Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Jack watched ruefully as Alice retreated. Why had he reacted so harshly? He knew that such an unfriendly response wasn't like him, and he felt a moment's anguish at the person he was becoming. He couldn't explain it, couldn't remember any other time when he'd felt so bitter and alone. Even after his parents' deaths he had still felt that the world had something to offer him; it was just a matter of finding it. Now it seemed that his future stretched ahead of him, endless years of... what? Emptiness? Loneliness? No wonder he felt bitter.

Briefly, Jack wondered about the man Alice had been searching for. Who was he? Whoever he was, Jack envied him. How wonderful it would be to have someone who was so anxious about your well being that they were searching for you. A wave of longing swept over him. He and Rose could have had that, and so much more, yet it had been cruelly swept away. Sadly, Jack realised that although he had just survived disaster, there wasn't a sole person in the world anxiously awaiting news of his fate.

Jack stared at the untouched food before him without actually seeing it, and unenthusiastically pushed it with a fork. Vaguely, he realised that the ship would dock in New York the next day. He supposed that he would have to come up with some plans- somewhere to go, something to do. The only plan he could think of was to return home to Chippewa Falls. What did it matter anyway, he wondered despondently.

Alice sat down heavily outside Rose's room, trying to postpone her bad news a little longer. Alice knew that her patient was still weak, and she worried about the effect the shattering truth would have upon her. Alice had seen the hope in her eyes earlier that day, and it concerned her now. Rose had seized the slim chance that Jack might have survived and clung onto it, building it up in her mind into something bigger. Alice worried about how she would cope now that her last desperate prayer had been extinguished.

For surely there could be no hope left? Alice had searched every corner of the ship, hunting in the least unlikely places, and nobody had heard of a Jack Dawson, much less seen him aboard Carpathia. She wondered briefly about the young man she had met a few minutes previously on the lower decks. But she firmly put that idea out of her head. If Jack were alive, surely he too would be searching anxiously for Rose. He would never have brushed her away if he was the man she was looking for. Alice knew that she must not share that fleeting thought with Rose. The worst thing she could do right now was to put fanciful thoughts into her head. Painful as it was, Rose needed to accept the truth.

Lost in these thoughts, Alice suddenly felt a presence beside her. Startled at having her privacy interrupted, Alice glanced towards the woman. She was handsome in the way that very wealthy people often are. Her hair was well cut, a rich red colour and turned up stylishly, and her dress bespoke of money and a lifetime devoted to elegance. However, when Alice looked more closely, she noticed that her clothing was torn and creased, and her face tear streaked. Alice judged her to be about 40, although it was difficult to tell as her face was creased and aged, the face of a person who has endured many sorrows and become hardened to life.

Turning towards her, Alice gently touched her arm. "Excuse me, Ma'am, but are you... alright?" Alice hesitated; her words seemed inconsequential in the face of what was obviously an enormous grief.

The woman's sobs only intensified, and Alice fervently wished that she had never got involved. She had seen enough sadness recently. "Can you tell me your name?" Alice asked reluctantly, anxious to help but unsure how to go about doing so. Although she felt uncomfortable, it wasn't in her caring nature to desert someone who was so obviously distressed.

The woman's sobs slowed a little as she whispered "My name is Ruth Dewitt Bukater."