STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
Chapter Nine
Rose lay in bed, thinking of how she and Jack
had been so good together that night. She wondered if Sam would ever know. She
finally turned to her side and shut her eyes.
In the next room, Jack lay peacefully on the
bed thinking of how magnificent they had been, and still were, together. He
then drifted off to sleep again, dreaming of happy thoughts.
In the morning, he awoke to the sound of the
doorbell that kept ringing.
He got up put on his shorts and went
downstairs to answer it.
He opened the door as he let out a yawn.
"What the hell?"
"Jack! I must see Rose." Cal was
very eager to see her.
"She’s sleeping. Come back later,"
he said, as he wiped his eyes.
"No, I must see her now," Cal
demanded.
"Wait? Cal, didn’t she tell you to leave
her alone?" Jack had started to wake up now.
"No. She just left me a letter. Now, let
me speak to her!"
"All right. But don’t upset her, or I’ll
butt in," Jack warned, as he went upstairs to Rose’s room.
"Fine. I’ll wait here." Cal sat on
the couch.
Before Jack woke up Rose, he needed a shirt,
so he went into his room and put one on. Then, he came out and knocked on
Rose’s door.
"Rose?" He opened the door, and saw
an angelic silhouette. She lay there, peaceful as a cat in slumber. He hated to
wake her up.
"Rose, darling," he called.
She awoke to a familiar voice. Her Jack.
She turned to face that beautiful man.
"Yes, Jack?" she answered, in a
sleepy way.
"Cal’s here. He wants to see you."
"What?" She got up fast.
"I know. I thought that, too, but he
says he wants to speak to you."
"All right. I will talk with him."
She proceeded to get up, but had trouble, so Jack helped her.
She came down the stairs with her robe on.
Jack watched as she went to talk to him.
When he saw her safely on the couch, he went
back into his room.
"Rose, why did you leave?"
"Because…Cal, gosh…you weren’t touching
me. You didn’t even see me."
"Rose, I was busy making a life for
us."
"Well, you could have let me in on
it."
"I thought I was, Rose."
"Cal, I don’t love you. I never
have."
"You love that Dawson, don’t you?"
"Yes, Cal. I do love him."
"Well, too bad. Live with it."
"Cal, don’t you understand? I don’t, and
never will, love you."
"You were always a failure, Rose."
"How dare you say that to me, when you,
Mr. Perfect Rich Bastard, can’t even turn on a woman?" She was about to
leave, when he grabbed her arm.
Cal lay her on the couch and started ripping
her clothes off.
"Cal, stop!" she screamed.
Jack was there in two seconds, pulling him
away from her.
"Leave her alone." Jack pushed Cal
to the floor.
"Well, Dawson, you got the strength and
the sex drive, but can you handle a lawsuit?"
"A lawsuit? Don’t make me laugh, Cal.
You’re the one who wanted to come in and speak to her. I was just protecting an
innocent, pregnant woman."
"Innocent?" Cal laughed.
"Yes, she is innocent."
"She’s a whore."
"Never. I love her, and I am going to
marry her," Jack said.
"You bastard!" Samantha yelled.
"Sam, I…" Jack stuttered.
"Well, not just a love triangle anymore.
Huh, Dawson?" Cal smiled.
He went to Sam and wanted to hold her, but
she slipped on her robe and fell down the steps.
"Rose, dial 911."
"Yes, Jack." She went to the phone
and dialed.
"911. How may I help you?" the
operator asked.
"A pregnant woman fell down the stairs.
Please send an ambulance to 135 North Terrance Way. Cross streets are Ford and
Main." Rose heard the lady say that an ambulance would be there shortly.
"All right, Jack. They’re on their
way."
"Okay."
He cradled Sam in his arms, and brought her
to the sofa.
Sam was crying.
"I love you, Jack. I will always love
you, no matter that you didn’t love me. And if our baby survives, I want to
name it after you." She closed her eyes.
"Sam…Sam…wake up…Sam…"
He felt for a heartbeat. It was there, but it
was faint.
Rose went to the door to let the ambulance
in.
"She’s over there," Rose instructed
the two men.
"Sir, is this your wife?"
"No. She’s my fiancée."
They checked her over.
"Rose, I am going to go with her."
"Okay, Jack."
Jack went into the ambulance with her, and
they put a monitor on the baby’s heartbeat, which was very strong. All of a
sudden, he heard Sam’s monitor go flat line.
They tried to resuscitate her. Nothing.
The baby’s heartbeat started to fade.
Jack was crying, telling them to help the
baby.
They cut her and reached inside, searching
for the baby. Finally, they pulled out a baby girl. They heard it screaming its
little lungs out, as the mother of this newborn was dead.
They did all the necessary things to make the
baby healthy. They let Jack hold the little girl.
Jack patted the little thing and held it
close. "What are we going to do now, Samantha?" he cried, looking
into the sky as he stepped out of the ambulance. They had finally reached the
hospital. They rolled out Samantha’s body. Blood was everywhere. She was gone.
The mother of the newborn didn’t even get to see her. He knew that by denying
her request to make the baby’s name after him he would pay dearly, so he named
her Jacqueline.