THE HEART NEVER LIES
Chapter Three
Rose
The frigid water lapped at the
edge of the door I was laying on. I could not feel my limbs. The sky above me
was inky black and the stars were shining. It could almost all be beautiful if
it wasn't for the chill breeze that froze my skin and this hellish situation.
When I breathed out, my chest
hurt. Jack’s breathing was even more shallow than mine. He was stuck in the
water, holding onto this flimsy bit of wood that could not support both of us.
He had nobly placed me on it and stayed in the black sea.
"Rose…Rose…" he
whispered. "It’s gone quiet." No screams could be heard, only the
occasion moan, wail, and a Goddamn eeriness.
There was an officer floating
nearby. His agonizing shouts had ceased.
"What’s happened? Where’s
the boats?" I moaned, starting to shake badly.
My hands intertwined with Jack’s.
His eyes were shadowed, half-closed, his lashes tinged with frost. He looked
like a ghost. His body looked half-frozen.
"They…they’d better come
soon," he stuttered, his words slurring. "Sorting themselves out."
"What if they don’t?" I
half-murmured, talking getting more and more difficult through raw, tender,
chilled lips.
"They will, Rose. You will
go on. Promise me you’ll go on," Jack said hoarsely.
I tried to move my hand to touch
his dear face, but I couldn’t.
"You’ll live life and make
each day count," he said breathlessly, "‘til you are an old woman.
Promise me. Promise you’ll never let go…promise…" His voice trailed off.
His eyes were glassy and the blue in the depths of them had started to look
diminished.
Tears started to fall from my
eyes. They froze on my face. My lips trembled. I heard echoing noises like
ghosts calling in the vast expanse of the ocean.
"I promise…" I said in
a small voice. "I will never let go."
He opened his expressive eyes
wide and looked deep into mine. "You are my everything. I give you
everything," he said slowly and carefully. Then his lashes closed and he
rested his head on my hands.
I could feel my eyes growing
heavy. I wanted to cry so badly, but I was numb, inside and out.
Got to stay awake, waiting for
the boats…waiting.
Jack
I managed to open my deadened
eyelids and look at her face; she was losing consciousness, her eyes closing.
Her flowing red tresses were frozen to the door lifelessly. Her clothes had ice
on them; her skin had a blue hue to it; she looked like an angel lying there.
I don’t want it to end like
this, I thought. I
remembered the warmth of her skin when we touched in the car, the fire and
urgency in her caresses and the passion burning between us, a lifelong spark.
I didn’t want the spark to die as
we were dying.
Rose. Rose, my love…I don't
want to die, not without you, my heart called, and then I heard faraway voices. Then they faded
to nothing and my eyes closed.
Rose
I was in heaven. The angels were
singing, "Josephine…up she goes…up…up…" The angels were
singing our song. I was flying with Jack. He was smiling at me. A great white
light enveloped me, blinding me.
"I will go on," I
mouthed, then slid off the door into the dark, icy depths of the Atlantic and
felt nothing.