ANOTHER PROMISE KEPT
Chapter Four
The next day, Molly took me to
see Dr. Jonathan Calvert, who confirmed what I already knew.
"Congratulations, Mrs.
Dawson. Your baby should be born next winter. I’d say right around
January."
I couldn’t believe that I was
going to be a mother. Not a year ago, I used to think that bringing children
into the world was something I did not want to do. What for? To be raised by
Cal? But now that I was expecting Jack’s baby, I couldn’t think of anything
that pleased me more.
Molly and I didn’t talk on our
way back home. I was too busy thinking of the things I had to do before the
baby arrived. I had to move out. Molly and her family had been good to me, but
I couldn’t force them to take care of my baby. I also had a lot of things to
buy, like clothes and furniture. So, what I really needed was one thing--money.
"What are you thinking
about?" Molly asked me after a while.
"Nothing. I was thinking
that I ought to find a job."
She stopped and looked at me.
"A job? What for?"
"Well, I need money to
support me and my baby, don’t you think?"
"That’s nonsense! I can take
care of you--of both of you."
"No, Molly. I couldn’t
possibly ask you to do that. You’ve done enough…"
"I mean it, Rose. I am not
letting you go out on your own, especially with a baby to take care of. No,
Rose. You are staying with me at least until that baby is born. Then we’ll
figure things out."
"All right. All right."
We had reached Molly’s house.
When we got inside, I said that I was tired and that I wanted to lay down
before dinner. Molly made no comment about it.
Once I was in my room, I began to
think. On the one hand, I loved having someone to take care of me. But there
was something about Molly that I could not understand. There was something
behind her concern, and I wanted to know what that was. I couldn’t see why
someone would be so good to me for no reason.
Maybe it is because you’re not
used to nice people, I
told myself as I lay on the bed, but that explanation didn’t quite convince me.
I decided, however, to put the matter to rest, at least for now. All I wanted
to think about right now was my baby.
I must’ve fallen asleep, because
all of a sudden I saw Helen’s concerned face over me.
"Are you all right?"
she asked when I opened my eyes.
"Why wouldn’t I be all
right?" I replied as I sat up on the bed.
"I heard you screaming. You
were saying something like ‘Don’t take him! He didn’t do it!’ And I got
worried."
I looked down, embarrassed.
"I must have been thinking
of Jack. Of the last time I ever saw him. God, I was so wrong then…I can’t
believe that I actually let them take him away from me."
Helen put a hand on my shoulder
to comfort me. She seemed to understand me, even though she didn’t know the
whole story, at least not from me. So, I was surprised when she said, "It
must’ve been terrible to see the stewards take him down the stairs…I can
imagine your pain."
"Wait! Down the stairs? How
do you know?"
I had only seen the stewards
taking Jack out of the room. Cal had closed the door behind Lovejoy and I had
never seen neither of them again. I couldn’t see how Helen knew that they had
taken him downstairs when I didn’t know it for sure.
"My mother told me. Why?"
she answered.
So, Molly had seen Jack after we
got separated? I understood everything. The reason why Molly had been so kind
to me was Jack. He had probably told her about the diamond.
I ran downstairs to face Molly
and to demand an explanation. I found her in a small sitting room, playing
cards with Larry.
"What did he tell you?"
I asked.
"What are you talking
about?" she inquired.
"Jack. What did Jack tell
you when he was being taken under arrest? I know you saw him, Molly. Tell me,
what did he say to you? Did he mention me? Was he mad at me?" I had so
many things that I wanted to know, and I thought that my friend might have the
answer.
"Okay, okay, okay. I did see
Jack, and yes, we talked," she confessed.
"Was he mad at me?" I
repeated.
"Mad? God, no! He was
worried about you. He told me about the diamond and made me promise that I
wouldn’t let Cal hurt you. He wasn’t mad, Rose. In fact, I think he could never
be mad at you."
I smiled sadly.
"So, that’s why you’ve been
taking care of me? Because Jack told you to?"
"I’m not going to lie to
you. The reason why I looked for you on the Carpathia was the promise that I
made to Jack. But…" she added, seeing that I had opened my mouth to
complain. "But he never asked me to bring you home or anything. He just
wanted to be sure that you wouldn’t be hurt."
"I can’t believe that Jack
actually did that. I can’t believe that, in spite of everything that happened,
he still thought about me in that moment."
"I know he didn’t say the
actual words, Rose, but he loved you. That was why he was so worried about
you."
"I loved him, too," I
said, fighting tears. "God, I still do! I wish I had told him. Molly, I
feel so bad! I loved Jack, but I didn’t show him how much. He risked his life
for me, and I couldn’t pay him back. I should’ve jumped from that boat."
"Like I told you on the
boat, Rose, there wasn’t anything that you could do. Imagine what would’ve happened
if you’d jumped--you would have killed both yourself and Jack’s baby. You know
that it’s better this way…"
"If it is the right choice,
Molly, why does it hurt so much?" I asked, crying.
My friend hugged me.
"I know it hurts, honey, but
you’ll get over it. Soon you’ll feel less and less pain. Trust me. Jack will
take care of you, and he’ll make sure that you don’t suffer."
I cried for a long while. I knew
that Molly was right--I did have to start again, so I had to get everything out
of my system. Jack would be–had to be–only a memory. A very good, yet painful,
memory.