Hello again, gentle readers, and thank you for your wonderful reviews……they warm the very cockles of me heart, they do! (Have you guessed that it's talk like a pirate day, mates?)
Some folks may have thought that the last chapter saw the end of our dear heroine, but that wouldn't make for a very good (or long) story…Never fear, Linnet isn't through annoying our dear Captain Sparrow just yet! Read on!
Chapter 4: To Death's Door and Back Again…"Damned little fool" Jack cursed as he knelt over the unconscious girl, applying pressure to her side where an increasingly large red stain was forming rapidly. "Boyle, escort Miss Everton o'er to the Pearl and put her in the guest cabin—see that she's not disturbed." When Miranda saw the blood, she began shrieking hysterically until Anamarie, upon receiving a nod from her captain, dealt her a quick but measured clip to the jaw which left her senseless. That being done, he turned back to Linnet and called to his quartermaster. "Hatcher, find the ship's surgeon—Gibbs, Ana, you're with me!" He swept the limp woman up in his arms and started toward the main cabin before he remembered he had one last detail to handle.
Turning back, he locked eyes on the man who had fired the weapon and spoke in a calm but deadly voice. "You had best hope that this girl lives, for your fate depends on hers. If she dies tonight, you'll not see another dawn. Transfer him and throw him in the brig. If she lives, we'll ransom him from Tortuga." He swung back around and headed to the captain's stateroom, knowing his orders would be followed without question.
Laying her down on the wide bed, he pulled his dagger and cut the strings from her corset, something he had done many times before, but never under these serious circumstances, he mused. She moaned as he pulled the offending garment away from beneath her but didn't wake. He sliced away her thin chemise to reveal her wound just as Gibbs returned with the ship's doctor.
Ana fetched a basin, soap and toweling for the doctor, who washed quickly before turning to his patient. Jack scowled slightly when the smaller man shoved him aside, but the man was already running his hand over Linnet's injured side. A few moment's later, he sighed with satisfaction and leaned up, a smile on his face. "She's a lucky young woman. The ball ricoched off a rib and is lodged fairly close to the skin. She has a cracked rib and the injury will be painful, but barring infection, she'll live. We do need to get that ball out, however, and I'll need some assistance." Ana nodded once, but Gibbs was looking slightly green around the gills, so Jack sent him outside to supervise the loading of the cargo from the Goliath to the Pearl.
Jack swept the maps and other items off the table onto the floor, and Ana covered it with a relatively clean blanket. Jack and the doctor lifted Linnet onto the table as Ana went rifling through the cabin's cupboards for other needed supplies. The doctor pulled his surgical kit out of his bag and lit a candle, using the flame to sterilize his instruments. Ana returned with a sheet which she began tearing into strips for bandages. The doctor then washed again, and turning to Ana, asked her to hold the lantern up high. Glancing at Jack, he spoke softly. "I can't give her laudanum since she's unconscious, so you'll have to hold her down. Are you sure you're up to this? It won't be pleasant, Captain."
Jack met his gaze steadily. "I've faced many things that weren't pleasant, doctor, including my own demise on several occasions. I can think of noone who deserves this task more than myself, since I was the ball's intended target."
The doctor favored him with a measuring stare of his own, then nodded. "Aye, then….let's get this over with, shall we."
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The sound of voices pulled her out of the darkness, no matter how hard she tried to remain in the floating nothingness. She felt herself being moved and groaned, feeling quite put out at being disturbed. Different sounds and scents met her ears and nose. She heard a familiar scratching sound and and was pleased with herself when she recognized the familiar whiff of a sulphur match being strick. She wondered at the tearing sounds she heard, which reminded her of the time years ago when she caught her petticoat on a nail in the stable. She was in the middle of that fond remembrance when she was suddenly on fire, sent screaming over the edge into madness as burning flames licked at her side…her eyes flew open and she was momentarily blinded by the bright lights above her. She could see blurred figures standing around her, and then a piece of hard leather was thrust into her mouth, tasting subtly of what she recognized as rum. Before she had time to even think to struggle against this intrusion there came another pain, even worse than the first and her eyes squeezed shut as she cried out. Somewhere in her subconscious mind she realized that the leather was there to prevent her from biting her own tongue, but that understanding brought with it no comfort. She was screaming, her hands clutching at the blanket below her as sharp objects poked and prodded the already agonizing wound, and try as she might she couldn't free her arms to stop them. Finally she felt a particularly sharp pain followed by the thud of metal hitting metal, and the probing stopped. Another wave of fire swept through her side, but this time she was so exhausted all she could do was moan.
Jack winced with sympathy as the girls body went limp as the doctor washed her wound with the brandy before stitching the wound lightly and wrapping it with strips of torn sheet. She had fought hard against him, and her torment had nearly broken his blackened heart as she lay writhing in agony on the table.
As the doctor finished his minstrations, she felt the pressure on her arms ease and gentle hands wiping the tracks of tears from her face. The leather was removed, and she was eased up to a semi sitting position, someone's arm and shoulder supporting her. She opened her eyes as a cup was placed to her lips, and she drank it thirstily. "There's my brave girl…drink up." When she finished she looked up at the speaker, to find that it was the very man whom she had held a gun on, the man with the chocolate brown eyes. She started to speak but he placed a finger, first to her lips and then to his own. "Shhh… you've had a bit of a trying day, so you'd best lie back and let the laudanum do it's job, ay?" Her eyes were drawn to the beads strung in his hair, and she managed to reach out and touch them for a moment before the medicine took effect, smiling softly as she faded from consciousness into a drug induced sleep.
Laying her gently back against the pillow, Jack went to the cabin door and called to his men, ordering them to take down The Goliath's sails and toss them overboard before preparing to depart. Calling Boyle and Jonas to him, he instructed them to return to the women's stateroom and retrieve their belongings. Anamarie dressed Linnet in one of Captain Johnson's shirts for modesty, and wrapped her in a clean blanket for her transfer to The Pearl. When the doctor protested his decision, Jack silenced him with a frosty glare. "Whether by fate or by accident I owe this woman my life, doctor, and I always pay my debts. She and her companion will remain in my care and under my protection until that time." With that, he swept the unconscious Linnet up into his arms and left the cabin.
The longboat was just returning from carrying over the last of the cargo, and Jack had a few moments to observe the fragile woman in his arms. Her dark brown hair glowed with rich auburn highlights in the late afternoon sun, and her pale complexion, though reddened now by her recent tears, was flawless. Beneath the flowing man's shirt she wore, this "Linnie" was well formed, being not rail thin nor overly voluptuous. The one thing she had in excess of was spirit, and that surprised him, as most well brought up females of the times had that driven out of them by the age of 20, a rare exception being a Governor's daughter of his particular acquaintance. He didn't often come across anyone brave enough or stupid enough to try and take on an entire shipload of pirates, especially with an unloaded pistol, and from their short conversation, she didn't appear to be lacking in wit.The longboat finally touched the side, and Jack carefully handed her down to the crew, climbing down to take a seat in the bow before taking Linnet back in his arms. He settled her down across his lap again, and smiled faintly when she turned towards him, whimpering when her side pained her, then settling down once more with a sigh. It wasn't long before the hull of his ship loomed over them, and he handed her carefully to his crew's waiting arms. "Welcome to the Pearl, love." he murmured, taking her back once more and heading to his cabin.
