A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Three
"Here you are, Miss." Officer Lowe
handed Rose a hot cup of tea. She tried to say thank you, but no words would
come. To her, words were useless if they could not be spoken to Jack. Oh, Jack.
How she feared facing the world without him.
Rose decided to walk around. As she moved
slowly across the deck, sorrow was all she could hear, see, and feel. The faces
of widowed women and orphaned children engulfed her.
It became too much for her to handle. Her
already shocked state weakened even more. She became light-headed as her legs
trembled under the pressure. Dropping her tea, Rose stumbled over to a bench
and collapsed onto it. Then, she did the only thing she felt would ever come
easily to her again. Sleep.
As she slept, her mind was filled with
visions of the past. She saw Jack. She could feel his warmth. The first time he
touched her when she was going to kill herself. The tender kiss he gave her at
the dining saloon. Rose could hear his soothing voice. She loved the way he
would talk to her, like she was the most important person in the world. Just
the way he handled her was amazing. On the bow he was so powerful lifting her
high into the stars. Then in the car he was so careful with her when he filled
her whole being with passion. But the one thing that stood out in her mind was
his deep blue eyes. He looked deep into her soul. They hid nothing. Jack's eyes
were so pure and warm. Her whole body was warm now just thinking of him.
Rose was suddenly jerked back into reality.
The brilliant light from Jack's eyes was now gone. In place was a dark night.
She sat up. "I've slept the day away," she thought to herself. The
deck was now almost emptied of people; they had all gone inside. Rose was now
fully alert. She stood up and walked over to the rail. The stars were burning
brilliantly above. They were the things that reminded her most of Jack. The
stars were theirs. That's where everything went away and they could be alone
with each other, just dwelling in their love and compassion for one another.
Rose wanted to take them all. She placed her hands on the rail and leaned back
on her heels to look up at the magnificent night sky.
*****
Jack couldn't handle it anymore--he had to
see Rose. Where would she be? He stood up. His clothes were fully dry now. That
seemed odd to him until he went out on deck. "Oh, Jesus. It's already
night!" Jack had stayed in the nurse's station all day. He was upset with
himself. As he walked along the decks in search of Rose, he scolded himself.
"How could I have been so stupid? She has been alone all day...or what if
she hasn't? If that bastard Cal got hold of her I don't know what I'll
do..."
Jack stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't
believe what he saw just ahead of him.