Alta Mar/High Seas

Please Forgive Me

*Just a few missing scenes set during S1E6-(S1E7) and some flashbacks to earlier episodes. Some lines are from the actual episodes so if you don't like spoilers, please don't read. There is also a faint reference to something that happens in season two.

Chapter One

Captain's Quarters

Eva couldn't help but to wonder what took him so long. Nicolás was only going to talk to the captain. Obviously it was a longer conversation and, by all means, it made sense. Especially if you considered that it was the captain who'd shot Nicolás in the first place. Eva sighed, her mind kept wandering back to that wedding photo in Nicolás' drawer. She was fuming with him, disappointed and frustrated at the same time. How could he lie about such a thing?

He was a handsome man, she should have guessed he was already spoken for but it was too late now. She'd developed feelings for him and he was not exactly subtle when it came to flirting with her.

There was no wedding band on his finger. She didn't understand why he'd taken it off or why the photo had been hidden under his clothes. She'd grown accustomed to having him around, she found it refreshing and funny, it sparked something in her that had been lying dormant for years. He was special in a way she couldn't really explain. Then there was the fact that he'd saved her from the burning cabin without a second thought about risking his own life in the process. Recently the roles had been reversed, he'd been the one in need of medical attention and she had ended up saving him.

Her feelings toward him were conflicted, she was torn between hope and despair, anger and worry. While she wanted to slap him across the face for deceiving her she also wanted to make sure he was feeling all right after everything he'd been through. She cast a worried glance at the closed door to the captain's quarters. Nicolás shouldn't even be standing, he'd been shot and his abdomen had been pierced by bullet the night before.

Eva almost forgot to breathe as the door opened slowly, Nicolás gripping the doorknob so hard his knuckles turned white. It looked like he kept it in such a vicelike grip only to keep himself from keeling over. Her dark thoughts and disappointment temporarily forgotten she quickly made her way over and tried to support him.

"Here," she said softly as she gently draped his arm around her small frame. "Lean on me, Nicolás."

He didn't protest, in fact he said nothing at all, just hitched on a breath.

"It's not that far to your cabin from here," she encouraged. "Just a few more steps, then we're at the door. Do you need to stop and rest?"

"No," he whispered through clenched teeth. "I'll be all right."

Eva twisted the doorknob and let them into the first officer's cabin, both of them ignoring the disarray after the storm.

She grimaced as his weight was becoming too much for her but said nothing. After a few steps across the large room they ended up at the foot end of his bed. She pushed on and gently guided him up to the bedside.

He grimaced and gingerly sat down, gasping for air. He pressed his hand to the wound and gazed in amazement as the starkly white shirt was soaked with blood; his blood.

"Nicolás," Eva cautioned in alarm as she sat down next to him.

Their eyes met for a moment; his surprised and hers full of concern.

"Please lie down," she said as she stood and gently grabbed hold of his ankles to aid him. "I'll call for Doctor Rojas."

He closed his eyes in agony the moment his head hit the pillow, his face etched with pain. "No, Eva," he managed in a subdued voice.

"Don't be silly, Nicolás," she admonished. "You're bleeding. What if-,"

Shaking hands reached for the buttons of the shirt and she quickly unbuttoned them for him so they both could get a better look.

"Thanks," he managed sincerely, pain-clouded hazel eyes searching hers.

Eva never saw him look at her as her eyes were drawn to the soaked bandage covering the gunshot wound on his left side. "It needs to be redressed," she deduced, pursing her lips into a thin line of displeasure as she reached out to gently touch it. "I'll do that for you. I'll just need to go down to the infirmary and fetch a few things."

He took a shallow breath and cursed himself for being so weak. The room was spinning and it wasn't due to the light roll of the ship at sea. Exhausted he never noticed her leave the cabin nor did he hear her come back. He awoke to pain as petite hands prodded the fresh wound.

"I am sorry, Nicolás," she said softly, her tone apologetic. "I have to do this."

She was gentle and swift as she cleaned the wound and redressed it. Her smile was forced yet reassuring as she helped him into a sitting position so that she could finish the bandaging. He managed a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes as she began to wrap a fresh gauze around his torso.

"Almost done," she encouraged. "You're doing fine."

He huffed at that and let out a grimace as she tightened the wrap and tied it down.

"Now you're as good as new," she managed. "Here, I'll help you lie back down again."

He let himself be guided back into a flat position, snapped his eyes shut and sighed. Nicolás was blissfully unaware of the mixture of dejection and concern that flickered across Eva's beautiful face.

"Go to sleep, Nicolás," she said softly. "I'll see you later."

He nodded faintly but never opened his eyes. The lines of pain lingered on his pale face and a thin sheen of perspiration began to cover his upper lip and forehead.

Eva stood in the room, hesitant to leave him alone, remembering Doctor Rojas words of caution earlier. Nicolás was developing a fever or wasn't he? She resisted the urge to go back and sit down next to him and gently remove the strand of unruly brown hair that seemed plastered to his cheek. He wasn't hers to have anymore, he had another woman somewhere, waiting for him. Eva sighed as tears stung in her eyes. She desperately wished she'd never seen the photo.

OOOOOO

To be continued