Time [Ace x Reader]

chapter 12 / heart beat

Lou's POV

It had been a few days since the news about the resurfacing of the Mera Mera no Mi reached us and Y/N had been glued to her research ever since.

"Seriously, if it weren't for me this girl would die of self-neglect."
I was currently my way to bring Y/N some refreshments in a desperate attempt to prolong her inevitable collapsing of exhaustion.

She hadn't left her lab since her eye opening moment after reading the newspaper. As far as I understood Y/N had finally realised why the pirate boy wasn't getting better.
She was ranting about the devil fruit paralyzing the body when I last checked on her.
I wonder if we can help him.

I too was a doctor and very much interested in the pirate boys condition. However I didn't want to interfere in Y/N's research frenzy as it was our best chance at discovering a cure for the pirate boy.

After not finding her in the lab I finally located Y/N in Ace's room. Smiling I halted in the doorway, taking a minute to observe her checking up on the pirate boy.
It was when treating patients that I could truly see how much this work meant to Y/N.
She treated every patient with the uttermost care and literally worked herself into a coma in order to cure them.
Currently she was examining the pirate boy's body and taking a few blood samples all the while talking to him.

This is where Y/N And I differed. I saw no sense in wasting time and energy on talking to an unconcious patient. But Y/N was adamant about it being necessary to preserve and encourage the patient's will to live.

Clearing my voice, I flew into the room and layed my hand on Y/N's shoulder.
"Come, you should take a break."

"But I still have to process the blood samples and..."

"Fifteen minutes. Sit down, take a bite to eat and drink something. Ace won't get better if his main doctor dies of malnutrition."

"You're right. Thanks Lou."

I watched as Y/N took my refreshments and left Ace's room. Then I turned to the patient myself.
"You sure are lucky to have such a passionate doctor treating you."

Curious about his condition, I studied Ace intently as he lay there motionless. It was weird. If not for his flat breaths he would've look absolutely dead. But still, even though he was definitely unconscious I couldn't shake the feeling that he was awake.
"Say pirate boy, can you hear me?"

There was no response.
"Ha, what did I expect?"

Just as I was about to leave the room I turned around once again to look at him.
"Hey, please keep on fighting. Don't give up on your life. Y/N is giving her everything to heal you, so hold on for a little longer."

______________________

Ace's POV

Another voice. I wonder who they are.

Say why do you care so much?

Why am I even here?

What happened to my fire?

Ah she is leaving. They don't stay very long do they? Please, help me get out of this place.

Y/N's POV

As soon as I sat outside a sigh escaped my lips. I guess I am more exhausted than I thought. Consuming Lou's refreshments, I finally managed to relax a bit. The fresh air soothing my nerves, helping me regain a clear mind.
"I hope this will work." I said to myself, a smile sneaking into my face as I gazed up at the clear sky above.
"Can you see me from where you are, Eddie?"

[ 2 weeks later]

"Finished!"
Exhausted I let myself sink into the nearest chair to be found and took a deep breath.
Now time to test it.

I jumped to my seat, scooped up all the remedies and medicine I had crafted and raced to Ace's room.
"Now then mystery boy, time to get better!"

The actual procedure would only be applicable when the Mera Mera no Mi was eaten by someone, but it wouldn't hurt to give Portgas a little boost in strength.

I began the procedure by injecting him with a few substances that were ment to strengthen his heart, steady the blood flow and generally encourage organ activity. Following that I changed up the substances and fluids that where injected constantly through life support and checked all of Ace's joints. He hadn't moved in two years so he had lost most of his muscle and body strength.
I stood for a second to think about how to solve that problem and decided that it would have to wait until he had actually woken up and could move.
Finally I set up all my tools for the actual procedure, making sure everything was ready the second the Mera Mera no Mi left his body completely.
"All done. Now then Doflamingo, please release the Mera Mera no Mi."

After I had installed some alarms that would alert me when the time came I left the room grinning.
Time to get some rest.

________________

"Y/N!!!"

I was woken up by the painfull sound of alarm bells ringing and Lou's riled up voice screaming at me.

"What the-"
Wait this alarm... Mystery boy! The Mera Mera no Mi must have been eaten!
Within a matter of seconds I had jumped out of bed, changed into my doctor's clothes and raced into the medical wing. There was Ace looking even more dead than usual.

My stomach dropping, I ran over to him and checked his pulse. Thank god he is still alive.
Ace's breath was almost nonexistent and his heart beat so faint that I feared it might stop completely at any second.
"Lou, let's begin. We have no time to waste."

Devil fruits are parasites.
When a devil fruit enters a body it takes over all it's vital activity.
This is the reason why devil fruit users become so weak when coming into contact with sea water or sea prism stone. It weakens the devil fruit to a point where it can't complete vital tasks like making the heart beat properly. As a consequence the body is weakened aswell.

Ace's case was a little different though.
When a devil fruit eater dies the essence of the devil fruit leaves their body in search of a new vessel. They use fruits as a disguise so that they look more appetizing to potential hosts and wait until such a creature eats the fruit which is infested with their essence.

Only when they have been eaten by a new host does the full devil fruit transfer from the previous hosts body to the new one.
Normally the previous host is long dead by this time so the complete disappearance of the devil fruit has no effect. We however had revived Ace and therefore the disappearance of the parasite could have fatal consequences.

The body is so used to the devil fruit taking care of all its vital activity that when the devil fruit is removed all vital activity is put on a halt. We would have to make the body remember how to do all those vital tasks.

I began the procedure with an extensive heart massage hoping that it would lead the body to remember how to make the heart beat and blood flow. Meanwhile Lou injected the boy with an abundance of medicine and remedies that would hopefully help encourage the general organ activity.
Then came the sea water. We had to remove any dead remnants of the devil fruit.

Lou and I collapsed into the floor. We had been working on Ace for the past six hours straight. The procedure was done. Now all we could do was wait.

"Come on mystery boy, you can pull through. Just stay with me, okay? There are people who need you out there."