Disclaimer: They not be mine, I fear. I only claim Harker, Trenton, Dr. Hasting & Lady Isabelle.

OBSERVATIONS OF A TRAPPED AND INJURED PIRATE

More mini-drabbles from the AU post-CotBP novel - A PIRATES LIFE NO MORE

AN: Apologies for those waiting for the next drabble installment, as real life just got a little more crazy at home. I share a house with 6 guys so I will leave such insanity up to the imagination!

In response to one review: Yes, I do have an irreverent, angst-light style with which I feel most comfortable with, but I think that it reflects my own sense of humor! Yes, I can go darker, but it takes a bit more effort.

Part 4 - Whereupon Jack meets the rescued Lady LaBarre – a woman claiming to have been held prisoner aboard the ship that tried to take the Pearl. She is searching for her missing lover, an itinerant smuggler.

Part 4 – FROM HIS SICKBED

Summary: Jack can charm a lady even in his sleep.

"...navy ship...?"

Andrew nodded. "Two days now. Like some more tea?"

Jack gave him a faint, sleepy smile. "I find I do like it... apparently with loads of sugar…" He gingerly rubbed his left arm below the shoulder wound.

"You drank most of it last time."

"Did I?" The smile faded into open bewilderment before noticing the woman hovering behind his host. "Oh, who is the lady friend then?"

"My name is Isabelle Wallington-LeBarre," she said eagerly, not waiting for Groves. "And you are?"

"Ah." Jack darted an uncertain look at Groves. "One truly tired and sore man it would seem." He offered her a weary, apologetic grin, shivered and then moved his arm to gather the blanket at his chest. "Why am I tired and sore again?"

"You're recovering from considerable blood loss," Andrew supplied. "Dr. Hasting said you would most probably feel like this for a few more days while you heal, barring, of course, an infection sets in."

Jack grimaced. "Uck, wouldn't want that, mate. Nasty things - infections. Your skin goes all greenish, blobby and bumpy - and smells putridly bad."

"You've had one before?" Isabelle wondered, unwillingly entranced by his dark brown eyes surveying her without shame.

Groves frowned. Now was not the time for him to behave like the unprincipled Sparrow. "Lady Isabelle, I must insist we keep this brief. The man clearly needs to rest."

Jack ignored Groves' warning tone, affecting a disarming grin. "No, darlin', but I knew this guy what use to--" Jack stopped, caught by a sneaky yawn. He shot the captain a defiant look, and then closed his eyes wearily. "Sooorry. This recovery thing is…sappin' the air right outta me… lungs by the feeling of it…"

"That would be another thing that Francis lacked then."

"What is that? The ability to sleep through a hurricane?"

"No, this young man's charm."

Sparrow does it again, Andrew thought to himself wryly, from his sickbed, no less.

TBC