A FIRE IN THE WIND
Chapter Seven
"Oh, my God." Rose spoke under her
breath. "You're supposed to be--dead."
"Rose," replied the voice.
"Jack! Oh, Jack! Please! Please, God!
Don't let this be a dream! Don't!" Rose prayed, crying now.
Jack kissed Rose on the cheek passionately to
reassure her. "It's not. I love you."
"I love you, too, Jack." Rose
smiled looking into Jack's emotional blue eyes. "But how did you survive?
How did you find me? Oh God, Jack! What happened?"
"In the water," Jack started,
comforted by Rose, lying next to him. "I thought I was a goner for sure. I
just remembered you, your smile, your eyes, and your scent. It gave me courage
and strength. Away from the mess of people I found a board. I don't know what
it was, part of a door or something. It was big enough for one person alone, so
I looked to see if there was a woman or a child that I could offer it to. I saw
no one, so I took it for myself, thinking of you, the whole time. I was near
death when a lifeboat came by. I was dying. Hallucinating things that weren't
there. I looked up at the stars and saw you on Saturday night. God you were
beautiful. Then, lightning struck my brain. I couldn't let someone as spirited
as you die out and have them take over. I had to do something. Anything. Right
away, I saw the lifeboat. It was a few dozen feet ahead of me. I screamed as
loud as I could, but my voice was too weak. They hadn't heard me. Looking
around for anything that could make some noise, anything at all, I found a
whistle. A White Star Line worker was blowing it, pleading for them to return
the boats. It now was frozen to his mouth. He was dead. Then, I swam. I don't
know how I did it. My body was near frozen. I just remembered how much I wanted
to live. How much I wanted you. The warmth of my heart guided me. Somehow, I
managed to hoist myself onto the crate he was floating on and then I blew. At
first, a small, pathetic sound came out of the whistle. No one would be able to
hear it. Then, I remembered you and your future life with Cal. I didn't want
you to conform to them. I didn't want you to lose your fire. I blew harder and
harder until they heard me. They rowed back as quickly as they could, covering
me in tons of blankets. I was hardly able to think straight."
Rose put her arms around Jack, maybe just to
see if he was real. "And here you are," she said, tired.
"Yeah," Jack continued. "On
the Carpathia, I must have tried a hundred times to go up to see you, Rose.
Every single time the same steward would stop me and kick me back on the third
class deck. I was still really sick from hypothermia, but that didn't stop me.
Fabri, Tommy, and Cora were all dead. When we docked in New York, I caught up
with Molly. She told me that you had already left for Philadelphia. She told me
that you tried to get down to the third class deck, but Cal had stopped you
somehow. And you were puppy guarded like a child to make sure you wouldn't go
down to try to find me. I felt helpless. Molly gave me twenty-five dollars.
Just enough to buy a train ticket to Philadelphia and pay for a few months rent
for a flat. I thanked her and took the first train I could here."
Rose held Jack tighter. She didn't want her
mother or Cal to come in. Not yet.
Jack looked into Roses' eyes. "Let me
tell you, I had a hell of a time looking up your last name in the telephone
book!"
Rose laughed softly.
Jack continued, putting himself closer to
Rose. "When I saw your house. I was shocked. It looked like ten houses put
together! Now came the challenge. I had to get into it without being seen. I
had no idea where your room was. I hid in a bush in your front yard, hoping you
would come out. You didn't. I was in luck when I saw you, looking out of the
window in this room. You looked so beautiful. I felt inspired all over again.
You looked so beautiful, but yet so sad. I had to do something about it. By the
time I climbed up into your room, you were gone. And there I stayed, praying to
God that no one but you would come in. It was getting late and I was worried. I
heard some noise downstairs, so I thought you were having a party or something.
I cried when you came in a few minutes ago. I cried."
Rose kissed Jack, and began crying tears of
happiness again. "I can't believe I did it. I had given up hope. I had. I
let them make my life as it was before Titanic. God dammit, I won't let it
happen again, I won't. I didn't think you'd come back."
"I'm back," Jack replied
soothingly. "I'll never leave you like that again, Rose. It's not going to
happen. We've been through so much together. Let's make this have a happy
ending."
"It will," Rose whispered. "It
will."
All of a sudden, there were footsteps in the
hallway.
Rose sat up in bed. "Jack, I'm afraid.
Cal might come, and if he sees you here, you're better off dead. We'd never be
able to see each other again. The gala's almost over. He'll be coming up
soon."
Jack sat up, knowing Rose was right.
"What next?" he asked Rose, looking into her pale blue eyes,
searching desperately for an answer.
"Cal will be gone tomorrow to Pittsburgh
for a week. Give me your address and I'll meet you at your flat. Let's aim for
eleven."
"All right," Jack replied, reaching
for a nearby pencil and piece of paper. He scribbled diligently on the paper.
"Jack, please trust me. I'll see you
tomorrow," Rose said, right before Jack gave her a long kiss on the lips.
"I love you, Rose," he said,
opening up the window to escape, unseen.
After Jack descended to the ground, Rose
closed the window and kissed the note. She had to remind herself that it wasn't
a dream. Jack was alive, and life was more perfect then ever.