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Law knew doctors made the worst patients – he was one of them.
“You need to rest,” Chopper insisted, as did Luffy, sitting next to Law’s bedside looking worried.
The fight really hadn’t been all that bad, but the knock to Law’s head and subsequent concussion meant he couldn’t use his powers without his head threatening to split open, and it made healing himself impossible. Which he hated.
“You had a seizure,” Luffy said, almost a whisper, which Law appreciated because anything above that hurt his ears.
Law sighed. “I do that… sometimes.”
It had been years – ten, at least – since his last seizure, but it made sense that it would happen again now. Was it a red flag in head trauma protocol? Sure. But everything else was fine. (Mostly.) They had scanned him. He would be okay in a couple days.
Chopper frowned. “I’ll go ask the others where your file is.”
“My office,” Law croaked. “Ask Bepo… for the key.” He hadn’t wanted the file with all his past injuries and ailments to be readily available if they ever got boarded.
Chopper rushed off with an affirmative noise and then it was only Luffy and Law in the room.
“You scared me,” Luffy told him.
Well, fuck. Luffy wasn’t easily scared, Law knew that much.
“It’s not that bad,” Law said. His eyes had drifted shut again because he was that tired and the light hurt, but he cracked one of them open again. “Better tomorrow. Then I can heal myself.” He lifted a hand and patted the mattress next to himself while he tried to shift over a little.
Luffy didn’t need a verbal invitation, sliding into the space next to Law quickly and gently pressing his forehead to Law’s cheek. “Chopper said not to let you fall asleep yet.”
“Well, don’t, then.” Law wanted to argue with that point, actually. His scan had been clear. There was a but there somewhere, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was.
Luffy seemed to either know or sense that talking wasn’t helpful right now. Instead he traced random patterns on Law’s arm – the one not hooked up to an IV – to keep him awake.
After what felt like an eternity, Chopper returned with a distraught Bepo in tow. Bepo's squeaked "Captain" died on his lips as he spotted Law, groggily leaning against Luffy.
"You gotta be quiet," Luffy reminded him and Law had to chuckle. Bepo was probably more familiar with concussion treatment than Luffy. It did look like Bepo wanted to argue, but a slight shake of Law's head stopped him.
“I’ll be okay,” he repeated.
Chopper gave a slight huff and opened Law’s file. “So, the seizures are stress induced and a side effect from the Amber Lead Syndrome. Thus only secondary connected to the head trauma,” he rattled off. Ah, that was what Law had forgotten. The seizure.
“So I can sleep?” he asked.
Chopper nodded sternly. “If you agree to stay here.”
Law had a vague memory of insisting that he should sleep in his own bed maybe half an hour ago. Well, fine. He was a bad patient but he could admit when he had been wrong. “Alright.”
“You can stay,” Chopper told Bepo. “If you’re quiet.”
“Quiet as a mouse,” Bepo promised.
Bepo did have a lot of experience of being quiet while Law napped, but having him and Luffy both be almost entirely silent felt weird. Surprisingly it didn’t keep him from nodding off though, and he fell asleep quickly, which was everything but normal for him.
He came to an unknown amount of time later to his hand in Luffy’s, and quiet voices whispering.
He only caught Bepo saying “—soup” before he slowly opened his eyes.
“Who’s having soup?” he mumbled.
“You’re awake!” Luffy cheered, too loudly, and Law screwed his eyes shut again.
“You can have soup,” Chopper said, swooping in. “In about half an hour.”
He asked Law to open his eyes again and then took him through a series of tests. Law’s pupils were still equal and reactive, he could remember the fight better now and had no other issues regarding his memory, and he was marginally less light sensitive. He had only been asleep for a few hours, not all night like he had thought, but it was almost dinner time and his growling stomach was also a good sign. (One that he usually ignored, but he wasn’t about to admit that in front of three meddlesome people.)
"If you eat the soup here and keep it down and spend the night here I'll let you leave in the morning," Chopper said and Law decided to take the win. He nodded.
Luffy looked like he wanted to protest, but bit his tongue. Impressive, usually he couldn’t keep from sharing his thoughts for more than thirty seconds.
"You should update the crew," Law told Bepo. "Tell them not to worry and drink some beer for me and get a good night's sleep."
"Aye, Captain." Bepo took one last measuring look at him before sliding out of the room.
"Can I sleep here?" Luffy asked the moment he was gone.
Chopper sighed. Clearly he had already expected the question. "We can put a cot in here for you." Before Luffy could even open his mouth he held up a hoof. "No snuggling! He needs rest, not you suffocating him."
"Take it or leave it, Luffy-ya," Law said tiredly to nip any argument in the bud.
"Fine," Luffy pouted.
There was a knock at the door before Sanji pushed it open with his foot. "Soup for the patient!"
Law raised his eyebrows. Sanji wasn't generally known to hand-deliver food to people who weren't Nami or Robin. (He had tried it with Ikkaku but she had given him a death glare that had made Law proud and he hadn't tried since.) He really must have scared everyone.
The soup was set up on a tray in front of him, along with some water, and then Sanji swooped out again.
It was good soup, Law had to admit. He even finished all of it, and he wasn't a big eater. Once both the bowl and the glass was empty and Luffy had taken them away, Law stretched a little and sighed. "Alright, I need to pee." He looked at Chopper, and for a moment Law feared he was going to suggest a catheter, but Chopper only sighed and transformed into his taller form.
"Just in case you drop."
Law wouldn't hate anything more, but it was a fair precaution. He felt woozy getting up, but it passed after a second, and he had the fortune of being able to use his IV pole for stability. Thankfully he made it to the bathroom without bigger issues, and soon he was back in the bed. In his absence, Luffy had set up a cot with a nest of blankets next to it.
“Sleepover time,” he announced.
“Do actually let him sleep,” Chopper reminded. “And get me if anything seems off.”
“Will do.”
And with that Chopper was gone, turning off the light as he went.
It didn’t even take two minutes until Luffy whispered: “Hey, can I come up there?”
“Yes,” Law breathed, and a second later the bed dipped next to him. What Chopper didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt Law. He slept better with Luffy next to him, and the concussion made it easier to admit. Luffy burrowed into his side, and Law tiredly put an arm around him.
“I know you can’t promise it but… just don’t do that again,” Luffy said quietly against his neck.
“Well, I’m not keen on a repeat performance, so I’ll do my best,” Law mumbled, making Luffy giggle.
“You sound better now.”
“I feel better now.” Law turned his head slightly to press a kiss to the top of Luffy’s head. “I’ll feel even better after some more sleep.”
“Okay, shutting up now.”
He started drifting off to Luffy’s even breaths as Luffy put his head on Law’s chest. The pressure was just right, and he knew Luffy was listening to his heartbeat for reassurance. How ironic.
A heart for a mind.
And then he was asleep.