Pocahontas's POV
"No." I whispered as John passed out.
"Pocahontas!" It was Nakoma. I looked up with tears rolling down my face.
"Nakoma!" I said.
"What happened?"
"The man shot him!" I said between sobs. Suddenly, the red-haired boy who had shot Kocoum- Thomas- came running up the cliff.
"Oh no." He muttered.
"What do we do?" I asked.
"We take him to Jamestown as fast as possible." Thomas said and I agreed. I looked around. Where was my father?
"Nakoma, where is my father?" I asked.
"He went to get Kekata." Nakoma explained. Three more men from John's village ran up to help us. They carefully moved him onto something and carried him down the cliff. I looked at Nakoma.
"You better go with them!" Nakoma suggested and I knew that was a good idea. I hugged her and followed close behind John and the others. A million things swirled through my mind. What would happen next?
...oOo...
"He's alive, but just barely." I heard Thomas say to some of John's friends.
"What'll happen to him?" I heard one ask.
"He'll probably have to go back to England." Thomas answered.
No, I thought.
"But Thomas, you know as well as we do why he can't! If he does survive, you know Ratcliffe will have him hanged!"
"But he'll die if he stays!" Thomas protested. Why were they making the decisions for John? He could make up his mind on his own! Just because he was injured didn't mean he couldn't make his own choices!
"I guess it's up to him if he stays or not. I'll talk to Pocahontas about it tomorrow and see what she thinks we should do." Thomas said. "But it's most likely that John won't even be awake by then." Thomas said.
No, he's going to wake up! He has to wake up! He can't die on me now!
"Thomas, how do you know? He might wake up by then! You don't ever know!" One grumbled.
"Still, if I were you, I'd just be prepared for the worst." Thomas said and I felt my eyes fill with unwanted tears. John couldn't die! He just couldn't! Thomas came out of the cabin and I leapt to my feet. He didn't see me because I had sat down in the shadows.
"Thomas." I whispered and I could tell by the way my voice sounded that I would break any minute.
"Pocahontas!" Thomas said, surprised to see me. "I thought you had gone home hours ago with your father and the medicine man!" Thomas said and I shook my head.
"I couldn't leave. Thomas, I heard what you said. Please, we can't let him die!" I said and Thomas shook his head.
"Pocahontas, I don't know what to do. We don't have a doctor here in Jamestown and Kekata told us today that he didn't know how to treat a gunshot wound."
"Thomas, please!" I pleaded.
"We're doing all we can, Pocahontas. Meanwhile, you need to get some rest." I shook my head again.
"No. Thomas, can I see him?" I asked and Thomas shrugged.
"Sure, but I have to warn you that he doesn't look too good." He said and I swallowed hard. I knew that he probably wouldn't.
"I'm fine. Thomas, please, just…" I said and Thomas led into the cabin. It was small and one room, like our huts, and Thomas and the others left me in there. I looked at John. Thomas had been right. There was a bandage around John's waist where he had gotten shot. It was blood-soaked and his breathing was short and shallow. He was shaking a little so I knew he was sick, too, as well as injured. I went over to him silently. Surely he would survive! He had to! I couldn't live without him! Not after everything we'd been through! I sat down next to him and I felt tears begin to fall.
"Please wake up, John." I whispered. I felt of his forehead. He was burning up. That's when I began to get worried. Infection? No, he couldn't have an infection! Infection in this type of wound would surely kill him!
"It's just shock." I looked up to see Thomas.
"Thomas!" I said, surprised. "It's not infection?"
"No, just shock. He'll wake up, soon, Pocahontas, don't worry. He won't leave you."
I hoped he was right.
...oOo...
The next morning, I awoke in my hut in my village. I wondered how I had gotten there, but I figured my father had brought me home. I leapt up and ran to Jamestown as fast as I could. I ran into Thomas on the way in.
"Pocahontas!" He said, grinning.
"Wingapo, Thomas. How's John?" I asked.
"Well, the fever's broken. Now we wait for him to wake up." Thomas said and I thanked him and ran to the cabin. I wasn't surprised to find John in the exact same spot as before. I went over and sat down beside him.
"Please, John, wake up. I can't live without you."
John's POV
Please, John, wake up. I can't live without you.
I didn't know where I was, but I knew that that was Pocahontas talking to me. I tried to move, but an intense pain made that almost impossible.
What's wrong with me? I thought to myself and then I remembered: I had been shot. It hurt too much to move.
"Pocahontas?" I asked.
Pocahontas's
POV
"Pocahontas?" My head snapped up. John opened his eyes and tried to move.
"John!" I cried as I hugged him, careful not to hurt him. "I'd thought I lost you." I sobbed.
"I thought you had lost me, too." He said and I laughed through my tears. "But you didn't."
"No, I didn't." I said. I was so happy he was alive. "But there's something you need to know." I said and he looked at me with a questioning gaze.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked.
"You have to go back." I said.
"What? Pocahontas, I can't leave you here!" He protested but I shook my head. He wasn't going to win this one.
"No, John, you have to go back! You'll die if you stay here!" I said.
"But I'll die if I go back!" He said.
He knows that Ratcliffe will be after him. I thought.
"Ratcliffe will be after you, but you have a better chance for survival in England than here." I said sadly. John was quiet. Suddenly, the door opened and we both looked towards it. There stood Thomas.
"John! You're awake!" Thomas exclaimed. John glanced at me ten looked back at Thomas.
"Hello to you too." He said. Thomas smiled and practically ran over to us.
"How are you feeling?" Thomas asked.
"Like I stepped in front of a bullet." John said with a smile.
"I'm serious." Thomas said.
"So am I. It's awful to move. It hurts like crazy." John said and I squeezed his hand.
"We need to change the dressing anyway." Thomas said and I moved aside so he could help John. He cut the bandage and I could finally see the wound fully. I bit my lip at it. It did look painful. It was pretty deep and there was dried blood all around it and it was still bleeding.
"We need to apply some herbs that Kekata gave us so it doesn't get infected. Kekata said that this will sting a lot, John." He said and I took John's hand again. John gritted his teeth and squeezed my hand when Thomas applied the herbs. I could tell that he was having a hard time not to scream out. Finally, Thomas was done and John had to sit up so that we could reapply the bandage. He laid back down and closed his eyes for a minute.
"I'm not going back, Thomas." John finally said.
"But John…" We both started in unison, but John stopped us.
"I will not go back. This is where I belong and I'm not going back." He said and I knew I was going to cry.
"Please, John, you'll die if you stay here!" I pleaded, but John shook his head. I knew John was stubborn, but not that stubborn.
"I'm sorry, Pocahontas, but I'm not leaving. The others can leave and come back with a doctor; I'm not going back." I sighed and so did Thomas. We had lost.
...oOo...
A week later, the ship was ready to depart for England. John wouldn't be on it. He had refused and once John Smith made up his mind, there was no changing it. Thomas and I found that out the hard way.
"We'll bring back the doctor you need." One of John's friends said. John nodded. He still couldn't move that much, but he was slowly trying his luck by trying to stand up and walk around.
"Be careful." John said and the men nodded. Then they left. I watched as the ship left the port. I hoped that they would return soon with the doctor John needed. Only then would the moonlight turn to daylight.
To be continued…
A/N- Well, the sequel will be here soon! Please review!
By the way, Pocahontas meant that the possibility of losing John would be gone once the doctor comes when she said that only then could the moonlight turn to daylight.
Thanks!
-Robin