A/D: Two days to AWE?!

Disclaimer: POTC belong to Disney.

Chapter 26

Governor Swann woke up with a headache, and a discomforting notion of being on a pirate ship.

Somehow he failed to fully acknowledge this fact the day before. And now it just hit him with full force. It was more than inappropriate for him, a governor appointed by the King, to be in such a place, he thought. With such people... He sighed with concern, and stood up, although he still felt rather tired.

It made him feel a little better, when he washed his face. He wondered what time it was, and went out of the cabin, then knocked on the door of the adjacent room.

"Elizabeth?", he called hesitantly, but received no answer. "Elizabeth?"

He waited for a moment, and then pressed the doorknob. Strangely, what he saw did not surprise him, although he was appalled nonetheless. The cabin was empty, and the bed untouched.

"Good morning, father", the Governor heard a quiet voice behind him.

"Elizabeth", he turned around, and looked at her questioningly.

"I...", she started with a small smile, wishing she was here five minutes earlier. "I woke up early, and-"

"Just do not lie to me, Elizabeth", he said with some irritation, but at the same time almost pleadingly.

"We were just talking", she said quietly, but in a very serious tone of voice. And kissing... And...

"I see", said Governor Swann after a moment of silence. There was something in her eyes that told him she was telling the truth. Or at least mostly the truth. The image of a pirate talking throughout the night with a girl who thought the world of him, seemed less than hardly credible. However...

"I wish you knew him for who he really is", said Elizabeth, staring sadly at her father.

"And who is he really?", echoed quietly the Governor, with a faint, uncertain smile.

Elizabeth took a few steps forward, and looking him straight in the eye, said softly:

"He is a good man. He is brave, reliable", her face brightened.

"Reliable", the Governor could not help chuckling a little.

"And he loves me. He knows me. He believes in me."

"Elizabeth-", Governor Swann tried to broke in.

"I'm happy with him", she stated feverishly.

"Elizabeth, I do want you to be happy, and I hope you are aware of that, but...", he hesitated. "You don't think about the reality. About the world around you."

"He is my world", said Elizabeth impatiently.

The Governor sighed, and smiled helplessly.

"I am talking about the world that we all live in. About the world from which there is no escape", Elizabeth wanted to interrupt, but he went on. "About the law. About the society. About me. You realize that there is no place in this world for a royal official affiliated with outlaws. With pirates. I do not want you to think that I value my social position more than your happiness, but..."

"I know you don't", said Elizabeth in a low voice. "And I understand. But..."

"Good day!", said Gibbs, who suddenly appeared. "Governor Swann. Elizabeth."

"Good day Mr. Gibbs", nodded the Governor, forcing a smile.

"Would you wish to eat some breakfast, perhaps?", he asked smiling at them.

The Governor looked at him thoughtfully, and then asked, as if suddenly remembering something:

"Are we sailing in any specific direction?"

Gibbs considered the question for a moment, and then somewhat hesitantly admitted that they were currently heading for Tortuga (Governor Swann looked at the ceiling and sighed), but they plan staying there for a very, very, very short time only.

Jack reluctantly, yet obediently put a fresh shirt on, as he was told to do. Lizzie Lizzie.

He went to the other room, and sat by the table, noticing the pistol with which he shot Harness. He picked it up disinterestedly, and played with it absent-mindedly, when suddenly it opened, and two bullets fell from the magazine, and rolled on the table. Jack narrowed his eyes, caught one of the bullets, and examined it closely. Oh, bugger.

Everybody was waiting for Jack at breakfast, but for some reason he was not showing up. Will told Gibbs that he would not eat, and Elizabeth did not even got to see him, but it did not bother her much. What bothered her was Jack. She thought that maybe he was making a fuss because she left him so abruptly in his cabin. He was being infantile at times, really. At last, she decided to go and see what was keeping him from coming, leaving the Governor and Gibbs alone at the table.

"I always knew there was something going on between-", started Gibbs smilingly, with careless cheerfulness, but meeting the Governor's steady gaze, he resolved to eating his breakfast in silence.

"Jack?", Elizabeth came in, without knocking.

The room was empty, but she noticed the bedroom door being ajar, so she decided to look in there.

"Jack!", she exclaimed, when he saw him lying on the bed.

"Why-", she began peevishly, planning to ask him why he was not coming, or even answering her when she called him, but then she noticed something in his face, that appalled her. "Jack", she whispered, and sat by him, cupping his face in her hands. She touched his forehead, and it was frighteningly hot. "You have a fever", she muttered more to herself than to him.

He looked at her half-consciously, his eyes strangely glassy.

"I think I don't feel too well, luv", he said in a barely audible whisper, a ghost of a smile flickering across his face.

Elizabeth stared at him terrified. He was not pretending. She did not understand what was happening. Just an hour ago everything was perfectly fine, and he was feeling as good as ever.

"It's alright", she whispered reassuringly, stroking his hair in a nervous gesture. "We'll be soon in Tortuga, I'll send somebody for your doctor friend, it can't be nothing serious anyway, just a fever, just-", she found herself at loss of words.

But it did not matter, because he did not seem to be listening. His eyelids fell, almost involuntarily, and to Elizabeth's terror she realized, that he lost consciousness.

She ran out of the room to tell her father and Gibbs what has happened, and the came back immediately, with cold water and towels, with which she hoped to make the temperature go down.

He breathed steadily, but his breath was shallow. Elizabeth brushed one of his dreadlocks away from his face, and kissed him gently on the cheek. She felt so lost and scared, and she tried to fight a disturbing suspicion that it was not a common illness, some accidental fever. It was too unexpected and strange to be normal.

She noticed that despite the high fever, he was shivering, as if he was very cold. She bundled him up in a blanket to keep him warm, and then put a small cloth in a bowl with cold water, to prepare a compress.

She thought that she needed to take off his headband. She leaned towards him, and tried to find the knot to untie it, and then he slowly opened his eyes. She sighed with relief seeing that he has regained consciousness.

"Oh, Jack", she whispered, and placed a soft kiss on his mouth.

He smiled weakly, but said nothing, and closed his eyes again.

"Can I take it off?", she asked quietly, gently untying the bandana. He did not answer.

When she finally took it off, she saw a large, deep scar that ran across his forehead. She did not even try to imagine how he had got it. And how much it must have hurt. Elizabeth trailed a few kisses along the scar, before placing a cold compress on his forehead. She was close to tears. She was not prepared for seeing him like that. He was the survivor. He was the rescuer. And now he was somewhere where she could not reach him. It flashed through her mind that maybe he was like that in Davy Jones' Locker. He has never told her anything specific about the Locker. He pretended to ignore it, he pretended that he did not remember, but she knew that he remembered, and just did not want to talk about it.

"How's he?", she heard a whisper behind her.

Elizabeth turned around. It was Gibbs, who came in noiselessly.

"I don't know", she answered in a faltering voice. "I think he's conscious now, but...", she broke off. "I don't know."

"We're sailing as fast as we can", Gibbs assured her, and very troubled left the Captain's Quarters.

Elizabeth stared at Jack, biting her lower lip nervously, but determined not to cry. She changed the compress, but his brow was still burning all the same. He grimaced, and mumbled something.

"Jack", she kept caressing his face, and kissing his fevered cheeks, not able to think about anything better to do at the moment. She wished they could get to Tortuga at once, and bring Philip Fairwood on board. She hoped he will know what to do.

"Liz...", whispered Jack, turning his head right and left in a nervous manner.

"I'm here, Jack", Elizabeth leaned down to him, trying to calm him down. "It's alright. It'll be alright."

"Where's... Where's...", he mumbled. "Where's Lizzie..."

"I'm here", she repeated weakly, on the verge of tears. She was afraid he could lose consciousness again.

"What did she... Why...", he breathed heavily. "Why did she do that... for..."

Elizabeth froze. He was raving in his half-sleep, or whatever it was the state he was in. But even worse from the raving itself was its subject matter. She could not help thinking that he was talking about... So it still was somewhere deep inside of him. So it was still on his mind, somehow. It still hurt.

She changed the compress again, and he cringed, and opened his eyes.

"Eliza... beth", he smiled faintly.

"Yes", she tried to smile back, and delicately kissed his fevered lips.

She saw he tried to lift his hand, but it fell down, before he managed to raise it.

"Don't do anything, just rest", she said quietly, stroking his face gently.

She leaned her face against his, and stayed like that for a long time, drawing away from time to time only in order to change a compress, waiting impatiently for the words that came at last:

"We're reaching Tortuga", announced Gibbs, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

"Miss Swann? If my memory doesn't betray me", said Philip Fairwood, as he came in.

"It's Elizabeth", she said, smiling faintly.

The doctor nodded, and smiled, and looked at Jack, and stopped smiling. Then he took a chair, and put it near the bed, placing his medical toolbox on the chair.

"Now, Elizabeth", started Philip Fairwood, leaning over Jack. "I need you to tell me what exactly happened", he said, removing the blanket.

"I did it for the shivers...", she said quietly.

"That's alright. But I have-"

Elizabeth's eyes flew wide-open, as she noticed blood all over Jack's sleeve. The doctor skillfully tore the sleeve off.

"I put a dressing there, it did not look like that before, it was almost nothing, it-", Elizabeth then began explaining what had happened, beginning with the tempest, then everything that had happened on Isla de Dolor, ending with how Harness' bullet had brushed Jack's arm, and how Harness had been shot.

The doctor listened to her carefully, cleansing the wound, which looked terrible, not at all as it looked before. Elizabeth observed everything almost involuntarily, she was horrified, but could not stop looking. She did not want to miss anything that concerned Jack.

The doctor applied some strangely looking medicine on the wound, and then put a fresh dressing on it. Then, he examined Jack, taking his pulse.

"You see, Elizabeth", he said pensively. "If Harness would be dead, there would be no mark after his bullet. It wouldn't have any effect."

She stared at him in silence.

"He is on the ship? Is that what you mean?", she asked hesitantly.

"Maybe", replied the doctor, but he seemed rather certain.

"We should take Jack out of the ship, then", said Elizabeth, looking at Philip Fairwood questioningly.

"Not in his actual condition", said the doctor cautiously, avoiding her gaze.

Elizabeth shuddered, but did not dare to ask what it meant. Because she knew what it meant. It meant that he was not well. Not well at all.

She looked back at Jack, trying not to think about it. She wanted to change the compress, but hesitated, not knowing whether Jack wanted anybody to know about the scar.

"Go on", said Philip Fairwood, noticing her vacillation. "I know what's there. I sewed it up", he added, and sat down on the chair, putting his box on the floor.

Elizabeth looked at him, and wanted to say something, but then he asked:

"Where is this-"

"It should be in the other room on the table", broke in Elizabeth, anticipating the question. "I put it there myself yesterday."

The doctor went to the other room, and searched the table.

"It's not there", he said plainly, as he came back, without a trace of surprise in his voice. "I guess the worst is still before us", he added solemnly.

Elizabeth said nothing. She just took Jack's hand in hers, and closed her eyes.