The Thrill Of You

Chapter 16

Stede's POV

I was barely waking up, moving about, and feeling sore around my shoulder area. I groaned quietly, trying to slip away from the bed so as to not make much noise, trying not to wake Ed. But as always, in life as it seems, I end up getting the short stick and Lucius ended up barging into my room like a young boy in the press center. "Hey, capt- captains! Rise and shine, we're about to set off, we've got the anchor down and such, whatever Wee John said," Lucius exclaimed, most definitely waking up Ed as he squirmed under the thick covers.

"Who's coming to shore with us?" I asked in a groggy whisper, seeing him attempt to recall the names. "You, Captain Edward, Black Pete, Roach, Frenchie, Oluwande, and me," He informed me in a rather loud voice, having not caught on to the fact that I was needing quiet voices. "Captain Ed is staying in for today," I told him, seeing if that would hint him to be a little quieter. I heard Ed groan a little bit, twisting over to the point that his body pressed against the small of my back, the texture of the bandaging rubbing up against me. "I'm going, Stede, it's fine," Ed murmured with a raspy voice, my cheeks heating up inconveniently as I sat there amongst the bed.

"You need to rest," I argued, looking behind me to see that he was still half asleep as he lay there. Case in point. I shook my head a bit, clearing the foggy morning brain as I looked at Ed. "You're falling asleep behind me, you're usually up before me," I stated, still feeling that Ed was moving around a bit. I reached for the little piece of the robe, covering his chest so he wouldn't be cold, still seeing his eyes closed.

"I'll rest after, but I'm going," Ed stated, groaning and slowly blinking as he winced from trying to stretch. I looked down, seeing that blood had soaked through a bit of the bandage, hiding it quickly. "We'll be on deck here a jiffy," I sputtered, Lucius tilting his head and eventually going over to the door and closing it shortly after. "Ed, the bandages, we have to change them before we go," I told him, seeing him looking down before sighing. I got out of bed and grabbed the bandaging that was left over from last night, bringing them to Ed as he sat up. "I guess that I didn't get that last stitch tight enough," I mumbled, removing the bandage with a bit of difficulty with the robe, though it became easier when Ed removed it. Tattoos, scars, skin. I stopped for a minute, only stalling for that one, seemingly long, minute. I finished taking the bandage off, seeing that the last stitching was indeed loose.

"Are you sure you want to go today? This wound looks pretty painful," I stated as I cleaned up gently, being cautious of the stitches as I got both sides clean to be bandaged again. "Yes, I'm sure, I don't want to look weak in front of our crew," Ed mumbled, wincing as I accidentally got the bandage too tight. I loosened it and made it so he could move a bit, instead of being in a bandage corset. "There is no such thing as weak on this ship, only pain, and healing," I told him, though even then, there were still opinions of such things that men couldn't show how much pain they were in without being called weak.

"That should do," I whispered as I stepped back to look at the bandage, seeing that it covered almost his entire torso. Just for safety. "If I see you faint though, I'm dragging your ass back to the boat or notifying Olu of the situation so he may do the same," I gently informed him, grabbing my clothes from my closet. "Could we not tell anyone?" Ed asked and I stopped for a minute. The crew would be worried if it was said that he was hurt, everyone would be talking about it, and it obviously made him uncomfortable. "I'll just tell him to bring you back if you faint, how'd that?" I asked, turning toward him and seeing him slightly nod. I nodded back and smiled a bit, putting my clothes over my arm. "If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom," I announced, going to the empty room and undressing from my nightgown.

With little to no struggle, I got my shirt, pants, socks, and shoes on swiftly, opening the door to see Ed standing there shirtless. I jumped a little bit before recovering and letting out a short breath, ignoring the tattoos that were on his chest that I had tried to be respectful not to look at, given the area. "Sorry, I just needed help with the shirt, my arms can't go up that far," Ed told me, to which I understood and took the shirt that he was holding, going from behind and guiding his hands through the arm holes. Getting the shirt up over his shoulders,