Hot searing pain was the first thing I became aware of, the next was that I was laying on something soft. Gasping, I tried to sit up but a firm hold on my good shoulder stopped me.

"Hey, it's okay. We're safe. Easy."

It took longer than it should have for Kal's voice to register in my brain. It felt like I was wading through mud, my thoughts slow and languid. It was only when I lay back did I realize I hadn't even tried to open my eyes yet. Groaning against the pain, my eyes fluttered open to reveal my cabin on the Revenge. Opening my eyes brought with it a sickening feeling of dizziness and I barely had the energy to throw my upper body over the side of the bed before the contents of my stomach left me violently. Thank the gods Kal had a bucket ready. I felt like death. Charlie, sitting on one of the posts of my bed, garbled softly in concern.

The whole time I hacked away every last vestige of breakfast from my stomach, Kal was beside me. At some point he began rubbing a hand up and down my back. When it appeared that my stomach was done trying to kill me, Kal eased me back onto my pillows. A deep frown was on his face, pulling at the small scar on his forehead. Only when the world around me stopped spinning did I make out the blood rags at the foot of the bed, a talon laying amongst them.

Kal saw me looking and sighed, "I had to dig that out of your shoulder. It was why the poison was working so fast." He put the bucket full of my sick outside of the room before returning to place a damp cloth on my forehead. I still felt like I was sweating even though I was doing nothing but lay in bed. I tried to speak but nothing came out when I tried, my throat felt raw and impossibly dry. A cup of water appeared in front of my lips in the next breath, Kal slowly helping me take a few sips. I felt so incredibly weak, I could barely keep my eyes open.

A vial with a swirling orange liquid appeared in my line of sight the moment the cup was taken away from my lips. When I didn't open my mouth right away, because my brain was slowly waking up and what the fuck was in that, Kal frowned even further.

"It's a healing tonic, come on, it'll help get the poison out of your system." His eyes flicked to my shoulder quickly, "And maybe help so that won't scar so badly." He sounded sorry, guilt softening his words.

I used what little energy I had to shake my head, although the action made the ship spin again. "No way." My voice was hoarse and rough, sounding very unlike me. I wanted more water.

Kal groaned, holding the tonic closer to my lips, "Come on, El, please. I know you hate these things but it'll help, I promise."

Later, I would convince myself that I had decided to willingly drink that vial stuff and hadn't opened my mouth in shock at Kal's sudden use of a nickname. The tonic burned on its way down and if Kal hadn't immediately plastered his hand over my mouth, I definitely would've spit it out. As it was, I tried to turn my head out of his hold but he placed his other hand at the base of my skull, holding me tight. It wasn't until I had swallowed down every last drop that he released me. Shuddering at the horrid sour taste, I fell back into the pillows with a glare. It was all my body had the energy for.

Chuckling, Kal started to clean up the majority of the mess. "Yeah, yeah I know. They taste like shit." He put the soiled rags on the floor, he'd burn them later. Then he grabbed a bowl of clean water and a fresh rag, sitting on the edge of my bed once more. "But I bet it's helping already, huh?"

I was not going to admit to that, even if the pain in my shoulder had dulled to a low throb and the world has stopped spinning. I didn't trust those tonics with anything, especially not my life. I didn't know where they'd come from, whether the witch or some other person who had Fallen, but I swore off them the moment they appeared in the Triangle. Until this moment, apparently.

Kal dipped the cloth in the water before leaning closer. My brows pulled together as I tried to move away, forgetting momentarily that I was laying down and had nowhere to go. A small smile tugged at Kal's lips but he otherwise didn't comment as he began to dab at the wound in my shoulder. Glancing at it as he worked, as best as I could in my current position, something became abundantly clear to me at my current state of dress. My light blouse, which had been torn to bits, hung off my bad shoulder and the rest barely kept me covered. "Kal, where's my corset?"

He didn't stop what he was doing, but he was close enough for me to catch the way color rose on his cheeks. Clearing his throat, he inclined his chin towards the end of my bed. I could just see my bloodied corset laying over a chair. "I had to remove it be able to get to your shoulder. And you were barely breathing, I needed room to work if..."

If I had stopped breathing all together, right. Burying the thought of how close I had come to death, I rolled my eyes, lifting one corner of my lips in a smirk. "Sure, you just wanted to get me undressed. Didn't get your fill when you broke onto my island?"

Something dark flashed in his eyes. He didn't move away as he set the cloth back into the bowl, freeing his hand. When his fingers brushed against my cheek, it sent goosebumps down my arms. He was so close to my face that I could feel his breath against my skin. I wondered if he could hear my heart pounding in my chest with how close he was. His eyes never left mine as he hooked his index finger under my chin, lifting my head up just that little bit more. "When I finally get to undress you, Elsie, you'll be wide awake for it."

I didn't dare breathe until he had released my chin and moved away, letting out all of the breath in my lungs with a whoosh. He set the bowl on my desk and gathered the bloody rags. He didn't look at me again as he left my cabin, closing the door behind him. It took me far too long to feel like I could breathe normally, again.

~~~

I walked out onto the deck, the stars going on forever in the sky above. A few lanterns were lit on the decks, casting a warm glow over the wood and metal. I pulled the loose dressing gown I had pulled out of a bottom drawer. It was the one thing I could bear to have touch my shoulder, or any bit of skin for that matter. Whatever that healing tonic was, it had left my skin feeling tingly and hyper-sensitive. I had been sweltering hot in my cabin, unable to fall back asleep. But now, standing on the deck with the ocean's breeze hitting my feverish skin, I was suddenly cold. I felt like death. The wound in my shoulder was beginning to knit back together, though. So I guess it was doing its job.

"You should be resting."

Not bothering to turn to find where Kal had been hiding in the shadows, I leaned back against the railing and looked up at the stairs through the rigging. Charlie wandered from his perch and landed on the railing beside me, being mindful of my shoulder as he brushed his head against my bicep. "It's the middle of the night. So should you."

He emerges from the shadows of the quarter deck's overhang, whether he had just come up from his room or not was unanswered. His weapons holster was missing, as was his cutlass. The loose tunic he wore was untucked and left little of his chest actually covered. As comfortable as his appearance seemed, he looked tired enough that I didn't think he had actually slept. "I'll sleep once we deliver these damn ingredients to the witch and kiss her island goodbye. You, on the other hand, need to rest in order to heal."

Closing the space between us, Kal put his hand out towards me like he actually expected me to take it. Which is clearly did by the way he raised a single brow when I didn't immediately move. "Elsie, I'm serious. You need to lay back down."

Looking from his hand to his face, I raised my own brow in retaliation. "You know, last I checked, I was captain of this ship. I don't take orders from anyone."

His sigh was audible even over the waves crashing against the boat. Glancing up at the stairs again, I figured we would reach the witch's island but sunrise. Which was good — I was not stepping foot into that cave in the dark. "Elsie, please, be smart for once in your life."

"What the hell does that mean?" Snapping my eyes back to his face, I started to cross my arms over my chest only to stop when my shoulder reminded me I had a talon in it not too long ago.

The twinge must have shown on my face because the irritation in Kal's eyes softened. He sighed again but this one much less exasperated than the first. His hand fell to his side with a slump of his shoulders. "You feel on edge, yeah? Like your skin is crawling? And one second your hot and the next your so cold you don't think you'll ever be warm again?"

When I didn't say anything — because what was there for me to say? — Kal nodded slowly. "I promise, the best way is to sleep it off. You'll feel back to normal tomorrow." His hand was offered between us again, but this time his face remained soft and almost pleading.

I don't know what came over me but the next thing I knew was my hand cradled in his as he headed for my cabin. His hand felt warm against my chilled skin, the callouses from sword fighting rough against my palm. As we entered my cabin, he released my hand in oder to open the windows that faced the stern of the ship, letting in some much-needed fresh air. I was still standing rather awkwardly beside my bed when Kal turned to face me again. He smiled, a slow growing lift of his lips, as he came towards me. "Come on, I'll keep watch of the ship. I promise."

As I climbed in to bed, letting the thin dressing gown fall to the floor, Kal averted his eyes even as he held the blanket back for me. I could be embarrassed about this whole thing later, but at the moment I was feeling like utter shit and for once didn't fight being taken care of. With the blanket covering everything from my breasts down, Kal's eyes found mine again. For a moment neither of us said anything. My skin was beginning to feel suffocated under the blanket but I wasn't about to remove it with Kal standing over me. Shaking his head briefly, he took a step away from my bed and towards the door. "I'll be topside if you need anything. Just yell, I'll hear you."

It was only after he left, my door shut soundly behind him, that I realized he hadn't been asleep at all. He had stayed up, stayed above deck, in case I had needed anything. Scrubbing my hand down my face, I used what little strength I still had to kick my blanket off me. I had better be back to normal by morning because this was wholly unacceptable.