Nothing to your Everything

Some Hope, Some Doubt

Luffy stares at the lump of fabric and bones on the floor for all of three seconds before screaming.

A nurse comes in, and then another, and then three more, all looking out of breath. As soon as they see Torao some gasped and moved to help him up while others heaved sighs of relief.

A nurse comes to Luffy, he was big and had white hair, but he didn't look that old, so it must've been dyed or he was albino. He approached Luffy with a shy, apologetic smile. "We're so sorry about this Mr. Monkey, this man is one of our surgeons who has been a bit delirious as of late," he said with a little twitch in his eyebrow as he flashed his eyes towards Torao.

"He must've come into your room while he was hallucinating. Please forgive us for the interruption."

A couple nurses manage to pick Torao up and place him on a gurney. Some are muttering little curses under their breath and glaring at Torao, while others have clear worry written into their faces.

"Wait!" Luffy yells just as they start moving him out of the room.

They turn towards him, eyes questioning.

"C-can't he stay in here? I mean, there's another bed, and I already know him so it's not like he'd be uncomfortable or anything!"

The big nurse stares at him for a second, eyes flickering from him to Torao. "You...know Doctor Trafalgar?" He asks sceptically.

Luffy nods enthusiastically, ignoring the way that makes his vision spin. "Uh-huh! Me and Torao are soulmates!"

Ace and Sabo turn to stare at him at this, Sabo's eyes going wide and shocked, while Ace just kinda looked guilty again, which really confused Luffy, but he didn't want to think about that right now.

The nurse studies him for a moment before giving a nod, gesturing towards the nurses to put Law on the vacant bed on the other side of the room. Some of the nurses are eyeing Luffy strangely now, looking before him and the unconscious man suspiciously.

They hook one of those clear bags to Torao's arm and shuffle away, sending discreet looks over their backs towards the pair.

When they all file out, Sabo sneaks over to Torao's side and stares at him like he's trying to see inside the man's mind. He pokes the man's arm, blinking as Torao grumbles a curse under his breath and shifts away.

"...this is the man that you think is the best thing since sliced bread?" The blond asks, grimacing as he sees the word Death tattooed on Law's fingers.

"What kinda doctor has 'Death' printed on their fingers? Wouldn't that freak the patients out?"

Luffy sinckers. "Yeah, but it's also really cool, don't ya think? I think he said he has more, but I haven't seen them yet!"

Sabo blinked once, slow, before shifting away from the unconscious man. "...and why did he pass out? The doctors said he was... delirious?" He asks, confused, before a look of horror passes over his face.

"He wasn't high, was he?!"

Luffy full out laughs, cackles as he tries to imagine Torao high, imaging the normally stoic man all clumsy and giggly. Oh god, that would be hilarious.

"I," he gets out between frantic giggles, "I don't think Torao's ever even seen weed before."

Sabo sighs in relief, over protective brother instincts calming. Then his eyebrows furrow again. "Then what happened?"

Luffy pauses and then shrugs, taking a closer look at the sleeping man.

He really did look like shit, but at least now his empty gaze was gone, facial features relaxed into a peaceful expression as he slept. His cheeks had sunken in a bit like he hadn't eaten in a while, and his hair seemed greasy and ungroomed.

Luffy shifted a bit on the bed, planning on getting up and looking closer at his soulmate, before groaning. His leg twinged with pain, protesting his movement.

Seems like he wasn't completely recovered.

Ace seemed to snap out of whatever state he had been from staring at the unconscious man, gaze flickering over to Luffy and scowling.

"Don't do anything stupid, you idiot! You're still recovering!" He shouts, Sabo once again restraining him from hitting their little brother over the head.

Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. "But I wanna be better now!"

"Well you're not! The doctor said it's gonna be around three months till you can walk without a crutch! That's what you get for not paying attention while you crossed the street!"

Luffy scowled and looked away, grumbling under his breath. Stupid big brothers and their stupid lectures.

It wasn't his fault he wasn't paying attention! He just got distracted, thinking about Torao's pretty eyes, and his pretty smile, and how Luffy felt like he could melt into a pile of mush around him. So if anything, it was Torao's fault!

Wait, no. It wasn't Torao's fault. If Luffy had told his brothers that it was, that would no doubt be the end of the relationship budding between the two. It was Luffy being dumb and daydreaming.

Luffy huffed out a breath, looking over to the still form on the other side of the room. Torao's eyelashes were dark and fanned out over his cheeks. His mouth was slightly parted, breaths even in his sleep.

Luffy's thoughts drifted towards his soulmark.

Nothing, it said, mocking. Nothing, it said, cackling. Nothing, it said, screaming.

Luffy looks at Law and doesn't see Nothing. Torao was warm and kind. Torao likes him, said so himself. And Luffy doesn't think he was lying.

Luffy looks at Law and sees Everything.

Nothing, his soulmark said, and Luffy doubts.

Nothing, his soulmark said, and Luffy hopes.

_________________

A couple hours later, when Luffy's room is packed with friends, Torao's eyelids begin to flutter.

Zoro is by his side, Nami sitting in a chair and screeching as she reads through his hospital bills, and Usopp is recreating different stories Luffy could tell on how he got his scar.

Ace had left a while ago after getting called back on duty, promising to come back later tonight. Sabo was sitting in the corner, asleep, because his brother was dumb and didn't sleep when he was stressed, and therefore hadn't had a full night's sleep in a week.

Luffy was laughing, having fun, beginning to relax. His nakama are here and he feels comforted and safe.

Then they notice a groan, the lump under the blankets shifting around and pushing itself up onto it's hands.

Luffy's attention snaps over to the formerly sleeping man, the grin stretching his lips growing wider.

"Torao!" He shouts, trying to stop himself from launching over to the man and tackling him in a hug.

Law brings a hand to his head, eyes flickering around the room and taking in the several people staring at him. "...what?" He murmurs.