LET’S LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND
Chapter Two
Rose drifted in and out of
consciousness for the next several hours, unaware of where she was or who she
was with. All she could think about was Jack and the short time they had had
together. How happy he had made her, and how weak he had sounded the last time
she had spoken to him. He had barely been able to move his arms through the
water as she had pulled him over to the officer with the whistle.
It was two o'clock in the
afternoon the next day on the Carpathia when she fully regained consciousness,
painfully aware that Jack's hand was no longer in hers. Where was he? Oh,
please, God, let him be alive. Please don't take him yet, was running
through her mind.
"Why, look who's
awake," a familiar voice greeted her cheerfully. She glanced up to see
Molly Brown grinning down at her.
"Mrs. Brown?" Rose
asked, squinting her eyes to make sure she was not a hallucination. "Where
am I?"
"The Carpathia, darling.
You've been out since they brought you on board. Let me tell you, I was
surprised to see you this morning when they carried you in here. I thought for
sure you were a goner."
"I almost was." Rose
sat up in bed and took in her surroundings. She didn't see Jack anywhere. A sob
rose up in her throat, but she pushed it down. She couldn't lose it right now.
She had to keep her composure if she was going to get through this. "Was I
alone?"
"No. That young man…Jack…he
was with you…barely alive. He's on the other side of the room with the patients
in critical condition. I just checked on him, come to think of it. Has yet to
wake up, but that boy likes to talk in his sleep. Something about his parents
and a girl named Kimberly. He called for you a couple of times, too. But he has
yet to open those baby blues."
"Can I see him?" Rose
asked, her eyes lighting with hope. "Please. If he dies…I don't want him
to be alone."
"Well, right now, the doctor
said he wants you to stay in bed and rest, but as soon as you're allowed on
your feet, I'm sure that he won't mind you going over and keeping Jack
company." Molly laid a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder. "You know,
sugar, your ma and Cal will be happy to learn that you survived…your mother
especially…"
Rose's eyes widened with dread,
and she grabbed Molly's arm tightly. "No, Molly, no. You mustn't tell
Mother and Cal that I survived! Please! Let me remain dead to them!"
Confusion shone in Molly's kind
brown eyes. "But, Rose, they love you. They're your family. Why do you
want them to think you perished on that ship when you're alive?"
"Because they'll make me
marry Cal, and I would rather be dead than married to that monster, Molly. You
don't know all the things he did…to both Jack and me." Rose looked away
from Molly. "He framed Jack and left him to die in the bowels of the ship.
That's why I left Mother at the lifeboats. I had to save him. Then the coward
tried to kill us by chasing us deeper into the ship, all the while shooting at
us."
"Oh, my God." Molly
covered her mouth in shock. She knew she didn't like that Caledon Hockley.
There was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way.
"Do you see, Molly? Do you
see why I can't marry him?"
"Of course I do, darling,
but what about your mother? She was devastated…"
"Especially my mother. She
knew that I didn't love Cal, but she didn't care. All she cares about is her
damned money. Well, she can have it! I don't want anything to do with her, ever
again!"
"Now, Rosie…that's
harsh." Molly stroked the girl's red curls, trying to calm her fiery
spirit, but it wasn't to be. Rose was too angry with her mother.
"I don't care. It was harsh
of her to sell her daughter into a loveless marriage. Ruth DeWitt Bukater
deserves whatever comes to her!"
"And you, Rose? What do you
deserve?"
"To be with Jack. That
should be my reward for putting up with Mother and Cal all this time. Don't you
think? Jack should be my reward." Rose became calm at the thought of her
beloved Jack. The wonderful man with the shiny blonde hair and laughing blue
eyes. "I love him, Molly. I can't explain how or when it happened, or why
it happened so quickly, but I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life
with him."
"Well, that's
understandable, and from the way he looked at you at dinner the other night, he
feels the same way. Now let me leave ya, go back, and check on your young man.
Get some rest so you can get out of here and check on him yourself."
Rose nodded and tiredly closed
her eyes, going back up to the stars with Jack.