2
Rose drifts in and out of conciousness for the next several hours, unaware of where she was and with whom she was with. All she can think about is Jack and the short time they had together. How happy he had made her, and how weak he had sounded the last time she spoke to him. He was barely able to move his arms through the water as she pulled him over to the officer with the whistle.
It’s two o’clock in the afternoon the next day on the Carpathia when she fully regains conciousness, painfully aware that Jack’s hand was no longer in hers. Where was he? Oh please God, let him be alive. Please don’t take him yet, was running through her mind.
"Why look who’s awake," a familiar voice greets her cheerfully. She glances up to see Molly Brown grinning down at her.
"Mrs. Brown?" Rose asks, squinting her eyes to make sure it’s not a hallucination. "Where am I?"
"The Carpathia darlin’. You’ve been out since they brought you on board. Let me tell you, I was surprised to see you this morning when they carried you in here. I thought for sure you were a goner."
"I almost was," Rose sets up in bed and takes in her surroundings. She didn’t see Jack anywhere. A sob rises up in her throat, but she pushes it down. She couldn’t lose it right now. She had to keep her composure if she was going to get through this. "Was I alone?"
"No. That young man…Jack…he was with you…barely alive. He’s on the other side of the room, with the patients in critical condition. I just checked on him come to mention it. Has yet to wake up, but that boy likes to talk in his sleep. Something about his parents and a girl named Kimberly. He called for you a couple of times too. But he still has yet to open those baby blues."
"Can I see him?" Rose asked, her eyes lighting up with hope. "Please. If he dies…I don’t want him to be alone."
"Well right now the doctor said he wanted you to stay in bed and rest, but as soon as you’re allowed on your feet, I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind you going over and keeping Jack company," Molly lays a comforting hand on Rose’s shoulder. "You know sugar, your ma and Cal will be happy to learn that you survived…your mother especially…"
Rose’s eyes widen with dread and she grabs Molly’s arm tightly. "No Molly no. You mustn’t tell mother and Cal I survived! Please! Let me remain dead to them!"
Confusion shines in Molly’s kind brown eyes. "But Rose they love you. They’re your family. Why do you want them to think you perished on that ship when you’re here alive?"
"Because they’ll make me marry Cal and I rather be dead than married to that monster Molly. You don’t understand all the things he did…to both me and Jack," Rose looks away from Molly. "He framed Jack and left him to die in the bowels of the ship. That’s why I left mother at the lifeboats. I had to save him. Then the coward tried to kill us by chasing us deeper into the ship, all the while shooting at us."
"Oh my God," Molly covers her mouth in shock. She knew she didn’t like that Caledon Hockley. There was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way
"Do you see Molly? Do you see why I can’t marry him?"
"Of course I do darlin, but what about your mother? She was devastated…"
"Especially my mother. She knew I didn’t love Cal but she didn’t care. All she cares about is her damned money. Well she can have it! I don’t want anything to do with her ever again!"
"Now Rosie…that’s harsh," Molly stroked the girl’s red curls, trying to calm her fiery spirit, but that wasn’t to be. Rose was too angry with her mother.
"I don’t care. It was harsh of her to sell her daughter into a loveless marriage. Ruth Dewitt Bukater deserves whatever comes to her!"
"And you Rose? What do you deserve?"
"To be with Jack. That should be my reward for putting up with mother and Cal all this time. Don’t you think? Jack should be my reward," Rose became calm at the thought of her beloved Jack. The wonderful man with the shiny blond hair and laughing blue eyes. "I love him Molly. I can’t explain how or when it happened or why it happened so quickly, but I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him."
"Well that’s understandable and by the way he looked at you at dinner the other night, he feels the same way. Now let me leave ya and go back and check on your young man. Get some rest so you can get out of here and check on him yourself."
Rose nods and tiredly closes her eyes, going back up to the stars with Jack.