UNTIL I FOUND YOU
Chapter Three
Two days had passed since their
rescue, and one day since Jack’s lapse into a coma. Rose had kept her word and
stayed at Jack’s side the entire time, praying and waiting for him to wake up.
Her prayers were finally answered that night.
Rose had drifted off into a light
nap, and Molly was sitting at the foot of the bed, reading a medical book on
comas when, out of the blue, Jack opened his eyes and groggily looked around.
Molly was the first person he saw, but that didn’t make sense, because he felt
someone else holding his hand, and it couldn’t have been Molly because she was
sitting at the foot of the bed. He turned his head to find Rose sound asleep
next to him. She held his hand tightly against her cheek. She looked so
peaceful…so beautiful…
"Rose…" he weakly
whispered.
"Jack! Oh, my goodness,
Jack! You’re awake!" Molly hopped up from the bed. "Nurse!
Nurse!"
"Molly?" Rose woke up
and sat up, not noticing that Jack had awakened.
"Rose, look! Jack’s
awake!" Molly excitedly pointed.
"Rose?"
"Jack!" Rose gasped,
her eyes widening with tears of happiness. "You’re awake!"
"You’re alive." Jack
smiled weakly.
"So are you. Oh, Jack, I was
so worried! I thought I had lost you forever!" Rose cried, throwing her
arms around Jack.
"I thought the same. How did
you survive?"
"I found a board to get on.
Then I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a lifeboat."
"I found a chair and held
on. I didn’t know if I would survive or not. I blacked out when they pulled me
into a lifeboat," Jack explained. He gently touched her cheek. "I’m
so relieved you survived. I thought I had lost you forever."
"Excuse me, Miss. We have to
check the patient. It’s regulation when a patient has lapsed into a coma."
The doctor tapped Rose’s shoulder. She moved out of his way so he could check
on Jack.
"Coma?" Jack asked.
"How long have I been out?"
"All day and all
night," Rose explained. "I sat by your side, waiting for you to wake
up."
"Hmm…he’s suffering from
severe hypothermia. This young man is lucky that he’s not losing any
limbs." The doctor snorted. "Poor Mr. Bride isn’t going to be that
lucky."
"But Jack will be all right,
right?" Rose asked hopefully.
"As long as he stays out of
the cold. I suggest he remain indoors the duration of this voyage. Give him lots
of hot food and drink, and perhaps sit him in front of a fire in one of the
staterooms. If you do those things, he should be well enough to disembark when
the time comes." The doctor nodded. "If not…we’ll have to hospitalize
him until he is better."
"So, I can take him back to
my stateroom?" Molly asked.
The doctor nodded. "Just
follow my instructions to the letter. Good day, ladies." The elderly
gentleman tipped his hat and went about, checking on other patients.
"Well, up you go, Jack.
Let’s head to my stateroom and start nursing you back to health." Molly
and Rose helped Jack stand up, and together, the trio headed for the first
class section of the ship, where Molly’s stateroom was situated.