Eden Isle

By: L'Morgan

Only Disney owns or can make money on anything to do with Pirates of the Caribbean. I-just-borrowing-to-play-with-for-personal-entertainment-and-giving-back. Can I be any clearer? NO profit being made here by or for me!

Rated: Mature Teen for violence, innuendo and some language. Mild W/E pairing, J/A pairings.

Chapter 6: STUMBLINGS

AnaMaria couldn't help but grin as she offered Jack a hand up from his seat on the deck. He rose to sway unsteadily, hands coming up as if that would help him maintain his balance. She quickly grabbed him firmly by one lapel of his coat.

"No, but ye might be more so than ye think Jack - it was one bottle of Gibbs special brew. Ye know that rotgut the runners make is stronger than anythin' legal t' be sellin," She observed dryly and he seemed very amused.

She waited until he seemed secure on his feet, then took his arm again and nudged him forward. The pirate took one step and gave a soft gasp. One leg seemed to give out under him and he suddenly grabbed for her. He caught himself heavily as he swore vividly under his breath and she stood him up with a wary look.

He cursed as he limped heavily over to the rail where he leaned on it with both hands and looked down to very gingerly test his weight on one leg, making a face and wincing as he did so. He had been sore before, but now he was obviously feeling something more to it than he had been.

"Ut-oh – its not enough that you just had a miniball taken outta that leg, now you've gone an' twisted that ankle" she breathed unhappily. He shook his head emphatically.

"No, it's just sore a little bit. It'll be fine Ana." He growled sternly. She watched as he took another hobbled step, leaning on the rail as he did so, then another, then he paused and sighed rather unhappily.

"Here, come on – let me help," she said in a very 'don't you give me any trouble tone'. Before the pirate could protest, she stepped over and put his arm over her shoulders and hers around his waist and nudged him forward. Finally they got to his cabin where he let go of her to limp inside and over to the nearby table right away. He shrugged off his long grey coat and draped it across the table, then parked the tri-corner hat atop it.

The pirate very nonchalantly considered her, his arms folded across his chest, but no weight at all being put on one leg. She went about lighting a lantern and then almost fully closed the door of his cabin, leaving it ajar only enough to let in a little air, as well as any sudden calls for their attention.

"Sit down ye daft fool." She ordered. He immediately arched an eyebrow and looked rather disinclined to comply, until she pulled out the chair nearest and glared blackly at him.

"I'm fine. Now what' was it ye had to show me so urgently?" he demanded from his seat and she frowned at him as she pulled out the other chair nearby.

"It can wait," she growled as she took his injured leg and gently parked his foot up on the chair, and he let her.

"We need t' get that boot off yer foot" she told him.

"No we don't!" he reacted with quickly, pulling his foot back faster than was wise. His foot struck the floor with a solid thud and he gasped hard and froze, not even breathing for a few seconds as he did his best to ignore the fire that had just shot up his leg like a lightening bolt. She scowled as he sat there unmoving, finally just breathing very hard and fast.

She knelt on the floor and took his injured foot in her hands and before he was recovered enough to object, quickly removed the boot, causing him to jerk upright and swear quite forcefully. She backed up out of his reach, just in case. But he had turned away from her and towards the table, one fist clenched tightly as he sat hunched over, his breathing unsteady at first as he trembling visibly.

"Jack?" she asked as she went over after a few minutes and sat him back in the chair, noting the sudden slight dampness to his forehead and lack of color in his tanned features. He gave her a very weak smile as he struggled to visibly relax his body.

"I'd better get Doctor Cook" she told him and he quickly lunged to catch her by the wrist.

"Ye'll do no such thing Missy! The man is busy now - ye'll not be botherin' him over a silly twisted ankle! It is not the first time such a thing has happened and certainly it won't be the last! Besides, he's much happier taking care of the Commodore – who obviously needs him!" he exclaimed in a very commanding tone and she scowled at him, her eyes narrowing.

"I'll just wrap it up like we would any other time and by mornin' it'll be a lot better. Maybe I can talk another bottle outta Gibbs," He said as he rose to his feet and she firmly stood in his way.

"The only place yer goin' Jack, is over t' the bed, even if I have't drag ye!" she growled at him and he leered at her as he swayed noticeably.

"Ye intend on joining me now, do ye?" he purred very suggestively, one hand tracing a slow pattern in the air and ending up resting on her waist and sliding up her side. Before he got near her breast, she scowled at him darkly and shoved his hand away.

Then she slapped him, and hard!

His head swiveled hard when her hand suddenly connected in a very loud manner with his cheek. The pirate staggered back against the table as if shocked at the blow, his face a look of dark dismay.

"Don't you dare tell me you didn't deserve that Jack Sparrow!" she warned, shaking a finger at him.

"I was only playin'!" he protested and she ignored him, letting him mutter to himself as he rubbed at his cheek now.

With no further ado, she grabbed his arm and escorted him over to the bed, frowning at his heavy limp. She sat him down on the edge and he gave her a dark look.

"Now you stay put! I'll go get some bandages," she ordered firmly, shaking her finger at him and left the room.

As soon as she was gone the pirate was up again. This time he hobbled back to the table, then used it to go around to the other side of the room where stood the large cabinet. He had just removed a bottle of dusky color liquid when she came back into the room. The pirate startled severely, nearly dropping the bottle. Ana glared at him sternly.

"Painkiller," he told her ceremoniously with a loose wave of the bottle. She rolled her eyes and went over and scowled as he quickly backed up and away from her, as if he expected her to slap him a second time.

Avoiding getting to close, Jack limped his way back to the bed on his own, then very slowly and carefully climbed up onto it.

"Yes, get up there you daft fool," she instructed. He certainly did so, scooting back and up against the far wall and making sure he was well out of her reach. He uncorked the bottle and watched her sort out some long lengths of white cloth as he took a first long gulp at the bottle, then a couple of smaller sips.

She considered his very wary look as he watched her. "So are you going to let me take the other boot off?" she finally asked and he shook his head stubbornly, still glaring at her in distrust.

"I can do it m'self." He insisted, a bit temperamental sounding and she scowled at him.

"Would ye' quit actin' like a fool and give me yer foot?" she demanded and he gave her a stormy look.

"Why? Why on earth would ye want t' be botherin' with me now? Yer mad at me." he growled lowly as he looked away, rubbing absently at his cheek, then he took a very long swig from his bottle and swayed a bit even though he was already sitting down.

She watched as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly and then stifled a yawn, and then took another long drink from the bottle.

"Yer being a daft fool Jack - an' just because you get slapped sometimes doesn't mean the person doin' the slappin' means all that much by it. Ye know better than to say things like that t' me, ye black-hearted scallywag. Yer too tired for such things to be floatin around in that head of yers. Now quit yer fussin'," she said lowly and firmly as she crawled up onto the bed and slowly advanced on him, only ending when her lips connected with his rum flavored ones in a very lingering kiss that forced him back and down onto the pillow - not that he resisted too much actually.

The pirate didn't have any more objections to her touch after that.

She moved down and gently pulled off his other boot, then compared his legs side by side and frowned at the obvious puffiness and redness already developing around the one ankle. She ran a finger over the area very lightly and felt its heat even as he winced and rose up on one elbow to see what she was doing now.

"I can do tha' myself," he said of the cloth strips as he leaned forward to take one up and she snatched it out of his reach. "I can!" he insisted in a weary tone and she paused to consider him for a long moment.

"Take three more big gulps of yer drink first Jack," she said as if agreeing with him and watched as he did so quite quickly - and very generous ones at that. The pirate shook his head some after the last and swayed unsteadily even as he was half lying down.

If he hadn't been entirely drunk before, he looked as if the rum was hitting him full force now, judging by the dull look that was rapidly overtaking his eyes. She took the bottle from his slackened grip and corked it, but left it within his easy reach on the bedside table, a bit surprised at his lack of objection.

"What are ye gonna do about the Commodore and his men Jack?" She asked curiously and he half shrugged as his mood sobered some.

"I dunno – surely we could set all of them and the good Doctor ashore somewhere relatively safe. One of Norrington's men could walk to town and get help, let the other one and Elizabeth and Will and the doctor watch over Norrington. They'd be fine." He said thoughtfully. Ana raised an eyebrow at him as she began neatly wrapping his foot and ankle.

"You'd do that Jack? Leave 'em all?" she asked in a very neutral tone, but he still instantly frowned at her.

"I didn' say I was gonna leave 'em on some god forsaken rock in the middle of nowhere! Don't make it sound like that! It would be no more than a couple miles outside of some town or other…. Besides, they'd probably be more than glad if I did 'em that favor now." He said softly to his hands, avoiding looking at her.

Ana considered him for a moment and gave a silent sigh. It made her angry to see the mistrust and doubt the Captain's supposed friends had so easily created in the one man who most would swear couldn't care less. But – it would be the people who knew only the legend and not the man who would say such a thing. She knew the pirate far better than that.

The honest truth was that sometimes Jack Sparrow's heart led the way more than his desire for silver or gold ever would. And, sometimes the troubles that lead him into were as painful as any miniball or left scars as deep as any lash. It was a part of him that not many others ever saw.

"Jack, look – in just the last three days you've had stitches put in your head, had a miniball taken outta yer leg, stitches put in yer arm, and now a sore ankle. For awhile there, you had us all scart half to death, not wakin' up like you did. Cook says you had a severe concussion. I'd say we've seen better days Capt'n, that I would. Besides, its bad luck to leave a pregnant woman anyplace other than where ye promised you'd leave her." She told him.

The pirate looked up with one arched eyebrow.

"I've never heard Gibbs say that." He challenged coolly and she shrugged with a mild smile.

"Well I bet he will if ye ask him! Especially when that woman is the Governor's daughter? Now see here you daft pirate, I don't trust those folks with so much as a hair of a flea. But – well – when ye think of it, I guess we can't be too surprised at the wonderful ideas that jumped into their heads. Don't let it upset you Jack. What do they know about you really?" she told him, but the man only stayed quiet, staring down at a spot on the bed before him. He used one hand to rub at his eyes and a heavy weariness seemed to come to his features.

She pulled the other pillow over and put it under his injured foot, ankle and lower leg. When she looked up it was to find he had finally laid down, his eyes closed and features slack.

She had just risen, but not yet left when he muttered vehemently in a distressed tone, then bolted upright in the bed with a very alarmed and confused look. She rushed back and sat down beside him.

"Shhh, I'm here, lay down" she said simply and he did so in such silence that she couldn't tell if he had really been awake or not. She turned down the lantern, then got a blanket and spread it over him, then another, just to be sure. The man still had his eyes closed.

She sat a little closer to him and watched as he yawned extremely long and then rubbed at his eyes slowly with a fist and turned onto his stomach while muttering something she couldn't understand. To her vast surprise the pirate moved closer until there was barely any space between them at all.

"You feel the Pearl rockin' in the waves?" she soothed, as she gently brushed the dark locks off his face and he nodded barely at all. She smiled as he turned his face towards her and shifted so she could feel his soft breath on her arm. She used a hand to gently toy with the braids and beads in his hair and then smooth down the dark locks.

A soft creak alerted her and she looked up to find the good doctor himself standing there. She frowned and made the gesture for silence and he nodded, slowly comingcloser and resting his weight against the table, just watching.

She rubbed the pirate's back in slow, lazy circles and eventually felt him twitch mildly all over and then seem to melt into the bedding, his breathing slowing dramatically and deepening as now he truly slept. The doctor came over to gently touch the back of his hand to the man's cheek, checking his temperature. He sighed softly.

"He's still a little too warm, but at least its not as high as he has been the last couple of days." He said, then noticed the wrapping around the man's foot and frowned deeply.

"He'd been drinking and tripped over a rope and sprained it. He wouldn't let me go get you. Said you had other more important things to be bothered with." She told him rather gruffly with a decidedly hostile stare. The doctor considered her and then perched on the edge of the bed near the man's foot and very, very gently ran his hand over the outside of the wrappings.

"So important he'd like to drop us all off outside some town first chance he gets?" he asked quietly without looking at her as he continued his very light examination. If Ana was surprised, her expression gave nothing away as she shrugged.

"Just how do you expect him to feel – all of you accusing him of shooting Commodore Norrington?" she asked very bluntly and he sighed softly.

"I did apologize, try to explain," he said and she looked away in silence. He paused and studied her for a moment.

"Ana, I have no desire to hurt Jack – or any of you. I wouldn't be here in the first place if I did. That's not what doctor's do." He told her and she stared at him for a long moment.

"No, you're just going to help someone hunt him down is all? Look mister, you can't go sayin' stuff like that and then wanting to be all friendly like a cat want'n cream, and expect people to know just what tomake of you! Jack's already had one so called friend leave him on a deserted island to die, because Jack trusted him. His best friend didn't exactly go to any great lengths to stop them either. You'd better decide which side of the fence you're gonna fall on and stay there or you will find yourself left god only knows where at. We don't need your help making people feel bad for no reason." She told him sternly and he nodded quickly, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I agree there AnaMaria, I honestly do agree. But for now, could we please forget my great moment of profound stupidity and agree that we would both like to see your Captain healed and have him stay in one piece?" he asked sincerely and she considered him and then nodded and he smiled.

"All right then, well, I won't try to touch his foot if he's asleep. You've done a very good job wrapping it up actually. I'll wait until tomorrow to take my life into my own hands by trying to corner him and let me make sure that's all right for him to be walking on. No matter what you might think Ana, I just wanted to check on him is all. Just because he's awake and insists on being up, doesn't mean that all the effects of the concussion are completely gone." He said and she nodded as he rose and moved away from the pirate. As soon as he left the room, her hand went back to gently rubbing the pirate's back and absently fondling the wild stray hair, casually smoothing it down for him.

Several minutes later she considered his limp and relaxed features and gave a soft, fond smile that was reserved for very, very few in her life.

"Much better" she observed quietly to herself. Finally, she kissed him lightly on the cheek, gently pet down the dark locks one last time, then made sure he was well tucked in before she left the room. She closed the door quietly behind her, making sure it was fully shut so nothing would disturb him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Top of Form