doctor!" Amelia cuts in. "Last I checked, we don't have one," Usopp retorts.

"Luffy? Luffy!" Nami exclaims, "Someone needs to go back to Baratie," she tells him as she gains his attention. "Uh, I'm really not hungry right now, Nami," Luffy declines, under any other circumstances Amelia would've laughed at his words.

"Not for food. Maybe one of the customers is a ship's doctor," Nami tells him, "Right. A doctor. We need a doctor," Luffy nods before rushing over to the Baratie.

During the time that Luffy is gone, Nami keeps pressure on the cut, while Amelia checks his pulse-- subconsciously stroking the skin of his cheek with her thumb.

The girls both look up at the sound of footsteps, and Luffy walks in with Sanji and the chef from Baratie behind him. "Are you kidding? He needs a doctor," Nami says in disbelief, "Do you wanna save your swordsman friend or not?" the chef questions.

Nami steps back and the crew watches as Sanji lays out kitchen knives and a fish on the kitchen counter. The chef opens a bottle of whiskey, "Is that to sterilize the wounds?" Usopp questions.

"Hell, no. That'd be a waste of really good liquor," Zeff responds before taking a sip of the drink. Amelia's eyes follow Zeff's movements as he starts skinning a yellowtail, once he's done he walks over to where Zoro lies.

"Needle," Zeff says as he holds out his hand, Sanji hands it to him and the chef stitches the cut up.

Amelia clenches her jaw and averts her eyes away from the scene. It doesn't take long before Zeff is done stitching and gently lays the fish skin on Zoro's wounds.

"Fish skin. This is an old seaman's trick. The fish skin helps staunch the wounds and heals the flesh a lot faster," the man explains. "Is he gonna be okay?" Usopp asks, "Look I'm not gonna lie to you. He's lost a lot of blood. It might be too late for him," Zeff tells them.

Amelia's stomach drops, "But it might not be," Luffy disagrees. "He's got one foot in each world right now, caught between life and death. You have to find a way to keep him tethered to our world. Talk to him. Tell him stories. Sing him sea shanties for all I care. He may not reply, but at least he'll know his crew is still with him."

Once Zoro is completely patched up, the crew lifts him up and brings him over to Nami's room. Now Amelia stands next to Zoro's bed as guilt eats away at her.