JACK'S ROSE
Chapter Three
Rose stared up through the rain at the Statue
of Liberty.
Rain.
It seemed as if it were falling, trying to
wash away all the nightmares these people had had over the past two nights, all
the nightmares they would have for the rest of their lives. As if it were
falling, trying to wash away all the pain these people would feel for the rest
of their lives.
Suddenly, the Statue was consumed by
blackness. Startled, Rose turned her head to find a man holding an umbrella.
She studied him for a moment.
"Can I take your name please,
love?" he asked, hand poised over his clipboard and paper.
"Dawson. Rose Dawson," she
answered, without hesitation.
"Thank you," the officer said,
moving to the next person.
At that moment, Rose DeWitt Bukater died, and
Rose Dawson was brought into this world anew.
She shoved her hands into the pockets of the
coat—Cal's coat—but quickly drew back as her hand struck something sharp. As
she pulled her hand from her pocket, her eyes settled upon the last thing in
the entire world she expected to find. In her hand, she held the Heart of the
Ocean. She stared at it. It had remained in her pocket through her leap from
the lifeboat, dodging Cal's ill-aimed bullets, wading through the flooded
corridors—laying there on that piece of molding, Jack's hand frozen to hers.
She looked about nervously, straining to see if anyone had seen what she was
holding, and shoved the diamond back in the pocket.
Rose quickly turned as she realized she would
somehow have to quickly weave a lie to keep Cora with her. She dropped her to
knees and looked at Cora. The young girl had been sharing an umbrella with an
elderly lady.
"Cora, I need you to do something. You
have to do this so that we can stay together," Rose whispered, placing her
hands on Cora's shoulders.
"What is it? Are we gonna find my da
now?" she asked innocently.
Rose nervously licked her lips and gazed at
Cora. "We're not going to find your da, Cora. He's..." She searched
for the words. “He's watching over you now, Cora. But he's in...he's in a place
that we can't get to yet. You'll see him again. But not for a little
while." Rose paused, seeing Cora's distressed, confused expression.
"But for now, you need to do something. When that man," she pointed
to the man writing down names on his clipboard, "comes around, I need you
to tell him your name is Cora Dawson."
"But what about Da?"
"Cora—"
"Miss Dawson." The man stood above
them. He smiled down at Cora. "She's too old to be your daughter. Your
niece perhaps?"
Rose forced a smile and nodded politely.
"And what's your name?" he asked
Cora.
Cora licked her lips, glanced at Rose, then
back to the man. "Cora D-Dawson."
Rose tightly embraced Cora as the man thanked
her and took the name of the older woman holding the umbrella.
"Oh, Cora!" Rose whispered
excitedly.
*****
“When the ship docks, I'm getting off with
you.”
“This is crazy!”
“I know.” She laughed. “That's why I trust
it.”
Rose looked up through the rain. She squeezed
Cora's hand as the crowd pushed past them.
"I'm getting off with you, Jack,"
she whispered as the chilling rain fell on her face, washing away her salty
tears. "I'm getting off with you."
*****
"Rose! Over here, darling!" Molly
called, waving her arms. There was no reason to be cautious of attracting the
attention of one of the other first class passengers; the other first class
passengers and all of the reporters had all left hours ago.
Rose's head turned and she finally spotted
her friend. As Rose and Cora finally reached her, Molly hurried them into a red
Renault. "I've been waiting forever! My goodness! You two are soaked to
the bone!"
As Rose stepped into the car, her vision
blurred with tears. She glanced up in the corner of the car where a mounted
vase held a single red rose. Just as the car in the cargo hold had...
"Rose? Is everything all right?"
Molly asked, giving Rose a handkerchief as a tear slid down her cheek.
"Oh, yes," she mumbled. "Thank
you." Rose wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked out the window,
straining to see the stars.
The stars...
“Where to, miss?”
“To the stars.”
The stars...what stars? The sky was black.
"Rosie?" Cora's gentle tug on
Rose's sleeve jerked her back to attention.
"You sure you're all right, darling?"
Molly asked, studying her.
"Yes...yes, I'm fine," Rose said
quickly, a shiver traveling up and down her spine as a water droplet escaped
beneath her dress.
"As soon as we get to the hotel, you can
take a nice hot bath and we'll get you into some clean clothes," Molly
said to Rose. "And you, too, cutie," she said, tapping Cora on the
nose.
Cora giggled.
Another tear slid down Rose's chilled cheeks.