- - - - - - - CONTINUE JACK'S POV - - - - - - -
There was a long pause.

"The other child did survive," he said, nodding. "For how long it will continue to live, I do not know, but the child is still inside your wife and was not hit directly. No doubt, the baby will be delivered soon... and I want to make sure that it all goes smoothly. Your wife, because of her and the baby's condition, I insist, must remain here until the baby is delivered." Jack looked down at the lifeless form of his son in his arms, forcing himself to hold back the tears that he had never shed. It did not work as a single tear fell down his cheek and onto the white piece of cloth... covering his dead son. He nodded, biting the inside of his lip.
- - - - - - - END JACK'S POV - - - - - - -

It was quiet... very quiet. I could feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness, hearing voices around me. One of them I could recognize... Jack... and with him was... Will. I could not open my eyes, yet I wanted desperately for them to know that I was alive. I felt awful but I was going to make it.

In reality, I knew that I was not fine and most likely was not going to make it. My stomach throbbed and my lower part of my torso felt bruised beyond belief. Sweat ran down my face and I could feel many blankets over me. I strained my ears.

"Jack," Will was saying, "Are you alright?"

"I think so, mate." I heard Jack saying. I longed to open my eyes, yet I could not find the strength to. "I just..."

"I know," Will said reassuringly. I heard a pat and I assumed it was on Jack's shoulder. "But look at the bright side, if you can. You still have one child to live for." One child? What was he talking about? I was pregnant with twins...

"I wish Christina hadn't killed that man so quickly," Jack suddenly said, his voice shaking with apparent rage. "His slow death would have been welcome revenge for my son." I felt as if I was falling, falling down into the depths of understanding that I could not leave...

Welcome revenge for my son. My eyes flew open.

"Jack!" My voice was strained, hoarse as I called out, finding myself in a bed, small compared to my usual habits, about the size of my first bed on the Black Pearl. It was large enough, though. I found that I was propped up on many pillows and cushions, lying there against them. I was partially sat up and I looked over to find Jack and Will both sitting beside the bed, both looking at me with momentary surprise.

"Christina!" Will said, standing up from his chair. Jack looked at me for a few moments through his wide, sad, puppy dog, chocolate brown eyes. He stood up and gave me a small, sad smile, kissing my forehead. I reached up and put it behind his neck, kissing his lips.

There was a long silence.

"Jack?" My voice was soft as I turned to look at him, "Jack, what happened? Where are we?"

"You're in Doctor Gravel's ward." Jack sat down on the side of my bed, running his hand through my hair gently.

"Christina..." he said quietly, touching my face. "I have something to tell you." I looked at him. "Our - Our son..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The tears would not come. I sat there, distressed but silent. I did not talk to Doctor Gravel when he came to inspect me. I could not talk to anyone; could not find the heart.

Not a word left me for a whole day.

Night had come and, as I struggled to finish the meal that was given to me, I could feel myself slowly slipping away in my mind. That... that pirate killed my son. Murdered my son!

Out of nowhere I broke into sobs.

Jack, who had been sitting next to me, suddenly stood up, coming to sit beside me on the bed and wrapping his arms around me.

"Shhh," he whispered in my ear. Any other time I would have found comfort in his embrace, but now I could find nothing that would take the pain away. I had known what it was like to lose my father, my mother, my entire family... I knew what it was like to leave my home, and leave everything behind me... but to lose one's child, I had now come to find, is the most miserable and horrible thing anyone can go through.

I continued to cry.

"It's alright, luv." Jack was saying... lying to me. "Ye'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll be fine. Remember, we still have a child. One more, yeah?"

"He killed him," I said out loud, angrily, "That bastard killed my son. I hope he burns in Hell!" Jack cradled me closer.

"He will." Jack said, somewhat reassuring yet angrily as well, "He will."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A week passed and I could feel nothing in my heart those seven days but sadness and hate. Jack wanted to talk about it, constantly, but I would never utter a word about our lost son, who I had named Edward.

It was clear that Jack did not know what to say most of the time that we would talk. Any little thing would trigger me and I would break down, crying. I wished that my father was there.

Three days into my stay in Doctor Gravel's ward I felt the other baby kick. It filled my soul with a brief moment of joy and I excitedly grabbed Jack's arm and told him. He seemed overjoyed and held my hand. "See, luv? I told ye we still have a baby to live for." And with that he dropped his head back onto the bed and fell back asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I beat you again!" I laughed and pulled all the coins on the bed toward me, laughing as Glenn looked down at his cards, as did the rest of the crew. Gibbs was scratching his head, looking at me.

"Ye've got to be cheating, lass." Sam said, shaking his head in wonder, "This is the third time in a row." I smiled at the crew, shaking my head. I was not a cheater.

"Beginner's luck." Gibbs said. I laughed, shrugging. Perhaps... or it was years of experience since I was a child.

I thought about the crew that I had been living with for over a year, now. They were my family now, and I knew that they knew that I would do anything for them. I thought about Henry Smith, a lifetime and a half ago, and how the crew had turned their shoulders to him when he had tried to hurt me. I knew in my heart I would e safe as long as I was with them... I finally had somewhat of a family back.

"Well!" I looked up to see Doctor Gravel coming in the door, "What a lot of friends you have, Mrs. Sparrow." I frowned at him, the crew looking up sharply. How did he know my real name? The crewmembers looked at me. Bill Cald put his hand on his pistol and I shook my head at him in the silence.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Gravel," I said, giving him a small smile. The Doctor smiled back and walked over to me, nervously glancing at my crew. He put his hand on my forehead, quickly checking my heart and odds and ends. He sighed, looking at me.

"How have you been eating?" he asked. Will, who had been sitting on the far end of the bed, looked at me sternly. It was true that I had not eaten much in the last week and I told this to the Doctor. He frowned, inquiring to me why.

I shrugged and told him that I simply was not hungry and that the sight of food usually made me feel sick. Gravel nodded slowly before turning to the crew of the Black Pearl.

"Will you wait outside, please?" he asked. I met eyes with Will, willing him to stay in the room. He gave me a sorry shrug after trying to stay and walked out. Jack was not there this time, I knew, for I had sent him out on a few errands, which I refused to let any of the crew do, though he desperately wanted someone else to.

"I'm curious." I said, "How did you know my name was Sparrow and not Smith?" Gravel chuckled.

"It was simple, Mrs. Sparrow." The Doctor said, "I saw your husband's tattoo. And besides, it has been a rumor going around that Christina Ricci ran away with and married Jack Sparrow. You are, no doubt, Christina Ricci." I frowned, tilting my head to the side. The Doctor smiled, "I saw one of your operas." He explained and finished pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Has the baby been moving?" Doctor Gravel asked me, lifting me and lifting up my nightgown, inspecting the inside of me and touching my stomach. I felt insanely awkward at this man touching me, but I had realized that in order to survive in this "hospital", I needed to discard my pride for a little while. The Doctor pulled away from me, looking as if he were in deep thought. I knew that I was sick, and I wondered if my baby and I were going to make it.

I suddenly felt a strange sensation in my lower stomach, and a great pain I had felt this a few days ago and a few times since, but I did not know what it was. Now, as the Doctor was there, I arched my back and grimaced, in an enormous amount of pain. Gravel looked down at me, startled, but pulled my nightgown back down, waiting for the pain to pass.

It was five minutes (or so it seemed) before it finally did, and I lay back against the pillows, aching. Doctor Gravel looked down at me, frowning and nodding to himself, as if doing some sort of calculation in his mind.

"Mrs. Sparrow," he said, "If I am correct, and I feel quite confident that I am, you will be delivering your baby in less than a week." I looked up at him, not knowing whether to be happy or nervous... I was both. The Doctor looked down at me "You'll be fine, dear." He said, "It was a miracle that this child survived... that man kicked you just right." My eyes flashed, "God is on your side. You are strong." With that, he bowed his head and walked out the door, allowing the crew to come back in as long as they were calm. Jack came in first, kissing my lips gently as he sat down next to me.

"Well, luv?" he asked. The rest of the crew stood, waiting. Ana-Maria's eyes glinted as she had just come down from her watch on the ship. I looked around and noticed that Bill and Gibbs were gone.

"Less than a week!" I said excitedly, my voice shaking with nerves as I hugged Jack close. I lied back, smiling as I felt the small child kick in my stomach. Jack laid his hand on my belly, grinning his crooked grin as he felt his baby kick. I laughed and kissed him. He put his hand on my leg and whispered teasingly how he wondered my muscles had stayed intact this long, or how I did not lose my mind from lack of movement. What he did not know was that I had been taking secret walks around the room since I had gotten there.

I began to think about the gender of the baby as I continued to hold out long conversations with the members of the crew, reliving memories, laughing at jokes and each other, and playing another round of poker. What was it going to be? I was thrilled to have it either way... but... Jack wanted a son so badly, and that awful pirate Captain son of a bitch had taken him from us. I frowned, what if the baby was a girl, though? I knew Jack would be disappointed, but happy nonetheless and teach her all he knew. I decided to push it out of his head and wait for when the time came.

"Christina!" I was dragged out of my thoughts as I looked up from my book, my eyes widening at the figure standing in the doorway.

"Elizabeth!" She rushed forward and embraced me, I holding her close, as I had not seen her for a few months.

"I heard in a letter from Will what happened and, oh, I just had to see you." She was dressed in a long, champagne colored dress and hugged me again.

"How are you?"

We talked for near hours, with Jack dozing and every once in a while leaving the "hospital" to go find rum from the ship. Elizabeth and I paid his leaving and returning, along with Will's, no heed.

It felt strange to have so many people actually care if I were in the hospital or not... I knew that if this happened to me in Port Royal, many people would have showed up to pay their respects... but how many of them would really care? I shrugged, Less than half.

Beside my bed, sitting on a small table was a bouquet of flowers from Will, a small wooden carved boat from Gibbs, a painting from Glenn of a beautiful dolphin, and a new violin from the rest of the crew (mine had broken in the storm). As I looked at the gifts, smiling, a tear threatened to fall from my eye.

Soon, Elizabeth returned to the Black Pearl with Will, leaving Jack to lie beside me on the small bed and both of us to fall asleep gently in each others arms, listening to the breathing of each other and the sounds of the other rooms around us, where other patients were being held... though not many. How dangerous could this town be? I looked up at Jack and kissed his lips as he slept.

I knew where I belonged.