A/N: Sorry about the delay, I was on vacation in Wisconsin. The story is not over, as 16aqua thinks it is. As for how Adrian got to the top before Lark, he was obviously a good climber! Lol and it was also a lot of luck and randomness that caused them to find each other. This is the last chapter and I hope it doesn't sound too rushed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Titanic
Chapter 9
Water rushed into my nose and mouth as I was disoriented and pulled this way and that under the water. All I could see were white foam and bubbles. Adrian was still holding my hand, but we were being dragged downwards into the deep. Then a surge of force pulled him from me and I went tumbling through the water. I could see him blurrily being taken down into the depth.
I tried to reach him, but the lifejacket strapped to me was pulling my body upward. I bobbed up to the surface and coughed out the water in my lungs. Around me the night was filled with screaming voices.
"Adrian!" I yelled, conforming to the crowd. I dived again and tried to find him, but I didn't succeed.
"Lark!" I heard his voice and I frantically looked around to find him.
Abruptly, a man grabbed a hold of me and pushed me down. I coughed and took in water, trying to reach the surface. The man was pushing me down further trying to get leverage for himself in the water.
I punched and kicked him. This was not how I was going to die. Then, I felt the pressure release and I swam to the surface again. I saw Adrian and realized he must have knocked the man off of me. He swam up to me and held me tightly.
"Follow me!" He directed me, and we both swam over to a floating door.
"Get on!" Adrian ordered.
"What about you?" I asked.
"I'll be fine."
"What! Come on you can't stay in this water all night."
We both tried to grab onto the door and pull ourselves up on it, but it kept flipping over. Finally, I got on and Adrian held onto the front of the door.
I looked up at the dark sky and wondered how I had gotten here. This all had happened way too quickly, and now all this destruction. I couldn't comprehend it.
The water lapped at the door and waves rocked us back and forth. Now the screaming and voices were dying down. We all awaited our fate. I hoped someone would find us, there had to be more rescue boats coming.
"Adrian, I love you."
"No Lark, don't you start saying your goodbyes. We are going to get out of this. We'll be found and get on dry land."
"But it's such a large ocean, and we're all drifting apart. How are they going to find us?" I asked, voicing my worries.
"They will." Is all he could say.
I closed my eyes and waited, holding my love's hand. The wood rocked back and forth. I was too tired to lift my head and see where we were drifting.
Something stirred me from my sleep, a noise. What was it? Some sort of motor? It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. The sound grew louder and I raised my head to see what it was. Then a gust of wind blew and I saw a bright spot light shine into my eyes. A helicopter hovered above us.
"Help!" I cried, my voice hoarse and soar, "Help! Help!"
I weakly waved my hands to get their attention. A shiny metal basket was lowered to me and I struggled to get in.
"Come on Adrian." I said as I looked back and saw that he wasn't coming. His eyes were tightly shut and his skin was pale. With all my strength, I lifted him up and pulled him into the basket with me.
"No," I whispered, "Adrian wake up!" I felt his wrist and saw he had a weak pulse. There was still hope. His breathing was very feeble. We were both lifted up into the helicopter and rescue men pulled me away from him and wrapped me in a blanket.
"Wait, he's alive, help him." I tried to tell them."
A man in a wet suit came up to me, "You will be okay. We're going to take you to safety."
"What about Adrian!" I demanded.
The man looked back at the pale boy and the doctors surrounding him. An oxygen mask had already been strapped to his face.
"He's getting help. He'll be okay." The man reassured me.
I stood next to Adrian as the doctors tried to save him. They stabilized him and said that Adrian was very dehydrated and needed to get fluids into him immediately. I bit my lip and worried that he might not survive. One of the rescue workers got my name and I told him Adrian's, he scribbled it on a piece of paper and left.
The helicopter rushed us back to Florida and brought us to a hospital. I sat in the lobby waiting for any news from a doctor. There was a group of people clustered around a sheet of paper and I stood up and went over to go look at it. On it, there was a list of people that had been saved from the Oceanic cruise ship. I scrolled down the list, looking for Alex's name. Nothing, I checked it three times, and still couldn't find it.
A doctor tapped me on the shoulder, he was a middle aged man with dark hair combed back, "Are you the girl that knows Adrian?" He asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Well he's regained consciousness and he should be fine in a day or two."
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, right this way." The doctor led me into a small room. Adrian was lying in a bed with lots of wires attached to him. I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him, I felt so relieved that he was alright.
"Lark," was all that he could say.
"How are you feeling." I asked.
"Tired, we're safe right?"
"Yeah, on dry land. I can't find Alex. I don't know where she is." I sighed, feeling the strain of all that had happened tighten around me.
"Don't worry, she'll be okay. Have you seen my parents?" He asked.
"No, no I haven't."
"Listen, I don't want them to find me. I'm not going back."
"Not going back? But you can't just run away." I tried to explain to him.
"I don't want to live that life. This is my chance to get away. I need you to erase my name from the list." Adrian sat up.
"What! That's crazy. You can't just fake your own death." But I could clearly see that he didn't want to go back. I sighed, "I'll go change your name on the list so they think your dead. Are you sure this is what you want?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Fine." I left the room and walked down the hall, I went up to the list and crossed out his name, I felt bad about doing it but knew Adrian had made up his mind to disown his parents.
As I walked back, I spotted Krissy and quickly ducked into another hallway. She walked past without noticing me. She looked quite different from before. Now her hair and makeup was all ruined and her cloths were dirty. She actually looked human for once.
I returned to Adrian's room and we talked for a while. I got some food to eat and we watched some cable on the cheap television in the room. We made plans to leave the hospital early in the morning the next day. We would leave so Adrian's parents and Krissy wouldn't be able to find us. I had no idea where we would go from there.
It was late at night and I tried to get comfortable on the plastic chairs in the hospital room, I wondered when I would be able to stop running away. I felt a pang of regret for Alex. I had brought her though all this and on the cruise. Now she was missing, or maybe even dead because of me. She was still out there in the water, and I had failed to keep her safe. I tried to close my eyes and forget about it. Sleep took a long time to claim me.
The next day, we rose at five, ate some stale breakfast quickly, and left quietly out a back door and into the parking lot. We made our way through the back parts of the city of Miami and to a bus station. With the few change in our pockets, we got onto the grimy bus and left.
Epilogue
With barely any money and just the cloths on our backs, we traveled out of Florida, working for low pay and harsh hours. Sometimes, I wonder why Adrian chose to live this life instead of the easy, wealthy one he could have had, but he never complains.
I realize that I am so lucky to have met Adrian and our love is strong. He chose me over money. Why?
I never did hear of my best friend again. I don't know if Alex escaped or if she died. Everyday, I grieve for her. What if I had never dragged her into this? She might still be alive.
I am so thankful for the life I have, even if it may not be easy. I'm just glad that my life had been spared and Adrian's also. The sinking of Oceanic changed me. It caused me to develop a new perspective on life and what's important. I don't worry about the little things anymore.
Now Adrian and I go stargazing everyday. We look up at the sky and think of all the things we've been through and the new adventures to come.
A/N: Thank you all for reviewing; this was a fun story to write! There probably won't be a sequel, but who knows. I usually don't like doing sequels. So Adrian is alive! Don't forget the water isn't cold in the Gulf. Thanks again for all the reviews! U guys rock! Chinchillas are friends not furs!
TheEvilTrafficCone Out!
P.S. There was a cruise ship called Oceago that also sunk in the Caribbean and I thought that was a coincidence. No one died though.
