24
By the time Rose had returned to the hospital, Jack’s condition had approved a great deal. His eyes hadn’t opened, but he was calling out for her, tossing and turning like he was in a nightmare.
"Can I see him?" Rose eagerly asked the nurse, wanting to be by his side when he did wake up. "Please. I’ll be so quiet, you won’t know I’m there. Please."
The nurse looked at the girl, reluctantly seeing how much the young man meant to her. She just couldn’t say no. Just like she couldn’t say no to the young woman claiming to be the young man’s sister. "Alright. But don’t be too long. Mrs. Devereau had made it very clear that he wasn’t to be disturbed."
"Thank you," Rose hugged the nurse, her mood becoming even brighter then it had been in days. She had a good feeling about today. She had a feeling that Jack was going to wake up and everything would get back to normal.
She found Chloe sitting by Jack’s side, a tear leaving her eye as she held her brother’s hand tightly.
"Chloe?" Rose asked, hesitantly stepping into the room. She hated to disturb her, but there was no choice. It wouldn’t do for Jack to wake up to his sister in tears.
The older woman looked up, startled and fearful that Rose was Irene. Her Grandmother had made it clear that she was to stay away from her brother. Seeing that it was only Rose, Chloe tried to smile as she dabbed away more tears. "Oh Rose. Hello. I thought you were grandmother. She had told me to keep away from Jack. She thinks the hostage thing was my fault. Of course, she’s right. It is my fault."
"Chloe no. Don’t blame yourself for what happened to Jack. He wouldn’t want that. Besides, it’s not your fault. I know it and so does Jack."
"Well you should blame me. You should blame both Carter and me. If we had never came to Chicago…that bookie would never have come here either…"
"Chloe…you don’t know that. Jack was still your brother. That was why that Butch person came. You didn’t have to be here for that to happen."
"What’s going on here?" Irene stood in the doorway, her eyes narrowed in anger, aimed only at Chloe. "You get away from him. You’ve cause enough damage."
"Grandmother…" Chloe began, letting go of Jack’s hand to get to her feet. "Please, let…"
"Get out! Out, or I will call security and have you arrested. Get out!"
Taking one last look at her brother, Chloe raced out of the room in tears, leaving Rose alone with Irene and a comatose Jack. Forcing a smile, Rose took Chloe’s place at Jack’s side, taking his hand in hers. She closed her eyes, wishing that he would open his. Return to her so she wouldn’t have to be alone with the woman that made her own granddaughter leave in tears. To be honest, she had once thought that her mother a heartless witch. But Irene obviously had the title of the queen of mean.
"So Rose…you’re close to my grandson. In fact…I hear that you two are married. Is this true?"
Rose looked away, her heart beating a thousand miles per hour. She didn’t know how to answer. If she admitted the truth…it could ruin everything. But she couldn’t lie. Not when she felt like standing up and singing whenever she thought of being Mrs. Jack Dawson. Ah, that name. It fitted her so well.
"No need to answer," Irene
held up a hand to silence any explanation. "I see by the
look in your eyes that it’s true. How unfortunate."
Rose frowned. She didn’t like the way this conversation was
going. What was so unfortunate about her marriage to Jack?
It’s been the best thing she’s done in a long time. She
didn’t think it unfortunate at all.
"It’s unfortunate that you two are way too young to be married. It’s unfortunate that I’m going to have to force an annulment."
"What? But…you can’t…that’s…"
"Of course I can. You and Jack are minors. You have no say in this. This marriage will be annulled. Now if you’ll pardon me, I have another meeting with my lawyer," Irene sighed, heading out the door.
Rose stared at the door, feeling as if a train has hit her. Irene was dead serious. Rose’s marriage to Jack will be made nonexistent as soon as possible. What was she going to do? She’ll die without Jack. Lying down by his side tears left Rose’s eyes. She was going to lose the only man she could ever love. But what could she do to stop it? Irene Devereau was one of the richest women in the country. There was no way to fight her. Especially since her and Jack were considered minors. They had no rights at all, until their eighteenth birthdays. Sighing, Rose drifted off to sleep, wondering what the future held for her and Jack. Would they even be together when it was all said and done?