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The first to fall was Nami. It wasn’t really surprising. Among all the crew, she was the only one who was normal enough to get sick. Chopper was very intrigued by the immune defenses of his crewmates, especially Luffy, Usopp, Zoro and Sanji who claimed that they never felt sick in their life. Maybe it was true, like the idiom said, that idiots didn’t catch cold.
And it was only that. A simple cold, except that it was a muted one that Chopper had never seen before. Nami had a high fever and aches, but her cough was dry, so there was no risk of it changing into pneumonia. She still had to stay in bed, too tired to do more than eat and refresh herself in the bathroom from time to time, stubbornly checking the Log Pose every hour, just in case the Sunny sailed towards the unknown instead of their destination.
Sanji was less a mess than Chopper thought he would be seeing the navigator like that, and when he asked Usopp about it, his friend revealed that it was probably Chopper’s presence and his exceptional skills as doctor that was the reason for a worried cook but in a restraint way. Usopp talked about the first time Nami fell sick and how everyone panicked, especially Sanji. Now he could laugh about how ridiculous they all were, but Chopper knew that it was only because they cared about Nami’s well-being that they had been so worried.
The second person to come see him with a headache was Robin. Chopper yelled at her for not coming to him the moment she recognized the signs, and he put her to bed without a fight. It was proof that she was more tired than she was letting on, and after a full check-up, the doctor confirmed that it was the same virus. With two people sick, he declared their ship as a sanitary risk for outsiders and therefore, couldn’t dock immediately at the next island, even if they reached it, until Chopper said it was safe.
With the two women dear to his heart bedridden, Sanji was definitely fussier now than before, asking Chopper what he could cook to help them recover faster, and being in the way in general. The doctor knew it wasn’t a bad thing, but having him in the women’s quarter all the time didn’t help anyone at all. Yet, Chopper couldn’t blame the cook when he saw his worried eyes.
Sanji wasn’t the only one who wanted to be overly helpful however, and at first Chopper was like the new captain of the Sunny, but it quickly became too much for him alone. Nami and Robin’s state wasn’t improving as fast as he wished, the cold stretching out for a week instead of a few days, and the fever wasn’t coming down as nicely as he hoped. Chopper tried to study the virus more but with the others always bothering him, he wasn’t progressing very fast.
It was when Franky complained about his aching body that Chopper knew this was no ordinary virus. The cyborg had always chronic pains but after examining him thoroughly, it was clear that Franky was sick too. Chopper became a bit erratic at this point, knowing that if he didn’t find out how the virus spread, it would only be a matter of time before everyone caught that virus, whatever it was.
Except, probably, the four immune idiots, Brook, since he was a skeleton, and there was no way to know if it was contagious for animals like him or if Jinbei, as a fishman, was immune to it too. Maybe there was no need to panic after all. Chopper gave Franky painkillers and told him to go to sleep. The big man didn’t have a too high fever, so the doctor wasn’t really worried.
The next day, Chopper almost beat himself up for being so carefree. Franky’s fever had spiked up in the night, and Jinbei was in the same state as the girls when they first got sick, conscious but too weak to do more than eat and sleep. The only upside was that Nami and Robin were already recovering from the virus, their immune defenses being strong enough to beat the virus. It had taken them a week and a half, but Chopper knew there was nothing more to do than wait now.
Brook had been very quiet all this time, up until he learned the good news and laughed loudly. If Chopper saw small tears in his eye sockets, he didn’t mention it. The reindeer knew that his nakama had lost his former captain to sickness, then all his crewmates to poison, so seeing their nakama bedridden was probably very difficult for him. However, the moment Brook smiled again, he picked up his violin again and played happy tunes, something that Luffy loved particularly. They didn’t feast, their nakama not well enough to really celebrate anything, but it was decided that there would be a happy recovery party as soon as everyone was back on their two feet.
Something should have alerted him when Sanji wasn’t as enthusiast about the girls’ recovery as it was usually expected, but Chopper was tired and it wouldn’t surprise him if the cook wanted to have a lazy day sometimes.
Except, unfortunately, it was only the cook’s way to hide his own sickness, and in the middle of the night, Chopper was woken by a hoarse cough that didn’t stop for a long time. Sanji had a fever so high it was almost becoming worrisome, but the worst was that even with all the noise he made, Luffy, Usopp and Zoro didn’t even wake up. Chopper quickly checked their temperature and panic creeped in his chest. They were all sick!
Brook was on night watch and Chopper called for him, needed at least someone to carry the four men in the bathroom, where he knew he could rapidly lower their temperature. Jinbei and Franky wanted to help too, but they were clearly not in the state to do so, and Chopper forbade them strictly to leave their beds, unless they wanted an injection to make them sleep until the next morning. Reassured that his patients were going to stay in bed, Chopper took Zoro and Sanji on his shoulders, while Brook put Usopp on his back and Luffy under his armpit, and they rushed towards the bathroom.
The lukewarm water helped to better control the fever of the four men, but Chopper only relaxed when they were finally answering him in a less dizzy daze than when he first plunged them in the bathtub. Luffy should be the worst patient out of all of them because he couldn’t enter the water alone with his Devil Fruit abilities and neither Chopper or Brook could go with him either. He could enter the bathtub if only one person could hold him, but among the other three sick people, Usopp felt too weak, and Zoro and Sanji were fighting each other, claiming that they were fine, or at least felt better than the other, something that didn’t help anyone.
If they didn’t have a fever so high, Chopper would have already hit them on their head so they would finally calm down, but instead, he scolded them with his doctor’s voice, something that only worked when his patients were moron and his patience had run out.
Sanji and Zoro glared at each other, until Usopp broke the silence with a cough. Chopper checked Luffy’s temperature again, his captain shaking on his stool, a cold towel on his head and neck. The doctor watched carefully his other patients from the corner of his eyes, glad that Brook was here to look after them if their head went suddenly under water, and proceeded to wash Luffy’s chest, arms and legs to cool his body the hard way. He did it a few times until he was satisfied, changing Luffy’s towels one last time, his fever finally dropping to something more reasonable.
The silence in the bathroom was cut only by the difficult breathing of the sick men, and it was proof that they were not fine. Usopp hadn’t talked about dying even once, and Zoro and Sanji weren’t even arguing a little. Still, their fever was going down but it was only a small relief. Chopper was pretty sure that they chose to hide their sickness instead of coming to him directly, making things even more serious.
The fact that they never got sick before was probably not true anymore. They just stubbornly got rid of any virus that dared infect them in the past, their immune system probably being stronger than average people, and claimed that they never felt weak during their whole life. From Zoro, Sanji and Luffy, it wasn’t really surprising, but coming from Usopp, it made Chopper wonder if he simply refused to get sick. Well, it didn’t matter. Right now, Chopper and Brook were the only ones healthy enough to take care of the others, and it wasn’t a little virus that was going to win against his medical skills.
After the bath, Chopper asked Brook to prepare some makeshift beds in the men’s quarters, not trusting the hammocks to be comfortable enough for his new patients. Franky and Jinbei had already their own beds, the girls too, but there was only one in the infirmary, and he preferred that his nakama stayed together right now. If anyone’s condition worsened, he would get them in the infirmary where he prepared his medicine, but until then, they would have to make do with their temporary beds on the ground.
Now that they were feeling a bit better, they tried to convince Chopper that it was nothing, but the doctor wasn’t going to believe them so easily. He yelled for them to settle down, already feeling the beginning of a headache. Luffy was a bit out of it and refused to lie down, but at least he was staying seated on his bed, not like a certain cook who thought that his duty was more important than resting, wanting to prepare something for the sick. Brook was already helping Usopp under his cover when Sanji decided to get up and walked to the door, stopped in his track when Zoro stood up too and grabbed his arm. They argued, and it was almost comic if it wasn’t for their fever going up again, their faces red and their voices breaking from time to time.
Chopper was about to hit them, tired and angry, but it wouldn’t have been professional, and he didn’t even know if it would work. The solution happened suddenly, when an angry Nami barged in the men’s quarter and knocked out the two men. She was in her pajama, hair in a sorry state after all this time sleeping in her bed, but she was definitely feeling better if she was able to get out of her room and punish whoever woke her up from her recovery sleep.
It was better, at least, once Nami was there to order everyone to rest, and Chopper walked her back to her room, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She smiled, tired but relaxed, and agreed with the doctor with assurance, thanking him for his hard work.
Chopper tried to not smile, or dance, or be happy, you stupid, shut up!, but he failed and Nami’s smile grew bigger on her face. He left her in front of the women’s quarter, Robin giving him a confident smile before the door closed behind her.
The next days were a bit fuzzy. Nami, Robin and Franky had almost completely recovered while Jinbei had been an easy patient who always listened to him, pleasing Chopper who wasn’t very concerned about him anymore. The other four men, however, were tiring, always trying to slip past him to do things they thought they absolutely needed to do. Like cooking – even if Chopper had to admit that only Sanji was able to cook a good meal for so many at once – or training – and for this one, Chopper was unyielding, Zoro could skip a few days, it wasn’t going to kill anyone! – or playing hide-and-seek – Chopper had almost a heart attack when Luffy was about to jump into the sea, barely stopped by a weak Usopp, and he was very glad for his human form strength so he could get them both up on the deck to sermon them, again.
Why people couldn’t listen to him? It was simple enough, he didn’t ask them much, just to stay still for a while, to rest until they felt better. He took a painkiller for his constant headache, fearing the worst. He made a quick check-up for himself and sighed.
Doctor Kureha always told him that doctors were the worst patients because they knew how diseases worked and thought they could fight illness with their own knowledge instead of taking it easy and rest like everyone else. And Chopper wasn’t an idiot, but he wasn’t going to rest until all his nakama were on their feet. So he hid his fever with pills, napping when he could, and fortunately for him, except for Usopp, Zoro, Luffy and Sanji, the others didn’t need a lot of attention and could take care of themselves and the Sunny when he needed some time alone.
It's not like he didn’t expect it, but it was never a good moment to remember when he lost consciousness while in his way to check his patients. After a few fuzzy days, he woke up with the sound of a page turned, the smell of coffee, and a warm cover around him.
“Robin…?”
“Chopper, you’re awake?”
His nakama put her book away and touched his forehead, the nice caress against his fur making him relax.
“What about the others?” He asked with a hoarse voice.
“Don’t worry about them, they’re okay. We’re all okay. Thanks to you.” Robin smiled, never stopping the friendly touch.
“I need to check on them!“ He tried to get up, but Robin pushed him easily back in his bed. She was still smiling but he shivered from fear when she looked at him with angry eyes.
“The only thing you need to do is rest. Our doctor always gets angry when his patients don’t listen to him and don’t get enough rest. Understood, Chopper?”
He nodded, not missing the hiding message behind her calm voice. He had told his nakama to take it easy enough to know that she wasn’t going to let him run off on his own now that he was the sick one.
The door of the infirmary opened and Sanji smiled at them both, two plates in his hands.
“Chopper, you’re finally awake! And Robin-chan, here your sandwiches made with all my love!”
He put the plates next to Robin’s book and it was only then that Chopper noticed how hungry he was.
“Oh, Chopper is awake! GUYS! CHOPPER’S AWAKE!” Luffy repeated until everyone gathered inside the infirmary.
It was a bit crowded, but Chopper was relieved to see them all well, without red cheeks or frowns on their faces, and he smiled, happy. His nakama wanted to pamper him, feeding him in turn, telling him stories and news, thanking him for his hard work.
His eyes were about to close, too tired to stay awake any longer, while the voices of his nakama shushed around him, whispering and trying to not laugh too loud, not wanting to let him alone right now.
The last thing he heard was Luffy’s voice in his ear, who chose to lie down next to him to keep him company.
“Sleep well, Chopper!”