knew she would leave when he finished, so he ate slowly, savoring the company as much as the cod. She cleaned her bowl, which had been as full as his. He decided he liked a woman with a good appetite.
When he finished, she took the tray from his lap, but stood there, indecisive. He could tell she had something more to say, and allowed her time to work up to it. Her sentence came out in a rush.
“You absolutely cannot go to the dry docks tomorrow, Captain. I forbid it.”
He would have laughed, except that the serious look on her face touched him as nothing else could have. He noted how tight together her lips were, and how she gripped the tray, as if ready to spring into all kinds of defiance, if he argued.
“I won’t then,” he assured her. “You’re right. I’ll never get better if I don’t stay in bed.”
“You’re worrying me, Captain,” she said, her voice no louder than a whisper. “I… we want you to get well.”
“I promise I will. Cross my heart.”
She relaxed then. “Sir, if you need anything in the night… anything. Pete and I will take turns sleeping on a cot by your door.”
He started to protest at that, and the look he got in return was nearly mutinous. He nodded instead.
“Good night, sir,” she said, and left the room.
He woke up once in the night, stirring about enough to wake Pete, who came in with the urinal, and another dose of his patented draught, good enough to raise the dead and cure the world.
Toward morning, he woke again. His throat felt moderately better; the boulder in his throat had shrunk to a rock. He thought he could even manage the chamber pot this time. He got up quietly and used it, pleased with himself. Before he got back in bed, he went to the door and opened it, just to see who was on duty in the corridor.
Nana slept on the cot this time, balled up tightly enough to tell him that she was cold. He went to the clothespress in his room and pulled out a blanket, returning to the hall and covering her with it. She stirred, but did not open her eyes. He watched her, and in a few moments, she straightened out her legs and returned to a deeper sleep. Impulsively, he touched her head. He could have watched her the rest of his life.
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