Thank you to my chapter eight reviewers Fanspired, SPN Mum, Moira4eku, Baltimoron48 , also my guest reviewers Kay Winchester and Diane. This chapter isn't as funny, but we are getting into the meat of the story. Hopefully the meat is grade A filet mignon and not ground beef. Just in case you didn't know, I didn't create or own Supernatural that would be Eric Kripke.
The smell of antiseptic brought Dean back to the conscious world. He kept his eyes closed to get a feeling for his surroundings. His body was a roadmap of pain. His stomach felt liked someone had branded him with a hot poker. There was a goose egg on the back of his head and it was pounding out a jaunty little tune. He felt white hot pain starting at his right hip and shooting down his leg causing a delightful pins and needles sensation in his right foot. Judging from the smell he was in a hospital of some kind, that's just awesome he thought. One eye creaked slowly open, the light assaulting his aching head causing him to quickly close it.
Apparently the small movement was enough for Sam to see as he heard Sam's chair scrap against the floor tiles. His voice whispered, "I'll turn down the light." Dean heard footsteps walking across the room and the clicking sound of a light switch. "Okay the lights are dimmed. Try opening your eyes again."
Dean's eye opened again to the darken room. He sighed in relief and opened the other eye. "What happened?" Dean asked with a parched throat.
"The ghost tossed you into a wall. But I told the doctor that you fell down the stairs." Sam replied. "Why didn't you tell me about your injury?"
"What are you talking about?" Dean said playing dumb.
"Dude you have a bruise on your stomach the size of Texas. I know that didn't happen from the ghost tossing you into the wall." Sam said in exasperation. Dean remained silent but Sam was unrelenting. "It happened when you fought Althea's muggers didn't it?" Sam accused angrily.
Dean remained silent not really knowing how to respond. "Damn it Dean! I need to know when you're injured. You need to let me help you! I need to know if the person that has my back has something that could hinder them." Sam hated saying that, but he knew Dean wouldn't care about his own safety, he would care if his actions endangered his brother.
"Please stop yelling, it feels like knives stabbing me in the head."
When Sam didn't respond, Dean said, "You're right. I should have told you. I didn't want you to worry. Plus we had our plate full with Althea and Daevon."
Sam figured he made his point and there was no reason to beat a dead horse. "Okay so why did the ghost attack you? It seems to know we're trying to stop it." Sam said and for the first time Dean noticed the necklace that Sam was nervously playing with in his hands.
"Is that Rose's Pink Himalayan salt necklace?" Dean asked.
"Yeah she came by to check on you. Once she realized the ghost attacked you, she insisted I take it." Sam explained looking down at the evil eye in his hands.
Dean started to sit up; Sam rushed to his side to help him. "What time is it? I'm starving. " Dean asked.
"5PM we missed lunch. You've been out for ten minutes. The doctor says you have a concussion." Sam explained.
Just then the doctor came into the room to speak with the boys. "Hello I'm Doctor Caligan. How is our patient feeling?" the mid aged male doctor said in a soft voice.
"I'm fine." Dean replied just in time to see Sam's 'tell the truth' bitch face number twelve.
"You have a grade two concussion, you shouldn't feel fine. Please be honest with me or I won't authorize you to leave this room." The doctor gently chided Dean.
Dean sighed before giving an honest answer, "My head feels like someone is playing the drums on it. I get flashes of silver in my vision and my stomach hurts like a sonofabitch. I could really use some of the good pain killers." Dean added hopefully.
The doctor smiled "That's better; I promise we'll get you the good pills. Let's test your pupils." He flashed the light in Dean's eyes and hummed; apparently he liked what he was seeing. "You have a mild concussion and severe bruising on your stomach. You're lucky none of your ribs were broken. I'm going to release you, but I want you to stay in your room and get some rest."
"But it's dinner time!" Dean said in protest hating the idea of missing one of the great dining room meals.
"You can order room service." Dr. Caligan answered firmly. "Also tomorrow take it easy. You shouldn't swim in the ocean, but you can still enjoy the beach from a lounge chair."
"I'll make certain he stays in and rests." Sam assured the doctor.
Dean tried not to pout like a two year old but it was hard. He missed jerk chicken in Jamaica and now he was going to miss dinner because of this stupid ghost. Plus tomorrow was Grand Cayman, the ocean he dreamed of swimming in since seeing Lisa's cruise pictures.
Dean was given Tylenol with codeine to help the headache and pain. He was warned to not drink alcohol while taking the medication. Sam saw his disappointment and knew it had to do with more than missing a meal. Dean hadn't realized it, but Sam had seen him checking out the shore excursions for Grand Cayman. His big brother really wanted to have a normal vacation experience. But now it looked like the job was taking one more thing away from his brother.
Sam tried to help Dean walk, but he refused Sam's help so Sam gave him his walking stick instead. Dean accepted it gratefully keeping a white knuckled grip on the iron eagle. Now, a cruise ship's crew and a small town's populous are similar in that no secrets were kept. So, of course, the staff knew Althea and Daevon had been attacked in Jamaica and Dean had come to their rescue. As a result the staff went out of their way to help the boys back to their cabin. One of the medical staff even had an elevator waiting for them.
When they opened the door to their cabin the first thing they saw was a towel monkey hanging with his hands tucked under the ceiling panels holding him in place. Dean laughed in delight seeing the primate and Sam couldn't help the smile that lit up his face. They also discovered a large container of salt with a thank you note from Althea. Next to the salt was a full meal from the dining room. The dinner included Sam's regular salad and ice tea. For Dean the dining room staff had noticed his fondness for beef and had a large porterhouse that was normally served in the specialty restaurant 'Chops' waiting for him. The smell of the succulent steak set the juices flowing in Dean's mouth.
The dessert was beyond luscious. It was a tiramisu served with fresh raspberries in a shell bowl of milk chocolate. Alongside the dessert was an after dinner drink called a Kioki Coffee, which was a layers drink of Brandy and Kahlua topped off with whipped cream. Since Dean was banned from alcohol for twenty-four hours Sam took great delight in downing both delicious drinks.
After the meal Dean begin to feel sleep overtake him, but he was concerned that the ghost was still out there targeting passengers and getting more aggressive, so he fought past his exhaustion. "We should go and talk to Waldo." Dean said as he used his walking stick to struggle to his feet.
Sam shot him an incredulous look, "Dean you have a concussion, you need to sleep and recuperate."
"Sammy I'm fine just a bit sore is all." Dean's story might have been believable if waves of dizziness hadn't caused him to fall back onto the bed.
"You can barely stand. How would you fend off the ghost in this condition? Your body needs rest." Sam questioned.
"Well then you need to find Waldo while I stay here." Dean insisted.
"Okay but you keep the necklace." Sam said trying to hand Dean the necklace.
"No, you need that to keep you safe. I can salt the door after you leave." Dean explained.
"Okay, but get some rest." Sam demanded. "I'm setting my watch alarm to ring in an hour and I'll come to check on you."
"Yes, mother." Dean replied his eyes already flicking shut.
"Dean. Awake up and salt this door." Sam said sharply causing Dean's eyes to snap back open. Dean nodded, this time accepting Sam's help to stand up. Dean salted the door after Sam left. Then rolled into bed fully clothed and fell into a deep sleep.
Sam wasn't sure where to find Waldo. He decided to try the casino, he remembered Waldo saying something about the dice game craps having the best odds in the casino. He walked through the smoked filled casino past the craps table and the slot machines with their colorful flashing lights but didn't see Waldo.
As he was passing the bar, some ladies clearly into their cups shouted out his name. Sam was puzzled on how these women knew him, until they demanded that he 'shake his moneymaker.' One lady loudly insisted he should have won since he was the world's sexiest man. The ladies' loud cheers caught the attention of other passengers who recognized him from their TV screens. Sam's face was beet red at the attention as he rushed through the casino.
The heat was still on his cheeks as Sam entered the hallway between the casino and the photo area. There, in the hallway on his left, he found Waldo staring entranced at something hung on the wall. Waldo was so engrossed that he didn't notice Sam standing next to him. Sam was surprised at what caught Waldo's attention. It was a figurehead. The figurehead was carved and hand painted to resemble a beautiful woman. The woman's wooden wavy dark brown locks of hair were held in place by a carved and painted snowy white veil.
She was painted wearing a white dress accented with gold to embellish the collar, waist and cuffs of her dress. The detail was meticulously carved into the fingers of her left hand as they clutched a blue shawl loosely draped around her right shoulder and clinging to her hips. Her smile was mischievous, as though she had an important secret and was mocking you with it. The figurehead had had two beautiful necklaces carved into her neckline. The first was a single strand of pearls the clung closely to her neck. The second had a pendant dangling from a long gold chain.
Waldo had finally noticed Sam standing next to him looking at the figurehead. "She's beautiful isn't she?" Waldo said in awe.
Sam nodded his head and asked, "Who is she?"
"She was Captain-General Don Antonio de Echeverez' wife. He along with Captain-General Juan Esteban de Ubilla commanded the fleet of 1715 Spanish treasure ships. He commanded six ships and Ubilla the other five. Don Antonio de Echeverez so loved his Maria that he had this figurehead carved so she could adorn his ship the La Olandesa. When the hurricanes took the ships down Echeverez almost lost his life to save the figurehead. He kept her safe for six months while he was stranded on the beach with the other 1500 survivors waiting to be rescued. She wears two necklaces. The strand of pearls was a wedding gift from Echeverez. The second is a locket. Before that fateful trip she gave Echeverez her gold locket to keep him safe." Waldo explained pointing to the longer necklace the figurehead wore. "The locket was passed down through the women in her family. It was tradition that all the first born female's names start with an M and at age 16 the locket would be passed on to that female." Waldo said with reverence in his voice.
Sam was surprised, "What happened to Echeverez after he was rescued?"
Waldo face turned sad, "He never returned home to Maria. His oldest son was on board the El Senor San Miguel. During the storm the ship vanished at sea with no survivors. Echeverez was ashamed to go home to his heart broken Maria. He refused to give up the search for his missing son and spent the rest of his life searching. Two of his Admiral Generals helped in the search for his son. They were Ernesto Castillo of the La Olandesa and Sergio Menendez of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario."
Just then the air got cold and Waldo shivered confused at the temperature drop. Sam was cursing himself for leaving his walking stick in the cabin. The ghost appeared, but his eyes weren't focused on Waldo or Sam, instead the ghost stared intently at the figurehead. Rose's Pink Himalayan salt necklace prevented him from getting any closer. He reached out his hand but couldn't touch the figurehead. He uttered the words in despair "Mi corazón mi amor mi Maria" as he fought the effects of the necklace.
When he realized he couldn't get any closer. His angry gaze fell on Sam. "¿Dónde está mi hijo?" His energy increased with his anger. He yelled "¿Dónde está mi hijo" and then light bulbs above Sam and Waldo exploded showering glass on their heads. The ghost rushed to attack Sam, but the necklace caused him to vanish.
"Oh my god that was a ghost. I saw a ghost. Did you see the ghost?" Waldo said as he started to hyperventilate.
"Waldo, calm down, take a slow deep breath and hold it." Sam instructed to no avail.
"Was that the ghost of Don Antonio de Echeverez?" Waldo questioned his eyes as big as saucers.
"Yeah, I think it was." Sam confirmed, thinking he needed to talk to Dean.
"How did the ghost of Don Antonio de Echeverez get on this ship?" Waldo said in shock.
"He seems to be attached to the figurehead." Sam replied. "Are you going to be alright? I need to talk with my brother. The ghost needs to be stopped."
At that moment it occurred to Waldo how calm Sam was. Dean was also calm after the man was killed and hanging from the rock climbing wall. "Oh my god. This isn't your first ghost, is it? What do you and Dean do?"
Sam looked pained at the question, "We can handle this ghost. But I have to go." Sam replied leaving a shocked Waldo behind.
Sam headed for the stairs shaking the pieces of broken light bulb from his long silky hair. As his first foot hit the stairs, he heard a voice calling his name. Sam turned towards the sound coming face to face with Sheila. Sam noticed Sheila was dressed in workout gear. She was wearing solid black Capri pants accentuating her shapely legs. This was topped with a V-necked black sports bra outlined with hot pink piping that showed off her flat golden stomach. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with fringe softly framing her face. She had very little makeup on showing her natural beauty that had been previously hidden under layers of heavy foundation. Her face reflected a seriousness he had not seen from her before.
"I'm sorry to bother you. I just wanted to talk to you briefly. Can you give me a couple of minutes please?" Sheila asked politely.
"Okay." Sam answered with uncertainty and a bit of impatience shadowing his words.
"I wanted to apologize to you. I'm sorry I was so forward. I just thought we could have some fun and that you playing hard to get was part of the chase." Sheila explained shocking Sam.
"What?" Sam questioned wondering what brought this on.
"I saw you hide behind the pole last night to avoid me. It's alright. I know I'm quite a bit older than you." she explained calmly, but her hurt feelings were showing in her blue eyes. "I don't want you to feel that way; you can just tell me you aren't interested."
Sam flushed bright red, embarrassed he had been seen. He tried to explain, "I didn't mean to uh I mean I uh. I'm not really looking for a relationship." Sam said stumbling for words.
"Oh me either, I was just hoping for a shipboard fling." She stated frankly. "But I'm aware of how ridiculous you find me." Sheila said sadly. Before Sam could reply she continued. "A forty-five year old woman chasing after a guy in his twenties is pathetic. Don't worry, I won't bother you anymore." With that she turned and walked away.
Sam watched her leave suddenly regretting that stupid pole stunt. He stood for a moment watching her dainty derriere as she made her way up the stairs, suddenly wishing he hadn't treated her that way. His watch went off shaking him out of his trance. He decided to take the other set of stairs so as to not follow behind Sheila.
He entered the cabin waking Dean, who opened slightly dazed eyes. Sam softened his voice for his brother, "So how're you feeling."
The automatic reply from Dean was "I'm fine" than he quickly changed the subject with a question of his own. "Did you find Waldo?"
"Yup." Sam said sitting on his bed to talk with Dean.
"Yup? Care to fill in a bit of detail?" Dean replied irritated.
"He was on Deck Four looking at the cursed object." Sam answered having fun leading his brother down a merry path.
"You found the cursed object." Dean exclaimed sitting up too quickly and moaning in pain.
"Whoa, go slowly, you're still recovering." Sam cautioned before explaining further. "Remember Waldo talking about the fleet of 1715 that first night in the dining room?" At Dean's blank look Sam continued explaining to Dean about the figurehead and the encounter with the ghost. He stopped mid-way through with a shocked look on his face.
"Earth to Sam." Dean said waving his hand in front of his eyes.
Sam looked at Dean, "I know how the ghost is picking his victims."
"Okay." Dean replied waiting for Sam to explain.
"Echeverez had two Admiral Generals. They were Ernesto Castillo and Serigo Menendez and they helped him search for his son."
"And?" Dean asked waving his hand impatiently.
"Dining room guy was Castillo and rock climbing wall hanging dude was Menendez." Sam said watching Dean's face as the understanding lit behind his eyes.
"He's going after men with the names that match people that helped in the search for his son. He blames them for not finding his missing son." Dean supplied to which Sam nodded in agreement.
"So why go after me? I doubt Campbell or Winchester were on board a Spanish treasure ship." Dean asked confused.
Sam looked equally confused. "I don't know."
"Who cares I say we just burn the figurehead and bye-bye old ass ghost." Dean said happily.
"Couple problems with your plan, it's alarmed and surrounded by security cameras. Plus, once we have the thing where the heck are we going to burn it without being caught?" Sam said rubbing his forehead.
"Good point. We can't really go wandering around the ship with a figurehead. How big is the thing?" Dean questioned.
"It's about three feet tall." Sam said, and Dean could suddenly see the issues. The ship didn't really sleep. There were shows and activities going on all through the night including a comedy show that night by the cruise director.
"Well look, tomorrow the ship's in port and I can't really do anything in Grand Cayman with this concussion anyway. Why don't I go down and have a look? Frank showed me a couple of tricks about security systems that may come in handy."
Sam looked over a bit jealous Dean had learned some really cool tricks from that paranoid nut job Frank. "Rose may know where we can burn the thing or a way to get it off the ship unnoticed. But let's get some sleep and we can deal with it tomorrow." Sam said noticing Dean fighting to keep his eyes open.
"Sounds good," Dean mumbled changing his clothes and falling to back to sleep.
Sam changed for bed thinking how it had been a long strange day. But sleep didn't come easy, the expression of hurt on Sheila's face bothered him more then he wanted to admit. It's funny now that she wasn't chasing him; he was remembering that figure and wondering why he was hiding from Sheila in the first place. Finally Sam fell into a deep sleep.
Sam was startled awake by the door to the cabin opening and the call of "housekeeping," in Melinda's voice. Quickly followed by, "Oh I'm sorry, your 'do not disturb' sign wasn't out." Melinda said putting the sign up and shutting the door quickly. Sam noticed her frown at the salt line covering the doorway. Melinda was disturbed by the weird line of salt, but seeing as both boys slept shirtless, she didn't mind the extra vacuuming. She rushed off to tell Serena the latest from cabin hottie. Serena was a fan of tattoos and would be interested to know the brother's had matching ones.
Dean's eyes were now opened as well. His body felt a lot better after a good night sleep. His head was now only a dull ache instead of a full throb.
The captain's voice filled the cabin through the speakers. "We're encountering rough seas in Grand Cayman and are unable to tender the passengers safely. We'll be heading to Cozumel today we should arrive there in one hour. If the seas have improved we'll come back to Grand Cayman tomorrow." The cabin seemed more silent after the announcement was completed.
"What does tender mean?" Dean asked Sam after a moment of silence.
"Sometimes the ship can't dock because it's too big so they have to tender us to shore. We get into smaller tender boats that take us ashore. Grand Cayman is a tender port." Sam explained and he rose slowly heading for the bathroom and a much needed shower.
Before he could get there Dean cut him off. "Sam I need the bathroom for like ten minutes before your shower."
"Oh come on. You're going to totally turn it toxic before my shower!" Sam complained loudly.
Dean turned desperate eyes to Sam, "I've had a lot of beef and the cows are wanting out of the barnyard door."
"Oh dude TMI. Go ahead, I'll wait." Sam said with a disgusted look on his face at Dean's grateful look.
Dean spent a difficult twenty minutes, with much grunting and groaning, working out his beef issues and after another ten minutes, the toxic 'Dean' cloud cleared enough to allow Sam to shower and them to finish their morning routine. Sam demanded that Dean eat no beef today and instead eat oatmeal, fruit and salad for the much needed fiber. Dean not wanting a repeat of this morning's bathroom experience easily agreed.
Dean was still using his walking stick to help his balance, but to Sam's relief he wasn't dependent on the stick.
The boys passed Mindy and Sheila walking through the casino on their way to the figurehead. Mindy waved at the boys and gave Dean a wink thanking him for the dance as they walked by. But Sheila avoided looking at the boys and just politely waited for Mindy to finish talking to them. Mindy frowned in concern for her friend before they moved away.
"What's up with your girlfriend?" Dean asked. Sam hoped he won't notice but of course that wasn't Sam's luck.
"She saw me hide behind the pole and it really hurt her feelings." Sam sighed as he raked his hand through his hair in oblivious distress.
"Awkward, I'll guess you're going to have to do her now so she doesn't feel bad." Dean replied to which Sam rolled his eyes and Dean counted fifteen.
"Can we not talk about this?" Sam said wanting to change the subject.
Dean agreed as they reached the figurehead. Dean admired the beautiful carving. "It's a shame we have to light her up."
"Yeah, I agree. But you should have seen the way the ghost was attracted to it. Waldo said Echeverez risked his life to save her."
"I'm surprised it's not behind glass, anyone could just lift it off the wall." Dean remarked.
Sam gestured to the camera overlooking the figurehead. "Not without big brother watching. Plus see the wires there." Sam said pointing to the nearly invisible wires. "I'm betting an alarm would go off if you tried removing her."
Dean nodded, "Not a problem Frank showed me how to hack the alarm and put the cameras on a five minute loop. That should be enough to get her off the wall. Let's go find Rose."
Dean pulled out the cruise compass to see what activities Rose was hosting today. "Bingo is starting ten minutes in the Pharaoh's palace." Sam nodded, luckily the Pharaoh's palace was only one deck up. It would have been faster if Sam hadn't insisted they use the elevator. It was only one freakin' deck. What the heck did Sam think was going to happen? Dean thought, annoyed at the mothering. As they waited for the elevator, they noticed the housekeeping staff passing by with a large wheeled plastic tub full of dirty sheets and towels going to the laundry. They both looked at each other and said in unison. "Perfect."
They got to Pharaoh's palace five minutes before bingo. Rose spotted them and immediately rushed over.
"Dean, are you okay? You really scared us." Rose said pulling him into a warm hug. He enjoyed the press of her breasts against his chest.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean assured as she ended the hug to examine him. "We need your help. We found the cursed object and we need to salt and burn it."
"You can't burn anything onboard the ship. Fire is one of the most dangerous things for a ship. The Freedom's fire detectors are state of the art, the moment you flick your Bic the detectors will go off." Rose explained. "What's the object?"
"The figurehead on deck four between the casino and the Crypt." Sam injected.
"There's a service elevator near the Schooner bar. I can get you on that so no one sees you." Rose said thinking about how to light up the figurehead, when suddenly she had an epiphany. "The incinerator on deck one." She said smiling.
"This ship has an incinerator?" Sam questioned surprised.
"Yes, we're all required to review the waste steam chart. BioReidue, Paper and food waste are incinerated." Rose explained. "I have an access card for the service elevator. When are we doing this?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other. Sam shook his head, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be there."
Rose gave them a look of stubborn determination. "If you want my card, then I'm coming with you. We'll be in Cozumel until 7PM tonight so most of the passengers will be off the ship. The shift changes at 3PM today, that's the best time to do it." Rose explained with her arms folded over her chest.
The boys looked at each other then back at Rose. Dean nodded reluctantly at Sam who said, "Fine, can you meet us on deck four at 2:30PM." Rose agreed with an excited smile before going back to work.
"Bringing her along isn't a good idea." Dean said.
"I don't think you should come along either. I can handle it on my own." Sam said knowing the resistance he was going to get.
"Not an option Sammy, I'm coming." Dean said allowing no room for disagreement.
Sam gave a resigned sigh and replied, "Okay let's get some breakfast I'm starving." Dean nodded with a bright smile until Sam continued. "No meat for you, only fruit and oatmeal!" Dean's smile turned into a frown then pout as he followed his little brother to the elevators for breakfast. Sam and Dean didn't notice their exchange with Rose was being watched by a silent member of the security staff.
Mi corazón mi amor mi Maria means my heart, my love, my Maria. I couldn't resist a bit of bathroom humor. Hope you guys don't mind. By the way that figurehead is onboard the Freedom, it's now I got the idea for this story. I got no clue what BioReidue is; I was looking at a chart of how things are disposed of on Royal Caribbean's cruise ships. I wanted to be sure the ship had an incinerator. You really can find anything on the internet. lol