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Everything hurt.
Why the hell did everything hurt so damn much?
Sanji tried to take in a deep breath, only for it to get caught on something in his chest as he was forced to cough it back out. As the dull ache in his ribs spread, he realized it wasn’t something in his chest, but something on his chest. When did…
“-anji!”
The blond scrunched his brow at the pitched voice. So loud … so obnoxious.
“Sanji, p’ease…! W’ake up!”
It was familiar. He knew who it was … what they looked like. But the name, the name slipped through his fingers every time he tried to recall it. The reindeer, their doctor … What was it? It began with a ‘C’... Why couldn’t he remem-
His thoughts were blinded by a searing light. Something was touching him. Hurting him. It touched his side.
“St’p,” he gasped out. His own voice scraped out of his throat. Breath hitching, he tried to twist away from the touch. All that did was send another jolt of fire through his body as it ripped another cry from deep in his chest.
“S’nji … stop moving!”
There it was again, that high, almost sobbing tone. Why was he crying? He was the one causing the pain! Sanji bared his teeth and cracked his eyes open. Everything was blurry, but he could make out the shape of their small doctor, mere inches from his face. His bleary gaze followed the length of the deer’s arms, down to his hooves that were still pressed against his side. It was strange, the way red soaked into the creature’s fur, spreading up his arms.
“Wh’t’s…” Sanji wheezed out, coughing as the single word irritated his throat.
“Don’t speak either. Y-You’re bleeding.”
He figured that out on his own. Then it clicked … his name.
“Cho’per,” he rasped between gasps of breath. “Wh’re … wh’t…” He coughed again, something warm and metallic splashed over his tongue before he spit it out. He didn’t miss the way Chopper paused momentarily at the sight of it.
“Sanji … just stop … stop moving and stop talking.” The pressure on the chef’s side increased, eliciting another sharp cry. “Your ribs were crushed and … your abdomen … it’s been pierced. I haven’t pulled it out yet. I … can’t. You’ll bleed to death if I do.”
He should have been shocked by the doctor’s words, but he found himself unable to respond. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he was unable to process. He could only nod as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He knew he should be concerned. About the news, about the injury. Hell, just about how he ended up there in that state. It was hard to tell when it was difficult to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds.
More pressure was applied to his wound, this one seemed particularly harsh. His eyes snapped open and this time a scream escaped him.
“You can’t sleep right now,” Chopper advised. “I need you to stay awake as long as you can.”
The blond’s breaths rattled through his battered chest, reminding him of the heavy weight on top of him. He never thought to look the first time, but he finally gazed down with a half-lidded gaze. There, sat on top of him, was a boulder. “What’tha…” he muttered. He then scanned the rest of his surroundings. More rocks … the walls, ceiling and floor. All of it was rock.
A cave?
Did it collapse? That’s the only explanation his weary mind could think of. But how…? His breath hitched again. Was he shaking? Or…
Sanj cut his attention to Chopper. And sure enough, the reindeer’s whole frame trembled as he pressed his hooves against the wound, trying desperately to keep anymore blood from spilling out.
“Chopper … calm down,” the man whispered. “Just … t’ke a deep breath.”
The doctor paused for another moment. “You’re the one who’s injured! I should be telling you to stay calm!” he blurted through panicked tears. “I … I have to stop the bleeding. I have to get this thing out.”
Sanji’s attention shifted to the object in question. A large scrap of wood … a piece of a beam? Were they in a mineshaft? That would make sense. Why else would there be wooden beams in a cave? He still couldn’t rack his brain enough to recall exactly what happened. He supposed that wasn’t all that important when he was literally lying there dying.
Chopper took a deep breath, like he usually did when he was about to say something he really didn’t want to. “Sanji, you have your lighter on you still, right?”
“Back p’cket,” he wheezed.
The deer nodded and reached back with one hoof, retrieving it. “Sanji… I need you to take a deep breath, as deep as you can and try your best to hold it.”
“Chopper … what’re yo-”
“Just do it!”
Too tired to argue, the blond nodded and did as he was asked. It wasn’t a very deep breath, but he took in as much air as the boulder would allow and fought against his aching lungs to hold it. Chopper was counting down, starting at three. Sanji barely caught the tail end of two before a pain, worse than any of the previous ones, consumed him like a blazing fire. It snatched that breath he was trying to hold, snatching it in a strangled scream.
He barely had time to compose himself as a new agony took its place, this one burning, scorching as it slithered into his pierced side, splitting down each and every vein. Was … was Chopper burning him!? Out of the corner of his vision, he could make out the warm hue. He was, Chopper was cauterizing the wound.
A warning would have been appreciated.
Hell, Sanji couldn’t stop screaming long enough to voice his opinion on the matter. Eyes squeezed shut, Sanji just focuses all of his energy on staying conscious. How he was going to pull that off was beyond him, especially when this was taking ages. To be fair, it couldn’t go much faster when Chopper was using his little lighter to get the job done.
After about five seconds, his throat was raw to the point that even drawing in ragged breaths were nearly debilitating. So grating that it took a few seconds to realize the searing in his side had died down to a dull heat pulsing with every quick beat of his heart.
“S-nji? Sanji?” There were hooves to the right of his chest, one of the only spaces not currently being crushed. “Can you hear me? Sanji!”
“Y-Yes, Cho’per … I c’n hear you.”
The doctor let out a sigh, but his hooves remained where they were. “We have to get this rock off you now. Do you think you can move?”
It took the blond a moment to realize what was being said. His senses were still white with the heat that echoed through his torso. What was the question again? He swallowed dryly, almost choking on it. Was it him, or was the air getting more stale down there?
“Sanji?”
Right, he was asked something. “Hmm?”
“Can you move?”
The chef let out a stuttering exhale. “Ma’be…”
Chopper nodded. “I’m going to need you to try. We need to get this off you and find a way out and back to the others.”
Even as he explained, it was like his voice warped in and out of focus for the blond. He wasn’t hearing hardly any of it, but for some reason, he’s steadily nodding along, not realizing his eyes are slipping shut again. Something shifts next to him and he doesn’t need to see to know a shadow is stretching over him. Something is spoken, but he doesn’t quite catch it. All he knows is it’s getting awfully annoying teetering on the edge of lucidity.
Just like before, he was ripped from that semi-peaceful state of the in between by a crushing ache. It throbbed through his chest. It was odd. The overbearing weight was relieved, but it was replaced by a different sort of sensation: a nerve-splitting flame that cleaved through his chest.
Chopper was moving quite a bit around him, he could feel the doctor’s fur as he moved about. He could feel his jacket and shirt being ripped open as hooves flitted over his skin. Sanji hissed as they brushed over a particularly sore spot.
“Broken,” Chopper muttered to himself before feeling around again. This process repeated a couple more times before the deer sighed. “Two broken ribs and a fractured clavicle,” he announced. “There’s not much I can do, not here…” his tone was stiff, like he was on the verge of a panic attack.
“I’ll b’fine,” Sanji slurred as he tried to force his vision to settle. His breath sputtered out with another cough. He could taste it again - blood.
“No, you won’t!”
Sanji turned his head at the sound of tearing. And, if he weren’t in so much pain, he might care a little more that his jacket was being ripped apart right in front of him.
“I don’t have any supplies, so this will have to do,” Chopper said, tearing the fabric into strips. “Don’t move, I need to secure that arm to keep your collarbone from moving too much. It’s going to hurt as I-” He never finished his sentence as he shifted the chef’s arm over his chest and slipped one of the strips in place. Sanji drew in a dry gasp as he felt the bone shift under his skin.
“ Shit,” he whimpered, pressing his head back against stone.
“I’m almost done,” Chopper promised, tying the makeshift sling right around the blond’s neck. “And … there.” He stepped back and fell silent. Only Sanji’s labored breaths bounced off the walls. “Anything else hurt? Anything else I need to check?”
Sanji didn’t reply. If anything else was damaged, he couldn’t feel it as the pain in his side and chest overshadowed just about every other sense. “No,” he answered after a time, or what he assumed the answer to be. If he can’t feel anything else aside from those two things, then they must not be severe enough to garner his attention.
“Do you think you can walk?”
And this time, he answered quickly, sure of his response.
“No.”
Chopper hesitated and it’s clear that was the answer he expected but didn’t want to hear. “Ok, I can carry you, then.” Sanji cut his eyes over as Chopper changed form again, to his walk point. “I just need you to climb onto my back if you can.” He trotted closer and crouched as close as he could to the chef.
Sanji let out a hiss. As humiliating as it was, he was aware there was no other option. He raised his left hand and furled it into Chopper’s fur, gripping tightly. His whole arm shook with the effort as he pulled himself up. Breath burning in his lungs, Sanji pulled himself higher, grunted as it tugged on his injuries. He could grit his teeth through it, though. And that’s exactly what he did as he hauled himself over Chopper’s back.
“Ready?”
Sanji could only hum a confirmation through his heavy panting. Already, as the blond lay there against the deer’s back, Chopper could feel a slight heat against him. He just shook his head and tried not to think about it too much. It was as he said, he could do very little for Sanji where they were. At that moment, he had to focus on getting them out and back to the ship where he could properly treat him.
“Hold on.”
That was the only warning the deer gave before setting off, as fast as he could without jostling his charge too much. Every now and then, he could feel Sanji’s grip loosening before winding back tight.
‘ Please, stay awake,’ Chopper silently begged.
He leapt over a pile of rubble, knocking a sharp hiss from Sanji. “Sorry,” he called back as hot breaths ruffled the fur on the back of his neck.
“Jus’go.”
“Right.”
The doctor continued forth, even as the huffs of air grew more erratic against him. ‘ Hang on Sanji.’
How had it gone so wrong? They were just passing through, that was it. How were they supposed to know the place was going to blow? They had no time to react and Sanji barely had the time to shove Chopper out of the brunt of the explosion. Why were there even still active bombs down there? It was abandoned, had been for years. They were only supposed to use it as a means of a shortcut. They must have stepped on something, bumped something. Even as he ran, he feared setting off another explosive. His gaze instinctively scanned the ground as he ran.
So intent on his searching, he hadn’t realized how rough his galloping was getting until Sanji buried his face in his fur to stifle his gasps.
“How’re you holding up?”
Sanji’s breath faltered against him, and he couldn’t tell if it was a laugh or another gasp. “Manag’n,” came his muffled reply. It was weak, strained, like it was taking what little energy he had to stay awake. Which wasn’t surprising when half the blond’s life was left in a pool a couple miles back. He did good to stay conscious for as long as he did.
Chopper had no idea where they were going, he was just going on instinct. Following the paths as they curved. As long as there were signs of old tracks, it meant they had been passed through at some point. He just had to stay on cour-
His heart lurched as something brushed his side.
At the same time the grip on his fur loosened.
Sanji’s hand fell, skimming the deer’s fur. His breathing evened out, coming out in rhythmic puffs against his back. On the bright side, he wasn’t in as much pain anymore. But at the same time, the heat coming off him in waves was becoming concerning. There was bound to be debris lodged in that wound, that wound Chopper sealed off with fire. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that it was riddled with bacteria.
Just one more thing he was going to have to deal with when they got back.
At least with him passed out, Chopper could move faster without worry. He sped up, leaping over rocks and fallen beams with ease. Sanji shifted on his back as he ran. And Chopper's only concern was worsening the chef’s injuries. It was a tight situation. He needed to give Sanji proper treatment as soon as possible, but going too fast could do more harm than good.
There was just no good way to go about this.
“I’m sorry, Sanji.”
He started to gallop. Whatever harm he caused, he could fix. But if an infection actually developed and got set in too quickly, it would be a lot more problematic than reopening his wound. They could do blood transfusions back on the ship. But if Sanji became ill from infection, that would take a lot more time and care to treat. And that on top of blood loss?
He didn’t want to think about it - couldn’t bring himself to think about it.
Heart hammering in his chest, Chopper rounded another corner only to skid to a halt. His inhale lodged itself in his throat as he stood there, face to face with a dead end. But how? He was sure this was the right way. There were still tracks beneath his hooves; at least, this way had been used before.
The doctor stood there for a moment, staring blankly at the wall as the breaths against the back of his neck grew warmer and more erratic. There had to be a way through. If he changed to- no. That could cause the whole place to collapse on them. He was sure he would be fine, but if Sanji took another hit, even a minor one…
He had no choice, he had to turn back, find another way. But how much time had he already wasted by wandering around aimlessly? Where were the others when you needed them. His eyes burned with the threat of tears. Tears that became more acidic as Sanji shifted against him again, whimpering.
He didn’t have time to cry.
What would Zoro do? Right, he’d just cut his way out. Chopper craned his neck, only able to see the top of the blond’s head. But what he could see was dampened with fresh sweat. As he watched, the chef moved, good hand clutching at the deer’s fur as he gritted his teeth. A small shudder racked through him, accentuated by a couple tight whines.
“Sanji? Are you awake?”
Only his head moved in what Chopper assumed was a nod.
“How’re you feeling?” He had to know. He had to keep track of every change no matter how small.
The blond took a slow, shallow breath and coughed it back out. Something wet and warm dripped onto the doctor’s back. “Jus’t’red,” Sanji whispered. It was a raspy sound. He wheezed in another breath. “H’t … Naus’ous.” He cringed at that last one.
“Think you’re going to throw up?”
Sanji shook his head. “No. N’t righ’now.” As he spoke, though, his grip tightened like he was physically trying to hold himself together.
Chopper nodded. That was good news at least. Or it was as good as it could get in their situation. “Sanji, we’re going to have to head back. This way’s a dead end.” He watched Sanji for a few seconds, waiting for any sort of reaction and got none. Did he even hear him? Or maybe he did and just couldn’t bring himself to reply.
For a moment, he feared the chef had passed out again. But as his fur was yanked softly, he knew that not to be the case. Taking a step back, Chopper turned and began trotting back. This time, he kept his pace a good deal slower, keeping an eye out for any branching paths he may have missed in his hurry. He glanced both ways as he went, all the while trying to be mindful of the man on his back. It was getting to where every time Sanji breathed out, he took a moment longer than usual to draw his next.
“Sanji, I know you’re exhausted. Please, just stay awake until we get out of here.”
The man hummed. “N’t sleepin’.”
“Good, keep it that way.” He hated to do it, but on occasion, he began to jostle Sanji, making sure he didn’t have the chance to doze off. Chopper did so while retracing their steps all the way back, all the way until one of his hooves splashed in the puddle of blood left behind. The doctor stood there, staring forward at the original direction they had come from. It was blocked off. All except for one, thin space.
But there was no way. No way he could fit through while carrying Sanji. Individually they could squeeze through, but Sanji couldn’t even stand. He needed to think, but he needed time to do that. Forward was just a dead end and back was no longer a valid option… And digging … that was out of the question; the place had already proven to be far too unstable.
Maybe there was a way to get both of them through.
But it wouldn't be easy, for either of them and for completely different reasons. Already, Chopper was regretting doing it, knowing it was only going to cause Sanji a great deal of pain. But the more he stood there and thought about the matter, the more he concluded that it was the best chance they had.
With a deep sigh, Chopper crouched and tilted slightly to the side. “Sanji, I’m going to need you to get off for a moment.” He gave the blond a nudge, a little bit of encouragement.
Gasping, Sanji managed to roll himself off the deer’s back and onto the rough ground. He lay there, chest heaving with every faltering breath.
“Just stay right there.”
Chopper took one moment to look the man over, over his pallid features, the sweat glistening and the slight red tinge to his cheeks. There was no denying it, fever was definitely setting in. The doctor swallowed dryly and turned back to the thin tunnel. This would have to work.
Sanji had himself propped against the wall. Perfect, right where Chopper needed him. Nodding, the deer backed himself into the hole, careful not to bump or disturb any of his surroundings. Once nestled in, he poked his head back out.
“Sorry, Sanji.”
By the time the chef let out a confused hum, Chopper was chomping down on the collar of his shirt. Holding his breath, he began to tug. Sanji’s reaction was instant. The moment his wounds were jostled, the blond cried out. He tried to stifle it by biting down on his lip, but it did no good. The sound still found a way to escape.
Chopper ignored the man’s whimpers and whines. This was the only option they had if they wanted to get out of there. There was no other way. That was what he kept reminding himself in the hopes to drown out some of the guilt gripping his heart. He only dragged the man a foot and already Sanji was out of breath.
“S’rry,” Chopper said again around the fabric clamped between his teeth.
The blond panted out a few more breaths. “It-It’s f’ne, Chopper. Jus’do what y’hafta.”
He was too tired to really care. Even if he objected to this, what could he do? He didn’t even have any better ideas himself. If it were up to him, he’d stop right there and go to sleep, not caring if he woke back up or not. He was simply exhausted. In fact, if he could just close his eye-
Sanji let out another cry as he was tugged over a stone, injuries jarred with the pull.
“ Sonuva,” he ground out. Sanji draped his good arm around his torso, hand resting over his side. He couldn’t help but run his fingers over the raised burns. It was still hot to the touch. He held his breath as much as he could as he was dragged along. Every foot covered made it more and more difficult to keep silent as more and more whimpers slipped out.
Sanji was just thankful none of the others were there to hear them.
How far had they gone anyway?
He assumed it had been quite a while as Chopper paused for breath, releasing his hold on the blond. “Sanji, how’re you doing?”
“A’right,” he forced out between rasps.
The blond cracked his eyes open for the first time since they began their journey through the tunnel. Well, they weren’t in the tunnel anymore. It was still dark and they were still surrounded by stone, but there was a lot more space than he anticipated.
“We made it through the cave-in,” Chopper clarified, seeing the hazy confusion in Sanji’s eye. “Shouldn’t be too far from here.”
Sanji hummed, pressing his hand more firm against his side with a sucked in hiss.
“How bad is it?”
“Tolerable.”
Chopper huffed out a breath. Why, of all times, did Sanji have to be his stubborn self? He couldn’t help at all if he didn’t know how the man was faring. To be honest, there wasn’t much of anything he could do anyway, but if it was something he could take care of on the spot, he’d like to know.
Guess he’d just have to take a look for himself if he wanted to know.
He dropped his form, knelt at Sanji’s side and pulled away the man’s dress shirt to get a better view. It was doing about as well as he could expect it to after being burned closed and dragged through the dirt. It was very obviously irritated. And he didn’t need to touch it to feel the heat radiating off. But there was another, more pressing detail that was difficult to make out in such poor lighting. It was bruising. The longer he looked at the deep shade, the more his insides twisted. He prayed it was due to the actual entry wound and not something brewing underneath.
Still, he had to confirm. He cut his eyes to Sanji’s drawn features before pressing his hooves against the dark blotch. His chest clenched at the strangled scream. That was way too strong of a reaction for normal bruising.
“Oh no,” he whispered under a shuddering breath.
Chopper pulled his hooves away, his trembling hooves. His eyes scanned Sanji's form, up to the light bruising over his chest. At least those he knew to be from the various fractures. Then his eyes continued to the man’s face and how pale it had become. The only color was the fevered flush. He didn’t need a thermometer to see it was getting rather high.
“It’s time we kept going,” Chopper announced, tugging the blond’s shirt back into place.
Instead of his previous form, he took on his more humanoid one, one where he would be better able to carry Saniji in his arms. Sure, it was slower, but this would jostle the blond’s injuries a lot less. As carefully as he could, the doctor scooped Sanji into his arms and pulled him close. The man shivered against him as his slinged arm nestled easily against his bruise-speckled chest.
“Just hang in there, Sanji.”
Chopper ran as fast as he could while still maintaining a gentle pace. Sanji was a lot more quiet this time around. Either it was due to the going being a lot easier or he was losing his stubborn fight against unconsciousness again. Regardless of which it was, it didn’t sit well with the doctor as the man’s head rolled to rest against his shoulder.
The man’s heated breaths ruffled through his fur. He wasn’t sure how long he was walking, but Sanji was becoming more stiff against him. Dangerously tense, like… Then there it was, the small hitch and a muffled gag.
Quickly, Chopper set Sanji down and helped him to kneel. He kept one hand on Sanji’s good shoulder and the other on his upper back, holding him firmly in place. Not a second later and Sanji was retching, whole body shaking with the bout of sickness. Chopper tried not to look at the mess on the ground, but out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the slight red that mixed in.
Once done, the blond was left wavering, gasping in breaths as he lurched to the side. Chopper caught the man with ease and sat there for a moment while the blond trembled against him. Making sure that was the end of it, the doctor scooped Sanji back in his arms and rose to his feet, doing so as gently as he could.
He gazed down at the man while he resumed his walking, watching the twitching of the man’s pained features. It was clear just how much Sanji was trying to hide his discomfort. Efforts that were failing more and more with each passing minute.
The weight in the deer’s chest let up a little as he watched their surroundings, seeing familiar objects. Good, he was still going the right way. They were getting closer to getting out and getting Sanji the proper help he so desperately needed. The deer rounded the next curve and his heart thrummed at the dull light that filtered at the end of the stretch. He was so close, so so close.
Tightening his grip on Sanji, he walked faster, almost running.
“We’re almost out,” he promised the chef.
Sanji shifted at this news, turning slightly towards the muted light. His body relaxed marginally in Chopper’s arms. The brighter the light got, the faster Chopper moved, like it was a magnet pulling him towards it. They were almost out - almost free. Already, Chopper could smell the outside, the fresh air and the heat of the sun.
His foot was the first thing touched by the sun’s rays and the warm sensation flowed straight up his leg and right to his heart.
They were out. They were outside and that much closer to the ship. Chopper gazed down at Sanji with new light shining down and that hope that had been absorbed into him was squeezed back out by cruel hands.
“Sanji?”
The cook’s eyes were closed, lips parted as light breaths shuddered out. He was so pale. His face glistened with a fresh sheen of sweat. With one hoof, Chopper brushed a lock of hair from Sanji’s forehead, feeling just how warm the blond was.
“Not much farther from here,” he promised.
He felt a little safer running knowing there weren’t hidden explosives outside the mines. All he could hear was his own breaths and his stamping against the ground as he ran. Everything flitted by him in a haze as he ran. He paid little attention to his surroundings. All he knew was he was going in the right direction and he was making pretty good time.
In fact, after a few minutes, a different light flashed across his eyes; the shimmering of the sun off the sea’s horizon. And right there against the setting sun, the silhouette of the Sunny. It was really right there. He was so close, he could cry. In fact, he was dangerously close to doing just that.
Every time he blinked, they were a little closer, the details of the ship were that much clearer. The next few minutes were a blur. Arriving at the ship, getting on deck and then the multiple questions from the few who stayed on the ship: Zoro, Usopp and Nami. Most of those questions came from the last two. Zoro more or less watched with a widened stare as Chopper landed on the deck, a blood-stained and limp cook in his arms.
Chopper ignored all of them, pushing through them as he made a straight line for his room. Of course, the three of the others followed after and kept their distance, hovering around the door. Usually the small doctor would be opposed to an audience, but right then, he didn’t care, he was in too much of a hurry as he stuck Sanji with a few needles, getting him on nearly everything he could think of: fluids, antibiotics, blood and sedatives. No way Sanji was going to want to be awake for any of this.
First he had to stop the internal bleeding. That would involve reopening the wound. He wiped down Sanji’s side and made his incision. As expected, it was a mess, enough so that two of the other crew members had to make their leave from the sight. Only Zoro remained. Chopper could feel the swordsman’s gaze as he worked.
“What happened?”
Chopper stopped his work long enough to glance over at the man before he got right back to stitching up Sanji from the inside.
“Explosives in the mine caused a cave-in,” he answered flatly, hands steadily moving. “Sanji … saved me. But he was badly injured.” Chopper bowed his head as he worked, but his hooves never slowed. He never stopped until he was sure the cook was no longer internally bleeding. “He was impaled by one of the beams and suffered a few broken ribs and a cracked clavicle. I fear infection is already setting in from stray debris,” the doctor explained as he stitched up the incision.
Zoro just hummed from his spot against the doorframe. He stayed right where he was, watching as Chopper cleaned and wrapped the wound, then went to properly check on those bones. All the while, the swordsman observed as Chopper set them and secured Sanji’s arm with a much more effective sling.
All of the most concerning matters tended to, the last thing Chopper did was drape a damp cloth over the blond’s forehead, easing the steadily rising fever. Hopefully that would begin to settle soon with the antibiotics currently flowing through his veins.
“How is he?”
Chopper stiffened, the question catching him off guard. Coming from Zoro, anyway.
“He should be fine with a few days of rest.” The deer let out a deep breath as he pulled the covers over his patient. “As long as the infection doesn’t spread, it only seems to be surface level. There were a few splinters lodged in the wound. I think I got them all.” He leaned back once Sanji was completely settled in. He did all he could for the time being.
Now that everything had calmed, Zoro entered completely to stand at the reindeer’s side. “You know he’ll be fine by tomorrow, right? You say a few days, but we both know that’s not accurate when it comes to this crew.”
Chopper tilted his head forward with a low breath. “Yeah, I’m aware.”
Zoro placed a hand on their doctor’s shoulder. “I should get back out there, it shouldn’t be long before the others show back up. I’ll be sure to keep them out of here.”
The doctor nodded with a hum. “Thanks, Zoro.”
Chopper stayed with his hooves on his knees as the door was closed, leaving him and Sanji alone once again. Other than muffled voices right outside, all he could discern were the blond’s labored breaths. He still appeared a little worse for wear, but thanks to the meds, he was sleeping and not just passed out. And with fresh blood steadily dripping into him, there was a little more natural color to him.
As the doctor sank into his chair, Sanji’s breath hitched and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Sanji?” Chopper perked back up. He kept a hoof on the cloth over his forehead to make sure it didn’t shift as the blond turned his head by less than an inch in his direction. The other rested on the inside of his wrist, keeping check on the man’s pulse as he woke.
“Ch’pper?” the blond breathed out with a slight wince.
The deer nodded and leaned forward. “Yeah. We’re back on the ship, Sanji. We’re safe now.” He moved his one hoof to brush some bangs back off his damp forehead. “Just, try and get some sleep. I just had to do some minor repairs to your body and it needs rest now. And you’re sick, so I don’t need you pushing yourself and messing up all my work, got it!” He tried his best to sound intimidating, but it just came out as the pleading of a desperate child.
Sanji raised his good hand and plopped it on the deer’s head.
“No w’rries, don’t think I c’uld even if I wanted’to.” He hissed out a breath and turned his head to stare back at the ceiling. At least he was being honest, he was too tired to even force himself to stay awake. “Knew y’could … get’s outta there.” Sanji closed his eyes back and pulled his hand away from the doctor’s fur, laying it back to his side.
Chopper nodded to himself with his lips pressed tight. He wouldn’t cry, he refused to. He’d already done enough of that for the day. He wiped his nose on his arm and tucked his hooves back between his knees.
Maybe it was the relief washing over him, or perhaps it was the exhaustion catching up with him. Most likely it was a combination of both, though. Chopper was finding it a little harder to sit up straight, but there was no way he was leaving Sanji’s side, not just yet, not when there were still so many possibilities for things to go wrong.
Yawning, Chopper folded his arms over the edge of the bed and rested his head over them. His eyes were closed in less than a second before he was drifting off. That was a lot faster than he had expected. As he lay there, slipping into a dream filled slumber, he was aware of a hand on his head, lightly stroking through his fur.