Missing Piece

Chapter 36

Clunky footsteps echoed and weary breaths resonated through the empty halls. Despite the heat of the baking yellow metal oven, small clouds were visible as the medic panted. Sweat decorated his skin and matted his already flattened strawberry blond hair flatter against his face. Olive-green beanie slipped off his head with a tug and beads of sweat disappeared with a fist across the chin. A few more shallow inhales and the medic was up again, sprinting down the halls, eyes searching for something.

He checked the gallery first.

"Oh, hey Rike!"

"You look mighty tired!"

"Are you that hungry? Aha-ha!"

"Oi, where are you—Rik—?" The galley door swung close and when it swung open again, the strawberry-blond was already gone.

Next was the shower rooms.

There was no surprise there when it proved fruitless.

After that, came the laundry room. There he only found countless boilersuits turning in a machine that someone had labelled, 'sock eating monster'.

After that, he checked the armory, navigation room, storage rooms, sleeping quarters, Bepo's room, and just about any other room he could think of beside the infirmary. He didn't need to check there. He came from there when he found his patient missing when he came in to deliver today's breakfast. He didn't notice it at first since the heart monitor was still beeping regularly... if her heart belonged to a hummingbird. Charlotte had taped the heart monitor to a den den mushi. Since then, he had been running around the whole place searching for said patient.

"Rikers!" Shachi greeted followed by a nod from Penguin. "Man, you look tired. I've heard you being running all day. Is Captain making you do laps too?" Additional punishment since Charlotte's chores weren't that bad after being split up. They didn't mind it, chalking it up to additional training now that they're in the New World.

"No," Rike said between breaths, but his attention wasn't directed at the males. His eyes were darting across the place, body twisted this way and that to get a different angle of the hall without having to move.

"Are you looking for something?" Penguin eyed the medic cautiously. He looked like he was possessed into doing some weird chicken dance.

"Yeah..." He mumbled, distractedly. "Have you guys seen Charlotte anywhere? She disappeared the moment I turned around."

The two mechanics exchanged worried glances. "You don't think she could have..." Who were they kidding? This was Charlotte they were talking about. She was more likely to have gone off and done something dangerously stupid than not. "CHARLOTTEEEE!" They joined in on the search.

Law stared at the scene of the crime. It wasn't a crime in which someone had died though it wouldn't be odd if it was considering that this was the infirmary. No, the crime in which Law was talking about something more severe—someone disobeying doctor's orders. That someone being a stubborn Charlotte and the doctor being him. In other words, Charlotte wasn't listening to his orders. Again.

It was past dinner already by the time Rike decided to give up and ask for Law's help, accepting any kind of punishment that was to come in afterwards. Charlotte had been missing for the more than half day and if she was to have another attack throughout the day... and no one was with her... Law frowned. This was why he had ordered her to remain still!

At least they can rule out any islands the woman may have wandered off to considering they were still at sea. "Rike-ya, you'll be cleaning up my experiments' remains for the next month and relearning all the unique heart signatures of all living creatures." Law spoke calmly, his eyes glued to the small blue and yellow den den mushi sitting on the bed where Charlotte should have been. The heart monitor beating rapidly still. Law expected better of his apprentice. To be tricked by such an easy trick, it was a little disappointing.