Angel At Sea

Captain (II)

"It's Captain!" I hissed, the words being dragged through my clenched teeth, at the moment, I was too drunk with power to realize how terrified the man before me was! Also, in that moment, I couldn't give a care in the world! With a grumble, I turned on my heel and pushed us back to course. I didn't know where we were going, the Captain hadn't spoken to me about that! So, I followed the direction of the very scared, very worried First Mate, who dared not breathe a word against me or what I wanted-and he warned the others to do the same. At dinner that night, all of the crew moved away from me, fearing an outburst, especially since all that what ensued when I was catcalled or put on edge-ultimately, someone would die.

I took my dinner to the Captain's room and sat on his bedside, watching him, watch me. He was a bit stronger than earlier, and could lift his hands with little difficulty, and he could sit up in bed with my help (which was a nightmare for his chamber pot), but besides that, he was bedridden and his voice was weak; but the physician said he would live! I fed him slowly, and, between bites, he spoke. "I heard you today....yelling at the crew." He said quietly, his usually saintly voice reduced to a poor man's whisper.

"They wouldn't listen to me"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not the real captain here" Said I, turning my eyes towards him to watch him, watch me. His champagne colored eyes searched my face for any sign of an emotion expressed and identified by the human condition. He lifted his hand up from beside him, to brush against my cheek; I smiled and let the crack of a smile on my lips become twisted once again into a smile of greater length. His hands, however, no longer felt like the velvet they once were-now they felt of worn leather, bashed with the elements and whatever else the world could throw at them. He brushed his thumb against my cheek and let out a quiet sigh.

"You will be, it takes time. And judging by what the physician is saying, you will have more than a plentiful amount of time to learn the ropes of captaining a vessel such as this." Said he, taking a breath every so often-I couldn't tell if he was shrugging his shoulders or attempting to breathe, and with every struggle of breath he took, my heart sank deeper into my stomach, for him. "The physician also said-" He started again, a wheeze leaving his mouth as he tried to breathe "-that I must be taken to land. The sea is not good for me, Anna, at least not in this state."

"W-Wait...that means, you have to stay on land, w-while I captain the boat?" I asked and he gave a booming laugh, one that, I thought, shook the entire boat itself! However, this laughter was short-lived, and soon morphed into a fit of coughing.

"N-No, Anna. It means, we port somewhere and we don't leave until I'm feeling myself again-by that time the boat and crew should be sufficiently content with land and then I will captain her once more." He explained and I nodded, feeling wave after wave of relief break over me; captaining with him on the boat was hard as it was! Captaining with him off of the boat...why, it'd be damn near impossible!

"You're sure you can make it until we get to port?" Asked I, placing what was left of the food on the table beside us and taking his hands into mine.

"I'm sure" He wheezed, and I cocked an eyebrow. He gave a quieter chuckle and nodded. "I swear!"

"Swear on what?" Asked I, offering my pinkie, to which he did not take.

"My mother"

-- Captaining the boat wasn't a walk in the park, however, with the added pressure of taking care of my Captain, my head felt close to exploding! I spoke to the physician so much he became annoyed with my presence and began to lock me out of his quarters! This, understandably, created some tensions which became more and more rage ridden as the days drew on...and his lock drew weaker. One day, when my Captain began to spit up blood, I felt I'd put up with enough, and promptly smashed my boot so hard against his quarter's door, that the door flew open on it's hinges, creating a squealing sound, which halted all work on deck. I stomped into the room, my fingers curled into fists at my sides, and my sights locked on the man wearing the dirty white coat. I slammed the door shut behind me and took the physician up by his collar-yanking him out of his chair and bringing him a mere centimeter or two from my face. "You will tell me what is really going on with my Captain or someone is going to be seriously hurt" I hissed, my teeth clenched hard together, and the attempt to keep my cool plummeting in vain. He gave a sheepish smile, one riddled with anxiety and beads of nervousness dripped from his brow, down his nose. "H-H-He has b-blunt force t-trauma to his h-head and his body is b-broken-"

"I already know that!" I huffed, throwing him down, against the deck. "Tell me the truth!" I growled, ripping my rapier out of its holster and raising the weapon to his gullet. My chest rose and fell in elevated anger as I stared down at the rat beneath me, however, the sneaky man smiled-he smiled!

"I am invaluable to you, I am the only one on this vessel who knows how and proper ways to care for sick and wounded men-you cannot kill me." Said he, his persona now reeking of smugness.

"Do you believe I am so incompetent as to kill you? Then you really do have a low opinion of me, sir. You will not die at my hand....but injury and maiming are a totally different story-both moral and metaphysical laws dictate that I can and most likely will hurt you, besides...a little torture never hurt anyone."