Chapter 2 – Carpathia's Rescue

Rose opened her eyes and saw the side of a ship. It was all a dream she thought. Thank God. I need to find Jack and tell him about this dream. Then she saw the bright white lettering across the ship that read CARPATHIA. She sat up slightly and looked around to see the twenty or so lifeboats floating nearby. Suddenly, she realized where she was. Her stomach dropped and she felt nauseous. The whole thing really did happen. She abandoned her mother and the ship sank, and Jack died, right next to her. She felt the biggest disappointment.

The boat rowed closer to Carpathia. She saw the crew standing above her, hooking the boats into the pulleys. One by one, Rose witnessed the boats pulled up and the passengers unloaded. Finally her boat was pulled up and as she climbed out and onto the deck, she felt the weight of the previous night. Her legs gave way from the physical toll the fight for her life had taken. She stepped onto the deck and fell into the arms of a nurse who led her to the upper decks where she was slowly walked through a crowd of Titanic's survivors looking for loved ones. A purser from Carpathia forced a warm drink into her hands and gave her a new blanket to cover up with. Finally, Rose found a small park bench sitting on Carpathia's deck and sat down in a daze.

She sat there and began to think for the first time about everything that had happened. She recounted the events of the night, step by step to see what went wrong. And then it hit her. Hard. She was so worried about saving both Jack and herself, but it could've been so much easier. She was offered not only one, but two lifeboats. And she turned both of them down. Why did she do that? She could've stayed on one and Jack would've had an opportunity to find another one or even to stay alive on the door. Jack died saving her. And if she just took care of herself and gotten on those boats, Jack probably would've lived. An awful wave of guilt swept over her and she began to cry.

And then she remembered her dream, and everything they had planned to do together. She was so excited to go and be with Jack and live her life with him. Just minutes before the crash, she told him she was going with him. And in a matter of hours, all of that was ripped away from her. She felt so disappointed and let down by fate's cruel turn of events. Suddenly, she remembered her tour the morning before, and got so angry. Mr. Ismay had raved over how unsinkable and extraordinary the ship was. And Mr. Andrews told her that "it's all the lifeboats you need." Their stupidity ripped Jack away from her. And Captain Smith's words as he received an iceberg warning: "Not to worry," he said, "Quite normal for this time of year," and he dismissed it. Now look where they were: Fifteen hundred short, with their ship and belongings sitting two and a half miles under them at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. And he said "Not to worry."

As she sat on the bench, more boats unloaded its passengers. Rose heard a large commotion as a boat full of men, along with some women, came around the corner. Women from the crow began to shout names out into the group of men and women, just praying for a response. The crowd slowly got quieter as a man in a deep red bath robe came on board. Rose saw him – Bruce Ismay. She remembered him raving about the unsinkable ship. Her face turned red with rage. She walked toward him heatedly.

"Mr. Ismay!" she shouted, breaking the eerie silence. Everyone looked at her. "Unsinkable?" she yelled with fury, "Unsinkable?" He looked at her dumbly. She was searching for words, but found none. Instead her hand flew into the air and slapped him hard across the face. "You're just like all the rest. You think you're giants. Wake up! The world isn't your playground you disgusting excuse for a man," she said before turning quickly and proceeding to a deck filled with third class survivors.

When Ismay boarded the Carpathia and was directed to the right, the nurse took Jack immediately to the left where a stretcher was waiting. He was still asleep and had to be carried from the lifeboat on board the ship. She hurriedly rushed him to the doctor's quarters on D Deck. The doctor took him right away and removed the icy, wet clothes and laid a sheet, comforter, and heavy quilt on top of his naked body. "Nurse," the doctor said, "Collect the following medicines from the cabinets. His immune system is weakened and I want to ward off any other sicknesses." Regina followed his orders and went to the cabinets to fish for the medicines. Jack slowly began to wake up and his body warmed up. The weight of the layers on top of him made his muscles feel weak and he decided not to even try to move his arms. The nurse came back with the medicines just as another officer walked into the room. "Sir, we need you up on the boat deck. A woman just slipped and we think her arm may be broken," he said. The doctor looked at Jack.

"I'll take care of him," Regina told the doctor. "Go ahead," she continued. The doctor nodded and took off outside the door. Jack opened his eyes and saw Regina. Her flowing blonde hair reminded him of Rose's curly hair. "Hello, my name is Regina. I'm going to take care of you," she said sweetly.

"Where am I?" he asked looking around.

"You're on the Carpathia. We pulled you from the water, but you're safe now." Jack looked into her eyes and saw trust. He nodded.

"Thank you,"

"What's your name?" she asked. "The man in the boat called you Dawson."

"Jack Dawson. That's my name," he said labouredly. "I need to get out of here. I need to find Rose," he said and pushed with strength to get out from the blankets. He tried to move his legs, but they felt so heavy and comfortable as they got warmer. Regina pushed him along his collar bone back onto the bed.

"I don't know who Rose is, but first things first. If you go out there, you'll probably die. You need to stay here for at least a few more hours and take some medicines before you go out there."

"No, you don't understand—."

"Mr. Dawson, I don't care," she said firmly. "You're staying in here and I'm not letting you out whether you like it or not." Jack had finally found someone with a stronger will than his own. He laid back down and let his body sink into the bed. He thought of Rose and how she thought he was dead. He felt a strong feeling of remorse for her and then he noticed something.

"Hey! Where are my pants?"