"Mmmnmm..." Beads of sweat ran down Zoro's forehead as he felt Sanji snuggling his head into his arm.
"Nami-swaaaan ~ Oh, mademoiselle... You make me feel complete. Robin-chwaaan... Robin-"
"Stick to one lover and stop drooling on my arm, recovery fool!"
The Swordsman groaned, trying to earn the sleepy Cook's attention.
"Naami-swaaan... So sweeeet... Sweetie sweet... Haa..."
Then, a sparkling set of heart eyes sprung out of Sanji's face as he puckered up his lips.
"Hey, hey... Don't give me that face."
Zoro felt his hands grow cold as he froze in place, unable to move away from Sanji.
"Nami... San..."
The Swordsman gulped, feeling his stomach drop as the Cook caressed his cheek with a gentle hand.
"Don't touch my face. Look at yourself..."
Staring down at the man's soft hands, Zoro noticed two heavy bandages wrapped around his slim wrists.
The excitement shown on his facial expressions died down and transitioned into a look of anger.
"So many scars and bruises."
The imagery of the hands that made Sanji end up with the marks his own hand was now tracing, lead Zoro to a dark place in his mind.
Especially after viewing the video that showed exactly how this sickening incident happened.
"Nami-San?" Sanji's eyes widened as he realized how close Zoro was to his face.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
"A person who's ear drums you just assassinated."
Zoro grunted, rubbing his ear.
In seconds, their conversation was put on hold when someone knocked on the door.
"I don't mean to interrupt the commencement of your K-Drama, but your Captain is waking up and is welcome to receive visitors. Preferably, one at a time."
Sanji's eyes lit up once again, and this time Zoro's did as well, for the same reason: Their Captain was finally awake.
"Well, I clearly won't be visiting him any time soon, so tell him I'll be cooking him his favorites again, in a few days!"
Sanji shouted at Zoro who was already halfway out of his recovery room to visit Luffy in his.
"Will do. Just keep on resting until you can get back on your feet, Cook."
He quickly responded before rushing towards Luffy's recovery room while Bepo tried to calm him down.
"You can't barge into his room the way you did with Sanji's! You have to keep it calm, if you scare him, he'll hurt himself."
The worried polar bear whisper-shouted at the eager Swordsman, becoming protective of the patient within the recovery room Zoro was headed towards.
"I know... I'll do my best."
As their conversation faded away, the further they walked down a bright hallway, Sanji wondered how Luffy was doing.
The second Zoro left his room, the look of confidence and peace lingering on his face began to alter, once the Cook was alone.
His dry throat started to feel strange for a moment as he parted his lips to speak to Law who had walked back into his room.
"He is... Gone this time, isn't he?" The man asked in a discrete manner, acting completely unbothered.
Everything felt normal. All but the unexpected change in Sanji's voice that had now grown more serious.
"He left with my bear just now, unfortunately for Bepo. But I could search this room in case he left clones of himself. He is quite a sly Swordsman, after all."
Though the Surgeon was saying this as a rather impulsive joke, Sanji smiled at him in confirmation.
"Let's see if this works... Oh, I think I just spotted Ryuma talking to Penguin outside, a moment ago!"
Shortly after making his false statement, Law and Sanji patiently waited to hear footsteps running throughout the submarine.
And, to their great discovery, not a single sound resonated in the silence that now remained in the cold recovery room, apart from the faint beep of the monitors Sanji was hooked onto.
"I think it's safe to assume that he's not around."
"Yeah, I think so. We would've seen his reflection on the door running past this room in seconds."
The young patient and Surgeon quietly nodded at each other in agreement.
"Do you need anything else? Can I help you with anything?" He asked.
His hospitality was astonishing for Sanji, given that he had never seen such a calm and caring side to Law.
He always felt cold or mysterious whenever they encountered each other by chance, which is why the Cook didn't know how to react to him in this situation.
"No no, I'm good for now. Thank you." He said, using a cheery tone of voice.
"Alright then. If you need anything, press the red button right beside you. And try not to move around or strain yourself."
Nodding silently at Sanji, the Cook was prepared to watch the Surgeon leave, knowing that he might not return in a long time.
He was prepared to be all alone, at long last, after wanting nothing more, nothing less, for a while now.
In his mind, Sanji was welcoming the loneliness that awaited him, the second that Law would shut the door behind him.
But when he noticed that his hand was gripping loosely onto the Surgeon's lab coat, Sanji could tell that his body had other plans in store for him.
Plans that he wasn't entirely on board with.
"There is one thing I might have to bother you with, if possible."
He responded, earning Law's attention in a minimal way.
"Sure, what do you need?"
The tired Surgeon responded, walking towards the hand that was still grabbing onto his uniform.
"My bad, sorry about this."
The Cook's face grew reddened with embarrassment as he gently let go of the Surgeon's lab coat.
"It's okay. What is it that you needed, again?" Law questioned.
His professional tone of voice sounded intimidating, yet soothing to the Cook, altogether.
There was something about Law's presence in that moment, that made the man feel safe.
Having him beside him, the Cook tilted his head back and sighed in relief, letting his muscles loosen up.
"I know you have things to do."
"Mmm, I do. A few things, here and there."
Law sarcastically responded, giving Sanji a half hearted smile.
"I also know that this is beyond your responsibility, and that I could just handle it on my own."
"I'm well aware."
"What I'm about to ask you is completely irrelevant to your work, but-"
The light haired man felt a tremble in his body while the Surgeon unexpectedly pushed his head towards his chest, as if he already knew where this conversation was leading up to.
"If anyone asks, I was just checking your heartbeat."
Maybe it was the tenderness in his voice at the end of his sentence, or the random act of kindness he had just done for the young man, but subsequently after being held in this position, Sanji could no longer contain the emotions he had inside of him.
"There is no heartbeat for you to check any longer, because I think my heart just exploded."
~~~
