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.