AFTER TITANIC
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rose awakened in Jack's hospital room, her
neck cramped from falling asleep in the chair. She glanced over at Jack. He
looked so peaceful, like he was asleep. But Rose knew better. He wasn't asleep.
In fact, he might never wake up at all.
"Rose." A familiar figure appeared
in the doorway. She looked up to see Fabrizio smiling at her. He looked the
same the last time she saw him. Then, fear struck her. What was he doing here?
Had he come for Jack?
"No, Rose. I haven't come for Jack. He's
already with me and he's waiting for you. That's why I'm here. To bring you to
him."
"But he's right here," Rose
replied, looking back at the bed, but Jack wasn't there. He was gone.
"Come, Rose." Fabrizio held out his
hand. "He's waiting for you, and you don't have much time. You'll wake up
soon."
Rose nodded in understanding and took
Fabrizio's hand.
She gasped in surprise as they exited the
hospital room and ended up outside, on the deck of Titanic. "Jack's
here?"
"We thought it'd be better for him than
that dark place. This way he's surrounded by friends," Fabrizio explained.
"There he is." Fabrizio pointed to the bow of the ship, where a tall
man with blond hair had his back to her.
"Jack," Rose cried in happiness,
running towards him. Then, she stopped, about five yards from him. "Hello,
Jack."
He turned and smiled when he saw who it was.
She ran into his outstretched arms and let her tears flow. She missed him so
much. "Oh, Jack."
"Shh, Rose. It's okay. Everything will
be all right," he soothed her, stroking her red curls.
"How can you say that? Do you even
remember what happened?" Rose pulled out of the hug and looked him
squarely in the eye.
"Of course I do. In fact, I've been worried
about you. How are you holding up?"
Rose looked down at her feet. "Not too
well, Jack. I don't know how I'm going to get through this without your
strength. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to you?"
"Shh, Rose. Don't ask why. There's never
a right answer. It did happen, though, and we have to accept it. And you are
strong, Rose, and you'll get through this just fine. Believe me." Jack
pulled her into another hug. "And I'll be home before you know it. I
promise, and you know me. I've never broken a promise to you, have I?"
Rose shook her head, sniffling. "I miss
you, Jack, and so do the twins."
"And I miss all three of you, too."
"Oh, Jack, I have to tell you what
happened this morning." Cal suddenly came to Rose's mind. She had so much
to tell Jack.
"There's no time, Rose. You have to
go." Jack sighed sadly, his eyes revealing how sad he was to have to let
her go.
"What do you mean, I have to go? No,
Jack. I don't want to leave you. Not yet."
"You have to wake up, Rose. You can't
sleep forever," Jack said. "I promise I'll send for you tonight.
We'll have more time then, and then you can tell me what you have to."
"But, Jack!" Rose could feel
herself drifting away from Jack. He was getting farther and farther away from
her. He had his hand outstretched towards her, but she couldn't reach it.
"Jack!"
"I love you, Rose! I'll love you
forever!" Jack called, before he disappeared under two puffy white clouds.
No! Not yet! She wasn't ready to leave him.
"Jack!" Rose bolted awake in the hospital room. "Jack." She
began to sob as she stared at his pale form, not responding to her calls.
"I love you, Rose." She could hear
his voice whisper in her ear.
"Jack." Rose sobbed harder.
"Rose?" Katherine entered the room
tentatively. She knew Rose would be there, but she wasn't expecting the tears
that were now freely flowing.
"Jack." Rose sobbed.
"Oh, Rose, don't cry." Katherine
immediately went to her and wrapped her arms around her. "He'll be fine,
Rose. I know he will be. Us Dawsons...we're fighters."
"Can we come in?" Eliza asked,
Maxwell behind her.
"I don't think so." Katherine
angrily stood up. "I think you two have caused enough pain and suffering
already. Look at Rose. She's a hysterical mess."
"Wait a minute. This is not our
fault." Maxwell stepped in front of Eliza. "If you want to blame
someone, blame Lee Conway. He's the one who was pointing a gun at everybody,
who pulled the trigger. Now, we're sorry about what happened to Jack, but I'm
not going to stand here to let you blame us for what happened."
"Now let me tell you..." Katherine
began.
"Stop it!" Rose yelled. "Stop
arguing. It's not doing Jack any good."
"Rose..." Katherine began.
"No! Jack doesn't need this. He doesn't
need the people he cares most about arguing among themselves. He needs love and
devotion and friendship. Not this. So if you can't get along with each other,
and not blame each other for what happened, then leave!"
"Well said, Rose." Molly appeared
in the doorway. "You hit the nail on the head."
"What's going on in here?" Ruth
appeared behind Molly, holding the twins.
"Mother, what are the twins doing
here?" Rose asked, taking Tommy.
"I thought it'd encourage Jack to come
back to us. Let him know that the children miss and need their daddy. Besides,
Tommy has said his first word, and Jack should hear it."
"Dada." Tommy pointed at Jack.
"Dada."
"Oh, my goodness. Jack would be so
pleased if he were awake to hear this." Rose smiled.
"Dada!" Tommy called again.
"Tommy, Daddy can't play with you right
now. But you can talk to him." Rose brought the baby over to Jack.
"Maybe hearing your voice will get him to wake up."
"Dada," Tommy again replied,
looking down at his father and pointing. "Dada."
Suddenly, Tommy began to whimper, joined by
his sister.
"Oh, Tommy, don't do that," Rose
begged.
"Dada!" Tommy cried.
"I'll take the children outside."
Molly took Tommy. "Come on, Ruth. Let's calm down the children and take
them home."
Rose watched them leave, then collapsed into
the chair, burying her head in her hands. Jack was missing everything. He'd be
heartbroken when he found out he missed Tommy's first word and acknowledged
Jack as his daddy.
"Rose, please..." Eliza began, her
eyes pleading, but Rose wasn't paying attention. She was thinking of what
Jack's reaction would have been if he had been awake to hear his son call him
daddy. He would have been so happy.
"Come on, Eliza. I think Rose needs time
to be by herself for a while." Maxwell escorted his wife out of the room.
"Will you be okay, Rose?" Katherine
asked.
"I'll be fine," Rose said. "I
just need to be alone with Jack."
"Okay. But I'll be back to check up on
you later. And grandfather sends his love. He would be here himself, but in his
condition the doctors thought it wouldn't be a good idea."
"I understand. Tell him not to worry.
Jack survived the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. He'll survive this,
too. I know he will." Rose forced a smile. "Fate wouldn't spare him
then just to take him away from me a year later, would it?"
"Fate's a funny thing, Rose. That's all
I can tell you." Katherine sighed. "Well, I'll see you later.
Bye."
"Bye, Kathy." Rose watched her
leave. Then, she turned and watched Jack for the rest of the day, never leaving
his side.