Beyond the Horizon Chapter 17: Waking and Wondering, a pirates of the caribbean fanfic

Author's Note -

Short note today. Short chapter today. But its my birthday! And I'll write what I want to. lol. Longer chapter will be up next Saturday or Sunday. Be sure to check it out.

-A-

Author Thanks -

I'm uber short on time so I'll to thanks for the last chapter and this one together. Gotta get ready for my party! Whoo hoo!!!

-A-

Last time -

Jack nodded his thanks and walked into the guest cabin. He listened to the lock click into place behind him and sat down in one of the chairs, his mind still on Christy. He knew that he had been given a great gift by Senora Iyalla ... but the pirate side of him (and the loving side of him) wanted more. There was nothing to do now but wait.

-A-

CLARIFICATION!!!!

Christy was unconscious off and on for two days. The dream did not take the entire two days. How some of the time that she said she was conscious was spent is explained in this chapter. If you have any questions ... don't hesitate to email me at I understand that the chapter is confusing and am more than willing to explain things.

-A-

Beyond the Horizon

Chapter 17 - Waking and Wondering

-A-

Sometime hours later, Senora Iyalla came to the guest cabin, where Jack was being held, on the purpose of bringing food. The moment she had entered the room, Jack perked up. "How is she, Senora?"

She shook her head. "My husband is just outside," she whispered.

"Damn," Jack swore quietly under his breath.

The door opened again and Diego walked in. "Esperanza."

"Coming, Diego," she said quickly, flashing Jack a look that clearly meant keep quiet.

"How do you like your accommodations, Captain Sparrow?" Diego asked.

Jack smiled mischievously. "Fine, thanks, mate. Much better than all the brigs of the British fleet."

Diego smirked slightly as well. "The British have no concept of hospitality. Although, I assure you, Captain Sparrow, that there is a brig on this ship and if you do anything to disrespect my hospitality, you shall be living in it."

Jack nodded his understanding.

"Besides," he added lightly. "I'm not entirely certain that you are guilty. At least not of some things."

Jack put his hands together in a prayerful gesture and inclined his head gratefully.

Diego nodded and left after Esperanza, shutting the door with a gentle snap.

Jack smiled to himself, alone again and sank down onto the bed for a moment, thinking. Although he was imprisoned, he had to admit that the conditions he was in were quite exquisite and the only glitches in the arrangements were the fact that he was here at all, he couldn't get out and that Christy was sick. But, on the whole, not even an improbable situation. Survival was possible. Even probable.

After thinking for several moments on his situation, Jack decided (after listening to his stomach) that eating was necessary. So, he got off the bed and devoured the plate that Esperanza had left him.

The food had been quite good and Jack reflected on what had happened so far that day as he lay back on the bed relaxing after his meal. It was obvious that if anyone had a soft spot, it was Esperanza ... maybe Jack could use that to his advantage, he thought.

Time passed and Jack drifted in and out of light sleep, awaking any time there was a noise or the ship lurched.

-A-

I woke some time long after I had passed out. I felt slightly better but I was very weak. Esperanza was dozing in an armchair and I couldn't tell where the Captain was. Jack was no where to be seen. It was funny because I thought that I had heard his voice through my sleep.

I could no longer tell what time it was, it was sometime in the afternoon. I pushed myself up on the bed and gazed around, seeing the cabin now in more light than I had before. Knowing what I did about malaria, I knew that I was in no way safe from the disease. Caring for the men on the Pearl had shown me the nature of the illness and I knew that everything flowed in cycles. I knew that it all alternating between cold, hot and sweaty. Now, taken out of context, those words could mean many things but for malaria, it meant a low fever for the cold stage, a high fever for the hot stage and sweatiness along with low temperature for the sweating stage. Taking a stab at what I had just experienced, I was just getting out of a hot stage. Now would be either cold or sweaty. I didn't look forward to what I would be experiencing.

Esperanza stirred in the chair and came over to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," I replied weakly.

She sat down beside me on the bed and felt my forehead for a temperature. "Your captain was quite worried about you."

I nodded. "I told you he would be. Does that mean that you can let us go? Please?"

She shook her head. "That's not my call. I can't change what has been set into motion and my husband will be killed if we deviate from the plan. Besides, there are too many witnesses. We have to continue to Cadiz."

I nodded. "I understand."

"I'll get you something to eat. You must be hungry."

I let her go as I lay, staring up at the ceiling. It was at least an attempt. And more than likely Jack had some sort of master plan in mind. He usually did.

Esperanza returned a bit later carrying a bowl full of a weak broth. I didn't know what it was but I didn't care to ask. I was hungry, now that the food was under my face and I knew that the best way to get better was to have food in my body to keep me strong. She helped me eat the soup, I was having trouble holding my hands steady enough to eat without spilling all over myself.

"Gracias," I whispered when I had finished.

Esperanza nodded in reply and cleared away the tray.

"Esperanza?"

"Si?" (Yes?)

"Can I write a note to Jack ... just to let him know I'm all right for now? Please?" I asked shakily.

"I was going to suggest it, actually. He'll believe it more if it comes from your hand," she said as she brought over a small piece of parchment and a quill.

I stared at her, in shock. "Thank you," I whispered. With a look of disbelief stuck to my face and a shaky hand, I set to writing Jack the briefest letter of my life.

'Jack -

Still alive. Fever down. Malaria ... will need cinchona. Tell Esperanza. I don't remember if I told her or not ... remind her. I love you.

Christy'

I folded the note over several times after the ink had dried and handed it to Esperanza. She took it from me, her hand shaking slightly though I didn't know what from and then she left. She took dishes with her so I assumed she was just clearing things away ... when she returned later, I found out where she had gone entirely.

I waited relatively patiently, thinking about Port Royale and Rhiannon who I missed dearly and also Will and Elizabeth, still carrying for my daughter after almost a month of being gone. I hated to think how much Rhia was hating me and how confused she was. She never would think that I would abandon her ... would she? She couldn't. I had never given her any implication that I was lonely, even if I was and never once had I said that I regretted having her, which I did not. But I quivered inside to think about the look of distrust I would get when I returned. IF I returned. As terrifying as it seemed to me, I couldn't repress the fear that maybe I wouldn't be returning home ... that maybe I would never see my daughter or my friends again. Whether the morbidity of my thoughts made me get cold or it was the start of a cold cycle for me, I did not know but I shivered violently and pulled the covers close around me.

Esperanza returned shortly. I looked at her questioningly, she had a smug look on her face. I almost feared it, in truth. "What happened?" I asked softly.

She smiled and walked over to me. "Your captain asked me to tell you this 'Tous mon amour dans un jour. Mon amour je te donne. Ta vie est mon cour ... n'echoue pas mon cour.' (All my love to you in a day. My love to you I give. Your life is my heart ... don't fail my heart.)"

I smiled as I stared over at the wall, not truly seeing it. Those were things that I had written in letters to Jack ... I often wrote him in French, out of fear that the letters would be intercepted and our situation let out of the bag, so to speak. When Jack and I had met, he spoke enough French to bargain initially (and not well) with the Frenchmen but since then, he had been working to improve. Or so I guessed, considering he understood what I had written.

"What does it say?" she asked, speaking up for the first time in minutes to interrupt my reverie.

"All my love to you in a day. My love to you I give. Your life is my heart ... don't fail my heart."

Esperanza smiled over at me and came to sit down beside me on the bed. "That's romantic."

"He's a romantic man ... for a pirate."

She smiled again. "When Diego and I first met, we were young. I was only sixteen and he was nineteen. The age difference is nothing to be considered because we were so much alike. And it is so common for a woman like myself to marry a much older man."

I nodded in agreement. "It is that way in England, too."

"Well, he was second mate on a ship and we only got to see each other a few times a year. But we loved each other all the same. He was from a poorer family and I a wealthy one so our feelings were not well taken. When Diego was made a captain, he was twenty-three and I was twenty. Since we knew that we could support ourselves, we decided to get married. It was wonderful. Everything felt so perfect ... it was far from it, though. But we didn't care. All that mattered to us was that we were together and that we had each other. We made it for a year with me staying on land but I grew so sick with worry for him that I could not stand it. So, after much arguing between us and then our families, I came on board the ship. It's been nine years since that day and I've never looked back. Though this is the first time that I've had another woman on board. OR rather a woman who wasn't spitting and cursing at me," Esperanza said, laughing slightly.

I smiled in response, not knowing what to say.

"You should rest. You don't want to get too tired."

I nodded and drifted into a gentle sleep.

-A-

Back to the Guest Cabin

Jack stared at the note given to him by Esperanza for a moment before he had opened it. Quickly he read it over and asked the woman to tell Christy his message. He knew that she would understand.

She was still alive.

That sole fact buoyed his soul up to the ceiling. She wasn't dead and she was well enough to write him.

Jack smiled and reread it once more before tucking it into a pocket. Now came the hard part, waiting. He had nothing to do and it was pointless to attempt to escape while at sea. It would have to wait until they reached wherever they were heading. Jack made a mental note that he would need to ask that when he was visited again.

-A-

The next day, I made relative improvements. I was able to sit up without feeling like I was going to die and I was able to talk more. I slept often and got cold even more but it was still the concept that I was alive that mattered. I spoke frequently with Esperanza as she cared for me through the illness and sometimes with the captain who, I discovered was a very kind-hearted man. Regardless, I kept my thoughts guarded in concern to Jack and I assumed that Esperanza did not tell her husband of my affiliation with 'the prisoner' for Diego did not question me about him. And for that I was grateful. I did not want to have to answer too many questions. If I did, everything could be misconstrued and it could cost Jack his life.

The morning of the second day after my fainting spell/bout of unconsciousness was bad. I felt miserable. Absolutely miserable. Everything hurt, I felt as though I had been beaten with boards. My head spun as I sat up in the bed and the cabin flew around me.

Everything was a dazzle of colour and the temperature kept flipping between too hot and too cold. I lay sprawled on the bed, one half my body outside the covers, half under. Just in the small actions required to maneuver myself that way, I felt like I had run a great distance and breathing started getting difficult. My breaths started coming in short gasps, like someone who had swallowed a great deal of water and just spat it up again.

The cabin door opened and Esperanza returned, she had gone to get something for me to eat.

"Oh my," she gasped when she saw me.

"It's getting worse. Much worse. Please, give me some water," I said jerkily.

She sprung into action and poured water from the pitcher into my cup before holding it to my lips.

"Tell Jack."

"I can't. My husband is with him right now," Esperanza replied.

"Please. Tell him," I said more forcefully, pushing myself into a sitting position but my muscles didn't want to cooperate with me and I fell back to the bed.

"I will later. I swear."

I shook my head. "Tell him," I repeated, grabbing her hand as tightly as I could. My breathing was still coming in short gasps and I knew that my fever must be high ... my entire body felt like it was burning.

"I will."

I nodded. I shivered violently and struggled to get covered up again. Esperanza helped me and I closed my eyes, welcoming the blackness that came soon after. I didn't want to be awake ... if I was dying. I was afraid to die. Very afraid.

-A-

Guest Cabin

Jack was sitting at the table, having a bit of a chat with the Captain. They were currently talking about what had happened to the ship, Las Guiandanos when Esperanza came into the room, looking as if she had seen death. Immediately, his thoughts flew to Christy.

"Diego ..."

Diego pushed himself to his feet in a single movement, hurrying to his wife's side. "What happened?"

"You need to come, now."

Jack's heart stopped beating. "What happened?" he asked.

"Yes, tell me, Esperanza, what happened?"

"The girl ... its the girl," Esperanza said, her eyes locked on Jack's.

Jack's breath hitched painfully.

-A-

Author Note -

Okay, so I was a day late but its okay. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and like I said, if you have any questions about what all happened, please don't hesitate to email me. It's much easier for me to answer questions via email rather than via thank you's. I'll admit that I'm not the most pleased with this chapter but ... trust me, great things will be happening soon.

Anywho, that's all for now.

Mange Klemmar

CrazyCanoeingGIT