The Captain

eight

I followed Bonnie past most of the hammocks until we got to a small looking room tucked off to the side. Less of a room and more of a cupboard, really. 

"This is where I keep the medical supplies," she said as we approached.

"Oh, are you a doctor?"

She shook her head. 

"Nope, but I know how to sew, and that's about all you need to know to do stitches."

My stomach lurched slightly at that thought. She pushed the door open, revealing a sleeping Fletcher on the floor and Amelie curled up against the wall. She blinked at us, registering everything slowly. 

"Flo!" she whisper-yelled, launching herself at me.

"Ow, ow, watch the ribs."

She let go immediately. 

"Are you okay? I wanted to come to see you but everyone told me to shut up and go away."

"I'm fine, just a little bruised."

Bonnie glanced at me concernedly. 

"How bad? Do you want me to take a look at it?"

I shook my head. 

"It's fine, really."

She seemed sceptical.

"Okay. Well, here just in case," she said, handing me a roll of bandages.

I nodded my thanks to her.

"How's Fletcher?"

"I think he was exhausted and probably really cold. He woke up not that long ago, and he talked to me for a few minutes before he went back to sleep. He'll be fine," Amelie replied, looking at him with a surprisingly serene expression. My heart ached for these two. I could tell she already cared about him far more than she should, but I couldn't bring myself to try and break them apart.

"That's good, Lia." My voice sounded raspy when I spoke, and all the movement had disturbed my ribs a little too much. 

"Everyone'll be heading up to the main deck right about now. If you go back to the Captain's quarters, I'm sure nobody will mind if you sleep a bit more. Oh! Also-" Bonnie said, rummaging around in a cupboard behind Fletcher. She finally pulled out one of my old dresses, a pale yellow one made of soft cotton.

"Where did you get that?"

She looked almost guilty. 

"We were told to take everything, so we took your clothes to sell. I can't give you back everything, but at least take this so you don't have to keep wearing Maverick's clothes."

I was stunned. She was actually showing us remarkable kindness. 

"Thank you. Truly."

She smiled, a little sadly at the pair of us.

"None of you guys deserve to be hostages. I help where I can. Now, sleep? You look paler than death."

As much as I wanted to avoid getting too comfortable in a pirates bed, I was in impressive amounts of pain and I was tired already. 

"Yeah, okay. Amelie, I'll come to see you later, okay?"

She nodded, giving me a hug so gentle I might've been made of porcelain. 

Dress in hand, I walked back to Maverick's room, placing the bandages and dress on the chair before gingerly crawling back into the bed and falling asleep almost immediately.