HOPE
Chapter Three
Remembering
Rose opened her eyes to find herself on the bed,
with Molly and a doctor leaning over her. "What happened? I felt dizzy,
and I..." She found herself losing breath for words.
The doctor started to speak. "It’s
important that she eat. She is very weak, and if she does not eat, she will not
make a full recovery."
"Thank you, Roger," Molly said. The
doctor, Roger, gathered his things and left.
"Darlin’, I thought you had been eatin’
well. Roger says you fainted due to you not eatin’." She almost sounded
angry with her. "I’m ordering some room service. Is there anything in
particular you would like?" She sounded more calm and caring now. Good.
Rose couldn’t bear to have her only friend be angry with her at this point.
"Whatever you pick will be fine. Who was
that man—the doctor?" She had to ask.
"Oh, Roger? He’s an old friend of mine.
We go back a long way." Then she started to explain Rose’s situation.
"When I realized that I had forgotten my hat this afternoon, I came back
into the hotel and found you collapsed on the floor. You gave me an awful
scare. I put you on the bed and called up Roger, since I knew he lives very
close to here. He came as quickly as possible. He has told me you need to rest
for the next week or so. You must have suffered from exposure on the Titanic,
dear. You’re burning up with fever. Why didn’t you tell me?"
Rose lifted her hand to her forehead. She did
have a fever. "I didn’t feel it, to be honest. The past few days, I have
thought of nothing but Jack. And with crying so much, I would lose my
appetite."
"Well, I guess that’s understandable."
She buzzed for room service. Rose could not hear what she ordered, but she
didn’t care as long as it was warm and filling. Molly finished and walked to
Rose’s bedside. "Rose, darlin’, I’ve been thinkin’. I want you to
accompany me back to Colorado. You’d be much better off stayin’ with me. Until
you’re well, that is."
"Oh, Molly! I couldn’t possibly
intrude..."
She immediately interrupted her. "Don’t
refuse, Rose. You’re ill, and you’re coming with me."
"All right, Molly. I know there’s no
arguing with you."
"Now that’s more like it." She was
filled with delight, just like a child on Christmas morning. "We’ll stay
here for another week or so, until you’re well enough to travel. Roger says you
need to rest anyway."
Rose looked out the window. The afternoon sun
was still bright in the sky. She thought back to the day she and Jack had
gotten to know each other. The sun had seemed so bright and brilliant, and yet,
she had never even looked up to notice. Well, now was her chance. She had to
live each moment for what it was worth. Jack had taught her that. And she was
thankful. If it weren’t for him, I would most definitely have been a lost
cause. He gave my life meaning, and I will not disappoint him. She knew
that he was watching over her, like an angel in the sky.
She would have started to cry again, but she
heard Molly call to her.
"Rose."
"Hmm?"
"The food is here," she said.
"Oh. It looks delightful." Molly
wheeled the cart over near Rose’s bed. "I want to thank you, Molly, for
everything. I’m sure Jack would, too," she added. "I’m sure that he
sees what you have done for me."
"Rose, honey, you can’t be feelin’ sorry
for yourself all the time..."
"I know. I’m just thinking about how
much he loved me. Even though he never said it in words, I know that he
did," she said as she thought of all their good times together.
"Did you ever tell him that you loved
him?"
It occurred to her that she hadn’t gone into
much detail about her relationship with Jack. "Yes, I did, as a matter of
fact. It was more of a good-bye statement, but I truly did mean it."
"Well, I know for a fact that he did
love you. He told me so himself."
Rose looked at her in confusion.
"At dinner, he asked me for a pen to
write with. When I asked him what for, he told me about your day together and
that he would like to write a note to you. Then he told me, ‘I love her,
Molly. I can’t let her go.’ That’s when I knew you two would find a way to
be together. No matter what."
This made Rose smile. She was glad to know that
Jack’s love for her was true. Not that she didn’t know this before, but it was
just good to hear it in words. "Molly, I left out some parts of my
relationship with Jack. I would really like to share them with you if you
promise not to tell a soul."
"Oh, you know me. I love a little girl
talk. Let’s eat first. What do you say?"
"All right." Rose looked down at
the cart. There were some sandwiches with soup. The soup was warm, so she
picked up a spoon and began to nourish herself.
After they had both finished eating, Jack was
still on Rose’s mind. She knew that Molly was thinking the same thing. She just
happened to be the one to bring the subject up. "So, Rose, tell me about
Jack, if you feel like it, that is."
"Well, where did I leave you
hanging?"
"Let’s see." She thought for a
second. "Tell me about your first kiss."
Flashes of the beautiful sunset danced
through her mind. "Funny you should bring that one up...when Mother told
me that I could no longer see Jack, it broke my heart. Of course, telling Jack
was twice as painful. Jack found me first and was attempting to tell me how
much he loved me. I couldn’t stand to listen to it and nearly broke out in
tears. I told him to leave me alone. Later, I decided that it was time for me
to live my own life, not my mother’s. So I found him at his favorite part of
the ship—the bow. He told me to close my eyes, and he led me in front of him. I
was at the farthest most tip of the bow. He spread my arms out like wings and
put his hands on my waist. The wind was chilly, but I didn’t mind as long as I
was with him. He told me to open my eyes. From where I was, I couldn’t see any
ship below me—only ocean. I felt like I was a bird, flying in the golden dusk
sky. He pressed his cheek against my ear and sang a soft tune, Come
Josephine In My Flying Machine. He brought his hands up to mine. Our
fingers danced together. He brought his hands down to my waist and mine
followed. I was able to resist him up until that point. I turned my head just a
slight bit, to find his lips close to mine. I leaned forward and surrendered to
him, and to the moment. It was so magical, Molly; I forgot all about Cal and
Mother for the few minutes that we spent embracing each other on the bow. We
stayed there until it got dark."
"What I’d give to have a man like
that!" she exclaimed.
Rose went on to tell her about the rest of
that night. About how she asked Jack to draw her, about what had happened in
the Renault, and on to the rest of the sinking. It was painful, but it helped
to talk to someone about it.
After the day had gone, there was nothing
that Molly did not know. Except...