I wake up with a start, flying up into a sitting position, my breathing ragged and my face cloaked in sweat. The room spins out of control and I feel as if I have just been cleaved in half and quarters. I grab my head trying to make the spinning stop and after a few deep, controlling breathes, the room comes into focus.
Where am I? How did I get here? How on earth am I still alive.
The room is unfamiliar. Small, but well organized, leaving quite a bit of room for standing and walking about.
The closed door suddenly swings open and an older man walks in, glasses resting on the tip of his nose and his upper lip sporting a generous moustache.
"Ah, the patient has awoken." He says with a warm smile, " You had us in quite a state of panic there for a while. Your father was literally tearing his hair off."
I smile weakly at the image, "Don't you mean he just removed his wig to give him head some air?"
The doctor returns my grin, "That is exactly what I mean."
"What happened?" I ask.
"You had a very large cut across your chest and lost quite a bit of blood. You have been unconscious for two days."
Two days!
"But... but what happened?" I cry, "Did we win the battle? Is Elizabeth okay? Is Jack safe? What about Will?"
I pause, "Forget about Will. How is everyone?"
The doctor laughs at my impatience, "Do you really think you or I would still be alive had the battle not been won? Everyone is safe, including Will. And, more importantly, so are you. You were on the brink of death with the amount of blood you lost. It is a true miracle that you are still alive."
I sigh with relief, laying my head back down on my sweat soaked pillow.
"You just rest for now. You need to have your strength when your family comes and bombards you with chatter once I tell them the news." The doctor advises.
"You have also been doing a really good job at hiding that nasty cut on your face." The kind doctor adds, "Covering your face with just enough dirt to mask the cut was brilliant in some ways and extremely stupid."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it was brilliant because it did its job; no one ever saw it, otherwise your father would have demanded that I make sure that a scar never appears. And stupid because with all the dirt in it, an infection appeared and now, even if I had worked my 'magic', a scar will always run down the length of your face."
I had never thought of the possibility of there being a scar. I touch the scabbing cut, feeling the roughness and the dryness. Well, that's it. I guess I won't get married now. Nobody wants an ugly bride that has more battle scars than he.
I chuckle darkly at the thought. Why does the role of the beloved wife have to be one of a trophy and organizer of the home?
The doctor can easily see my thoughts in my eyes and pats my hand sympathetically. "Get some rest."
I nod and close my eyes, returning to the land of nothing.
The darkness envelopes me, it holds me captive, a prisoner to its deep depths. It pulls me down, further and further into the deep abyss. It drags me down below, farther and farther from where I know the light to be.
I fight. I battle like a warrior, pushing at it, clawing at it, kicking, slapping, hitting, anything to make it leave. But it's grip just tightens. Nothing I do has any effect. Nothing I do can pull be away from the evilness that controls the dark. Nothing can save me.
Annalee... just open your eyes.
I do, hoping that I open them to an empty room. But no, everyone is still here. The doctor, Elizabeth, Father, all staring at me and my deformities.
"Is there anything you can do about this scar?" Father asks, his hands gripping mine tightly, referring to the large, snake like injury across my chest.
"Well, it is too early to be certain. However, the cut on her chest was very deep. There is a slim, or no, chance that there will be no scar.
"Don't worry, Father. At least it will match the one on my face." I remark darkly.
"Don't talk like that, Anna." Father scolds, "It isn't becoming of a woman to be so negative."
I roll my eyes at Elizabeth who beams at me.
"Well, I'm just happy that you're alive, scars and all." She says. "Don't worry, Anna. I will come back soon with some powder and we'll see about making your skin perfect again."
The door opens and Commodore Norrington cautiously walks in, "I was just wondering how Annalee was doing."
"Annalee is do-" The doctor starts.
"How dare you!" Father interrupts. "You are the reason that she is injured in the first place! You are the reason that she almost died! You let her go with you into the rowboat instead of keeping her safe with Elizabeth and you are the one that let her fight!"
"If I may," Norrington says firmly, "If I had locked her up with Elizabeth, she would have only left when Elizabeth went to the cave. She might have even been the first to come up with the idea! Secondly, your daughter is very difficult to control. I tried to keep her out of harms way but she doesn't exactly listen to authority figures very much."
"Excuses." Father hisses in disgust.
"Father, be quiet." I order, frustrated.
He turns to me, shocked, "Anna, you do not speak to your fa-"
"Then why are you speaking to the Commodore that way? Besides, what he is saying is true. He did try to stop me and I didn't listen... on multiple occasions."
"Annalee! Are you defending the man that almost killed you? That is preposterous!"
"He didn't almost kill me! Stop saying that! That pirate did."
"You know perfectly well that that was expected of the pirate. Commodore Norrington was, even without it being spoken, trusted with the duty of protecting you and making sure you were safe and in one piece. He suddenly changed his priorities and decided that having more people on his side during the battle would be more profitable than keeping my daughter safe. He failed his duty."
I rub my forehead, feeling the earlier spinning coming back.
"I am sorry, Annalee." Father says, his voice quietening. "I am just trying to do what is best for you."
Thankfully, the doctor cuts in before I can tell Father something I truly regret, "I believe that Annalee needs more rest." He says, "Would you all be so kind as to leave so that the patient can have her rest and fully recover?"
Norrington bows to Elizabeth and I, "I am happy to see that you and your quick tongue are on the mend, Annalee." He says before turning to leave.
Father with a huff takes off after him without so much of a goodbye.
Elizabeth watches them leave, a surprised expression on her face. "I do believe that you are a wonder maker, Anna. I have never seen Father so riled up and the Commodore so relaxed. Did you hear that little jab he made at the end? Did you? My word, I almost fell off my seat." She says with a chuckle. "There may be hope for him yet, especially if you still are allowed to talk with him and be friends."
"Do you think Father may make you pull back your acceptance of the proposal?"
She snorts, very unladylike, "I wish. But he wouldn't do that. Who else could I possibly marry that is more socially suited to me than Norrington?"
"What about me? Are you saying that my marriage won't be as socially proper as yours? How could Father do this to me? I thought he loved me! He should know that climbing the social matter is my life's calling!"
Elizabeth giggles, "To be frank, I think Father has given up on getting you a husband at least one that he approves one. He probably thinks that you are more likely to run away and become a pirate than marry anyone he has in mind."
"And for once in a long time, he is right." I scoff.
"Don't be so hard on him, Anna." Elizabeth tells me, getting to her feet, "He almost lost one of his children. A parent should never be close to outliving their child." She curtsies to the doctor, "Thank you so much for what you've done. My Father may not show it but he is truly thankful. If you had not saved Annalee, than he would have killed the Commodore and I would no longer be getting married and then were would our family? Annalee dead, me spouseless for the rest of my life, and my father in prison."
The doctor chuckles, "Annalee isn't the only one with a sharp tongue."
Elizabeth blushes slightly at the compliment and leaves the room, gently shutting the door behind her.
"Now that you have some peace and quiet" The doctor says, " I suggest that you try to get so-"
The door slams open and there stands Jack Sparrow.
"Jack!" I cry, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you on the Pearl?"
His face darkens, "Pirate Code, lass. Those who fall behind are left behind."
Someone pushes him into the room and Norrington reveals himself.
"Mr. Sparrow would not be quiet about visiting you so I had to let him come before he started a riot among the guards. Singing love songs to a group of tired out, battle-weary soldiers has never been, isn't, and will never be a good idea." He scowls at the pirate who just winks at me. "It was either bring him to see you or let my men kill him but that would be against the law on so many different levels."
The doctor quickly retreats into his medicine making lab that takes up a small corner of the room and draws the curtains around him.
"I'll be right outside with two guards if there is trouble." Norrington says before leaving once again.
"Jack. You being here, do you know what that means?" I ask him solemnly.
"Don't worry about me, love. I've been in worse situations."
"Jack. You're stuck on a ship. With dozens of soldiers. On your way to a hanging. I honestly doubt that you can get out of this one."
"And the worst part about it all is that I don't have my hat."
I slap him on the arm, "I am being serious, Jack!"
"So was I!" He slaps me right back, "I miss my hat."
"Fine, I'll get you one once were back in Port Royal."
"A big one."
"Yes, a big one."
"With a large feather."
"Of course."
"And made of the finest leather."
"Sure, leather as well."
Jack ponders for a moment, "I'll still want my old hat back."
I shove him away."Go away, Jack. You are absolutely impossible."
"Improbable." He snaps right back.
"No. I truly believe that you're completely, one hundred percent, impossible."
"Calling me impossible should be improbable if you are an imp. Which you are."
I look at him quizzically before pushing him off the bed.
"What was that for?"
"For being impossible."
"If I am impossible, your an imp."
"At least I'm possible."
"In your own way, love."
"Now you aren't making any sense." I roll my eyes.
"You're saying that as if I was making sense earlier." Jack points out.
"If your right in saying that, than that means your whole self, and thus your nature, doesn't make sense which just proves that you are impossible."
"You would think that after seeing the living dead, you would believe that anything is possible."
"They were under a curse. And you are not. Although you have become a curse on my life."
"Than you should be happy that I am going to hang."
"The only hanging I ever want to see in your life is your portrait on my wall once I have my own home."
"So not only am I a curse on your life, I am also a thing of legend?"
"Are they not the same?"
"You must be planning not to love your children very much if you want to frighten them with a picture of your curse."
"Who said anything about children? I want to frighten guests away so that I won't be obliged to socialize with them."
Knockings on the door suddenly cut off our little repartee and indicate that the visit is over.
"I guess I'll be going now." Jack says, getting to his feet and dusting off his pants. "My audience down below are missing me."
"Go sing them a concert." I tell him, "I want to be able to hear you from here."
"Don't you want to keep your hearing?"
"If it meant I wouldn't have to hear you talking, then I wouldn't mind being deaf."
He grins and goes to the door, opening it. "By the way, nice scars" He says before disappearing.
And for the first time that day, I truly smile.
