AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Sixteen
They once again reached the boat deck. They
were both shivering from their swim below decks. The air was bitingly cold.
Rose noticed that the ship was tilted considerably, the heavy stern rising in
the air. She knew that the ship was sinking fast.
Jack took her hand and they started toward
the stern. "We need to stay on this ship for as long as possible,"
Jack said, as they ran in the same direction as every other terrified soul on
board.
They soon made their way to the back of the
ship. Hundreds of people gathered there, hanging onto the rails or anything
else they could get their hands on. By that time, everyone knew that there was
no hope to be saved. Titanic was going under.
Jack held onto the rail at the very back of
the ship. He held onto Rose tightly. She looked around them. Everyone was so
terrified. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and a small smile showed on her
lips.
"Jack, this is where we first met."
He looked down at her before kissing her on
the forehead. He held her tighter to him.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, then went
out. Rose could hear all of the screams of the people who were dying. The ship
seemed to right itself, the stern smashing back into the water as the ship
broke in half. Rose wasn’t sure what was going on, but Jack seemed to know what
to do. He climbed over the same rail that Rose had climbed over when she had
tried to kill herself just a couple of days before. He soon helped her over as
well. Rose stared in amazement as the stern raised back out of the water. It
stood up out of the water like a tall, dark skyscraper.
A few moments later, the stern started to
descend, the water coming closer. "This is it! I want you to take a deep
breath when I say. The ship’s suction will try to take us down with it. Hold
onto my hand and do not let go. We're going to make it, Rose. Trust me."
She nodded as she held tightly to his hand.
"I trust you!"
They watched the water come closer and
closer. Finally, Jack indicated to take in a deep breath. Rose took the deepest
breath she had ever taken in her life. A moment later, they were underwater.
Jack’s words came back to her. "It hits
you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body."
She knew what he meant now. But to her it
felt worse. She couldn’t begin to explain how unbearable the icy water was. She
felt Jack’s hand in her own. She kicked fiercely; trying to reached the top.
She felt Jack grab hold of her lifebelt that Mr. Andrews had given her. Then, a
moment later, Jack was gone, carried away by the swirling water.
When Rose finally reached the surface, she
breathed in gratefully. The screams around her were deafening. Rose frantically
looked around for Jack, but she didn’t see him anywhere.
"Jack! Jack!" Oh, Jack, please
don’t leave me, she silently pleaded. A moment later a man started to use
her as a floating device. She struggled, but was too weak to get him off of
her. "Jack!" she yelled, before going under once again. She felt the
man’s weight on her lighten. When she surfaced she saw fists flying. Jack had
found her, and now he was punching the guy so Rose could get free. The guy
passed out, finally out of his misery. Rose was so relieved to see him.
"Rose, I need you to swim!" He
grabbed her hand, then led her over to a floating board. It looked like it was
a door of some kind. At first, they both tried to get on, but it started to
tip. Jack remained in the water, steadying the board for Rose. She laid on it,
feeling completely exhausted. She wanted Jack to float on it with her; she knew
how cold the water was. But she didn’t have the strength to argue with him, and
she knew that he would argue. All he cared about was her safety.
"It’ll be--just a--little--while
longer," he said. He could barely get the words out through his chattering
teeth. "They’ll--bring the--boats back--soon."
Rose was scared. She heard a whistle nearby
and noticed a man blowing on it, trying to get the boats to come back. She laid
her head down next to Jack’s. His hand was in hers.
*****
"It’s getting quiet," she said a
while later.
Most of the cries had died down. People were
dying. Jack again reassured her that the boats would be coming back soon. But
she didn’t think that they would. She was sure that she was going to die.
"I love you, Jack."
He looked at her seriously. "Don’t you
do that. Don’t you go saying your good-byes yet! Do you understand me?"
She looked into his eyes. They were bright,
no matter how cold it was. "But I'm so cold."
He took both of her hands in his and looked
intensely into her eyes. "You’re going to get out of here, Rose. You’re
going to go on and have lots of babies. You’re going to die an old, old lady,
warm in her bed, not here, not this night. Do you understand me?" She
didn’t say anything. She noticed that he was no longer shivering like he was at
first. "Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened
to me. It brought me to you, and for that I’m thankful," he told her, his
eyes showing her how much he loved her.
"You must do me this honor, Rose. You
must promise me that you’ll survive, that you won’t give up, no matter what
happens or how hopeless. Promise me, Rose, and never let go of that
promise."
She held onto his hands tightly. "I--I
promise, Jack. I’ll never let go. I promise." She lay back down and got
lost in her own thoughts.
Jack knew that he was dying. He could no
longer feel his legs and he wasn’t cold anymore. He just felt numb. His heart
cried What would become of Rose? I hope Hockley doesn’t find her. I
would give anything to spend a lifetime with her, he thought. But he was
grateful for the time that he had spent with her; he’d hold those memories deep
in his heart, even in death. He glanced up to the sky, which was dark but
filled with bright stars. That’s how his world felt to him. Dark but at the
same time bright, for he’d had the chance to know the most wonderful woman in
the world. She had even given him her love. The stars seemed to be getting closer.
He could feel his eyes getting heavy. Soon after, everything went black.