Chapter one
As the ship slowly sank to the bottom of the deep ocean, Jack continued to gradually get pierced by the freezing cold water he had been lying in for hours waiting to get rescued with his recent found love, Rose. She lies in the water on a broken wooden material from the ship, shivering in her long dress and staring at the shining stars high up in the night sky. Jack who had lost all feeling throughout his body, still managed to keep Roses hand right next to his face that was filled with icicles throughout his hair and eyelashes. They both had been striving for survival throughout the night right from when the ship began to inherit water in it, to them in the water possibly taking their last breaths with each other. They were surrounded by thousands of dead children, husbands, grandparents, who were most likely all lower class and unable to get on a rescue boat before time was up. Passengers on the boat did whatever they had to do to try and save themselves and their families, whether it was from sacrificing themselves for their loved ones, or killing others. Words had not been spoken for quite a while between the couple. Suddenly Jack slowly catches his breath in the cold air and tries to speak to Rose. His voice was faint and very quiet when trying to gain her attention. She rolls over on her "raft" and looks at him in his blue eyes as he is struggling to communicate to her. She can feel his weakness running from his body to hers. He gradually whispered in her ear about the love he had for her. As she was kissing his hands that were wrapped around hers tightly, she feels them begin to weaken. She held them closer to her but was no longer getting a response. He became heavier as she was holding him and he was slowly starting to drop. Rose began to panic; she knew she was incapable of holding his body weight up for a long period of time. His hands separate from hers completely and he sinks. She loses vision of him in the dark blue water at night and becomes numb. She lost the love of her life die in seconds. She was slowly breaking down inside, having tears run down her face and freeze to her cold and pale skin. She had little to no thoughts running through her mind anymore. She looked back up at the stars and then shut her eyes once she realized that they were no longer shining.
As time passed, she began to see bright light shining through her eyes as they were still closed. Confused and worried, she began to feel around where she was. She felt a warm, cloth like material next to her. Rose then cracked her eyes open and saw Jack gazing at her. She couldn't believe it. She didn't. Rose began to speak to him and asked where they were and why he was still alive. Jack chuckled and held her hand tight. He then began to tell her that as the ship was sinking and they were seeking survival, Cal, her ex-husband, had shot her. They were in the hospital, Rose had been unconscious for days. Jack began to tell her how worried he was about her, how he prayed next to her side everyday for her to gain health again. The trip to the hospital was quite the process from the boat. There were was an immense drop in the number of people who boarded the ship to who actually survived the horrible accident. Once Rose and Jack were on land they were questioned from the employees about their personal information. They received an immense amount of publicity from the civilians around in the town. However, Jack ignored everything and everybody that he was surrounded by. His first priority was to seek medical attention for Rose, who was losing blood slowly after each minute passed. A very old and skinny woman from the town they were located in noticed the condition Rose was in and immediately made her way towards her and Jack. She politely offered to take them to the nearest hospital across town, about twenty minutes from where they were. Very blessed, Jack and the woman rushed to the car, while he was carrying Rose in his arms. For it being around 2 in the afternoon, the traffic they were sitting in was unbearable. There was no time for it. The hospital was within sight, somewhere around a mile, and he had no other option but to carry Rose through the streets himself to make it there. Jack was weak, tired, and hungry. But for her, he would do anything. That is what love will do to you. It has the ability to take away all of ones feelings to better help their significant other. As he was getting out of the car, the old woman suddenly and fast, grabbed his arm with her old hand and stopped him. She grabbed a wrinkled piece of paper with a coffee stain off of the floor and wrote down her name and address and told him to find her if they needed anything. He was thinking to himself why this woman was continuously helping the two, for being complete strangers she had one heck of a warm heart. Although, he was beyond grateful, nodded, and was on his way. Jack struggled through the hospital to find a nurse. It was busy and chaotic. Nurses were running around, patients were being pushed in wheel chairs left and right, and babies were crying. He was determined to get immediate assistance for her, so he approached a nurse he had seen from afar who had seemed like she was not busy at the time compared to everybody else. He had explained the dilemma they had, and she followed him to where she was across the hospital floor. The nurse took a look at her and immediately had a panic expression on her face. She called for assistance and then Rose was taken away from him, and rushed into surgery. He was relieved and worried at the same time. He had no idea how professional and efficient these doctors here were, or how severe the wound may or may not have been. He sat in the waiting room for what felt like hours, until he was able to see her. He fell asleep, slouched in a wooden chair alone. A doctor tapped him on the shoulder, asking him if he was with the woman whom was shot. They then walked into the room where she lay, and told him to take his time with her and give her his last words. She was not going to make it very much longer, 24 hours max. Jack was empty. He felt like he had got hit by a car. Immediate tears slid down his face as he looked at the first love he had ever had. He also had an intense sense of anger in him towards Cal, this was all his fault. If Cal wasn't so jealous or selfish as he had been, this would never had happened. Jack grabs Roses hand, squeezes tightly and starts to tell her all the things he loved about her. He was going to miss everything about her. She was the most spontaneous, outgoing, classy woman with an attitude that he had ever met in his entire life. And he let her know that. He did not truly understand why this had to happen to him or her, it was simply not fair. Bad things always happen to innocent people. What was he going to do now? Would he ever love again? These were questions that were constantly running through his fragile mind. As he was speaking to her as she lay there, he had promised her one thing. He would not let Cal get away way this easily, he will pay for what he had done to them. Cal was evil, selfish, and did not have a heart. He never put anyone else before him. Seeing other people hurt made him happy, and Jack told himself and Rose that it was time to do something about it, no matter what it took. Jack did not leave Roses sight for one minute as she was in the hospital, until a few hours later she took her last breaths. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest thing to do, it was unbearable. He bent over her bed and kissed her lightly on the forehead, trying to keep himself and his emotions together. He then watched her get rolled away by the nurses, and he broke down.
Jack walked out the hospital confused and feeling worthless to the world that he is in. He did not have Rose, food, shelter or anything he wanted to survive with, only left with the frustration he had towards her ex-husband. He walked the streets of the town for miles, a new place that he had never been to, yet exploring and taking in absolutely no experience from it. As he passes small and antique-like houses on the left and right of him, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the piece of paper the old lady had handed him just before he had gotten out of the car in mid traffic. He pondered about what he should do with it, if he should try to find her or just be on his way. He had wondered toward a lake he had seen from afar. The nature of the new town he was in reminded him of his home town. After about half a mile, he crossed over a wooden bridge. There were birds flying all around him, fish swimming in the water below. For one split second, he forgot everything that had just recently happened and had a flashback of him as a child back at home. With his friends, they would always go in the woods, chasing each other around, climbing trees, trying to shoot birds when mom was not looking. Hunting was one thing Jack and his dad Martin had in common, they loved to get away from everything once in a while. They took a trip up north every year to go hunt, it was good father son bonding. He stepped over the rocks and put his hands in the running water. It felt refreshing. He then cupped his hands and put them towards his mouth, drinking it, after being so beyond dehydrated. Jack washed his face, and then ran the water through his long hair, slicking it back slightly. As he is walking back towards the road, he sees a bunch of raspberries and takes a hand full of them and eats them. They were by all means healthy, Jack knew a thing or two about growing the proper fruits and vegetables. He reached the road and saw a gathering ahead. He was confused and wanted to check things out. Once he had arrived, he had asked a townsperson what all the fuss was about. It just so happened to be a town meeting coordinated by the mayor, Julie Brew. Elections were coming up. People were surrounded all around Jack with signs, chanting and screaming until Julie had began to talk. Jack was never really into the whole political scene. However, he did know how to voice his opinion. He walked away from the group meeting and immediately thought if the old lady happened to be there. He walked around a little bit through the crowd of people with no sign of her around. He then pulls the note out of his pocket, looks at it and reads Ida Higgins, 404 Hickory Avenue. With Jack being curious and having no real place to go since he was so far from home, he decided to ask around the townspeople if any of them had known this lady, or where the address was located at. After politely asking multiple of people, he came across a teenager, about 17 years old, who had indeed known where this place was. He asked for directions. The boy had said it was not that far from where they were currently at, and he would even walk him there if Jack wanted him to. Jack then took the boy up on his offer. As they were walking to Ida's, the boy asks how he ended up here in this small town all alone. Jack replies with telling him his story of the titanic. How excited he was to travel the world off of a game of poker. The news traveled fast after the ship had sank, so the boy knew what happened. He apologized deeply and said there were a few other survivors from the ship that he had seen around town too, did not know what their plan was though, if they even had one. After a few minutes of talking about the ship, Jack asked about the boys background. His name was Nick Caves, born and raised as a single child, with a dead mother and the dad an alcoholic. However, it seemed to Jack that he still happened to be a very well rounded, and polite young adult. After the short walk and Nick says they are there, Jack looks up from the cement ground and is shocked. He was staring at a beautiful three story white house with a porch that surrounded the entire house itself. Not only was the house a beaut, but the landscaping was phenomenal. Trees, flowers of every color, bushes, and even a garden growing on the side of the fence. Horses were spotted in a distance near the back yard. The boy then asked him what was here for him, and he did not know how to reply. He said he would find out shortly. Jack thanks the boy for taking him to Ida's, and Nick was on his way. Jack follows the sidewalk up to the front door, pauses for a moment and then knocks on the amazing carved wooden door three times. He stands there for a minute with no movement of any kind throughout the house. He then knocks two more times, giving it another shot. After a few knocks and minutes passing, Jack felt disappointed yet again. He starts walking back to the road, and as soon as he hits the end of the driveway, he hears the door crack open and his name was called. He puts a slight smile on his face and walks back up to the house. He was surprised that the old lady had even remembered his name. She greets him and invites him in.