FOR ALL ETERNITY
Chapter Three
"Hello there! Can anybody hear me?"
shouted one of the officers who had returned with a boat.
"Rose, I’m going to...swim over
there...to get that whistle...don’t let them pass us," stammered Jack, who
began to swim over, aching with every movement.
"We’re over here," squeaked Rose,
barely audible even to herself! It’s no use shouting. I’ve lost that spurt
of energy. I just hope they don’t miss us before Jack gets back, she
thought to herself. Her frustration was growing with every movement of the
boat’s oars, as they sailed closer. Suddenly, there was a piercing shrill of a
whistle blast.
"Hold it, boys! There’s someone out
there. The sound came from the left. Find them!" the excited officer
commanded.
Before Jack and Rose knew what was going on,
they were aboard the boat, huddled in a blanket. The officer and the other men
couldn’t believe that they had managed to survive their stay in the sea. They
all agreed that this couple had a love that would last for all eternity. The
waiting boats didn’t have long to wait before the Carpathia arrived on the
scene. Once more in a whirl of activity, every boat was discharged of their
passengers and the officers of the rescue ship began their tiring job of
forming a passenger list of the survivors.
There was frantic chaos everywhere as women
and children began to cry after realizing their loved ones were not rescued as
well. By now Jack and Rose had begun to feel more human again and were aware of
their surroundings.
They still could not speak, as each was lost
in their thoughts of the past couple of hours, and rather just sat there with
their arms around each other, for both comfort and for the security of knowing
that the other was still there with them.
"Jack! Rose!" cried a unison of voices,
breaking into their thoughts. Slowly, both raised their heads in the direction
of the sound. It took Jack a second to recognize his long thought of dead
friend and his other new friend.
"Fabrizio! Tommy!" cried an excited
Jack, hugging each friend, until they thought he was going to break them.
"How did you get here? Where did you come from? Where were you?"
rushed Jack, with enough questions to now sink the Carpathia!
"Whoa! Slow down, my friend. One
question at a time and you’ll get all your answers," said the
unforgettable Irish brogue that belonged to Tommy. The three men just stood
there, staring at each other in silence, drinking in the sights of their
friends. Rose felt a pang of jealousy as she watched her friends. It wasn’t a
jealousy directed towards them personally, but that of their friendship. She
had had a quiet childhood with not too many close friends like these three had
developed. It definitely took something big to draw people closer. Before too
long, Jack remembered Rose and went to sit next to her again, thereby drawing
Tommy and Fabrizio nearer to her.
"Rose, how are you feeling? I was
worried about you, but not too much, because I knew Jack was there with
you!" asked Fabrizio gently. His concern grew as his gaze noticed her more
pale than usual complexion.
"I’m fine. Thank you, Fabrizio. I’m glad
you made it through this ordeal as well. You’ve certainly made Jack quite
happy, and for that I’m extremely grateful," replied Rose, her sincerity
shining out of her eyes while she looked at her love’s best friend. Just then,
an officer walked up to them, holding a clipboard.
"Excuse me, lady and gentlemen. May I
take your names, please?"
"Certainly, this is Tommy Ryan, Fabrizio
de Rossi, and we are Jack and Rose Dawson," answered Jack, indicating each
person as he said their name.
Tommy and Fabrizio exchanged a quick look of
surprise with Jack, when hearing him give Rose’s name as Dawson. They were
careful enough not to let their surprise on to the officer, as it could mean
trouble for Jack.
"Thank you, sir. Just to ease your
minds," he said, looking at each person, "we should be entering New
York’s port tomorrow morning. There is some food in the third class dining
room, if you’re hungry." The officer walked off to the next group of
people.
"Thank goodness for that!"
exclaimed Rose. "Once I get off this ship, I don ’t want to see another
one for a long, long time!"
The group of men echoed her exclamation with
whoops of rejoicing. They then made their way to the dining hall, as their
stomachs began to growl quite loudly, now that they had been reminded of food.
Upon reaching the room, they found it quite full and rowdy. It took them all
back to that night of special memories, when Rose first partied with them. Jack
led the group to the far corner of the room, where it was quieter and a there
was table for the foursome to sit down at. Once they were all settled, Jack and
Fabrizio went to fetch some food to satisfy their ever growing hunger. For a
short while thereafter, Rose and Tommy sat in comfortable silence, watching
others celebrate their survival.
"Do you know how lucky you are?"
asked Tommy quietly, startling Rose, who was watching a group of children
playing at the next table.
"I don’t know what you mean, Tommy. If
you mean my survival, yes, I do, and I have Jack to thank for that!"
answered Rose, puzzled by his question.
"Yes, I’ll agree to that. Jack is a
wonderful man, and if I had someone as special as you, I would have done the
same thing! But, do you know how lucky you are?" repeated Tommy, with a
hint of sincerity and a slight grin on his face. He had loved teasing his
sisters when he was younger, and although they weren’t here now, he had a
perfect replacement in Rose.
Rose was really confused by Tommy’s question
now. What on earth could he mean? Before she could give it a second thought,
Jack and Fabrizio returned to their table.
"Hey, guys! Dig in. They said there’s
more if you’re still hungry afterwards," said Jack, whilst setting the
tray on the table between Tommy and Rose. He then walked over and sat next to
Rose. He still couldn’t believe his luck, that they were rescued and he could
be with Rose until his dying day. He glanced over and saw that Rose was
watching him with a serene, beautiful smile on her face. Gently, he leaned
towards her and gave her a kiss, full of promises to come.