Ch. 12

Will slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he realized was that he had no idea where he was, and the second was that his side still hurt. He tried to sit up, but a gentle arm pushed him back down. Lifting his head slightly, he could see an old, wrinkled woman tenderly dressing his wound. He tried to sit up again, and was again pushed down. "Not healed yet," the woman said without stopping her work. "You rest." Relenting, Will laid his head back down and looked around. They were in a small hut with a curtain hung in the doorway.

"Where am I?" he asked, wincing slightly as pressure was applied to the wound. The old woman just gave him a toothless grin and didn't answer.

"You will have to forgive Dorma; she doesn't speak very much English," a different voice said from the doorway. "You are on Kelumar."

Will turned his head to see a tall, blonde woman standing there. After a few seconds, he realized that he recognized her. "Lalaith," he said, recalling her name.

The woman smiled. "So you remember me," she said lightly. "I am impressed."

"I have a good memory- Wait…Kelumar?" he asked suddenly. "What-"

"Captain Jack and Raven brought you here after you passed out," Lalaith explained. "You have been unconscious for almost a week. You're lucky to be alive, Will. Another day, and you'd have been beyond even Dorma's ability to heal."

The old woman opened up a flask and poured some dark liquid down his throat. His eyes immediately teared up and his throat burned. "What's in that?" he choked.

"You don't want to know," Lalaith replied cheerfully. "Just know that it's helping you get better."

"Is Marie-"

"Your daughter is fine," she interrupted. "The last time I checked, she and the rest of the crew were relaxing, which is exactly what you should be doing."

"I've been 'relaxing' for the past week," Will grumbled. "What I need is use of my legs and some fresh air." But despite his complaining, he finally conceded and closed his eyes again.

----------

Will passed the next two days passing in and out of sleep, until he was finally deemed well enough to walk around a bit. He pushed past the curtain and stepped out into the small garden in front of the hut. Squinting in the sunlight, he was surprised by how weak his legs felt.

"Honestly, Will, you're not out two seconds and you already look drunk," Blackbird teased as he stumbled on a small stone.

"You go without using your legs for over a week, and we'll see how well you walk," he shot back, making his way over to her. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "I've been better. Those sleepless nights really start to get to you after a while."

"Well, I'm terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you so," he muttered dryly, sitting down on one of the stone benches.

"You should be." Her tone was serious, but Will could see the corners of her mouth starting to lift into a smile. In her own way, Blackbird had just told him how worried she'd been.

"Alright, you two, knock it off," Jack said, coming up out of nowhere in his typical fashion. "Will 'ere's not supposed to be doing any 'stressful' activities, by order of the ever-so-capable Dorma."

"Fine," Blackbird said shortly, pretending to be disappointed. "Well, then, I suppose I shall have to settle for fighting with you. I need some way to pass the time."

"No, I've had my fair share of discussion for the week, thank you," Jack said hastily. "Just…go get drunk at the bar or something. I don't know. Use your imagination."

Will grinned. "I'm fine, Jack, really. I could use some stimulating conversation right now…What happened after I passed out?"

"Well…I had some of the men get you into one of the empty cabins and lay you on the bunk. Then Blackbird looked at the wound and confirmed that it was infected and beyond her ability to heal-"

"Because somebody was too stubborn to let me treat it immediately," Blackbird interrupted pointedly.

"Yes, because somebody was too stubborn," Jack said, clearly annoyed at the interruption. "Anyway, we decided that your best chance was on Kelumar, so here we are. We're ready to leave as soon as you're feeling better."

Will groaned as a sudden realization struck him. "Jack…You didn't go this far out of your way just for me, did you?"

"Of course not," Jack said with a frown. "We needed some supplies, and I thought the men deserved a bit of a vacation. The weather here's so nice…Of course we came here for you! Did you expect me to just sit there and watch one of my best friends die when there was something I could do about it? Just don't tell the men I said that; I have a reputation to maintain, y'know. They think we're just here for supplies."

"You didn't have to-"

"Yes I did," Jack interrupted before he could finish. "I did, and let's leave it at that."

"Jack's gettin' soft…" Blackbird teased, nudging his arm.

"Shut up," he muttered. "I'll keep that in mind next time I make a life-or-death decision concerning you."

Their bantering was interrupted as Dorma came out and began talking to Blackbird. Nodding, Blackbird translated. "She says it's time for you to go back inside, mate. Apparently you're still not well enough to be out too long. Time to rest."

"Well, tell her that I don't feel the least bit exhausted, and that I'm getting plenty of rest right here. I'll be back in later."

Blackbird started to tell her, but she didn't need to. The old woman shuffled over to Will and frowned. "You come in now, stubborn boy," she said, smacking the side of his head with her palm. "Not healed yet. You rest." Before Will could respond, she grabbed his shirt sleeve with surprising strength and pulled him back toward the small hut.

"Apparently I have no choice," Will said has he was led back inside. "I'll see you two later."

----------

Having nothing better to do, Blackbird decided to head back to the crew's quarters and catch some sleep herself. She had no sooner dozed off than she heard Marie sit down on the cot across from her and sigh heavily.

"Problems, Marie?" Blackbird asked without opening her eyes.

"It's nothing," Marie said dismissively.

Blackbird sighed and sat up, turning so that her legs went over the side of the cot. "That was an awful lot of nothing, then. Come on, you can tell me."

"It's just…I don't understand men very well right now."

"Welcome to my world, luv," Blackbird said, laughing slightly. "What about men?"

"It's really nothing, Blackbird," Marie insisted.

"What, do you think I won't be able to answer?" her aunt asked. "I may not be as 'proper' as your mother, but I'm still a woman. Try me."

"Well…I don't know…It's just, Juan says he loves me, but…he seems hesitant to propose. I mean, he's almost done it a couple of times already since we got here, but something's holding him back. It just doesn't make sense to me. If he really wants to, why doesn't he?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Juan's scared? He doesn't know how you'll react, or what you'll say. In his eyes, a rejection would lower his 'value', so to speak. Men are stubborn, Marie. It's best you learn that now. Even the most respectable man will do anything to keep his pride intact. Your father, for example. The whole reason we're even here is because he was too stubborn to let me treat the wound immediately. It was more important to look like the big, strong, man than to get the treatment he needed. They can't help it."

Marie frowned. "Why would Juan be scared of me saying no? I want nothing more than to be given a chance to say yes."

"Then maybe you should let him know that."

"How?"

Blackbird just grinned and shook her head. "See, this is where we get into your mother's area of expertise. I've been told that I'm somewhat inept in the art of coquetry. You're a smart girl; you'll figure something out." With that, she closed her eyes and laid back down, leaving Marie to her thoughts.

A/N: Okay, got this one up pretty quickly. For those who been apprehensively waiting (you know who you are), yes Will is okay. Don't hold me to this, but I'm going to try to get this story finished up by the New Year. I have another tenative project I may try afterwards, but don't hold me to that, either. So...review, please!