"Aaaaaaah!"
A scream of agony came from inside the house. Outside, Sanji and Usopp sat on the edge of a pavilion, chatting idly. Their injuries had been treated by the old doctor, and after some rest, they could move about normally again.
Inside, an old doctor was stitching Zoro's wounds, berating him for being an idiot who tried to treat such severe injuries himself.
The wound left by Hawk Eyes normally would take two years to fully heal. That Zoro, with such an injury, had not only been running around recklessly everywhere but also engaged in intense combat made Sanji genuinely think he was insane.
The crew being injured without a ship's doctor was indeed a problem. But Luffy, stroking his chin seriously, said that before finding a doctor, they should find a musician first, because he believed pirates absolutely had to know how to sing.
"What do you think of my idea? Having a musician would definitely bring more fun to sailing, right?" Luffy asked Tom, who was sitting on another bed.
Tom didn't reply. He stared blankly as the old doctor stitched Zoro's wound, so shocked his jaw was about to drop.
Sewing such a serious wound without anesthetic? Are you kidding me?
While Tom could now calmly face death, this was the first time in his life he'd seen someone with such a massive wound almost spreading across the entire body. For such a trauma to be sutured without anesthetic—no wonder Zoro was screaming his lungs out.
"Are you feeling sick? You're sweating on your forehead," Luffy asked, seeing Tom's mouth agape and a faint sheen of sweat on his brow.
"No, I'm fine," Tom answered casually. He swallowed, pointed at Zoro, and asked the doctor, "Will I have to go through that later too?"
The old doctor shook his head, making Tom feel slightly relieved inside. But very quickly, he realized he had been happy too early.
"Some of your wounds are harder to treat than his. Especially your right shoulder—it was punctured and the wound is infected. Later, I'll need to do some special handling. I also know you were poisoned by snake venom. While you're fine now, there are still trace amounts of toxin remaining. Might as well treat that too." As the doctor said this, he neatly stitched a few more stitches on Zoro, making him cry out in pain again.
The reason Tom's wounds were so prone to infection was actually due to his Devil Fruit ability lowering his body's immunity.
"Special treatment? What's that?" Tom asked. Seeing how even a tough guy like Zoro couldn't help but yell from a few stitches, and hearing his wounds were even harder to deal with, felt very bad.
"Don't worry. It's just using a scalpel to scrape a few times inside the wound, removing some of the infected rotten flesh. Might scrape against your bone a bit. You'll have to endure it." The doctor's words made Tom so shocked he nearly fainted on the spot.
Endure my ass! I'm not Guan Yu! You can't pull this "scraping the bone to remove poison" drama on me!
Tom weakly asked, "Um… don't you have any anesthetic or something?"
The doctor rolled his eyes and told Tom a fact.
Due to years of exploitation by the Arlong Pirates, as the doctor said, he didn't even have spare money to buy anesthetics. Even his scalpel hadn't been replaced in years. He'd have to thoroughly wash it with water before treating Tom later.
Tom was completely dumbfounded, not even noticing when Luffy left.
The doctor also told Tom that Nami had already instructed him: use any method to make Tom recover quickly, since Tom could definitely take it. He told Tom not to worry—it would be over very quickly.
Hearing this, Tom really wanted to immediately give Nami a good beating. This was way too坑人.
After the doctor finished with Zoro, it was Tom's turn.
Tom glanced at the soundly sleeping Johnny and Yosaku nearby, then at Zoro lying on the bed. He took a deep breath and said with great momentum to the scalpel-wielding doctor, "Alright then! In ancient times, there was Guan Yu scraping the bone to remove poison. Today, there is—"
The doctor didn't understand Tom's historical reference at all. Before Tom could finish, the scalpel went into the wound on his right shoulder.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
An earth-shattering scream echoed through Coco Village, lingering for a long time without fading.
Meanwhile, Nami was sitting at Bellemere's gravesite, with Nojiko and Genzo standing behind her.
Though it took eight years for everyone to regain freedom, Nami's face now seemed to constantly overflow with a warm, comforting smile.
"If Bellemere were alive… do you think she'd let me become a pirate?" Nami suddenly asked the two behind her.
"You're Bellemere's beloved daughter. A former Marine herself, how could she let you become a pirate? She'd definitely stop you," Genzo said right after finishing.
"No, she wouldn't stop you," Nojiko said. "Even if she disagreed, would you listen to her?"
Nami chuckled, cutely sticking out her tongue. "I absolutely would not listen."
Nojiko was stunned for a moment, then remembered how years ago, when Bellemere announced she was joining the Marines to become a female Marine, the whole village opposed her, but she still went forward without hesitation following her own will.
In this regard, Nami had now perfectly inherited Bellemere's "stubbornness." Nojiko felt relieved and didn't try to persuade Nami anymore. Perhaps Nami becoming a pirate wouldn't be as bad as he thought. After all, hadn't the people of this island been saved by pirates?
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, two days passed. During this time, aside from recuperating, Luffy and the others attended Coco Village's banquet, going completely wild for two days and two nights straight. The villagers still hadn't settled down; the grand banquet continued.
Luffy's injuries recovered the fastest. Despite his severe injuries, after the doctor's simple treatment, he stuffed himself with meat like crazy and was now full of vitality.
As for Zoro, he recovered fairly well—at least well enough to go outside and drink.
Sanji, after eating and drinking his fill, sat in a corner chatting with Zoro briefly before ditching him to go look for village beauties to play around with.
Usopp, though not fully recovered, didn't let that hinder him from standing on a high platform holding a loudspeaker and boasting loudly about his heroic deeds to the crowd. He also sang loudly, singing over a hundred songs before continuing to strain his throat singing happily.
As for Tom, due to his infected wounds, combined with snake venom and high fever, according to the doctor, it was already lucky he survived at all. He had to rest quietly.
Thus, Tom was brought to Bellemere's house to recuperate. There was no other way; the village was too noisy with the celebration. Only here was comparatively quiet.
It had to be said, Tom had experienced the taste of bone-scraping for the first time. It was truly unbearably painful. He felt that so-called flaying and dismembering probably felt like this.
Though Tom ultimately endured it, the pain left him without even the strength to speak. Completely exhausted, he soon drifted into sleep.
He slept for two days straight. When Tom woke up, he found it was night, and he smelled a strong aroma of food. His stomach, empty for two days, immediately growled.
Getting up from bed, Tom could still faintly smell a light fragrance. He immediately recognized he was in Nojiko's room. Though his wounds still ached from time to time, it was no longer unbearable. His fever had broken. It seemed his recovery was going fairly well. He shook his head a bit and walked out of the room.
"You're awake. Come eat, then." Nami's face flashed with delight upon seeing Tom. She had a new tattoo on her left shoulder. Tom saw it was no longer the Arlong Pirates' mark, but a combined design of a windmill and tangerine.
"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up." Nami untied the apron at her waist. Seeing Tom still standing there, she said again.
"You… cooked?" Tom, just waking up and without food, was actually a bit slow in the head. Though Nami had cooked on the Merry before, she charged for every meal back then.
Thinking carefully, Tom realized he truly hadn't seen Nami so formally enter the kitchen, like a proper cook. Sitting at the table, he saw three simple but fragrant bowls of tangerine sauce omelet rice.
"Oh? You really are awake. That's good." Nojiko, who seemed to have just returned from the tangerine grove behind the house, greeted Tom casually and prepared to eat.
"What do you mean by that?" Tom also sat at the table, feeling Nojiko's words seemed to have something hidden in them.
"Oh, the doctor said if you didn't wake up today, you were probably done for. We'd just find a place to bury you, so your companions wouldn't be sad. But since you're awake, the hole I dug not long ago is useless now." Nojiko said this calmly, like drinking water.
Tom looked at Nojiko, the corners of his mouth twitching a few times, completely unable to say a word. He didn't know that occupying Nojiko's room for two days had made her quite dissatisfied, hence her small jab.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T/N :
Support me and Access 25 chapters in Advance on my P@treon: [email protected]/GodFic