LET’S LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND
Chapter Sixteen
As planned, Jack and Rose, joined
by Jacquelyn and Richard--both were there for moral support, plus to see
Canada--were on the first train heading to Canada. Jack held Rose’s hand
tightly and stared silently out the window at the passing scenery. Rose read a
fashion magazine, and Richard was telling Jacquelyn about his travels.
When they had reached their
destination, it was daylight. After getting their hotel roomed, Jack wanted to
head for the morgue right away. The sooner he got this over with, the better.
"Jack, are you sure you
don’t want to wait?" Rose asked as he pulled her down the hall.
"Positive. But you three
don’t have to come along. I’m sure you’d rather see Canada instead of inside a
morgue." Jack turned to his wife and siblings.
"We’re here to support
you." Rose squeezed his hand. "Now come on. Let’s go see if he’s in
there."
The room was bright and cold. A
man stood in the middle of the room between the slabs containing the bodies.
"Mr. Dawson, I
presume?" the man greeted.
"Yes. I came here for my
friend," Jack answered.
"Okay. Since we don’t know
the names, I’ll just remove the blankets and you can tell me whether you know
them or not."
"Okay." Jack nodded,
tightening his hold on Rose’s hand. One by one, the blankets were removed and
replaced.
"Wait. I know him,"
Rose said midway, when one of the blankets was removed. "Look, Jack. It’s
Lovejoy…Cal’s valet."
"We sure did give him a run
for his money, didn’t we?" Jack slightly smiled. Then he was serious
again. "Looks like he was hit in the head by something."
"I wonder what."
"What do you want to do,
Rose? You want to claim him?"
"No way, Jack. Let him rot
here for helping Cal try to keep us apart. Besides, we’re here for
Fabrizio."
Jack only nodded, and they moved
on. It was on the next to last slab where they found Fabrizio, his body crushed
almost beyond recognition, his clothes covered in soot.
"Oh, Fabri." Jack
reached down and touched his dark hair. "I’m so sorry."
"Is this him?" the
mortician asked.
"Yes. He is. We’ll be taking
him with us when we leave day after tomorrow." Jack sighed, covering his
dead friend back up.
"I shall get him ready for
travel then. That will cost you two hundred dollars."
"You did bring the money,
didn’t you, Rose?" Jack asked, looking at his wife.
"Of course I did." Rose
patted her purse. "We’ll pay you before we leave, sir." Rose turned
to the tall, pale man.
"Since you’re the one paying
I need you to come in here and sign the paperwork." The mortician directed
Rose out of the room, leaving Jack alone with his dead friend.
Slowly, he uncovered Fabrizio
again and just stared down at him, reliving all the adventures they had had
together. It had been this last adventure that had proven fatal for his loyal
friend.
"Fabri…please forgive me for
getting you into this mess." Tears began to flow from Jack’s eyes. He
covered his face and sobbed, grief overwhelming him. He didn’t hear anyone come
in until two strong arms embraced him.
"It’s okay, Jack,"
Richard comforted his sobbing brother. "I’m sure your friend is in a better
place now and wants you to be happy."
"It’s all my fault. He
didn’t even want to get into that poker game, but I, being so smart, convinced
him. Then I told him and Tommy to go to the other side of the ship when it was
sinking. I thought there would be more boats on the other side…we should never
have gotten on that ship. We should have waited and got a job or something and
saved up."
"Yeah, and then you wouldn’t
have met Rose. You would have missed finding the love of your life. Is that
what you would’ve wanted?"
Jack pulled away from his brother
and shook his head. "I just wish my decision hadn’t meant his death. That
he had a chance to see the Statue of Liberty, eat apple pie, and see a baseball
game. He would have loved the Yankees."
"I like the Dodgers
myself." Richard smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
"He had found a girl too you
know. Her name was Helga. The last time I saw her, she was falling to her death
from the railing. I wonder if he was dead by then, too."
"Well they’re together now.
Probably saddened that you’re so sad. I’m sure that your friend only wants
what's best for you. And that’s to go on with your life. Keep his memory in
your heart and live for him. Make Rose the happiest woman alive. For both you
and Fabrizio. That’s the best thing you can do right now."
Jack nodded. "I guess you’re
right." Jack cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed about losing his
composure in front of his big brother.
"Fabri wouldn’t want me to
be so sad." Jack smiled. "Uh…thanks. Thanks for being here…listening
to me…I guess it was what I needed."
"Question, though. Why
haven’t you discussed this with Rose?"
"She’s having a hard enough
time dealing with the sinking. She doesn’t need my guilty conscience on top of
that. You know, I told her that we should leave the past behind us, and I
wasn’t even doing that myself. I have to start taking my own advice."
"I say so. Now come on. The
women are waiting for us." Richard covered Fabrizio back up and led his
brother out of the cold room.
"Oh, Richard, one more
thing. Not a word to Rose about my little breakdown in there. Okay?"
Richard shrugged. "I don’t
see the big deal about it, but since you want it that way, fine."
"Thanks."
Richard only smiled and led his
brother into the waiting room as Rose finished filling out the papers.