Mixed Up (ZoSan)

Around the Dial

'You! Make! Me! Feel like I'm living a- teen! Age! Dream!'

It was Sanji's ringtone that ended up interrupting his sleep, and for one panicked moment upon awaking, Zoro was afraid he was in the back of another ambulance, being transported to the very hospital he'd just escaped from. He lurched forward with a sudden, sharp intake of breath and almost hit his head on the dashboard. If he'd been wearing a seatbelt, it would have locked.

Sanji seemed surprised by both the call and Zoro's extreme reaction to it, swerving slightly as Zoro's body jerked abruptly upright from the sleeping position it had been in moments prior.

"Jesus," Sanji muttered as he quickly righted the car into the lane he'd been riding in, but not before noticing the way Zoro's shoulders slumped as he allowed himself to relax when he realized where he was, easing back into his seat with a sigh and grimace of pain.

"You gonna answer that or what?" Zoro grumbled, reaching his hand up to pull the beanie he'd been wearing off his head. He dropped it into his lap, holding it so he could run the fabric between his fingers as he stared forlornly out the window.

"Don't tell me how to live my life," Sanji replied half-heartedly, ignoring the way Zoro snorted to pick up his phone out of the cup-holder. He kept one eye trained on the road as he glanced down briefly to see whose name it was on the screen, and felt his stomach sink when he saw who it was. "Oh, shit."

Nami's name and (beautiful) picture were displayed under his thumb, which hovered indecisively over the green button on the screen. Knowing Zoro was beside him, he figured he already knew what she was calling him about.

"You're drifting," Zoro remarked casually, unaware and uncaring of whoever was calling. He had other concerns, as his nausea was trying to flare up again in the form of motion sickness. While he fiddled with the hat, he went to rest his head against the cool windowpane again, stifling a groan and closing his eyes in an attempt to prevent himself from being sick again.

Cursing softly under his breath, Sanji righted his steering once again and took a long, deep breath. The phone kept ringing in his hand, but instead of answering it he set it down and fumbled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He'd definitely need a smoke for this.

"Get one out for me," he said to Zoro, prompting him to take the pack from him. Zoro said nothing, and moved just enough to be able to take it and pull a cigarette out.

Just as the call was about to roll over to voice mail, Sanji took another deep, centering breath and answered the phone, doing his best to greet her as happily and obliviously as he could.

"Hello my darling! What a pleasure it is that you've-"

"Zoro is missing!" She blurted out, interrupting him at once. He winced at her outburst, his heart paining him when he heard the amount of concern she held in her voice.

"Well, actually-" he tried to say, but became distracted by Zoro trying to pass the cigarette to him. Squishing his phone between his ear and shoulder, he took it thankfully and then tried to shimmy his lighter out of his front pocket. "Don't be upset-"

"'Don't be upset'?! How can I not be upset when the hospital fucking lost him! I don't know what to do; how does a hospital lose a patient?!"

Now she sounded angry, and he could tell that she was directing it at someone other than himself. Nervously, he realized she was actually at the hospital, probably yelling at the poor nurse who "lost" Zoro. Confirming his thought, he could hear the woman who'd been on call when he was there reply, saying, "He snuck out on his own, we didn't lose him."