Disclaimer: (Looks around) Shh! I'm hunting for Jack Sparrow! This means he's not mine…yet.
AN: Since no one likes my new Phantom story, this is (temporarily) my main focus from now on. And yes, Rose has been shot, but I'm going to make this as non-gross as possible, so there will be no detailed CSI/ER-type stuff (a.k.a.: actually removing bullets from people). On the bright side, Rose gets to be looked after by Jack! Enjoy the chapter, and please review! Thanks!
Chapter 15: Tending a Wilting Flower:
Jack nearly panicked at the sight of so much blood being lost from Rose's unconscious form. True, she felt no pain, and was therefore not aware of the situation, but still…
'Do something!' cried a voice in the back of his head.
He looked down and realized that he was merely standing next to his bed, Rose still suspended above it by him holding her in his arms. Shaking himself out of his daze, Jack set her ever-so-gently down on the bed, careful not to jar her wound and irritate it in any way. Once she was safely down on the bed, he made quick work of pulling her shirt away from her body, paying special attention to removing the cloth around the wound.
'Careful, mate,' Jack thought to himself, his fingers slowly and carefully prying the bloody cloth away from the bullet wound. 'Don't hurt her.'
That thought caused him to wince. He couldn't bear the thought of harming Rose, and the idea of possibly doing so made his heart suddenly feel as heavy as lead. However, now was not the time to get all sentimental; Rose needed medical attention, and Jack, as the ship's closest thing to a doctor, would have to be the one to give it to her. He would have to put his feelings aside (for now, at least) and get to work.
Inch by slow, agonizing inch, Jack managed to remove the outer shirt Rose had been wearing, though he'd had to cut around the material that framed the injury so as not to accidentally aggravate the damaged flesh. Once the majority of the shirt was gone, Jack let his fingers carefully pull the white cotton away, fiber by fiber, thread by loose thread. It took time, but it was worth it, as the shirt finally came away completely. Jack felt a small tug of disappointment in seeing that Rose wore a black sleeveless undershirt to cover her chest, since water mixed with a white shirt tended to show things women usually wanted to keep hidden. However, he put that thought aside so that he could judge how bad the wound itself was. What he saw made him wince.
"Oh, not good," he whispered aloud, staring down at the prone form of his female crewmate.
The hole in her shoulder was the exact size of the bullet, and would be difficult to remove, as it had gone fairly deep. Another wince flashed across his face as he went to his desk and pulled out a bottle of rum and a wad of bandages. Pulling the cork out of the bottle, Jack poured a liberal amount onto a bit of bandage and began to sterilize the wound, thankful that Rose was still unconscious and was unable to feel the sting. Once that was done, he folded a large, thick square of material and placed it on the wound to stop the bleeding, securing it in place with a long strip.
However, Jack knew that what he had done was only temporary and would have to be removed soon. The bullet must be taken out and the wound fully cleaned with rum and warm, clean water that had been boiled. After that, more bandages would have to be set into place, once again to stop the bleeding that would occur after the damned bullet was safely out of the way. What really got to him was that he would need help with this, and one or two extra sets of eyes and hands would be ideal.
Sighing, Jack went to the door of his cabin and paused. Would any member of the crew agree to help him with this situation? The men all had a deep respect and fondness for Rose, and even though there was a cloth barrier between their eyes and her "hidden assets," some (if not all) of the crew might not wish to do anything that would later embarrass her. Bracing himself for the possibility of working alone on this one, Jack opened the cabin door.
Once their target was sunk to the bottom of the sea and they were well-away from the wreckage, the crew of the Black Pearl gathered around the doorway to the Captain's cabin. It had been a little while since they had seen their angry (and, evidently, worried) captain carry Rose inside, and many of them were currently doing their best to pray to a higher power that she lived through her injuries.
"It's not right," muttered Gibbs, his hands fiddling with his alcohol flask. "Poor girl doesn't stand a chance against a bullet!"
"She saved the Captain's life," Barton muttered, his fingers combing through his red hair before looking around for something to do. "You've got to give the little thing credit in bravery and stupidity."
From beside him, Mr. Cotton looked a bit beside himself as he looked up several inches at Barton's face. The tall redhead looked right back at him, and the two men exchanged worried glances as Cotton's parrot bobbed its head up and down, though it kept quiet. Before anyone could say another word, the door to the main cabin slowly opened, and their captain stepped out, a tense and worried expression on his face.
"How's the lass, Cap'n?" asked Gibbs, taking a mouthful from his flask afterwards.
Jack took a deep breath. "She's still alive and breathing," he said, thumbs tucking into the edge of the red-and-white striped sash around his waist. "I've managed to stop the bleeding after cleaning the area around the wound." He smiled a little at the sighs of relief from the men, but the smile would not last long, nor would their relief.
"However…"
The men all stopped breathing at once, waiting for the axe to drop.
"However," Jack said, glancing around the deck at all of his men. "I need help with removing the bullet, as well as any bits of cloth that might have been forced in with it. One or two men will have to help hold her down while I take out the bullet, and another will have to stand by and pass me whatever tools I ask for while doing this."
"I'm hoping that the lass will be…decent…during all this?" Gibbs said, looking both worried and protective of Rose's virtue.
"Aye, she's got some clothing that'll remain on while I work on her," Jack answered, giving the men a reassuring smile. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if she weren't covered up."
Some of the men sighed in relief, though some looked a bit skeptical about the whole thing. A few men exchanged whispers while others merely looked uncomfortable. Rose was either a close friend or a sister to most of the crew, and the thought of seeing her lying on a bed 'indecently' likely caused most of the crew to decide not to go in there and help.
"I'll help, Cap'n," Gibbs said, stepping forward to stand by his captain's side. Turning around to face the other men, he glared at them. "For those of you who won't come in, you can help us by boiling some water to use in cleaning the instruments and the wound!" A few men ran off to do just that.
"I'll help," Barton said as he came up to stand before Jack. "I'll help hold her down so that you won't make any mistakes while helping her."
Cotton stepped forwards, too, his parrot flapping its wings impatiently. "Grub!" it squawked, bobbing its head. "Grub!"
"Aye, good idea, Mr. Cotton," Jack declared smiling. "Fix up a good and filling meal for the poor lass. She'll need all the strength she can get!"
Mr. Cotton nodded before heading down to the galley. Jack then turned his attention back to the men that hadn't yet found anything to do.
"The rest of you make for the nearest safe place for scallywags like us!" he ordered, frowning. "We need to get her someplace quiet to recover and to get more supplies!"
"Aye, sir!" cried the men as they set to work.
Tony, the half-African man, walked up to the helm and charted a course as Jack led his two volunteers into the cabin.
After the door was closed behind him, Jack rubbed his hands together, bracing himself for the amount of damage and pain he would have to put Rose through in order to save her life. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face his two crewmen.
"Bart, I need you to get ready and hold her down while I get the bullet out," Jack said in his best 'captain' voice. "Gibbs will be ready to obtain the bullet after I get it out of her, and will also be handing me the tools I'll need to do this right, savvy?"
Both men nodded as they watched their captain pull off his shirt so as not to soil it, tossing the garment aside so that it landed on the floor. Next, Jack rubbed his hands and arms with rum to clean them, letting the excess alcohol air-dry or drip onto the floor instead of the risk of getting them dirty again while drying them on a rag. After he felt sure of being clean enough, he ordered Gibbs to clean up, too, though only to roll his sleeves up to the shoulders before dowsing his arms with rum. Barton merely had to hold Rose down, so he only washed his hands and wrists.
A knock on the door sounded before Cotton came in with a pot of steaming water, Marty the Midget coming up beside him with a silver tray. On top of the tray was an exceptionally sharp knife, a pair of large tweezers, needle and thread, and a small bottle of pure alcohol, in case they needed to truly put her into sleep, amongst other things. Jack took a deep breath.
"Cotton, go fix something for the rest of us to have after this is over. Marty, are those tools cleaned completely? We don't want our flower here to get sick from infection," Jack said, looking at them. Cotton nodded before leaving, but Marty stayed behind to speak with Jack.
"Sorry, sir, I didn't want to risk handling them," he said. "Shall I pour the alcohol into a bowl and soak the instruments in it?"
"Aye, good thinking," Jack complimented him as he quickly looked over at Rose. "However, leave them in there for Gibbs to pick out and hand to me, since he's already cleaned up."
Marty nodded before doing as he was told. Soon, all of the instruments were soaking (even the needle and thread), and the Midget left the cabin, a very concerned look on his face.
"Alright," Jack said, taking a deep breath. "Time to get started."
An hour later, Jack managed to relax his hands as he placed the bullet into the tin tray that Gibbs was holding. He'd been successful in finding and removing the little bugger, as well as the few strands of cotton from Rose's shirt that had gone in with it. Thankfully, the bullet had missed anything vital, and he had been sure not to knick anything that might cause more harm than good. After once again pouring alcohol into it to be sure that no infection showed up, Jack had sewn the wound shut, applying another light coat of alcohol over the skin to keep it clean.
'Now the easy part is over…' Jack thought as he took a deep breath, cleaning his hands in the bucket holding the warm water. He felt much better now that Rose's blood was literally off his hands…
Meanwhile, Gibbs and Barton packed up the bucket of water, also gathering the tools to take to the galley to be cleaned. Once they were gone, Jack picked up his dirty shirt and tossed it into a basket in the far corner of his cabin, where it would stay until they found a town with a washerwoman who would be able to take care of it. A trip to a trunk at the foot of his bed allowed him to change into a clean shirt, which he quickly pulled on in the oncoming darkness of night.
'Better make sure she's warm enough tonight,' he thought, digging back into his clothing chest.
After a few moments, Jack found several blue blankets of the softest wool, things he hadn't thought about in quite some time. He had obtained them in a profitable game of cards one night, and they were worth quite a pretty penny; the King of England would pay a lot to have this sort of thing on his bed, and all Jack had done with his was stuff it into a chest!
'Well, it'll see some good use tonight…and for quite a few nights afterwards, until Rose gets better.'
Shaking out the sheets, Jack walked over to Rose, who was still blissfully asleep. She'd woken up just after he had found the bullet inside her shoulder, and Jack had had to order Barton to force-feed her a few gulps of the pure alcohol to put her under. It had worked, and he had been able to get the metal fragment out with little trouble from her after that.
After he had gently wrapped the blankets around Rose's still form, Jack allowed himself to pull a chair up beside the bed and collapse into it, closing his eyes and rubbing them with his fingers. He had done his best, and now he would have to wait until morning to see how she did. Not bothering to hold back a yawn, Jack let his eyes drift closed in an attempt to rest while he could.
The stillness of the night felt wrong, which was what woke him up. Jolting awake and alert in his chair, Jack looked towards the bed, his heart stopping when he saw that Rose's chest wasn't moving up and down as it should be….
'She's not breathing!' was his first panicked thought.
However, a second later, it moved, slowly, upwards. Rose was breathing, but slowly…so slowly…too slowly…
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered, falling backwards into the chair. "I'm not falling asleep on you again…not unless someone relieves me on keeping watch on you."
He was sure there were going to be a good number of men who would be willing to do it, but knew that there were only a handful that he could trust to do it right, and do it decently. A woman lying wounded and unconscious on a bed was an open invitation, and the Black Pearl was a ship full of pirates, after all. As much as he felt that his crew was loyal, Jack knew that, when a woman was concerned, loyalty and reason could only go so far.
'Gibbs I'd trust with my life,' he thought, making a mental list in his head. 'Barton likes her as a sister, and didn't look at any of her 'assets' while he was that close to her, so I'll trust him in watching over her. Cotton and his damned bird would be a good one, too, since that parrot can shriek bloody murder if something's wrong.' Well, he had his list…now all he had to do was make it happen.
Settling back into his seat to keep watch, Jack smiled at the sight of his Lovely Flower lying there in the pale moonlight.
As the crew of the Pearl soon discovered, keeping watch over an unconscious form could be a very dull job. True, it was a bit better than hauling ropes back and forth or doing mending on the sails, but it was unbelievably boring when all a man has to do is watch someone sleep all day!
"Cap'n, the lass has been out for two days," Gibbs said, coming up to the helm so that Jack could take his turn watching her.
"Aye, that means that she's healing, Gibbs," Jack informed him, rolling his eyes.
Gibbs, as well as Marty and Cotton, had all been worried that Rose hadn't woken up yet, and Barton had been bringing his concerns (and everyone else's) to Jack after his shifts had ended. Every time someone voiced their worries, Jack had done his best to assure them that Rose needed the rest, that her body had to heal and wake itself up before she could fully become conscious. Evidently, they still didn't believe him. Shaking his head, Jack approached his cabin door, pausing before opening it; he didn't want to make any noise that could prematurely wake Rose from her rest.
As he prepared to enter, Jack felt something rub against his ankles. Glancing down, he spotted Ivory, her green eyes peering up at him as she opened her mouth in a soft 'mew.' A sudden idea hit him, and without hesitation, Jack scooped up the cat and carried her inside, softly closing the door behind him. Once they were in the room, he silently approached the bed and set the feline next to her mistress. Instantly, Ivory settled down next to Rose's right arm, her body curling up as she began to purr.
"I hope you'll do her some good," Jack whispered to the cat, who focused her half-open green eyes on him. "You'll need to protect her by keeping the rats away; you know how they can sniff out blood and everything, in case it's possibly something for them to nibble on." He shuddered at the thought of a rat poking around the precious woman lying before him.
Ivory gave him a sleepy blink before closing her eyes, though she didn't put her head down. Satisfied that Rose was in excellent company, Jack picked up a book and settled into his chair for his watch.
AN: Aw, Jack's showing that he cares! Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but I couldn't fit some things into here, so you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. Review!