Chapter Text
The tiredness hits him like waves crashing onto rocks during a storm. His limbs feel heavy, far too heavy to move, and the nausea is overbearing. He closes his eyes, the light is making the pain in his head worse, it feels as if it's starting to split into two. He can feel himself slowly fading away. A voice plunges through the darkness trying desperately to reach him. “Stede, Stede…” He thinks that’s his name, he’s not sure, it's too hard to think. He can feel rough hands on his face as the voice, it sounds slightly familiar, says what might be his name over and over. It begs him to open his eyes, begs him to stay. He's just so tired. He just needs to sleep for a little while. The voice grows fainter and fainter until he finds himself floating in nothingness. He just needs to sleep…
He emerges sometime later, the ground is no longer rough and hard beneath him, it's soft, more comfortable. The light, to his relief, has been extinguished and he's now surrounded by darkness. The pain in his head still feels as if it's going to split him in two. He closes his eyes, he can hear the sound of breathing that isn't his own from somewhere beside him. He's still so very tired. He just needs to go back to sleep…
Next time he opens his eyes the light is back. It dazzles him and brings back the nausea. His skin feels clammy, he pulls off the blankets that are covering him from the waist down. Sighs when he can feel the cool breeze dance across his bare legs. He's too hot. The pain in his head is still there, he reaches up to touch it, flinches and lets his arm drop down by his side. He closes his eyes and listens to the muffled sound of voices coming from what feels like an ocean away. He can't make out what they're saying, just a clash of different accents, and amidst it all, the voice that feels vaguely familiar. It sounds concerned, slightly raised above the others. The tiredness claims him once more…
The light doesn't blind him so much now. He tries to turn his head but the pain shoots through him as if he's being stabbed. His lips are chapped, and he suddenly realises he's thirsty. He's lying in a room that he doesn't recognise. Nothing about it feels familiar as he moves his eyes around to take in his surroundings. A figure is slumped asleep in a chair beside him. He tries to speak but can only manage a hoarse whisper.. “Water..”
The sleeping figure doesn't stir so he tries again, the effort causes his head to throb. “Water… please.”
There is finally movement from the other man as he wakes, stumbles from the chair and sits on the bed. His expression full of concern, “Stede.. thank god.. I’ve been so worried.”
Stede.. yes that is his name, he can remember it now.
He tries to swallow, his mouth and throat are so dry.. he pushes out the word again.. “Water.”
“Shit.. sorry..” the man reaches out to the side of him and produces a glass. “This might hurt, but I'll be as careful as I can,” he says as he gently puts a hand under Stede's head and lifts it slightly off the pillow. “Here, drink some of this.”
Stede can feel some life slowly drain back into him as he guzzles at the water. He stops once he has had enough and closes his eyes. The cup is moved away and his head gently placed back down on the pillow.
“Is there anything else you need? Are you hungry?”
“No…. thank you,” it's still a bit of a struggle to talk but the water has helped.
“You're more than welcome. Fuck mate, you scared the life out of me. Got a bad case of Deja vu too. I thought we agreed not to get into any more life or death situations.”
“Where am I?”
There is a moment's pause before Stede hears a reply. “You're at the inn, at home with me. Don't you remember?”
Stede is confused, this isn't his home, he doesn't recognise this place.
“No..”
“What do you remember?”
He remembers a red and white lighthouse and a brown haired woman in a white dress.
“Where's Mary?”
“Mary.. Mary’s not here Stede. It's just you and me. Don’t you remember?” The voice sounds alarmed but Stede's eyes are too heavy to open now.
Ed… a memory is brushed aside by the tendrils of tiredness that loop around every element and atom of his body. They tighten their grip as they pull him down and down into the darkness until he is submerged into the depths of sleep…. Ed…
He drifts in and out of consciousness like he is caught in the tides. The amount of time he is able to stay awake for is gradually increasing. He still doesn't know where he is. Doesn't recognise the faces that greet him occasionally when he opens his eyes. The face framed with sideburns that reads to him from a journal telling tales of pirates on the high seas. Or the man that acts like a doctor one minute, asking him to follow his finger with his eyes, then feeds him cake he says he baked the next. He doesn't understand why they all refer to him as Captain…
A constant presence amidst all this confusion is Ed, he shoos away the crew of characters when it gets overwhelming. Talks to him in a soothing voice when the pain returns. Washes him with care when he feels dirty. Helps him to drink when he's thirsty or feeds him soup off a spoon when he's hungry. Sleeps on a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor at his bedside during the night and is there whenever Stede stirs. Treats him with dignity when he has to relieve himself of bodily functions. Reads to him from the journal or books that Stede thinks he might have read himself in another life. His calm manner is reassuring and makes Stede feel safe. He stops asking for Mary and slowly starts to believe that this must be his home now. He just wishes he could remember..