Usual Disclaimers…I own nothing and have no hope of ever doing so…author standing on a sidewalk with a sign "Will Write for Food"
Chapter 11: Bits or Smithereens
Adelaide slipped in and out of consciousness. When she was lucid, she realized that she was not in her cabin. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, yet many of her possessions were scattered around. She recognized the drapes drawn closed on the windows as the ones she had personally chosen years ago. The portrait of Lady Emily was on the table near the bed. The sheets felt familiar, but they were the wrong color, she thought absently. She could have sworn that hers were red and these were dark blue. At one point she saw her sword hanging from a peg near the door. When she woke again it was gone. The ship didn't feel right. It didn't move like the Midnight's Dove. These inconsistencies shifted around in her muddled brain. It hurt to try to move, to think. Once when she woke she could swear there was an old pirate leaning over her with the most obnoxious bird on his shoulder. Another time it was Jack. That confused her enough to welcome the black oblivion of unconsciousness.
88888888
She was on fire. Adelaide could feel the flames pulsing under her skin. She had to ease this feeling. Although knives of pain shot through her chest, she tried to rip the layers of blankets off of her body. Hands grabbed hers, forcing them to release the blankets. She struggled against the hands holding her down, succeeding only in causing pain to sear through her whole body. With a whimper she collapsed back onto the bed. She summoned what was left of her strength to open her eyes. Jack was leaning over her, his hands tenderly holding her down and his face disturbingly close to hers. The light from a lantern reflected in his dark eyes.
"Now, luv, you can't go kicking and pushing around like that or you will rip Cotton's neat stitch work. He is partial to neatness, wouldn't want to be upsetting the doctor now would we? That is never a sound decision in regards to a person's health." While he prattled on Jack shifted her gently back onto her pillow and began tucking the blankets snuggly around her. Adelaide tried to follow his conversation but she couldn't. The heat was slowly and completely suffocating her. She felt as if the air she was breathing was hot thick liquid.
Adelaide opened her mouth to shout her protest to Jack's actions. All she managed was a harsh whisper, "Hot."
The sound of her voice stilled Jack's hands. He lifted a hand to feel her cheek. He cursed harshly at what he found. In two strides he was at the cabin door shouting for cold water. Her eyes flew open when the blankets were ripped off the bed. Thankful for the cool air that relieved some of the heat she felt Adelaide sighed. Adelaide closed her eyes hoping to slip back into sleep. She didn't register the sounds of the crewmen bringing in the water and pouring it into a large brass tub. Or the sound of the door closing as they left. She felt Jack's hands brush against her as he began to methodically removing her clothing.
She did not have the strength to fight him and welcomed the further relief from the heat as they were pulled away from her body. She was almost asleep once more when Jack took her into his arms. Wanting only to rest, she ignored him. Jack carried her across the room and stepped, fully clothed, into the tub. Steeling himself against the cold he sat down and settled Adelaide into his lap.
The water of the bath was a shock to her whole system. She tried to scream but it only came out as a pitiful whimper. Jack shifted her on his lap so that her back was leaning up against his chest. He used his hands to pour water over Adelaide's shoulders. She tried to pull away from him but the attempt drained her of what little strength she had. She collapsed against Jack. She resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die soaking wet caught between being freezing cold and unbelievably hot. And in the arms of the man who should be her greatest rival.
Jack distracted her when he spoke. "I am sorry, Addy-girl. We need to bring down your fever. Your wound is blessedly free of infection but we can't risk having you burn up with fever."
He continued to talk in low soothing tones. Adelaide lost track of what he was actually saying until she heard the words 'Port Royal' quite clearly. "What—what did you say?"
Her voice was coming back Jack noticed. But she was still unable to pay attention to a conversation. He was having a hard time of it too. It took all his concentration to keep his hands from touching her. The fact that she was injured was the only thing that stopped him. And he was tempted to ignore it. After all he was only human and she was sitting naked and wet in his lap. "I said that we are about one day out of Port Royal so you will soon be in the care of a qualified physician instead of a mute pirate medic."
"Port Royal! Jack you can't just sail into the harbor. Norrington will have you arrested and hung before sundown."
"I am, as always, touched by your faith in my abilities, my dear."
"Jack, you could be the best pirate in the world and it would still be suicide to sail straight into a navy port."
"Could be? Darling, I am the best pirate in the world."
"Don't make me laugh, it hurts. And don't try to distract me. What good is it for you to try to break my fever if you are just going to kill me tomorrow?"
"Why would I kill you when you are the key to my survival?"
"What sense does that make?"
"Norrington would not open fire on the ship that is holding the governor's niece. And I plan to play heavily on that fact."
"That only works if he knows I am on board. And he is laboring under the assumption that I am well on my way back to England. So that brings us back to being blown to bits."
"As I commented earlier to Gibbs, it would be smithereens, not bits. I know Norrington well enough to know he would rather see me hung than die fighting. Not to mention he would want to know what would cause me to sail straight into the harbor when I could easily slip into the town unnoticed."
"I still say it is suicide."
"That would be why I am captain of this vessel and you are not." Jack regretted his statement as soon as the words were out of his mouth. What was it about this woman that made him loose control so easily? He hadn't wanted to have the subject of the Midnight's Dove come up until she was well on the way to recovery. Damn it, he wished he had held his temper. He waited for her to ask the question. Adelaide merely leaned her head back against his chest. The silence hung heavily in the air. To busy himself Jack shifted Adelaide to the other side of the tub and stood. He grabbed one of the towels he had placed near the tub and stepped out. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't even think about moving until I come back."
Adelaide gave him a half-hearted glare and closed her eyes. The water was ice cold but she welcomed the break from the heat of the fever. Even the short argument with Jack had exhausted her. She heard Jack moving around the cabin. She lifted one lid to see what he was doing. She was greeted with an enticing view of his bare back. His wiry frame was surprisingly muscular. While Adelaide watched, Jack loosened his belt and began to strip off his pants. Adelaide shut her eyes tightly. Appealing as the view was she was in no condition to start anything with Jack. And she had a feeling that if Jack caught her watching him that would be precisely what happened. Well maybe it wouldn't hurt to peak. Adelaide leaned her head back on the tub and proceeded to take in the show, watching from below her lashes.
Jack let his breath out in a frustrated hiss as he jerked open the drawer that held his dry linen shirts. Did she think that he could not feel her gaze? Ignoring Adelaide was costing him dearly. Never before had Jack bothered to try and act in a gentlemanly fashion. It had never mattered. Whores did not need to be wooed or handled with kid gloves. Neither did the occasional widow or married woman that Jack had been known to dally with while in various ports. Adelaide was different, and for some reason the escaped him, Jack was struggling to remember the long-forgotten rules of decorum that his mother had drummed into his brain at an early age. Rules he had promptly forgotten in favor of survival when he began his life on the sea. And the effort was costing him dearly. If he didn't get a hold of himself he was going to do something he was sure he would regret when his thinking returned.
Adelaide watched Jack's jerky movements as he pulled a shirt over his head. His shoulders are so tense, she thought. She snapped her eyes shut when he turned back toward her. She felt his eyes on her face. She hoped her cheeks weren't burning up with blush as she suspected they were. Mentally shaking herself, she reminded herself that she had no reason to be embarrassed by the fact she lay naked for Jack to see. Hadn't she just been taking advantage of his lack of clothing moments before? Well she might as well take her fair share and meet his gaze.
When Adelaide opened her eyes Jack smirked. Her neck stiffened at his expression. What did he think he was laughing at? It was not like he was an example of bodily perfection. Hell, he had a scar that traveled down his arm from elbow to wrist, spidering across his forearm. There were two scars from bullets on his chest and on his right wrist he bore the pirate brand from the East India Trading Company. When Adelaide's gaze returned to Jack's face he raised an eyebrow. "Are you finished with your review? Am I up to snuff?"
"I was just trying to figure out what exactly so many people are afraid of, when I look at you a see a skinny pompous pirate with delusions of grandeur. Honestly, Jack, Do you think that you will be able to sail bold as brass into Port Royal and Norrington will refrain from blowing the ship to smithereens before he bothers to ask any questions?"
"My dear, as I said before, Norrington would not deprive himself of the pleasure of watching me dangling at the end of a rope. And don't think that our little Elizabeth would stand quietly while Norrington blew us to bits. I would bet good money that she will be at the fort shortly after word gets out that we have been sighted in the area. My only hope is that Gillette and the Dauntless are not in port or we may have more of a problem on our hands then we are bargaining for."
"We? You use that term rather loosely for my tastes, Sparrow. This is a temporary situation, us being on the same ship. As soon as we reach Port Royal, we part ways." Adelaide tried to cross her arms over her chest to give herself the feeling of a barrier between her thoughts and Jack's gaze. She inhaled sharply at the spear of pain that ran deep into her chest.
Jack was across the room in three strides. Bending down to scoop her out of the tub he muttered, "You twit, you had a blade thrust through your chest less then a week ago and you don't have the senses not to squeeze the wound? If you rip any of Cotton's stitches you will have to be conscious when he sews you back together this time. Maybe then you will think before you pick a fight with me."
"Pick a fight with you? How, exactly, was I picking a fight with you, Captain Sparrow?" Adelaide's chin lifted as she gave him a derisive look. When Jack placed her back on the bed she immediately pulled the sheet over her body. Feeling fortified, she faced Jack, ready to continue their argument.
"You know very well that implying that our relationship will end when we arrive in Port Royal would aggravate me and you said it to deliberately provoke me into an argument. While I usually enjoy going toe to toe with you I am not in the mood for it at the moment." Jack gestured vaguely as he started to leave.
"Relationship? What relationship, Sparrow?" Adelaide threw back at him. "We had a business dealing together, and that is all. I am grateful for your assistance in fighting the Hunter but I will not allow you to use that circumstance to weasel your way into my life. You do not, by any means, have the right to make my decisions for me."
Jack's face clouded with fury as he stepped closer to the bed. "Have you forgotten, my dear Adelaide, the conditions of our business dealings? I haven't. I seem to remember that if I happen to emerge the victor your decisions will in fact be made through me." Jack paused and leaned so that his face was close to Adelaide's. "And you would do well to remember that the wager is far from finished."
"The conditions of the wager are that I will occupy your bed until you no longer want me there. No where in the wager did we say that you controlled every aspect of my life during the time I spent in your bed." Adelaide shut her eyes, prepared to ignore any thing else that Jack said.
Jack's bottled up fury darkened and struggled to break free from his hold. In a brief short-lived fantasy, he imagined his hands wrapped around her throat. Yes, he believed that at this moment he could strangle the woman, quite cheerfully. She was more obstinate then a mule. She couldn't even give him an inch. Why was he getting himself entangled with a woman like her? All she did was tie him in knots, and rile his temper. What was this almost instinctive need to protect her? This obsessive need to be near her? This couldn't be healthy…maybe here fever was catching. Was that even possible?
Jack shook his head to clear it of these crazy thoughts. He took a deep breath to give Adelaide a piece of his mind, but when he opened his eyes she was asleep, her breath coming softly. With a sigh of frustration Jack sat on the edge of the bunk. He laid his hand against her cheek. Adelaide sighed in her sleep and turned into Jack's hand. Jack pressed his other hand against his chest and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He forced himself to stand up, dim the lanterns, and slip from the room. Maybe there still was cargo to move below decks because Jack was not going to be getting any sleep tonight.
88888888
Alrighty then…. It has been like 6 months…two hurricanes…one semester freezing my ass off in Boston…Here is the actual ending of this chapter. And there will be another chapter by next Monday I SWEAR! I hope I haven't lost too many of you guys.