CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Barbossa felt for a pulse, it was there but very weak. He clasped her limp hand in his as Mr. Gibbs hurried to their side, " What shall we do Captain?" he asked him.

As they talked, John stood up and looked down. The body of Peter was nowhere to be seen but he could see the water had turned red from Peter's blood.

He had lost his children to the sea. For the first time in three years, he saw the ocean as monstrous.

Damn it all to hell. He thought. He knelt down next to his unconscious daughter and reached for the handle of the knife, still embedded in her ribcage.

" What are ye doing?" Barbossa asked gruffly.

" I'm going to pull it out." He replied.

" She might bleed to death if ye do that." Barbossa pointed out.

John ignored him, grasped the handle and pulled it out swiftly. Just as Barbossa predicted, blood flowed from the wound. John ripped a piece of his shirt and pressed it against it.

Gibbs returned with the medical equipment and supplies. They wrapped bandages tightly around her ribcage. " She needs a doctor care." John said.

Barbossa carefully gathered her up in his arms, " Aye, we are heading to someone who knows of medical practices." He said before taking his lover back to his quarters. John followed, then noticing how tender the Captain was towards Olivia.

Barbossa laid Olivia down onto his bed and covered her with a blanket. He soaked a cloth before placing it upon her forehead and sat down on a chair next to the bed.

" May I ask you something?" John watched from his position at the end of the bed.

Barbossa looked up at him. " What?"

" Are you in love with my daughter?"

" Aye." Barbossa replied without hesitation, " I think I've been in love with her since the day I met her…over four weeks ago now."

" How did you meet her?"

Barbossa told him the story, " Now that we avenged her brother's death the mission's now over. I'm taking her to see Tia Dalma who may be able to help her."

" I hope so. I already lost a son, I couldn't bear it if I loose my daughter."

Tia Dalma looked up from her herbs and recipe papers when she heard footsteps outside her hut. A shadow fell across the threshold and Captain Barbossa appeared, carrying Miss. Olivia in his arms. Behind him stood another tall, broad-shouldered man with salt and pepper hair and a tidy black beard.

" Tia, could you help us?" Captain Barbossa asked. Tia stood up and examined the girl. " She's been stabbed."

Tia laid a hand on the girl's forehead. She was burning up. " Put her in the next room." She ordered.

Over three days and nights, Barbossa watched over Olivia while she burned with fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. She often screamed from nightmares, but never did wake from them. Barbossa checked the wound, it was neatly stitched up and the blood had dried.

He placed a fresh cloth upon her forehead and kissed her cheek. Her father was waiting patiently in Tia's living quarters. Barbossa learned John smoked pipes.

Olivia stirred suddenly, and opened her eyes. Barbossa peered at them, they were clear. " Hector?" she whispered and tried to sit up but the stitches pulled. She moaned and settled back down.

" How are you feeling my dear?" he asked.

" Sore." She looked around at her new surroundings, " We're not on the ship?"

" No. Our voyage is over."

" How long have I been asleep?"

" Awhile. We were not sure ye were goin' to pull through. You lost a lot of blood."

Fragments of the awful day came back in her mind. " Just so you know…I still don't forgive you." She told him.

" But surely ye-"

" I'm sorry Hector, but I can't get over it. That whore draping herself all over you will forever haunt me." She paused, " Can you get my father please?"

Barbossa left, feeling utterly dejected.

It was two days before John and Barbossa took Olivia back home to Port Royal. Olivia was glad to see her hometown once more. As they reached the port, she overheard her father asked the Captain; " So what you planning to do now?"

" I still have not found me ship. I'll rest up a bit at Tia's before heading on my next voyage." He decided. Without Olivia it seems. He added to himself. She had not talked to him since Tia's.

" The Black Pearl?"

" Yes. I'm quite anxious to find it before someone else does." namely Jack Sparrow.

" Good plan. And what about you young miss?" John turned to his daughter.

" I want to see Mother. We have a score to settle with her." She said.

Before she got off the ship, she turned to Barbossa, " I'm not joining you on your next voyage. I rather not see you again."

" Olivia-" Barbossa had a pained looked on his face, " We need to talk-"

" There is nothing more left to say. Goodbye Captain Barbossa." She said and her saying those words hit him. She had not called him Captain since the day they first met.

When they were strangers.