It was mid-afternoon of the third day since she'd taken sick and Elizabeth was still ill. Will was very worried. Their food supply was basically table scraps, and there was barely any fresh water on board. They were still two days away from reaching land, if the weather held up. Elizabeth was listless and she appeared very weak to Will. He'd barely slept a wink since she'd gotten sick, and refused to leave her side unless he absolutely had to.

Jack was patrolling the bow when he saw Will trudge around with a fourth-filled bucket of water dangling from his hand. Jack made his way over to him. "Excuse me, do I know you?" Jack teased. "I could swear you were young, impulsive Will Turner, but that couldn't be. He's a sturdy fellow with a notorious streak of sometimes ludicrous determination about him. Not some wimpy-legged whelp with two eyes like a raccoon!" Will just looked at him forlornly. Ordinarily, he might have given a grin, but he was too burdened to join in with Jack's merriment. "You look bloody awful, mate." Jack said with true concern. "Been burning the midnight candle too long, eh?"

"Elizabeth needs me." Will said firmly.

"How is she?" Jack asked.

Will drew a heavy breath. "I believe she's getting worse, Jack!" He told him fearfully. "And I just can't seem to make her well. I don't know how she can possibly get better with the alarming lack of water we've got!" Jack bit his lip.

"When was the last time you been down to your bunk?" He asked sternly.

"What? I don't know." Will shrugged lightly.

"I'll be a-takin' that for ya." Jack said, gripping the rope of the bucket.

"Jack, I..."

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack hollered, startling Will in his dazed state. Gibbs came from around the mast and appeared.

"Sir?" He asked attentively.

"Please be kind enough to escort young Master Turner down to the bunker, if you will." Jack commanded.

"Aye, sir." Gibbs nodded.

"Eliz-" Will tried to argue.

"You can just count on old Jack to look after your fair damsel in distress." Jack smirked. "Cuff him to his bunk if you have to." He narrowed his eyes at Gibbs who silently promised to do so as he firmly pulled Will along, under duress.

Jack peeked inside Elizabeth's door. She was sleeping restlessly and looked so unhappy. Jack tiptoed inside, gently closing the door behind him and made his way over to the bed. He felt the back of his hand against her flushed face. She was burning up! "Not good." Jack grunted to himself. He sat down next to the bed and placed a cool, wet rag on her forehead, to which she grimaced and groaned at the sudden coolness. "It's all right, luv." Jack shushed her. Elizabeth turned her face in the other direction and coughed painfully. She looked so fragile.

Jack had managed to find an onion in the larder, which he placed on a saucer and set it on the nightstand next to Elizabeth's bed, to draw out the germs in the air. Jack sat on the chair, looking at his compass. Elizabeth was moaning a lot in her sleep, and she kept tossing around so that Jack had to be on hand to make sure the rag on her head didn't fall off. At one point, Elizabeth just lay still but she sounded like she was crying. "Elizabeth?" Jack spoke quietly. A small sob came up. "Izzie, what's the matter?" Jack prodded further.

"O...no...on't! No..." Elizabeth cried in her sleep. Then she startled Jack by jolting up in the bed. "No, fath-!" Elizabeth gasped as her eyes wildly blinked open.

"Easy there, luv." Jack said calmly, pushing back on her shoulders. "You're safe." Elizabeth frantically looked around the room.

"Jack! My-my father..." Elizabeth tried to speak.

"He's...he's gone, Izzie." Jack said sorrowfully.

"Jack, w-where are we?" Elizabeth asked. Jack frowned at her with concern.

"Where are we? We're on the Black Pearl."

Elizabeth blinked several times, till her eyes adjusted to the familiar surroundings and the ship gently lulled underneath them on the ocean water. "I...I thought we were on land." Elizabeth panted, trying to catch her breath and shivering.

"You were dreaming, luv. It's nothing." Jack assured her. He offered her some water. Her jaw trembled with chills as she drank it.

"It was awful." She hung her head.

"Must have been really awful. You were crying and rolling around in your sleep." Jack said. Elizabeth shuddered and look so defeated. "You want to tell me about it? It'll make you feel better. And you don't need to spare any details, luv. Old Jack can take it." Elizabeth's lip trembled.

"Cutler Beckett made a public example of my father, and then...then he..." Elizabeth burst out in tears. "He tortured him, and enjoyed every bloody moment of it!" She seethed, her body shaking. "My father was so weak, Jack. He couldn't defend himself! Then Beckett had him thrown into the street for dead, where he could get trampled on. I couldn't do anything to save him!" She sobbed. "I watched him die...it was so horrible..."

Jack stared thoughtfully. She hadn't been able to give her father a proper goodbye before or even after he was killed! And she always felt responsible for his anxious turmoil all those months she'd been out at sea, not knowing if she was even still alive. Jack gently touched her shoulder, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "It wasn't your fault, Elizabeth." He said quietly.

"But it was so real, Jack." Elizabeth whimpered. "I..." she shivered and covered her face with her hands. "I miss him so."

"Aye." Jack mumbled, nodding. Elizabeth was so distraught, that she leaned her head forward on his arm. Jack was surprised, and at first not sure what to do, but then he patted her shoulder. He just let her cry a little till she seemed to have cried all she could. "You need your sleep, luv. You really should get some rest." He said to her. Elizabeth leaned back and dizzily sat up. Her head was swarming.

"Thank you, Jack." She said tearfully in a weary voice. Her pale countenance looked so drained. "You're a good friend."

"So true." Jack smirked, trying to cheer her up. Elizabeth sniffled and let her head fall back on the pillow. She lay on her side and gazed blankly through the cracks in the wall at the evening colors outside. "There, there. Go to sleep, Elizabeth. You'll feel better," Jack said as he gently dabbed her forehead with the rag. Elizabeth said nothing, but continued to shiver, till she fell asleep.