IT HAS TO BE YOU
Chapter Nine

Rose darted through the crowds, looking back every so often to see if she was being followed. It would be harder for Cal to track her without Lovejoy, but it wasn’t impossible, and she had no wish to see him.

At last, when she was sure that she had lost them, Rose slowed, looking around herself and considering what to do. She needed to find Jack, but she had no idea where he might be. The Carpathia had docked the night before; for all she knew, he could have left New York.

She shook her head. Jack wouldn’t have left New York yet, not without looking for her first. If he had, he would be on his way to Philadelphia to wait for her.

She had to find him, but how? Would anyone know where he had gone? Where would she look? New York was a big city, much too large for her to search with no plan.

The rumbling of the El gave her an idea. Quickly checking an inner pocket of Cal’s coat, she touched a bundle of money. Cal had not yet demanded that she return the valuables he had placed in the coat. Perhaps he didn’t realize that she still had them. He might think they had been lost in Rose’s struggles in the water.

Looking at the direction the El tracks went, Rose began walking, searching for the station.

*****

It was afternoon by the time Rose found her way back to Pier 54 to begin her search. She had intended to go straight there, but her lack of familiarity with the El had sent her all over the city before she finally got on the right train.

When she reached the pier, she went straight to the Cunard Line office. The Titanic had been a White Star Line ship, but since the Cunard liner Carpathia had brought the survivors to New York, she thought that they might have some information on them.

There were only a few people around, so Rose didn’t have long to wait. No ships were leaving or arriving that day, and it was still raining, keeping people who might otherwise have been out and about inside.

She went inside the office, stepping up to one of the ticket windows.

"Yes, Miss?" The clerk peered at her curiously, seeing her ragged attire and pale face. She looked to be one of the pitiful survivors of the Titanic disaster.

She soon proved him right. "I need some information on a Titanic passenger, Jack Dawson. He survived the sinking, but we were separated on board the Carpathia, and I haven’t seen him since the day after we were rescued. He was in steerage."

The clerk gaped at her, wondering what a first class lady could want with a steerage passenger. In spite of her tattered appearance, Rose was obviously well-to-do, with her silk dress and expensive wool coat.

He had also been instructed not to give out any information. The press was fascinated by the disaster, but his boss was sympathetic with the passengers and their ordeal, and wanted to protect them. Rose was a survivor, not a reporter, but he still felt it most wise to keep his mouth shut.

"I’m sorry, Miss, but I can’t give out any information. Perhaps another survivor would know."

Rose sighed in frustration, but didn’t give up. She’d gone to too much trouble, and loved Jack too much, to give up on him. If necessary, she would search every hospital in the city, put ads in the papers, hire someone to help her search for him. She had more than enough money to do whatever it took.

Thinking quickly, she pulled a twenty dollar bill from a pocket of the coat and held it just out of the clerk’s reach. "Are you sure you can’t tell me anything? It really is important to me." She lowered her lashes, trying to look helpless and flirtatious at the same time.

The clerk looked at the money, and then at Rose. His salary was very low, and he had always had a weakness for pretty girls. Perhaps he could give her the information she sought. After all, she wasn’t with the press…

He looked around quickly. Seeing that no one was watching, he whispered, "I might be able to tell you a few things, Miss."

"Such as?"

"Let me see…" He looked through some papers on the counter behind him. "Steerage, you said?"

"Yes."

"Let me see. Does he have any family around here?"

"Not that I know of."

"He might have gone to a Red Cross shelter. That’s where many steerage passengers went."

Rose decided to reveal a little more information. "He was taken to the infirmary aboard Carpathia the day after we were rescued. Where might sick passengers have been taken?"

"There are a couple of hospitals that they were taken to, depending upon how much money they had."

"He had very little, maybe ten dollars to his name. And after the sinking, maybe not even that much."

The clerk looked through the papers again. "Then he might have been taken to the charity hospital three blocks from here. You go three blocks south and turn right. It’s about two blocks farther down. You can’t miss it."

"Thank you, sir." Rose slipped the money across the counter and whirled around, eager to be on her way.

The clerk stared after her, slipping the twenty into his pocket. He hadn’t really expected her to stay and follow through on her flirtation, though he had hoped. Still, he’d gotten some extra money out of the encounter. Maybe he could use it to take another pretty girl out.

*****

Jack lay in the narrow hospital bed, half propped up. He had gotten better since he had been taken from the Carpathia the night before. The fever had finally broken, and he was breathing more easily, though he was still weak and exhausted. Still, he was awake for now, and very concerned about Rose.

Where was she now? How was Cal treating her? He knew that Cal was furious about Rose’s relationship with Jack—he would never have shot at them when the Titanic was sinking otherwise—but did he care about her enough not to harm her?

And what about Rose’s mother? How was she treating her daughter? Jack hadn’t known Ruth DeWitt Bukater for long, but his impression had been that she was a very cold, stiff woman. How she could have borne a daughter like Rose, he didn’t know, unless Rose’s personality was like her father’s.

Jack didn’t know how much longer he would have to stay in bed. He was following the doctor’s orders carefully, and eating whatever was placed before him, trying to recover as quickly as possible, but he feared that it wouldn’t be soon enough. Rose could be on her way back to Philadelphia by now, and there no telling whether he would be able to get close to her there. What if she was forced into the marriage to Cal? He wasn’t even sure of when the wedding was supposed to be. He thought it might be June, since many weddings occurred then, but what if he was wrong? What if it was earlier?

Jack reached for the glass of water beside his bed and took a sip, watching a single nurse move amongst the half-dozen patients in the small room. No private rooms or extra care here. The hospital depended upon charitable donations and what little the patients could pay. The wealthy and the middle class didn’t come here—they went to the expensive private hospitals, where there was adequate staff, space, and medicine available. Only the poor went to the charity hospital—and many never left, at least not alive. Jack was one of the lucky ones.

The sound of voices arguing in the hallway caught his attention, not because voices or even arguments were so rare here, but because one of the voices was that of a cultured woman. What upper class woman would come here? Surely she could get better care. And she didn’t sound sick.

A thought suddenly struck him. Rose! What if it was Rose? Maybe she’d managed to get away from her mother and fiancé. Could it be her? How would she have found him?

A moment later, she came through the door. "Rose!" he gasped, almost dropping the glass. She hurried toward him, still wearing the same tattered clothes she had been wearing before, the dress the worse for wear now.

"Jack!" Rose rushed to him, throwing her arms around him. "I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find you."

"Rose, what happened? Where’s Cal and your mother?"

"Oh, Jack, I’m sorry I didn’t come back to you on the ship. Cal locked me in a servant’s room and told everyone that I was having a nervous breakdown so they wouldn’t let me out. They kept a close eye on me when we docked, and locked me in a hotel room last night. I managed to fool Cal and get away this morning, though. Then it took me all day to find out where you were—I didn’t know how to find the right El train."

"It’s all right, Rose. It doesn’t matter. You found me."

"Yes, thank God. I thought the nurses around here wouldn’t let me see you, but I donated a hundred dollars to the hospital and they changed their minds."

"Where did you get a hundred dollars? I thought you didn’t have any money."

"Cal stuffed his coat pockets with money before he put it on me—his insurance, as he’s fond of calling it." She didn’t tell him about the diamond—not yet. It would be best to save that information for when they were alone.

Jack sat up a little straighter, pulling her into his arms. She sat on the bed beside him, returning the embrace.

"Rose, I was so worried about you. I didn’t know what he might do to you."

"He slapped me a few times, but nothing worse. It’s not like it was anything new, anyway. I’m all right."

Jack held her tighter, kissing the top of her head. "He won’t hurt you again, Rose. I promise."

Rose touched his face. "Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jack. If he finds me, I’ll handle him in my own way. I’m not going to let him separate us again."

"Rose…"

"I mean it, Jack. Cal’s a powerful, dangerous man—but I was raised in his society. I know what to do about him now. Just trust me."

"I trust you, Rose, but I don’t trust Cal. We’ll handle him together, if it comes to that."

"All right." She leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder. "I’ve missed you, Jack. As soon as you’re well—"

"Well, isn’t this a pretty sight. I knew you’d come here, Sweetpea. All I had to do was wait."

Jack and Rose stiffened at the familiar voice, turning to see Cal standing in the doorway, staring at them with a faintly amused smirk on his face.

Chapter Ten
Stories