Last Voyages

Chapter 23

"The woman he almost destroyed was the one he died protecting." -Harry

Harry's POV:

Without realizing it, I had nodded off while holding onto Bella's hand, the frailty of her skin making me feel so at peace. I forgot how much I loved holding onto her hands, the feeling making me sure of how I felt about her.

Her hands were small, frail, and soft, just like she was. But also the calluses on her hand reminded me of how strong and tough she was, the fight she always put up no matter what the situation was.

Although the calluses were not as noticeable now as they were six years ago, I could still feel the strength in her hands. And for some odd reason...

That lulled me to sleep.

My eyes snapped open when I jolted awake, realizing I had fallen asleep thinking about this woman's hands. A disbelieving look came to my face as I let her hand fall, looking down at her with a slight blush on my face.

Even without saying a word...she still has this much control over my heart. And I thought I had gotten rid of it all.

But obviously I hadn't.

A small smile came to my face as I gazed down at her, appreciating this woman in front of me more now than I had in a long time. 

As my gaze lingered down her body, my eyes widened in shock as the makeshift bandage around her wound was soaking, red being the only color you could see. 

"Even that didn't stop the bleeding?" I gasp, beginning to panic at the thought of her bleeding out, despite the efforts we put forth to make sure she lived. 

Without realizing what I was doing, my feet had already led me to the deck, running frantically out into the open. "Shayla!!" I shout at the top of my lungs, my head swinging around desperately trying to find the redhead. 

Footsteps caught my attention and I swiveled around, looking up to see her standing by the railing of the upper deck, her eyebrows furrowed down confused. "What?" she asks, but upon seeing my panicked face, her eyes widen in realization.

"Bella." she gasps before sprinting down the steps, both of us running back inside the Captain's Quarters, going to the bed where Bella was lying still, her face pale and sweaty. 

"Dammit! How long has she been like this?" Shayla curses and I hang my head. "I...I don't know. How long have I been in here? I dozed off." I admit and she looks at me a little surprised. 

"It's been five hours." she says and I gape at her. "FIVE HOURS?!" I shout in disbelief and she nods. "We'll be reaching England soon, actually. But I wish you weren't asleep. It looks like she's been this way for at least two hours." she says and I curse under my breath.

"What else can we do?" I ask helplessly, looking over Shayla to see her taking out her sword. "Only one thing to do." she mutters and my eyes widen in shock.

Within a second, Shayla was up against the wall, me glaring down at her as her sword clanged on the ground. She gasped in surprise, looking up at me with wide eyes, fear reflecting across her face. "W-What are you doing?" she stammers and I narrow my eyes.

"Killing her is not an option. You aren't going to lift your sword against her." I growl angrily and she seems stunned and a little hurt by my answer.

"You honestly think I'd do that? She's my best friend, you idiot. I was going to cut off the sheets on the bed to make a new bandage." she snaps and my eyes widen. I hadn't even thought about that as an option. For some reason, I just went on the defensive.