At A Split Second ⏳

Finally, We're Together,

Beep..

Beep..

Beep..

The continuous beeping noise lightly annoyed Sabo, slowly waking him up. He was still half asleep, yet suddenly, all his memories flooded his mind and he swiftly sat up, only to find himself in a bed situated in a dim room.

"Where..." he softly mumbled, putting his hand up to touch his sore head, bringing it down to his arm wrapped in bandages, then looked beside him to find Ace in a bed as well.

"Ace!"

Ace, at the loud scream, woke up.

"Sabo..you idiot... You're too noisy," Ace muttered but suddenly stood up from the bed and jumped at his brother.

"Sabo! Ow ow ow..!" Ace cried before wincing at his own hyper movements which triggered his painful injuries to act up.

"You're the idiot! Who jumps at someone when he's all covered in bandages?" Sabo chuckled.

Ace didn't reply, yet soon, Sabo heard soft sniffles from him. Sabo felt a few tears sting on his eyes as he patted Ace's head.

"Y-You're covered in bandages too, ya know. I missed you. I really do. I thought you died," he replied.

"I'm sorry, I know I left you and Luffy without a word, but I'm here now."

"I-I really can't believe it. Not that I didn't want to, but this is still quite the shocker," Ace muttered.

They stayed like that for a few minutes when the door opened and Law came in.

"Pardon me for the intrusion." Law greeted. "Sabo-ya, your injuries were light and mostly were scratches and burns, so you should be doing fine after a week or so. Ace-ya, yours are more severe, but nothing fatal, so take it slowly for at least three weeks."

"Thank you for saving us. We owe you our lives-"

It was only then that Ace remembered his little brother. "LUFFY! WHERE'S MY BROTHER?! IS HE SAFE? IS HE-"

"Calm down, Ace-ya. Mugiwara-ya is in the other operating room since his condition is more critical than the both of you," Law replied.

"Critical..? W-What do you mean?" Sabo asked dreadfully.

With a heavy sigh, Law carefully explained. "Unlike the two of you, Mugiwara-ya has been pushing his body beyond his limits. The escapees of Impel Down told me that he was initially exposed to a deadly dose of poison before they arrived at Marineford, and the injuries he received there were enough to let him lose a lot of blood."

"That idiot always does the craziest things," Ace commented. "How is he?"

"As of now, I've stabilized him, but he soon fell into a coma."

Sabo and Ace fell silent.

Hesitantly, Sabo asked, "A c-coma? So when will he-"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question, Sabo-ya. It depends on Mugiwara-ya's will to live," Law answered.

That terminated the conversation. A few moments later, Law decided to leave them to rest, going out of the room.

The two boys stayed still, then Sabo decided to break the silence. "Hey, don't worry," he reassured, ruffling Ace's raven hair with his uninjured arm. "Luffy's strong. He'll wake up soon."

"He better be, so that I can beat the shit out of him," Ace replied bitterly. "What the hell was he thinking?! Storming into Impel Down and then Marineford?!"