บท 62: Chapter 62
"I think you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to face the other way," she said politely. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, she added mentally. The creature quickly corrected itself, hiding its body behind the door with its head sticking out in a mix between fear and curiosity. "I can still see you, I'm afraid," she said in slight amusement. "In fact, I saw you from the beginning."
"Shut up!" the creature yelled suddenly. "I don't take advice from humans!" He paused. "By the way, how's your fever?"
"Much better, thank you," Vivi replied, suppressing her initial reaction. This confirmed her suspicions from before. If it, or rather, he, she assumed, could sort books on a shelf, then he had a degree of intelligent thought similar to that of a human. But if he could talk as well, then that meant that despite his appearance and his evident scorn for them, he was a little human himself. "If you don't mind me asking," Vivi began slowly. "What kind of animal are you?"
His eyes widened and he broke into a sweat at hearing that. Evidently deciding he would have no more of this, he called out. "Doctorine!"
"Keep it down in there, Chopper!" a low feminine voice called out. A woman of gray hair and old age walked into the room, and the creature made a break for it. The woman snickered. "Looks like your fever has gone down quite a bit, girl. How are you feeling?"
"Better than I have in days," Vivi replied. "Are you the one who treated me?" The woman poked her in the forehead rather than responding.
"38 degrees, not bad," she muttered before taking a swig of the sake bottle in her hand. Vivi was impressed that she could discern her exact temperature with a touch.
"And no," the woman continued. "Chopper is the one who nursed you back to health."
"Chopper?" Vivi asked in confusion. "Is he…?"
"He's that little reindeer you startled," the woman confirmed. "I'm Doctor Kureha, his mentor. You can call me Doctorine."
"Doctorine, would you mind telling me…"
"What? You want to know the secret of my eternal youth?" she asked with a grin.
"Um, maybe later," Vivi said. "Where am I exactly?"
"Drum Kingdom," Kureha replied. "More specifically, the castle atop the Drum Rockies."
"Drum Kingdom…" Vivi repeated. She knew of the country, but not much about it. Was she here alone? Where was the rest of the crew?"
"If you're wondering about the one who brought you here, I had him relocated to another room." Kureha supplied.
"And…who was that exactly?" Vivi asked sheepishly. Kureha grinned in amusement.
"A young man named Luffy. Wears a straw hat. He was quite the character. He ascended the mountain like it was no big deal. When I asked him how he did it, he replied that he flew. I was skeptical, but how else could he get up here without a scratch?"
Vivi's eyes widened. So, Luffy had brought her here. That meant the crew had found a new route and Luffy had brought her to a doctor personally. "My, you must have really been out of it," Kureha said. "But I guess that's to be expected. You were bitten by Kestia, after all."
"Kestia?" Vivi repeated.
"It's an extinct species of tick that carries a lethal strain of bacteria. If one is bitten by it, symptoms of the infection include a fever of 40 degrees or above, intense pain throughout the entire body, and death after 5 days. You were on your third day it seems." Vivi gulped as she rubbed the spot on her neck that she had once dismissed as a simple mosquito bite. "Honestly, you're lucky I kept the antibiotic to that strain of bacteria. It's been extinct for over 100 years. I'd love to know how you spent your week," Kureha continued. "Were you running around on a prehistoric island or something?"
Vivi gave her a small, sheepish smile. "I'm afraid so," she admitted. Kureha threw back her head and laughed.
"Is that so? Well, hopefully you at least covered up. That can help sometimes, though I guess it didn't quite do much for you in this case since you were bitten on the neck."
"I see," Vivi said. "Then, if the illness has been treated, I suppose I can get discharged soon?" she inquired, thinking about how long it would take to get to Alabasta now.
"Depends what you mean by soon. Even if the bacteria has been killed and the fever has gone down, your body is still in a delicate condition, and the infection still needs to be monitored. With most cases of Kestia treatment a patient would have to take 10 days to heal even if they survived." Vivi's eyes widened in horror upon hearing this. "But don't worry, that 100-year-old medicine pales in comparison to my modern day treatment. You'll be fine to leave after three days at most."
"Three days? I can't wait that long," Vivi said. "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but seeing as we're in a rush, I'll take my chances." She attempted to get up from the bed as she said this, but Dr. Kureha stopped her, swiftly grabbing a scalpel and pushing her back down onto the bed, holding the blade against her neck and shocking her out of her wits.
"There are only two circumstances under which I discharge my patients," she said with a low voice. "When they're healed, or when they're dead." She smirked. "So, pick one."
Vivi's gaze hardened. "I don't care if you threaten me," she growled. "My country is awaiting my return. I can't afford to stay here for three days!"
"Well I'm sure there's a story behind that," Kureha said. "Not that it interests me, but will you be any use to your country if you're dead?" she asked as the blade of the scalpel gleamed in the light. Vivi gritted her teeth, knowing the logic was sound, but this was pretty difficult to accept considering how irrational Doctorine was being about her discharge. She was about to speak when a voice made itself known in the doorway.
"You're not really going to kill her after she just got better, are you?" They both turned to the doorway (in Vivi's case, as much as she could without getting her throat cut), to see a familiar presence.
"Luffy-san!" Vivi exclaimed.
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