About five minutes later, a police officer arrived to talk to Rose.
"Rose DeWitt-Bukater? I’m Officer Lydia Ross, Southland PD."
Reluctantly, Rose turned away from Jack. "Yes? How can I help you?"
"Dr. Rodriguez reported that you know who the assailant is in this case."
"That’s right. It was Caledon Hockley, my ex-fiancé."
Officer Ross wrote her statement down, then looked at her strangely. "Caledon Hockley, the CEO of Sun Titan Industries?"
"Yes. He was upset that I had broken off our engagement. We were arguing, and when I walked away he pulled a gun. I think he meant to shoot me, but Jack got in the way, and got shot instead. He kept firing, I guess until he until he ran out of bullets, and then disappeared. I haven’t seen him since."
Officer Ross wrote down what Rose had said, but she looked like she didn’t quite believe her. Rose didn’t blame her. Who would have thought that someone so wealthy and well-respected would be capable of such a thing? But it was true, nevertheless. Rose hoped that Cal would at least be arrested. She didn’t expect him to be convicted—as she had told Jack earlier, Cal could afford the best lawyers—but she hoped that he would at least be brought down a notch. He had caused her so much misery.
"Anything else?"
Rose thought for a moment, debating whether she should mention Cal’s actions toward her before that night. After a moment, she decided against speaking up. She still felt that she couldn’t face the publicity of a rape trial.
Instead, she told her, "I saw him take something out from under the driver’s seat of his car just after the earthquake. I didn’t see what it was, but it might have been the gun."
"Did you know he had a gun?"
"No."
Officer Ross made a few more notes, then turned to leave. "Thank you for your help."
"You’re welcome. I hope you catch him."
Rose turned back to Jack. He hadn’t stirred. She glanced at the clock; almost twenty minutes had passed since the doctor had left. Settling into her chair, she resumed waiting, hoping that he would awaken soon.
The minutes ticked by. Jack didn’t move. When thirty-five minutes had passed, Rose sat forward, worried, wondering why he wasn’t waking up. Carefully, she shook his hand and spoke quietly to him, hoping that that would awaken him.
It didn’t. By the time forty-five minutes had passed, Rose could wait no longer. She rang for the nurse.
Rose waited anxiously, hoping that there was an easy explanation for why Jack had not woken up. Maybe they had given him a little too much anesthesia, and it was just taking a little longer than usual for it to wear off. Maybe, in his weakened state, he had reacted to it differently than he should have, and would wake up in just a little while. Other possibilities, less hopeful ones, ran through her mind, but she pushed them away. Jack would be all right; he was a survivor. She couldn’t bring herself to consider any other possibility.
The nurse finally arrived. Rose, her anxiety overwhelming her for a moment, exclaimed, "He should have been awake by now! Why is he still asleep?"
The nurse consulted Jack’s chart, shaking her head. "You’re right, he should be awake by now." Motioning to Rose to move out of the way, she did a perfunctory check of him, then shook her head again, looking worried. "I’m calling a doctor."
A few minutes later, a different doctor from the one who had spoken to Rose earlier came in. He spoke briefly with the nurse, then turned to Rose.
"We need to run some tests, so we need you to go back to the waiting room. We’ll let you know whatever we find out."
Rose nodded shakily. "Could he just have been given too much anesthesia or something?"
He hesitated. "It’s possible...but not likely. The best anesthesiologist on the staff worked with him during his surgery. We need to run those tests to find out what the problem is."
"All right." Taking her crutches, Rose moved quickly from the room, her worry almost overwhelming her. Jack would be all right. He had to be.