Getting a closer look, Law noticed the silhouette of a tall figure in the Operating Room.
"That's gotta be him. Bepo, let's-"
After getting ready to break into the Operating Room, the Surgeon's plan was postponed by someone who called out to him in an urgent manner.
"CAPTAIN, COME QUICK!!"
One of his subordinates shouted. The sound of their shoes squeaking against the floor was all that echoed down the corridors as they made their way to the older man.
"It's Straw Hat!!"
"Strawhat-ya?" Law questioned, walking over towards a man with a white mask over his face.
"What happened, Hakugan?" He asked the man.
"He has a high fever that won't go down. We think he contracted a virus, because he was throwing up as well."
"Why didn't you notify me sooner?"
The Surgeon raised an eyebrow at his crew mate.
"We thought it would go away with an antipyretic, but... This is definitely something serious."
While Hakugan, the masked man, tried to dive into further details with Law, they heard a loud ruckus coming from the Operating Room.
The sound of sterile objects dropping to the floor reverberated, followed by a flash of orange escaping from underneath the door, which was a sign of a potential fire.
In between the sound of his crewmates fighting off a fleet of intruders, Luffy's unexpected health complications, and a fire starting in his underwater submarine, Law could feel the pressure starting to weigh down on his shoulders.
But being under stress didn't mean that he was going to stand in one place and witness everything falling apart.
He stood his ground and decided what problem to solve first.
"Bepo, I'm going to go check on Strawhat-ya. I want you to find out what's happening in there, but take someone else with you and be very careful with who you trust,"
The Surgeon started, giving Bepo a bit of insight on what to expect from the enemies that might be on the Polar Tang.
"Kuro ate the Clone-Clone fruit, meaning he could mimic the face and body of anyone that he touches. Don't let anyone touch your face, even if they look like one of us, or one of the Straw Hat pirates. Trust no one. Not even me."
"N-not even you, Captain? But... How will I be able to tell if it's you or a clone?" The confused Polar Bear asked, feeling intimidated.
"Every time you see me, I'll do something very specific. I won't tell you what it is... There might be a spy disguised as one of us, as we speak... But you'll be able to tell who's who. Trust me."
Whispering in between the most crucial parts of his sentence, Law made it clear to Bepo that he was not to trust in anyone around him so easily, and that he needed to be aware of his surroundings, more than ever.
Trusting in his Captain's commands, his first mate and him went their separate ways, rushing to reach their destinations as soon as they possibly could.
In particular Law, who knew that every passing second was critical for Luffy's well-being.
"How high was his temperature?"
He asked, looking over at Hakugan, all the while making a drastic turn to reach the recovery room he last saw Luffy in.
"It was 101.2 Fahrenheit, and still scaling up."
"Not good."
The Surgeon lowered his head, eager to get to the room, with not a second to waste.
On his way down, the man couldn't help but to feel concerned about Luffy, given the fact that he knew how many health complications could occur with people who get his type of reconstruction surgery.
"Nausea, vomiting, and a high fever each indicate a sign of an infection. If Strawhat-ya contracted an infection, he'll need to be put on an antibiotic right away."
In a worst case scenario... It could mean that his body isn't handling the surgery too well.
If it comes down to that, I'll have to preform a second surgery on him, to repair or even replace the skin graft.
The Operating Room could be on fire right now, so I would have to do the surgery in the room he's in now, and who knows if Blackfoot-ya might need to have surgery as well.
This is gonna be a long, sleepless night for all of us, but I don't plan on letting anyone on this submarine die."
The man snapped out of his deep thoughts and channeled back into reality upon arriving at the recovery room.
The first thing that he did was walk over to a brunette boy who couldn't stop trembling, underneath a set of warm sheets.
"How do you feel?"
The Surgeon asked as everyone else within the room took a few steps back, giving Law the space that he needed.
"V-very... Very.. C.. Cold..."
Were the only words Luffy was able to let out through a shaky voice.
Taking his temperature again, the Surgeon had to take a second look at the thermometer, almost convinced that it wasn't functioning properly when he looked down at the reading that was coming up.
"This isn't real. This can't be real. A fever of 115 degrees Fahrenheit is something only one known person has ever survived."
Law gulped, unable to process how much is happening, all in one disastrous, ill-fated night.
"Strawhat-ya is on the verge of death, right now!"
The Surgeon immediately removed the covers off of Luffy's body, flinging them across the room.
Tucked away underneath such a thin sheet, was a swollen abdomen with an odd bump that wouldn't go down.
Luffy's throat tightened as he urgently requested to be handed a bucket, with the intention of regurgitating.
Retrieving one from nearby, Law helped the boy lean over to be more comfortable.
After throwing up for a third time, Law and everyone else around him panicked when they saw blood pouring into the bucket.
"He has Internal bleeding. I can't wait for the Operation Room to be cleared up, Strawhat-ya needs to have surgery right now! Shachi, clear that table while I lower the bed."
"Yes, Captain!!"
Pressing down on a button beside the bed, Law lowered the rails on either end and conjoined a table to it, placing his surgical tools right on top of them.
Luffy felt an uneasy feeling culminating within his body as his stomach dropped due to how anxious the surgical tools made him feel.
The strong smell of the disinfectants sent a shiver down the young man's spine, causing him to tense up.
"Everyone is moving so fast, but it feels like I'm watching them in slow motion... Am I... Dying?"
Were the final words Luffy was able to silently mumble before passing out, due to how high his fever had gotten.
It was now up to the Surgeon to rescue the young Captain with an emergency surgery, but the night had something else in store for the Heart pirates and the two Straw Hat pirates, aboard the submarine.
~~~
