Chapter Sixteen

"Damn!" Captain Pellew exclaimed. as the water splashed upwards sharply onto the legs of his trousers.

"Oh! Captain! I'm....sooo..Oh no!......I'm so very sorry, Sir!" Emma wailed reaching back into the sick room to grab a dry towel. "Please, Sir.....I mean Captain. Please. I beg your forgiveness-"

"Alright, alright." the captain snapped with a scowl.

"I do beg your pardon, Sir. I mean, Captain. Oh damnit!" Emma clamped a hand over her mouth, shocked at the curse that escaped her mouth. Hardly one full day in the company of these men and she was already beginning to talk like them. "Again, I ask your forgiveness, Captain Pellew. Honestly." Emma nervously swiped at his soaked shoes and trousers. That's it. He's going to throw me overboard! Emma thought, panicked

"Stop that, child! On your feet at once!" he ordered. Emma shot up the top of her head sharply connecting with the captains nose.

"Bleedin' bloody damn!" He cursed, his eyes watering. Emma reasoned that now would not be the best time to take offense at his use of the word 'child' in reference to her.

"Captain Pellew, I'm so very-"

"Mrs. Hornblower. If you do not cease apologizing I will toss you over the side of this ship, so help me!" He vowed, his voice muffled through his fingers which Emma noticed were slightly stained red . Emma clamped her lips shut and stood with what she hoped was sufficient meekness to cool the captains temper. The captain pulled back and looked at his fingers, cursing again. Emma cleared her throat and risked a few words.

"Captain, if I may?" she asked, hesitantly pointing inside the sick berth.

"Madam, if your lack of co-ordination just now is any indication of your medical skill, I'd just as soon take care of this myself." He snapped. Emma winced. Well this was certainly a disaster! He turned to leave.

"Captain, here. Take this please." she offered him her handkerchief. "And tilt your head back until the bleeding stops." He glared at her.

"I know that!"

"Of course." She nodded quickly. Captain Pellew turned again to storm off with as much dignity as he could while facing the sky.

"Oh, Captain, wait!" Emma called out, rushing towards him. She nearly collided with him, sliding dangerously across the soapy deck. Thank goodness she managed to stay upright.

"Yes, Mrs. Hornblower?" He asked with a long suffering sigh that Emma noticed was quite like the one that Horatio had used in the small boat. Come to think of it, her father had sighed just like that on more than one occasion as well, Emma remembered.

"I'm sorry to be a bother, Sir-" he gave her a look that clearly said it was too late for apologies on that score. Emma forced herself to go on. "It's only that there's no more alcohol left in the sick berth and I was hoping you wouldn't mind terribly parting with a bottle or two from your personal store."

"Mrs. Hornblower-"

'Please, Captain. Call me Emma." she insisted with her most friendly smile. Captain Pellew clenched his jaw, apparently not impressed.

"If this is how you conduct yourself soberly, I'd hate to add the element of intoxication." he said dryly. Emma's mouth dropped open in indignation.

"Captain! I must protest. The alcohol is required for disinfection purposes only, Sir. I do not, nor have I ever indulged in imbibing."

"Yes, yes. Protest all you like but follow me. I'll get you some brandy. I trust that will do?" he asked through his handkerchief.

"Oh. Yes." Emma nodded, caught off guard that he'd agreed to her request considering what a mess she'd made in making it.

"Once we hit port and I acquire some pure alcohol I'll be sure to reimburse you your bottles, Captain."

"If we all survive that long." The captain replied letting her lead him to his cabin. Emma gritted her teeth. She didn't care for his humor. Really, simply cause one could call her a tad clumsy was no reason for him to get his nose all out of.....Emma looked up at the injured man and cut off the rest of her thought.

The room was ready. Emma looked around with a surge of giddiness. She almost wished someone would hurt themselves so she could put the room to use but then felt terribly guilty. Fresh linens were supplied. Her surgical instruments gleamed and the whole room smelled much better.

"Much better if I do say so myself." she said with a nod. She had an hour before Styles was expected......if he came at all. Emma decided it'd be best to keep her mind occupied until it was apparent if he'd come to see her or not. She pulled out the notebooks from the drawer in the apothecary table and opened one to the first page. Recipes for different medicines on various conditions: consumption, asthma, influenza, scurvy, colds, etc....as well as treatments for incurred during the performance of duties. Gunshots, broken bones, amputations, stab wounds. Quite morbid, Emma thought with a shiver and better left for a time when she wasn't feeling so anxious. Flipping the pages she came to treatments for ailments of a more personal nature. Infections of the bladder, swelling of the genitals, difficulties in urination and defecation, constipation, erectile dysfunctions.

"There are treatments for that?" Emma asked out loud with a jolt of surprised curiosity. Her cheeks were burning as she read on, even though there was no one in the room to see her. She had a notion of what 'that' was but she needed to read up more on the exact specifics.

Dr Hauser was a liberal thinker, but even he balked at the more explicit subject material, giving them chapters to read instead. An erection was caused by blood swelling into the spongy tissue of the man's reproductive organs. So the dysfunction must entail some sort of impediment to the swelling of the tissue. Poor blood circulation, Emma wondered. Her mind briefly skipped back to the feel of Horatio hard and warm against her lower back and she felt a funny sort of flutter between her thighs at the memory. No dysfunction to speak of there, she thought with a giggle. Then she sat back against the wall. It had been quite swollen against her and she had wondered at the time if it had been painful for him. It occurred to her now that the mechanics of getting something that swollen inside of her would make it seemingly quite painful for her. She was so small there.

Emma had checked late in her bedroom one night when Dr Hauser had made her and her fellow students read the chapters on the female reproductive cycle. She spent a good half our with her vanity mirror just fascinated with the differences in that area compared to the normalcy of the rest of her body. Babies came from there, through her body. Though how they managed was a wonder to her. Emma had been barely able to get one finger up inside. How would she get a whole person out? In between the width of that and the width of her finger was Horatio. It was a physical marvel really.

She'd attended a birth once. It had been a bloody screaming mess that made Emma question her desire for children until she saw the way the exhausted, sweating mother had held her prize with a beatific grin.

Her finger hadn't actually hurt going inside of herself, pushing it in. It had just felt rather strange, as did the warm spongy tissue that clamped down around it. The skin on the outside had been moist which made Emma worry, thinking she was bleeding but her finger had come out clear, if damp and Emma had continued her exploration. It had actually felt quite pleasant and she realized with a start now that she'd felt a very similar sensation when Horatio had kissed her and when his hand had covered her breast. She had marveled at the change in color in her body below to a full flushed pink. Her breathing had changed too, coming in short. When the tightening in her breasts and belly had increased with a pleasurable sort of climbing feeling Emma had to admit that the exploration of the damp swollen skin had altered from it's original medical purpose. Taking it out of the academic context made it sinful and Emma forced herself to stop. She'd never done it again. Not trusting herself. However, it surely wouldn't be sinful if Horatio touched her there, would it? He was her husband after all and if he could put one part of himself there she didn't see the logic that his hands would be forbidden. Emma hoped she was right.

Authors Notes: I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's sent feedback so far. It is so very appreciated and all tips are as well. I couldn't figure out before how to respond to you all before so I figured this was the best way to do it.

Nibinlothien: My first reviewer,(sniffles) Thank you for your kind words to this newbie to the HH fanfic world

filipina2005: Your comments are very much appreciated. I just wanted to clear a few things up. James Stuart was arranging the marriage for his daughter not out of finding her some one with good prospects but out of desperation. He wanted her out of London, fast and so he wed her to a man he is close to, whom he both trusts and respects and has the advantage of being a seaman. Keeping Emma away from being discovered. Emma used the coment 'Bloody hell' thinking she was alone and when she discovered that others were in the room, she was mortified. No, there weren't female medical students at the time and that's addressed. She was part of a small group being taught in secret. Completely imagined and my own literary license. I made the women in medicine movement happen earlier for my own uses. I don't think your bashing my character at all so don't worry about that. Your just picking up on the historical aspects I chose to fiddle with for the sake of telling the story the way I wanted. As for the way women are usually portrayed in classic literature. I think we're gonna have to disagree on yours and my definition of 'strong, spunky women' I'm not a big fan of classical literature and find the women in them do not hold my interest. I enjoy reading more contemporary writer's depictions on female characters of that time. Emma is a strong minded, curious female but in my opinion she's still within the bounds of her class and times in terms of her behavior.

I also disagree with you about Horatio, at least from the movies' perspective. I have heard that in the books he's much more uncomfortable with women and I have begun reading them too. In the movies I find him shy and uncertain mostly with Maria only when he realized her feelings for him but the way I saw it, he didn't love her. He became fast friends with the duchess and warmed to Mariette very quickly and I found it was because he loved her. I think that's why he warms to Emma. He is shy with her in the beginning and they are still getting to know each other but he's falling in love with her and they are becoming very close so the awkwardness is disippating.

Nope, Captain Pellew is not happy that Emma is on board but again, that's me taking literary license. He trusts Horatio and is giving Emma a chance to prove herself. I wrote it that way so that I can put Emma there with Horatio and make a developing love story between Horatio and Emma believable which was my main concern. I'm writing a love story and I didn't think I could accomplish that and follow the time line and events of the episodes at the same time if Emma wasn't in the midst of the action. The tip about the priest/parson is the one thing I can actually change here where it won't affect the story.(laughs)

Of course, if I was writing this for publication I could never put Emma on a ship among a naval crew and she wouldn't be a medical student. I understand everything your getting at but as a fan fiction, it just wouldn't be the same story if I made the critical changes you mentioned. It wouldn't be infinitely better or enjoyable for me to read or write. I think just a little suspension of belief in regards to her being there and being a doctor is not difficult to be able to enjoy the rest of the story and I hope you continue to do so. Oi, this was long, I apologize but I just wanted to make sure you know the kind of story I was trying to write.

evilspoofauthor1Seven: thank you so much for your feedback. I too print stories out to read them when I have time. Hopefully you continue to enjoy this. Oh and yep, I'm going by the movies but I wanted to change things up a bit so I brought Simpson on to the Indy crew. I always love young Horatio and Archie! and a crossover with POTC sounds great, could I possibly have the link to read your story? Also, the duel WILL take place I'm just adding scenes and re-arranging things to fit my story.

Camreyn: thank you so much for your kind words. Emma is one of my favorite female characters that I've written so far. The poor thing is terrified to death of Simpson but she can stand up to him if it protects those she cares about. She's very like Horatio in that respect. With Styles, the fear is to a lesser extent but she stands up to him out of necessity. She needs to stay with her husband. Her upcoming scene with Styles is pretty hilarious. And those poor dears (Emma and Horatio) really do need to find some privacy soon! But Emma will feel guilty about poor Archie because she is terribly protective of him. I promise that when Horatio and Emma finally get to spend the night alone, well.....their first 'real' night it'll have been worth the wait.(smiles) Technically, she does have to eventually get to Simpson since he's a member on the crew but things get in the way of her actually having to give him a physical, thank God. Cause I think Horatio and Archie would have to stand their with pistols drawn on him so he didn't try anything! I'm so happy you're enjoying the story and I hope you keep on doing so!

Well, I think I got everybody. Thank you all so much for your feedback so far and let me know how you're enjoying the rest. Feel free to comment on anything you read and offer criticisms or praise. Historical tips will be taken into account and appreciated and either used or not depending on how it affects the story.