Who knew a trip to the hospital could change so much, oh wait everyone did. The hospital was a place where people died and were brought into the world. It was a place that could change everything in a second. Ace, Sabo and Luffy should just be thankful usually their lives usually changed in the better when they visited rather then the worse.

"How did Luffy manage to injure himself again?" muttered Sabo unhappily glancing sidelong toward his elder brother.

"It's not like it's my fault!" Ace snapped back his fear for Luffy coming out as aggression.

"You're not answering my question" Sabo sprawled back in his chair, in his hands was his phone. His fingers danced across the screen as he swiftly texted his girlfriend whom he had to skip out on. She wasn't happy.

"Not going to" muttered Ace, he looked away from his brother toward the emergency door. It that swung open as some paramedic's rushed in.

"I deserve to know"

"Then ask Luffy when he gets back" Ace really didn't want to talk about it. He wasn't even clear on how a night with just him and Luffy, had ended up in with a knife in Luffy's face and a trip to the hospital. He'd been too preoccupied to question the event, distracted with the very bloody brother whose blood now stained Ace's clothing. He knew head wounds bled a lot but it was still a shock to see his younger brother bleeding that much. He'd been half convinced Luffy was dead when he called the ambulance and Sabo.

It didn't help that Luffy through the entire event had been utterly calm. He'd laughed and said 'opps' he'd even looked delighted at the idea that he'd need stitches.

Sabo had left not ten minutes earlier, heading to dinner with his girlfriend Koala. Ten minutes and Luffy was being rushed to the hospital. With a curse and some calming words to Ace, he'd turned right around and met them at the hospital. Unlike Ace he remained calm the entire time, it wasn't like this was their first visit to the hospital, not by any means.

Sabo had been in at ten when a frying pan had been accidentally flipped, Sabo had received severe grease burns to his face. Again they'd been when Luffy had 'accidentally' swallowed a quarter at six, again with a long gash to Luffy's leg when he jumped a fence and his pants caught. They'd been in when Ace had fallen from a tree and broken his arm, earning him a permanent brace to his elbow. Followed by a dog had attacked Sabo a week later. And those trips were before Ace even learned he was narcoleptic.

Constant visits to the hospital and still each visit scared the crap out of Ace – especially if Luffy or Sabo was involved.

"I'm gonna take a walk" Ace said finally and pulled himself out of his seat. He couldn't continue waiting around, he was going crazy in worry and guilt. Even if the nurse insisted that Luffy would be fine and only needed a few stitches.

"Wait. Switch shirts with me, you're covered in blood" Sabo already had his dark black shirt pulled off when Ace turned back. His own white shirt was stained red in Luffy's blood. He gave his brother a grateful smile and pulled off the blood soaked clothing, much to the pleasure of some nurses whom we're onlooking.

Sabo opposed to wearing a blood stained shirt didn't put on Ace's. Instead he buttoned his jacket so it covered the fact that he was no longer wearing anything underneath it.

Ace used the action as an excuse to quickly use the white cloth to wipe off the rest of the blood on his chest and arms. Then he pulled on Sabo's shirt, nodding to his brother he walked away.

Normally Ace was prone to walking around shirtless, he rarely got cold. But even he had to admit it was the dead of winter and was freezing. Not to mention the nurses wouldn't appreciate him wandering around without clothing... or maybe not from the looks he'd received while changing.

Ace, in his wandering, went to the bathroom's first. There he used some paper towel and water to wipe the dried blood off his face and hands. With that done he moved on to explore a bit, doing his best to get the image of bloodied Luffy out of his head.

His exploration led him on a merry chase around the hospital. Unable to tell one white wall from another Ace ended up poking into random rooms with open doors. No one was around to kick him out of the area, though that meant no one was around to give him directions either.

His exploration however did not result in a proper distraction. He figured he'd need a actual conversation for that. So when he poked into the next room with a open door he decided to chat with the occupant.

The room Ace had chosen was one with six beds. The bed closest to the window on the right was filled with a lone man, otherwise the room was void of people. The man in question was unhappily looking out the window. Ace noted the hospital gown as well as the very odd hair style. He also noted the very nice muscles on the man's arms and the overly attractive jaw line.

Smirking like a cat he sauntered forward to get a better look, testing how close he could get without being noticed.

Apparently not very far.

Barely a step into the room the man turned and leveled a bored expression on Ace. Under this man's gaze Ace's mind came to a screeching halt, he was caught by those blue eyes.

After what felt like to Ace an eternity his mind suddenly restarted with a single thought along the lines of oh-shit-hes-hella-hot.

"Yo" said Ace determined to say something, anything. The man blinked.

"Evening" god his voice! It was so smooth and warm, Ace wanted to roll around in it. He wanted to latch on and never let go.

Which meant he needed to get the guy to talk instead of the staring match they were currently holding. Desperate Ace said the first thing on his mind, that wasn't how much he was internally drooling.

"Right, so I'm bored out of my mind, wanna chat?" or make out...

"Doesn't surprise me" muttered the man.

"Oh?" taking the words as an invitation he moved forward wiggling his hips a bit as a test. To his joy the man's eyes fell on his hips before jerking back up trying not to be obvious.

"Not like there's a lot to do here but worry about your loved ones" Ace wondered if this man had loved ones out and about worrying about him. He seemed healthy enough, his color was fine and he looked relaxed.

"Your blood?" asked the man as Ace reached the man's bed trying not to reach out and touch.

"My brother's and he's fine they're stitching him up now" Ace was wearing darker colored pants so the blood that was there would be hard to spot, impossible if the man had looked quickly. No, to comment on that blood he had to have looked hard. Which meant he'd been looking below the belt, internally Ace did a little dance.

He grinned starring at the man his gaze also falling to the sheets before looking into the mans eyes raising an eyebrow.

"Good for him" the blonde said sincerely "and you're wandering around chatting up patients while you wait for him?"

"Yes to the wandering, but you're the first person I've spoken too"

"Ah, I'm honored" Ace felt his heart do a little jump as the man before him smirked suggestively. "Do you often attempt to pick up hospital goers?" it was a jump Ace didn't mind since he was already prepared to shamelessly flirt.

"nope, you're a special case, I simply couldn't resist"

"How ballsy, as far as you know I could be contagious" lord Ace was lost the smirk on this guys face was to die for "or dying" he wondered what it would look like in bed.

"Then our love will be a short one, hot and tragic" Ace put the back of his hand to his forehead miming a faint.

"I must disappoint you I'm afraid I'm not dying, no tragic love stories for you. Best move on and try another patient" from the mans tone he wasn't even the slightest bit serious when he suggested Ace leave.

Ace tisked playfully "Ah that's a shame and here I was starting to like you. Alas, I best be off to find someone who is actually dying"

"Well if you don't find one feel free to return, I'm sure I can try harder to die" Ace felt a pressure on his hand and glanced downward. In wonder he blinked. How, where and when this man had managed to spawn a pen was something Ace would be wondering for months.

On his hand the man wrote his phone number and followed it with a name. Then the pen vanished back from whence it had come and Ace's hand was released.

"Better hurry then, don't want your true love to die before you meet them" said the man leaning back in his bed smirking all knowingly.

"Ah, right!" Ace stepped back quickly reading the name with a twist of his hands. "Though I sense I might not have much luck with that tonight" the man-Marco, hummed softly sending shivers along Ace's spine.

"Guess I'll do my best to fulfill that tragic lover quota" Ace gave Marco a quick wave as he walked backwards to the door.

"Don't try to hard Marco, I don't think that tragically dying thing is all that great anyway" Ace vanished around the corner then paused backing up a step so he could look into the room. His best shit eating grin on his face he noted Marco had still been looking at the door and the bored expression wasn't quite so bored anymore.

"I'm Ace by the way" and with that he left, wasting no time to add the number on his hand to his phone.

A few hours later and finally home Ace shot Marco a text. It was far too late at night for a normal person but Ace simply couldn't resist.

'sadly I couldn't find any dying people quite as attractive as you are. I guess I'll have to accept that you aren't dying and just go ahead and ask you out'

Ace lowered his phone and clicked send. Moving to go to sleep after his long day and blood cleansing shower. Ace was barely getting comfortable when his phone lit up. Greedily he snatched it up and opened the text.

'You never asked if I was contagious' said his phone and Ace laughed.

'ah how exciting, so we'll be tragic lover's after all?' he responded. A few seconds later his phone lit up again.

'sorry didn't mean to get your hopes up, I'm afraid to reveal I am not contagious either. However if you're willing to accept a lack there of death and disease then I'm free on the 20th, pending I don't catch something before then'

'20th it is. Try not to die before then Marco. It wouldn't do to have you die before we even manage the first date part'

'will do my best Ace'

Ace lowered his phone feeling a bright glow in his heart.

Years later he'd thank his brother for getting injured and accidentally stabbing himself in his face. He'd also often refer to the scar on Luffy's face – which the younger held with pride – as a mark of true love. Especially since Luffy had decided to kiss his would be boyfriend at the same hospital on the same day.

Marco was dying of boredom by the time Ace arrived so perhaps he qualifies as dying for a tragic love tale? Though the second Ace walked in that changed, no one could resist those hips I think ;P

Visiting hours are over which is why there was no one around the hospital, Marco's siblings were there a few hours prior to Ace arriving.