Titanic: A Continued Story

Carpathia News

Rose huddled on the deck of the Carpathia, where she had been for the past 2 hours, wrapped in a shawl. She really missed Jack, but she was too sad to cry. She could not believe that he was gone.  She had not even known him for 3 whole days, but Rose knew that their love was true. 

Rose heard sharp thuds of shoes on the polished wooden deck and she turned around slightly. They were slightly out of earshot, but Rose could see 2 ship officers talking. She inched closer, wanting to hear the latest news.

Officer 1: Yeah, another lifeboat went back and rescued a man. He was unconscious, but alive.      Officer 2: Wow! Did he wake up yet?                                                                                                                              Officer 1: No, but he's in Urgent Care. Gonna stay there until we dock in New York, then he'll be taken to the hospital. Poor lad, they found him in a coma lying on a bit of door from the Titanic wreckage.

Rose blinked. Did she hear right? And if she did, could that man be Jack? Although she knew she was not supposed to know that information, she could not help but hurry up to the men.

"Excuse me, sir," Rose said, "but do you know who the man is?"                                                                      "I'm sorry miss, but I don't know. I received word from one of the officers who found him that some ladies on the lifeboat were mentioning something about Sven Gunderson when they saw him, although they were speaking Swedish so it's kind of hard to tell," the 1st officer said.

Rose's heart sank. Jack was not Swedish, and his name was definitely not Sven, so it couldn't be him.

The 2nd officer seemed to notice that Rose had become sad, and he said "It will be okay miss."      "Oh, thank you." Rose turned to leave, but the first officer stopped her.                                                "We will do our best to find out more about him for you. In the meantime, can you please refrain from telling this information to anyone else?" he asked.

Rose nodded a yes and whispered "Thank you." She walked away and went back to her spot. It was then, huddled over, finally knowing that Jack was really dead, that Rose started to cry. She cried until she could cry no more, and then she just sat there taking deep breaths. It would be hard, but Rose just needed to take one step at a time.

"Rose, Rose! Is that you?" Rose heard a familiar voice. She opened her eyes, and saw Molly Brown standing in front of her.

"Rose darlin', how are you? I'm so glad you made it! We were all so worried about you. Your mother was hysterical, and Cal was very upset."

Rose said "I'm fine, thank you." That was all she could bring herself to say, because she did not want to see Cal or her mother again EVER. Besides, Rose was sure that Cal did not miss her, he missed the giant, rare Heart of the Ocean diamond!

"Oh, speaking of Cal, he's right over there, looking for you. I'll go call him over."

"No! Please, don't tell Cal or my mother that I am here!" Rose pleaded. Molly must have been confused, but she looked at her, with her sad eyes and hopeful expression, and tenderheartedly  nodded.

"Anything for you, Rose. And remember that everything's going to be all right." Molly squeezed Rose's hand and Rose relaxed. She thanked Molly. They said their final goodbyes, and with someone else Rose might have worried, but she knew a kind woman like Molly would not betray her.