Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Simple as that.
A/N:I almost died when I looked at this chapter and realized how horribly this was edited. I am sorry for all of you who were forced to read through the mistakes. I hope that this time around it's much better. If there was anything I missed, please, feel free to chase me with pitchforks as revenge. I'M SO SORRY FOR THE BAD EDITING JOB!!!!
Jack's Daughter-Chap5-
I didn't remember falling asleep. I didn't remember Jack carrying me away from the helm. I didn't know where I was. I assumed I was lying bed, but in what room that bed was in, I didn't know. How come there was movement below me? Was I on ship? When I had gotten onto one? My head pounded in my skull, echoing like the banging pulse of hammers on the forge. I grimaced, the questions continued to rattle through my head, making very little sense to me. Everything hurt so much. Why? What had happened? Was I injured?
A wracking cough forced its way up from my lungs. I shook with convulsions, pivoting myself into a half-sitting position. I couldn't breathe. It burned. Make it stop! Please! Just stop!
I felt myself hit the pillow again. Exhausted. The thoughts must have tired themselves out too, for my mind was strangely empty. I couldn't think. I felt so terrible.
"Dannica?"
I felt the hand on my shoulder and turned away from the touch, burying my face into the pillow that was resting behind my head. Could a ship move this much? I was still unsure where I was really on a ship; my own memory was in doubt. Maybe it was just my head, spinning in circles, circles created by the spinning vortex of my thoughts and questions.
My throat was aching, and it hurt to breathe. I struggled to suppress a cough and nearly succeeded.
"Dannica?"
The hand on my shoulder jerked me roughly, and groaning I turned away once again. I didn't know how far away the end of the bed was. I didn't know if at any moment I might roll off it, but I could have cared less.
I felt so sick. Aching. Nauseous. Was I dreaming? Was it all some horrible nightmare?
"Jack! Jack! Come here! Something's wrong with Dannica! She's burning up! "
Booted feet tore across the cabin floor, thumping loudly with each fall of the foot. It was followed by the door opening and banging shut with an ear-piercing slam. I winced, gripping the pillow with white-knuckles. Couldn't everyone quiet it down? Couldn't they see I wasn't well, that I was hurt?
"Dannie?"
Someone was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my shoulder tightly. I thought I might have recognized the touch, but my mind was so hazy, I couldn't think. I struggled to resist the pull, as I was slowly turned around to lie on my back, but my opponent was stronger. Sunlight speared into my eyes and I cried out in pain, flinging my hand across my face, hitting the arm that belonged to the hand that was holding me prisoner. I shuddered, suddenly cold. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice down my back. I shivered violently, my teeth chattering together. It drilled into my head and I moaned.
"Gibbs! Get in here you landlubber! Stay with Dannie while I get help! If I hear for one second you let her out of your line of sight I'll keel haul you! You hear?"
"Aye Captain. I won't be leavin' Miss Dannica."
I groaned as my head put another wrenching spin onto my confused state. I tried to speak, but my tongue felt swollen, clinging to the roof of my mouth, rendering me mute. I felt the weight shift off my bed and the patter of quiet steps as they headed in some unknown direction. Did those steps belong Ana-Maria? I thought they might have, but I couldn't put a coherent thought together. They all ran together, melding and twisting into one pile of tangled mass.
Bile clamped down on my throat, and with a will I didn't know I possessed, I managed to swallow it back down. It left a burning, acrid taste in my mouth.
"Do we have a doctor on board?"
It was the last words I heard before the door shut. Though the closing had been considerably quieter then the first time, it still sent vibrations up my back and into my head. I coughed pitifully, turning my head away from the sun that was spearing through some unnamed window. I shivered miserably, my fingers groping for an extra wool blanket I doubted was there. I wanted heat, warmth, comfort, please was anyone there?
"Come on Dannie. We gotta take some o' these blankets off ya. Yer burnin' up ye hear?"
Someone's fingers brushed against mine, begging for hold on the blankets that covered my body. I couldn't let them take away my only source of heat. I was so cold.
"No," I moaned it, twisting the blankets through my fingers, struggling to hold onto them. I didn't dare open my eyes, didn't dare face the brightness of the room I was in. I wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Dannie, come on listen to me. Let me help you."
Listen to the voice that sounded like it was Gibbs? The man who was mostly found passed out in a pigpen after a night of drinking? I shook my head trying to pull away from him. I couldn't relinquish the blankets. They were my protection. I would freeze without them. I would die.
Where was I? Why were they being so cruel to me?
I felt something on the edge of my subconscious that I realized had been stealthily sneaking up on me. It was a looming blackness that I felt was something to be frightened of. I shied away from it, drawing my fading strength to me like a fortress wall. What was the blackness? I knew it could only be danger. My instinct warned me, bringing together the scattered, melded fragments of thought. I struggled to fight it, but I was too weak. It consumed me, drove me under, drowned me.
I remembered nothing more.
Will's POV
I sat beside Dannica's bedside. He was alone but for a solitary lantern that swung in a continuous rhythm from its hook in the ceiling above. The shadows danced with the light, but it was more a vicious war over territory in the cabin. I hardly watched the everlasting battle, not caring who was the winner or loser. I hardly needed the light to know how Dannica's condition was frail and could shatter at any moment like the breaking of a mirror.
I turned my head back toward her, pulling my gaze away from the glow of light and shadow. I bent my head down, twining my fingers around hers, begging silently for her to hold on. I felt worry tug at me, as I watched the erratic beat of her breathing and the way her chest fluttered with each struggled breath. Her face was pallid, almost as if death had already claimed her as its victim.
Grimly I smiled, turning my head toward the door, as I heard a subtle creak. I said nothing as I saw Jack leaning against the open doorframe. He was trying to be inconspicuous, invisible. He didn't want to be seen standing at the door of his daughter's sickroom, didn't want to be seen as someone who cared about someone. He was a pirate, those emotions were not allowed, and not ones he was used to. But if there was one thing Jack couldn't be, it was inconspicuous. For his sake, I turned away, pretending I hadn't noticed him. I knew he would step no farther in the room, as if such an act would openly declare his hidden love for Dannica.
It wasn't my concern though. Jack and Dannica's relationship was their own, not mine for me to meddle in. And at this point, it was of hardly any consequence.
"Dannica?" I tried her name again, hoping against hope that she would open her eyes, laugh and say we had all fallen for some crude joke. It would have been better to what I was facing, even if I would have been mad at her for pulling it. It was heart wrenching to see her so sick. It was like watching my Mother fade away before me again.
Hot tears tickled at the corners of my eyes as I bent my head, tightening my hold on Dannica's hand. I struggled to put them away, but a few leaked away.
Faintly I heard the faint snick, indicating that Jack had left again, but I hardly paid attention to the noise. I respected his silence and there was nothing else I could do for him. Jack understood that Ana-Maria was doing her best to find the nearest port with a decent doctor. He understood, however angry it made him that there was simply no one on the ship who could help her. It was too complex, too far progressed.
My heart stuttered for a moment as my mind caught up with me and my thoughts halted suddenly, I realized that finding a decent port would meant that I would be leaving Elizabeth farther behind. Duty warred over my heart, like the battle between the shadow and the light. Neither side would win, I knew, but it tore me apart all the same. I loved Elizabeth, I could openly admit that in my mind, thought it would be another thing to say it aloud, and I knew every moment wasted was time again her. But there was Dannica too. She meant so much to Jack, even though he would never admit it, and she meant something to me too. I didn't know what it was, but it was something that tugged deeper then a friendship but not toward love. No, I already had found love with Elizabeth, no one could take her place.
"William?"
I turned my head, startled from my thoughts. I saw Ana-Maria's face, shadowed under her hat. I hadn't heard her enter. She was scowling at Dannica, her face dark, as if hoping the action would make her friend open her eyes.
"Yes?" I replied softly.
"Get some sleep. Ye've been wit' her all day. I can stay 'ere a few hours."
I shook my head. "I've only been here a few hours," I rebuked gently. "You have a ship to command. I'll stay here, but you will be the first to know if something changes."
Ana paused for a moment, eyeing me critically. I felt like I was being tested, but whatever the test was, apparently I passed, for she nodded sharply and left me alone once again.
For a moment I almost called her back, having no desire to sink back into the flood of thoughts that swirled with my mind and sought to eat me from the inside out, but I stopped myself at the last moment. She had duties more pressing then sitting here and talking to me.
I sighed, closing my eyes briefly, longing for the feel of the forge beneath my fingers, of the ringing sound of metal against metal. It was familiarity, something I was beginning to long for. It was something honest, the desire of which, I could feel slipping away like a forgotten dream. It was as if the pirate's blood inside me was stirring, awakening at the truth of my past. It burned inside me, hot and shameful. How could I ever think of dishonesty? How could I think of piracy? It was wrong. Unlawful. Yet I wanted it. Wanted it so bad, I could nearly taste it.…I stopped my thoughts, angered at where they had headed. No, I would never allow myself to become a pirate.
"William. Your face is going to get stuck in a permanent scowl if you keep that up."
Surprised by the unexpected voice, I jumped and shouted an oath as I landed uncomfortably in the hard wooden chair. My behind smarted from the ill-advised act, as I scowled down at Dannica's face. The seriousness of it faded almost as quickly as it had begun as I felt the worry gather inside me.
She was looking at me, her eyes clouded with the opaqueness of sickness. Coughs rattled from her chest and she shook with the force of them breaking free from their prison. She shivered with cold, while instead she burned hot with fever.
"Dannica." I leaned forward, easing hair away from her perspiring forehead. A few stuck, refusing to come loose, I gently pried those away, keeping my eyes locked with hers.
"Am I going to die William?"
The question shocked me. I recoiled back, dropping her hand as if it had burned me. A gasp exploded from inside me as I stared at her face, unable to reply, unable to speak. I found myself shaking with violent emotion as images crowded in my head, vying for first place. "You're not going to die," I hissed it, my voice tight. My throat was closed, making the words almost impossible to utter.
Dannica winced, as if the noise was unbearable. Her head turned away and she flinched as the light from the lantern briefly splashed across her face. "I feel…so sick," her voice trembled as she coughed again.
Concerned, I leaned forward, supporting her into a half-sitting position so I could tilt a glass of fresh water against her lips. She was barely able to swallow it, and most of it dribbled down her chin in precious drops. "Dannica, come on. You have to drink something."
Dannica shook her head, and I was forced to let her rest against the pillows again. I watched as her eyes flickered and she whimpered with the stab of light against her eyes. The lantern had rocked back, keeping in motion with the rolling gait of the ship.
"I'm so cold William. Please, can you find me a wool blanket?"
"Shh Dannica," I murmured, ignoring the request. My fingers danced nervously as I smoothed the blanket again, easing out the creases. I could hardly look at her face. It was so painful, so hard.
Images of my mother, flashed through my mind in increasing speeds. Pain burst through the dam inside me, and I forcibly bit my tongue, to keep the tears at bay. I could not think of her at a time like this! I couldn't let Dannica see I was upset. My mother was the past, Dannica was the present, and it was what was important. I could do nothing for my mother's unfortunately and untimely death, but there was still time in which I could help the woman who lay before me.
"William."
I turned my head and saw that she was trying to smile. The effort was costing her and her face flicked through emotions, almost faster then I could blink.
"No Dannica," I leaned forward, resting my fingertips across her lips. "Don't speak, don't smile. Just close your eyes, and when you wake up, you'll be better."
"Do you promise?" her voice was broken and grasping for hope. A rattling cough broke loose as she looked at me with her pleading eyes.
Heart broken I managed a nod, and squeezed her fingers in what I hoped was a consoling manner. I watched as her eyes closed and her breathing shifted patterns. It was almost unnoticeable, for even in sleep, her breathing was disturbed.
A soft, heartbroken sigh, found its way to my ears. Turning my head, I saw Jack slip away, back to his duties on the deck. I had never seen Jack express pain before and I was sharply reminded that I was not the only worried for Dannica's safety.
If only she could hold out until morning. If only she could hold out until they found a doctor.