Chapter twenty:

"Welcome to the Diamond Dog boarding house. I am the innkeeper, and if you need me, please hesitate to ask." I gave this man a look, and he quickly walked away, bidding us to follow him. I picked up both mine and Jack's trunk and struggeled the whole way up the two flights of stairs.

"You could have helped, you know." I said nastily to the man, he opened the door, and then fled as soon as he put the key on the dresser. I shut the door, and helped Jack into a chair.

"You should rest, you know," I said hesitantly. He was foul in mood, and I couldn't risk him being mad at me. I'd seen what he could do.

"Alright. Tomorrow, we will get your surprise." I had forgotten all about the supposed surprise. I smiled at him, and beings as he couldn't move from were he was, I grabbed the blanket off the bed, and draped it over him.

"I love you," He whispered, then fell asleep, his head loling on his shoulder. I climbed into the big bed, and pulled the sleeping India close to me. We slept only under the sheet, but the warmth of outside, wafting in through the open windows was enough.

"Jack? Jack? Come on, get up...you mustn't be so lazy!" I kept shaking Jack, and even little India was saying "Jawk! Jawk!" I poked him a couple of times, and even licked his face, hoping to get a rise out of him...but he still slept on.

"...Your never like this." I thought. "You wake up to the sound of a pindrop." I cursed myself suddenly, and ran out the door and down the steps.

"HELP!" I screamed, as I went.

"Woman, keep it down," A very nice looking man said, coming out from one of the rooms.

"Sir, Im sorry, but unless your a doctor, sod off!" He laughed.

"I am a doctor. My name is Dr. Kennedy. Whats wrong?"

"Follow me," I said, grabbing his hand and dragging him back up the stairs, thanking god. "Its my husband," I fibbed. "He wont wake up, and he was shot a few days ago, and I think thats the problem." We burst through the door and I saw India cowering in the corner. I scooped her up, and watched the doctor with fearfull eyes.

"Sir?" He said, but like with me, Jack stayed eyes closed. The man called Kennedy slowly unwrapped the bandages on Jack shoulder, and we both grimaced. It smelled horribly...and it well..looked infected. The bandeges undernieth the top ones were completely sodden with blood.

"Here, lay him out on the bed. It lookes like there is still a fracture of something in there. Who took the bullet out? He shouldn't even be out of bed."

"It was our ships doctor, and I know, but he is too stubborn for me." I saw a glimmer of a smile on his lips for an instant.

"Go down to where you found me, my room number is 12, go in there, and tell my wife that I need my bag..and I have a patient with a bullet wound...she'll know what to get." I rushed out and flew down the stairs. I knocked on the door, and explained everything to a very pretty woman, who quickly came with me, both our hands full.

"Here," She said to her husband, and Kennedy grabbed out of his black bag, a very long looking pair of scissors, with a tong type of tip. I stood there, India clutching my leg in its breeches, biting my lip. Kennedy's wife was muttering condolences, and it sounded like Jack was already dead.

I had to turn away when the doctor was digging around with his instrument. He made a tsk sound, but I did not see what he pulled out. He put some sort of salve on the shoulder, then wrapped it back up. He stood up, wiping his hands on his breeches. He pulled out a bottle of a sort of clear liquid.

"Give this to him when he wakes up. He passed out from the pain, that is why he hasn't woken up. If you can, put a few drops in his mouth now, but if not, you must wait. You are lucky you caught this in time, and told me he had been shot. Sometimes the bullets shatter, or break off, and get lodged in the skin. He should be fine now." I thanked them, and even tried to give them a little money, but he and his wife refused.

"Its my job," He said shortly, and left. I sat down next to Jack, and opened his mouth. I put two drops of the liquid down his throat, and waited. IN a half hour, his eyelids fluttered and opened.

"Why are you hovering over me?" He demanded, trying to sit up, but the pain in his shoulder causing him to fall back on the chair with a noise like a dying cat.

"You should have woken me up...look how late it is...Wait, whats wrong?" He saw the look on my face. I put my head in my hands, and brokenly told him what happend. He put his head back on the chair's back, and closed his eyes again while he listened to me.

"Oh shit...Im sorry." I shook my head as if saying not to be.

"Here, tomorrow, I will be better. Then, your surprise." I snorted, and rolled my eyes.

/\

"Holy shit, Jack! Are you serious?" A blindfold had just been ripped off me, and we were standing in the most beautiful church Id ever seen.

"Marry me?" He asked, his color better, and his swagger back. I looked around, and noticed that the whole crew was there, and Will was sitting up fron with his kids in his lap, and a man that looked a lot like Coralie with him.

"I dont have a dress," I said, pulling at my shirt that I had stolen from him, and the breeches I was wearing yesterday.

"Go the way you are. You look like a pirate's wife, and that is what Im marrying, right?" I nodded, and we walked up the isle.

"Just one more thing," He said, a wicked grin on his face.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"What is your real name? I know it was a fake one that you gave me such a long time ago." I turned red at the memory.

"My real name?" He nodded. I looked at the priest who was quietly petrified of this pirate crew.
"...Jezebel is my real name," I whispered in his ear. He let out a loud bark like laugh, and gestured for the priest to begin the ceremony.