For a moment, Jack just stood there, unsure of what to do. It wasn't like Elizabeth to keel over. He fanned his hand in front of her face. "Lizzie? Lizzie?" He spoke. No response. He sighed heavily and scooped his arms under her.
"Cap'n! What's happened?!" Gibbs gasped when he saw Elizabeth unconscious.
"I really don't know." Jack shook his head. "But I figure the best thing to do is get her to bed. Best find Mr. Turner, Mr. Gibbs." Gibbs raced away. Jack briefly felt Elizabeth's forehead, checking for fever. "Blimey!" His eyes widened. "She's burning up!"
"Out of my way!" He heard Will's frantic voice echo across the deck. Will collided with Barbossa, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"See here now, lad..." Barbossa growled, "what's the big idea?"
Will ignored him and made his way to the helm stairs. "Elizabeth..." He breathed. "Jack, what happened to her?!" He hollered.
"Don't know, mate. One minute she was complaining about the climate, next?" Jack shrugged. "Voila. I think she's fainted. But she appears feverish. I believe she's ill."
Will darted forward. "Give her to me!" He begged. He grabbed his love from Jack and tenderly carried her inside.
"What did you do to the lass this time, Jack?" Barbossa scolded.
"Me? Nothing!" Jack huffed defensively. "How come when there's trouble aboard, the first thing any good man ever does is assume I'm the plague carrier?"
"Ye mean that ain't gotten through yur empty head yet?" Barbossa squinted.
"The lass is not well." Jack said. "Turner might need a hand." He elbowed Barbossa aside as he scurried away to the cabin inside.
Will had gently lay Elizabeth back in her bed. He removed her shoes and placed the covers around her. "Elizabeth?" He whispered worriedly. "Elizabeth?" He took her hand and held it firmly. Jack quietly tip-toed inside.
"Will, how is she?" He asked quietly. "Has she come to?"
"No." Will shook his head. "She's out like a light. Did she say anything to you, Jack? Had she complained about feeling ill?"
Jack scratched the back of his neck, trying to remember if he'd missed anything the passed couple days. "Not that I recall, mate." He mumbled. "If she was a bit off course, I'm afraid I did not notice."
Will shook his head. "I should've noticed something!" He muttered, scolding himself. "I suppose she was unusually quiet last night, but I thought..." At that moment, Elizabeth coughed harshly, startling her back to consciousness. "I'm here, Elizabeth." Will said. Elizabeth breathed rapidly, trying to regain her bearings. She smiled when she saw Will. "You're shaking." Will noted unhappily.
"It's...it's a bit cold in here." Elizabeth responded, shivering.
"No. You're sick, Elizabeth. You must rest." Will told her.
"I d-don't understand it." Elizabeth groaned. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know." Will sighed. "But I'm going to take care of you." Elizabeth clenched his strong, warm hand.
"Oh, Jack." She noticed he was also in the room. "I didn't see you there."
"How could you not?" Jack feigned offense, earning a chuckle from her. "You need to stay in bed, Elizabeth."
"Ordinarily, I would be shoving the two of you out of my way, but..." Elizabeth sighed, curling up. Will tucked the covers in closer under her chin. "For once, I'm too exhausted to argue with you."
Jack's eyes nearly popped out. "Well, this is extraordinary." He said wryly. "I never thought I would hear those words from you!"
"At least she's a better patient than I imagine you are." Will teased.
"Correction, lad." Jack frowned. "That is not so, because I have never been a patient in my life. And if I have my way about it, I never will be." He said cockily.
With all the rum he lives on, and his personal cleanliness habits, or lack thereof, I'm shocked he's in such good health! Elizabeth thought. Her body shook as she began coughing again.
"I'll fetch some water." Jack said.
"Thank you, Jack." Will smiled gratefully. He remained by the sick bed. "Try to get some rest." He said gently, stroking Elizabeth's heated face when she finished barking.
"I'm sorry you have to see me this way." Elizabeth hung her head. She felt so weak.
"I don't enjoy seeing you so unwell like this." Will shrugged. "But, it does give us an excuse to spend some quiet time together." Elizabeth smiled warmly.
"Don't tell me you would like me to make a habit of this!" She teased.
"No. At least, not under these trying circumstances." Will grinned. Elizabeth shifted her position. "Shall I draw the drapes for you?" Will offered.
"Thank you. The light is hurting my eyes." Elizabeth nodded. Will rose and closed the simple black curtains on the small windows. He lit a candle and set it on the bed stand.
"Is that better?"
"Much." Elizabeth nodded. Her body shook as she coughed again. "Will, whatever is plaguing me, if you stick near me too long, you'll become ill as well!"
"I'm not worried about that." Will said confidently. "I will be fine. I'm worried about you. I'm going to do everything in my power to make you well."
"I know you will." Elizabeth smiled softly. She was shaking again.
"Oh, where is Jack with that water?" Will spoke impatiently.
"Ye want it served on a silver tray, like in London, or shall I just dump it on your head?" Jack chortled behind him at that moment.
"Now is not the time, Jack." Will said firmly, standing up. He took the bucket away from Jack. "Much obliged, mate." Will sat back down, pulled his handkerchief from his pocket, dipped it in the water, then slowly folded it on Elizabeth's forehead. She slightly flinched when it touched her.
"Will, it's so cold!" She gasped.
"Sorry." Will gulped. "But you best keep it on."
"I know." Elizabeth nodded and coughed.
"Shh." Will shushed her quietly. "Try to rest."
"Jack, you should probably leave. I'm not sure just what I have, but you being in here could spread it to the other men."
"Don't worry about me, love." Jack grinned. "I am indestructible." Will rolled his eyes. But Elizabeth did have a point. Whatever this sickness was, it had come on suddenly and who knew better than that it would or wouldn't effect his men? "I'll be outside at the wheel if you need anything. If it becomes a matter of desperate need, just holler for me. You know where I'll be."
"Thank you, Jack." Elizabeth said sleepily. Jack exited the room. Elizabeth looked once more into Will's gorgeous dark eyes before closing her own and trying to doze off the aches and chills.
"That's it. Sleep." Will smiled, gripping her hand.
As Jack made his way back outside, he was greeted by a solemn, concerned band of men standing there anxiously. "What?" Jack sputtered. "You all appear as if we're headed to a sand bar."
"How is Miss Swann, Jack?" Gibbs spoke first.
"Poorly." Jack sighed. "But she is in good hands. Very...good...hands." He quipped.
"So, what is it, Cap'n?" Pintel asked.
"Don't rightly know yet." Jack replied, shaking his head.
"Is there a chance of it spreadin', among the crew?" One of the other men blurted.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Jack said confidently. "Now all of you get back to work. No one is allowed inside the lassie's cabin, 'cept Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Turner, or myself. Understood? Good. Now to your stations!"
"Aye, sir!" The men hollered then went back about their business.
"Is there anything I can do to help, Jack?" Gibbs persisted.
"Just be on hand, in case young William needs an assistant."
"Jack, what ya thinkin' it could be?"
"I don't know." Jack said, as he made his way to the wheel. He took his place and gazed out to the horizon.
"How's the boy?" Barbossa whispered in Jack's ear.
"Scared, but level-headed. As level-headed as is possible for a Turner, I suppose."
It had taken Elizabeth a couple hours to finally be able to relax after coughing and shivering so much. Will was incredibly relieved when she finally went to sleep. But even then, he remained at her bedside, and religiously kept cooling and dabbing her face with the water-logged handkerchief. He kept going over and over again in his head, trying to retrieve any signs he must have missed of Elizabeth's subtle symptoms.
"Cap'n!" Pintel startled Jack who was intensely studying his compass. He was so stunned that he flailed his arms and the compass went flying.
"Great Scott, man! Don't be a scarin' me outta my own skin like that again!" Jack barked. He clutched the compass to his chest. "I nearly lost this because of you!"
"Sorry, Cap'n." Pintel said timidly. "But there's a somethin' ye oughtta know."
"What is that?"
"Well, I was a 'memberin' a couple days ago, when we stopped on land at that charmin' little village. It was a rainin' somethin fierce, ye remember?"
"Aye." Jack nodded. Ragetti clambered up to them and bumped into Pintel who fell forward onto Jack. Jack shoved them away quickly and brushed off his clothes.
"Really." Jack muttered.
"Sorry! Sorry." Ragetti shrank back.
"I was just a tellin' the cap'n about what we discovered." Pintel said.
"About what?"
"About our poppet, ye lame brain!" Pintel smacked his friend on the back of his head.
"Oh, right! Right." Ragetti nodded.
"Out with it." Jack sighed.
"Well, I seem to remember we was a mindin' our own business, ye know, ladies, and all that." Pintel explained. "And there was a bit of a chill as we was down in a valley."
"Miss Swann had no coat." Ragetti said. "Not like the rest of us. To keep out the chill and the rain. She'd had one when we came on land, but not when we set sail again."
"That might explain the sudden illness." Jack shrugged. "Back to work, lads." Pintel and Ragetti stood there as if expecting some kind of big reward. "I said back to work! That's an order!" When they didn't move, Jack pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Pintel's bald head.
"No worries, Cap'n! We're goin! We're goin!" They shuddered and ran. Jack decided to go speak with Will and Elizabeth.
"Mr. Gibbs!" He called.
"Aye, Sir?" Gibbs appeared.
"Take over." Jack told him. "I think I'll go have a chat with our bonnie invalid and her impulsive lovesick hero." He said as he made his way to Elizabeth's cabin.
Jack knocked first, not wanting to disturb Elizabeth if she was sleeping. "Who is it?" Will's voice answered.
"I!" Jack answered.
"It's open." Will responded. Jack quietly closed the door behind him and strutted over to them. Elizabeth was in her nightdress in bed, and she was glistening with sweat. She was pale and coughed harshly.
"Well?" Jack asked.
"Her fever is going up, Jack," Will said worriedly. "She can't relax. This is looking more and more to me like influenza."
"Ya think so." Jack grunted.
"Yes. She has all the symptoms."
"Well, that would explain everything. I just heard from a not very reliable but hand-me-down source-two of them, actually-that when we made port a couple days ago that she didn't return on the ship with her coat. There was a torrent then too."
"You're right, there was." Will looked at him. "That's odd though."
"I...it wasn't stolen." Elizabeth said shakily.
"What did happen, Elizabeth?" Will touched her arm.
"There was a poor woman there selling wicker baskets." Elizabeth said wearily. "She was old, Will, and extremely frail. She was shaking so hard I thought her bones were going to come undone! I had no choice!"
"You gave her your own cloak, right off your back. Just like that?" Jack asked.
"I had to." Elizabeth said firmly. "She could have gotten pneumonia and died, with her age and her frail health."
"So, my diagnosis was correct." Will stated slowly. "We must keep the visitors in here limited, Jack. Only..."
"That's been taken care of, mate." Jack cut him off.
"Thank you."
"Can I get you anything, Elizabeth?" Jack offered. "An extra blanket? Perhaps...a bit of rum?" He teased. Elizabeth groaned, shaking her head which made it ache worse.
"Honestly, Jack." Will snapped. He wished his friend would get serious. Influenza wasn't a mere case of poison ivy. It could change course and turn serious if it chose to. "Some more water would be most appreciated." Jack grabbed the bucket.
"Just so you know, I'm doin' this for her, not you." Jack said as he shut the door, venturing outside.
"Will, it's c-cold in here." Elizabeth moaned, shivering and scrunching into a fetal position under the covers, trying to get warm.
Will removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, carefully lifting her hair up so that it didn't become smothered from underneath his cloak. "Here."
"Thank you." Elizabeth whispered. Will firmly held her hand.
"You'll be all right, Elizabeth. I'm here." He assured her. "I won't leave you."