The Pirate's Treasure (#Wattys2017)

10. Fever (Revised)

     My eyes flutter open as my head pounds with pressure. Moving around, I'm met by familiar squeakiness of my cabin bed. Sitting up straight, I hold my head within the palm of my hands. Blurry vision sets in as I open my eyes, meeting the figure of Captain Wolfe sitting at the bottom of the bed.

     "Welcome back," he lightly teases with a smirk across his face. "How was your trip?"

     "What exactly happened?" I ask as my vision returns to normal. "I don't remember anything."

     "Well, you took two straight shots of vodka, and at some point fainted," he states as my eyes widen in shock. "That's the entire story."

     "How long have I been out for?" I question as a sudden burst of pain erupts within the temples of my head.

     He shrugs. "Possibly a little less then two days."

     My eyes wander around the room as I search for my pet. "Where's James?"

     "James?" Captain Wolfe questions.

     "Yes! He was in the jacket!" I exclaim, rather upset, until Captain Wolfe opens his flask carrier. The kitten jumps from it and onto my lap.

     "Why did you name him James?" He inquires as the kitten softly purrs in my lap.

     I tense for a moment, staring off into space. "That's my brother's name..."

Captain Wolfe refrains from speaking, but rather rests his hand gentle upon the kittens soft fur. Our eyes meet in a sort of longing gaze, as though something between us has changed, though I can't quite pinpoint what.

"Can I ask you a question?" My voice squeaks as his eyes look down at the wooden floorboards.

"All these questions..." He mumbles with a sort of chuckle at the end. "Go ahead."

"What exactly is this plan?" Captain Wolfe runs his hand across his forehead, almost as though her perspiring. My petite hand suddenly rests upon his, the cat beneath not seeming to mind. "Why am I involved?"

He sighs. "Marco and I will explain everything to you sometime today, I promise," with that he stands, but nearly falls, catching himself on the wall.

The kitten jumps from my lap as I reach up and help him stand. Something isn't right as I can see the sweat droplets forming on his brow and upper lip. Forcing him to sit back down on my bed, I touch his forehead with my hand only to discover that it is terribly warm.

"You're burning up," I state as he suddenly seems as though he's too weak to sit up any longer. "If you move from this bed, I promise it'll be the last thing you ever do."

A slight smile forms on his lips but then is disturbed by an unsettling grunt. I hurry from the room and desperately try to find the only other man on this ship I know; Mister Jo.

Quickly climbing the stairs to the main deck, I arrive and inhale the fresh, salty air. Mister Jo can be seen giving orders as I roughly grab onto his shoulder. He spins around, looking both confused and yet amused, until realizing something urgent is happening.

"Captain Wolfe... I need strong men to carry him to his cabin. Something's not right..."

Mister Jo calls two men, their eyes looking me over as he instructs them to listen to my every command. The three of us make our way to my cabin where they urgently pick up Captain Wolfe and carry him to his cabin. As they lay him on his side, he let's out a pained grunt.