A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Twenty-Eight

On the port side, Lightoller is getting people into Boat Two. He keeps his pistol in his hand at this point. Twenty feet below them, the sea is pouring into the doors and windows of B Deck staterooms. They can hear the roar of water cascading into the ship.

"Women and children only. Step back, sir. Come through, Madame. This way. Step back, sir. Let the women through." Lightoller shoots up in the air, and frightens the passengers. "Women and children only!"

Even with Jack’s arms wrapped around her, Rose is shivering in the cold. Jack looks at Tommy and Fabrizio. "You better check out the other side."

They nod and run off, searching for a way around the deckhouse. Other side, Cal sees Lewis approaching. "I’ve found her. On the other side, waiting for a boat. With him."

"Women and children? Any more women and children?" asked Murdoch.

"They’re all aboard, Mr. Murdoch," said Ismay.

All the men in the group are in it, except for Cal, Parrish, and Lewis.

"Anyone else then?" asked Murdoch, looking at Cal. Doyle’s turn has come. He looks at the boat. Then at Parrish.

"Go on, Cal. Rose made her choice."

"Anyone else?" asked Murdoch.

"Good night!" He leaves for the other side. Parrish and Lewis follow him. They head for the port side, taking a short cut through the bridge.

"Fire! Sir, sir. You can’t go through here. Sir, you can’t go through. Hey, you can’t go through here!" said the steward.

"That’s it. Splendid," said Ismay. Seeing his opportunity, he steps quickly into the boat. He stares straight ahead, not meeting Murdoch’s eyes.

Murdoch stares at him. "Prepare to lower. Ready on the left? Together. Steady. Keep it steady."

Near Rose, a woman with two young daughters looks into the eyes of a husband she knows she may not see again.

Lightoller takes the other daughter and places her into the lifeboat with the other daughter.

"Daddy," said the first daughter.

"It’ll be fine, Darling. Don’t you worry."

"Daddy, get in the boat," said the second daughter.

"It’s good-bye for a little while...only for a little while. There will be another boat for the daddies. This boat is for the mommies and the children. You hold Mommy’s hand and be a good little girl." To his two little girls.

The woman stumbles to the boat with the children, hiding her tears from them. Beneath the false good cheer, the man is choked with emotion. "Hold mummy's hand and be a good girl. That's right."

Some of the women are stoic, others are overwhelmed by emotion and have to be helped into the boats. A man scribbles a note and hands it to a woman, who is about to board. "Please get this to my wife in Des Moines, Iowa."

Rose is watching the sad emotion between the father and the daughters. She turns to Jack. "I’m not going without you."

"No, you have to go now."

"No, Jack."

"Get in the boat, Rose."

"No, Jack."

"Yes, get in the boat." Jack pushing her to the boat.

Cal, Parrish, and Lewis walks up just then to see the scene between them.

"Yes, get in the boat, Rose," said Cal.

Rose is shocked to see him. She steps instinctively to Jack, holding his arm. Cal looks at her, standing there shivering in her wet dress, a shocking display in 1998. "Good night! Look at you. You look a fright." He takes off his coat. "Here, put this on." He is doing it for modesty, not the cold.

Cal removes the blanket and roughly throws it at Jack. He puts his coat on her, and begins to caress her hair and face. She reacts violently, pulling away from Cal. Jack pulls her away from him.

"Quickly, ladies. Step into the boat. Hurry, please!" said Lightoller.

"Go on. I’ll get the next one," said Jack.

"No! Not without you!" Her voice cracks.

"I’ll be all right. Listen, I’ll be fine. I’m a survivor, all right. Don’t worry about me. Now, go on, get on."

Rose doesn’t care that Cal, Parrish, or Lewis are standing there. Cal sees the emotion between them, and his jaw clenches, but then he leans close to her and says. "I have an arrangement with an officer on the other side of the ship. Jack and I can get off safely. Both of us."

"See? I’ve got my own boat to catch." Knowing Cal is lying, and he smiles reassuringly at Rose.

"Go, hurry...almost full," said Cal, with a grin.

"Step aboard, Miss," said Lightoller, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the boat.

Once she got into the boat, she turned and reaches out for Jack and her hand went into his for a moment.

"Move around, please!" said Lightoller, shoving Jack from Rose. Then she’s in the boat. "Lower away!"

The two men watch at the rail, as the boat begins to descend, it made a bump, as it lowers, and the passengers gasps.

"You’re a good liar," said Cal, not meeting Jack’s eyes, but only on Rose.

"Almost as good as you. There’s no, ah, ‘arrangement’ is there?" Jack looking at him.

"No, there is." Now looking at Jack. "Not that you’ll benefit much from it. She’s mine, Jack. One way or another."

Jack knows he is screwed. He looks down at Rose, not wanting to waste a second of his last view of her.

Rose looks up, watching Jack. Everything seems like it’s in slow motion. The ropes going through the pulleys as the seamen start to lower. All sound going away.

Lightoller giving orders, his lips moving, but Rose hears only the blood pounding in her ears.

This cannot be happening, she thought.

A rocket bursts above in slow motion, outlining Jack in a halo of light. Rose's hair blowing in slow motion as she gazes up at him, descending away from him.

She sees his hand trembling, the tears at the corners of his eyes, and cannot believe the unbearable pain she is feeling. Rose is still staring up, tears pouring down her face. For a moment, she has flashbacks of her and Jack, their two days together.

Jack: "Don't do it. Stay back!"

Rose: "Don't come any closer. I'm warning you, I'll let go."

Jack: "No, you won't...I got you, I won’t let go..."

Rose: "You have a gift, Jack. You do, you see people."

Jack: "I see you..."

Rose: "Why can't I be like you, Jack, just head out over into your world whenever I feel like it..."

Jack: "Come on, we're gonna have to get a bit closer, like this."

Rose: "I don't know the steps."

Jack: "Neither do I, just go with it."

Rose: "Jack, no!"

Jack: "WHHHAAA!"

Rose: "AAAAGGGHHH!"

Rose: "I'm flying! Jack!"

Rose: "I want you to draw me like one of your French girls, wearing this."

Jack: "All right."

Rose: "Wearing only this...I believe you are blushing Mr. Big Artiste..."

Rose: "Put your hands on me Jack...we’re trembling."

Jack: "Don’t worry, we’ll be all right..."

Jack: "You jump, I jump, remember? You jump, I jump..."(echoes)

Yes, those words that repeated over and over in her head, for she knew that she’ll never see him again, for she was not stupid, that her father said about him and Jack getting on another boat.

She looks at Jack, and then the deck, that coming between the boat. She breaks out of her trance, and starts to move toward the side. She lunges across the women next to her. Reaches the gunwale, climbing it. Hurls herself out of the boat to the rail of the A Deck promenade, catching it, and scrambling over the rail.

The boat two continues down, but Rose is back on Titanic, for she is willing to die for this man.

"Rose!" shouted Jack.

"Stop her!" shouted Cal.

"Rose, what are you doing?"

"Stop her!"

"NO!"

Jack spins from the rail and drops the blanket, running for the nearest way down to A Deck. Rose ran through a few people, while he ran through a crowd and the door, and climbs down the Grand Staircase. Jack and Rose meet at the end of the Grand Staircase. They embraced with a big hug, he picked her up, a little, and then starts kissing her.

"Rose! You’re so stupid." While he’s kissing her and holding her as tight as he can. "Why’d you do that, huh? You’re so stupid, Rose. Why did you do that? Why?"

"You jump, I jump, right?"

"Right."

He kisses her again, and hugs her.

"Oh God, I couldn’t go. I couldn’t go, Jack."

"It’s all right. We’ll think of something."

"I want to die with you."

"We’re not going to die. We’ll make it."

At the same time, Cal is watching them from the railing up above. Just watching them makes him mad as ever he has ever been. Parrish comes up and leads him away.

Cal, not even thinking, breaks free and takes his gun from Parrish’s waistband, and starts running to the Grand Staircase.

Jack sees Cal with the gun, and gets Rose his attention.

"Move, Rose, move!"

Next thing, she knows, she hear a gunshot, missing Jack by an inch, by the angel statue, saving Jack.

Cal gets down the staircase, and trips on the statue, gets up, and follows their path.

During the circle-like stairs, Cal runs down, and pushed a man. "Move!" He shoots, not thinking clearly.

Jack and Rose get to D Deck and jumps in the cold water.

"Come on, Rose. Come on."

Cal sees them and shoots. Rose screams.

No, Dad. No! Leave us alone! He truly wants to kill Jack.

Cal is still shooting.

"Come on, move! Move, Rose. Move!"

They get to the dry area of D Deck, Cal, shooting, shot a wall of glass, leaving a hole. Then he starts shooting some more, but the gun ran out of bullets. He grunts. Then he hears the ship sinking with a groan. He shouts to them, so they can hear him.

"I hope you enjoy your time together!"

Cal is about to leave, but then realizes something and laughs. Parrish and Lewis come down the stairs to him.

"What could be possibly be funny?" asked Parrish.

"I put the diamond and the money in the coat."

Parrish and Lewis look puzzled.

"I put the coat on her!" Pointing the gun at the dry D Deck. He turns to Lewis, with a sickly statement, his eyes glittering. "I’ll pay you big, if you can bring Rose back to me."

He hands the gun to Lewis, and Cal and Parrish goes back up the stairs.

Lewis, on his own, slogs into the water. The ice water is up to his waist as he crosses the pool into the Dining Saloon/Chapel.

Lewis moves among the tables and ornate columns, searching, listening, his eyes tracking rapidly. It is a sea of tables, and they could be anywhere. A silver serving trolley rolls downhill, bumping into tables and pillars. He glances behind him. The water is following him into the room, advancing in a hundred-foot wide tide. The reception room is now a roiling lake, and the grand staircase is submerged past the first landing. Monstrous groans echo through the ship.

Jack and Rose, crouched behind a table, somewhere in the middle. They see the water advancing toward them, swirling over the floor. They crawl ahead of it to the next row of tables.

"Stay here," Jack whispers.

He moves off as Lewis moves over one row and looks along the tables. Nothing. The ship groans and creaks. He moves another row.

On a metal cart, five feet tall and full of stacks of china dishes. It starts to roll down the aisle between tables.

Rose, as the cart rolls toward her. It hits a table and the stacks of dishes topple out, exploding across the floor and showering her. She scrambles out of the way and Lewis spins, seeing her. He moves rapidly toward her, keeping the gun aimed, but lets it aims the water, and comes toward her.

"Come on, Rose."

"NO!"

He grabs her by the arm.

"NO! Let me go! Jack! Jack!"

Suddenly behind Lewis, Jack tackles him. Lewis lets go of Rose, out of shock, and she landed in the water.

They slam together into a table, crashing over it, and toppling to the floor. They land in the water, which is flowing rapidly between the tables.

Jack and Lewis grapple in the icy water. Lewis pushes Jack, and Jack lands between the double doors and drops to the ground. Lewis comes to Rose, as she gets up from the water, she sees him.

"Jack!"

Jack gets up, and runs and splashing, and punches Lewis in the face, then Jack jams his knee down on Lewis's hand, breaking his grip on the pistol, and kicks it away. Lewis scrambles up and lunges at him, but Jack gut punches him right in the solar plexus, doubling him over.

"Compliments of the Chippewa Falls Dawsons."

He grabs him and slams him into an ornate column. Lewis drops to the floor with a splash, stunned.

Jack grabs her hand. "Let's go."

They run aft, uphill, entering the galley. Behind them the tables have become islands in a lake and the far end of the room is flooded up to the ceiling.

Lewis gets up and looks around for the gun. He pulls it up out of the water and stares at the galley.

"Good night! They do truly love each other, but I have to do what Brother Black says. I’m sorry, Rose." He wades after them.

Chapter Twenty-Nine
Stories