Hi there! A few words from the author first:
This is a story I was originally writing in 2015. Thanks to my friend Majora, I'm continuing it now in the hopes that it will be finished one day.
Normally I write stories based on my theories, but be aware that THIS is not one of those stories, even though it borrows some elements from my theories.
If things like graphic descriptions of torture, injuries, and medical procedures make you uncomfortable, then this might not be for you. Proceed with caution, I guess.

Chapter 1: Worse than Death?

Law wasn't thrilled to be here again. The old 'headquarters' of the Donquixote pirates hadn't changed much in these years.

After the disaster at Dressrosa, Doflamingo had stepped down from his position as the king and from being a Shichibukai. He had escaped the hand of justice and disappeared.
Law hadn't been able to finish him off in the end, and as expected, Luffy wouldn't kill him either. The plan had failed from that part.

So, after Law had recovered from his wounds enough to move again and reunited with his crew, he had traveled to this familiar place to pursue the man that had turned his life into misery thirteen years ago, just when he had seen some hope for the first time in his life.

The fact that Doflamingo was still alive didn't bother him as much as it had previously though. He had been 'stopped' after all. The whole world was Doflamingo's enemy now, so the man wouldn't be able to do much on his own. But for Law, some questions were left unanswered.

Law remained calm as he walked through the empty corridors. The place had no signs of life now, even though it was clear that someone had been there recently.
Why would Doflamingo return to this place when he knew that it was easy for Law to find was a mystery. It could have been a trap, but the surgeon knew better.
Even though Law was still recovering from his wounds after the battle, Doflamingo hadn't escaped undamaged either and he wouldn't be as big a threat now. As a doctor, Law knew very well how close to death his enemy was, even after he'd had some weeks to recover.. Even so, Law wasn't there looking for a battle. He still needed some answers, there were so many things that just didn't make sense. But if he'd have to, he'd beat those answers out of Doflamingo. He could do it this time for sure.

Law had had some time to think after the battle. He was still far from being fully healed, so he spent a lot of time simply resting, but he had been unable to sleep. Because of that, he had gone through all the things he had learned at Dressrosa in his mind countless of times.
But in order to put an end to this madness completely, he'd have to know more.
Law was hoping he wouldn't have to waste his strength too much. Using his ability even for something minor was already pushing his injured body beyond its limits so a prolonged battle wouldn't do him any good.

Law opened a door to yet another corridor. This place was less familiar to him. Buffalo and Baby 5 had told him about it in the past, but he had never been there himself. There were cells to his left. Law could see old blood stains on the floor. This was the place where Doflamingo had kept his prisoners and tortured his victims for information or as a punishment. Few of them had returned alive.
There were no windows, but the wall had a row of candles. Law lit them one by one to be able to see his surroundings a bit better.
The ominous atmosphere of the cold, dark cells, or the dried up blood on the stone surface didn't bother him. He had seen far worse. All the cells here were empty, but he kept scanning every corner of each room with his gaze just in case there would be something worth his interest.
Soon Law realized there wasn't much to see and moved on, lighting more candles as he walked forward deeper into the dungeon. His steps echoed in the silence.
Some of the cells had items left from their unfortunate inhabitants. Doflamingo hadn't bothered to clean them up, and as far as Law knew, he had never allowed anyone to enter this place, not by their free will anyway.
Everything was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust and the farther the man walked the stronger the smell of death grew. Because of the moisture, everything was covered in mold and any items that had been forgotten in the cells were rotting. It wasn't a pleasant place and the doctor held his breath by instinct.

There were only a few small cells left to investigate, and Law was about to turn around when something caught his attention. One of the cells wasn't empty.

A skeletal figure was lying on the floor of the last cell, his wrists chained together with something that looked like kairouseki handcuffs that bent his thin arms into an unnatural position behind his back. The person didn't have any clothes on, and he was covered in so much dirt and dried blood that he blended in with the stained stone floor almost perfectly. While the victim was tall, he was so thin that he was barely recognizable as a human being. His face was completely hidden by his long and messy hair and beard that had grown wild in the captivity, and his hair was covered in so much filth that it was impossible to tell the original color. The man wasn't moving or reacting to Law's presence in any way. The surgeon was sure the prisoner was dead, had probably been for a while already. Law had seen so much death during his life that one more corpse didn't really bother him. He was almost used to it. Normally he would have passed the cage without giving it much thought.

However, since Law had already walked all the way there anyway, he decided to take another look at the motionless body just out of curiosity. Law picked up a candle from the wall and took a step closer to the forgotten victim, but as soon as the light reached the cell and allowed him a better view of the body, he froze on the spot and his usual look of indifference vanished from his face in an instant.
The person in the cell was covered in scars from head to toe. Many of them seemed relatively fresh, with dried blood still surrounding the open wounds. Of course there wouldn't be anything strange about that, considering the body belonged to a victim of torture. But those weren't the thing that caught Law's attention. No, there were many scars that were much older and there was something eerily familiar about them.

Gasping, Law ran to the cell and grabbed the iron bars to get a better look.
That's when the realization truly hit him. He knew this man.

It was impossible. Law shook his head, once, twice, but the familiar scars were always there. His eyes scanned the man's bony chest, and there it was, that one scar he knew so well. After all, he was the one who had caused it. Law started shaking uncontrollably.

How?

Just then, a familiar snigger was heard from the doorway at the beginning of the corridor.
"Fufufu! Seems like you've finally found my dear brother."
Doflamingo was observing Law through his sunglasses, leaning lazily against the doorframe looking as relaxed as ever, even though Law was certain he hadn't recovered from his injuries yet.

Law growled furiously. He kept holding onto the iron bars even when he turned to glare at the man. His emotions that he'd tried to keep hidden were taking a hold of him again.

"What did you do to him?!" he yelled. "All these years I've believed that Cora-san was dead! I was there, I saw how you shot him!"

Doflamingo's smile never vanished. He eyed the motionless man in the dark cell briefly before answering.

"But, he IS dead indeed. The Corazon you know died that day. He no longer exists," Doflamingo said, and shrugged. "I kept the body as a memento, he was my brother after all," he explained matter-of-factly. "But, weaklings can't pick their way to die," Doflamingo added barely audibly and laughed.

Law was too furious to hear Doflamingo's cold laughter or whatever he said next. He could only hear his own voice yelling curses at the man, and wanted nothing more than to rip him to pieces for what he had done even if he'd end up dead in the process himself.

But there was another emotion even stronger than his rage that made Law turn away from the laughing lunatic.

The surgeon called up his "Room" and entered the cell, kneeling beside the skeleton-like body. At least he'd take the remains away from this horrible place and give him a proper burial. Sadness filled Law's heart as he looked at the miserable state of the body of the man he cherished so much. Cora-san had had to suffer so much.
Law reached out to wipe the man's hair away from his face with his left hand. He wanted to get a look at his face, even if he was just a cold lifeless corpse now.

However, as Law's hand touched the cheek of the motionless man, the surgeon realized that he hadn't turned completely cold. As the surgeon inspected him further, he noticed the slow movement of the man's chest. Against all the odds Corazon was still breathing, even if just barely.

He still wasn't reacting to anything though, so Law figured he must have been unconscious.
No wonder in that state, he thought grimly. Enduring this much was already beyond unbelievable.

The doctor removed his long coat quickly to wrap it around Corazon's thin frame.
To Law's surprise, what little there was still left of the muscles of the tall man turned tense as he placed the cloth around him.

"Cora-san, it's me. Law." He tried to draw a response from the man, but there was no further reaction.

Doflamingo watched the situation with an amused smirk as Law kept carefully inspecting the man.
As it was becoming clear that he wouldn't be getting any kind of answer from the tortured man, the surgeon resumed wiping Corazon's long hair from his face with a worried frown on his face. Law was barely able to stop himself from gasping in terror as he took in the view letting the hair fall back on the man's face.

It took Law a moment to process what he had seen before he could continue.
As a doctor and as a pirate, Law had seen many very disturbing things. Even his childhood had been turned into a bloody horror show. But somehow he never expected to see Corazon like this.
With even more care, he revealed the man's face again and observed it silently.

Scars of different shapes and sizes filled every part of Corazon's face, making it unrecognizable. The worst part was his eyes though. Or rather, where his eyes used to be. As a doctor Law could tell painfully well how he had lost them. The burnt scars surrounding the dark holes were a clear proof of the kind of torture he had gone through. The bone under the skin was also fractured in several places, and Law couldn't help but wonder how great the damage to the man's brain might be.
As if reading his thoughts, Doflamingo chuckled.

"He won't even remember you anymore. It's for the best to just leave him to rot! He won't be of any use for you!"

Law finally turned his attention back to the other man and snarled.

"Use?! I never wanted to use Cora-san for anything! I'm not that kind of person! No, I'm not a monster like you!"

Law was filled with rage again. He had never wanted to kill Doflamingo as much as now! However, he understood that now was not the time. No, there was something much more important for him to do. The doctor wrapped his arms around Corazon's body. Even though Law had grown a lot during these years, the man was still much taller than him, but he had turned light enough for Law to lift him from the ground easily.
He could feel the man's athropied muscles tense under his touch again, as if anticipating something bad, but his thin body was too weak to resist any further as the surgeon carried him in his arms.
Law called up another "Room", and quickly transported the two of them as far away as possible.
It didn't take him long to get outside of the building, but he was getting exhausted rapidly. It was partly because he had been using his ability too much, but also because of the kairouseki handcuffs that still chained Corazon's arms together. The submarine wasn't far though and Law could run the distance in no time.

It didn't seem like Doflamingo was following him. The man never seemed to be in much of a hurry, always so confident in his ability to eventually catch his prey. Even so, it was a bit of a surprise for the surgeon. But Law was not planning to stay around to play with him. None of his earlier questions mattered now that he had found Cora-san.

Once he was inside the submarine with Corazon, he ordered his crew to submerge immediately and move as far away from the island as fast as possible. He never stopped to catch his breath or to answer any questions until he reached the operating room.
The bright lights revealed the horrible condition of Corazon's body even more clearly. Law had a grim look on his face as he placed the man on the table with utmost care.

"Captain! Who is this? Did you find Doflamingo already? What about the battle?"
A polar bear had followed Law to the operating room, and was almost desperately trying to catch his attention. Behind him, several members of the crew were watching him curiously.

"Ah, Bepo. Change in plans, this is important," Law replied without looking at the bear.

"I'm sorry," the bear bowed and apologized quickly.

The surgeon gave the bear a quick glance. "Could you just get someone with the tools to remove kairouseki handcuffs? And some spare clothes for him..?" he requested.

Bepo nodded, and without further instructions, the bear left the room to take care of his new mission, and to return to navigate the submarine after he was done. He was the one who understood the captain the best after all.

Jean Bart, the tallest member of the crew was still watching Law and his new patient from the doorway with a serious expression. He didn't know who the person that the captain had brought in was, but he recognized a victim of torture when he saw one. He had been a slave for long enough to have seen all kinds of horrors, and he was eternally grateful to the captain for saving him before he had had to experience any more of it himself. And he wasn't the only one in the crew that understood pain and suffering.
Next to him was standing another member of the crew with a mask on his face. He nodded politely at the captain when Law noticed them. He had seen the destroyed body and face of the new patient and it had brought back some unpleasant memories.
He was wearing the mask for a reason.

The captain was busy setting up the life support system for the new patient, and unfortunately the two members of the crew still watching from the doorway didn't have the skills to assist him, so the masked man poked Jean Bart with his elbow to signal for them to get out of the way. They bowed at the captain politely before leaving the room to take care of their own duties on the submarine.

Once Law was alone with Corazon, he began to talk to him in a calming tone, trying to reassure him that everything would be alright, while gently cleaning his body with warm water and disinfectant.
The man still wouldn't respond and Law was almost certain he had lost consciousness completely during the transport. He was badly malnutritioned and dehydrated after all and Law was worried the man might never wake up.
Once the surgeon had cleaned Corazon's arm properly, he prepared the IV to give him some fluids. He'd have to be careful. Corazon's body had become extremely fragile.
At least it didn't seem like he'd have to worry about him moving around and accidentally hurting himself more.

Just then Penguin and Shachi peeked into the room. They had arrived with the tools requested for removing the handcuffs. However, the cuffs were tougher than expected and they wouldn't open easily. The force was just making them dig deeper into Corazon's thin wrists. Law sighed heavily, and decided to leave that for later. There were more urgent matters to worry about now. They were able to cut the chain between the cuffs though, releasing the man's arms from their unnatural position. But his arms were stiff from being forced behind his back for who knows how long. Law massaged Corazon's arms, shoulders, and back gently, while carefully moving his arms to a more normal position. The joints still cracked disturbingly, but the man remained as silent and motionless as before.

Now that Corazon's arms were free, Law started trying to insert the IV tubes he had prepared, but it turned out impossible, even with his skills. The man was so badly dehydrated that even locating his veins from his thin arms was difficult and poking the veins with a needle would just result in more damage. It didn't surprise Law. With a resigned sigh, the surgeon decided to switch his tools and try something else.
The two members of Law's crew assisted him as he started cleaning and disinfecting the patient's chest and shoulder instead. Even if the man was so badly dehydrated, Law would have no problem locating his central vein just below his right collarbone. Corazon wasn't going to leave the bed anytime soon, so it was the most effective way to provide him with lifesaving fluids and medication anyway. Once he'd be able to move again, he would no longer suffer from the symptoms of dehydration either so Law would be able to switch the IV to his arm instead. But that would take a while. Right now it was vital for the man to get some fluids and nutrition one way or another. Unfortunately Corazon's body had gone into 'starvation mode', so even if he'd be able to eat, he'd have to start slow and get his organs used to digesting food again, so for now this would be the only way to provide him with the nutrients he so desperately needed to survive.

With Corazon hooked up to the life support system, Law could relax a little. The man would receive additional oxygen and be fully monitored by the many machines in the room. The surgeon could move on to treat the man's wounds.
Both of his crewmates looked quite shocked when Law revealed the destroyed face of the new patient.
Law cut Corazon's hair and beard short, so he'd be able to treat the wounds better, as much as possible at this point. Most of the damage done to his body would be unrepairable through any normal means, but Law would do whatever just possible to heal the man. The surgeon spared a glance at his own right arm. Yes, if anyone could help Cora-san, it would be him.

It had been a while since Penguin and Shachi had seen their captain concentrate so seriously on something. They both just silently assisted him, offering him any tools he happened to need, while monitoring their new patient. They had never seen this man before, but clearly he was someone very important to their captain, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Once Law was done giving Corazon first aid and cleaning him properly to prevent his wounds from getting infected, or at least from getting worse, he used his ability to scan the man's whole body for any additional damage that might need immediate attention. He frowned.
The man had lots of broken bones. Some of them had healed on their own over time and were left in weird positions. They would need to be operated, but that could wait. They didn't pose a real threat to the man's life. Law was more worried about the affects of malnutrition to his organs. None of them were working properly, and the man wouldn't have lived much longer if he hadn't found him that day. Law's frown deepened as he scanned the damage in Corazon's head. His skull had indeed cracked from several places. It hurt Law to think what could have caused such damage. There were some signs of earlier bleeding inside his skull, but to his relief, he couldn't detect any serious damage in his brain. That was a good sign. However, the scan revealed another grim fact. Corazon could no longer hear, nor speak. Even his tongue and the inside of his throat and ears were a mess of poorly healed wounds and scar tissue. He had really become mute, as well as blind and deaf. No wonder he hadn't reacted to Law's words earlier.
Exhausted both physically and mentally, Law finally sat down. There wasn't much else he could do right now, and suddenly the surgeon felt really tired. He'd been too busy trying to save Corazon to even notice his own exhaustion until now. Penguin brought him a cup of coffee before he even asked for it. Neither him nor Shachi had spoken a word during all this time and Law was thankful to them. He'd explain them everything later. He drank his coffee quickly and hid his face under the peak of his hat. Law needed some time to think.

Penguin and Shachi looked at each other and nodded. They allowed the captain to rest a little and finished bandaging the new patient for him. Law watched them from the corner of his eye, feeling grateful. He had known these two since that dark day, so he trusted them deeply. He wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for them and Bepo.

...

The next day, Law spent most of his time with Corazon. He kept checking and double-checking all the machines, making sure the IVs were dripping enough fluids to the veins of the man, adjusting the temperature of the room, and changing the bandages of his patient. And then, just sitting by the man's side lost in thought. And occassionally he'd take Corazon's arms and legs to stretch them or to just move them a little in order to make the stiffness of the years in chains go away. He had moved the man to a bed with a soft mattress so there wouldn't be as much pressure on his wounds and he might be able to rest more comfortably. Sedatives and painkillers would help with that too, but the surgeon couldn't risk making the dose too high when Cora-san's body was in such a weak condition, but at least he wouldn't be in as much pain as earlier.

That day, as Law grabbed Corazon's arm, the muscles of the man tensed a little. Law raised his eyebrows. Corazon had regained consciousness. He was still way too weak to actually move his limbs and Law placed his arm back on the bed with care. Seeing a positive change lifted Law's spirits, but as he looked at the person lying there, he realized it was still way too early to feel happy. Even with Corazon's amazing endurance, it would be a great battle to just keep him alive. Not to mention bringing him back from the sad condition he was in.

Law was keeping the man alive by giving him fluids directly into his bloodstream. Now that he had regained consciousness, it was about time for him to start getting used to eating food again. Or at least drinking a little, for starters. Then he might regain some much needed strength to his body. After all, he'd need to be stronger in order to survive any kind of surgeries or treatment which he'd need to recover, so the sooner he'd start eating, the better.
However, feeding someone who'd been so close to starving to death could be tricky and risky for the patient.

Law stood up and picked up the cup he had prepared earlier from the counter. He kept his eyes on his patient while warming the contents in the cup. It was a liquid soup, not thicker than regular juice, but rich with nutrients that the man's body was desperately craving for. But there was only enough for a little sip. Corazon's body wouldn't be able to handle any more than that as it was now.
Law returned to the man's side and sat down on the bed next to him. He placed the cup on the bedside table and gently touched Corazon's shoulder with his left hand to let him know he was there before doing anything else. Law intended to lift him up to a sitting position and support him while offering him the soup to drink. However, when Law wrapped his right arm around the man's shoulders, Corazon started trembling uncontrollably. Law could see his mouth moving as if he was trying to say something, but naturally he couldn't produce any comprehensible sounds with his damaged throat and tongue, and all the scars made Corazon's expression unreadable.
After going through torture and neglect for years, it was not a surprise he'd be confused and afraid, Law thought. Especially when he couldn't see or hear anything.

Law sighed heavily. He had expected this. The soup would have to wait, he wanted Corazon to know he was in a safe place now. Law placed the man's head back on the pillow with care and stroked his scarred cheek soothingly. This was something Corazon had used to do to him when they traveled together, and it had eased Law's pain at the time. The man's trembling ceased, but he was still tense and breathing nervously.
For a moment Law just sat there in silence, wondering what he could do to help this person. Cora-san would have to learn that it was him, that it was Law who was there by his side, and that he would never allow anyone to hurt him ever again. He'd protect Corazon, like the man had protected him in the past. Now he had the strength and the skills to do so. And he'd heal the damage done to his body too, as much as just possible.
But it really made things much harder when Corazon couldn't see him or hear his words. There was so much that Law wanted to tell him too, but that would all have to wait.

Law looked at the man's face again. He had wrapped a bandage over his empty eyesockets, but even through the fabric, it was easy to see that something was missing. He had most likely lost his eyes years ago, so the bandages weren't necessary for stopping the bleeding or anything like that. They did keep dirt from getting to the holes though. But mostly it was done for the sake of his appearance, and to keep the shocked reactions of the crew to the minimum. But Law was well aware of the damage, and it pained him to see his most cherished person in this condition.
He couldn't help but feel happy to be reunited with this man, and to see him alive. But he would have never wished this sort of torture even to his worst enemies, let alone Cora-san.

Law picked up Corazon's hand and traced the letters of his own name on it with his index finger, "Law". There was no reaction so the surgeon tapped the hand gently and started tracing the letters on the man's palm again: "L. A. W."
He could see Corazon's mouth opening slightly, most likely from surprise. The man's fingers twitched a little, but he was still too weak to move his arms, and even the little strength he might have had was drained by the handcuffs that were still around his wrists. The surgeon would make sure to get rid of them as soon as he'd have regained some strength himself.

Law raised the man's hand to the level of his face and softly leaned against it, allowing Corazon to feel his cheek, hair, and even the texture of his trademark hat. He could see Corazon's lips quiver. He had recognized Law.
The surgeon could no longer contain the emotions he'd been hiding for all this time himself. Law started crying uncontrollably, tears streaming down his cheeks like a river. All the longing, the grief, the sadness, and the relief of meeting again ended up mixed together and Law just cried. He bent over to hug the man and leaned against his chest while bawling like a baby, effectively turning the man's shirt wet.

It took a long time for Law to get his emotions under control again and regain his composure. But he didn't care. He had no reason to hide his feelings from Cora-san. Besides, right now it might have been the only way to communicate with him. Law knew that Corazon would surely cry as well if he was still able to. It must have felt horrible to be unable to move or get any information from the surrounding world or express himself in any way, he thought. And it must have been extremely lonely.
At least, Law wanted to assure him that he wasn't alone anymore. He wanted Cora-san to rest peacefully while he'd figure out a way to bring him back to health. Because, that's what he was going to do. As the user of the Ope Ope fruit, he should be able to help this person better than anyone.

After the emotional outburst, Law took a deep breath.
The soup on the table was still warm, and now that Cora-san knew that he was with Law, it was time to try again. The surgeon returned to his place next to Corazon and gently patted his shoulder, just like he had done the first time. The man's muscles tensed a little, but this time he didn't start trembling. It would take some time until he'd get used to the human touch again. After all, the only treatment he had received in the captivity must have been extremely rough and violent, based on all the scars left on his body.
Even years ago, pain hadn't been anything new to Cora-san, and Law knew it. But this torture must have been unimaginably painful. Law frowned at the thought. If he had just known about this earlier, he would have done anything to save this man. He should have returned to the man on that island. He should have been the one to take him away from that place that day. The surgeon sighed, and his thoughts returned to the present time. It still wasn't too late to save Cora-san, it was just going to take some work.
He wrapped his arms carefully around the taller man, and slowly lifted him into a sitting position on the bed. Corazon's breathing got quicker, even though Law was the one supporting his weight. Even such a minor action seemed to be exhausting for him now. Law kept hoping he was not causing him pain as he helped the man to lean against the wall, but even as Law reached for the cup with his left hand, he kept his right arm around Corazon's shoulders for support and to let him know he was still right there. The surgeon lifted the cup to Corazon's lips, and gave him a moment to notice the smell of the soup. It was clearly effective as the man opened his mouth hungrily, allowing Law to slowly pour in the content. Corazon gulped down the soup greedily, almost choking on it no matter how careful Law tried to be, until all the food was gone. He kept his mouth open, clearly expecting more, and Law felt sorry for having to deny any food from the starving man, but giving him more would most likely turn out fatal at this point.

After a moment Corazon closed his mouth, looking slightly disappointed. Even though he obviously couldn't see or hear Law, he turned his face towards him. Law placed the cup back on the table and patted the man's stomach. It wouldn't be enough to explain why he couldn't give him any more food right now. However, at that moment Corazon did something unexpected. He smiled. The scars on his face distorted his expression, and made it look a bit creepy as a result, and there was sadness in the smile. But for Law it was the most welcomed sight he'd seen in years.
Law had wanted to protect this man, but once again Cora-san had given Law encouragement and hope instead. Law's heart felt lighter as he helped him to lie down.

From then on Law would repeat this as a regular routine as often as possible, increasing the amount of food little by little.

However, that had been the only time Law saw Corazon smile. Something had changed and Cora-san started hesitating eating the food, and for reasons that Law still couldn't understand, he always turned his head away at first, refusing Law's attempts to help him. But the man had no strength to resist and eventually his hunger took over and he allowed the surgeon to feed him the soup.
Even so, it worried Law. Had Cora-san lost his will to live to the point that he didn't even want to eat?

"Cora-san... I know it's hard, but you can't give up now. Please..."
Law whispered the words with sadness and once again he felt regret for not finding the man earlier.
But even with Corazon acting this way, he was slowly gaining some strength back, and Law could tell he was spending more time awake now, even though he still couldn't move. The surgeon thought that Cora-san might regain his will to live once he'd be able to move a little again, even if just enough to draw symbols with his fingers to answer Law when he wrote messages on his hand. But before any exercise would help Cora-san regain his mobility, Law would have to remove the handcuffs from his wrists. The tools hadn't been able to break the seastone even after several attempts, so Law would have to get them off using his ability. Unfortunately kairouseki cancelled any devil fruit abilities effectively so he couldn't directly switch them with something else like he'd do otherwise.
The surgeon had regained enough strength to use his "Room" again, so he'd be able to temporarily separate Cora-san's hands from his wrists and slip the handcuffs off fairly easily even without touching them himself. But how would he prepare Cora-san for something like that? After all, suddenly getting cut into pieces wasn't exactly a pleasant experience and it could be quite a shock. It would be much easier if he could tell the man exactly what he was about to do.
Law traced the words "Don't worry" on Corazon's palm with his finger and patted his shoulder gently. That wasn't much of an explanation, but he hoped it would be enough to calm the man.
Without wasting more time, the surgeon took Corazon's large hand in his grasp and drew Kikoku. With a precise swing of the sword, he cut the hand off from the man's wrist.
Corazon shuddered and his mouth opened in surprise. Law placed the separated hand on the bed gently and patted Corazon on the shoulder again. Then he took the man's arm that still had the handcuff on, and using his tools, pushed the seastone ring over Cora-san's wrist so it fell to the floor with a loud clatter. The wounds underneath were badly infected, but even though it wasn't a pretty sight, it was mild compared to all the other damage in the man's body. However, Law wasn't the kind of person who'd overlook even such things for any longer than necessary.
Now would be a good time to fix some of the damage in Cora-san's body, he thought.
Law cleaned as much of the infected area as he could.
After that, the surgeon reattached Cora-san's hand to his wrist without leaving any sign that it had ever been separated from the man's arm. Then he moved on to work on his other hand. Having his hand returned just made Corazon look even more shocked, but he didn't shudder as much when Law repeated the operation on his other hand.

Now that the handcuffs were out of the way, Law would have loved to deal with all of the man's injuries right away, but there was too much damage to fix all at once and Corazon had only started regaining his strength, so today Law would only focus on putting some of the broken bones back together - in their proper places. That, and getting the infection under control. He'd treat it with antibiotics as well, but combined with his ability the recovery should become much faster.

...

Bepo had brought some food from the kitchen. He watched curiously as the captain worked on his patient. For the polar bear, it was always impressive to see the captain use his ability.
Of course, even he had been a bit freaked out when he saw it for the first time. But, because of his personal experiences with Law's ability, he now viewed it as something utterly miraculous and amazing.
However, the bear was getting a bit worried since the captain had been spending nearly all his time in the operating room as of lately. He looked extremely tired, and his eyes were red and swollen. But, somehow, as Bepo noticed, Law's determined expression had changed into a more peaceful one.
The bear placed the tray on the table, and watched quietly. He knew when it was a bad idea to disturb the captain.

Law sighed. He was getting exhausted again. It was slightly harder to work with the borrowed hand, and he had been tired to begin with. He was pushing his limits every time he used his ability, and he'd been using it a lot after finding Cora-san. There was only so much he could do within a single day. The surgeon made sure that everything was in order in the last piece he had been operating on, before returning it to Corazon's body. His patient was still looking quite shocked, and Law stroked his cheek gently. "It's alright." he whispered, even though he knew that Cora-san wouldn't hear the words. Then he finally spotted the polar bear standing next to the door at the other end of the room.

"How long have you been here?"
The surgeon asked, sounding as casual as usually.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" The bear apologized quickly, slightly startled from being noticed. "I brought you dinner," he pointed at the tray on the table while bowing repeatedly.

"I see. Thank you," Law said looking genuinely grateful. Sometimes he completely forgot to eat when he got too absorbed in his work. This was one of those times. He'd been too concerned about Cora-san's wellbeing to worry about his own. But he could always count on Bepo and the others to take care of everything when he was busy. The polar bear looked slightly surprised for getting thanked by the captain and looked away embarrassed.

Just as Law was thinking about his crew, he heard quick steps from the corridor and Penguin's voice calling for him.
"Oi! Captain!" Penguin hurried to the room, but stopped at the doorway, hesitating for only a moment before entering.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Law asked the man.

Penguin handed some reports to the captain and started explaining. "There are ships approaching us with high speed."

Law was eyeing the papers with an indifferent expression on his face, but the other two could see him pale slightly.
"Do you think they are Marines?" He asked sounding almost hopeful.

"No, captain. It doesn't seem that way. What should we do?"

Law looked at Penguin. "Have they been following us for a long time already?"

"Maybe," Penguin answered and looked down, and Law could see he was ashamed of himself. But the captain knew they had all been busy and it was hard to keep track on everything all the time. But if Doflamingo was after them, they didn't have any time to lose.

"Go back and gather everyone inside. We need to submerge immediately!" The captain ordered.

Penguin hurried out of the room and Law was about to follow him when the beeping of the machines suddenly changed. Law turned around, panic starting to show on his face.

"No way! Not now!" He ran to Corazon, and Bepo followed him knowing the captain might need assistance.

"Can I be of any help, captain?"
The bear was already gathering bottles of medicine and other equipment from the shelves, but, without looking back, Law gestured him to leave the items on the table.

"Go. The others need you. Just get us away from here as fast as possible!"

"Aye, captain!"
The bear ran out of the room with surprising speed, but Law was no longer paying any attention to him.
Corazon had stopped breathing, and his heart wasn't doing much better. The shock had been too much for him after all, but the surgeon was going to do everything he could to bring him back.
Law gathered all the energy he had left and used his "Counter Shock" to restart Cora-san's heart. At first nothing happened, and Law was starting to get desperate. But then, to his great relief, Corazon's heart started beating properly again. Law readjusted the life support system and inserted even more tubes to the man's body and gave him additional oxygen and a shot of adrenaline to stabilize his condition.

After Law was completely sure that Corazon's condition was relatively stable, he collapsed on the floor, too exhausted to move a muscle, and the room around him disappeared into darkness as he lost consciousness...