The Admiral

James Morgan

Giddeon helps me make my way to Arden’s cabin. I still can’t see much of anything from my one good eye, my brain feels as if it’s on fire, and my depth perception is nonexistent.

Doc follows us into the cabin, and the last thing I remember seeing is Arden’s nervous face. My body it seems only had enough strength to stop Arden from leaving.

I don’t remember much of what happened. All I know is Wyatt shot me and the world went dark. I was in a dreamless sleep for a long time, and when I woke up Giddeon came to see me. I couldn’t make out his face, but I knew his voice. The moment he mentioned Arden was leaving I heard nothing else. I was so enraged by the idea she was leaving without me that it consumed me, and I needed to see her, I could think of nothing else. Once I was satisfied she wasn't going anywhere I was spent.

When I could finally feel myself coming around my nose caught Arden’s familiar scent. How I’ve missed her smell. Her skin smells almost sweet, like the lily of the valley, a delicate small flower with a sweet alluring scent, but also deadly, a perfect fit for my Arden. My nose goes searching for her, finding contact with what could only be her mess of hair, and I take a long deep inhale. She stirs and my body starts to feel a little less heavy. She’s lying next to me having wrapped herself in my arms. If this is a dream don’t wake me up.

I feel Arden’s head moving and when her lips brush ever so gently against mine it’s all my body needed to rouse from its slumber. Arden’s fingers gently drift down my jaw I barely felt their magical touch and somehow my head doesn’t burn as much anymore.

"Rest my love, I'm not going anywhere," she whispers against my lips.

Knowing she was with me I let sleep take me again, and I was able to dream once more. I kept seeing an angel at my door, smiling up at me dressed in white, and when I woke again, I dared to open my eyes. Eye.

It was dark, which made it easier. I focused on the shadows before me and turned my head to see the shape of a certain white-haired woman sitting by my bedside reading a book by candlelight.

I try and focus on Arden’s face and slowly I can make out her eyes as they drift up from her book to meet mine. I held out my hand and watched her small hand drift into mine before wrapping my fingers around it. Her smile as she leans in closer is what my dreams are made of. Beautiful.

“Are you hungry?” I try to answer but my mouth and throat are dry, “hold on.”

Arden helps me to sit up and sits on the bed behind me for me to lean against. She hands me a cup of water. It’s as if I was drinking the nectar of the gods.

“Jack!” Arden shouts and Jack sticks his head through the door a moment later, “Bring some of that soup Cookie has ready for James.”

“Yes, Admiral. I mean, Arden,” he stutters before disappearing and closing the door,

I clear my throat and find my voice, “You’re truly no longer Admiral?”

I drink the rest of the water before Arden takes the cup and I lean back against her, her arms and legs wrapping around me from behind.

“Yes, I officially resigned, so now I’m just Arden.”

I take Arden’s hand and hold it against my lips, “Just Arden is my favorite Arden.” I could hear Arden smiling behind me, “I suppose I’ll have to go AWOL and abandon the Fleet.”

“You’ve been medically discharged.” Arden gently places her lips on my neck before lightly biting me as if making sure I’m really here.

“That doesn’t make sense, there are plenty of people that serve with one good eye.”

“Fine then, you stay and I’ll go with Ox as planned,” she jokes, kissing the spot she bit, and sighs. “Please don’t scare me like that again.”

“Never intentionally, my love.” My conversation with Wyatt echoed in my mind and the way his face was full of love as he watched Arden speak. “You scared me too when I saw you on the beach...”

“I had nothing left to lose...I had to see for myself.”

There’s a soft tapping on the door. Jack comes in with a tray of food and sets it down on the desk. Doc follows him inside with a bundle of fresh bandages and comes over to check on me.

He places his hand on my forehead, “Your fever’s dropped. Once you’re done eating, I’ll change your bandages.”

“I’ll do it,” Arden says quietly from behind me.

Doc just looks at her and nods before looking back at me. “Eat slowly Morgan, don’t overdo it, it’s more important for your body to hydrate at this point.” He pulls a small glass bottle from his pocket, “Laudanum for the pain, no more than a few drops.”

“I don’t want it.” Doc goes to protest but I stop him, “I’ve seen what that can do to people Doc, no thank you.”

“Suit yourself,” he says putting it back into his pocket.

I watch Jack and Doc leave the cabin. As I move to sit on the edge of the bed Arden brings the bowl of soup and sits in the chair she was reading in earlier. I watch her bring a spoon full of soup to my mouth, and I feel myself smirking as she opens her mouth. I laugh before opening my mouth and let her feed me. The process is painfully slow, two spoonfuls later I just grab the bowl and drink the whole thing before burping and holding the bowl out for Arden to take.

“Pardon,” I say as she grabs the bowl smiling.

When Arden places it on the tray, she returns with the bandages Doc left and sets them down next to me before looking at me and taking a breath, “Ready?”

I nod, and Arden slowly lifts her hands to start unwrapping the bandage from my head. I can tell she’s nervous about what she might see so I growl and snap at her hands with my teeth, successfully frightening her. She playfully smacks my arm and glares at me, unable to push back her smile.

I grabbed her chair and pulled her closer between my open legs, “I was shot in the head Arden, it’s going to be awful, let’s get on with it.”

She nods and lets out a short breath before unwinding the bandage. When she finally pulls the last piece off, she tilts her head to the side and smiles.

Arden sighs as she places the old bandages to the side and shakes her head, “How is this fair on other men, one eye and still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

Arden handed me a small mirror and brought the candle closer for me to see. It doesn’t look too bad, sure I have an empty eye socket and there are some stitches around my eye that will most likely scar, but I’ve seen much, much worse in the line of duty. For one I was lucky the bullet didn’t blow my brains out through the back of my head.

I watch Arden get to her feet and start wrapping the clean bandage around my head, being very careful not to cause me any pain. My hands seem to have a mind of their own as they slowly creep up the back of Arden's legs and grip her hips.

Arden ties off the end of the bandage before cupping my face and drifting down to kiss me. It starts off gently enough but as he moans all I can think about is ravishing her.

She quickly pulls away, causing me to grumble in protest, “You need to bathe first.”

After lifting my arm and taking a quick whiff I completely understand where she’s coming from and drop the subject entirely.