"In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled."
-Paul Eldridge
Chapter Five
Four members of the crew are very ill and are unable to rise from their beds. I know a lot about medicines and nursing, so I volunteered to help the ships doctor, Jaden Mertz, in aiding the sickly crew. Which of course is very difficult now, considering Mr. Mertz has caught the fever as of last night.
While fanning AnaMaria with an old map in my right hand, I push back damp strands of my hair with the other. The long locks are held back in a loose braid that reaches my mid-back, but a few layers in the front stubbornly refuse to stay out of my eyes.
Leaving her side for a moment, I tiredly ring a clean rag out in a pail of cold water before placing it on the forehead of a younger man. Nolan, I believe Rodney had called him. He mumbles something in his sleep, and his eyes move back and forth beneath his weary eyelids. He's dreaming.
"Andie," I turn on the ball of my heel to see Jack standing at the door.
"Are you mad? Get the fuck out of here, Jack!" I push him none-too-gently through the doorway. "Do you want to catch it too?"
"Just checkin' up on ye, darling. How they doin'?" He motions to behind the door.
I sigh. "I think they're getting worse." I'm exhausted, and I'm aware it's no secret to Jack. But who else does he have to depend on? He looks burnt out as well; he's been steering the helm on no sleep for the past two days. "Make sure you tell everyone to keep washing their hands," I turn to go back into the dark room, but I take one last look at him. "Jack, please get some rest."
"Aye. And ye as well. I'll send Rodney in here to help ye. He said he'd be useful as long as ye tell 'im what to do."
I nod in thanks. "That would be great."
Shutting the door closed behind me, I'm surprised to see Harrison, the third man who has fallen ill, is struggling in his cot. I quickly ring out another rag and run it gently over his face, and down his thick neck. It would somewhat cool his fever and calm his dreams. Seemingly drifting back into a peaceful slumber, I start to move back over to AnaMaria and Nolan, but something latches tightly onto my arm, causing me to gasp loudly.
"Ye stole it, didn't ye?" his black eyes glare fire at me, "Didn't ye, whore? Didn't ye!"
There's noise behind me, and when I look with frightened eyes, Rodney is watching Harrison shout at me from the doorway.
"They're hallucinating," he says.
I pry my arm out of Harrison's grasp as gently as I can. Fingerprints will be apparent on my pale skin by morning.
"No one else has. . .yet, anyway," I inform him.
"What can I do?" Rodney asks. I'll be sure to advise him to constantly wash his hands, just as I told Jack. I won't be able to forgive myself if he catches the fever. Either of them.
"Can you try to get her to drink some tea?" I ask, pointing to AnaMaria. Her lips are chapped, adding to her pale appearance, and I'm afraid she will soon grow dehydrated. I haven't been able to get her to drink anything.
"Rodney?" I say gently, watching as he presses his hand to his friend's dark completion to check her temperature. She's burning up. They all are. And nothing I'm doing is helping. And the worst part? This is all of my fault; everything bad follows me. I'm cursed. And now they're paying the price. Which is why I need to help them. I have to. "Thank you."
He smiles. "You're welcome, Andie. Anything I can do to help."
Within a dreary hour, all five of the feverish crew are lashing out, yelling, and harshly accusing me of false crimes. Apparently I'm a whoring thief, but I can't think of anything I'd want to steal.
I coax Nolan back to a calming sleep, but AnaMaria is proving to be more of a hassle for Rodney and I both.
"I know you have it!" She screams, fighting against Rodney's arms, "He gave it to you!"
This is the first time that someone else has been mentioned in these crazy ramblings, which strikes my curiosity aflame.
"Who?" I say, moving closer to her. "Who gave it to me?" I'm not even aware of what 'it' is yet, but that's not the most important aspect of the conversation right now. I'm always in danger; if someone is as well, I need to know as soon as possible.
"Ignore her, Andie, it's just nonsense," Rodney says. But something tells me he's wrong.
"You always wanted to ride a horse, but he wouldn't let you. You didn't listen, did you?" AnaMaria hisses in her fevered state. "Did you!"
I'm shocked. "No. I did it anyway, and I fell. I broke two ribs and was abed for weeks."
Rodney listens with curious but confused ears. "What are you talking about?"
AnaMaria laughs loudly, bitterly. "You should have listened. You never listen."
"What did Loyal give me?" I cut in.
Throughout my life, I've always adored horses. When I was little, I would beg Loyal, my older brother, for one of my own. He would never let me ride Maximus, his horse. He would explain that Maximus was too big for me to ride. I would get hurt, he said. But as stubborn as I am, even now, one morning I decided I would teach myself to ride so I could impress him. If he was as proud as I hoped he'd be, maybe he's buy me a horse of my own! But as I took Maximus out into the fields, proudly hoisted myself onto his mammoth back, he took off a little too fast then my little form could handle. I fell, and was a mess for long weeks on end. Needless to say, I never got my horse. I haven't even touched one since! I was seven years old.
"You actually believe any of this means anything?" Rodney asks most skeptically.
"Possibly, yes." I say.
"It's the fever talking, Andie."
AnaMaria just stares at me, a small smile on her lips. I wish she would stop; it's creepy and sending nervous chills up my spine. I won't be able to look at AnaMaria the same ever again, that's for sure!
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"Andie?"
Deep within my dreams, I momentarily register a voice calling my name. But the second the thought occurs to me, it's gone. Everything is silent.
"Andie?"
My eyes snap open. The room is black, safe for the one golden candle before me on the tabletop. Jack is standing over my sleepy form with a worried expression.
"I don't remember falling asleep," I say, rubbing my eyes.
"Come on," he orders gently, bending down to throw me over his shoulder.
It's tempting, but I can't leave the others here alone. "I can't," I protest, "I'm playing nurse, remember?" I try to get out of his arms, but he's holding me too tight.
"Rodney'll watch 'em. He said their fevers 'ave gone down," Jack kicks the door open and walks out with me, still half asleep, in his hold. "Ye need to rest, love."
"I'm all rested up. Now bloody put me down!" I fight against him, but it's still no use. I eventually surrender with a defeated sigh. He's right, I do need rest. But I'm so worried and guilty, that I do not know if I can let myself drift again.
I barely realize it when we reach the captain's quarters. Jack toes the door shut and then lies me effortlessly on the bed.
"Sparrow-" I begin, but his lips gently, oh so gently, silence me. His touch tonight is more ginger than a secret lovers, and if we both weren't so exhausted, I would show him the same desire that he's ignited in me.
"I won't sleep until ye do," he whispers so seriously that I know he's telling no lie.
I watch the pirate, with his ridiculous hair trinkets and coal eyes, for a long moment before I drop my head back onto the mattress. With a confident smile, Jack brushes his lips across my skin and intimately inhales my scent. Just as tenderly, the pirate begins to remove my dress and strip me down to only my shift with nimble fingers. He knows nothing will happen tonight, I can see it in his eyes, but his hands are moving with such pride and passion that one could think we are beloved sweethearts just moments away from making love.
Tossing my discarded clothing atop his desk chair, Jack now takes a stalled minute to look me over. I raise myself onto one elbow in order to regard the look in his eyes. It's hard to describe, the bits of amber that I've never noticed within the deep brown depths. The moment is so heated that I cannot help but die to touch him.
"Come here," I seductively wag a finger toward myself to beacon him near.
He complies and willingly crawls over to me, just as graceful as a black leopard in the night. I kiss him, soft and deep, while slowly and almost painfully removing his shirt from his shoulders. Once the clothing hits the floor, Jack turns us over so he is bellow me. We lay here for a long moment, curious fingers barely fluttering over skin as if we are afraid of shattering, I'm not aware of the time, but we both fall thankfully and spitefully into sleep.
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When I awaken, I am alone in Jack's cabin. He must be back at the helm, so I take this time to quickly dress and rush back to 'sick bay' and check on everyone. I seem to be moving a little slower than usual, but I blame it on sleep. I didn't want to take a rest, anyway. I hope Rodney has managed throughout the night.
To my surprise, both Harrison and AnaMaria are awake, sipping on steaming black tea and chuckling over the newest gossip, when I reach the cabin.
"Mornin', Andie. Sleep well?" Rodney sits at the table I had fallen asleep at last night, a book opened on the tabletop.
"Good, thank you." I reply. "Ana, how are you fairing? Harrison?"
AnaMaria replies, "Better," while Harrison just smiles and nods. No yelling, no creepy staring, no signs, nothing. The curse must have gotten it's point across.
But throughout the day, as Rodney and I work to be sure of all five of the pirate's health, I begin to grow more and more fatigued.
A chill runs from the roots of my black hair to the tips of my toes, slightly worrying me, and I press the back of my hand to my forehead. It's hot. "Rodney?"
He looks up, hearing the worry in my voice.
"Do I feel warm to you?"
He watches me for a moment, and then comes forward. "You're deathly pale." And as he touches my cheek, the door to the cabin creaks open.
"AnaMaria insists that she be aloud to work," Jack clicks the door shut behind him. "Do ye think that wise?" He questions.
"No," I reply quietly. I feel like I have no strength to talk, much less move. "She should be resting, fever or no."
Rodney looks at me with dead serious blue sea eyes. "You're burning up. Much more so than any of them," he signals toward the three men lying in their cots, a damp towel on their sweat-sticky foreheads.
"What?" Jack says, moving closer to get a good look at me.
Suddenly my knees buckle, and I fall back, expecting for my skull to smash hard into the floor boards. But I don't. Jack holds me around the waist, one hand on my back, while Rodney grabs a hold of my elbow.
"I can't catch it," I say, "I never get sick! Ever. I've never caught a fever!"
Jack hoists me easily into his arms. "I'll take 'er to me cabin. Ye take care of them," he directs at Rodney. My friend nods.
"It's just sea sickness," I explain.
"I don't think so, love." A small caring smile pulls at his lips, "Why is it that I'm always carrying ye to me bed? Ye should be doing so willingly!"
I laugh, though tiredly. "You're not as dashing as you think, Sparrow."
He smiles gold teeth that shine with the Carribean sun. "Is that so?"
Thanks to my friend Kevin who named Maximus the horse for me. He was originally named Monkey, haha. Oh, and he told me to add that he's oh so sexy and I want to sleep with him. ... Go ahead and inhale that information, my friends. Gotta love him.
Reviews, please! There's nothing I love more. Well, besides Captain Jack Sparrow, of course!
Cap'n of the Deep: Haha, I know someone ALWAYS interrupts. Gotta keep you guys interested, you know?
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Supermonkey289: Yeah, I was reaching for a humorous element on the last chapter, actually. I'm glad you're enjoying.
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