CAL’S PLAN
Chapter Five
Jack was in one of the
infirmary’s beds, thinking about what he had just been told. She couldn’t be
dead. Maybe she had changed her name, and she thought that using his might seem
too obvious and would lead to her discovery. If only he could have a list. There
were thousand of names she might have taken!
A nurse appeared from behind the
curtain used to separate one bed from another.
"Sir," she said.
"There’s someone who wants to have a word with you. I told her that you
are too weak to have visitors, but she said it was important. Shall I let her
in?"
"Who is she?" He
couldn’t think of anyone who would like to talk to him.
"She told me that she is
Miss DeWitt Bukater."
Jack’s heart started beating
faster than before. So, she was alive. He wondered what name had she used. It
doesn’t matter, he thought. When we dock, she’ll be Rose Dawson. He
told the nurse to let the lady in, while he tried to sit up in bed. Half a
minute later, a red-haired woman entered the room. She had the same curly hair
as Rose, the same eyes, but she wasn’t Rose. It was her mother.
"Where’s Rose?" he
asked.
"Good to see you, too, Mr.
Dawson," she said.
"Where is she?" he
repeated. "She isn’t…" He stopped. Just the thought of Rose being
dead was too painful.
"Dead?" the rich woman
completed. "She’s still breathing, if that’s what you mean. But to you,
she should be dead, as you are dead to her."
"What do you mean?"
"She sent me to thank you
for saving her last night. She said that the whole incident made her think
about life, and she realized that life is too short to waste it. She is
marrying Cal next month. He’s a good catch. She’ll have everything she
wants."
"But she doesn’t love
him!"
"Mr. Dawson, you should
remember that sometimes love isn’t everything. Love doesn’t buy food, for
instance. That’s why she also sent me this money, so your expenses are covered
for at least a year," she said, showing him the bag she had in her hand.
"That doesn’t sound like
her. It seems more like a Cal thing. Lovejoy tried to do the same thing when we
were on the Titanic."
"May I say that you’ve only
known her for three days, while I’ve known her for almost eighteen years? This
is exactly the kind of thing she would do. Besides, she sent me a letter. She
probably guessed that you wouldn’t believe me."
Jack took the letter and began to
read it. It was a woman’s handwriting. It said everything that Ruth had just
told him. It also talked about the party he had taken her to the day after they
met. That was something that Ruth couldn’t know about. This was undoubtedly
written by Rose. He looked one last time at Ruth.
"Fine," he said.
"Tell her that if she really wants me out of her life, I won’t be between
her and Cal anymore. Tell her that…wait, do you have one minute? I’ll write it
down." Ruth wasn’t very happy about that. She wanted to get out of there
as soon as possible. In the end, she accepted. She would do anything to have
Cal’s millions.
Five minutes later, Jack folded
the paper he had been writing on and gave it to Ruth.
"Would you please give this
to Rose?" he asked. "I think she really needs to know how I feel
before making a decision."
"Fine by me," Ruth
agreed, going out. Then she turned around, and said, "One last thing, Mr.
Dawson. As you should know, you can’t keep many secrets on a ship, so many
people found out that Rose and you were having an affair. It would be better if
they thought that you died--for Rose, you know. I told an officer that your
name was Spicer Lovejoy. He died, you know, and so you can receive his relief
insurance. Just say that Cal fired you. Inside this bag, you’ll find a lot of
documents to prove that you are Lovejoy."
"I don’t care about the
name. I’ll take it if it’s what she wants."
"Thank you, Mr.
Dawson," she said, and she left the room.
Once she was outside, she took
the piece of paper that he had given her and put it in one of the pockets
inside her coat. She thought that she would burn it as soon as she reached
home. Now, she had to tell Cal that the plan had worked.