Okay, this is a shorter chapter - sorry! It's basically designed to strengthen the relationship between Jack and Fern, blah blah blah. Next one's longer, I promise!


7

Captain's Orders

July the twenty-third, 1805

Diary,

I slept all afternoon the twenty-first and that night. Yesterday Stephen ordered that I stay in bed and rest after my 'ordeal'. He himself assured me that Jack was doing better with each hour that passed, and that rest was the best thing for him now. With such news, I could do nothing but obey. Lord Blakeney, Mr. Mowett, and every other seaman, marine, and officer came by throughout the day yesterday, paying their respects to my health and showing an unabashed appreciation which I found infinitely sweet in the hearts of such hard men. Today I was allowed up to make a turn about the deck, but no more. I was sitting in my bunk, staring boredly out the porthole when Lord Blakeney came clattering to my door…

"Miss Fern! Miss Fern, the Captain is calling for you," he gasped, clearly out of breath as he clung with fierce joy to his second lieutenant's frock coat. "The Doctor says you may be up if you wish. He's in his cabin," he added before tripping hastily out again.

I froze for a moment, not entirely formulating Blakeney's words. Then, as I ran them through my mind again and again, I actually took it in: the man whose guts I had been prodding but two nights ago was asking for me. A grin almost splitting my face in half, I hopped out of bed and dressed quickly, fixing my hair in a loose chignon that spilled light brown hair from my crown before walking as quickly as possible to the captain's cabin.

Benjamin, the marine I had met the night of the battle, was standing outside it. He saluted me as I passed, opening the door with a grand flourish and grinning as widely as I had been a moment ago. I stepped over the threshold, gulping inwardly as I heard the door close behind me.

The captain's cabin was fairly small, with room enough only for lockers along the wall and the hanging cot. The large porthole showed a view of the ocean spreading widely from horizon to horizon, and a bit of land farther left that was America. I realized that my hand was twisting anxiously with the front of my skirt, and I dropped it. A low chuckle came from the cot.

"Come here, child. I'm not going to be biting anyone any time soon." The sound of that mysteriously oceanic voice did me in. Sucking in a gasp that sounded more like a sob, I went to the cot and knelt beside it.

"Oh sir…"

"Jack," he reproached me, giving me a stern look. Then his face broke out into a gentle smile as he reached out and cupped my chin. "There, there, child, why the tears?"

"They told me you were awake," I struggled to explain, not altogether certain myself of the reason for my grief. "And yet, as long as I could not see you, you were still lying on that surgical table with blood all over you… and the shrapnel… after all you've done for my brother and I, and… oh, I've been so cowardly!"

His expression soon transformed as his brows puckered and concern flooded his eyes, and he drew my head down onto his chest. "You are the bravest woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting," he said, his voice a rumble in his chest beneath my ear. "What you did was beyond brave, and it was most certainly not cowardly. Your disbelief in my true wellness only proves your desire to care for a patient. Don't be weeping now, lass. Captain's orders."

I lifted my head and managed a watery smile, though I felt like sobbing all over again at the kindness in his face. One of his hands came up and brushed the wetness from my cheeks gently. "I fear I can never repay what you have done for me."

"What I did is only what Stephen would have done," I replied, embarrassed. He shook his head.

"Nay; I think that even Stephen would not have been able to completely patch me up."

"But I didn't either!" I protested. "You still have some shrapnel in your side that I couldn't remove."

"Nothing that a few adjustments won't fix." He brushed the fact off like a mere triviality. "We are bound for the southern United States, are we not?"

"Yes sir," I answered, puzzled at his abrupt change of conversation. "To take on provisions. Mr. Lamb says…"

"Most of the water was spoiled and we have barely enough food to last us to the States, yes," he sighed, and suddenly was a captain again. Then he gave me a mischievous smile. "All right, run along. And tell Stephen he can stop trying to stuff me full of medicines before my stitches break."

I stood, my smile genuine this time. "Yes sir, captain sir," I said, saluting. He raised an eyebrow, and I relaxed. "Yes, Jack. Right away."

"That's better," he approved, taking my hand and kissing it gently before shooing me off.


Jack: SOB! It's so true! (sniffles)

Me: All right, that's enough. You're supposed to be a tough sea captain.

Jack: (glares from around his handkerchief)

Me: (sigh...)