Chapter 28

May 21, 1912

Another Titanic survivor begins to awake from his comatose-like state. His eyes opened. The singeing white light was strong to his eyes, as he tries to blink them open, but his eyes began to hurt, from the lack of tears, and being closed for too long. He tried to shift in his bed, the agonizing pain comes shooting back. His mouth was dry.

Jesse could only utter a small squeak as he tried to roll over in his bed. He tried to sit back up, his body began protesting his every move, as his joints were too stiff from lack of movement, and he lays back down on the bed. Even with the pain of stiff joints and tight muscles he barely manages puts his hand on his head, and begins to cough. Despite his dry mouth, little phlegm flies from his mouth. He looks around, trying to take in the white light and his surroundings, until he could make out a room of some sort. He looks down, and finds he is dressed in white hospital garb. He slowly looks at his arm, and sees an IV tube injected in his right arm. He follows the tube to a liquid filled bag that was over his bed.

Oh, my head. he thought, as he rubs his forehead with difficulty. He tries to rub his eyes, to make them adjust and come into focus.

"Oh, you're also awake!" the nurse yelps, making Jesse flinch. She appeared to be slightly older than Jesse, as she comes into the room. "I'll go get the doctor. Two in the past two days."

What…? Jesse thought, as he lays back down on the bed. Moments later the doctor comes in.

"Ah, finally you're back in the world, too. That was a record. Two in two days this week, that is some miracle. I thought the nurse was making things up." The doctor looks at Jesse's vital signs, followed by a reflex. "This way. Up." Jesse cringes in pain as he's helped to sitting position. "Here, put this under your tongue."

"Where am I?" Jesse asked with difficulty, as the doctor prods inside his mouth with the stick.

"Don't talk yet, son. You might choke on this," the doctor warned, while Jesse tries not to gag with the stick in his mouth.

"You're in New York. St. Vincent's Hospital." The doctor says, as he wrote something in the clipboard. Jesse quickly calculated, then knew he must be a considerable distance from his sister's and brother-in-law's house, despite the fact that he's not too familiar with the city, except for trips to the docks with his father, and Coney Island. He had also heard of stories of a large park somewhere in the city, namely Central Park, which he has also never seen, and would someday like to see for himself. Nonetheless, he felt relieved, as if he was much closer to them than ever.

"You were also one of the lucky ones to be pulled from the water from the sinking ship." the doctor continued.

The ship!

"How long have I been out, sir?"

"About a month, and just recently another had just woke up before you." Jesse looked quite lost. "You were also nearly frozen when you were brought on board to the rescue ship. Frankly, the doctor and crew on that rescue ship were very concerned with you. You are truly a miracle from God. They have told me you have died and came back; how you did it will still continue to amaze those officers and the doctor on that ship. All they could do for you at that point was perform a resuscitation. They were going to bury you at sea if it failed, as the doctor on board couldn't do much but keep you warm and say prayers." Jesse couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had died, then came back?

The doctor asks the nurse to fetch him something warm to eat. She obliges, then winks at Jesse. Jesse had been overwhelmed by the fact he was unconscious, and he was shocked at the news that he had nearly died at some point, during the month. He was surprised those doctors didn't just give up on him, and had simply tossed him in the ocean if he did.

He sobbed slightly, remembering all those people lost at sea, nobody coming to claim whose who they had belonged to. he also sobbed to himself, that no one would give up on him, and tossed him to the ocean, to be among the dead. The nurse came back, with a bowl of soup. Jesse sniffles, inhales deeply, then wipes his eyes.

"I have performed several blood transfusions to keep the blood circulating, and to get rid of any cold blood that has remained." the doctor continues. "Once your body heat returned to relatively stable, we have kept you under constant watch. We were totally unsure if you'd have awaken at this point."

Jesse is stunned beyond belief.

"Hmm. Your limbs also appear to be in excellent working order, despite the stiffness. You truly are a miracle, as we didn't have to amputate any of your limbs as well. The blood transfusions have worked perfectly." The doctor motions for the nurse, who then walks into the room and places the soup in front of him. Jesse could tell, despite his pale and slight unkempt appearance, the nurse was having an attraction towards him.

"Uh…you were saying something about two in the last two days. What does that mean?" Jesse asks, furrowing his brow, as the nurse prepares to spoon feed him.

"Oh, that. You were the second patient that has awaken. You were one of several of the John Does brought to in to our infirmary. A young man had just awakened two days before you did."

Jesse tries to slurp his soup. "Careful, now. You'll have to take it slowly, as you have been out for a while. Your body will have to get used to eating once more." the doctor says, then gets up to leave. Jesse looks around the room. His clothes from the sinking were neatly folded in a chair next to him. Jesse takes a slow slurp. The warm liquid felt better as it hits his stomach, making him feel nourished and he felt his strength seemed to return once more.

"By the way, can you tell us your name so we don't call you 'Titanic John Doe'?" the doctor asks.

"Jesse Williams." Jesse tells him, then asks, "How long do I have to remain here, doctor?" He had a little soup dribbling from his mouth, which he tried to slurp at. The nurse quickly jumps up to wipe his chin of the liquid.

"We'd like to hold you for another week or so, so there are no further complications, especially since your near death, and then you'll be free to go. By the way, do you have anyone that will help you, while you're making a full recovery?"

"Uh, yeah. Do you have a telephone that I can use in the near future?"

"Yes, but right now try and get some rest."

"Okay." Jesse stretches and yawns, despite his joints popping and hurting, it felt good moving around again. A nurse helps him lay down again, before looking into his dark eyes, then leaving the room, before Jesse slowly fell asleep for the night.