I wished it'd been easier,

Instead of any longer,

I wished I could have stood where you would of been proud,

That won't happen now, that won't happen now...

When I first told Elizabeth and Gibbs about Jackie's illness, they seemed very unnerved by how sudden it had struck him. But out of all of us, Elizabeth was the only one who had been brave enough to shed tears.

"It's-it's not true! It can't be true!" Tears fell thick and fast down her pale face. We were all at Shipwreck Cove, our only safe-haven from the rest of the supporters of the East India Trading Company. It had three years since the epic battle had occurred.

I took Elizabeth by the shoulder. "I'm afraid he's got it, Bess," I said softly, feeling sorry for the lass.

Elizabeth continued to shake her head, her loose, dark blonde locks flying this way and that. "He-he just can't!"

I looked onto Gibbs, desperate for help. He gave me half of a nervous smile and took her shoulders from me. "Now don't worry about all of this, Missus Turner," he said brightly. "We'll take extra good care with Jack. He'll be as right as rain when we're done with him."

But the tears still seem to pour down her face in dozens. I offered her a spotted old handkerchief. She took it and held it close to her mouth and her nose as she began to wail loudly. Gibbs sighed one of his, well, lassies will be lassies sighs and muttered something about making chamomile tea. I stepped back a few times, trying to pry myself away from all of the negative energy in the room when I heard a floorboard squeak quietly from behind me. Turning around, I saw Elizabeth's son, Will, a tiny feisty two-year-old lad. He was watching his mother cry, his big brown eyes as round as two pence pieces. As quietly as I could, I grabbed Will's hand and walked him back to his bedroom.

"Paw-Paw Teague, why was Mummy crying?" he asked me as we climbed up the steps.

I did not answer him-I did not want to say that 'Uncle Jack' was dying or anything that might upset him. He had never met his actual father, but Jackie was the closet thing to a father in his eyes. Finally, after carefully planning my words, I said, "We just found out something about Uncle Jack. He's very, very sick."

"Does he have a fever? Mummy always makes me feel better when I have a fever. She gives me medicine," he said in his innocent, childish way.

I smiled, despite myself. "No, it's something much worse than a fever."

Will did not say anything for about a minute for so, deep in thought. "Wrap him up in bandages!" he cried.

"Aye, a bright lad you are," I nodded my head. "We'll try doing that."

As I tucked him into bed, I then said quietly, "Uncle Jack will probably be very sleepy most of the time from now on, Will. That means you'll have to be very quiet. Can you do that?"

"I will, I'll be quiet," Will said in a whisper, motioning his finger to his lips.

"Now before I go, do you need your nappy changed?" I asked him.

Will shook his head. "I can wake up in the middle of the night now if I need to go use the chamber pots."

I smiled, ruffled his hair, and left him so he could drift to sleep. I walked quietly back downstairs to observe what was going on. Elizabeth had stopped sobbing, but silent tears were still glazed on her face as she sipped a cup of tea. Gibbs was ruefully out the window, watching the sunset.

"He's still out there, eh?" I asked him, walking over to him. Gibbs nodded. "He needs to come back in though. It'll start getting cold as soon as the sun goes down," he said.

"I'll get him," I said, shuffling my feet to the door. I pulled my coat close to my person as I opened it and stepped outside. I could feel the cold nipping at my cheeks as I walked around the island, looking for Jackie.

When I did finally find him, the sun was almost down, and my cheeks were numb. Jackie was watching the sun in the horizon on the cliffs, mindlessly twisting a few pieces of grass between his fingers. "You'd better be getting inside, boy," I said to him. "It's starting to becoming more cold out here, and I don't want you more sick than you already are."

Like a bolt of lightening, Jackie jumped up and dropped his pieces of grass to the ground. Usually, my son would be relaxed around the people he was with, but now-either it was because of his diagnosis of his illness, or the fact that I was always nearby-he suddenly became very jumpy, very scared. Me and Jackie had never had a good, strong relationship like most fathers and sons have, but that's mostly my fault.

We stood there awkwardly for a few more moments, waiting for one of us to say something when it grew dark. Then I said, "Jackie...You all right, boy?"

He looked at me strangely, as though he were meeting me for the first time. "With the whole illness thing," I added.

Jack scratched his head. "Don't feel as sick as before," he said. I curled my bottom lip. Something in Jackie's eyes wasn't right; they were dull.

"You aren't lying to me, are you boy?" I asked skeptically.

Jack quickly shook his head no. "No, no. Would I honestly lie to my dear old father?"

I glared at him. "That isn't saying much, Jackie, considering the fact that we're both pirates."

Jack nodded understandingly as we both began walking back to Shipwreck Cove. "How's Asthore taken the news?" Asthore was Jack's nickname for Will. It meant 'my darling' in Gaelic, his grandmother's native language.

I sighed. "I told him that you weren't dying, just that you were sick."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "What did he say?" he then asked.

"He suggests bandages," I said. Jack gave a small snort of laughter. "There's the Turner in him," he said afterwards. "The same tongue-and-cheek old Bootstrap had."

I gave half a smile, and we continued on back. On the way, I closed my hand around Jack's right elbow lightly. His tumor was still there, callused and bulging. Jack looked at me with contorted eyebrows. I let go, embarrassed. Together, we walked back down to Shipwreck Cove to turn in for the night.

A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed my first chapter! And also, Pirates of the Caribbean doesn't belong to me. Just to get that all cleared up.