Standing braced on the deck of the Lady Jasmine, Joss watched with something less than his usual appreciation as her sails filled with wind and she quartered toward the mouth of Bridgetown Harbor. Not even the rainbow of pinks and purples that were all that was left of the fading dawn had the power to lift his spirits. There was a hollowness deep inside him that he feared would never go away.
At that moment Lilah was in his cabin. Macy, the ship's doctor, was with her. In the brief glimpse he'd had of her before Macy barred him from the room, she'd been writhing and moaning in pain. He'd been white himself when Davey had dragged him away.
Now he wrestled with hideous fear. Would she die? If she did, he would want to die himself.
"You can go in now, Captain."
Macy had emerged from the cabin at last. Joss took one look at the blood that stained his shirtsleeves and felt his stomach lurch along with his heart.
"Is she… is she-"
But he couldn't wait for the answer. Even as Macy tried to tell him, Joss was turning away, striding purposefully to the captain's cabin.
Inside, the room was shadowy. The promised brightness that was dawn had so far barely penetrated.
Lilah lay on his bunk, a small mound under a pile of covers. He thought she was asleep. Her eyes were closed, her lashes black fans resting against cheeks that were as white as death.
He felt his heart turn over. She looked so young, so very small, so defenseless lying there. Only the cropped head of golden curls seemed to belong to the dauntless girl he loved.
"Lilah?" It was a husky whisper as he approached the bunk. Her eyes slowly opened. For a moment she seemed to have trouble focusing. Then she saw him.
"Joss," she breathed, and smiled faintly. Then her lips quivered and her face crumpled. "Oh, Joss, I lost our baby!"
Tears coursed from her eyes to roll down her cheeks like rain. Shaken to the core, Joss dropped on his knees beside the bunk, took her gently into his arms.
"Don't cry, sweetheart," he whispered tenderly, stroking her hair as she wept. "It tears the heart out of me when you do. Please don't cry, Lilah."
"I've been so frightened," she murmured. "I've missed you so. Hold me, Joss."
Joss slid into the bunk beside her, careful not to jar her in any way. She clung to him, never even noticing that he was dirty and half naked and probably smelled. She burrowed her head into the hollow between his shoulder and neck and told him everything, weeping until she had no more tears left. Then she drifted off to sleep.
Still Joss lay there, holding her slight weight against him, filled with a fierce tenderness the likes of which he had never felt before.
He stroked her cheek, her hair, kissed the silky top of her head.
"I've got you safe, sweetheart," he whispered. "I've got you safe now, Lilah my love."