A SIMPLE SOLUTION
Chapter Seventeen

Rose took a wheezing breath as she leaned on the bedpost. Fabrizio looked at her, his dark eyes full of guilt. He tried to sit up, but fell back again.

"Please, Rose…Helga will come back soon, go…" he whispered. He buried his face in the pillow, coughing wildly. The red rash, characteristic for measles wasn't visible yet, but the fever was just as high as before.

Rose smiled, her face anxious and went back to the bed.

"Don't worry, Fabri, I'm all right. Now, close your eyes and get some sleep. That's the best medicine for this, I promise." She ran a cold towel over his face slowly and held his clammy hand until he was still and his breathing was regular.

Then, she got up, leaning on the bed to stand up straight and left the room. The doctor had been there a few days earlier, affirming Jack's suspicion that it was measles. He had asked the three adults if they had had it and, as it turned out, they all believed to have had it as children. Rose wasn't completely sure, but she wasn't about to tell Jack about that. She was the only one Fabrizio could depend on. Jack worked, Helga worked, and she was home all day. The doctor had even said that it wouldn't hurt her to take care of the sick friend since she had already had measles and was in no danger of getting it. As long as she didn't run a marathon or tried to serve drinks, he had said with smile.

Jack was still hesitant and it took him forever to leave in the mornings, telling her what she could do and what she couldn't. She smiled inwardly at that. Men were such idiots. As if she would obey his orders! But…with Jack, they weren't really orders, were they? They were just…pleas that she would do as he said, to stay safe.

Molly Brown had called a few times, asking if she could do anything. She had already sent money to pay the doctor and was offering to come and help Rose take care of Fabrizio. So far, Rose had refused, saying that she managed. Now, she sat down at the kitchen table to peel potatoes and wondered if she hadn't acted rashly. Maybe she did need Molly's help after all.

"I'll call her tomorrow," she decided, pausing with the knife midair as a new abdominal pain traveled through. Her breath came in short gasps until it had died down again and she shook her head angrily.

"Damn this stupid pregnancy," she whispered, but felt bad the instant she had said it.

She looked up to see Helga running into the room.

"How are you doing? Fabri hasn't been too much trouble has he? I had to stay late, I'm sorry, I'll never be this late again. Now, I just have to eat something and then I'll go to him. Is he okay?"

Rose laughed a bit, watching Helga's red face, but she wouldn't have laughed if she had known what was going on in Helga's head, what had happened to her on her way home from work.

"Calm down, Helga. He's fine, I'm fine, sit down and eat that apple instead of rushing away to him. He's sleeping."

Helga sank down gratefully on the chair next to Rose.

"I…I had a tough day…so many things to learn at once…my English is not…it's not good enough, I think sometimes."

Rose smiled softly, taking Helga's hand in hers. She frowned a bit when she felt how her friend was trembling, but then smiled.

"Your English is great. People understand you, so that's perfectly good enough." She furrowed her brow as she looked at her friend. "Is something the matter, Helga? You look very upset."

"It's nothing. I'm just worried." Helga smiled at Rose and then looked down, not saying anything. Inside, she was screaming. Why had he come to her job today? Of all times? He had written that letter of course…it had only been by pure luck that only she had seen it. It had been from him, from Sven. Her…former fiancé, almost husband and the person who had kept her from writing back to Fabrizio, from talking to him before they had left New York. She didn't love him. She loved Fabrizio, but she knew that she couldn't let him near Jack, Rose or Fabrizio. She had to keep them safe and if…leaving meant that, she would have to. Leave him again…after these weeks of pure happiness, of wedding plans and love.

"Helga? What's wrong?"

Rose's voice penetrated her mind and she shook her head slightly.

"Nothing. I'm sorry for worrying you. I…I have to go check on him now."

And she was gone, leaving Rose alone, wondering about her friend's behavior.

The rest of the day seemed to go by peacefully. Jack came home, they had dinner and talked a bit, trying to remain happy, even though Fabrizio wasn't with them.

After dinner, Rose and Jack sat in the couch in the small living room, looking at the drawings Jack had made during his lunch break. Rose was laughing at some of the caricatures he had made of his boss and coworkers and he was smiling, happy to hear her laughter.

"Oh Jack…" Rose gasped suddenly, looking at one of the serious drawings. It was of her and him, in each other's arms. Her protruding middle was visible and his hand was over it gently, his soft eyes, watching her playfully and oh so tenderly.

She looked at him in shock.

"Jack this is…it's…you should…I can't even find words. It's s beautiful. You…capture us so well. It's…exquisite."

Jack smiled modestly, scratching the back of his head.

"Well…it's not me. It's your beauty that made that. You. And how much I love you. And our baby." He was whispering softly, placing kisses on her mouth between every word.

She was surrendering to his warmth and started kissing him back, when a sudden noise made her let go. There was an angry knocking on the door and someone was screaming Helga's name. Jack looked at Rose, frowning.

"I better go see who it is. He sounds like he's about to kick the door open." Rose followed him and he looked at her briefly.

"Go to the bedroom."

"No," she said simply. She wasn't about to just sit there while Jack dealt with the problem. Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Just as he was about to argue with her, Helga appeared in the living room, her eyes wide with fear.

"It's Sven…my…my ex-fiancé," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Jack, Rose, I didn't think he'd come here. I'll get rid of him."

She opened the door, but Jack stayed where he was. He had a feeling that the man wasn't going to listen to reason and that Helga might need help.

He saw his fears being confirmed when the man grabbed Helga's arms and shook her harshly.

"Vad håller du på med egentligen, Helga?"

Helga shivered and Jack moved forward, trying to make him let go of her. The man turned on Jack instead and punched him in the face. Jack shook his head to regain control of his body, only half-aware that Rose was touching his face, making sure he was okay.

"Hon är min fru, din lilla idiot, jag har rätt till henne!"

Jack shook his head in confusion.

"I don't understand a word you're saying," he growled and raised his hand to punch the man. He managed a perfect hit and the man staggered, losing concentration for a while. Jack quickly looked at Helga, asking her if she was okay. She nodded, her eyes still big with fear.

"I'm sorry." She was staring at Sven breathlessly.

"I think that's Swedish wasn't it?" Rose whispered, remembering one time on Titanic when a man had tried to talk to her. It had sounded like that and she recalled that someone had told her afterwards that it was Swedish. Helga nodded, but Rose didn't see it, she was still looking at Jack worriedly and when he whirled around, grabbing her arms in a frenzy, she gasped in surprise.

"I told you to go to the bedroom," he said firmly, as if scolding a child. Rose frowned.

"And I didn't go."

Jack sighed deeply, looking down at the floor for a moment, trying to think of a way to make her go and he was just about to force her by hand to the bedroom when suddenly Sven regained awareness.

Jack looked up at him, seeing to his horror that there was a gun in his hand. Helga gasped and Jack tried to knock the gun out of the man's hand, but it was too late. Sven fired, screaming something that included Helga's name and then, just when Rose thought it was over, Fabrizio came running into the room, pushing Helga aside.

Rose dropped to her knees next to Fabrizio, almost starting to cry when she saw his pale face and the blood escaping his stomach. Jack sat down next to her, at a loss what to do and Helga had collapsed in a mess on the floor, sobbing, repeating the name Fabrizio over and over.

"We have to call an ambulance," Rose whispered, getting up from the floor slowly, paying no attention to Jack, or to Sven, who was still holding the gun. She breathed hard, feeling the familiar pain in her body and the dizziness dimming her eyes. At that moment, two things happened at once.

One of them was Rose sinking down to the floor, her hand around her middle and the other was another gunshot. Jack saw her falling as if in slow motion and his heart banged violently on his chest as he dropped to his knees next to her.

"I'm okay, it's just that pain again. It always comes at the wrong time, " she whispered, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall behind her. "Help them instead. Be careful, Jack, please."

She pushed one hand down over her abdomen, feeling the dampness through her dress and then Jack's shaking hand over hers.

"You're bleeding," he stated quietly, but she ignored his words, not wanting to accept that, pushing him away slightly.

"Don't worry…I…I'm…I'm not in pain. I'm just tired," she breathed, moving her legs closer to her stomach. "But she…they need help, Jack…help Fabrizio." She closed her eyes again and bit her lip, praying that he wouldn't understand that this had happened a few times already.

"But…" He touched her forehead softly, feeling that she was cold and sweaty. Her hair was plastered down with sweat already and the pallor of her skin was alarming.

"Go, Jack. Now. I'm perfectly all right. It's not like I was shot or anything," she said, attempting a smile and hesitantly, he got up, his eyes on her unmoving form and the blood on her light blue dress. As soon as he had turned away, or she believed he had, she lowered her head to the floor and awkwardly started curling up in a fetal position, willing the ache that she had denied to Jack to go away.

A glance at Sven told Jack he had to do something. Rose's whimpers made his heart ache, but he had to make sure Sven didn't try to fire again. He had already fired another shot at Helga, missed and now he was sinking to the floor helplessly. Hastily, he grabbed a hold of Sven, twisting a secure grip on his arms.

"Helga! Call the police and an ambulance. Rose and Fabri need medical attention." He almost had to kick her to make her open her eyes again and when she finally did, she had trouble walking to the phone. Jack held Sven in a tight grip, listening to him speaking incoherently in Swedish, as his heart pounded hard with fear for Rose and Fabrizio.

"Helga, for God's sake, hurry!"

He tried to get closer to Rose without letting Sven near her, but it was too risky and he had to settle for only seeing her head, her red hair that had covered her face. It moved slowly, with every breath she took.

"Rose? Are you okay?" he asked, trying to sound calm. She turned her head slightly, smiling at him.

"Yes," she whispered. "Don't worry."

She tried to get up, but fell back again and Jack saw the pool of blood beneath her. Once again, he moved towards her.

"Rose, stay still, help…help is on the way."

She looked up at him, her vision suddenly very unclear. "Jack…it's gonna be okay. This…this is nothing to worry about," she managed to mumble.

"Helga? Helga! Rose needs help!" he yelled, angry to think that Helga seemed to have disappeared when Rose so obviously needed help.

No one came. Helga had fainted next to the phone, almost hyperventilating as she had told the police what had happened.

Jack waited a few more seconds and then he knocked Sven unconscious and hurried over to Rose. She had closed her eyes now and he heard her humming softly. It was a faint version of Come Josephine in my flying machine and Jack swallowed hard, touching her face softly.

"Rose…I'm here."

She looked up at him, confusion shining her dark eyes. "Jack…" she breathed, burying her face in his embrace. He just held her, afraid to speak.

"It's gone now. The pain," she suddenly whispered, lifting her head slightly. Her eyes were still dim, but there was a newfound light in the corners and he smiled a bit.

"Is Fabri okay?" she asked, moistening her lips as she tried to sit up properly. She leaned her head on his shoulder, looking at Jack's unconscious friend.

"I don't…I don't know," Jack replied softly, moving over to his friend, feeling guilty for not having thought about him.

"Fabri?"

But there was no response. Fabrizio's face was dead pale and his eyes were closed, the dark lashes even blacker against his white skin.

Rose moved closer too, slowly pushing herself up from the floor.

"I'll get a towel or something. We have to stop the blood flow. Like with Tommy. We have to…" she trailed off, putting her hand to her face. "Dammit. I feel so lightheaded."

"Sit down," he told her softly. "I'll get it. Just…keep an eye on Sven, or whatever the hell his name was. Scream if something happens, I'll be right back."

Rose nodded, smiling at him. He hurried over to the bathroom and she was left sitting next to Fabrizio, touching his face gently.

"Everything's gonna be okay, I promise," she whispered, wishing that he would open his eyes. She swayed from side to side, her head feeling incredibly heavy and her vision was blurred again. Jack hadn't come back when her head hit the floor with a soft bang, her breath coming through short, panting gasps. I'm so tired…I just want to close my eyes for a little while, went through her, before everything blacked out.

Chapter Eighteen
Stories