[IC] Crimson Tide (MegaraFoxfire and I)

[Optimist]

Roger followed them down to the baroness's carriage, and was concerned when he saw Wolfbane limping. Possibly she was not as healed as she seemed? He came up behind them. "Do you need a shoulder to lean on, Mr. Smyth?" He was prepared to pick her up and deposit her in the carriage if needed, but it was already suspicious that an injured sailor was going to be traveling with the baroness. He did not wish to do so unless it was really necessary.

The contingent of soldiers, with the red coats, were almost aboard their ship now, and not paying attention to a few stray travelers, among the many that were getting on and off ships. Roger breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that they were going to get away with it.

[MegaraFoxfire]

She shook her head and said "Just lost my balance my friend...the baroness is kind enough to drop me off at my home..." She opened the door for them, fighting to keep her pain under control until they were all inside. Then she cursed and pulled the wrappings off her face and breathing hard as the baroness looked at her. "Are you alright?"

Wolfbane nodded and said "I'm alright...just sore...and a new pain..." The baroness looked her over and said "Hawthorne...her side is bleeding...but when was she hit..."

[Optimist]

Roger felt fresh concern He spoke directly to the baroness. "We'll need to fetch a doctor, or take her too one. Is there one on the way to your estate?" The baroness nodded. "Yes, Dr. Stevenson. He's a good man. He treated my late husband, before his death, and eased his pains considerably. We can stop the carriage on the way up to the estate. There is room for one more."

Roger nodded and helped stepped into the carriage and sat down, leaving space for the baroness. She stepped inside, and yelled up to the driver to take her home. Soon they were on their way through the streets of the busy port, dodging carts and men in the streets. It was a bumpy ride over the cobblestones and Roger feared it would cause Wolfbane fresh pain. He realized that he did not even know her first name, though it was impolite to ask.

"Captain, are you quite O.K.? How did this fresh injury occur?"

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane nodded and said "I am alright...just the..a wound acting up. I will be fine..." She flinched and pulled the clothing back to see a scar opened up to a fresh wound. "Bloody curse...always messing with me..." The baroness looked at Roger, her eye brows arched. Wolfbane looked at Roger and said 'By the way...I'm Margaret...Margaret Wolfbane...I didn't have a chance to tell you before..." She flinched again as they hit a bump, sending pain through her.

[Optimist]

Roger winched with her. He realized that they had never been formally introduced and he felt ashamed. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Wolfbane. Mr. Roger Hawthorne at your service." He offered his hand to her automatically, if she was a man, without thinking. It was the outfit which made him do so. In her current attire, she could almost pass for a man, despite her beauty. He almost pulled his hand back, but left it out.

As the carriage moved onto the estate, the roads improved. They weren't paved properly, but even a dirt road was better, on a good day, than cobblestones. From his vantage point, Roger could see much out the window. In the distance was a gray, stone manor house, with dark gray shutters. There were storm clouds forming in the sky, and with they as a backdrop, Roger though that the house had a rather gloomy appearance. He supposed that the interior might be lightly painted, and well lit, to make up the difference, but only time would tell.

The baroness was looking a little pale herself, after seeing the fresh blood of the captain's wound. Roger had found her to be a strong woman though, and did not think she would faint, like most women in her position. As it was, she had taken good care of Captain Hawthorne, taking breaks between herself and Roger, since the care had taken several days and nights.

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane smiled and took his hand, shaking it. Her grip was strong dispit her pain and weakness at the moment. Her eyes never left his, the fire still there from when they first saw each other. After a while she looked at the baroness and said "I am sorry about all of this...I can never be sure when I'm fully well or not. Its...hard for me to tell at times" She looked out the window, almost trying to hide her feel feelings. She hated being like this. She hated never knowing soon after a fight if she would bleed or not. But that was her curse and she was starting to get used to it. Hopefully the doctor they knew of could get her back on the path of mending.

[Optimist]

Roger found himself looking into Captain Wolfbane's eyes for a moment, before the carriage pulled up in front of the manor house. A large contingent of uniformed servants were lined up to welcome the mistress back home. The baroness descended from the carriage. "Come quickly, we have guests and one of them in injured. Send for the doctor at once, and prepare the guest rooms." The servants scurried off to do her bidding, as a lean, older man approached them.

"Welcome back baroness. I trust your trip was satisfactory?" He was wearing a blue suit and a white cravat.

"Yes Wadsworth, quite satisfactory."

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane pulled herself from the carriage getting paler by the minute as she stumbled and grabbed the wheel to stay upright. She cursed softly and then stood talk again and held her side. "Please my lady....I will be alright...no need to rush...." The baroness looked at her and said "your in pain, captain...you need healing and I will not take no for an answer" Margaret nodded and said "very well my..." She gasped, feeling the wound open wider and she fell to one knee, her eyes shut from pain as the baroness yelled for help

[Optimist]

Roger jumped out of the carriage and ran over to the captain. He picked her up in his arms, without regards to the blood stains it caused on his green coat. "Margaret," he said, using her Christian name without realizing it. "Hold on, help will be here soon!" The baroness lead him up the stairs into her mansion. The front room was gigantic, and held a marble staircase, which wound up to a landing. The walls were painted light blue, with tiny silver buttercups in a line over the baseboards. The floor was marble as well.

The baroness lead him up the staircase. Roger found himself huffing a bit as he carried the captain, but he was in good condition. Soon, the baroness lead him to a bedroom with white washed walls and a small wood framed bed. A crucifix was over the bed and there was a table with medical implements and an open window. "This is my infirmary," she said, helping Roger to lower the captain onto the bed. "My late husband was sick for many years, before passing on. I had it built for him.

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane was breathing hard, fighting to keep her eyes open as they laid her down. She moved to her clothes and started to pull them apart, showing the wound and she looked at it, cursing. "This is not..." She looked at the baroness and said "sorry my lady....I forget to watch my tone with others around..." She flinched, closing her eyes for a moment

[Optimist]

The baroness nodded. Roger knew her tone hardly mattered to him. She could curse like the sailor she was, and she still would not say anything he had not already heard in the army. The wound looked deep and nasty and he wondered how she was remaining conscious. He turned to the baroness. "Watch over her. I will go to meet the doctor and tell him where to go." The baroness smiled a sad smile. "Don't worry. Dr. Stevenson knows this house all to well. He will know where to come."

Across town, Dr. Stevenson was preparing to eat the excellent lunch of pork roast and sauerkraut his wife had prepared for him, when a lad from the baroness's estate rode up, with two horses, to fetch him. Without a seconds though, he threw on his brown great coat and tri-corner hat and climbed onto a horse. He was an older fellow, in his early sixties, but still in very good condition. He had long, gray hair, drawn back into a ponytail, a lean, kind face and blue eyes.

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane was fighting to take even breathes, her eyes starting to blur but she push passed it. This was not her first serious wound and it wouldn't be her last. But it was a first that two people who barely knew her was helping her. Why? Why were they risking so much for a pirate captain? Margaret suddenly shuttered as a new wave of pain hit her, sweat pouring down her face. "Must have happened....during the fight....and didn't heal fully...it happens....a lot to...me..."

[Optimist]

Roger placed his hand upon her head, to see if she had a fever. "At least you aren't burning up again." He looked over at the baroness with concern. He barely knew the captain, but he hated to see anyone suffer like this.

Dr. Stevenson rode like a demon to get to the baroness's. She was, or at least had been, his most prized client. Reaching the house, he hopped off the horse and rushed through the big double doors, ignoring the butler. He headed straight to the infirmary. He was just in time to hear Roger's voice.

"Baroness, i lost my wife to disease also. You have my sympathy."

[MegaraFoxfire]

The baroness sighed and looked at him. "We can't lose her now...not like this..." Then she saw the doctor and said "Dr. Stevenson...please, this young lady needs your aid" Wolfbane cursed and looked up at the pair above her and muttered "I'm not dying today...that would be far too easy..." She coughed hard, holding her bleeding wound

[Optimist]

The doctor quickly started to work on the captain's wounds. He cleaned the wound out and then stitched it closed again, even though the captain had to bite down on a wooden dowel to endure the pain. His old hands were impersonal and caring, as he worked his magic. Withing half an hour, the captain was resting again, with a wide bandage around her middle. He had the baroness's servants brew a special tea for the pain, and as she took it, the captain would find herself feeling sleepy. Roger stood vigil over her, unwilling to leave until she was taken care of, and the baroness stayed with him as well, for proprieties sake.

[MegaraFoxfire]

All throughout the pain and care she closed her eyes and focused on the few things in her life that were pain free. Her crew and her ship and those memories. When the doctor handed her the tea she sighed, taking it with shaking hands and drinking it slowly. She took a shaky breathe and looked at the three, smiling weakly. "Don't look so worried....I have survived worse then this...I may look terrible but it's better then it looks..." She blinked hard, feeling sleepy and not liking feeling she said "I take it the tea has a drosy affect to it?" The baroness smiled and said "at least your back to your good spirits...."

[Optimist]

The doctor nodded. "There is a sedative in the tea, but there is also a strong painkiller. You need the sleep, young woman." He looked over at the baroness and Roger. I want strict bed rest for her, for twenty four hours. I will be back to check on her then. He did not hand the baroness a bill, as if she were a common client. Instead he would put the service on her tab.

The baroness looked over at Roger, who seemed prepared to sit by the bedside of the stricken captain. "Let's leave her now to her rest, Master Hawthorne." Roger nodded. He looked for a long moment at the captain and then followed the baroness out the door. As she was leaving the baroness pointed at a bell by the bedside. "Ring that if you need anything dear."

[MegaraFoxfire]

Wolfbane nodded, not liking the idea. It knew she really had no choice. Sleep was the best way to heal. When the others turned to leave she nodded again and said weakly "thank you...I am truly sorry about all of this..." Then she was out cold, breathing deeply as the baroness shut the door.

In the middle of the night Margaret was tossing and turning in her sleep, cold sweat running down her face as she muttered "no...please...don't do this....it's me you want....not them....take me instead..." She turned again, her breathing fast and harsh as she fought off her own personal demons.

[Optimist]

The morning was a good time to exercise, Roger found. He stood near the stables, running through a series of exercises, such as push ups and jumping jacks. He was dressed only in a pair of trousers and had worked up a fine sweat by the time he moved on to drilling with his cavalry saber. He used a hay bale as a target and attacked it again and again. By the time he was done, he was good and winded. He finished up by dumping a cold bucket of water over his head, and shaking out his long hair to dry it.

After this, he dressed again and went to check on the patient. He hoped that she would be feeling up to eating breakfast with him and the baroness. She had invited him that morning, before his workout. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

[MegaraFoxfire]

The door was unlocked and he would hear a soft voice inside. Wolfbane was still asleep, the blanket off of he bed now as she tossed and turned. She was muttering in her sleep, trying to fight off some unknown threat. One of the maids came up to Roger and said "I've been hearing voices from this room all night. The old lord used to talk in his sleep before he passed away...but it wasn't like this"