Chapter 11:
"Come now lass, why don't yeh get meh somt'in' so s'I can sink meh teeth into? How's a man ta live like dis?"
It was hard for Zarabeth not to laugh as she held the bowl of warm broth in one hand, the other balancing a spoonful of it as she tried to get Silver to eat. "You've made it more than clear to us that you can't keep anything else down. Now quit whining and open up."
It'd been almost a week since Jim and Zara had brought Silver to Benbow, but it was hard to know if there was really any change in his condition or not. One day he'd seem more talkative and aware, but then the next would see the old cyborg back into his feverish fits. It was impossible to guess from day to day or hour to hour how he'd be, but at least he was still alive.
After downing a few spoonfuls of the broth, Silver turned his head cautiously as he looked about the room, as if making sure that no one was watching him before leaning closer to the girl as she sat beside his bed.
Being signaled to lean in closer, Zarabeth decided to humor the old cyborg as she tried to catch his hushed words.
"Listen, meh girl. You get me one of t'ose chunks of Jimbo's mom's pulfur seed bread and I'll be willin' ta get ya an even portion of ta treasure. Eh?"
Zara bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from laughing as she tried to collect herself. Some of the things that Silver would say or see between feverish fits was unbelievable, but he was always completely serious. "Tempting, but I'd better decline. It would be considered mutiny, on my part, if I were caught in the bread pantry. No, I think I'll pass, for your sake and mine. The wrath of Mrs. Hawkins is something we'd both be better to avoid."
The cyborg nodded in resignation as he returned to his previous sitting position, content to continue eating as the two sat in silence for a time.
The door at the girl's back opened quietly as Mrs. Hawkins made her way in, a large bowl of water balanced against her hip as she held a small stack of rags in her other hand. Her voice was soft and gentle as she closed the door behind her, a small smile on her lips as she walked around to the opposite side of the bed from Zarabeth. "All finished I see. Thought we should take another look at your side. Still aching, John?"
The cyborg gave Jim's mother a sheepish grin as he turned his head to face her. "Now, Mrs., don't you worry none about me. I' t'ain't bad, really."
Setting the clean rags into the bowl to soak, Sarah rolled up the sleeves of her dress as she motioned for Zara to help her. "Well, I think we'd better see for sure. Could you roll over onto your left side for me? Take your time. There we go."
Pulling the covers of the bed away, the leathery skin of Silver's bare chest and stomach were uncovered, revealing the severity of extensive burn marks and thick scars and gashes which flowed unhindered down the cyborg's whole right side.
No matter how many times she'd seen it that week, Zara could still feel her heart breaking all over again as she tried to imagine the pain Silver must have endured. Her own scars were simple cuts, the marks of whips, claws, and broken glass. Numerous though they were, they paled in comparison to the horrific sight beneath the girl's eyes. Zarabeth couldn't even imagine what kind of accident could have caused such a result, the loss of Silver's leg, arm, the damage of his face and the skin everywhere between.
The heavy rhythm of Silver's breathing affirmed to both Zara and Mrs. Hawkins that he'd slipped back into one of his feverish sleeping fits, most likely to stay in it for another hour or more.
Zara released a heavy breath, wringing the excess water from the cloth between her hands as she looked over the cyborg's shoulder and side. "D-does it look swollen to you?"
Mrs. Hawkins nodded slowly as she lay a wet rag flat against Silver's skin, covering the burn marks beneath. "I'd think it's safe to say that the virus is still holding strong. As long as it has a place to grow and fester, it will. Without anything to draw it away from the scars or to lighten John's symptoms, he may not have much more strength to fight it. If he stops fighting...well, we've done all we could."
Her mind heavier than ever, Zara's head rang with a single thought, a thought which was driving her mad with wondering 'what if'. "Not everything." If only they could have a doctor see Silver, there might still be hope for him. If they didn't get him help, Silver was most likely going to die. If they got a doctor to help, he might live through the fever, but then he'd be found, tried, and hung for piracy. Hard as it was, Zarabeth knew that they had to do without help. Better he die this way than at the noose.
Zara shook her head hurriedly, trying to erase the thoughts swimming through her head as she helped Mrs. Hawkins lay the cool rags over Silver's scars. She couldn't think like that, not now, not while he was still with them. She had to keep hoping, for Silver's sake, if for no one else.