Chapter 3
Author's Note: I'm very disappointed in you all. I should just keep the elf for myself. Each and every one of you are grounded until you watch at least a full week of "All My Children." I guess I'll award the elf to Rhyssa because she came the closest, came up with an answer I didn't even consider, and obviously likes country music. And I like her name.
Margaret Neats stood there, hand raised to knock. "Hello Elizabeth," she greeted with a very proper curtsy.
"Oh, Maggie, I'm so sorry. It completely slipped my mind that you were coming," Elizabeth said.
"That's quite all right. I see you have company already," she said, eyes fastened on Jack, who was grinning his most charming grin.
Stepping forward he scooped up her hand and raised it to his lips. "Lovely to meet you, my dear."
"And you, Sir," she answered with a curtsy.
"This is my uncle," Elizabeth cut in quickly, elbowing Jack. "He's brought my cousin in. She's frightfully ill."
"Oh, that's terrible!" Maggie cried. "Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"
"No, no," Elizabeth said. "I believe we are doing the best we can. I fear I am simply in no fit state to entertain."
"Of course. Oh, Edward! What are you doing here?" she asked, spotting him for the first time.
"Just making sure everything is being handled smoothly. I happened to meet Bethany last time she was in town. I wanted to make sure everything was being done as best it could," he said, taking Maggie's arm and turning her back toward the street. "You will keep me informed, Elizabeth?"
"Absolutely," she assured him. "I apologize again, Maggie," she added.
"Not at all," Maggie called over her shoulder as Norrington led her away.
As the door closed Jack could barely be heard to say, "A bit reminiscent of my lass, isn't she?" before Elizabeth shushed him.
"Would you care to have some tea with me then, Edward?" Maggie asked as she hooked her arm through his and walked down the street with him.
"I'm afraid I can't. I must return to work. I am sorry."
"No at all," she answered with a wave of her white-gloved hand. "I understand. So how do you know Elizabeth's cousin?"
"Has anyone told you about the recent incident with Jack Sparrow?"
"I heard something," she answered. "He kidnaped Elizabeth and Will and her cousin. Oh, is this the same cousin?"
"Yes. Bethany Maltrey."
Maggie paused, biting at her lower lip. "You spent quite a lot of time with her, didn't you? Rescuing her and bringing her home and all."
"Enough, I suppose," he answered, trying to sound indifferent.
"Maggie!"
The sudden call came from their right. A rather pretty girl in pink rushed over to greet them with a curtsy and breathless, "Maggie, Commodore."
Both returned the greeting, answering, "Madeline," in unison.
"Are you going to tea?" she asked in a rush. "Would I be intruding to join you?"
"Actually, I must return to my duties," Norrington said quickly, removing his future wife's hand from his arm and offering it to Madeline. "But I believe I may leave her in your care."
"I would be delighted, Commodore," she answered.
"I shall see you soon, Maggie," he told her, kissing her hand and lingering to gaze into her eyes long enough to make her blush lightly before striding quickly down the street.
"Well, that was a bit rude," Madeline remarked.
"Oh, not at all," Maggie said with a shake of her head. "He's a terribly important man, and very busy."
"Well, it seems he shouldn't be leading you all over town if he's only going to abandon you," she said with a sniff as she led her friend toward the nearest café.
"Oh, no. It isn't like that at all. I merely ran into him at the Turners' home."
Madeline's eyebrows rose. "Whatever was he doing there in the middle of the day?"
"Visiting. It seems Elizabeth's cousin has taken very ill. Her uncle just brought the poor girl into town."
Madeline gripped Maggie's hand heavily. She loved nothing so much as an intrigue, and was a great collector of gossip. "Which cousin?"
"Bethany something, I believe he said."
"Not Maltrey?" Madeline asked, drawing her into a chair.
"I believe that was her name," Maggie said indifferently.
"Oh, Margaret, you poor dear!" Madeline cried. "You must be very careful now."
"Why ever should I do that?" Maggie asked.
"Don't you know? Don't you remember, my dear? Your darling Edward was quite in love with Miss Maltrey only some months ago."
"Surely not," Maggie argued.
"Aye. He would dance with no one else at the Turners' wedding. But you were sick that evening, I remember, so you'd not remember that. But then she was kidnaped and he sailed off to save her. Why, when they returned Miss Maltrey was terrified of her own shadow. She clung to Edward so! And then she left in such a hurry! I heard tell that he proposed to her and she ran off in fright because she was afraid of her love for him."
"Madeline, that is the most absurd story I have heard from you in months."
"But it is true. Every word of it, I swear. And not two months later Edward asks for your hand. You must hold to him, Maggie! What if he falls in love with her yet again?"
"I have no worry for Edward's love of me," Maggie said with a lift of her chin to suggest that was that. As Madeline chatted on, however, she nipped at her bottom lip. Surely a little caution could not hurt.
As the day wore on there was no doubt that Pearl's condition was worsening. Her tremors became worse. Her moans became louder and more pronounced, small fits coming more and more frequent.
By the time the surgeon stopped that night she had become adept at throwing the heavy covers off with her arms.
The surgeon announced that delusions were normal enough. The fever was seeping into her brain. He suggested tying her hands to the headboard, but Jack stubbornly refused. He told Elizabeth and Will later that she was nearly twenty years old with no rope scars on her wrists-- an unusual thing for a pirate -- and he wasn't about to let that change.
In return poor Jack was forced to sit up with her overnight, trying to restrain her as her fits grew more violent. His reward was a black eye, two separate bloody noses, and the removal of one of his gold teeth. Elizabeth didn't seem overly concerned about the last part. The gold teeth had been one of the few things marking him a pirate she had been unable to hide.
Another day passed and the fits became fewer and less violent. While Will and Elizabeth took it as a good sign Jack seemed less than enthusiastic despite the bruises it saved him. They understood when the surgeon came and announced that the reason the attacks were less violent was because she was weakening. The little broth they managed to get into her from time to time wasn't enough to support a body being consumed by fever.
Norrington stopped in as often as he could, but never stayed long. Her weakness was becoming physically apparent. Her cheeks became sallow and almost transparent, her face losing its healthy glow as well as its shape as her eyes sunk and her cheek bones began to protrude. Her arms thinned as the fever consumed the muscles she'd spent years of hard labor on a ship building.
The attacks faded and stopped all together. Eventually she stopped moving entirely and soon after her breathing became labored.
The evening came when the surgeon's visit left him looking sadly at the group gathered around him. "I believe this night will decide it," he sighed. "Either she beats this fever tonight, or she will be too weak to continue."
"No," Will interrupted as Elizabeth turned to press her face into his chest. "You must be mistaken. I mean, this is the strongest woman in the world. She's fought so hard already."
"Well, she won't have to fight much longer, either way," the surgeon said. "There's nothing more I can do. It's up to her now. I'll return tomorrow morning to see how things have gone."
"She'll make it," Jack said when the surgeon left. He had retained his spot beside the bed, clinging to her thin, unresponsive hand.
"She has to," Norrington put in, smoothing the hair away from her face.
"You should go home, Edward," Elizabeth remarked, the tears running silently down her face coloring her words. "We could send word if anything happened."
"No," he said firmly. "I wouldn't be able to sleep. And my place is here, with her."
"She might argue that point," Elizabeth commented.
"Indeed she would," Jack put in.
Norrington shrugged. "If she wants to sit up this minute and tell me to leave I'll gladly go."
Jack smiled at that, reverently kissing her hand. He seemed older somehow. Perhaps with the make-up removed the wrinkles given to him by the sun seemed heavier, or maybe it was the fading tan from constantly remaining indoors, or perhaps it was the long nights sitting up with his daughter and only catching snatches of sleep. Or, most likely, it was just the stress of the situation. There was no doubt that the man who had survived mutiny and tracked down a crew of undead pirates to retake his ship was not handling his daughter's illness well.
They scattered themselves around the room to wait. Jack remained in his seat next to Pearl, keeping the bowl of water close to wipe the sweat from her face. Will took a large chair a little behind Jack and Elizabeth curled herself into his lap, leaning against his chest to keep silent watch. Norrington sat beside Pearl on the bed as long as he could bear it before crossing the room to the only remaining chair by the foot of the bed.
They sat in silence as the interminable hours passed, listening to the wet rattle of her breathing.
A few hours after midnight the wet rattle was permeated by a sigh and sudden silence.
Everyone in the room was beside the bed in a flash. "Luv?" Jack asked of his daughter, lightly slapping her cheek. He got no response from her still form.
"No," Elizabeth whispered, turning to cling to her husband.
"Jack, I'm sorry," Will whispered.
Author's note: Gasp I didn't. I didn't just kill Pearl, did I? I wouldn't bring her back just to kill her, would I? Or am I really that evil? Well, you'll just have to wait. Which is incredibly evil in and of itself, so you can just think about that. Remember, reviews make things go faster. They do increase my evil cackling, however. Mwa ha ha.