Previously, on Pirates In Love...

Russell - "Yo, Doc!" Russell waved to get his attention, but he was concentrating on Nathan who was lying face down on the deck in a pool of blood. "Dammit, Nathan's hurt bad."

The pain was agonizing. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. No! No crying. Russell will just yell more. I needed to prove that I wasn't some helpless little kid. I gritted my teeth together. I can do this, I can take care of myself!

I took a deep breath and snapped off the bottom of the arrow, stifling a scream.

Russell - "Oi, what ya doin?"

Ignoring Russell, I put the wood between my teeth. I took a few quick breaths before gripping the top of the arrow still in me and started to pull it out.

Russell - "Hey, stop! Wait for Doc."
Alex - "No!" I yelled through my teeth. I glared at him. "No."

Russell looked shocked, but let me continue treating myself. I pulled the arrow out with one last yank and growled, biting down and snapping the piece of wood between my teeth. I spat out the splinters and used the arrowhead to cut off my sleeve.

Russell - "Gimme that."

Russell tore my sleeve off and wrapped it around my leg. Christopher and Eduardo came by supporting Nathan between them.

Christopher - "Is she injured, too?"
Russell - "Yeah."
Christopher - "Bring her to the sick bay."
Russell - "Right."

Russell picked me up in his arms and carried me downstairs. In the sick bay, he propped me up on the bench and Doc and Eduardo laid Nathan down on the bed. Nathan had a long deep wound on his back from his shoulder to his hip. It was bleeding profusely. Morgan and Thomas waited by the entrance.

Christopher - "What's her injury?"
Russell - "Arrow wound. She got a thru n thru in 'er leg."
Alex - "It's not that bad!"
Russell - "How can ya say that?!"

Christopher inspected my wound for a moment.

Christopher - "She's right."
Russell - "What?!"
Christopher - "I have to tend to Nathan first, his wound is much worse. Russell, you're going to have to help me with Alex."
Russell - "Nathan'll be fine, look after 'er first!"

What is he getting so heated up about?

Christopher hesitated.

Alex - "Christopher… Help Nathan. He looks a lot worse off than I am."

Christopher nodded determinedly and returned to tending to Nathan.

Christopher - "Russell, there's a knife over there. You need to cut off her trousers. Use the cloths over there to stop the bleeding. Put a lot of pressure on both ends."

Russell did as Christopher told him. His movements were rough and quick. I kept wincing every time he sliced at my trousers, afraid he'd cut me. He was so sure with his movements, though. He took the cloths and pressed hard on my leg. I shut my eyes and banged my head off the wall behind me, trying to distract from the pain.

"Ugh!"

For a moment Russell had a look of concern on his face, but then it was gone. He kept the pressure on my leg. I looked at his own wounds. Shallow cuts on his arms and chest were bleeding out onto his shirt. I touched one with my fingertips.

Alex - "... You're hurt."
Russell - "Don' worry 'bout me. This is nuthin'."
Alex - "But -."
Russell - "Shut up! I'll be fine. Ya worry 'bout yerself, aight?"

His forward creased angrily and he put his concentration back on my leg. I knew Russell was tough when it came to fighting, but I was still worried. His shirt was soaked in blood. He was completely ignoring his wounds for my sake.

Morgan - "Anything you need, Doc?"
Christopher - "Water. Lots of sterile water. And some needle and thread, and matches, should be in the drawer over there."
Morgan - "You heard the man, water!" He yelled at Thomas.
Thomas - "Yes sir!"

Thomas filled several buckets with water. Morgan brought the needle, thread, and matches to Christopher.

Morgan - "Will he survive?"
Christopher - "... As long as I close the wound before he bleeds out, he'll be fine."
Morgan - "We'll give you some room. Men!"

Eduardo, Thomas, and Morgan left. It was silent in the room while Christopher worked on Nathan. He spread some ointment on his wound after cleaning off all the blood. He put together the needle and thread and lit a match which he waved along the needle. Oh god, he's gonna sew Nathan back together. I can't watch! I closed my eyes and leaned back. I decided to concentrate on my own pain. It was more of a dull throb now. Much more manageable.

It reminded me of back when I took a hike through the woods with some of the city kids, back when I lived inside the city Yamato. I ended up tumbling down a dirt cliff. I shouted for help, but no one came. I had managed not to get cut up too much, but a sharp stick had speared my arm. It wasn't a deep wound, but I was only a child, and I remembered crying for a good while before realizing that I had to get myself my own help. I stumbled back to the city, looking for a leaky pipe for water to clean my wound. I had to rip my own clothes to bandage my arm. I was lucky, and it didn't get infected. From then on, the pain from cuts and bruises didn't bother me much.

Christopher - "Has the bleeding stopped?"
Russell - "I dunno…"

Russell took his hands off my leg to check.

Russell - "It's slowed down a lot."
Christopher - "Here. Take some of this water to clean the wound. Are there any splinters?"

Russell inspected my leg very closely. He had to have me lean over and lift my leg to check the exit wound. His face was so close to my thigh. If I weren't in pain, I might have been embarrassed.

Russell - "Nope."
Christopher - "Good." He sighed. "Put this ointment directly into the wound, and the other side, too. It may -"

Russell had grabbed the bottle and poured it over my leg before Christopher could finish his warning.

Christopher - "- hurt a little…"
Alex - "OOOOWW!" I jerked my leg away.
Russell - "Don' flail around when I'm tryna help ya!"
Alex - "You're too rough!" I said as I edged away.
Russell - "Fine!" He pulled me by the waist back to him.

This time he poured the ointment slowly and rubbed it into the wound gently.

Christopher - "Put these gauze pads on her wounds. And wrap them up with this. Make sure it's tight."

Russell did as he was told. Even though the wrapping had to be tight, he wasn't as crazy rough as before. I could actually start to relax around him. Christopher had finished up with Nathan who was still unconscious. He and Russell cleaned up as much of the blood as they could. They laid me out on the bench and rolled up some blankets for under my head and to keep my leg elevated. Christopher rolled Nathan onto his side and opened his eyes.

Christopher - "He's still breathing. He's just sleeping right now. Alex."

I looked up.

Christopher - "If he wakes up, have him drink this."

He handed me a cup that smelt strongly of alcohol.

Alex - "Booze?!"
Christopher - "It's a great pain killer." He smiled. "I need to go see the Captain now. You two rest up, I'll be back to check on you."

Christopher left, leaving Russell the only one left, other than the passed out Nathan. He had taken off his shirt and was cleaning his wounds at the sink. Most of them had stopped bleeding. He wouldn't look at me. Just before he was about to leave, I called out to him.

Alex - "Russell?"

He paused, but didn't turn around.

Alex - "... Thank you."

It almost looked like he was about to turn, but instead he exited the sick bay, slamming the door behind him. I cringed a little. I guess he's back to being angry Russell. Not knowing what else to do, I closed my eyes to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of yelling.

Nathan - "AAAGH. FUCK."

Nathan was sitting up on the cot. He had torn off his bandana and had his head in his hands. He had a tortured look on his face. Startled, I almost knocked over the cup of booze I had set aside. I quickly grabbed it and handed it to Nathan.

Alex - "Here, drink this!"

Nathan took the cup. After a moment he realized what it was and downed it in one gulp then slammed the cup down.

Nathan - "Aaahh…"
Alex - "Uh, are you okay?"
He glared at me. "Do I look okay?"
Alex - "Ah, I just meant - nevermind."

I went back to lying down on the bench and lifted my leg back up onto the blankets. Nathan grabbed my ankle.

Alex - "Ah, what?"
Nathan - "... Yer hurt."
Alex - "Oh, it's not that bad. I can hardly feel it anymore, really."

I was lying. It hurt like fucking hell. He looked at the bandage carefully, still holding onto my ankle. The bleeding had slowed down but it had seeped through the layers of gauze and showed up as two red blotches on my thigh. His intense gaze made me nervous. And he wouldn't let go of my leg. What is he thinking? I blushed.

Nathan - "Did Eduardo shoot you?"
Alex - "What? No, it was an arrow from the enemy pirates… Is that something he would do?"
Nathan shrugged. "Wouldn't be tha first time."

I remember Christopher saying Eduardo had never thrown a woman overboard. I trusted Christopher, but he never mentioned Eduardo shooting anyone. Who was telling the truth? There's no way I can relax with a man like that on board! Nathan let go of my ankle and lay back down. I noticed his bandana on the floor. I leaned over to pick it up and gave it to him. He took it back silently, but didn't put it back on. He looks pretty good without the bandana, too…

Nathan - "Whatchya starin at?"
Alex - "Nothing!"

Christopher came in just then, carrying bowls of food.

Christopher - "Dinner!"
Nathan - "Dinner? Who's been in ma kitchen?"
Christopher - "Well, since you can't cook, we set Thomas to work!"

Nathan grumbled something about incompetent people using his tools. Christopher set down the bowls. It was just cooked rice with pieces of nori and some miso soup.

Nathan - "What's this shit?"
Christopher - "It's food."
Nathan - "I ain't eatin this."
Christopher - "You need to eat something."
Nathan - "..."

Suddenly, Nathan threw the bowl of rice across the room. The bowl shattered and ceramic pieces flew everywhere.

Christopher - "Nathan… You're scaring Alex."

I hadn't realized it but I had dragged a blanket up to my face and had squeezed myself into a corner of the room. Nathan looked at me and his expression softened.

Nathan - "Whatever." He turned over in his cot.
Christopher sighed. "Suit yourself." He left the room.

I hesitantly reached for a bowl and quietly ate by myself. Will I ever feel relaxed on this ship?

Nathan - "I'll cook you somethin better."
Alex - "Hm?"

Nathan looked over his shoulder at me.

Nathan - "Ya don't hafta eat that. I'll make somethin better."

I put the bowl down. I didn't have much of an appetite anyway. I sighed. Yet another day wasted and another day spent in the sick bay. I don't think I'm made out for the pirate life… I settled down to sleep.

I woke up the next day in my own bed in Thomas's room. Hm? How'd I get here? I still wore the bloody trousers and ripped shirt. My other clothes had been neatly folded and placed by my bed. I wonder if Thomas did that? I changed out of Thomas's now ruined clothes and into my own. It was a little difficult getting the skirt on, and I found I had a hard time limping around in it. I kept tripping over the hem. I decided to switch back to the trousers, ripping the legs to get rid of the bloody parts and to even them out. They ended up pretty short on me. Better than nothing I guess. I put on my undershirt and blouse and limped my way through the cabin. I heard voices coming from the mess hall and headed over. I leaned on the door frame, slightly out of breath. Everyone except Nathan and Christopher were there. Eduardo looked at me as I stepped in.

Eduardo - "Oh, you're up."
Alex - "Um, mornin."
Morgan - "How's your leg, girl?"
Alex - "Uh, I think it's better."
Morgan - "Hmm… Might wanna get that dressing checked out by doc. He's in the sick bay with Nathan."

A trickle of blood had escaped from the bandage and was slowly running down my leg.

Alex - "Oh!..." I started to head that way, feebly dragging my leg, when suddenly I was whisked off my feet. "Oof!"

Russell was carrying me in his arms again. He didn't say a word as he brought me to the sick bay. I could feel pieces of gauze through his shirt. Oh good, he patched himself up...

Russell - "Check on 'er, will ya Doc?"
Alex - "What about you?"
Russell - "I'm fine!"

He left abruptly.

Alex - "That was odd…"
Nathan - "... That's just Russell."

Nathan was sitting up on the cot with his back to Doc. Doc had taken off his bandages and was tending to his wound. It looked even more gruesome than yesterday.

Nathan - "Russell doesn't say things like 'Thank you' or 'sorry'. He'll just do what he thinks is right."
Christopher - "He's really a big softy on the inside. In fact, he probably likes worrying about you."

They laughed. Nathan cringed a little. The laughing had strained his back.

Alex - "Oh…"

I was slowly learning that these pirates weren't just barbarians in the monstrous stories I heard back at home. There was a lot more going on with them, deep inside, that I had yet to figure out. But I was inching my way closer to what truly lay in their hearts. I decided to be less rash with Russell. Maybe he really does have a gentle side.