A Truelove of Turtle Doves

Chpt 26 - Hold Me Tight

I made it to the docks in record time, tying (H/N) to a post nearby the dock that was home to Le Dauphin.

Dismounting was even more painful than mounting had been, and I hissed and cursed multiple times while doing so. I then repeated this process while trying to get my coat off, which took much longer than it should have. I kept a hold of it, just in case, although the left shoulder was soaked red, so I honestly doubted that I'd wear it again. My shoulder was now sore and aching.

Why couldn't the damn thing just go numb? At least it wouldn't hurt at all then.

Gritting my teeth, I moved hastily up the gangway and onto the ship.

It was eerily quiet - I suppose I had expected more noise when the crew was deafeningly loud during the daytime. There was barely any light on the ship, save for the few oil lamps carefully hung up. The ship rocked gently and the sound of creaking floorboards occasionally broke through the silence. Very light chatter could only just be heard, and I noticed that Francis' room was lit up, meaning that he was awake.

Of course, it was just my luck that his room was where the talking was coming from.

I began to walk towards the door, now clutching my left shoulder in order to (unsuccessfully attempt to) stop anymore blood flowing out of me, when it opened and out stepped Vachel.

He only recognised me when he took several large strides forward, the door closing behind him, and when he did realise that someone was there, he jumped.

"It's just me," I said. The tired tone was evident in my voice.

Vachel put a hand over his heart, relief flooding his face. "Oh mon Dieu, you gave me a heart attack."

Before he could ask or say anything else: "I need to see Francis. Now," I insisted urgently.

"Pourquoi?" He looked incredibly confused, but seemed to quickly notice that I was holding my shoulder.

To connect all of the dots for him, I held my hand out, and even in the incredibly low light levels it was obvious that my hand was covered in blood. Vachel's eyes darted from my hand to my shoulder and back again.

For a very split second, his face was unreadable, and then it was one of shock and horror.

He didn't even ask how - he snatched the wrist of my good arm and dragged me towards Francis' room, throwing the door open. It echoed with a loud crash when it hit the wall.

I had a very short moment to notice who was in the room, and the annoyed expressions on all of their faces at being interrupted in the middle of what I was assuming to be a rather important meeting. Francis' expression then morphed into one of mild confusion upon seeing me, along with the expressions of a few of the other 5 people (3 women, 2 men)  in the room.

No one managed to ask any questions because Vachel simply shouted in a very loud and panicked voice, "Il a besoin de soins médicaux, maintenant!"

He needs medical attention, now!

The frantic First Mate then preceded to twist me around slightly so that everyone could see my shoulder.

It must have been bad because then everything when crazy.

Francis was the first person to shoot out of his seat, shouting orders in French over the ruckus that had started as he quickly reached me, guiding me to sit down on his bed.

4 people left the room in such a hurry that they were almost a blur, although it could have looked like that because one, now that I was sitting on a bed I was aware of how tired I was, two, the pain was possibly making me delirious, and three, the urge to cry had returned, and I thought that I might have tears in my eyes.