Surely, he did not know what he did to her when he touched her so intimately. She grabbed his hand and stepped out of his embrace. “Let’s belay those thoughts until you’re better, Captain.”
“More orders?”
“I haven’t even begun ordering you around.” She smiled at him. “Drink your willow bark tea. That’s an order!”
15
On most ships there was no doctor or even a loblolly boy to help with the medical needs of the crew. For some reason that task often fell to the cook. Charlie wondered if it was because their knives were washed regularly or because most herbs needed to be boiled to make a poultice. She had met more than a handful of cooks from other ships call “Doc” by their crew. That was probably why on The Dragon’s Lair the cabinet with the medical supplies was located in the galley. It was surprisingly well stocked with sheets of material for the bandages, thin sturdy boards for splints, operating supplies and a variety of herbs. It was the herbs Charlie came to examine. She brought one of the medical books and a lantern into the dark galley looking for an herb to help with the infection. She looked at the dried stalk of leaves and compared it to the supplemental hand-drawn sketches. Many she recognized on sight, several she had to identify. Once she was sure what she had, she looked up its use.
“Miss?”
Charlie nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oh, you scared me.”
“What are you doing in my galley in the middle of the night?” the cook asked.
“I’m sorry to wake you. I was trying to be quiet. Captain Bloodworthy’s wound is showing signs of infection. I want to make a poultice to draw out the infection.”
The cook rubbed his face. “I guess you need me to get a fire stoked.”
“I can do it myself if you want to go back to bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep with someone poking around in my galley.”
“In the future, I’ll try to make sure this is done at a decent hour.”
The gruff man nodded. “Some things can’t be helped.”
“Aye,” she agreed. “I’m still looking for the right herbs. If you’ll put a pint of water on the heat, I should have it figured out by the time it’s boiling.”
“Aye, miss.”
Within a few minutes, Charlie had the poultice complete. The cook insisted on escorting her back to Jaxon’s cabin as he felt she shouldn’t be roaming around the ship alone at night. She was glad for the help since her hands were full.
Charlie thanked him and locked the door after he left.
Jaxon had kicked off the covers again. He went to bed after they ate, completely intent on getting up after a brief nap, and was sleeping through the night. He was fully dressed except his bare feet so Charlie needed to get his shirt at least unbuttoned and untucked to put the poultice on the wound. She sat on the edge of the bed and began unbuttoning his shirt. She tried not to wake him. If he didn’t need the extra sleep to fight the infection, he wouldn’t be sleeping this long. Gingerly, she pushed each button out of its hole until it was unbuttoned to the waist. Slow as a snail, she began pulling the shirttail out of his breeches.
“Charlie?” Jax said sleepily. “I really imagined I’d be awake for our first time.”
He reached for the buttons of her shirt and she slapped at his hands.
“What makes you think there will be a first time?”
“How else are we going to have lots of babies?”
Charlie schooled her smile. The thought of having babies with Jaxon fascinated her, but she knew the fever was talking.
“I promise if there is a first time, you’re going to be awake for it. But right now, I just want to put a poultice on your injury.” She finished pulling the shirttail out and unfastened the last buttons.
Taking the large bandage with the softened golden seal and slippery elm bark, she tested it to make sure it had cooled enough not to burn him and laid it over the wound. To keep the heat in, she set a folded towel over the bandage then brought him another cup of willow bark tea. Placing a hand behind his head, she helped him sit up enough to drink the tea.
“Ugh. Are you sure you’re not sitting awake at night thinking up mean things to do to me?” he asked making a face at the bitterness of the brew.
“I don’t need to lie awake and think up mean things. I’ve got plenty of time during the day,” she said tartly. “At night, I mostly worry.”
“You’re worried about me?”
“I’m worried about a lot of things and, aye, you are among them. I mean, how would it look if I couldn’t heal the man who hired me?”
“I see. You’re more worried about appearances than you are about me.”