Chapter Five

Rose was now sitting on her bed, trying to get herself to eat the food Annie had brought for her earlier, but she just couldn't convince herself to eat. Giving up, Rose placed the tray on the small table, as she shifted to a more comfortable position, as she just kept glancing over at Jack, who was still unconscious. Rose sighed, as she prayed that Jack would wake up soon. Rose didn't know what to do if Jack never woke up. She knew she'd be heartbroken and hurt, but if he didn't wake up, she had to keep her promise. Just as she was about to get up, she heard a few people mumbling to themselves. Rose turned around to see what all the commotion was about, and there she saw a person who she never expected to see again.

There, Rose saw her mother looking around, probably for her. She was wearing the same dress she had worn the day the ship sank. Rose's heart began beating rapidly, fearing that her mother would force her to go back to Cal, despite that she already told Cal that the engagement was off, once and for all. She saw her mother looking at her direction and a smile appeared on her lips, and tears glistened in her eyes. Rose noticed her mother walk towards her with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh, Rose!" Ruth said, as she brought her daughter into a hug. Rose was surprised, because her mother hardly ever hugged her. Slowly and reluctantly, she hugged her back, fearing of what she's going to hear from her mother. "I thought I lost you." Ruth said, looking into her daughter's eyes.

"Mother, I..." Rose began.

"Rose, you don't need to explain." Ruth said. "Mr. Hockley explained everything." Rose looked down, afraid if her mother was going to be upset with her, for what she has done.

"I'm sorry." Rose said. "I didn't mean to do this to you, but I don't love Cal...I love Jack." Rose turned her head, to face a motionless Jack. Ruth followed her gaze, and sighed.

Ruth saw how pale and motionless Jack was. His chest was rising and falling, everything he took a breath, and blankets covered his whole body, only leaving his head free. His hair fell on his closed eyes as his head was turned sideways, as if he was staring at Rose. If it weren't for his breathing, Ruth would've thought that he was dead. She then turned her attention back to Rose, who was staring at Jack with sorrowful eyes. Ruth grasped onto Rose's hand gently as she saw her daughter turn her head and faced her. Ruth gave her a small smile.

"I know you do." Ruth said. "And I...I'm glad that you found someone who would care for you...I'm sorry for forcing you to get engaged to Cal. At first I thought he was a true gentleman, that he would take good care of you, so that you wouldn't go hungry or tired. Cal explained to me a while ago, that he wasn't as loyal to you and I thought he did." Ruth said. Rose looked at her mother, then down at her hands. "Rose, after I heard that, I knew I had to go to you. I couldn't just watch you leave before I said goodbye." Rose suddenly looked up.

"Goodbye?" Rose asked, surprised. Ruth nodded.

"Well, it's better for me to leave you now." Ruth said. "I ruined you life and I know you wouldn't want for me to stay with you."

"But mother, you don't understand." Rose said. "I do want you to stay with me. Even though you made my adolescent years a misery, I still love you. You're my mother. I understand that you wanted us to live in the upper class world, and I understand that you wanted me to marry someone of high quality, but that didn't stop me from loving you." Tears welled up in Rose's eyes as she was saying this. She loved her mother with all her heart, and despite for what her mother did to her, she couldn't just let her mother walk out of her life forever. "There's a nurse here, whom I became friends with. She lives in New York in an apartment. If there is an apartment available for renting, I...Jack and I, would love it if you joined us." Rose said, looking into her mother's eyes.

"Oh, Rose." Ruth said, bringing her daughter into a tight hug. "I would love to." Rose hugged her mother back as tears fell down her cheek.

Annie was carrying a couple of blankets for the survivors, when she found Rose hugging a middle-aged first class woman. She also noticed that Rose hadn't touched her food. Sighing, Annie made her way towards Rose, putting the blankets down on a small table, beside the tray.

"Rose, you have to eat your food. I don't want you to end up fainting." Annie commented, watching as Rose broke away from the hug. She smiled.

"Annie, I would like for you to meet my mother, Ruth DeWitt-Bukater. Mother, this is Annabelle Johnson, the nurse I was talking about." Rose said. Ruth smiled and held out her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Johnson." Ruth said.

"Pleasure is all mine." Annie said, shaking the woman's hand. "But please call me Annie."

"I hear that you became friends with my daughter." Ruth said, smiling.

"Yes, we became friends. There's just something about Rose that made me know that she's a very trusting person." Annie said.

"She is a trusting person." Ruth said. Rose smiled.

"Uh, Rose." Annie said. "You haven't touched your food." Rose looked at tray that was on a small table and sighed.

"I'm too worried to eat." Rose said.

"Worried about what, dear?" Ruth asked. Rose glanced at Jack.

"Worried that Jack won't ever wake up." Rose said, as tears glistened in her eyes.

"Rose, he's going to wake up." Ruth assured her daughter. "I assure you. I know he wouldn't leave you now. Not after what you two have been through." Rose looked at her mother and smiled sadly. Ruth brought her into a tight hug.

"So, his name is Jack?" Annie asked. Rose looked up at her, after she hugged her mother, and nodded.

"Jack Dawson." Rose said, staring at Jack's still motionless body. She really hoped that he woke up soon so she could stare into his piercing blue eyes. "I just hope that he wakes up soon. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him." Rose said, as tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Rose." Ruth said, as she hugged her daughter once again. "Don't cry. Please, don't cry. "Ruth said, comforting Rose. "If you cry, you're going to make me cry." Rose wiped her tears away, as she tried to smile. Rose suddenly felt another pair of arms go around her shoulders, and she noticed that Annie had hugged her. Rose smiled and hugged her back.

"Thank you for helping me, Annie." Rose said, as she hugged her back.

"No problem. You need a friend right now." Annie said as she sat beside her. "And I'm your friend. I want you to know that. If you ever need me, just call my name and I'll be there." Rose smiled and hugged her once again.

"I never had a true friend." Rose admitted as tears fell down her cheeks. "And I'm sure glad that I finally found one."

"Me too, Rose. Me too." Annie said, hugging her back. She then got up. "Well, I have to go back to my voluntary job. Have to put more blankets to the survivors who have hypothermia and stuff like that. I'll be able to talk to you later tonight, okay Rose?" Annie said as she took the blankets from the table and left Rose and her mother alone.

"She's such a sweet girl." Ruth said, as she watched Annie put more blankets on survivors.

"She is." Rose agreed, smiling. Rose then looked at her mother. "Mother, I love you. I always have. To me, you're the loving mother any girl could ever want. I know what you did to me the past few years was out of love, and I was willing to make you happy. But Cal, he...he'll never make me happy, the way Jack does. I just hope that you understand that." Rose said, hoping that she didn't get her mother upset. Rose looked up and found her mother smiling.

"Rose, I know you love Jack. I knew you loved Jack when we were at the first class dinner aboard the ship. I just didn't want to believe it, that's all." Ruth said, holding her daughter's hand. "But now, I truly believe it. I truly believe that Jack is the right man for you. And I want to see you two happy." Rose smiled and hugged her mother. For the first time, since her engagement to Cal, Rose felt loved by her mother. And for the first time, since then, her mother had changed. Ruth wasn't the person who wanted her daughter to marry a rich man anymore. Her mother now, wanted her to marry who she really loved, and her one true love was Jack Dawson. She couldn't love anyone more than she loved Jack. And she hoped that he would wake up soon so she could finally see a smile on his face and his blue eyes shining in happiness.

A/N: How did you like this chapter? I made Ruth DeWitt-Bukater a nice person, and not the mean lady she was in the movie. I wanted her to be more of a caring, loving mother to her daughter. So, please tell me what you think...and review!!!