"Jack? Jack?" Rose looked at him anxiously. He was awake, but was he all right? She reached out and hit the call button for the nurse.
Jack looked at her in confusion, wondering where he was and what was going on. Slowly, he looked around, blinking his eyes to clear his vision, taking in the IV, the various pieces of life support equipment, the curtained off cubicle that he lay in. Turning his head slightly to get a better look, he stopped, shocked, as pain shot through his head. Quickly, he turned it back to the side.
"You have a fractured skull," Rose told him as he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth against the pain.
After a moment, he looked at her again. Fractured skull? Where was he? What happened? How long had he been asleep?
"Rose..." He tried to speak, but his mouth was dry; most of the fluids he’d taken in during the last three days had been through the IV.
Uncertain if she was doing the right thing, but wanting to help, Rose offered him a sip of water from the plastic bottle she carried with her. He choked slightly, but managed to swallow the water. Then he looked at her searchingly, still wondering what was happening.
"Where..." He coughed and tried again. "Where am I?"
"You’re in the intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital in Southland. You were in shock from blood loss when they brought you in, and you have a broken leg and a fractured skull. We weren’t sure you were going to make it."
"What happened? How...how long have I been here?" The window was visible from where he lay; he could see that it was dark outside, but he had no idea what time it was.
"Three days."
"Three days?" He couldn’t have slept that long.
"You’ve been in a coma all this time. We were so worried...we didn’t think you were going to wake up."
He vaguely recalled bits and pieces of the strange dream he had had and nodded slightly. "Who’s we?"
"Me, the doctors and nurses, Tommy and Helga, even my roommates were concerned."
"Tommy and Helga?"
"They should be back soon...they went to get dinner, and they said they’d bring me some food." She hesitated. "Do you remember anything that was said while you were in the coma?"
He tried to remember. "I thought I heard you telling me to wake up." He looked at her in confusion. “How did I get here?”
“You and I were brought here by helicopter.”
“No…how did I get hurt?”
Rose’s heart sank. “You don’t remember?”
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember what had happened, but nothing came to him. The last thing he remembered was walking down the broken streets with Rose after escaping from the Masline city jail. “No.”
Rose took a deep breath, trying to think of how to tell him. “Do you remember the earthquake?”
“Yes. And you helped me escape from the jail before we could burn to death.” He lowered his voice when Rose put a finger to her lips. “And then we were walking down the street…”
“Cal found us and confronted us. He was guessing that I’d let you out of jail. We argued…and then you and I started to walk away. He pulled a gun on us and shot you in the back as we ran from him.”
Jack’s brow furrowed in confusion. “But how did I hurt my head? And my leg?”
“Well, we hid from him between two buildings that the earthquake had damaged, but when we tried to leave, we couldn’t move very fast because you’d been shot and you were bleeding heavily. There was an aftershock and the walls collapsed on us. That’s how you broke your leg.”
“And my skull?”
“No…I managed to free us from the light pole that was pinning us down, and we managed to climb out of the debris, but a piece of concrete hit you on the head…”
Jack’s eyes were wide with confusion. “I don’t remember anything.”
“Maybe the head injury made you forget. You were unconscious for a while, but woke up while I was driving, trying to find help.” Rose mentally crossed her fingers as she said this, hoping that Jack didn’t remember the car she had “borrowed”. In spite of his larcenous past, he might not approve of her stealing someone’s car, even if her heart had been in the right place. “Then you lost consciousness again while they were putting you in the helicopter, and you didn’t wake up again until just now.” She took his hands, squeezing them gently. “Jack, I was so scared…we thought you weren’t going to make it.”
Jack looked at her, still trying to remember…but nothing came to him. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It wasn’t your fault! Cal’s the one who started it…he’s the one who shot you.”
“But you’re the one who had to take care of me after all that.”
“I’d do it again if I had to. I love you—“ Rose slapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. If he didn’t remember anything surrounding his injuries, he wouldn’t remember telling her he loved her—and she was afraid he had said it only because he thought he was dying.
He looked at her red face, a bit surprised. “Rose, I—“
“Don’t worry about it, Jack. You told me you loved me right before you lost consciousness for the second time. You might have said it because you thought you were dying…”
“Maybe I did. I don’t know. I don’t remember. I meant it, though.” He hesitated. “I was dreaming…or something…before I woke up…and I thought you said you loved me. It was like you were calling me back here…”
"I…I said it many times while you were in the coma. Maybe you heard me.”
“Maybe I did. Maybe it was one of those—those…”
“Near-death experiences?”
“Yes. I thought I saw my parents…and a tunnel of light. But they wouldn’t let me into the light.”
Rose smiled. “I think they wanted you to live.”
“Maybe.” His eyes searched the small, curtained-off space, returning to Rose’s face after a moment. “I think your voice might have helped.”
“I talked to you a lot. I was terribly afraid that you would die.” She leaned closer to him. “And Jack…yes, I do love you."
He squeezed her hand. "I love you, too."
Rose smiled, her eyes alight with happiness and hope. Maybe there wouldn’t be any lasting effects from his head injury, other than the loss of memory. Maybe even that would get better after a while. Then she sobered again.
"Do you remember anything else I said to you?"
"No. Has something happened?"
She hesitated again. "A lot of things. But I’ll tell you about them later."
The nurse finally came in. Looking around the curtain, she saw Jack looking back at her.
"You’re awake!" she exclaimed, pleased to see that this comatose patient had regained consciousness. Gesturing for Rose to move out of the way, she came closer.
Rose took her crutches and moved aside. She had done all the walking on her sore ankle that she was able to do for the day. Jack noticed.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at her crutches.
"I sprained my ankle escaping from those collapsed buildings. It still hurts." She winced slightly as one crutch put pressure on her injured arm.
Jack noticed. Looking at the bandage, he asked, "What happened to your arm?"
"It was cut by the concrete that hit you. It’s stitched up now, though. It’ll be okay."
"I guess we’ll both be on crutches for a while."
"You are not going anywhere for a while," the nurse told him. "You just came out of a coma. You’re going to lay right here and let your body heal until the doctor says it’s okay for you to move."
Jack opened his mouth to speak again, but she hushed him, taking his pulse. When she had finished that, she measured his blood pressure, and then took a blood sample. Jack looked with dismay at the number of needle marks on his fingers and arms.
"It’s a wonder I have any blood left," he joked weakly, suddenly very tired. He wished that the nurse, and even Rose, would leave so that he could sleep.
"You needed nine units of blood when you were brought here," the nurse told him.
"Nine?" That woke him up a little.
"You almost died." She finished taking the blood sample and hurried away. "The doctor should be with you shortly," she told Jack.
Rose sat down beside him again. "I’m so glad you’re awake," she told him, taking his hand again.
Jack wanted to go back to sleep. "Thanks for...staying with me." He yawned drowsily.
"Jack, don’t fall asleep. At least wait until the doctor gets here and checks you over."
He tried to stay awake, but he was half-dozing by the time the doctor walked in.
"So, you’re awake," the doctor said, leaning over him.
Startled, Jack jumped awake. "Sort of," he mumbled, wishing everyone would leave.
"Out of the coma, anyway." The doctor checked his eyes and the fracture in his skull. "I have a few questions for you."
"Okay…"
"How many fingers am I holding up?" The doctor held up two fingers and a thumb.
"Three, two fingers and one thumb." Jack looked irritated at the question.
"Right. Who’s the president of the United States?"
"Dummya."
Rose laughed. She couldn’t help it. Jack always held a rather low opinion of elected officials, and he wasn’t able to vote himself, being an ex-felon.
The doctor looked at her.
"That’s what he always calls the president," she explained, feeling better than she had in a long time. Jack’s personality didn’t seem to have changed as a result of his head injury.
"Fine," Jack mumbled sleepily. "George W. Bush."
"And who is this?" The doctor indicated Rose.
"Rose DeWitt-Bukater, ex-fiancée of Caledon Hockley, one of the biggest assholes alive."
“There’s no need for that kind of language.” The doctor tried to look stern, but was having a hard time keeping a straight face. He gestured to Rose to leave, indicating that he needed to examine Jack.
Rose hurried out into the hall, where Tommy and Helga were just stepping out of the elevator. They noticed her standing in the hallway, leaning tiredly against a wall, and came hurrying over.
"What’s going on? Did something happen to Jack?" Tommy was concerned as soon as he saw that Rose had given up her vigil.
"He woke up." Rose smiled, still tired from the emotional strain of the last three days, but happy that Jack was awake.
"How is he doing?" Helga was more familiar than Tommy with the possible aftereffects of a coma.
"He seems to be okay. The doctor asked him several questions, and he answered them okay. He even joked a little. He seems really tired, though."
"That often happens when a person has been badly injured," Helga told her. "They need rest so that they can heal."
"But he’s been resting for three days!"
"Not quite the same thing." Helga handed her a McDonald’s bag. Her face was still strained, but she seemed a little more peaceful now, knowing that at least Jack was awake. "A coma isn’t exactly normal sleep."
Rose opened the bag and dug into her food, hungry for the first time since the earthquake. "I hope he’ll be okay."
"So do we," Tommy assured her.
The doctor came out into the hall a few minutes later. Seeing the group waiting outside the room, he came over to them.
"Your friend seems to be on the road to recovery," he told them. "He’s still weak, and it’ll be a few days before he can leave intensive care, but aside from some reported memory loss, there don’t seem to be any complications. If all goes well, he should be out of intensive care by the end of the week."
"When can he leave the hospital?" Rose wanted to know.
"Probably not for several weeks yet. He is severely injured, and releasing him too soon might be harmful. It’s too soon yet to tell for sure whether there will be any complications, so we’re keeping him here for a while."
"How much is this going to cost?" Tommy knew that Jack’s income was very low.
"He has MediCal, so that will pay for most of it."
"MediCal?" Tommy was surprised. Jack had never told him that.
"That’s what his chart indicates. He’s only twenty-one, so he’s still qualified."
"We’ll have to get him out of here before June nineteenth, then," Helga said. "He’ll be twenty-two that day."
"He’ll be released when he’s ready to be released," the doctor told them, "even if the hospital winds up losing some money. I’ll make sure of that."
"Can we see him now?" Rose wanted to see him once more before she left for the night.
"Just for a few minutes. He needs to rest, and you’ve been here all day."
"Okay." Rose acknowledged the wisdom of the doctor’s words, but she still wanted to say good night.
Tommy and Helga followed her into the room. Jack was lying down, his injured head on a soft pillow that didn’t put so much pressure on it, dozing. He woke up when they came in.
"Jack, it’s good to see you awake." Tommy looked at him, frowning as he noticed that the tubes and wires were still there.
"Hey." Jack greeted him sleepily, struggling to stay awake. Helga noticed, and gave the others a look that told them to hurry and say what they needed to say. Jack needed to rest.
"The doctor says you should recover," Helga told him.
"Yeah, he told me that." Jack yawned.
"We’ll be back to see you tomorrow," Rose said, leaning down to kiss him gently. "I’m so glad you’re awake."
"Me, too." Jack put his free arm around her. Rose hesitated a moment, then, moving gingerly around the tubes and wires, hugged him back.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too," he whispered back. "When will you be back?"
"Around eleven tomorrow," she told him, standing up. Tommy and Helga had been watching the tender scene, trying not to stare at them.
"Okay." He nodded slightly, his eyes closing. "Good night, everybody."
Rose held his hand a moment longer, listening as his breathing grew deep and even as he finally fell into a normal, healing sleep.