Meridith was dreaming. Dreaming of home, the plantation where the grain rippled in the wind like a great golden ocean and her siblings ran in and out of the tall corn laughing and chasing the crows away. She was lying on the riverbank, her feet in the sparkling river... and she had a knot in her neck that felt like one of the plowhorses had stepped on her. With a moan, she gave up on the dream and floated back into reality, one hand massaging her neck. At least she though she was back in the real world. She had to blink a few times before she was convinced that she wasn't seeing things.
Horatio was curled on his side, facing away from her and sleeping soundly. There was someone leaning over and examining him closely. The other person put out a hand and rested it on his cheek. Horatio rolled onto his back, and the other person's hand went right though his chin. Meridith's eyes widened, and she jerked back.
The other person looked up, startled.
Meridith gasped in disbelief. She was staring at Gabriel. Gabriel! He gave her a sheepish smile and gestured down at Horatio.
"He's not doing so well."
"Gabriel?" she managed to choke out. "Gabriel?"
Gabriel nodded, not meeting her gaze.
"H..how? Why?" She got to her feet and put her hands out to him.
"I don't know." He reached out to her, trying to take her hands. It felt like the river in January, ice cold but still flowing and it tingled. Gabriel looked at their hands rather sorrowfully. "Maybe it wasn't my time to go and I did. I'm not sure. I've been around since.. well..."
Meridith nodded. She knew. Not all the gristly details, but she knew.
"This is the first time I think anyone's been able to see me. I watched you grow up, you know. I followed you more than any of the others. Thomas always watched Susan when he could." He put his hands just millimeters from her face. Meridith put one hand to her mouth and tears sprang into her eyes. "Oh, Merri, don't cry, please, don't cry." Gabriel begged her. It was too late. The tears spilled down over her cheeks. Gabriel futilely tried to wipe them away for her.
"Oh Gabriel," she whispered. "You don't know how many times I wished I had known you. Father wouldn't talk about you.. he said it hurt too much, and.. I... oh, I wish I could hug you."
"I know. I feel the same." Gabriel turned away and looked down at the sleeping Horatio again. "There's something wrong with his lungs, as well as the fever."
Meridith was quizzical. "His lungs?" She put her ear to his chest. "He sounds fine."
Gabriel said nothing, but shook his head. He was fading. " I have to go, Merri. Stay strong."
"No.. wait.. no... will you be back?"
HE shook his head. "I'm not sure, Merri. It's only once in a while I can see you, but when I can, I'll try to make you know I'm here.... I love you, Merri.." He tried to kiss her cheek, leaving the side of her face tingling, and faded out to nothing. She bit her lip, trying to keep the tears back, but failed and turned away from where Gabriel had been. So close and yet so far, so horribly far.
That was when Horatio began to cough, a hoarse hacking cough that made his whole body shake. Meridith pt her hand on his forehead again. He was still roasting with fever. He gasped for air and coughed again, this time so hard he gagged and woke himself up. Horatio's shoulders heaved and Meridith was just quick enough to get the empty chamber put in front of him before his stomach turned itself over. He retched and retched, face white, losing what little was in his stomach to start with. After what seemed like an eternity, his innards quieted and he lay back, sweating and pale, gripping the sheets with white knuckles. Meridith emptied the earthenware pot and put it back into its place under the bed. Horatio looked miserable, his eyes closed. He was battling so many things inside him, the sickness that was keeping him here, the fact that he hated himself for staying here and imposing on the girl, Meridith, that he wouldn't admit to himself that he liked the attention. And now she was leaning over him whit that damned concerned look in her eyes and putting her hand on his forehead. He closed hi eyes again and let her tuck the blankets around his shaking body wordlessly.
"I'm sorry, Kennedy..." he whispered.
Meridith took note of the name.

************************************
The next thing he remembered was waking up to the sunlight glinting off a silver pitcher across the room. There was the sound of water sloshing into a vessel of some sort and he opened his eyes slowly. Meridith was standing at the wash-basin drying her face and wearing nothign but a chemise and her petticoats. His sense of modesty told him he shouldn't watch, that he should turn around or close his eyes, but for some strange reason he didn't. He was hypnotized by how quickly she ran the laces through her stays and pulled them tight, tying them at the small of her back. She turned to lift her skirt from the back of a chair an Horatio was irrationaly afraid that she would turn and find him watching her. She dropped the skirt over her head and tied the wait ties, then dropped the separate jacket over her head and fastened the ties. Horatio shifted, making the bed creak, and Meridith turned to face him. She smiled.
"Are you feeling any better?"
HE nodded weakly. "A little."
Meridith wet one f the washrags down in the washbasin and wrung it out, taking it to Horatio and putting it on his forehead. "I want you to get as much sleep as you can today. I have to go out and run an errand or two and I should be back by noon." She picked her cape up from the floor near the door and draped it over her shoulders. Taking her small basket, she closed the doors behind her and trudged down the stairs yet again. She knew that today was one of her two non-marketing day and that she would have the morning to herself if she got out early enough. Today was the day she was going to find some answers. She closed the heavy oaken main doors behind her and looked out on the already bustling muddy street. There was a drizzle in the air today, and she pulled her hood up. With a sigh, she started down into the very underbelly of Spithead.

She was looking for the Cart and Bull tavern. It was an extremely disreputable place, the kind of disreputable place that drew all the landed sailors. Sailors that would know other sailors who, in turn would know others and others and others.
The Brummel house was right on the edge of the seediest part of Spithead, which Meridith knew her way around all too well. Past the Morgan house, and the smaller gaol and the Running Ferret. It was on a corner, the Cart and Bull, being the very armpit of Spithead society. Today was no different. Even in broad daylight, the daylight of the morning there was loud raucous noise emerging from every door and window.
Steeling herself for whatever lay ahead, Meridith pulled the door open and entered. It was emptier that what was normal, and for that she was grateful. Even so, she was not more than four feet inside when a loud wolf whistle came from somewhere on her right and the hem of her cloak was lifted. She shot the man her most heart-piercing glare and he backed off. She realized just what she had gotten herself into. She had come in here to find a sailor. One sailor. A single specific sailor out of all the seething masses of humanity that frequented this place. It was a futile idea. With a sigh, she pushed on through the crowd.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite little un-prostitute. Or so she claims." a voice hissed roughly in her ear.
"Devil take you, Stephan Jenkins." She kept walking.
"Ooh, they do breed them feisty at the Brummel House, don't they?" There was a hand at her waist, trying to find its way to the opening of her cloak. "Just the way I like them."
"Stephan." she snapped. He removed his hands and backed up a half step.
"Ooh, I'm sorry." he said in a mocking tone. He was a dark featured man in his early thirties who had been brought to the house by Julia one night and instead taken a shining to Meridith. He had shown up repetitively for a month, trying to get Meridith's 'business', (much to Julia's dismay,) until Meridith had quite soundly verbally beat him about the ears. The beating only served to keep him away from her in polite society, though. Here, they were on his terms, and it was up to Meridith to keep the game fair. Meridith swatted his roving hand away again.
"Stephan, if you want to help me, you can tell me if you've ever heard of someone."
He raised a cocky eyebrow. "What would be in it for me?"
"Julia's available Wednesday if you help me."
"But you're not." He reached for her again.
"How many bloody times must we go through this? I am not available. I will never be available for buggers like you."
He withdrew his hand, looking hurt, and considered it for a moment. "Julia on Wednesday, eh? I suppose you've got yourself a deal. Who are you looking for?" He rubbed his hands together.
"I don't know if it's two people or one... Archie and Mr. Kennedy. He or they or at least one of them's a sailor."
"And for this I get Julia? I should do business with you more often. There was a Mr. Archie Kennedy trampled by Carlson's wagon about a month or two ago. The last I heard of him he was at Fishman's. He's some sort of big news though, a naval type of some sort. Not anything you could talk to."
Meridith drank in the information, and was off before Stephen had finished talking, pushing through the humanity that packed the Cart and Bull. The she was out, out the door with a joyful heart, knowing that she was on the right track.
Fishman's clinic was where most of the lower classes went to. He was actually, truth be told, one of the more skilled healers in Spithead, but couldn't afford the equipment and placement that the others could. Dr. Fishman was too soft hearted, and lost money helping people free of charge. It didn't surprise her at all that this Archie Kennedy would be there. She knocked at Dr. Fishman's door, praying he was already up.
The door opened a crack and the doctor's long nose poked out. Realizing who it was, the door opened wider to admit her, and as she stepped inside, Meridith was wrapped in a bear hug by the diminutive doctor.
"Meridith Martin! It has been too long since you came around to see me! And here I am, just trying to tidy up after all of last night! Would you know we had three drunkard fights and one man who fell over the upper railing of his house, breaking both his legs? It was quite amazing, I tell you..."
"-Dr. Fishman." Meridith interrupted.
"But then, where was I? Why are you here m'girl, this early in the morning?"
Meridith smiled. "I'm looking for someone. I was told he was one of your patients. Mr. Archie Kennedy?"
Dr. Fishman tapped his nose with his short index finger. "Kennedy, Kennedy... Kennedy! Yes! He's the sailor. He was run over by a greengrocer cart not more than a month ago... but what would you want to know about him?"
"Dr. Fishman, I need to talk to him... it's to.. to help a friend."
Dr. Fishman's rotund face contorted itself into a smile. "Well, anything for the sake of friendship, eh Meridith! He's in here." Dr. Fishman disappeared through one of the open doors. "He's over here, in the room you get to from under the stairs..." There was an urgent knock on the door. Dr. Fishman brightened. "I assume you can find it?" Without waiting for an answer, he darted off to answer the door.
Luckily, Meridith had been all throughout the Fishman clinic and knew her way around. She knocked gently on the door under the stairs, and not getting a reply, quietly pushed it open. The windowless room's only source of light was the stub of a candle sitting next to the bed. Meridith tiptoed over to stand inside the circle of light. MR. Archie Kennedy was not at all what she had expected. He was a small, almost frail looking man- almost more of a boy, like Mr. Hornblower. Pale blonde hair fanned out on the pillow, and he was sleeping soundly. The bedsheet was rumpled half over him and his shirt was gone, revealing dark angry looking stitches in two irregular lines down his white chest. He was bruised awfully all over the exposed places of his body, and one bandaged hand rested lightly beside him.
Moving closer, Meridith stubbed her toe on something hard and unyielding under the bed. Curious, she lifted the candle down. Kennedy stirred restlessly in his sleep. She paused, then put the candle down to the offending mass. It was a large oaken chest, very solid and nailed together securely. Something gold glinted on top, and Meridith brushed the dust off of it. It was a placard of some sort, and she bent closer to read it.
~ Horatio Hornblower~
~HMS Indefatigable~
*His sea chest!* she realized with a start. There was another one under the bed that she presumed would be Archie's *They must have been friends, the best of friends. And now, both of their situations leaving them like this...* Her heart went out to both of the young men.
Kennedy suddenly jerked, and started breathing hard, all his muscles tense. HE whimpered once, twice, and then started to shake uncontrollably. Meridith hurriedly set the candle down and doffed her cloak, setting the basket inside it.
"Mr. Kennedy... Mr. Kennedy!" she whispered. There was no response except for him shaking harder. A scream escaped from his lips. *Epileptic.. epileptic fits. Just like Franklin.* She had had a childhood friend who had been epileptic. She did exactly what she had done for him when he had been overcome in fits. Climbing onto the bed, she took Archie Kennedy's shaking body and held him there in her lap until he weakened and then stopped. His eyes opened and he stared up at her, emotions flickering across his face.
"I.. I'm sorry, m'lady. I.. I.. can't say what..."
"Shh, Mr. Kennedy. You've done nothing amiss." Meridith whispered. That seemed to put him a little more at ease.
"I'm sorry.. I don't know you, do I?"
"No, Mr. Kennedy, you don't know me. My name is Meridith, Meridith Martin." She was tucking him back into his bed as she talked, careful of the stitches in his chest. "I came to see you and you were asleep. I'm sorry I caught you at a bad time. I just.. " her voice faltered. "I was just directed here... in a roundabout sort of way... because he kept calling for you, and saying he was sorry.. I had to find you somehow and put him out of his misery, but I'm afraid I've just put you into more..." she trailed off, flustered.
Archie looked at her somewhat confused but with an inkling about of what she was speaking. "You mean.." he whispered. "you mean you know where.. where.. where." Archie couldn't' get the name out.
"I know where Horatio Hornblower is... and he keeps calling for you..."
Archie was speechless.
"I wanted you to come with me... so he could see you... but I don't know.. " Meridith continued. "I'm sorry, forgive me for intruding, please, forgive me. I didn't mean to make what you've been through any harder."
Archie was absolutely speechless. It was like a ray of sunlight had just penetrated the gloomy dark room and touched his heart. Immediately he was alert and active again, trying to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Where is he? Where? You must take me to him, wherever he is, is he hurt? Is he in trouble? Where is he?"
Meridith was trying to support Kennedy and keep him in the bed. "He's not hurt, Mr. Kennedy, just ill, and he's.. well, he's staying with me.. at the house."
The way she said 'the house' gave Kennedy pause, and he recoiled from her. "Are you.. are you..." his voice dropped to a whisper.. "a working girl?" There was such disgust in his voice that it almost sickened Meridith.
"NO, no... Mr. Kennedy, please, believe me.. I stay at the Brummel House, but I am naught but the healer, I swear to you, Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Hornblower has been in my care and he will get better."
"you must take me to him. You must!" Archie was emphatic.
At that moment Dr. Fishman came in.
"Ah! Meridith! I see you have found my star patient!"
"Dr. Fishman! You must let me out. I have to go with her. I have to see Horatio.. I have to know how he is doing!"
Dr. Fishman looked at Meridith and then at Archie.
"I for one, think the fresh air would do him a world of good. That is, if he can walk."
"I can walk, Dr. Fishman, most definitely, I can walk!" Archie swung his legs over the side of the bed and managed to take three tottering steps towards Meridith before losing his balance and falling in an undignified way back towards the bed. Dr. Fishman made a tsking noise in his throat, and Kennedy's face fell.
"Doctor, please. He's.. I.. I haven't seen him in a month.. and if Meridith says he's not doing well.." Kennedy begged.
"Well obviously you're not doing so well either. I think it will have to wait… ah ah!" Fishman stifled Archie's protests before they even started. "How about next week?"
Meridith could tell Archie's spirits were getting lower and lower. "Archie, I'll try to visit you, every other day. I'll help you get strong enough to see him."
"You would? You would do that for me?" Archie didn't know if he wanted to believe it or not.
Meridith nodded. "I will. I'll be here on Wednesday. And I'll tell you how Horatio is doing, and I'll help you get better. I promise."
Archie looked to the doctor for confirmation.
"You heard her. If she says she'll be here, she will be here." He took her by the hand. "And now Ms. Martin, would you mind leaving my patient to his healing?" He let her pick up her basket and cloak, then led her out, closing the door behind them. "You will be here. You can't let that boy down. I don't know what has happened in his past, but it wasn't gentle, I can tell you that. He's been lethargic, then almost violent, then the next minute crying like a baby. If you let him down and don't come, I don't want to imagine what he would do."
Meridith was shocked. "Doctor! I am as good as my word. I will come, no matter what. I swear on the American soil, that I will come every other day and help him."
Dr. Fishman grinned broadly and clapped her on the back. "That's my girl. I knew you would come through. Away with you now. I have things to attend to!"