THE UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE
Chapter Ten
The sky was a dull blue, the sun
just starting to climb over the wavy ocean that expanded endlessly around them.
Daniel was sitting next to Rose
in the tiny lifeboat that had saved him from perishing in the icy waters a
couple of hours ago. It seemed like an eternity ago that he was on the
luxurious Titanic, ready to visit his family in America.
If he had learned anything in the
past few days, it was that he hated being a first class passenger more than
ever. He had witnessed women, men, and children alike freezing to death just
because they did not have enough money for a first class ticket.
An officer was waving around a
green flare to a ship approaching them, the same man who had rescued him from
the water.
After this, I am never setting
foot on a ship again, he
decided, a small smile crossing his face.
He had grieved for Keisha
earlier, and found that even though he would miss her terribly, things between
them were just not meant to be. They weren’t in love, not yet, anyway. Things
would have been difficult for them. They had both been spared the trials and
tribulations of starting a relationship, albeit he would have preferred a
slightly different way than this.
Tears had come and gone. He
grieved for his friends, and the dead, but he mostly grieved for those who were
foolhardy enough to brand the ship unsinkable. No one can play God without
consequence, he mused, suddenly realizing how tired he was.
Rose was stirring next to him,
her aquamarine eyes reflecting the light from the flare, showing her return to
consciousness. He decided to talk to her on the boat, see if she would want to
set out into New York with him, away from the money and false personas he had
endured for most of his life.
He wanted to see the world, work
for a living, raise his own family with the woman he loved, not being handed
everything on a silver platter with nothing to do but read all day.
Their small lifeboat came to stop
alongside of a ship called the Carpathia, a long rope ladder was dropped down
to them, and the officer, who he yet to find a name for, was starting to order
the evacuation of the boat.
After around twenty minutes,
Daniel climbed up the ladder, his muscles screaming in protest as he did so. A
feeling of nausea hit his stomach as he looked down to the water, which seemed
very far away in his sleepless state.
He clambered onto the deck and
was immediately guided by a nurse to their sick bay, where he was promptly
examined by an overworked doctor, who just stated he needed sleep.
Thankful that he was given a nice
warm bed, he smiled in thanks towards the busy nurse and took off his shoes and
coat, slipping into the white sheets, his head hitting the pillow softly,
sending him into a deep sleep almost instantly.
*****
Daniel was given a bowl of soup
and some bread when he woke up. He ate the food eagerly, glad his appetite had
returned. He did not ask how long he had slept for. For some reason, he did not
want to know. It felt good to not be in control of something, no matter how
petty it was.
Feeling fully refreshed, he
slipped on his shoes and coat and exited the medical bay and into the pouring
rain outside. The droplets of water felt refreshing on his skin, as if it was
cleaning away the impurities of the sinking, as if the tainted stain of death
and misery had been removed from him.
He noticed that they was entering
New York, the Statue of Liberty standing impressively in front of them, adding
a feeling of familiarity to the situation, its jade figure beckoning them
towards the safety of land.
He saw Rose standing at the edge
of the boat, unfazed by the rain, and made his way towards her. Daniel noticed
she, too, had decided to remain with the third class members of the ship.
"What’s your name,
sir?" a familiar Welsh accent called to him, causing him to turn around to
find an officer standing there with an umbrella, his uniform still remarkably
clean.
"You are the man who saved
me from the water," he commented, allowing a smile to cross his face, one
which the man embarrassedly returned.
"Yes. I am…I am Officer
Lowe, though I guess I’m just Mr. Lowe, now," the man said, smiling
wistfully.
"Well, Mr. Lowe, Officer
Lowe, whoever you are, I want to thank you. I owe you my life and I will not
forget it," the dark-haired man said, running a hand through his drenched
locks.
Lowe smiled again and looked at
him expectedly with his pen poised over the paper in front of him.
I can’t use my real name, Daniel thought, panicking slightly.
He said the first name that came
to his mind. "Calvert. Daniel Calvert."
Lowe nodded, walking off, leaving
Daniel to walk towards Rose, his only friend in the world at the moment.
She turned and smiled at him as
he approached, one he returned gladly. There was a mutual understanding between
both of them, for they had both lost ones they cared greatly for and had
survived a shipwreck too awful to comprehend. It made him feel connected to her
in an intimate way that few others had.
"Mister Taylor, will you do
the honor of joining me in my travels in New York?" Rose teased with a
highly refined accent.
Daniel tried to hide his delight
at her question, but he could not hide the grin that crossed his face.
"Why, of course, Miss Rose,
as long as you don’t mind my company," Daniel returned in his natural
Londoner accent, something that made Rose laugh.
Rose leaned into him slightly,
causing him to wrap an arm protectively around her as they reached the docks,
his hand lazily running through her auburn hair.
Daniel had lost a lot of things
on the Titanic--his cousin, his girlfriend, and his naiveté. He still did not
know what had caused Kathy’s death, but he quickly understood it would just be
one more mystery that the ocean consumed.
But with Rose leaning against his
arm, he knew life was not so bad after all.
The End.