ONLY HALF THE MAN I USED TO BE
Chapter Two
"Is there anyone alive out
there? Can anybody hear me?" a voice shouted. They had come back, back to
save them.
She turned to look at Jack. His
eyes were shut, frost creeping across his eyelashes and matted in his hair. His
lips were blue, his hand cold in hers. For a moment, she thought he was dead.
Her whole world shattered, but then she saw it. A small puff of steam ventured
from his mouth. He was alive. He was breathing.
"Jack…Jack…" she said,
shaking the hand she was holding onto. "Jack, there’s a boat. Jack. Wake
up, please!"
Jack remained still, unmoving,
and cold. Another breath that was turned into steam by the cold air escaped
from his lips. Rose turned to look out over the sea. The lifeboat wasn’t that
far away from them. The man shone his torch in their direction.
"Help…help…" Rose said
feebly, her voice weakened by the cold. She managed to raise her free hand and
wave at the lifeboat.
"Alive!" shouted one of
the crew. "There’s someone alive out there!"
The officer looked out and saw
Rose. "Row over. Steady, now."
It seemed like forever to Rose
before the boat reached them.
"Hello, miss," the man
said, holding out his hands. "Come into the boat. We’ll help you
now."
"Get him in first," she
said, shaking Jack’s hand. "He needs help first. I can’t let go."
The man looked over at Jack’s
frozen body. "Miss…I think he’s dead, miss," the man said quietly.
"He’s not," Rose
insisted. "He’s…he’s not dead," she said, using her free hand to
stroke Jack’s face.
"Miss…please get in the boat
now, miss," the man pleaded.
"Not until you get him in.
He’s not dead. He’s alive," Rose said. The man pleaded with Rose, to no
avail.
"Okay, men," he said
finally, giving in. "Get him in, and then her."
"Thank you," Rose said
as they pulled Jack into the boat, Rose freeing her hand from his grip. Rose
was helped into the boat and a blanket placed around her shoulders.
"I know it’s hard,
miss," the man said as the others rowed. "But he’s dead."
"He’s not. Watch," she
said, pulling the torch out of his hand and shining it on Jack’s face. Sure
enough, a puff of breath escaped from Jack’s lips once more.
The man’s eyes widened in shock.
"More blankets!" he shouted. "He’s unconscious! We need to wake
him up!"
More blankets were thrown over
Jack, and the man went to help the others row. Rose leaned over Jack and kissed
his cold cheek. She grasped his hand with both of hers and began to whisper
softly in his ear.
"Wake up, Jack," she
whispered, leaning towards his ear. "You can do it. Wake up, Jack, for me.
Please?" she begged, but Jack remained unconscious.
*****
An hour or so later, the man came
over to Rose. The boat was out in the clear water, not far from the other
boats.
"You should sleep,
miss," he said to her.
"I’m not sleeping until he
wakes up," she said defiantly. "He will need me."
"What if I wake you as soon
as he does?" the man suggested.
"All right." Rose
reluctantly accepted. As much as she didn’t want to leave Jack, she really was
tired, and she knew that now they were safe.
Rose lay beside Jack, pulling her
blanket around her and slowly slipping into a peaceful sleep.