UNEXPECTED THINGS
Chapter Five
Jack froze, not knowing what to
do. Then he noticed the bloody towels in his hand.
Cal saw his gaze, and his shocked
expression. "You’d better go in," he said quietly. His voice was
almost sad, like he was trying to hide his emotions. "She’s been asking
for you." He walked away.
Jack entered the room.
Rose was lying on the bed, her
eyes closed, her face pale as a ghost. Her hair was limp, and moist with sweat
that now ran down her forehead. There was blood on the sheets.
"What’s wrong?" Jack
managed to say. He rushed to her side. "Rose! Rose!" She didn’t
respond. "What happened?" he shouted, spinning around. "What did
you do? Is she dead?" He felt tears well up in his eyes. "Rose?"
He took her hand in his softly.
"The child is stuck,"
the doctor said quietly from the corner. "I’ve tried everything, believe
me, but she’s just too exhausted too push it out now, and I believe it may
already be dead…"
Jack felt as if his heart were
being torn into tiny little shreds. "And Rose?" he demanded.
"What about her?" Only awful silence filled the room.
"I’ll give you a
minute," the doctor mumbled, and summoned Cal’s wife to follow him. To
Jack’s surprise, there were tears in her eyes.
"Rose?" Jack whispered
quietly as he heard the door click shut. "Rose? Rose, can you hear me?
Rose?"
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.
"Jack," she whispered hoarsely. "Jack..." Just seeing him
brought immense comfort to her.
"Rose." He managed to
smile, through tears still spilled down his face.
"I love you, Jack," she
whispered.
He squeezed her hand. "No,
Rose. Don’t say good-bye." He struggled to find the words. "You can’t
do this, Rose. Do you hear me? You can’t do this to Cora, or the baby, or…me.
What happened to not without you? You jump, I jump, right?"
She gave a small sob. "I
can’t."
"Yes, you can!" He was
almost shouting, but he controlled himself. "Please, Rose, don’t give up.
Don’t leave me." He clutched her hand. "Please. I can’t lose you. Not
after everything that’s happened, not after everything we’ve done. It’s meant
to be, Rose. We’re soulmates, so you can’t give up." He could feel his
heart breaking, because he knew that if Rose died, he would never really live
again.
Rose took a deep breath,
squeezing Jack’s hand harder. How could she keep going? She felt ready to die
now. She was exhausted, had given up…she couldn’t do it. And yet, something
inside her urged her to keep trying. You have to, it said. You went
through so much for what you have. Don’t give it up now.
She closed her eyes and nodded.
She heard Jack shouting. The
doctor ran in, as well as Prudence. He saw the look of determination in Rose’s
eyes, and was in awe of her will to never give up.
"All right, ma’am,
push!" he instructed. Rose screamed, panting and struggling. "It’s
coming!" he cried. "Come on! One more! One more!" Rose pushed
harder, screaming even louder. The baby was almost out now. Rupert glanced at
Rose. "All right. We only have its head left now. Just one big push left.
Ready…one…two...three!"
Rose didn’t push. "I
can’t!" she sobbed. "I can’t! I can’t!"
"Yes, you can, Rose! You can
do this!" Jack shouted, kissing her hand. "Come on! Only one more
left. Now, on the count of three! One…two…three!"
With newfound strength, Rose
pushed the child out, sobbing wildly, but from the child there was silence.
Jack caught the doctor’s eye. He was leaning over the baby. He could tell that
he was worried, but then--crying! Loud, healthy crying!
"Oh, thank the Lord!"
cried Prudence, who had been quietly forgotten in the corner.
"Congratulations, young
Rose," said Rupert, handing the baby to her, wrapped in a towel.
"It’s a healthy baby boy."
"Oh, Jack!" whispered
Rose, as she took him in her arms. "He’s beautiful. Oh, Jack, he’s so
beautiful." She kissed his forehead before laughing. Jack could only grin.
The baby boy had Rose’s pale blue
eyes, with exactly the same fiery spark in them, but he had a head of blond
hair he had inherited from his father.
"Have you thought of a
name?" the doctor inquired.
Jack grinned. "We had
settled on William, but he doesn’t seem like a William to me."
Rose smiled. "Cody,"
she whispered quietly. "Jack, I think Cody should be his name."
"Hello, Cody," Jack
said, taking his son’s tiny hand in his.