AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Thirty-Four
When Rose awoke, she could feel Jack’s arms
around her. She could tell by the way that he was breathing that he was still
asleep. She wondered how long they had slept; one look out of the window told
her that they had to have been asleep for quite a while. It looked as if the
sun had just set; darkness would set in for the night soon. But to Rose it felt
as if the sun would never set again. She and Jack had been reunited! He was
alive and holding her in his arms once again. Her life was filled with
brightness now.
But her happiness weakened when she thought
of her pregnancy. I can’t tell Jack that this baby might be Cal’s. What
would he think of me? Would he blame me for what Cal did? The questions
haunted her mind. When Jack started to move, her mind cleared of her dark
thoughts, leaving only happy ones of her and Jack. She gazed at him lovingly.
She felt extremely lucky to have found him again.
He opened his eyes and found himself staring
into hers. "Rose, I love you."
Her eyes watered at his words. I am the
luckiest woman on earth; I have Jack Dawson’s love! "I love you, Jack
Dawson, and I always will."
He sighed as he pulled her even closer. He
felt as if he were in heaven. When their lips met, they both could feel the
sparks that traveled between them. He pulled back from her so he could look
into her eyes. He wanted to gaze in them forever. To get lost in those deep
blue windows to her soul would be fine with him. He started to run his hands up
and down her arms. He was surprised when she winced in pain.
"Rose, what’s wrong?" he asked. But
his question was soon answered when he noticed the bruises on her arm. She was
wearing long sleeves, but one of her sleeves had inched up her arm, revealing
all of the bruises that Cal had left behind from his abuse. His eyes widened as
he gently pulled up each of her sleeves. Her arms were covered with ugly black
and blue marks!
"My gosh, Rose. What happened to
you?" he cried.
Tears came to her eyes. She had purposely
been wearing long-sleeved dresses to hide her bruises. She didn’t know how she
was going to tell him. She knew that he would be furious with Cal. He might
even go after him. What am I going to do? she thought before she burst
into tears.
Jack held her tightly. "Come on, Rose.
Tell me, please, what’s wrong?" he asked gently. He hated to see her cry.
She shook her head. "I can’t, Jack. I–I
just can’t."
He pulled back and held her face in his
hands. "Rose, I know that you trust me. We’ve been through so much
together. You have to tell me what's wrong. Please?" he pleaded.
She looked into his eyes. He knew her so
well. She knew that it would be next to impossible to keep something from him.
Their souls were connected. She knew it, and he knew it.
"Jack, when I was in New York, well–you
see…" She felt as if the words were stuck in her throat.
But Jack knew what she was trying to tell
him; he could see it in her eyes. "Cal did this to you, didn’t he?"
he said angrily. She confirmed his suspicions when she nodded. He wanted to
kill Cal! He felt tempted to find that lowlife and teach him a lesson. How dare
he lay a hand on Rose! He felt like crying. Why couldn’t he have been there for
her? Why did fate have to separate them? He looked deeply into Rose’s eyes.
"Tell me what happened, Rose. Please," he said in a choked voice.
She took a deep breath. "Cal…he found me
in New York. How he did is beyond me. I was sure that he would have thought me
dead. But somehow he found me; he–he had his new manservant kidnap me. I was
held there for three weeks. Carol, one of the maids, finally freed me. That’s
when I came here to Chippewa Falls," she said in a shaky voice.
Jack remained silent for a moment. At hearing
her words, he felt like a knife stabbed into his heart. She must have been
so scared. Why couldn’t I have been there? "I should have been there
to protect you. I don’t understand this, Rose, any of it! I looked for your
name on the survivor list, but your name wasn’t there. I feel like this is all
my fault," he cried as tears came to his eyes.
At that moment, Rose realized what she had
done. She had given Dawson as her last name. If only she had given her real
name, Jack would have found her. "Oh Jack, it’s my fault, I–I didn’t give DeWitt
Bukater as my last name…I told the officer that my name was Rose Dawson."
She nervously awaited his reaction.
His eyes lit up when he heard her words.
"Rose, you took my name? How did I get so lucky? Gosh, I love you."
He pressed his body against hers, holding her as tightly as he could. He never
wanted to let go.
"I’m just so sorry that I wasn’t there
to protect you. I would do anything to make sure that you were kept safe. I
would give my life for you, Rose," he said passionately. She closed her eyes
tightly, trying to hold back another wave of tears. He looked into her eyes,
searching them. "I’m so sorry, Rose. I wish to God that I had been there
for you," he whispered.
Something that he couldn’t understand crossed
over her face. She avoided his eyes. "I know, Jack. I know that you would
have done anything to keep Cal from hurting me, but it’s not your fault,
Jack." Deep down he knew that she was right. He looked into her eyes
again, seeing something in them that he had never seen before. He wondered if
she was keeping something from him. Stop it, Jack. She wouldn’t keep
anything from you. You’re imagining it, he thought, scolding himself.
Rose looked at Jack. She could tell that he
was in deep thought. She knew that she should tell him that she was pregnant,
and that the baby could be Cal’s. But she didn’t have the strength to go
through it all, to relive that awful part of her life. She knew that eventually
she would have to tell him that she was pregnant. In a couple of months her
pregnancy would start to show. But she could not–would not tell him that Cal
had raped her, she was terrified of what Jack would do if he knew. She prayed
to God that the child she was carrying was Jack’s and not Cal’s.
Jack stared at her for a moment. She had so
much pain in her eyes. He desperately wanted to take the pain off of her
shoulders. She touched his face gently.
"I love you, Jack," she said
huskily.
He smiled at her before kissing her
passionately. He never thought that this day would come. He briefly wondered if
it was all a dream. Had Rose really come back into his life? But the feel of
her hands on his neck sure felt real to him. He pulled back and looked into her
eyes.
"There’s something that I need to ask
you, Rose," he said. He kept his eyes glued to hers.
"What is it, Jack?" she asked as
she gently touched his cheek.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his
nervous heart. He had never even come close to asking this question before; but
then again he’d never been in love before. Rose was truly his one and only.
"Rose, I don’t ever want to be separated from you again. I feel that
you’re my soulmate. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you…will you
marry me?"
Her heart jumped at his words. Oh, how she
had dreamed of hearing those words from him! And now she really was. He wanted
to spend the rest of his life with her! "Jack, after everything that we
have been through, I’d think that you’d know the answer," she said, a
teasing gleam in her bright eyes. A slow smile spread across his face. "I
knew that I wanted to be yours forever that day when you first kissed me, Jack.
And when we made love I knew that it was meant to be. That’s why I had such a
hard time dealing with what I thought was your death. My promise to you was the
only thing that made me go on." They both had tears streaming down their
faces. Jack knew how miraculous their situation was. How they had fallen in
love after knowing each other for only a couple of days was truly a miracle. He
knew that she had given him her heart and soul that night in the Renault, and
he had done the same. They truly were meant to be together. "Of course I
will marry you, Jack," she finally answered through her tears.
But he had already known the answer. Her eyes
revealed everything to him…well, almost everything.