Chapter Text
Much like any sort of other circumstantial meeting of two souls, this too was unplanned and mundane. Law was getting off work, trying to make it to the farthest lot the hospital had some sort of jurisdiction over to find his car and just go . While parking so far away may not be the most convenient, it was less crowded, and the less amount of time spent talking or waiting after he was off the clock was definitely better.
The night was warm, welcoming, a tad humid one might say but it filled the air with a comfortable layer of security Law found pleasant enough. High buildings giving off a chrome look in the night time lights loomed overhead as the surgeon slowed his pace. The night was nice, he may as well enjoy himself.
Walking by he picked out his surroundings; a trash can to his right, more buildings and doorways to his left, a couple walking and giggling in front of him, a homeless man sitting under a landing, very typical things.
That night he felt lighter than usual, as if he was refreshed and at ease. Law worked on a handful of surgeries today, all very smooth, none taking any extra length of time. Afterward, he worked the clinic until his shift ended. Not many people come in after dark to the clinic at least, so that was also pretty smooth. He and Shachi, a nursing intern, goofed around as much as anyone could in a hospital until it was Law's time to get off.
All in all the day was good, great even, and he felt it.
As he was approaching the homeless man, he felt in his pocket for any money that happened to be there. Law knew there should be either a $10 bill or a $20 bill, he didn't particularly care which, in his pocket to give the man. If anything, he'll see the man again, and give him more money since he now knows that he's there.
Law stopped in front of the man, who was bundled in a large, dirty brown coat, knees drawn to his chest, a worn out light red baseball cap resting on his head. He touched the top of the man's hat to get his attention, but the face that looked up at him was round and young, youthful, yet burdened by the hardship of having to live as he did. Brown eyes full of worry, thin eyebrows knit in concern; who was this teen, this child even? Kind, soft features made the boy look more helpless.
"Huh?" He whispered. Law immediately tuned into body language and tone, noting that the boy was hoarse, and trembling slightly despite the warmth in the air. "... why are you sitting here?"
That wasn't the smartest of questions. What was Law thinking, teenagers liked to sit and shiver in dirty clothing on the not so safe side of town in the middle of the night? He obviously had nowhere to go.
"I have nowhere to go."
Obviously.
The boy coughed a little, then a lot. He looked flushed and pale, he was shivering when there was no chill in the air, bundled under a coat.
He was sick.
"Hey let me take a look at you." The boy knitted his eyebrows but looked up, prompting Law to squat down in front of him. Law gently took his head into his hand, feeling under his throat for swelling, moving to feel his forehead for a fever.
Law found that he was kind of pretty sick.
The man stood up and rubbed his temple in distress. "What did you just do?" Law heard the boy asking him, a curious edge to his voice. "Uh, I'm a doctor, sorry if that was weird."
God, way to not come off as a weird person, Law.
"I was feeling to see if you had swelling in your glands and a fever. Turns out you do, and," Law looked at the boy again. Cheeks tinged pink, lips parted slightly, breath heavy - he looked tired and just plain ill. "I want to make sure it is what I think it is, so if you don't mind, could you come back to my clinic? I work at the hospital 2 blocks away." He just wanted to help. If he was sick, as sick as Law thinks, he doesn't want to leave him here.
Not that he wants to leave him here anyway, but a well kid is much better than a sick kid in any capacity.
Met with another concerned glance, the boy straightened himself a bit and breathed out a low "Sure."
Law began to help up the boy, grabbing his hand and then gripping his arm as his stood slowly, long legs stretching out from beneath him, parting to steady himself. "Are you okay to walk?" There was a muttered "Yea." His body said otherwise, wobbling and swaying as he gripped Law's hand further.
"Here, I'll carry you. You aren't well right now, and it's only 2 blocks." No protest, though it could be chalked up to the boy's lack of fully coherent thoughts.
Law positioned himself to pick the boy up, grabbing his tiny torso and thin legs, holding him to his chest and resting his head on his shoulder.
He was light, almost too light; how long has he been on his own?
"You don't have to do this, you know." The boy said, holding on to Law's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm a doctor, though. We're supposed to help people and what not. In the job description."
Law felt a stifled chuckle in his shoulder.
At least he can lighten a mood with his banter.
They made it to the clinic, Law passing by the front desk and walking straight into the examination area.
"Yo, Law, why are you doing back?" Shachi's voice rang out, the tone shifting once he saw that Law was carrying someone. "And who is that? Are they okay?" He followed Law until they stopped in an empty exam room. Law put the boy on the exam table, the paper crinkling at the added weight.
"I found him on the street. He was coughing and having trouble breathing, and he's very weak physically."
Shachi looked the boy up and down. "The street? He's homeless?" Law nodded. "Damn- I mean dang, that's rough, he looks so young. If you need anything from me, you got it."
"Thanks. I just need a stethoscope and a thermometer."
After muttering a confirmation, Shachi left the room and closed the door.
"I'm going to need you to take off your coat, okay?" The boy complied, unbuttoning the few black buttons left on the coat and pulling his arms through the darken brown sleeves.
Law looked at the more clear figure. Lithe frame, prominent collarbone, small shoulders and chest; the boy looks so so young and undernourished. He wonders if it's because he has been on the street for a while or if this was a condition prior to.
"Sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Dr. Trafalgar. I'm a surgeon here but on some evenings I work the clinic. What's your name?"
The boy looked up at Law, eyes darting around, taking in the doctor. "I'm Luffy."
"Nice to meet you Luffy. How old are you?"
"17, no 18. I'm 18. My birthday was a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
Wasn't he sure? "How about you tell me what you remember from the day?"
Luffy turned his head down. "Me and my brother-" he paused and took a deep breath "had cake, and we watched movies, and we played Super Smash Bros. the whole day at home."
So this was a fairly recent development if he was still able to remember it clearly. At the very least Law hoped it was.
"How did you end up where I found you?"
Law wasn't the most tactful. He had no clue how to deal with kids, or with people in general. The whole time he's been trying to keep his professionalism, but there was something more a person has to do when talking to younger people, especially about something possibly touchy.
Luffy bit his lip.
Oh god, what did that mean?
He wasn't a psychiatrist or anyone like that, he was a simple surgeon, at least he believes himself to be fairly simple.
"I'm looking for someone. I tried looking on my own, but the city is so big and I just couldn't do it on my own. It's tough."
What the hell is he to say to that? Law never experienced anything similar, plus he was bad at the whole comfort thing. Penguin was better at this, Bepo was better at this, but he'll still try.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll help you however I can, okay? But first, you need to get well." Good good, that's a start. Kind words, move back on track towards medical attention.
Law crossed the room and washed his hands in the sink, then grabbed a pair of gloves from the disposable glove box. He then moved to get a long swab.
"I'm going to have to swab your throat for a strep test. Please open wide and stick out your tongue."
Luffy followed the directions, closing his eyes gripping the table as Law swabbed the back of his throat.
"That felt so gross."
"It always does. One of those things you don't particularly get used to."
"You're so right."
Shachi entered the room, carrying the requested items. "Anything you need?"
Law gestured toward the swab in his hand. "This tested for strep." The nurse nodded and left to do as told.
Law took Luffy's temperature and frowned at the result. 102.7 degrees. Moderate fever but too high for comfort. He put his hand on Luffy's abdomen, feeling the light muscle and contrasting softness.
"Lay down on your back, yeah? I need to hear your lungs and heart."
The rest of the exam went about as expected. Law heard a steady heartbeat (which was the best of the news; he didn't want to deal with a possible heart problem in addition to an illness), and the typical raspy rise and fall of lungs that had mucus build up. Luffy was sore all over and mentioned a pain in his abdomen, but it was just from the general aches the young man was feeling. It was only the flu, Law guessed, and this was confirmed after the strep test came back negative.
"Now the only thing to do for this is have you on bed rest for a week. Drink plenty of fluids, take the medicine I'm going to prescribe, and you'll be good as new."
Wait.
He didn't have a bed to rest in, let alone a roof to lay under or a way of filling the prescription. Well, if anything, Law figured, he could always pay for it. But what about everything else?
Damn this was stressing him out.
Luffy voiced concern as well. "I don't have anywhere to go. And no money. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to bed rest or pay for medicine."
"Excuse me, I'll be right back." Law hurried out of the room. Good fucking move, being vague and insensitive. He quickly found Shachi, who was playing some game on his phone and slammed his hands on the desktop to get his attention.
"The fuck, Law? You scared me."
"Shut the hell up for a second and tell me if what I'm about to say is a bad idea." Law was frantic, his shoulders and chest feeling tense, multiple thoughts running through his brain at the same time. He didn't know too much else to do actually; this was a newer feeling to him.
"Alright, dick. What is it?"
The surgeon took a deep breath. "The guy in that room has nowhere to stay, and is flat broke. Does it make sense that I let him stay in my apartment until he's better and I pay for his medicine?"
Shachi looked Law in the face. A serious, thoughtful expression graced his face, then broke into a fit of laughter. "Effing hell, man. Yeah, sure it makes sense if you weren't a professional asshole. That's sort of way too nice for you. What's the end game here? Trying to add philanthropy to your long list of million-dollar Hollywood movie protagonist traits? "Hey I'm Dr. Trafalgar and my skin is smooth and I save homeless kids." A riot, really."
"Okay Shachi you can act like that but I'm being serious."
"Okay Law I know you're being serious but honestly you don't normally do nice things for the sake of being nice."
He may have a point. Law wasn't the most genuine guy but he wasn't scum. "Just trying to help the guy out."
"Law, I won't tell you not to, but this isn't a "you" thing. The kid needs help, give it to him. My bad for giving you a hard time but don't turn back into a dick when you're bored."
He took offense to that. "You make it sound like I'm just an all-around piece of shit. I do good things."
Shachi waved his hand. "You do, you do, but not grand things. Don't want this to flip on it's head. Go make that kids year, okay? Help him, he needs it."
Law nodded and made his way back to the exam room. Was he really that characteristically bad? Or, neutral? Or whatever Shachi implied?
Upon knocking and opening the door, Luffy's expression visibly shifting to show mild delight. "You're back."
"I did say I was coming back. I have news to tell you."
The boy nodded. a small smile on his face.
"You need a place to stay, right? Come home with me. I have a huge apartment and too much money." Can he sound more odd, what the hell, he swears.
Luffy looked Law in the eye suspiciously. "Are some kind of weirdo or something? What do you want in return?"
God, he sounded that crazy? Did he look like the type to only do things for favors? "I'm not. I'm not. You're ill and need rest. Proper rest."
"Thanks, but I don't need any charity, from anyone." Luffy moved to get up from the exam table but wobbled on the way down. "I'm fine."
Law smirked. "Not that I just examined you, or am a doctor, or anything, but you have the flu. Hey," the surgeon leaned on the table next to the boy. "just give it until you're better, huh? I don't want anyone I checked over to stay ill." Or homeless, for that matter, but that's a slightly different matter that would be, incidentally, covered if the boy would agree to him.
"I already said I don't need your help. I can make it on my own." Luffy began to furrow his eyebrows, and his mouth turned in a pout. Stubborn kid.
"Give it the while, okay? I'm not requiring you to stay, just to get better."
There was a pause. Luffy unwavering in his stare. "Okay. Until I'm better."