LOVE IS MORE THAN A FEELING
Chapter Eleven
"Oh, that dress is
beautiful!" Monica said as she and Rose passed another store window.
"You'd look great in that, Monica. Why
don't you go in and try it on?" Rose asked.
"Are you crazy? Fred would kill me if I bought
a dress like that. We don't have that kind of money..."
"There's Jack and Fred," Rose said
as she pointed across the street.
Rose and Monica walked across the street,
over to their husbands.
"Hello, honey," Rose said as she
approached Jack.
"Rose, hi. Having fun shopping?"
Jack asked as he gave her a hug and kissed her on top of her head.
"Yes. Are you heading back home?"
"No. We're going out to lunch. Wanna
come along?" Jack asked as he looked at Monica and then back at Rose.
Rose looked over at Monica. "Sure. We
just finished shopping," Rose said.
"I still have a list of things to
get," Monica said as she looked at the list again. "But I'll get the
rest tomorrow."
"Now, there goes Monica with one of her
little lists. I'll tell you, Jack, ever since we've been married, she insists
on making a list for everything..." Fred said.
"Oh, shut up, Fred," Monica said in
a playful tone.
"I'm just kidding, Monica. I love
you."
Monica smiled. "I love you, too."
They walked to a small Italian restaurant. The
wives sat by their husbands.
After they ordered their food, Monica said,
"I saw your cartoon in this morning’s paper, Jack. It was good."
"Thanks, Monica," Jack said as he
smiled at her.
"Oh, my God..." Rose said as she
watched someone enter the door.
"What, Rose?" Jack asked. He
followed Rose's eyes and saw what she was looking at.
"Shit!" Jack said.
"Who is that?" Fred asked.
"None other than Caledon Hockley, my
ex-fiancé."
Cal spotted them, and Jack cursed again. Cal
smiled at Rose when he saw her.
"Hello, Sweetpea," Cal said.
"I see you’ve made quite a life for yourself."
"What do you want, Cal?" Jack
asked.
"Nothing from you, gutter rat."
Jack started to get angry and stood up.
"Dawson, I don't want to start anything with
you. I just wanted to say hello to my fiancée."
"I'm not your fiancée!" Rose said.
Cal just smiled at her. "Poor Rose,
always making bad decisions..."
"Are you done now?" Jack asked.
"I suppose, but not for good," Cal
said as he walked away.
"Good thing that didn't cause a
scene," Monica said. "I mean, I'm sorry..." She didn't know
quite what to say.
"That's all right, Monica," Rose
said.
After the food arrived, they ate fast and walked
home. It was a very cloudy afternoon. Jack put his arm around Rose.
"I love you, Rosie," Jack said.
"I love you more," Rose replied.
"Impossible..."
Rose smiled up at Jack. Then she saw Cal
standing in front of all of them. He took a gun out of his pocket and pointed
it at Jack.
"This is for all you've done..."
Cal said.
Right before he pulled the trigger, Rose
jumped in front of Jack, taking the bullet.
"Rose!" Jack said as Rose fell into
his arms. "Rose!"
Cal stood there in shock. "Rose..."
he said. Then he ran, and Fred ran after him.
"Rose! Rose!" Jack picked her up.
"We need a carriage to take us to the
hospital..." Jack said.
One was coming their way. It stopped. Monica
told the driver what had happened and they rushed Rose to the hospital, Rose
unconscious the whole time.
After they got there, Jack and Monica waited
in the waiting room. Then, Fred came in.
"Fred!" Monica said as she ran to
her husband. "What happened?"
"Don't worry about Cal. The cops got him.
How's Rose?"
"We don't know yet..." Jack said.
He looked as if he were going to cry, but he didn't.
The doctor came into the room. "Mr.
Dawson?"
Jack stood up. "That's me."
"Your wife is in very critical
condition. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but there is about a
twenty percent chance she will live," the doctor said.
Jack's head fell. "Shit," he
whispered. Then he started to cry softly.
Fred and Monica sat next to him and tried to
comfort him.
Jack slept in the waiting room that night, praying
for a miracle. Rose couldn't die. He thought about how she had saved his life.
He couldn't lose her now. He just couldn't.