The next day...
"Sammie, c'mon!" Jack said, sitting next to her on the bed. "You need to get up and eat something!"
"I'm not hungry." Sammie said, borrowing deeper in her two blankets.
"You're not going to get better if you don't eat."
"I'm not hungry! Go away!"
Jack sighed, pulling the corners of the blankets. "I got some of those chocolate covered croissants you like so much."
Samantha sat up to face Jack, her cheeks slightly pink with an embarrassed look on her face. "Can I have one?" She asked, holding up one finger. She couldn't resist her favorite treat.
Jack smirked, picking a small basket up from the night stand. "You can have as many as you like." He said, placing the basket on the bed before standing up. "I'll be back in a minute." He kissed his daughter's forehead, before walking out. He could hear her coughing.
Barbossa was in the hall. "How's-"
"Hector, mind telling me why you decide that now would be the best time to get in my way?" Jack asked evenly. "Unless you're here to be helpful, you are not welcomed."
"Sparrow, I-"
"Barbossa, I have a sick six year old to take care of. I don't need you here right-"
They both heard it. The sound of vomiting coming from Samantha's room. The two men ran in. Samantha sat there, her bottom lip trembling. There were chocolate covered croissants scattered all over the floor, along with the basket. Samantha's blanket had a small puddle of vomit. Barbossa took a deep breath, turning around. "I'll get Teague."
Jack rolled his eyes, watching Barbossa walk down the hall, before running to his own room, dumping out a bucket full of crumbled up sheets of paper, and ran back to his daughter's room. He handed the bucket to Samantha just in time for her to throw up again as her father held her hair back. She then looked up at Jack with an innocent look on her face. "Daddy?"
Jack gave her a soft smile, stroking her hair in his hands. "Yeah Sweetheart?"
"I didn't mean to-"
"None of that now." Jack said, reaching over to the cup of apple juice on the night stand. "Drink." As she drank some juice, Jack took the blanket and tied the corners together, before putting it on the floor. He then sat on the bed next to his daughter and stroked her back. "Don't worry. Your Grand Da will make you all better in no time."
Samantha looked up at Jack. "Daddy, I heard Pintel say that you're leaving at the end of the week." She said, with tears streaming down her face.
Jack wrapped his arms around his little girl. "I'm not going anywhere until you're better, Dearie."
Samantha started coughing violently. After drinking more juice, she turned to Jack. "Are you and Uncle Barbossa mad at each other?"
'Damn it! She likes him' Jack thought. "No. We just argue. That's all."
"Daddy?" Samantha said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
"Hmm?"
"My back hurt. My arms and legs too." Samantha said, before yawning. She looked as though she didn't sleep at all, after twelve hours of sleep.
Jack sighed, releasing her. "Lay down and get some sleep." He said, walking over to the window to dump out the bucket. He didn't care about the fact that a few miles below the window was a popular beach for lovers, or the fact that the bucket's contents were likely to ruin some couple's romantic outing. All that mattered to him was that his only child was extremely sick and he had no idea what she had. He placed the bucket next to the bed, close enough so that Samantha could lean over and throw up if she needed to. "The bucket's right here in you need it."
"Thank you Daddy." Samantha whispered. "Daddy, can I go sailing with you when I get better?"
"Aye. I think that would be fun."
"Then I'll get better as fast as I can." Samantha whispered, falling asleep while Jack stroked her cheek with the back of his right hand.
"Jackie." Teague said, walking in. "You go wait in the Main Hall. I'm going to give Sammie a check up, figure out what she has."
In the Main Hall...
The Black Pearl's whole crew was there, along with Elizabeth and her son. William walked up to Jack, holding a stuffed bear that Jack swore looked like Mr. Gibbs. "Uncle Jack, is Sammie going to be ok?"
Jack helped Elizabeth raise William while she helped him raise Samantha. It was scary sometimes, how alike the two kids were. They both almost looked alike, though William looked more and more like his father everyday. Jack was William's 'uncle' and Elizabeth was Samantha's 'aunt'. The two kids thought of each other as cousins.
Jack sighed, kneeling down to William. "I don't know Willy."
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow!" The little boy said, hugging the bear tighter. "You have to know!"
Jack smirked, placing his hand on William's shoulder. "Lad, even the Infamous Captain Jack Sparrow can't know everything."
"Why not?"
"William, that's enough." Elizabeth said, walking over. "Go play outside."
Jack watched William ran off. "You know Lizzie, it's alright for William to be worried about his friend."
Then Teague walked in. "Mr. Gibbs, take the men to the cave where the kids were playing yesterday and kill everything in there. Make sure no one gets bit."
"Uh...aye sir." Mr. Gibbs said nervously.
Once the Pearl's crew left, Teague sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "The three of you might want to grab a seat."
"What is it?" Jack asked, sitting down.
Teague waited until Barbossa and Elizabeth also sat down. "Bubonic plague." He said, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Sammie's dying."
"That's impossible!" Elizabeth shouted, standing up with her hands on the table. "She can't be dying! She was running outside yesterday! How can she be dying?"
Elizabeth wasn't the only one in objection. "That little girl so much life ahead of her!" Barbossa shouted. Apparently, Samantha found Barbossa's soft spot buried deep-very, very deep-within him. "There is no way anyone could take her life! Not even the Lord himself could-"
"Shut it!" Jack shouted above Elizabeth and Barbossa. He then turned to Teague. "Da, it died out centuries ago. There has to be some cure."
Teague sighed at all three of them. "Jackie, I don't know if there is one but, even if we head out on the Pearl with her, Sammie would never last long enough to get treated."
I made a mistake when writing this chapter. Ever since writing about the chocolate covered croissants, I've been craving them...
I might end up baking some for myself...
I spent days researching the bubonic plague-I should say refreshing my research because that was my second time researching it-just for this story...
They have a great doctor...the drunk Keeper of the Code...
Anyways, I've decided to update today because it's my birthday (my ego is probably the size of Jack's...)
