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Chapter Quote: "I do know you." He said. "Aboard the Dauntless, after the battle with the pirates."

Chapter Eight

Doctor

Will turned back to face Tom, his brows raised with curiosity, the younger man's face had suddenly paled. "Your brother?"

Tom nodded, his gaze drifting to the harbor and his fingers tapping his leg nervously. "Yes...Benjamin."

Edmond and I parted and the rest of the day I wandered through Port Royal wondering what I was going to do now. I didn't want to go back to Elizabeth's...something was wrong there. And though I had every intention of finding out just what, right now I needed to find out what I was going to do with myself.

I couldn't tell if Port Royal had changed much since the time I had left. It didn't seem more sophisticated...beggars still lined the streets, there were still the bars, the drunks, the poor, the usual. It was certainly not a Tortuga, but it wasn't upper class London either. I was close to the wharf now, my thoughts scrambling to order themselves when I heard a loud crash from a nearby alley way. Well...it seemed trouble hadn't taken to long in finding me. I turned the corner and spied an old, rusted sign above a door painted a peeling red color with the words imprinted upon it, 'The Dubloon'. The shouts were becoming louder now, and as I stared a large man, dragging a boy by the scruff of his collar, threw the lad out the door.

"I told you to stay out ye little beggar!" He screamed, other curses flowing freely from his mouth as he retreated back into the pub.

"I'm not a beggar!" The urchin called after him, his chin jutted out in defiance.

"Oh yes you are." Replied the man, pausing to look back at him. "To the streets with you!"

The lad fell in a painful heap as the man gave him one last shove, then disappearing within the smoky haze of the bar. "Rotten little urchin, don't let me catch you in here again!" The door slammed, and there was silence.

The lad got to his feet, brushing off his poor excuse for clothing and adjusted his cap. I grinned, it looked like he and I were in the same boat.

"Having troubles?" I asked kindly.

He jerked, whirling around fast and glaring at me fiercely. "Don't touch me." He said sharply in his squeaky voice.

"Didn't plan on it." I replied, then frowning, I peered closely into his face. He looked slightly familiar...and stood out even with the dirt and grime that decorated his face. My eyes widened slightly, my brows raising. I knew almost instantly that the face I looked into was that of a girl. She must have seen the look in my eyes because her sickly face paled and she backed away when I reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." She said again, trying to say it with more ferocity, but it only came out in a higher-pitched cry.

"It's all right." I said, trying to sooth her fears as she backed away from me. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh really?" She asked sarcastically. "What? Are you going to invite me to have a tea party over at your place?"

"No." I said, slightly surprised and amused at her wit.

"That's what they all say." She replied, now looking past me for some means of escape. But this act was cut short by the entry of someone new...actually three new someone's. Three boys, tall and gangly with the wild look of street fighters. Great, I'm surrounded by a bunch of kids.

"Urchin." The tallest of the lot demanded, shoving their way past me as if I were invisible. "You still owe me three squib!"

All of them couldn't have been more then fourteen, but every one surpassed me in stature. "I told you." Replied the girl. "I just need a little more time."

"You don't have more time." He growled, smiling as she back up against the end of the alley. "Either you have the money...or you don't. And we can see clearly...that you don't."

"Please," She pleaded, her eyes growing large and filling with fear. "Just one more day!"

"Your out of time Urchin, but just because you said please...um...no." The three of them guffawed loudly, the tallest now pounding his fist into his right hand. I could now see the weapons they carried, clubs and chains.

"Hey." I said, stepping in front of the leader. "Leave her alone."

The tallest grinned stupidly at me. "Your one to talk." He said, he glanced at the girl. "Picking up new debtors Urchin?"

She was staring at me wide-eyed, no words escaping her trembling lips. They started for her again but I stretched my arm and pushed the tallest, who I was assuming was their leader, away from the girl.

"I said leave her alone." I growled, glaring at each one in turn.

He smiled, pushing me aside. "Stay out of this." He said, a threatening tone starting to seep into his words. I did not reply. He frowned, clenched his fist around the club in his right hand and raised it to strike me in one, swift blow. Unfortunately for him, I had been expecting such a reaction. I elbowed him sharply, dodging the club as he swung it down. As it hit the ground, wrenched it out of his hand, then slamming it hard upon his back where upon his slumped forward to the ground and laid still. That was about the same time the other two brutes rushed at me. I had been in number of fights since I joined Jack in his piracy trade. However, my hand felt useless and naked without my sword and soon I had welts on my back from their chains and one of them was squeezing the air from my lungs with a vice grip around my throat.

I was on the verge of blacking out completely when I felt his grip suddenly slacken and then fall away completely. I gasped for air, in a blur of motion realizing that their was still one more. And then...as suddenly as the whole affair had begun...it was over. Once I realized this, which too a few moments, I noticed two other things. The first was that my back was smarting sharply, and the other was that the pale faced girl was standing breathlessly at my side. I blinked a few times, staring at her. My face was flushed with embarrassment at the knowledge that I hadn't been able to defeat three boys. My lip curled in distaste. I, Jacqueline Sparrow, the daughter of the most feared pirate in all of the Spanish Main. I cleared my head and looked once more at the girl. She was clutching a bloody dagger and staring at the still body of the nearest boy. With the two others still breathed in a state of unconsciousness, this one was still, a gaping wound in his back which blood ran freely from.

I looked from his body to the girl, her lips were trembling. She looked down at her dagger and then with a violent jerk she dropped it. Then she looked up at me hesitantly, and the look I saw in her eyes haunted me for a good long time after.

"I killed him...I didn't...I mean..." She whispered. She glanced at her left shoulder which was also bleeding profusely, and then with a shudder and a groan, she collapsed. I jumped to her side as she fell, too slow to catch her before she hit the dirt with a thud. I slipped my arms under her slender body and. I could not tell how deep the wound on her shoulder was, there was too much blood. Her eyes were closed, which I was eternally grateful for, the look in them had been of deepest despair, loneliness and loathing. I felt if she looked at me like that again...I might drop her or something.

I ran from the alley, I could feel her warm blood seeping down my chest and arm as I did so. I screamed for a doctor, but was only avoided by those passing by. I shouted, I screamed for help. Begging for someone to aid me, I could not let this girl die. Oddly I felt a strange attachment to her...she needed to survive.

And then...someone stopped.

He was a tall, gangly fellow. Dressed plainly and yet in a refined manner and for the millionth time since I had come here, I felt that I had seen him before.

"What happened?" He asked, pulling her clothes away from the wound as I stood before him.

I explained the details of the fight quickly, leaving out the bit about nearly being strangled to death and the welts that covered my back. He glanced at me sharply, and his face blanched sightly, realizing my gender and becoming surprised by it. His eyes traveled over my body with a critical eyes, resting upon the blood which now decorated my body.

"Are you hurt?"

"No." I lied.

He only nodded, "I am a doctor, I'll bring her to my office." He reached out his arms to take her from me but I shrank away and shook my head. "You lead, I'll follow. I'll carry her."

He shrugged and turned, gesturing for me to follow. What a strange man, he asked no questions, sought no answers. Only did what was needed of him. What he called an office was actually a small room in a building by the wharf. If not for the blood soaking my clothes and the look from the girl's eyes, I might of paused to enjoy the sensation of the sweet sea breeze...but I didn't.

The doctor motioned for me to set the girl down on a crisp, white cot, elevated for medical use. He set immediately to work and I found myself thinking how much I admired this man. He was clean, efficient, and well...kind. And thus far, he had not once mentioned money.

"I don't have any means to pay you." I said miserably as he worked. I was a pauper now, and it made me grimace to think of the hordes of jewels I had in Isle de Muerta...not that I would ever get the chance to spend it now. He didn't pause, or even look at me.

"None is required." He replied. "I'm sure you'll find something...or else you won't. It matters little to me."

I blinked in surprise, was he crazy? I nodded slowly and turned my attention back to the girl as he cut open the bloody clothes around her shoulder. She lay motionless, groaning once and a while. He was looking up sharply now, glancing around the room in a slightly panicked hurry. Bandages. He wants bandages. I too looked around, and spying them, I hurriedly gave them to him. He seemed surprised as he took them from me, mumbling a quick 'thank you' before going back to work. He paused however, looking at my face. His brows knit in concentration before he shook his head and turned away.

"Stab wound?" He asked, probing the torn skin in a manner that was making my insides churn.

"Yes." I replied. "In the fight." I stopped, there was no need to explain myself further then what he already knew. That would arouse questions...and I did not need questions right now.

"Hold this here." He said after a while, I pressed the bandage down where he instructed and he moved away, hurrying to find something. I could feel her blood starting to seep through the bandage and had to push back a small feeling of wanting to release it and empty the contents of my stomach.

The doctor bustled back over and wasted no time in stemming the flow of blood and stitching the wound back up with large, but deftly skilled hands. Once he had finished bandaging the shoulder, the doctor wiped his hands on a towel and turned to me.

"Thank you for your assistance." He said, eyeing me as he wiped the blood from his upper arms.

"No, thank you." I said heavily, rubbing my forehead as seeds of a headache began to form. He smiled and handed me the towel, pointing to where my hand had just rubbed my head.

"You smeared some."

"Oh." I took it and wiped it across my hot skin. Once I had finished doing this I looked back up at him again and realized that he was watching me with that look of hard concentration that he wore when he had stitched up the girl.

"Have we met...?"

I blinked a few times, I certainly did not remember any doctors from my past...yet why did his face still seem so familiar? Even his red hair and green eyes seemed to strike a memory somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind. "I do not think so sir." I said quietly.

"I could have sworn I'd seen you before...somewhere." He said after a moments hesitation.

"Well, she could make our introductions formal now." I replied, smiling. He nodded and a soft grin starting to reappear on his face. I held out my hand, waiting patiently for him to accept this manly gesture.

"Jacqueline Summers." I said, shaking his hand firmly.

"Martin. Dr. Stephen Martin."

Martin...I knew him. He was older now, a fine stubble covering the gaunt cheeks I remembered to once be clean shaven. His eyes were set deeply into his hallow face. He actually did not look well at all come to think of it. But I still remembered him, I remembered the kindly hands which had healed me so long ago. Stephen Martin had been the physician aboard the H.M.S. Dauntless

the night Jack had brought me to Norrington after the battle with Jeb Hammer. I smiled offhandedly, this was a surprise to be sure.

A slight pain from my back caused me to wince and to take a small, sharp intake of breath. The pain had come unexpectedly and had caught me off-guard.

"Are you all right?" He asked, eyeing my figure with concern and the skill of a doctor, his eyes narrowing.

"Fine." I lied, forcing myself to keep my hands at my sides and not to rub the area which was causing me so much discomfort.

"Sit down, I should have looked at you before."

"Really I'm-"

He gripped my shoulders rather persuasively and sat me down on a lower cot on the other side of the room. Another sharp intake of breath made him chuckle slightly. This was not good, I would be forever indebted to him for saving my life, and that of the girl's...but what if he recognized me?

"Where are you injured?"

Even with my nervousness I sensed it was pointless to argue. I contemplated lying to him for another five minutes before rejecting the idea, sighing in defeat, and mumbling, "My back."

He moved behind me, lifting up the back of my shirt. "You were fine aye?" He asked in a condoning way. Damn doctors. I could feel those large hands deftly running across all my old scars...and the new ones I recently acquired via the embarrassing fight with those stupid boys. He paused, running a finger of the scar where the tip of Hammer's sword had protruded from my back. I couldn't feel his hands for a moment, he gently turned my shoulders so that he was facing me again. I met his clear eyes with defiance and he stared at me in wonder. I was not willing to how him any signs of weakness common to the majority of my gender...maybe he wouldn't recall the memory of me then. His eyes widened in surprise, his jaw dropping slightly.

"I do know you." He said. "Aboard the Dauntless, after the battle with the pirates." He paused, recalling the name I had hoped so much he wouldn't.

"Your Jacqueline...Jacqueline Scott."

Damn.

A/N:You all recall Dr. Martin right? If not, reread chapter 29 of "The Spray of the Sea". We'll be seeing what's up with the Lydia and Tom. Are any bells ringing at the name of Benjamin? Te he.

TO BE CONTINUED...