There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard,

Disappearing everyday without so much as a word somehow...

Think I broke the wings off that little songbird,

He's never gonna fly to the top of the world right now...

"Teague." Gibbs poked my cheek with his rough fingertip. "Teague, Mistress Ching is here."

I straightened up, groggy from being interrupted from my day dream. It was still night, I was still sitting next to Jackie, and Jackie was still dying. For a moment, I turned to face Mistress Ching, the Pirate Lord of the Pacific Ocean, who was carefully being guided in by Gibbs. I got up to greet her.

"Mistress Ching, you're too kind," I said, taking her hand to show respect.

"How has he been? Has he improved?" she whispered hastily.

I stole a quick glance of Jackie, who was still sleeping. A high-pitched rattle came from his mouth as he inhaled and exhaled. "I'm afraid to say he's not," I said sadly, turning back to her.

"Where are the other Pirate Lords?" she demanded. "They must pay their respects for him."

"I assure you, they are making as much haste as they can. It's difficult to come to a certain place at one time when you're at different locations of the world," I said. "Would you like to-?"

"Yes, please," she nodded, her foggy black eyes unblinking. "Shall we pray to your God as well?"

Gibbs and I exchanged nervous looks. "If you don't mind," I answered finally.

The Mistress nodded again. "We must do as much as we can to insure his survival for the night. Take me to his bedside."

I let go of her, and Gibbs led her to the spot I was sitting in a few moments before. I grabbed the Bible, which laid in the darkness, and handed it to Gibbs as I took my seat on the other side of the bed. It was Mistress Ching holding Jackie's right hand, me holding his left, and Gibbs, who had his hand on Jackie's forehead as he read Psalms thirteen.

"'How long, Lord?'" He read, his voice strong but shaky. "'Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look upon me, answer me, Lord, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death. Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed." Lest my foes rejoice at my downfall. I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, that I may sing of the Lord, "How good our God has been to me!"'

o0o0o0o0o

Some people may say that the sound of vomiting is the worst sound to ever be heard by human ears. If that includes hearing your son puking, I agree strongly.

Jackie's head came up finally after spewing his breakfast, coughing hard. I was holding his long hair back as Gibbs held a bucket under his mouth. It was his first day of being treated for his illness. The aura in the air felt like something was disturbingly wrong, but according an ancient medical book we dug up from the cellar, Jackie was doing an excellent job so far.

"It's a sin, making something go though something like this," I scolded, shutting the book with a smart snap. "Worse than the disease itself."

"On the contrary, Dad, I'm feeling much better," Jackie said in a thick but sarcastic voice. "I think I'll go for a stroll later on if it weather isn't too chilled."

"Pardon me, but did I just hear a bit of sass in your voice, boy?" I hissed at him, my feelings of sympathy melting away instantly. Gibbs sensed danger and immediately hurried outside to dump the bucket's contents out.

I let Jackie's hair go and rounded on him. "Don't think the way I treat you is going to be any different because of this. Understand?"

"I'll be fine, Dad," Jackie protested, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. In the heat of the argument, we heard a knock at the door. We turned our heads to see who it was. It was Will, at least four or five bandages in his arms. Jackie smiled sweetly at him and motioned him to come in.

"What's that you got in your arms, Asthore?" he asked as Will climbed up onto the bed, next to Jackie.

"Bandages. They'll help make you feel better!" Will grabbed one and took Jackie's arm. Unrolling it, he messily wrapped it around it and tucked it in as he finished.

"I'm feeling better already, doctor," Jackie said, still smiling.

"Wait!" Will cried. "I've got more!"

Taking the second bandage, he wrapped that around Jackie's other arm. Then, he used two more to wrap around his ankles, and wrapped the last one around his head. I stood up and stepped back to take a look and began to snicker; it was a very comical appearance.

"You're going to make a mighty fine doctor one day, Asthore," Jack said, his voice muffled from all the cotton wrapped loosely around his mouth. We could tell he was smiling. Will beamed too, looking very proud of himself.

A/N: I don't own Psalms or the Bible, obviously :P