~

"Subject him to activated charcoal, it would bind itself with the poison, prevent more from mingling in the blood stream." Law told Penguin who ran to get the supplies. "Ikkaku, patient gown, now."

"Gotcha." She helped Law take off Luffy's clothes and put him in a gown, attaching monitors. Law took off his coat and got the supplies for taking a blood sample when Penguin got back.

"Law, gloves! And mask." Penguin brought Law's attention to the fact that he was skipping steps, whether on purpose or not was confirmed when Penguin's eyes saw his friend's hands were shaking.

Law was panicking.

"Yeah-" Law quickly pulled on his mask and gloves, trying to get his breathing to become normal and his shaking to stop. He hadn't been able to calm down and he needed to keep his mind level to think up of best possible solutions to save Luffy's life.

"Step back, I will do it." Law relinquished the job to his friend and instead got the machines ready. "Tox screen?" Law nodded and Penguin was away again to analyze the blood for toxins. Law prepared Luffy's left arm for attaching the dialysis machine and began the first cycle. He quickly got a CT and X-Ray done and made a diagnosis.

"Lungs and kidneys look bad." Penguin commented coming back and handing Law the toxicology report. It was bad.

"Speed up the dialysis." Law suggested and Penguin did what he was told while Law paced to think of something fast enough to clean the poison out of the system. His palms were still sweating, the lump in his throat was still there.

"Haven't seen captain panicking, this is very disturbing." Ikkaku whispered to Penguin when Law had paced outside hearing distance.

"He never panics when there is a life on the line."

"Maybe it's because of this particular life?" They both shared a look and came to the wordless conclusion that it was in fact because of Luffy being the patient that this was getting to Law.

"Administer pain meds." Law pointed, urgency in his tone when he got back to the two and saw Luffy's eyes scrunched in what could only be pain, incoherent speech falling from his lips that were turning blue.

"On it."

"What should I do? What should I do?" Law started mumbling under his breath. "Already done with activated charcoal, dialysis is already doing its job but very slowly, what else, what else?"

Ikkaku looked at Law concerned and spotted Clione and Jean Bart at the entrance of the medbay with much the same face. None of them had ever seen their captain look so distraught. His hands were still shaking, he was accidentally stumbling on his own feet while pacing and he kept mumbling incoherent things.

"Got it!!" Law spoke so loud that all four of his friends jumped. "We do a whole body transfusion!"

"That's risky right now." Penguin countered.

"But think about it, he's on dialysis which is slowly cleaning out the toxins and if we put him through a whole body transfusion, it will clean out almost ninety percent of the poison out with the old blood. We get a shot at minimizing the damage to vital organs." Law explained, hands making frantic movements.

"We don't have that kind of blood right now."

"So we do a live transfusion. Use me."

"What're you saying?" Penguin asked just to be clear. Law wasn't actually suggesting he risk himself... right?

"Live whole body blood transfusion Peng, pay attention."

"And transfuse from you?"

"Yes."

"No." Penguin said in a tone of finality.

"This isn't a suggestion Peng." Law glared.

"You hit fifteen percent and you will start going into shock, then what?" Penguin was slowly getting angry at Law's disregard for his life.

"Use the bags we have, trick my body that we are getting blood. Add other fluids with it so we don't need more blood but the volume gets stable nonetheless." It made a whole lot of sense to Law and he was getting exceedingly frustrated by Penguin not seeing the point.

"No."

"We are doing it one way or another, I am not letting him die." Law took off his doctor's coat and put it aside.

"Well I am not in the favor of letting you die."

"Listen dammit! I promised him that he would be ok! I'm not having another person die on me!"

Clione, Jean Bart and now Musta watched from the edge of the infirmary but they were ready to intervene if a brawl broke out. Ikkaku had never seen both Penguin and Law getting so worked up and since she was nearer to them both, she was more on edge with the way their voices escalated.

"I am not doing it." Penguin crossed his arms, his words final.

"Medicine isn't for the weak willed. This is a situation where you have to make a decision but you are clearly incapable of that right now. Are you so scared that you'll lose me? What are you, a coward?" Law mocked, smriking, knowing his words would get under his friend's skin.

"Asshole!" Penguin brought his fist forward and connected it with Law's face. The act was so sudden that the surgeon fell back.

"Peng!" Ikkaku pulled Penguin back by putting him in a deadlock to the best of her ability but the man was overpowering her hold.

"This is your life on the line if you go through with this! Don't take it lightly! You might even die!!"

"I don't care really." Law said getting up, wiping the blood from his split lip. "I'm not going to live another second of this borrowed life if I have to lose another person." He took off his shirt next and slid out of his pants, pulling a patient gown. He placed his piercings on the table beside the bed. He would go into a hypovolemic shock and he would get hypothermic, clothes that stick to skin would only irritate him. "I'm tired of losing."

Penguin watched Law as he got the transfusion needles out and arranged the entire thing. He looked at how solemn his friend looked and understood that this wasn't just because it was Luffy's life, it was all connected to losing his Flevance and then losing his second father.

Penguin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was angry but he couldn't let his friend go through this alone. If Shachi and Bepo were here they would protest too but when they had started their journey with Law, they all had sworn they wouldn't let Law feel so hopeless and empty ever again.

"Give it to me." Penguin extended his hand for Law to put the equipment there. Law looked at the older for a few seconds then sighed, handing the transfusion needles to Penguin. "Get in the bed." He turned to Ikkaku. "Get as many blankets as you can and find any heatpads we have here."

"Changed your mind?" Law grinned putting his hat beside Luffy's strawhat and adjusting the pillow to lay down.

"You are a menace."

"That I am."

"When you go into shock, Law, do not give up on life." Penguin warned and pricked Law's arm with the needle and taped it in place. When Penguin's back was turned to Law and he was working on Luffy, Law sighed.

"I don't intend on dying. But don't bring me back if my heart stops for more than ten minutes."

"Yeah that's not happening." Peng patted Law's shoulder and elevated his feet with one of the extra pillows Ikkaku brought, moving to Law's other arm to prepare him to receive blood and fluids.

Going into such a risky procedure, Law was oddly calm. As the blood left his body, so did any anxiety he had about Luffy's condition and his own. He wasn't the ideal candidate for giving blood because of his past illnesses but right now that's all they had. A silent prayer for Luffy's life left Law's lips and his mind started slipping.

Penguin was closely monitoring both the idiots, the one that ate poisonous mushrooms and the one that would risk his own life for the other.

"Cap's going out." Clione reported looking down at Law's face, his eyes almost closed. All of them had come out of hiding when the transfusion had begun.

"His vitals are still ok though." Penguin checked the monitor attached to his friend. He felt for Law's arms and legs and they had started to go cold. "Cocoon him in blankets." While Jean Bart and Clione and Musta were doing that, mindful of Law's needles, Penguin checked on Luffy. He was slightly more conscious after some fresh blood had entered him but he was still delirious.

"I don't wanna die like this..." Luffy mumbled, clearly still under the effects of the toxins. "I want my brothers..." Tears had started slipping from Luffy's eyes.

"Man this is just sad." Ikkaku sighed.

"I haven't even told Torao I like him... Torao..."

"Crap."

"Oh boy." Musta sighed at the words that left Luffy.

"So we can't let him die now no matter what huh." Penguin grinned. "Finally some progress for these two."

"Let's hope cap is honest about it too." Clione said sitting down on the other bed.

"Penguin, something's wrong with captain's monitor. He's starting to go pale too." Jean Bart informed and Penguin quickly shifted his attention to Law.

"Ok Law, time to show us what you're made of." Penguin adjusted the IV to speed up the blood going in Law's body. "Keep an eye on him." He left to get the IV bags to infuse dopamine and epinephrine so Law's heart would keep a strong and steady beat. He attached the needle in his friend's arm and waited. "Pulse is still strong."

"This is scary." Ikkaku muttered also sitting down. "And exhausting."

"Normal people start going into shock when they lose fifteen percent of their blood volume. Law's already passed that, he's nearing thirty but he's still ok." Penguin told his friends. "Luffy looks better too."

"Maybe it's the idiot factor." Clione chirped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Let's hope. Law was right though, with blood entering and leaving his body, he's tricking his brain into believing he has enough to go on." Penguin said and moved near Law, making sure the blankets and heatpads were properly placed.

Everyone stayed in the infirmary with Penguin to keep him company in such a difficult time. It was some half hour later when Law had hit sixty percent that his blood pressure started declining. The waves on the monitor began to lose their crests and trough until it was flat.

"Make room! Count the seconds." Everyone dispersed at Penguin's order who first disconnected the transfusion from both ends then began chest compressions on Law, moving his blankets aside. "Come on Law." He whispered under his breath keeping a steady rhythm with his hands, glancing at the monitor every few seconds. Everyone was quiet while Penguin worked. The hormone IVs were still entering Law's blood stream but his heart wasn't restarting. "Come on. Come on."

"One minute." Musta said when a minute mark passed and Penguin put more energy behind his hands, keeping steady pace with his compressions and prayers, worry and doubt seeping his mind. He mentally berated himself for even agreeing to Law and letting him hit sixty percent.

Ikkaku had started tearing up when four minutes passed. Clione and Jean Bart stayed quiet and a heaviness hung in the air. Musta was monitoring the time but didn't mention it again.

"Fuck Law! Get back here or I'm coming over and kicking your ass!!" Penguin yelled and just then there was a beat. The monitor had started showing waves again. "Time!"

"Five minutes and forty three seconds." Musta said and sunk down on the floor with the other three while Penguin ran and brought more IVs and administered them to Law.

"He's ok." Penguin breathed a sigh of relief and buried his head in the numerous blankets surrounding his friend. His shoulders shook from silent sobs but nobody said a thing.

"Good job Peng." Everyone hugged the man of the hour and they all let out their worries.

"You guys go rest. Nobody's dying anymore." Penguin told the four and brought a chair between Luffy's and Law's bed, slumping in it.

"What about you?" Clione asked.

"Just get me something to eat. I need to stay here and keep an eye on them."

~

"So he guilt-tripped you into agreeing?" Shachi confirmed after hearing Penguin's story of what had happened in Drum.

"Can you blame me? You know how he gets when he wants to do something."

"How long did his heart stop for?" Bepo asked over the phone.

"Over five minutes. It wasn't a nice experience at all." Penguin groaned and shifted the phone to his other ear.

"And they're both stable?"

"So far." Penguin eyed the monitors beside both Luffy and Law and found the readings satisfactory. "Let's see who wakes up first."

"It's so unfair that you got to meet Luffy though." Shachi complained. "How much has he changed?"

"Not at all! We all know people get sober as they grow up but Luffy just got more of himself."

"I wonder how Law's coping with this."

"He's not being honest with himself about it. Now even I'm confused if he's only being nice to Luffy, well as nice as Law can manage to be, because of Luffy's past or because he has started to like him. Oh wait! Get this, yesterday Luffy was talking in his sleep that he hadn't even told Law he liked him!"

"Called it!!" Shachi cheered.

"Ok talk to you both later, Luffy's waking up." Penguin ended the call when he saw the younger's hands move and his head lifting. Penguin quickly left his seat and went to the boy. "Hey, hey, don't do that." He put Luffy's hands back by his side because he was trying to undo his IVs. Penguin pulled the curtain to shield Law's bed from Luffy's.

"Wha-?" Luffy looked around confused, he didn't know where he was and what had happened to him. His eyes were not focusing on anything and his brain was too clouded to remember anything.

"Do you need water?" Luffy turned his head to look at the source of the voice and found one of the funny guys, Penguin standing beside his bed. Luffy only nodded and soon got a straw guided to his lips. He drank and drank until the glass was empty. "Want to sit up?" Luffy nodded again and was helped till he was sitting. His mind was clearer now.

"What happened?" Luffy asked finally being able to see the numerous tubes and needles attached to his arms and some going into a big machine. His head was aching and he was hungry.

"How much do you remember?" Penguin asked and pulled the chair to sit closer to Luffy.

"I dunno..."

"Try."

"I... I went to the caves with Torao..." Luffy recalled. "Oh, I fell."

"And?" Penguin pushed.

"I was hungry so I ate some mushrooms." Luffy tried hard to remember beyond that but it was all a big blur. "I can't recall anything else."

"Well those mushrooms were poisonous so here you are." Penguin said casually. "So you have some IVs for adding nutrition to your blood and body, and you're attached to a dialysis machine to constantly clean out remaining toxins."

"Where's Torao?" Luffy asked, his eyes suddenly clear from the previous fogginess. "He was with me."

"Yeah um..." Penguin started but didn't know how much he was supposed to tell so he opted to omit details. "He got you out but uh, injured himself a little so he's sleeping at the moment."

"How bad is he?" Luffy felt a guilty pang and a heavy pain consuming his chest.

"Hey it wasn't your fault!" Penguin panicked when he saw tears pooling around Luffy's eyes. "Law's just... stupid."

Luffy didn't say anything for a while and tried to stop crying, sniffling and wiping his eyes. "I'm hungry."

"Well you are on a strict liquid diet until your blood is clean. I'll get you some juice." Penguin left before Luffy could protest about wanting meat.

Luffy looked around and remembered this place as the medbay, he had spent some of his time here when he was in the sub out of Swallow Island. Luffy didn't like the number of machines attached to him. He wanted to get out bed and go see where Torao was and if he was ok. Luffy didn't know he had started crying again until Penguin pointed it.

"Does it hurt somewhere? Do you want me to increase your pain meds?"

"N-no." Luffy took the big glass from the other's hand. "Torao said he had a bad feeling about the caves. I didn't listen."

"Law actually has a bad feeling about everything so believe me when I say this, it wasn't your fault." Penguin patted Luffy's back. "Now are you going to drink that or not? You're lucky I'm your doctor this time around, Law would have already yelled himself hoarse."

"Torao's fun." Luffy said, a small smile lighting up his features. Penguin finalized that this was what suited Luffy best, a happy face. The patient happily slurped his juice. "Can I use that always-reception phone to call my brothers?"

"Sure. Do you remember the number?"

"It's written in a diary, I think it's in my bag or maybe I left it in the hotel with my phone."

"I'll check your bag just in case." Penguin got Luffy the phone and his diary that he did find in the bag. "Lucked out."

"Thanks."

While Luffy dialed his brothers and talked to them, Penguin went over the other side of the curtain to check on Law and found him already awake but not conscious. His eyes were open but it didn't look like he was all there yet.

"You up?" As soon as Penguin patted Law's shoulder to check how awake his friend was, light started reflecting in Law's eyes until he sucked a deep breath and furrowed his brows, sitting up with a start, hands clutching at his head, breath short and painful. "Shit." Penguin realized this as a panic attack and immediately tried calming his friend down.

Law had been seeing the fires burning Flevance, hearing the shouts and cries of his people as they were gunned down, the firing of every bullet leaving a ringing behind. Law knew he was awake, Law knew he was ok, Law knew this was a panic attack but it all took him so suddenly and so intensely that he found himself helpless against the assault on his mind.

"Law you're ok-" Penguin started, rubbing his hand on Law's back and pulling the blankets closer to his body. When Penguin was close enough, Law's hand had went to clutch at his overalls as if he would drown and perish should he not have anything to ground himself. "Dammit." Law still kept breathing in short gasps, eyes still not focused. Penguin remembered learning an introduction sequence from Bepo that the other had said helped ground Law sometimes.

Penguin put one of his arms around Law tightly and his other went to shield Law's eyes so he would have just his hearing senses available for stimulus. "You're Trafalgar Law. You are twenty-four years old. You are currently in the medbay of the Polar Tang for a stupid ass decision. You're very weak right now. But you are ok. You are safe Law. You're ok, Law." Penguin whispered directly in his friend's ear until his shaking had lessened. Law's breathing was getting better but his hands were searching for something and clawing at his windpipe. "Yeah, I got ya."

Penguin's hand went into his pockets and he brought out an inhaler, Bepo had told him about Law sometimes needing it when his panic attacks were particularly bad. He shook the inhaler, uncapped it. "Exhale Law." His friend did so and Penguin placed the mouthpiece on his lips. "Giving two puffs." He pushed the top of the inhaler two times. "Alright inhale."

Law inhaled and held his breath waiting for Penguin's signal to exhale. When the ten second mark has passed, Penguin patted Law's back and the other exhaled, then breathed again and again till the weight on his chest had diminished. His breathing had calmed and his shaking was slowly leaving and his mind was returning.

As soon as his senses had returned, Law groaned and let his friend go, grabbed his blankets and buried himself under them. Law hated how Penguin had to help him through this panic attack, he didn't want to rely on anybody. He appreciated his friend had so expertly brought him out but he hated himself for even allowing himself to be in such a state in the first place.

"Go back to sleep if you can." Penguin patted Law's whatever it was under the blanket and shifted to his chair, putting the inhaler back in his pocket. He was deep in thought. He got to see and experience Law's panic attack first hand this time and he did not like it one bit. He was practically useless apart from providing the inhaler. None of them liked seeing Law in so much anguish and pain but they all knew they could only provide silent support and were powerless whenever their friend heaved from panic attacks.

"Shut your brain up." Law started, sitting up with the blankets. "And stop your self-pity. Even I can't control my panic attacks so I absolutely do not expect you guys to either or think of you any less for being as powerless as I am against it."

"But-"

"How did you know about the inhaler?" Law asked to change the subject. Penguin sighed knowing Law would definitely not return to the earlier subject again.

"Bepo found out about it first then told me and Shachi. All of us carry one now."

"My bear betrayed me?" Law faked a look of hurt and shock that made Penguin shake his head, smiling. Law sighed in relief when his friend wasn't looking, glad he lifted the burden off him. Law himself was enough for this suffering, his friends didn't need to worry about him.

"How are you feeling now?" Penguin asked getting Law's chart and beginning to fill it with new information.

"Like all my blood left my body. When did I hit the shock point?" Law asked, sort of excited in a twisted way to know about his current limit.

"At sixty." Penguin glared at Law when his friend whistled his surprise. "And your heart stopped for five minutes and forty three seconds."

"Damage report?"

"Your x-rays are pretty much ok, echo was clear, no lasting damage really. But you will be very fatigued for more than a couple of days." Penguin said flipping through different papers and x-ray films.

"Figured."

"Don't do something this stupid again." Law shrugged at his friend.

"Speaking of, what about him?" Law pointed his thumb in the direction of the curtain and Luffy's bed.

"Woke up before you, he's very weak right now. I'm still keeping him on dialysis and liquid diet. His lungs and kidneys and liver would need to be brought back to health but he's going to be ok." Penguin reported, peeking through the curtain at Luffy because he thought it was too quiet for him to be talking to his brothers. Luffy was asleep with the phone still to his ear.

"So, was I right? How much poison does he have in his blood now?" Law asked when Penguin got up to pick the phone and tuck Luffy in properly, getting back to his chair beside Law and sighing.

"What's your guess?"

"I was only estimating a forty percent volemic loss till shock so I said ninety percent of his blood would be clean but since it's sixty now, I'd say, his blood is at least ninety-five percent clean." Law calculated and answered.

"Ninety-seven actually. His liver fought very well."

"No surprise seeing how much he eats."

"So even though this was stupid and risky as fuck, you managed to save Luffy from amiudake, the poison with no cure." Penguin grinned, impressed and proud of Law.

"How about that huh." Law mused, his eyes in the distance and a child-like wide grin taking over his features as his accomplishment set in. Penguin smiled and huffed a chuckle, shaking his head fondly at how Law looked like the thirteen year old that was livid with himself over having successfully attached Penguin's arm back. He was just as happy back then. Dammit, he was really a doctor at his core.

"Nikuuuuuu..." Both the men were brought out of their thoughts by Luffy mumbling in his sleep.

"He's so going to hate being on a liquid diet." Law sniggered and laid back down, discarding some blankets since his blood circulation was starting to be back on point and was distributing heat properly across his body. "And I am going to enjoy every minute of it."

~