Hello to anyone reading this. Sorry that this has taken so long to update, I really have no excuse (and if I stand still for too long I'm afraid you all may kill me. All two of you, that is!) So, without further ado, here is chapter 4…

In the last chapter:

"Sinbad! Just the man I was looking for! The boat is still damaged after that last…accident, and we're going to need it today, so you can give me a hand! Here, catch!" Without pausing for breath, Maeve tossed a hammer in Sinbad's direction, raising an eyebrow as he fumbled it slightly before catching it. "Are you alright, Sinbad?" she joked, "I've never seen you have a problem with catching, even this early in the morning!"

"I guess I'm getting old" he replied, grinning despite how bad he was feeling. Groaning inwardly as his body protested to the movement required to crouch by the boat, he set to work. "Ouch" 'This is gonna be a loooooong day," he thought as he received a splinter for his troubles.


Maeve was puzzled. Though Sinbad was by no means chatty, he normally kept up friendly conversation while working, especially with her, she thought, her heart glowing. Today, though, he seemed to have no interest in anything other than the boat that they were fixing together. Pausing in her work for a second, she examined him critically. His normally ruddy complexion was several shades paler than she was used to, and his skin had a slightly shiny tinge to it. He was blinking faster than normal, and seemed to be shivering a little. Was he cold? Even as she asked herself that, Maeve could feel the sun pounding it's fiery power against her back, and it was only a couple of hours after dawn. It was midsummer, there was no way he should be cold. Glancing again at the object of her current thoughts, she saw him raise a hand to his face, wiping away a bead of sweat. His hand was shaking. Maeve listed all her observations in her head, and could only come to one conclusion – Sinbad was sick.

But that can't be, her mind protested, as she got back to work, Sinbad never gets sick. In all the time she'd known him, she had never seen Sinbad with so much as a sniffle. Bleeding gashes, damaged limbs, yes, but he was never ill. It just didn't happen.

Illnesses spread fast on board ships. Just a month ago, pretty much the whole crew had succumbed to a bad summer cold; it had started with Dubar, but had spread to the rest of the crew within two days. All except Sinbad. While the others were sick, he looked after them, and ran the ship at the same time. Looking back she remembered asking Dubar about it, and the large man had replied that he could not remember the last time his brother had been ill, but it was definitely not in the last ten years. He had also mentioned that, growing up, his brother had had a reputation in their town for never admitting to being ill or injured, or what he considered 'weak'. As she saw the young man cough roughly into his hand, she could see that the reputation was well earned. Looking more closely, she could see that he was miserable, though he hid it well. She doubted any of the rest of the crew would notice, except maybe Dubar. As a particularly violent shiver racked Sinbad's suffering frame, she snapped out of her thoughts and laid down her hammer.

"Sinbad, are you alright?" she inquired. He glanced up at her, and she had a brief glimpse of tired, dull eyes before it was almost like the man had donned a mask, his features smoothing, and colour coming back to his cheeks. He smiled at her. "Just fine Maeve, you?" he responded. He looked so normal, she was moved to wonder whether he got sick just as much as everyone else, but just hid it much better. She had no doubt he would have fooled anyone else, but she knew him, she knew him so well that she picked up on the slight deepening of his voice to ease his throat, the slight dullness to his normally bright eyes. And she was a woman, which always helped. Men really did seem blind sometimes. Just the previous day, she'd overheard Dubar wondering to Ferouse why a young maiden had slapped him when he took her into tavern known for it's scantily clad…ah…waitresses…

Realising that Sinbad was waiting for an answer, she nodded and smiled, but refused to be put off. "You don't look fine" she said.

"Well, I am, so stop worrying" he grinned tiredly. Abruptly, he added, "I think we're finished here, don't you? Be ready to leave in an hour, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he strode away, ducking down below deck.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Reaching his quarters, Sinbad closed the door and collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily. He was feeling worse already, maybe he should tell som…NO…he would be fine, it was just bending over for too long, it aggravated his headache, that was all. He sighed, he did this every time. Unbeknown to the rest of the crew, even the eagle eyed Maeve, he was sick quite often, but hid it, too ashamed to admit to his weakness. He would put on his mask, and suffer in silence. Though he didn't deny that it would be nice occasionally to be looked after, he just didn't know how to ask. Sometimes, he longed for someone to just be there when he spent his nights burning with fever, his body wracked with chills. But he couldn't ask, he was the Captain, he had to be the strong, invincible one. He had to. Sighing, he straightened up, splashed some cold water on his face, donned his 'I'm fine' mask, and left the room for the second time that morning, his determination to keep his pain hidden from his crew doubled.


Review responses:

Thanks to Laebeth, Flirtatiouspriss, and SpelCastrMax for reviewing! This chapter, though it has taken ages, is a bit longer than the previous ones, but still not long enough, I know…I'm really sorry, and I'll try to make the next one longer still. Thanks for the illness advice, guys; I'm still not sure what's wrong with him, I might just not specify it. I have two ideas for this story, a short one, which will probably have two more chapters, or a longer one, I'm not sure quite how long. I'm edging towards the shorter one, as I want to write something new, and I don't want to have two separate stories going, but let me know what you think…

Oh, and please check out my website www.whumpingfic. and my yahoo group, whumpingfic. I will be posting this story there soon, and I will update there before I do here, I think, so pleeease take a look!