A CHANCE TO LIVE
Chapter One
"What’s your name, kid?
What’s your name?"
Jack held the crying boy in his
arms. The little boy just kept crying, so we ran towards the stairs. We got
halfway up when we heard the door burst and the water rush down the hall. Shit!
The gate was locked.
"Help! Help us!
Please!"
A man came bolting out of a door.
"Sir! Sir, please help
us!"
The water was up to our waists
now. The man started up the stairs, paused, and turned back. Shaking, he tried
several keys, but none worked.
"Please! Please,
hurry!"
He dropped them.
"I’m sorry," he stuttered.
"I…I dropped the keys. I’m sorry."
No shit you dropped them!
Jack handed the boy to me and
ducked underwater. The gates opened just as the water rose to neck level. I
swam to the next set of stairs, checked to see if the boy was all right, and then
looked for Jack. He was nowhere to be found. "Jack? Jack!" He
surfaced, gasping for breath. Oh, thank God!
We headed upstairs into the
steward’s passageway, but came across another dead end. Jack slammed his
shoulder against the door and it broke. We were free! The tilt of the deck was
a bit more pronounced now, but a steward was still persuading the first class
passengers around us that everything was fine. He spotted us coming through the
broken frame and started to follow us, nagging about paying for the property we
broke, how we couldn't go that way.
"Shut up!"
Jesus, that man is oblivious
to how much danger we’re all in! Worrying about something that’ll be at the
bottom of the ocean in God knows how long!
On the deck, Officer Lightoller,
I think his name was, was standing to our left, directing women and children
into a lifeboat. The cold Atlantic Ocean was slowly but steadily growing closer
to where he stood. Jack turned to me.
"Rose…Rose, you gotta go
with them. I’ll find my way onto the boat. Don’t worry, Rose."
But I refused. "No, Jack.
You are going first, or else I’m not going anywhere. That’s the way it’s going
to be." He looked at me sternly, but I did not break my gaze. He sighed
and turned. He made his way to Lightoller, who let him in as a few other men
who were holding children were let into a lifeboat behind us. I moved towards
the boat and joined Jack.
Everything looked great, until
who else but Caledon Hockley shoved his way through the crowd with a child in
tow. Jack and I exchanged a glance and he moved to the far side of the boat. Don’t
let him know you’re here, the look said. I’ll tell him you didn’t make
it.
I grabbed a shawl from the bottom
of the boat and used it to hide my face. Cal climbed into the boat, but the
water was rushing up too fast. The boat threatened to capsize. I held on for
dear life as Jack handed me the boy and helped the other men trying to free the
boat. We broke off and started rowing away from the suction. When all was calm,
Cal sat and glanced over at Jack.
"You!" he spat in that
all-too-familiar way. Jack did nothing but glare back, daring Cal to call him
out on faking fatherhood. And Cal, for once, shut his mouth. He could be
condemned for the very same thing, and he knew it. I turned my back and listened.
I heard Cal whisper, "Rose?" and Jack reply solemnly, "No."
Then silence.
A part of me felt sorry for Cal;
he loved me, after all. But another part of me reminded me that he tried to
kill us, and despite the fact that he just saved a little girl’s life, he probably
only used her to save his pure-blooded ass. Jack did it to save me; he knew I
wouldn’t go anywhere without him. That was different from Cal’s motivation.
Jack wasn't selfish. And I bet Cal wouldn't even consider adopting the girl!
Jack would. I would. The boy probably lost his father, just as the girl
probably did, too. Who could condemn the poor souls to a life of orphanages and
doubt as to where they came from? These children deserved to know of their
parents’ fates. They deserved to be loved and cared for. Perhaps Jack would
agree to adopting Cal’s child, too? I shall have to ask him.
It was so quiet now.
Our lifeboat was gliding through
the glassy waters, following a boat with a green flare. A row of lights could
be seen at the horizon—a ship? Well, if it was, we had at least four hours
before reaching it.
Plenty of time to brood about
Cal.
Plenty of time to freeze to
death.
Plenty of time to forget about my
family.
And plenty of time to think about
my new one.