𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 9𝚝𝚑 1834

𝚆𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚃𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊. 𝚃𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗. 𝙷𝚘𝚠? 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑? 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎? 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚜?

𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎. 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜.

𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚠. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝. 𝚆𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.

𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝. 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚜. 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙳𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜? 𝙳𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚞𝚜? 𝙼𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚞𝚜?

𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙽𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑.

Edmond barely slept that night. Tossing and turning. Hearing the ghostly weeping through the walls didn't help at all. He didn't bother to investigate. He was far too tired, even if his mind wouldn't allow him to sleep.

The morning came with a knock on his door. He had barely slept a wink. "Enter." He called out.

It was Halcreek. His expression was solemn. "Did I wake you?" He asked as Edmond was pulling his worn body from the sheets.

"No, no." He shook his head. "Tell me. What news?"

Halcreek frowned. "Well. Two things. And you aren't going to like either of them." His expression alone didn't sit well with Edmond. He could feel the dread tightening around his throat. He waited for Halcreek to finish. Instead, Halcreek only insisted for Edmond to follow him.

Within his makeshift sick bay, DeVitas and Willas both held Davis down onto the cot. It was no surprise that he was still throwing his mad tantrum.

Finally, Halcreek told his plan to Edmond. "I don't say this lightly, but we need to move Davis to the brig."

"The holding cell?" Edmond was shocked, "The man's a victim! A patient! Not some criminal!"

"A violent patient." Willas spoke up, clearly struggling against him. "One who means to throw himself back into the sea."

"We can't." Edmond couldn't stand the idea of it, "He is injured. We can't lock him up like some kind of rabid animal."

"It's us, or him." DeVitas said. "You want for him to hurt someone else? Himself? It's for his own good, Captain."

As much as Edmond hated it, he knew they were right. Trying to tend to Davis like this just wasn't practical. Restraining him to a cot wasn't ethical. The brig was the best and safest option. For everyone.

Edmond finally gave a small nod. That was enough for the men to make quick work of it. Edmond followed the three of them as they walked Davis to the holding cell.

Once they locked him within, that's when the guilt and shame hit Edmond the hardest. The sight of Davis walking around blindly in the room with his arms out made Edmond uncomfortable. This was Davis. A good man. A man who had trusted Edmond as his captain to lead and protect him. And yet, Edmond had failed him. Failed him and betrayed him by locking him up. He needed help, not prison. But there was only so much that they could do.

This was for the best. They would make it home and be able to get him real help. Davis wasn't himself right now. He needed this confinement. At least, this is what Edmond kept trying to convince himself of.

"That's one." Edmond said sadly, watched Davis trip over his own feet and babble incoherently.

"What?" Halcreek sounded confused.

"You said there would be two things." Edmond reminded him. "This was one."

"Right." He winced at the realization, "You really aren't going to like this next one, but..." he paused as he thought about how to break the news. "It's Piles. That leg. It has to come off."

"You're kidding." Edmond's heart dropped into his stomach. "Surely there's another way."

"It's badly infected. If it doesn't come off, that infection can spread. We need to amputate."

They began to walk back to the sick bay while Halcreek continued talking. "I've got nothing to give him for the pain. Therefore, it will be a very messy operation. Having you there may help give him strength. Plus, I may need your actual strength to hold him down. It won't be easy."

Willas joined them, the three of them standing over Piles.

While Halcreek prepared, Edmond looked Piles over. He hadn't noticed just how bad he had gotten. He looked horrible. He was covered in a thick layer of sweat. Even his dark brown hair looked black from all the moisture. Meanwhile, his normally caramel skin was pale now and ghostly. His limbs were trembling, and his teeth chattered. His leg looked grotesque. Dark purple with the shard of broken bone still sticking out. The wound was black around the bone.

"You'll want this, my friend." Halcreek had a wad of cloth he meant for Piles to bite down on. Piles gulped audibly before nodding and opening his mouth to clamp down.

Edmond felt horrible for Piles. For him to know what was coming and accepting it. Knowing that it was either this or potentially dying. Having to make such a traumatic and painful choice.

"I'll need to take it up to here." Halcreek spoke to Piles while he pointed just above his knee. "Once the infection is removed, I will clean and dress your wound. This will hopefully prevent a new infection."

All Piles could do was nod. But Edmond saw the single tear that trailed down the side of his face and into his hairline.

"We are here for you." Edmond felt the need to remind Piles. He held his hand with one hand and held his shoulder down with the other. Willas helped right on the other side to hold his other hand. Meanwhile, Piles had his free leg strapped down.

Halcreek took out the saw, and Edmond's stomach turned. He didn't want to be here for this. Not at all. It was his duty. He was obligated to be here. But his stomach wasn't built for this. Seeing the saw alone made Edmond somehow feel the sharp teeth of the thing in his own skin. He looked back up to Piles' eyes.

"Are you ready?" Halcreek asked. To everyone. Piles nodded and winced hard, keeping his eyes closed.

Halcreek nodded to Willas and Edmond. They tightened their grips.

That was when he lowered the saw and let the teeth sink into Piles' skin. The very first drag of the blade caused Piles to throw his head back, screaming to the cloth. His grip on Edmond's hand was beastly. In this moment, a flash of Maryann came to Edmond. Of when he held her hand during her delivery. He could almost see the way she writhed in pain while the leaked blood, sweat, and tears to bring Emmalien into the world. His mind traveled to this new baby. To the delivery he needed to make it back home for.

A wet squelching sound brought Edmond out of his daydream and back into the now. He shouldn't have, but as if by reflex in reaction to the sound, Edmond looked down toward Piles' leg.

Blood flooded the cot beneath him while the saw was buried halfway into his leg. The saw was smeared with blood and chunks of severed skin. The cut wasn't exactly clean.

Beyond the squelching, the saw blade made a grinding sound. It had met bone. The teeth dragged hard back and forth but were making slow work through the bone. Each tug and push of the saw blade sent jolts of reactions through Piles. He began slamming his head back onto the cot repeatedly. His chest would jerk and rise quickly with each pain-filled scream he let out. Blood sprayed out, pulsating in a thin stream onto Halcreek in rhythm with Piles' heartbeat.

As if he wasn't sweating enough, Piles poured so heavily that Edmond was almost losing his grip on the man.

The rough grinding was followed by a sickening snap that made Piles' eyes roll in the back of his head. And then... he was out. The pain must have caused him to finally black out. He had had all he could take.

Edmond didn't dare watch anymore. He kept his eyes shut and kept his grip on Piles while he listened to the saw finish squishing and gnawing the rest of its way through the back of Piles' leg.

He could hear Halcreek moving. He heard him rustling things around and going about his work quickly, but still, he refused to look. He didn't want to see it. He couldn't bear to.

It wasn't until seconds? Minutes? Hours? Had passed that Halcreek was finished. "It is done." He told them.

Willas let go, looking pale and sweaty himself.

Edmond released Piles. His fingers and arms were aching now from how hard of a grip he had. He glanced down to the leg only to find a stump dressed in bloodied bandages. He didn't see the lower leg, and he was thankful for it. The only other sign of this incident was the blood that covered the cot and Halcreek himself.

"You can go now." Halcreek told them both, "I can handle the rest."

Edmond didn't need to be told twice. He nodded quietly and slowly, as if in some kind of daze, walked from the room. His mouth was as dry as cotton. His throat sore. His stomach in tangled knots. He needed fresh air.

In slow motion, it seemed, he made his way up to the deck. The breeze felt refreshing on his face. He definitely preferred the smell of the rain over the coppery smell of blood.

Blood.

He had seen too much of it today.

Enough to last a lifetime.

He approached the side of the ship, looking at the water below. The waves lined with white as they hit the side of the ship. This time, his stomach rocked right along with the ship. He leaned over the side and promptly began to vomit.