A futile situation
There was an ever growing silence spreading over the bitter, icy depths of the North Atlantic. The sounds of agonizing screams and pleas that previously echoed throughout the night slowly began to fade as the majority of the other passengers finally succumbed to their watery grave.
"It's getting quiet" Rose quietly observed, it had been approximately 2 ½ hours since the RMS Titanic, the "ship that could not be sunk" had struck the iceberg. Time seemed to have stopped completely as they waited, a tiny glimmer of hope remained amongst them as they continued to pray that just one of the lifeboats would come back and save them. Most of the poor souls in the water had now frozen to death. In Rose's opinion, it was one of the cruelest ways to die, suffering continuously as your body temperature dropped and you lose the feeling of your entire body. The excruciating pain would go on and on until eventually you would welcome an escape from the suffering. Small pieces of ice had now frozen Jack's hair and her own. The air seems to be getting colder with each passing minute.
"It's just gonna take a w-while t-to get...the boats organised" Jack informed her. Being in the cold for so long made it difficult to speak a sentence without pausing a lot. A feeling of numbness was beginning to spread through Rose's entire body. Her lips had turned blue and she could no longer feel her fingers and feet. Every breath that Rose seemed to take felt like torture. Rose wished that Jack could lay on the door with her, away from the freezing cold water, but their first attempt nearly resulting in them sinking, a risk none of them wanted to be repeated. Jack was more of a gentleman than any of the other so called "upper class" men put together. Jack loved her as a person and not as an opportunity to earn a fortune.
"I don't know about you but..." Jack continued "...I intend to write a s-strongly worded l-letter – to the White Star Line about all this". Jack lowered his head and started to breath on their firmly clasped hands. It offered a little comfort in their seemingly futile situation.
"I love you Jack" Rose professed, she needed him to know in case the lifeboats didn't come back for them. Jack looked at her sternly.
"Don't you do that" he ordered "Don't you say your goodbyes, not yet so you understand me?"
"I'm so cold" Rose confessed, her body was shivering drastically, her entire body was becoming increasingly numb and she was beginning to lose hope of being rescued.
"Listen Rose, you're gonna get out of here, you're gonna go on and have lots of babies" Jack smiled "And you're gonna watch them grow, and you're gonna die an old lady, warm in her bed" Rose's heart lifted as she listened to his words "Not here, not this night, not like this do you understand me?" He asked her. Rose imagined what it would be like to pass away comfortably in her sleep after living a full and happy life, a life that she wanted to share with Jack, not slowly and painfully freezing to death in the middle of the North Atlantic. Rose looked away forlorn and said in a small voice "I can't feel my body". Jack moved closer to her and she turned back to face him.
"Winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me" Jack confessed "It brought me to you, and I'm thankful for that Rose" Rose couldn't help but smile, she never believed that she could love another person more than in this moment. If it wasn't for Jack, she probably would have thrown herself off the back of the boat to escape the continuous suffocation and pressures in her life.
Jack took her hand in his "you must do me this honor" Jack spoke with his mouth towards their hands in another attempt to keep them warm while he was speaking. "Promise me that you'll survive, that you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now Rose, and never let go of that promise". Jack spoke with such urgency that Rose felt obligated to do this for him in return for all that he had done for her.
"I promise" she vowed
"And never let go" Jack reminded her
"I'll never let go Jack" she promised "I'll never let go"
Jack tenderly kissed her hand and in unison they both began to breathe rapidly on their hands. They both remained quiet for a while, listening to the eerie silence that was descending upon them. A few distant cries could be heard, but they were slowly fading to nothing. Rose's skin was now an unnatural white and she felt as though her skin was inflamed. Jack appeared to be sleeping as he had his eyes closed and looked peaceful.
Rose lay on her back and gazed at the stars, feeling blissfully at peace. The stars seemed to stretch out forever. All was now quiet, too quiet.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Rose thought she saw a light. Slowly, she turned her head to the left and stared unbelieving at the lifeboat sailing a short distance away. It had a few officers from the Titanic and a space that must have been for survivors if they found any. They were shining torches and scanning the deceased passengers in the water.
"Jack!" Rose called softly, shaking the hand that was still being held in her own. Jack didn't respond. Turning her body to face him, Rose began shaking Jack's hand with more force and called his name louder "Jack! there's a boat!". No response. She called Jack's name more urgently and was frantically shaking his hand to get his attention. Rose watched as Jack remained unresponsive to her calls. Rose began to realise that he may no longer be with her. Refusing to believe it, Rose began calling Jack's name as loudly as her voice would allow her. Rose's heart broke as she called his name one last time. When Jack remained unresponsive Rose's heart broke as she finally accepted that Jack was dead. She glanced at the boat briefly, which was slowly moving away from her and began sobbing quietly. Rose rested her head back down on the door and closed her eyes sadly, accepting defeat.
Never let go of that promise echoed through Rose's head and she suddenly realized that she had to keep her promise. Rose snapped her eyes open. "Come back" she called softly. Holding her body upright, rose began to call to the boat that was slowly moving further and further away, but they couldn't hear her. Rose suddenly remembered a whistle that belonged to a now deceased passenger had been using. With a large tug, Rose pulled her hand away from Jack's frozen one. Jack immediately began to sink below the surface without the support of a life jacket.
"I'll never let go, I promise" Rose vowed , and kissed Jack's hand one last time before finally letting go. She watched as Jack quickly became submerged by the dark abyss, sinking deeper and deeper until he could no longer be seen. Bracing herself, Rose rolled sideways into the piercing water. Without her life jacket, Rose probably would have sunk. Determination allowed Rose to paddle the short distance to the whistle, which was firmly in the mouth of the now frozen owner, who was floating lifelessly on some sort of board. Without a second thought Rose placed it in her own mouth and blew desperately until she heard cries of "Come about!" and a torch was shone upon her.
