Pirate's Treasure

Chapter 25

After we set sail for the next place, I spent the next few days in my room, thinking. I thought about Christian and what he was going through, but I also thought about the other pirates. There had to be hundreds of other pirate crews out there. What if it wasn't Arthur's group? What if it was a totally different group that I've never heard of and we would never find them? At this point, anything seemed possible, and everything looked impossible.

I was only thinking about the two of us, and the other person on this ship I cared about almost slipped my mind.

"Oh, Dinah!" I exclaimed, sitting up on my bed. "She'll know what to do."

I placed my feet on the wooden ground and left the room, the daylight hitting me in the face, making me squint. I held a hand in front of my face as I weaved through the working pirates and to Dinah's room, but I stopped in front of Val once I got to him.

"Hey, when are we getting to the next place?" I asked, and he scrunched up the map he was holding in front of him.

"Don't know." He muttered, pushing past me. "Excuse me."

"Oh, uh… okay." I stammered, turning towards Dinah's room, but my head cocked back once more to see Val hurry up the stairs to his cabin. I shrugged it off and pulled the handle to her door.

"Dinah, I was wondering-" I started as I shut the door, and turned towards her, but stopped dead in my tracks. She lay flat in bed, her skin ghostly white and shaky, trembling. Her eyes were shut and facing the ceiling, and only the slow rise and fall of her chest convinced me she was still alive. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she inhaled an exasperated breath. "No." Her head turned slowly towards me, and her eyes were bloodshot. "I'm not."

I started towards her bedside, but her whispering voice turned frantic. "Stay away from me!"

"Oh my God, you're sick!" I stated, and she started coughing violently. "You need help."

"I need you to stay away from me." She ordered, but I shook my head slightly.

"I'll tell Val we need to stop somewhere now. You need help. I'm not going to let you die!" I cried, tears forming in my eyes. I've lost too much in my life. I couldn't lose anyone else. Not if I could stop it.

I swung the door out and it slammed shut behind me, and my eyes searched frantically around for Val. I wasn't just weaving past people anymore- I was dodging, tripping, and stumbling over people that were in my way while I ran to Val's cabin.

"Val!" I called, banging on the door with my fist. I pulled on the handle and it swung open, but I thought the banging on the door was necessary.

"What do you want?" He whined as the door shut slowly behind me, and I stormed over to him, looking up at him.

"We need to stop somewhere. Dinah's sick. She might die if she doesn't get help soon, and I can't lose her." I pleaded, my hands pressed flat together. "Please, please, please!"

"You think I will go off of our course just so you can help your little friend?" He asked in disbelief, and I thought he might laugh. "You're too funny, Ellie."

"She's so sick! She will die if she doesn't get help now!" My voice changed progressively to a scream, and his back was to me as he stared out the round window. "Why don't you understand how urgent this is?"

"I understand completely." He turned back towards me, shaking his head. "But the crew's needs come before a singularity. We can't stop now. Not when we've come this far."

"Then-" I cut myself off, debating on the choice I decided to make. I knew the consequences, but I said it anyway. "The next place we stop, I'm staying with Dinah."