Rose drew a shaky breath, coughing as she drew the damp blanket tighter around her. Her tears had finally stopped, but now her chest hurt when she breathed too deeply, and wracking coughs shook her shivering frame.
It was fully dark now, and many people had taken shelter inside against the chill of night, leaving her nearly alone on the deck. A few hardy individuals still lingered, but most had gone.
Slowly, Rose got to her feet, her legs feeling oddly heavy—a sensation she had only known in the past when fevered. Putting a hand to her brow, she felt the heat emanating from it—far more heat than was natural for someone who had so recently been in the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
A bit unsteadily, she moved away from the bench, heading for the door to the inside steerage area. At the least, she could go inside—certainly staying out in the cold wasn’t going to help her if she was getting sick. If she was lucky, she might find the infirmary and get proper care before she got worse.
*****
Rose was beginning to feel delirious by the time she stumbled upon the infirmary. She walked inside slowly, her fevered gaze falling dully on the people inside. Most of the patients were survivors of the Titanic sinking. Only one doctor and a two nurses were working amongst the patients—no one had expected the Carpathia to be a rescue ship.
There were several volunteers working in the infirmary, as well, and it was one of these that Rose first spoke to.
"Excuse me, Ma’am…I…I’m one of the Titanic survivors…but I don’t feel so well…" she croaked.
The plump, middle-aged woman looked at her with concern. "You don’t look so good, either." She put a hand to Rose’s forehead. "In fact, you’re burning up. Sit down while I get a nurse to see you."
She led Rose to a chair, then hurried off, speaking to a nurse who was tending to a patient lying under a pile of blankets. The nurse nodded, finishing with her current patient and then hurrying over to Rose.
She bent over her, confirming that she was, indeed, feverish, then pulled a thermometer from her pocket. She quickly sterilized it with rubbing alcohol, then instructed Rose to put it under her tongue.
Rose stared at the thermometer for a moment, not quite comprehending what she was supposed to do with it. The nurse sighed, realizing that Rose was on the edge of delirium.
"Put this under your tongue, dear," she told her, tugging on Rose’s chin to get her to open her mouth.
Rose let the nurse put the thermometer under her tongue, then waited silently for the three minutes necessary to get a temperature reading. When the nurse took the thermometer from her, she looked at the temperature and frowned.
"Almost a hundred and four degrees. No wonder you don’t feel well."
Rose leaned back in the chair, looking at the nurse blankly. "I was…in the water…last night," she told her slowly, wishing she could just go to sleep.
"Stay here, young lady." The nurse straightened, looking around the infirmary. "I’m going to get the doctor."
Rose was dozing, her head leaning against the wall, when the doctor came to see her a few minutes later. She opened her eyes when he put her a hand on her shoulder, and cringed at first, seeing only his dark hair and mistaking him for Cal.
When she blinked her eyes a few times, clearing her vision, she saw that the man standing before her wasn’t her detested ex-fiancé. He was a good bit older than Cal, and had a thick mustache, while Cal was clean-shaven.
"Miss? I’m Dr. Thompson," he told her. "What’s your name?"
"Rose…" She started coughing.
When the cough ended, he asked, "What’s your last name?"
Rose stared at him blearily, trying to think of what to say. "D…my chest hurts," she complained.
"All right. We’ll worry about your name later," Dr. Thompson told her, taking out his stethoscope. He put it against her chest, instructing her to take a deep breath.
Rose tried to take a deep breath, but wound up coughing instead. After trying to get her to take a deep breath twice more, and listening to her heart and lungs, Dr. Thompson told her, "I’m afraid you may be developing pneumonia. Nurse Bittner told me you were in the water last night."
"That’s right," Rose responded, trying to stay awake. "I was rescued…later." She coughed painfully, then went on, "Jack wasn’t rescued."
"I’m sorry for your loss," Dr. Thompson told her gently, helping her to her feet as Nurse Bittner approached them. "Nurse Bittner will get you settled."
Rose took a step forward, frowning at how heavy her legs felt. "All right."
She followed slowly behind Nurse Bittner, who took her coat and shoes and pulled back the sheet on the bed next to that of the patient covered by a pile of blankets. She started to lay down, but the patient in the bed beside hers caught her eye.
Not quite believing what she was seeing, Rose rubbed her eyes, resisting as Nurse Bittner tried to get her to lay down. She shook her head, wondering if the fever was causing her to hallucinate.
There, sleeping soundly under a pile of blankets, was Jack.
A moment later, Rose knew that he was real. She pushed herself away from her bed, walking the few feet to Jack’s sleeping form.
"Jack! Jack, wake up!" She reached out to shake him, but her foot caught in the tattered hem of her dress. With a startled cry, she fell on top of him.
Jack had been sleeping soundly when the sound of his name came to his ears. Confused, he opened his eyes for a moment, then closed them, not sure if someone had really called his name in a hoarse voice, or if he was dreaming.
A moment later, he knew he wasn’t dreaming. He came fully awake, startled, as someone fell atop him. Yelping in surprise, he tried to sit up, but a curtain of salt-encrusted red hair covered his face, and the person who had fallen on him grasped at him rudely, coughing hard and trying to regain their footing.
Pushing the hair from his face, he started to push away the person who had fallen on him, then found himself face-to-face with Rose. Her face was red with exertion as she coughed, no longer trying to get to her feet.
Nurse Bittner grabbed Rose’s arms and pulled her to her feet. "Young lady, this is most inappropriate!"
Rose stopped coughing long enough to open her eyes and look at him. "Jack!" she gasped, reaching towards him. "Jack, how…" Another fit of coughing interrupted her words.
"Rose!" Jack pushed the blankets off and got up, reaching for her as she swayed in the nurse’s arms. "Rose…you’re alive!"
Rose’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Jack…you died…" she rasped, trying to make sense of everything. "Jack…"
He helped Nurse Bittner get her into bed, but Rose refused to lie back. "Don’t go," she begged Jack. "You died…"
"No, Rose. No. I didn’t die. I’m alive. I’m not sure how I survived, but I am alive." He sneezed, wiping his runny nose in annoyance.
"But…" Rose began coughing again, a deep, painful cough that seemed to come from the depths of her chest. When it finally stopped, she tried again. "I…let you go…you sank…you were dead…"
"Just unconscious," he assured her, a piece of the puzzle falling into place. "Being underwater must have woken me up."
She closed her eyes, and he thought she had fallen asleep, but a moment later she opened them, reaching to touch his face and assure herself that he really was there. "Stay, Jack. Please…"
"I’m not going anywhere, Rose. I promise."
"Mr. Dawson, you need to get back in bed. You aren’t ready to be up yet. Miss, please lie down. You’re developing pneumonia, and all this exertion isn’t helping you." Dr. Thompson came forward, separating them. "Nurse Bittner, give her aspirin for her fever and cough syrup for her lungs. Get one of the volunteers to sponge her down with alcohol to lower the fever more quickly."
Rose clung stubbornly to Jack’s hand. "Stay with me." She began to cough again, whimpering a little at the pain.
Jack touched her face, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I’m right here, Rose. I won’t go anywhere. I promise."
"Mr. Dawson, please lie down." Nurse Bittner pulled Jack and Rose’s hands apart and directed him back to his own bed. "You’re only a few feet apart, and you both need your rest. You can see each other later, when you’ve both had a chance to recover a little."
Reluctantly, Jack went back to his own bed and lay down. He rolled over on his side and looked ar Rose, who was fighting the foul-tasting cough syrup. When one of the ladies who had volunteered to help the Titanic survivors placed a screen between them for privacy so that she could help Rose bathe, he finally closed his eyes and drifted back into an uncomfortable, but far more peaceful, sleep.