Jax stood by the door with clothes that were not his in his hands again. He lowered his head to see and moved his hands to feel the dry warm quality cloth. He glanced to Nicki not sure at all what to say. Sea witches both of them. Twisting things up. Twisting him up. He wanted to see her eyes and judge her anger. That’s what he expected. Here he had coaxed, convinced her to stay only to be left behind with a man who could not dress himself and a boy. She thinks him a boy. Standing there with another man’s shirt again and nothing to say. 

He let the shirt fall onto the desk and he took a step toward her. The weight of everything was too much to hold in silence. They might have defeated the sirens, they might have called the storm and managed an escape. But at what cost? “Here,” He reached slowly and carefully to her shoulder. “You’ll have to tell me what to do, let your wisdom guide my hand, and we will take care of your shoulder.” He took a breath and a slight pause, “As commanded.” There was an edge to his tone. Stay behind Jax. He did not regret at all being with Nicki and yet he was sure she would blame him for being placed in the seat and forced to watch the boys, he and Luc, the boys.

He managed a weak smile. “And when we fix you up we can go out and check on those two.” He turned his head slightly to the wide eyes of Luc and winked, “Think they can keep us inside when things need done?” After all the Captain did not command. No in Jax’s mind it was more of a request. No reason not to head out into the storm. Get his boots. Check on the First Mate’s cabin. Could be Ms Doc here was more needed than anyone. But first, he would take care of her. If she scuffed at him or gave him a hard time, Luc could help hold her down. He smiled at that thought. 

Gently Jax pulled the blanket off her shoulder while at the same time letting it stay tight around her waist. “Find something in that chest there we can use to clean the wound.” He figured he would give Luc a task, something to do. Something besides holding her down, as she didn’t need that just yet. Better than sitting there gawking. Besides, before long Jax would owe his Captain all the shirts off his back. Not that he didn’t already.So might as well pull something else out.

Jax tried to very carefully pull the top of Nicki’s shirt open, just a bit so he could find the skin where the wound cut flesh through the now drying blood. He kept looking at her eyes, her face, judging how much she would take, what she would allow, what instructions she would give. Or if at some point she would shrug him away, jerk at his touch, turn away from him not accept his help at all. Then he would pounce on her. So he told himself. He watched her. The cut was much deeper than he would have thought. He winced when he saw the depth to the bone.

He took a breath and looked to Luc. “Bet you could get lost in that chest. Could be a bed for you. There must be something in there to clean this that the Captain wouldn’t mind parting with. See anything?” He offered a challenging smile “Dive in there.”

Luc’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “I can’t do that. It’s the Captains things and well, I mean, “ Luc gave a small grin, “His undershorts might be in there.”

“Prefect! Find a set quickly.”

Jax turned his smile to Nicki. “Bet they’re clean.” He quickly let his touch on her shoulder lightened and he added, “No disrespect at all. He gives me the shirt off his back I am sure he would lose a set of what is closest to you.” He uncorked the bottle and handed her the drink. She might need a swig by now.

Jax was unsure what he saw on her face. He had seen her in his day dreams and still he could not judge the look in those eyes. But he knew why. Because he cared what her eyes might say. He cared about what she thought of him. As if he needed to look away he swept his eyes back to Luc. The boy was struggling. He couldn’t decide if he should really look through the Captain’s things. 

Luc sort of wanted to not care and open the lid, look inside. He could let his imagination scurry about at all the things that might be in there. Some hidden under a fancy jacket, some tucked between beautiful silk, some setting in plan view unafraid of whom might discover them. But even if he could claim later that Jax made him do it, he knew he shouldn’t. Deep down he did. He glanced to Jax.

Jax smiled, “The first rule of being a good follower is to not lose your self. Any fool can be a military drone and do whatever someone says.” He didn’t look at Nicki even though he wanted to, “Blind obedience only leads to blindness. You have to think some on your own.” He shrugged his shoulder and turned back to Nicki.

Luc blinked and left the chest unopened. Instead he found the Captains pillow and pulled off a crisp white cloth that kept the bunched of grasses and straw together. He dumped them on the ground sort of kicked them under the bed and handed it to Jax.

Jax chuckled and held it up to Nicki. “Will this be clean enough for now? It looks as if you might need a stitch or two. I can do that if you let me, instruct me,” He paused and then leaned just little forward closer to those amazing eyes, “trust me.” 

He looked around the cabin quick not moving away for her before she responded. “We can head to your cabin and bring the boy with us. I’ll tie him tight so he doesn’t blow away with that extra shirt the Captain contributed to the never return Jax’s account.”

He could not help himself. He could only last so long. So with a tenderness and gently touch of his hand he let his fingers brush back a few strands of her hair. He allowed them to stay there on the side of her face on her cheek. He knew she might swat them off. She had every right to. Still, like the roll of the waves and the whip of the wind he was caught in the movement of things.