Chapter Thirty-Six

Rose woke up with a cramped neck, thanks to falling asleep in the chair she's occupied since arriving at the hospital to sit by Jack's side. She glanced at him an sniffled, thinking about how peaceful he seemed. It was like he was asleep and would wake up at any moment. But that was a lie. He wasn't just sleeping and as for waking up….well that may not happen at all.

"Rose?" Kathy entered the room, unsure if she'd be welcomed. She knew that some women liked to be private with their grief. She wasn't one of them, but as far as she knew, Rose might be.

Rose turned to her, her tears now flowing freely. "Kathy. Come in. Jack's not awake...he has yet to open his eyes..."

Seeing that her cousin's wife was in need of comfort, Kathy walked over and wrapped her arms around her, hoping that it would give her some reassurance. "He's going to be alright, Rose. He'll get through this. Us Dawsons are fighters."

A slight knock on the door interrupted the moment. Kathy frowned to see who was at the door.

Eliza was at the door with Maxwell standing behind her. To be perfectly honest, Kathy disliked Maxwell and Eliza now. She blamed them for what happened to Jack. That guy had been aiming for them and her dear cousin was now paying for being their friend.

"I don't think so," Kathy glared, her voice hard and damning. "I think that you two have caused enough suffering already. Look at Rose! She's devastated while you two are just fine!"

"Wait a minute, are you trying to say that this is our fault?" Maxwell stepped in front of Eliza, as if to guard her against any and all accusations. "What happened to Jack is not our fault! We are not to blame for what Lee Conway does! You can take that back right now!"

"It was you that the man was yelling at! It was her that he wanted! He wasn't talking about Rose when he said if he couldn't have her no one could! Jack was an innocent!"

"And so are we..."

"Like hell you are!"

Rose couldn't take it anymore. All the yelling...all the laying of blame. None of it was good. Jack wouldn't like it...heck, he wouldn't stand for it and neither would she. "Stop it! Stop arguing! It's not doing Jack any good!"

"Rose," Kathy began, but Rose cut her off.

"No! Jack doesn't need this! He wouldn't want it! He loves all of you and wouldn't want you arguing and blaming each other for what had happened, you know he wouldn't! This would break his heart! What he needs right now is love, devotion, and friendship. Not...this! So if you can't get along with each other and not place blame, well then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Well said, Rose," Molly appeared in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, pride clear in her eyes. "You had hit the nail on the head."

"What is going on here?" Ruth appeared behind Molly, holding the twins.

Rose frowned to see the twins there with her mother. She hadn't thought of bringing them to see their father. She didn't know why, but now it seemed like a good idea.

"I brought the twins. I thought that it'd encourage Jack to wake up if he knew that his children missed their daddy," Ruth read and answered the question in Rose's eyes. "Not to mention, Tommy had said his first word today. Jack should hear it."

Rose's eyes widened, dismayed that both her and Jack had missed their son's first words. She watched as Tommy smiled as he saw Jack and pointed at him.

"Dada!" the baby happily exclaimed.

Rose felt tears fill her eyes. Tommy had said the one thing that Jack would have loved to hear and he wasn't awake to hear it. It broke her heart. "Oh my god..."

"Maybe hearing Tommy calling to him will reach Jack. Encourage him to come back to us, huh?" Molly grinned.

"It won't hurt to try," Rose sniffed, wiping away at her tears.

"Dada!" Tommy again exclaimed, pointing at Jack, whose eyes remained tightly closed. "Dada!" Getting no response, the baby began to whimper in disappointment. "Dada"

Tommy began to whimper, not understanding why his beloved daddy wasn't responding to him. His cries were soon joined by his sister's, breaking Rose's heart even more.

"Oh Tommy don't…," Rose begged, her tears increasing. This was worse than she had ever thought it could be. The twins wanted their daddy just as much as she did and it was killing her.

"We'll take the children outside," Molly took Tommy, shushing him as much as she could. She turned to Ruth, who was trying to comfort his sister. "Come along, Ruth. Let's calm the children down and take them home. They're most likely sleepy."

Rose watched them leave before collapsing into a nearby chair, burying her head into her hands. Jack was missing everything. He was going to be heartbroken when he found out that Tommy's first word was Dada and he had missed it. He loved those twins so much...he was a magnificent father. She couldn't ask for a better man to father her children. He had to wake up. Not just for her, but for their children as well.

Eliza nervously stood beside a quiet Maxwell. She felt shame and did indeed blame herself for what had happened. It should be her or Maxwell in that bed, not Jack. "Rose..."

Rose didn't answer. Her mind was far away from Eliza and Maxwell. At that moment, she was imagining what Jack's reaction would have been if he had been awake to hear Tommy's first word. She imagined him scooping the boy up into his arms and laughing, hugging him close and telling Tommy that yes, he was his daddy and he loved him very much. The bond between father and son would solidify as Jack tossed him in the air and playfully tickled him as Rose stood and watched with their daughter in her arms, wondering when she would hear the words mama. It should have been a joyous occasion with laughter and love. Not grief and tears…

Sensing that Rose was in another place at the moment, Maxwell placed a hand on Eliza's arm. "Come on sweetie. I think Rose just needs some time to herself for a while," Carefully he stirred his wife out of the room, leaving her alone with Kathy, who looked at her in concern.

"Rose? Will you be alright?" She carefully asked, prepared if Rose should burst into tears or start yelling or have some other spontaneous reaction.

"I'll be fine. I just need...I need to be alone with Jack."

"Okay. I'll be back to check up on you later. Grandfather sends his love, by the way. He would be here himself, but in his condition...well the doctors thought that it wouldn't be such a good idea."

"I understand. Tell him not to worry. Jack survived the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. He'll survive this too. I know he will," Rose forced a smile, trying to believe her own words. "He wouldn't leave me and the twins. He wouldn't. Besides, why would fate spare him, just to take him away now? Doesn't make any sense."

Kathy sighed, not wanting to get her, nor Rose's hopes up. "Fate is a funny thing, Rose. That's all I can tell ya."

"It is...but is it cruel?" Rose asked, her eyes never leaving Jack.

"For our sake...I sure hope it's not," was the only answer Kathy had to give.