THE SHIP OF DREAMS
Chapter Twenty-Three

Jack drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the rest of the night, the fever rising and lowering sporadically. Rose hardly left his side, only following the doctor’s orders to go back to her cabin and rest after she’d nodded off in her chair. Almost as soon as she stood, Jack’s eyes snapped open and he stared at her.

"Honey, are you all right?" Rose gently touched his cheek, watching as he swallowed past his raw throat. She wanted to slide under the covers and hold him, but her body heat would make his temperature rise, and she couldn’t risk that.

"Mom?" he managed to croak, and Rose felt her heart stop in mid-beat.

"No, Jack…" She wet her lips, feeling her body start to tremble and her own throat choking up with tears. "Try to go back to sleep, love."

"Where am I?" he whispered, and she brushed his sweat-soaked bangs away from his forehead.

"You’re in the Titanic’s hospital."

Jack’s eyes closed again, and he took a deep breath. "Rose…where is Mac?"

Rose frowned. "She went back to bed, sweetheart. Shh…you shouldn’t try to talk now." He watched as she picked up the glass of water from the table, and allowed her to lift his head so he could take a small sip. He nearly choked after swallowing, and for a moment, Rose was afraid it was going to come back up. Thankfully, it didn’t, and he agreed that he was able to take another small sip.

"You won’t leave me, will you?" he asked as she smoothed his blankets, and a single tear finally slid down her cheek. "Rose…don’t," he begged, reaching up to brush it away. "Don’t cry."

She clutched his hand to her cheek, shaking her head. "I feel responsible, Jack. I can’t help it…"

Jack coughed, turning away for a moment. "None of this is your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine…I was stupid not to let you know how sick I was."

She managed a smile. "You’re not stupid, Jack, but I wish you had told me. You could have spared yourself so much trouble if you’d just agreed to go to the doctor sooner. But nothing can be done about it now, and you shouldn’t worry about anything but getting well."

He glanced to the side just as he saw the doctor returning, and Rose followed his gaze. "Jack, the doctor will probably kick me out…so I should go, for a bit, at least. I’ll be back soon. I promise."

He nodded, shivering from chills. "Are Mac and Ana all right?"

Rose cringed as the doctor cleared his throat in his subtle hint for her that it was time to go, and she leaned over to kiss Jack tenderly on the cheek. "They are both just fine. Fabrizio is taking care of them."

He smiled weakly as she stood, and then the smile disappeared as it was replaced by an expression of pain. Rose backed away from the sick bed, and it was only when she reached the deck that she finally broke down in sobs. She leaned against the wall, feeling dizzy as her shoulders shook. It had been so difficult to keep it together around Jack. She slid to the ground, burying her face in her arms, feeling like a child. Jack, Jack, Jack, she begged silently. Oh, God, let him be all right. She couldn’t bear to see him like this…such a kind, loving, caring man…one who actually made her feel as though she had a purpose in life. Thinking about this only made her cry harder, and it wasn’t until someone asked if they could help her that she realized how ridiculous she was being. Breaking down was not going to help anything.

She struggled to her feet, smoothing her dress and wiping her eyes quickly. She probably looked terrible, and hoped she could just slip into bed without anyone seeing her. She looked at the hospital wing entrance once more before forcing herself to head back to her cabin.

When she reached it, she gently opened the door and found Coddie Anna lying on her back, her arm extended over the edge of the bed and her mouth slightly open. Rose smiled to herself as she tiptoed over to her, gently slipped her arm back under the covers, and pulled them up to Coddie Anna’s neck. The little girl muttered something in her sleep, but only moved slightly without actually waking.

Rose, after slipping out of her corset and into something more comfortable, climbed into her own bed and made her best attempt to fall asleep.

*****

It wasn’t until nearly lunchtime the following day that Mac felt someone shaking her. She growled deeply and pulled the blankets over her head, not wanting to get up today. "Mac, don’t be stupid. It’s almost noon! You’re not going to sleep the entire day away, are you?" Anastasia’s irritated voice replied.

Mac mumbled, "Go away."

"I’m not going to go away," Anastasia told her. "Besides, you’re going to a ball tonight, and I want to make sure you look your best…we’ll have to go through my best clothes and decide what we’re going to do with your hair."

A ball? Mac’s ears pricked a little, and she slowly pulled the blanket down so her eyes were revealed. "What?" she whispered, and Anastasia smirked.

"Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about the first class ball tonight? The one Michael’s taking you to?"

Mac sat up, narrowly missing the bottom of Fabrizio’s bunk by a few inches. "Oh…" Memories of the previous night flooded through her, and she quickly lay back down again, not wanting to face anything right now.

"No, you don’t!" Anastasia gripped the blankets and quickly pulled them off, causing Mac to yelp in surprise. "You know your father wouldn’t want you to be like this…"

Mac frowned…she wondered how he was this morning. "I need to go and see him," she breathed, sliding out of bed, realizing she hadn’t even bothered to change out of the dress she’d worn to visit him before. Anastasia gave her a look, and Mac quickly smoothed the front of the dress to try to make it look somewhat decent. "I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to sleep in it," she apologized, realizing now how sore her sides were from the posture corset underneath. "Ouch!" she gasped when she tried to take a step.

"Well, it’s not fun when you fall asleep in those." Anastasia giggled. "Perhaps you’d best take it off and let yourself breathe for a bit?"

Mac grimaced as she gingerly turned around and allowed her friend to unbutton the back and then untie the miserable thing. "Ow…ow…" Mac whimpered as she attempted to sit back down on the bed, tears coming to her eyes. Why people insisted on torturing themselves this way, she didn’t have the slightest idea. Her sides were slightly bruised, she noticed, but nothing appeared broken.

After a good twenty minutes, Mac felt she was all right enough to go back, but she refused to wear another posture corset until that night. Anastasia let Mac wear a dress that did not necessarily require a posture corset. "As long as you sit up straight, no one will notice a thing."

Mac sighed as she led the way out of the room, after making sure to leave a note for Fabrizio again on the table. He probably had gone to lunch and would be back to check on them later, Anastasia suggested, and the two of them struggled to climb over the rail using a nearby bench to stand on. What they didn’t realize was that this bench had been someone’s current sitting place and the young woman had gone to chat with someone for a moment and was shocked to find her seat literally pulled right out from under her. I must be losing my mind, she thought, quickly grabbing another empty chair and staring at the spot for a good while with wide eyes.

Mac and Anastasia hurried down the deck, slowing down when they reached the area where the first class medical facility was located. "Maybe you shouldn’t come with me," Mac whispered as she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Don’t be silly. I’m not coming all the way up here for nothing," Anastasia hissed, and Mac rolled her eyes as she opened the door. The room seemed a bit more crowded than the other night, but mostly people were being treated for injuries. One woman dressed from what seemed like head to toe in furs was having her arm set and a plaster of Paris cast made. Mac jumped when she heard the snap of the bone, and noticed that Anastasia’s face had turned slightly green.

Mac noticed Rose sitting by her father’s bed again, and she had changed, also. "Hello," Mac whispered, and she turned around, smiling faintly.

"Hello."

"How is he?" Mac noticed he didn’t look any better, and bit her lip.

"No change from yesterday. They gave him a sleeping pill, so he’s out cold right now. They don’t want to give him anything else until that wears off."

Mac felt his forehead and took a seat. "Have you decided what you’re going to wear tonight?" Rose asked, massaging Jack’s hand as he whimpered softly.

"No," Mac admitted, as Anastasia stood on the other side of the bed by Jack’s head.

Rose suddenly remembered when Jack had indeed woken up the previous night, and closed her eyes for having been so stupid to forget. "Your father did wake up last night after you left, Mac. I’m sorry…I forgot to tell you."

Mac raised her eyes. "What did he say?" she asked, as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"He asked if you two were all right." Mac had to smile. "Mac, he also thought I was his mother at first."

The smile disappeared. "Oh…" He’d thought she was her mother, as well, but she knew it had to do with the fever. "He did that a lot when he was sick before," she quickly said, nearly tempted to tell Rose about the palace. It wasn’t really fair they couldn’t tell her, but until her father felt it was a proper time, she wouldn’t say anything. "But then he’s okay after a little while."

Jack coughed and stirred, his head moving a little. Everyone held their breaths, but he relaxed a moment later. "Do they know what’s wrong with him yet?" Mac added, remembering that her father had had his blood drawn for testing, and Rose shook her head.

"The doctor hasn’t told me anything yet…he’s been busy this morning. I asked the nurse and she said she’d remind him to tell me when he can." Her voice shook, and she looked nearly ready to cry again.

"I expected you two this morning." Everyone turned to see the doctor coming towards them, a slightly amused expression on his face. "I’m sorry, I did not mean to keep you waiting, but we had a bit of an emergency."

"How did that woman break her arm?" Anastasia asked softly as he set down his bag and clipboard.

"Don’t ask that!" Mac told Anastasia, and Dr. O’Loughlin chuckled.

"She prefers to keep the details private for now…she feels foolish enough already," he replied, and Anastasia nodded in understanding.

"I’m sorry," she apologized, blushing a little, and he shook his head.

"Curiosity is merely natural. No need to apologize for that."

Rose stood and allowed the doctor to take her chair, and Mac held her hand tightly for support while he gave Jack a bit of a checkup. "His temperature seems to have gone up again since the last time I checked…it’s currently at one hundred three degrees." Mac choked on a sob. "He seems to be contracting the early stages of pneumonia from what I could detect from the tests."

"Pneumonia." Rose felt sick herself, and had to steady herself against the wall to avoid fainting. "What are his chances if he does have it?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"It all depends on the person," Dr. O’Loughlin replied. "Some patients recover well from it, and others take a bit longer, and may have lasting effects from the disease. I can’t really be sure now, but we’re hoping the medicines we’ve started giving him will help." Mac’s lips trembled, and she felt Anastasia wrap an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "We’ll do the best we can," the doctor added. "But you have to keep going. I would not advise you to spend too much time in here."

Mac, unable to stand there any longer, turned and rushed out of the room, her sobs echoing through the closed door. Anastasia and Rose stood staring after her, and Rose touched Anastasia’s arm. "Go on," she encouraged, and with one last look at Jack, Anastasia hurried out also.

"Mac?" she called, running after her friend, who was already three-fourths of the way down the deck by the time she’d gotten there. "Mac, slow down!" She saw Mac grab onto the rail and lean against it, clearly having worn herself out. "Are you all right?" she asked, once Mac was able to take a deep enough breath.

"He’s dying, isn’t he?" she wailed, and Anastasia stepped back a pace.

"No. Of course he isn’t!"

"You heard what the doctor said, didn’t you? When Rose asked what his chances were…he said people are different…my father’s already been sick, and he might not make it this time!" She buried her face in her arms, continuing to sob pitifully, and Anastasia leaned on it with her.

"The doctor said he can’t be sure yet, Mac. I know your father will be fine."

"I don’t know if I can go to the ball…" Mac whispered, pushing herself upright.

"Oh, yes, you can!" Anastasia gasped. "You must go, Mac…you’ll disappoint Michael if you don’t!"

"I shouldn’t have left him…I have to go back…" Mac started for the hospital wing again, and Anastasia held her arm so she couldn’t move. "Ana, let go!" she snapped.

"Mac, stop it! Come on. We’re going to lunch, and I promise we’ll come back to see him before you go to the ball. You’ll want to let your father know, of course."

Mac swallowed hard, staring into her friend’s eyes. Anastasia was acting almost like an adult for once, and almost instantly she felt ridiculous. She allowed her friend to bring help her back over the rail, and the two girls headed in the direction of the third class dining saloon.

Chapter Twenty-Four
Stories