Title: Shanghai

Author: Supplanting Promise

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

The Truth Will Set You Free

Will's POV

I avoided both Elizabeth and Jack at all costs. Elizabeth was easy to avoid seeing as how she stayed in her room for days on end. Occasionally I would see her on deck, usually grabbing a plate of food or a flask of water and then she would return to her room for days. I was able to avoid Jack quite easily by taking my orders form Gibbs. Jack seemed to have caught on that there was something amiss between Elizabeth and myself, but he gave no indication of knowing what it could possibly be. As I was cleaning the cannons I overheard Jack and Gibbs talking.

"Jack there's sumthin' wrong wit Miss Elizabeth. The crew can here her at all different hours of the day retchin'. She 'ardly comes out and eats like a bird, an' she never did that before." Gibbs said.

He had taken to watching over Elizabeth. He says it's to make sure she doesn't cause trouble or curse the ship but the rest of us see it as more of a father/daughter alliance.

"How long has she been down there?" Jack asked.

"Jest reachin' three weeks. She only comes up every four or five days for food an' water." Jack started to say something to Gibbs but I left before I could here what he was saying. Quickly I made my way below deck and to Elizabeth's room. I knocked on the door but heard no sound inside. I knocked one more time and when I got no answer I opened the door.

Elizabeth was lying on her cot in her dressing gown breathing shallowly. I lit a lamp and set it on the bedside table as I looked over Elizabeth. Her eyelids were closed but her eyes were rapidly moving behind them. Her eyes and cheeks looked sunken in, she had lost all color to her skin, and she had lost quite a bit of weight. I heard the door creak open behind me and looked back. Jack came into the room with another lamp and set it on a nail in the wall. He took one look at Elizabeth and shook his head.

"She needs a doctor." Jack said whispered to me.

"What is wrong with her?" I asked forgetting my anger at both of them at the sight of my childhood friend and once fiancé in such a state.

"I don't know but it can't be good. I've told Mr. Gibbs to head to shore immediately, we're near Kantak. We should be able to make it there in under an hour if the wind keeps up." I looked down to see Jack holding a basin of water and a rag.

"To clean her up."

I gently shook Elizabeth awake and Jack and I worked together to wash her face, arms, legs and back. We changed her into a clean shirt and trousers; and while Jack held her in the chair I changed the sheets on her bed. Jack laid her back and the bed and she mouthed a thank you to us. Jack had me stay in the room while he went to check on our progress towards Kantak.

"Elizabeth. . ." I said brushing a strand of hair off of her fore head. She turned her head towards me.

"Elizabeth I'm sorry." I said looking into her honey colored eyes. She shook her head and kissed my hand.

"I'm the one who should be sorry." She said barely above a whisper.

"I let my anger blind me and failed to realize the pain that you were in also."

"I should have told you. The compass was pointing to Jack, before we found you and I was on the ship with him. I went to him, the night before I chained him to the mast, and told him about the problem." She paused and took a couple of breaths here. "As I talked to him and things progressed I found that I not only wanted him but I loved him; as I had loved you." She said holding my hand.

"My night with you was wonderful, but we were drunk and had I been myself I would not have been with you. I knew that I loved Jack." I nodded and she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. About twenty minutes later Jack reappeared.

"We can see Kantak now. Bring her up on deck and we'll have a long boat waiting." Jack said and then disappeared from sight again.

I gently gathered Elizabeth in my arms and walked slowly out of the room and up the stairs to the upper deck. I set Elizabeth in the boat and helped the crew lower it into the water. Jack, Gibbs and I climbed down into the long boat and rowed to shore with Jack and Gibbs rowing and I was holding Elizabeth. It took us only twenty minutes to reach shore and only another five to find the doctor.

It must have been an odd sight for three foreign men to be walking through their small town with a woman in one of their arms looking for a doctor. Eventually a gentleman gave us directions to a large house down the main street. While walking around the town Elizabeth woke up twice but would fall asleep again. Jack, Gibbs and I made our way down the street to the house and didn't even bother to knock before entering the house.

"Is there a doctor in the house?" Jack yelled as I sat down with Elizabeth. Immediately an older woman came bursting through the door to my left.

"Keep your voice down, there is no need to be yelling in this house." Jack gave her a tight lipped smile.

"Sorry luv."

"Now what seems to be the problem?" The woman asked looking Jack up and down.

"It's the woman there." Gibbs said pointing to Elizabeth.

"Oh my. What's wrong?"

"She's been vomiting, hardly eating, sleeping most of the day away, her breathing is shallow and raspy, when she says two or three sentences she has to stop and take quite a few breaths, and she's been very weak." I said shifting Elizabeth in my arms. Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I?" She asked in a whisper.

"We've docked in Kantak and right now you are at a doctor's house." I said to her. She nodded her head and laid it back on my shoulder. The woman hurried up the stairs and called for the doctor. They heard the woman hurriedly telling the doctor Elizabeth's symptoms.

"Sir if you would please bring the young woman into this room here." I got up out of the chair and followed the doctor into the door on my left.

"Just lie her here on the table." He said pointing to a long wooden table. I sat Elizabeth down and gently laid her back. She opened her eyes again.

"The doctor is going to examine you now. Jack, Gibbs and I will be right outside the door." Elizabeth nodded weakly and I went out the door.

"Sir don't tell her what is wrong. Tell me and I will let her know, her mental stability isn't what it was before she became sick." The doctor nodded his understanding and then ushered me out the door.

We sat outside of the door for at least twenty minutes and then finally the doctor came out. He called me to the doorway and spoke to me in very low tones.

"Sir - -"

"Will Turner."

"Mr. Turner the young lady you have brought to me has two items afflicting her. First is that she has pneumonia. The second is that she is with child." I stood there too shocked for words.

"Mr. Turner, this young lady needs to be near a regular and well trained physician for the rest of her pregnancy. The pneumonia has weakened her severely and caused her great distress in breathing. Her hips are very narrow and carrying this child will cause her great stress when it begins to grow and when it comes time for the birth. This woman was not made to carry children and I strongly advise you to watch her. She will be at great risk of losing this child and if she does she may not have another. Keep her in bed at all times and nothing strenuous, not even stressful thoughts. Get her back to an established English colony as soon as you possibly can."

"Thank you sir." I said turning and walking into the room to gather Elizabeth. The doctor had followed me in and was rummaging about a cabinet in search for the antibiotics.

"Sir can you tell me how long she has been with child?"

"I would estimate one and a half to two months. Closer to two though." The doctor said turning back to the cabinet and pulling out a small brown bottle.

"Mix one teaspoon of this in with a glass of water twice a day. Make sure she eats plenty and get her weight back up." I took the bottle and walked out of the room with Elizabeth in my arms. I walked out of the room and motioned for Jack and Gibbs to follow me out the door before I said anything.

"We need to find loose fitting shirts and trousers, a tub big enough for her to bathe in, soap, some more vegetables and meat, and a few books."

"Will what are you going on about? What is wrong with Miss Elizabeth?" Gibbs asked.

"She has pneumonia and she is with child." Both men stood like idiots in front of me.

"Go get the items I requested and I will take Elizabeth back to the ship. I will come back for you when she is settled."

I walked to the long boat, settled Elizabeth on the floor and rowed us back to the ship. I climbed the ladder and had a few of the crew help me pull the long boat up onto the deck. I lifted Elizabeth out of the long boat and took her to my cabin. I laid her on the bed and pulled the quilt up to her neck and watched as she slipped into a peaceful, comfortable sleep. Quickly I had the long boat lowered and I rowed back to shore to locate Jack and Gibbs.

As I was walking along the shops and stands looking for Jack and Gibbs I found a woman selling nightgowns and sun dresses. I bought a new night gown for Elizabeth, remembering the state of last one, and I bought her a light flowing sun dress that tightened at the bust instead of around the waist. As I was finishing my purchase I saw Gibbs and Jack carrying the tub with the shirts, trousers, soap, and food in it. I quickly made my way through the stands to Jack and Gibbs.

"Did you find any books?" I asked as I looked over everything they had bought.

"Aye, they're at the bottom of this tub."

"Very well lets get back to the ship." I grabbed the side of the tub the Gibbs had been carrying and helped Jack carry it to the long boat.

We rowed in silence back to the ship. Jack was quite pointedly not looking at me while Gibbs was boring holes into the back of my head. The trip back to the ship was made much longer by the tension, anger and the heavy load. Jack was the first up the ladder, followed by Gibbs and I was the last up the ladder. Gibbs and I helped to pull the boat onto the ship while Jack disappeared into his cabin. Gibbs and I unloaded the long boat and took the tub into my cabin. Elizabeth had propped herself up against the wall and was more alert than she had been all day. She smiled as she saw the tub and the new clothes. Gibbs left us alone in the cabin and I took a seat on the chair.

"What did the doctor say?" She rasped.

"He said that you have pneumonia." She nodded her head and laid back into the bed. I stayed quiet for some time trying to figure out how to tell her that she was pregnant. As we were sitting she started to drift to sleep. I didn't want to wake her up so I slipped out of the room quietly. I walked to the helm and found Gibbs.

"How'd she take the news?" He asked while looking into the horizon.

"I only told her she had pneumonia. There are some complications with her pregnancy."

"What are they?" Gibbs asked.

"She has a high probability of losing the child, especially if she stays on this ship any longer than necessary to get back to Port Royale."

"Will she needs to know."

"Then have Jack tell her, I'm not cleaning up his mess." I walked to my cabin and then turned back to Gibbs. "I'm going to write a letter and then I am going back to shore. Have the crew get a row boat lowered for me." I opened the door to my cabin and shut it behind me.

A few minutes later I heard the door open to Jack's cabin and then slam shut. I took out a piece of parchment, quill and ink and began to write my letter.

Dear Elizabeth,

This is good-bye. I have stayed in Kantak and I plan to travel this country and perhaps make my way up to the new America. I may never see you again and if I don't I would like you to know that I have never stopped loving you. I was angry and I regret the way I treated you but I will always love you. But, Elizabeth, I cannot live with you and the constant physical reminder of you and Jack together.

This brings me to the news that the Jack has no doubt given you by now. You are with child; Jack's child. Before you say that I am saying this in anger or it just an assumption I will assure I am not angry and nor is it an assumption. The doctor in Kantak confirmed that you were one and a half to two months into your pregnancy. The doctor warned that you do not have the body to carry children and that this pregnancy will be hard on you. When you get to Port Royale see a doctor immediately. Rest and urge Jack to take you directly back to Port Royale, you cannot afford to be on the ship any longer than necessary. Should you go into labor aboard the ship I fear you will die trying to birth this child. Take care of yourself and the baby.

I know going back to Port Royale as an unwed mother will be hard on you, your child, and your father. Keep my ring and my name and tell everyone I was lost at sea; I never plan to go back to Port Royale.

Love Always,

William Turner

I turned the parchment over to blot it on the desk and then folded it over, slipping the ring into the center. I laid the note on the desk, walked over to the tub, found the bottle of medicine and wrote on the label: one teaspoon two times a day mixed with water, and then set the bottle on the desk on top of the note. I packed my meager belongings into a bag, placed my purse of money around my neck and walked out of the cabin. As I was exiting the cabin I heard Gibbs yell at Jack.

"JACK! SHE'LL BE LOSIN' NOT ONLY YER CHILD BUT HERS! IF YE DON'T TURN THIS SHIP 'ROUND AND TAKE MISS ELIZABETH BACK, DAVEY JONES WILL BE THE LEAST OF YER WORRIES." I shut the door behind me and saw Gibbs coming out of Jack's cabin.

"Mr. Gibbs I will be going back to Kantak and I will not be returning to this ship. I've left a letter for Elizabeth, make sure she gets it." I dropped my bag into the boat below and then climbed down the rope ladder. I rowed back to Kantak and took one last look at the ship holding the very last thing I held precious.

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