STARTING ANEW
Chapter Twelve
"Jack, this has been such a wonderful
evening."
Rose stood resting her head on Jack's
shoulder.
"In fact, this whole day was something
special. But I'm really tired now."
Rose and Jack had just returned from the
theatre with Molly Brown. The three of them had spent the evening watching a
vaudeville show starring the rising new star George M. Cohen. For Rose, this
evening has been yet another experience in her new way of life. She had never
done things like go to vaudeville shows or eat ice cream sodas. And she had
loved every minute of it. These pastimes were not dignified enough for her old
crowd. Now the evening had drawn to a close. Molly headed home in a taxi
leaving Jack and herself alone. They had walked home from the theatre and while
she and Jack had savored every second in each other's company, Rose was soaking
up the sights and sounds of ordinary life.
Jack held Rose in a tight embrace. They were
to be married in two days and so far their life had been a frenzy of stolen
moments on board the Titanic, tense times in a hospital when Rose's life had
been in danger and most recently the last two hurried days of trying to ready
for a life together. He had not actually been able to court Rose in the way
most normal couples learn to know each other. But then their relationship had
been far from normal.
He kissed her and whispered, "You get
ready for bed Rose, and I'll be back in a little while."
"Jack, where are you going?"
"Just down to the hotel pub to have a
beer."
Jack wanted Rose as much as she wanted him,
but he had that old fashioned Wisconsin upbringing in him and even though he
had cast caution to the winds that night on Titanic, he wanted their wedding
night to be special for Rose and himself. He had to leave until she was asleep.
He could hardly stand to be in the same room with her without touching her.
"You go on and sleep, catch up on your
rest," he told her. "Don't worry about me Rose, I won't let anything
happen to me."
She looked relieved, though she was confused
as why Jack was leaving her again. But she trusted him. The only thing she
really worried about was that something would happen to him.
"Goodnight," she said and they
broke from their embrace.
"Now sleep Rose, you have to
sleep."
"Alright, Jack, see you in the
morning."
She watched as he left Molly's suite of
rooms. After she had prepared for bed, Rose took a long look at herself in the
mirror. Outwardly, she looked like the same person that had boarded Titanic
twenty two days earlier. But neither her mind, nor her body, would ever be the
same. For how long would she hear the screams and cries for help, when would
she stop fearing for Jack's life, for hers. Would she ever take anything for
granted again, would Titanic overtake their lives forever?
Rose got into the bed and tried to put these
thoughts behind her. For a moment, she wondered about her mother. She was sorry
in a way that her mother thought her dead. Still though, it was Ruth who had
forced her into the nightmarish alliance with Cal. "Maybe the Hockleys
will take care of her."
And then an alarming thought came into Rose's
head.
"What if I saw my mother again. Could I
ever make peace with her, or accept her?"
Then Rose decided these ideas were only
upsetting her. She had to get some sleep. The window was open and it was cool
for a May evening. But Rose did not have the energy to get up and close it.
"I'll just snuggle down more under the
covers."
She tossed and turned a bit, listening for
Jack to return, and finally fell asleep.
Rose stood in an empty room dressed in a
wedding gown. From a few feet away, Cal sneered at her.
"Well, Rose," he began, "now I
am the envy of all Philadelphia. You are my wife, and you will honor and
respect me and you will do what I tell you. And one more important thing that
you had better learn fast, get Dawson off your mind. Anyway, he won't bother
us, I've had him put away for stealing that necklace. He won't see the light of
day for twenty years or so."
Rose screamed and she felt Cal's hand come
across her face.
"One more time Rose, he is dead to you
and if you ever mention his name again, I will fix it so you won't be able to
leave this house for weeks."
Rose felt anger rising within her and began
to sob uncontrollably. She managed to dash past Cal without his grabbing her
and ran out of the house. It didn't matter where she went, but she had to
escape from Cal, from this marriage. She knew that somehow she had to help
Jack.
Jack had gone to the small pub in the hotel. He
stood quietly at the end of the bar, finishing his beer. In his mind, he was
filing away people and scenes for some future drawings. He thought that by now
Rose must be asleep. In another few minutes he would head back to the room.
Jack opened the door. The door to Molly's
room was closed and no lights showed underneath. The rest of the rooms in the
suite were dark, but from somewhere inside, he heard moaning sounds, like those
of a wounded animal. He stood for a minute and listened quietly. It was so awful,
that it was painful to listen to. It could not possibly be coming from a human
being. No, it must be something else. But as Jack headed further into the main
room of the suite, the sound got louder. Now it sounded like sobbing. He turned
on the light and saw Rose. She appeared to be so upset, so distraught that she
had not even heard him.
He knelt down on the floor next to the couch
where she lay. Slowly he put his hand on her shoulder to let her know of his
presence. He began speaking softly to her.
And slowly the sobbing changed to sniffling
and in a scratchy, disbelieving voice asked, "Jack, is that you?"
He reached out to her and turned her around
so she was facing him. Her eyes were red and her face was swollen. Jack
wondered what could have caused her to get into such a state. Surely it wasn't
because they were getting married. Rose spoke before he could question her. And
it all came out in a jumble. About the dream of Cal and his hitting her,
wanting to control her and sending Jack to prison. And at that she started
crying again.
"Oh Rose, I should never have left you
alone. You don't have to worry about any of that again. That's all behind us.
Cal will never see you again. Let's go put some cold water on your face. You
wouldn't want anyone to think that I did this to you?"
Rose smiled a little and sniffled through her
tears. She got up and allowed Jack to lead her to the bathroom where he bathed
her face in the refreshing water.
When they were finished and she was calm.
Rose got back into bed.
"Please Jack, don't leave me again.
Please. I couldn't stand having another dream like that."
Jack came back across the room where he had
closed the window.
Trying to lighten the mood, he teased her
saying, "Rose you will do anything to get what you want. You can drive any
man mad."
Jack undressed and got into bed with Rose.
"Are you going to be alright now,"
he asked.
She nodded her head and he felt her body
begin to relax. Rose slept dreamlessly with Jack's arms wrapped tightly around
her. Jack lay there quietly thinking about all the circumstances that had
changed their lives and began to think that they would be affected by them
forever.