Jack was still dead asleep in the infirmary. His body shook violently and he was in a cold sweat, his head moving side to side against the pillow.
"He still hasn't woken up?" The doctor asked the nurse as he pulled the curtain around Jack's bed closed.
"No sir, he's still in this spell." The young brunette nurse looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "Can you imagine what he must have went through?"
"It certainly is unimaginable," the doctor said as he jotted some things on his clip board and looked Jack over once more. "He's definitely the worst of them all, we must keep a special eye on him. May I request that you stay to watch him just a little bit longer? I don't want to leave him unsupervised."
"Certainly sir, I'll keep a good eye on him."
"Thank you dear. Its likely that he won't wake up for many days, if he even wakes up at all."
"Do you suppose he'll wake up by the time we dock?" She asked with worry in her eyes.
"I'm afraid that's hard to say," he said as he went to check on another patient. "You're doing a great job dear, keep an eye on him." The young nurse nodded and smiled politely at him before turning her attention back to Jack.
"You poor dear," she said brushing his hair out of his face. "I know you'll wake up, you look like a fighter."
------
"What are we going to do now Caledon?" Ruth asked after they put Rose back in the bed and walked into the next room. "She clearly remembers seeing him alive."
"Ruth, don't even be troubled to think about that. This is almost too easy," he said with a chuckle. "You saw the condition he was in. There's no way he'll be well enough to get around by himself before the ship docks. They won't even cross paths. Also take into consideration the condition that Rose is in. She's very mentally distressed. It won't be too difficult to convince her that she's just imagining things and that he really is dead."
"Well…alright."
"Trust me Ruth. I always get my way."
"Oh I know Mr. Hockley. And once this is all behind us and we get back to Philadelphia, the wedding of the year will be back under way."
"Yes," he said grinning at her, "and I'll finally get my inheritance."
Rose was suddenly awoken from her deep sleep with her heart pounding, similar to the feeling one gets after having a dream that they are falling and suddenly jolt awake at the moment of impact. She tried to sit up suddenly but found that her head was heavy and pounding painfully. She slowly lowered her head back to the pillow while rubbing her temples. She looked around her and realized that she had been sleeping for quite some time, for the room was now dark and light was no longer coming from the window on her left. She wiped her forehead and found that she was drenched in sweat and her curly hair was lifeless and pieces were stuck to her face.
Her mind immediately went to Jack and her eyes welled with tears. She knew he was alive. Other than the fact that she saw his eyes open, she felt it deep in her heart. She turned over onto her stomach and buried her face into the pillow to quiet the sobs that were now coming from deep within her. The last the she wanted was for her mother or Cal to hear her and know she was awake. She quickly stopped crying and wiped away her tears. She was alone in the room and the door was closed; this was her chance to get away. She just prayed she had enough strength to walk out the door.
But first things first – she was dehydrated, extremely dehydrated. She greedily eyed the sink that was on the other side of the room and could almost feel the liquid traveling down her insides. She couldn't even remember the last time something had entered her system.
She slowly inched her way across the spacious bed and swung her legs over the side. She said a silent prayer that her body was strong enough to walk, and once again put her feet onto the floor. She stood there for a moment, almost expecting to faint again. But to her delight, she felt descent. Still weak and frail, but at least she could walk. She tip toed her way over to the sink and very slowly turned the knob, watching the water fall from the faucet. She cupped the water in her hand and brought it to her mouth, closing her eyes in satisfaction as she felt the cool liquid moisten her previously dry mouth.
Once she was satisfied, she quietly walked over to the door and found her delicate shoes sitting perfectly by the door, as if waiting for her. She slowly slipped them on and put her hand on the door knob. Her heart was racing. This was it. Her opportunity to get away forever. She slowly turned the knob, making sure it made as little noise as possible. But as soon as she got the door to crack open, the other door in the room opened and slammed back against the wall, and in walked Cal. She froze in place; fear completely paralyzing her.
"And what exactly are you doing?" He asked in a deep, raspy voice. Her only instinct was to run, so she threw the door open and ran into the hall way. But it only took Cal a few steps to catch up with her, and he grabbed her arm violently and whipped her around to face him. "You know, you're probably the stupidest person I've ever had the pleasure to know," he said smiling at her.
"Please, Cal, just let me go." Tears were streaming down her face, and she was almost on her knees, as if to beg him.
"Why would I let you go, sweetpea? You're my fiancé."
"No I'm not!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'd rather die than marry you!" He angrily pulled her back into the room and slammed the door behind him. His physical power was no match for Rose, especially in her weak condition. It was like throwing a rag doll around for him.
"You better shut your mouth now, Rose, if you know what's good for you."
"As a matter of fact, I do know what's good for me, and it isn't you! You, along with mother, and this whole society completely suck the life out of me. You're killing me slowly and you don't even know it." She fell to the floor now, because she still didn't have enough strength to stand up herself.
"What? And you think that gutter rat can you give a better life? You truly are stupid," he said, laughing at her.
"My life would be immensely better if I were with Jack." The thought of him made her stop crying and almost made her smile as she began to speak again. "Jack loves me, so much. I can feel it when he looks at me and when he touches me and the way he speaks to me. He truly cares for me, and he would do anything for me. He saved my life, not once, but twice. He saved me in every way that a person can be saved. And I've fallen in love with him. I truly wouldn't be able to live without him." She looked up at him when she was done speaking and saw the look of disgust on his face.
"You need to learn to speak of him in the past tense, Rose. He's dead, and I don't know how many times I must tell you that!"
"You're still trying to tell me he's dead?" She managed to get a small chucked out of her, "and you call me stupid…"
Cal's hand quickly connected with Rose's face before she could even comprehend what had happened. "I'll teach you to talk back to me," Cal said angrily, grabbing her off the ground, and throwing her violently on the bed.