It had to be early in the morning. Rose didn't know. She woke up covered in a damp blanket in Jack's arms on a bench on the outside deck. She looked around, surprised at where she was. She couldn't remember anything from last night. All she remembered was that after she and Jack had left the bow, they’d gone back down to the party in third class. Her head was hurting a lot. She sat up, careful not to wake Jack, and stood up. She wrapped the blanket around herself and walked towards the bow. They had to be a bit further away from the dock, because the Statue of Liberty was a little farther off in the distance. They had anchored where they were, and were waiting for the dock to clear. The sun was just rising over the horizon. An older woman walked up behind her.
"Excuse me, but do you know if anyone who was a passenger on the Titanic is awake? I would like to ask them a few questions," she said. Rose looked out at the horizon, then back at the woman.
"Yes," said Rose. "Would you like to sit down?"
"Were you a passenger on the Titanic?" asked the woman. Rose looked down at the water again, then up at the horizon once more.
"Yes," she said.
"Then I would like to go back to my room to ask you some questions," said the woman. Rose looked over at the bench. The back of the bench was facing her across the deck, along with the back of Jack's head. He was still asleep.
"Yes, of course," she said quietly, and followed the woman back to her first class room. Rose sat down on the couch and the woman sat down in an arm chair. "These rooms are small."
"If you think these rooms are small, you should see the third class rooms," said the woman. "My name is Meredith Sherman. I was born here in New York, but I've been in London for a bit. May I ask your name?"
"Rose Dawson," said Rose quietly. Meredith wrote it down on a notepad.
"How old are you?" she asked.
"Seventeen," replied Rose quietly. Meredith wrote it down.
"Now, what type of passenger were you?" asked Meredith.
"What type?" Rose asked.
"Yes, first, second, or third class?"
"Oh, I was in first class."
"You were a first class passenger?"
"Yes."
"You don't appear to be."
"I met a man named Jack Dawson. He was in third class. When the Titanic went down, I lost everything."
"Oh. You said this room was small. Were the first class rooms larger?"
"Much. The Titanic was the largest ship ever built. She had to be about six city blocks long and maybe a half a mile wide. The first class rooms were huge. Three or four times the size of this one." Rose looked around as she spoke. Meredith was writing this down the whole time.
"So, tell me about this man named Jack," she said. Rose looked up at her.
*****
Meanwhile, back on the bench, Jack was just waking up. He stretched his arms and neck out.
"Good morning, Rose," he said, yawning. He looked up to discover Rose gone. "Rose?" He jumped off the bench. "Rose?" Jack turned around frantically. "Rose! Rose!" He ran to the stern. "Rose, where are you?" He ran to the bow. "Rose?" Jack was in a panic. He raced down towards the third class deck, searching for Rose, or at least someone who might have seen her. He ran into Lynette on the way. "Lynette! Have you seen Rose?"
"No. Not since last night," said Lynette. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Jack said, and he ran up to the second class deck to search their room. "Rose? Rose, are you in here?" The only response he got was the sound of Joshua's breathing. Jack pulled the blanket over Joshua's sleeping body and left the room again. He ran up to the first class deck and started banging on doors. A young man answered the first door. "Hi, have you seen a redheaded woman in a black coat and most likely a plaid blanket named Rose Dawson?"
"No, I haven't. Sorry," said the man.
"Thanks anyway," Jack said, and he ran to the second door and started banging on it as the young man closed the door. This time, a teenage girl answered the door.
"Hi, have you seen a redheaded woman in a black coat named Rose Dawson?" asked Jack.
"No, I haven't. She isn't your fiancée, is she?" asked the girl.
"No, she's my…well, I guess my wife," Jack said. The girl rolled her eyes and shut the door. "Thanks for your help!" He was annoyed with the girl, not that he wasn't stressed already. He ran to the third door and started banging on it. Inside the room were Meredith and Rose.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Dawson," said Meredith. She got up to answer the door. Jack was frantic and was talking very quickly.
"Have you seen a young redheaded woman in a black coat named Rose Dawson?" he asked, though it sounded more like “Hvoonygededannlakatedseson.”
"I'm sorry?" asked Meredith. Jack calmed down and spoke more slowly.
"Have you seen a young redheaded woman in a black coat named Rose Dawson?" he repeated. Rose, hearing Jack speak properly, got up and ran to the door.
"Jack, I'm right here!" she exclaimed.
"Rose!" Jack exclaimed, and he threw his arms around her and kissed her face several times. "Rose, don't you do that again!" He kissed her face between every sentence. "Don't you ever leave my side without letting me know again!" He hugged her tightly. "You don't realize how worried I was! I had no idea where you were! I was afraid that Cal and your mother took you!"
"Jack. Jack! Jack!" Rose shouted. Jack pulled away from her a little bit, his hands still on her face. "Relax. I've been here the whole time. This is Meredith Sherman. She's been interviewing me about the sinking of the Titanic." Jack was breathing heavily. He flipped his hair out of his face.
"Oh," he said. "Oh…uh…I feel awkward now." He let go of Rose's face and looked at Meredith. "Hi, there. I'm Jack, her…uh…"
"He's my…" Rose didn't know what to say.
"I guess you could say I'm her husband," said Jack.
"Yes, my husband," said Rose.
"Ah…" said Meredith. "Well, thank you for allowing me to question you about the Titanic."
"Oh, yes. Of course. Anytime," said Rose.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," said Jack. "Come on, Rose. If we hurry, we'll catch the good food." Jack led Rose up to the deck and wrapped the blanket around her.
"Jack," Rose said, looking at him.
"Yeah?" Jack asked.
"You seemed frantic earlier, when you were looking for me," Rose said.
"Because I was afraid Cal or your mother had tried to convince you to go back to them and it worked and they kept you trapped in there. Or worse, that Cal had raped you and I wasn’t there to stop it," Jack said, pulling his jacket tighter around his body.
"Jack, you know I'd never go back to them. I'd be giving up you and Joshua! And I could never do that!" Rose told him.
"I know, Rose. I just didn't know what had happened," Jack replied. He wrapped his arms around Rose and kissed the top of her head. "I'll always be here to protect you."