THE AFTERMATH
Chapter Four
"Jack!" Rose fairly
screamed as he enveloped her in his embrace.
"Rose, I thought I would
never see you again!" He squeezed Rose tightly and planted a kiss firmly
on her lips.
"Oh, Jack, I’m so sorry. I
didn’t want to let you go. Honest, I didn’t."
"Shh…Rose, it’s okay. It’s
okay. I know. I was so cold and frozen. I heard you call my name and I didn’t
have the strength to respond. It’s okay. It’s not your fault," Jack said,
and then they kissed more passionately than they ever had before.
"How did you survive? I
didn’t see you in the boat," Rose said as they embraced tightly again.
"Rose, as soon as the waters
closed over my head, I knew that I had to survive. I floundered my way to the
surface with my arms and climbed up onto the piece of wood I put you onto.
Another boat, Boat 14, came past an hour later. I got here shortly after dawn,
but I had to be taken care of. Luckily, no one saw my chopped up handcuffs. I
went and looked around for you upstairs, but you weren’t there. And as Cal
asked, ‘Why are you down here with the gutter rats?’"
Rose groaned. "You heard
that?"
Jack grinned. "Every insipid
word that peacock uttered. We’ll have to thank Patrick and his friends
later." He led Rose over to the bench she had been sitting on earlier.
Jack and Rose sat, and Patrick happened upon them moments later.
"Jack?" he cried
incredulously. "Rose thought ya didn’t make it!"
"Oh, Rose…" He turned
toward Rose in particular. "…we took care of that Cal character for ya. We
just told the cap’n of this fine ship that he was botherin’ a young lady who
didn’t want his attentions. He said he would make sure Cal didn’t leave first
class."
"Thank you very much,
Patrick." Rose thanked him and wrapped the blanket she was using partially
around Jack, because he still seemed freezing cold, even though he told her he
was fine.
"I’ll tell you all my story
later," Jack promised, pulling Rose close to him. "Right now, Rose
and I have some catching up to do." Patrick grinned and walked away.
"Where do we go from here?" Jack asked Rose.
"Let’s see what Cal managed
to stuff into his pockets." Rose smiled. She felt in the pockets of Cal’s
wool coat and produced several wads of cash and the necklace--the Heart of the
Ocean. "I knew that Cal had to have put something valuable in this coat
after he yelled something to Killjoy about putting the coat on me. This is my
money, anyway. The necklace was in my safe, so he must have grabbed my money,
too."
Jack laughed. "Isn’t it
Lovejoy?" he asked playfully.
"Technically, yes,"
Rose responded, giving Jack the necklace to hold until she stuffed the money
back into her pockets.
"There they are!" She
heard Cal’s voice booming from the direction of the stairs. He and two officers
approached Jack and Rose. "There! He has it in his hand!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Not
the dumb necklace thing again, Mr. Hockley," he said.
Rose stood with fire in her eyes,
snatching the necklace from Jack’s hands. "Officers, this man has done
nothing wrong. Mr. Hockley is simply a sore loser."
"That necklace is
mine," Cal said tersely.
"As I recall, Mr.
Hockley," Rose said, "you gave that necklace to me the night I almost
fell from the Titanic."
"No, I didn’t," Cal
scoffed. "I simply placed it in your safe because my safe had a faulty
catch. I wanted it to be secure."
"Who is this young
lady?" one of the officers asked Cal, as if Rose wasn’t even there.
"My name is Rose
Dawson--" Rose began, but Cal cut her off.
"Her name is Rose DeWitt
Bukater, and she is my fiancée."
Rose gasped. "I am not! I
really never was, either."
"Sir--" one officer
addressed Jack.
"Jack Dawson," Jack
supplied.
"Mr. Dawson, you will have
to come with us."
"No! I won’t stand for
this!" Rose cried. "Jack is innocent!" She took a step forward,
but Cal stuck his foot in her path. Rose fell to the deck and struck her head.
The last thing she heard was,
"Take him away, please."