AN: Wahoo! Only a few chapters left to go and this story will be finished before Christmas Day. Hope you guys enjoy this one.
Christmas Eve
Her throat and tongue both felt like sandpaper, and she had to swallow several times and run her tongue through her mouth to stop it from feeling so dry. Then, blue eyes snapped open in the greeny gloom that a room is when the curtains are closed, and Sapphire Stone sat up in bed. She sat there for a few minutes, before a massive grin spread her cheeks apart.
It's Christmas Eve! She shouted in her mind, and looked at the big clock on the wall to see what the time was. The face read ten past eight, and she quickly did the math in her head.
"Fifteen hours and fifty minutes to go, and then it'll be Christmas Day," she said excitedly to herself as she threw back the thick green duvet on her four poster bed. She grinned as she had a quick wash, finding some vanilla scented soap and pine-shaped bottles of shampoo and conditioner. A lovely fresh scent of gingerbread filled the bathroom, and her stomach rumbled.
I didn't eat that much yesterday, what with the show and all, she thought knowingly with a little smile as she clambered out of the cubical, a green towel wrapped around her waist and a white one wrapped around her hair. A cloud of steam greeted her, and she emerged from it, coughing a little. Before she left the bathroom, she turned on the fan to de-steam it.
"Right, what am I going to wear today?" She mused aloud and turned her gaze to her wardrobe and drawers. After some thought, she decided on a purple shirt and matching jumper, with a pair of thick black pants. Pulling on some boots, she whistled happily as she left the room.
Several passengers saw her and said nice things like "Great job," "You were amazing," or even "Merry almost Christmas." She smiled and thanked them all, and returned their kind holiday greetings on her way to breakfast. Molly waved to her from a table where she was sitting with Philip Dussel and Thomas Andrews.
"Good morning, Molly, and gents," she smiled as she joined them. Molly laughed, and pointed up above her head. Sapphire looked up and spotted the mistletoe, before she turned a brilliant shade of scarlet.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly," she began, but broke off as Molly smacked a kiss on Thomas' face.
"Go on, darlin'," She laughed again, and Sapphire looked pleadingly at Philip, for him to say that she didn't have to. It would have been highly inappropriate, seeing as he taught her music at school.
Seeing the look in her eyes, he nodded in understanding, and gave her a hug instead.
"What, no kiss?" Chuckled Molly.
"Sorry, Molly, but he's my music teacher. It would have been highly inappropriate," she explained.
"Oh, I see," Molly nodded, just as the stewards popped around with pots of tea.
"Ooo, this looks nice," Sapphire said taking a sip as one filled her cup, and very quickly did she find out what it was. It was boysenberry tea, and Sapphire was allergic to boysenberries. She could feel her tongue start to swell, and her eyes began to bulge.
"Are you alright, Sapphire?" Thomas asked, seeing how red her face was. She shook her head, and pointed to the tea.
They all looked, and seeing that it was raspberry, her uncle turned to a steward at another table and demanded an EpiPen straight away, as Sapphire's red face started going blue.
Philip jumped up, hauled the very ill teen out of her seat, and lay her on the ground, knowing that she'd be going into anaphylactic shock, and he had to keep her breathing.
Fortunately, several other diners saw what was going on, and about ten rushed over with an EpiPen in their hands. Philip grabbed one, and stabbed it rather painfully into Sapphire's thigh.
"Is she okay?" Asked a panicked voice, and Philip looked up to see Sapphire's father in front of him, tears streaming down his face.
"She'll be fine, but to on the safe side, we'll take her to the medical bay," Thomas said with a gentle smile.
"Thank the Lord. I don't want to loose my child on Christmas Eve," he said, looking at his daughter, whose face was slowly turning back into a normal colour.
Soon after they had taken Sapphire down to the medical bay, Olivia wearing a dark blue skirt and black shirt reading "Happy Holidays," appeared.
"Hello, everyone," she greeted them pleasantly, and they all nodded at her.
"Hey," they all greeted her, and Olivia looked around for Sapphire. Molly, who could guess what she was doing, said, "She's in hospital."
Olivia gasped. "My word! Is she alright?" She asked.
"Anaphylactic shock, but we managed to get our hands on an EpiPen," Philip said gratefully.
"Anaphylactic shock? That's bad," Olivia said, and the others nodded.
"She should be okay, though," he said, and offered to take her down to the medical bay.
Like all medical bays, medicines of all kinds adorned the walls, as well as instruments, and there were a few beds as well. On one of these beds, Sapphire lay still. She was breathing, and her face was nearly back to its normal colour.
The doctor (a human, not a Time Lord) smiled at them. "She'll be just fine," he assured them warmly. "Though I am a little surprised that they didn't know that she was so highly allergic, even if it was in the form of tea."
A croak interrupted them. "It just smelled fruity, but not like boysenberries," Sapphire wheezed.
"Didn't you think to ask?" Olivia said gently.
"No, and that silly mistake nearly cost me my life," she wheezed.
"Try not to talk, Miss Stone," the doctor said gently. "Do you think you could keep some food down?" He said, and she nodded.
He handed her a plate of toast with honey and a steaming cup of ordinary tea, and after promising to be back later, Olivia and Philip left.
PAGE BREAK
At Midday, after a delicious bowl of chicken noddle soup and garlic bread, Doctor O'Loughlin, a lovely Irish bloke, gave Sapphire one last check-up, and told her that she was fine to leave, but to take it easy for the day.
"I don't need you having a relapse, lassie," he told her with a smile.
She thanked him heartily, and took the elevator up to First Class, humming "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," as she did so. Then she thought for a little while about Doctor O'Loughlin, trying to remember what had happened to him. She hadn't known much about him, only that he was an Irish Surgeon, who was an orphan. After some thought, she came to the conclusion that he must've died that night in her world all those years ago in 1912.
She told the others that she was now okay, and that she'd be fine, so she spent the afternoon singing Christmas Carols with her siblings, parents, Philip, Thomas, and Olivia, until some had to pull out from singing the night before.
"What was your favourite act, guys?" She asked, and they all got into yet another discussion about the show. It turned out that the overall favourites were the trio and the finale.
"Yeah, both songs are pretty cool," Sapphire agreed, before turning to Thomas.
"Uncle Andy?" She asked.
"Yes, my dear?" He responded.
"What do the passengers of Titanic do to celebrate Christmas Eve, provided that they do celebrate Christmas?"
"Well, we do quite a bit after dinner. We do Christmas Mad-Libs, we go caroling around the ship, we play games, put out biscuits and some kind of drink for Santa Claus, read "The Night Before Christmas,"and then go to bed. Then, during the night, Santa comes along, fills the stockings, and we have a wonderful day tomorrow," he grinned at her.
Dinner that evening was a three course meal, with no starter. After dinner, Thomas and Harry, the Fifth Officer, handed to each table a list of words. It asked for:
Adjective
Person/Place/Thing (Plural)
A way to say "Good bye"
A Person
Thing
Adverb
Thing
Person
Verb
Thing
Sapphire was sitting with her family, Molly, Philip, and Madeline Astor, and they filled it out.
"How about "ambidextrous?" Sapphire asked, a word which here means "Being both left and right handed."
"That's a good one," Her mother praised, as Alice suggested "Cars" for the next one.
"Auf Widersehen," Philip said.
"Where are you going?" Madeline asked him.
"I'm not going anywhere, it's asking for a way to say "Good bye," he explained.
"Hmm, what about "Madeline?"" Felix nodded at her, and she smiled.
The words "Felix," "tree" "nitroglycerin" "pray," "sneakily" and "egg" were added, and this was the story that they ended up with:
Dear Manager of nitroglycerin Wagon,
I noticed that you had a Christmas egg for sale two months before Thanksgiving. I'm writing to tell you that this makes me upset. I love Christmas as much as Madeline loves cars, but I have to draw the line somewhere. All this commercialism of Christmas makes me want to pray sneakily. Please take down that display and replace it with a ambidextrous tree like you used to have.
Auf Widersehen,
Felix
Everyone chuckled at it, and got a good laugh. After that, the stewards handed around plates of shortbread biscuits in different Christmas-themed shapes. Olvia and Sapphire both had a pale pink iced star, Philip, Felix, and Madeline had different coloured candy canes, Alice had a Santa hat, and the others munched on Christmas trees. Then, for those who wanted to, they had to run down three corridors belting out the lyrics to a Christmas song of their choice. Like some caroling experiences, this was done for charity. Passengers still in their rooms would run after the singers, singing along and putting in money to donate to a charity if they wanted to.
Philip went first, and he ran down all three corridors with about nine other passengers singing "Away In A Manger." The Stones and Olivia did the run, singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and had eleven others behind them. By the time they reached the last room on the ship, but had stayed out of the crews quarters, the hallways were as crowded as they had been when the ship was sinking in the film.
They managed to raise a few thousand dollars and pounds, in varied currencies around the globe, and then had a night of games until about quarter to nine.
Copies of "The Night Before Christmas" were given out to passengers who wanted one, and as a Stone family tradition, Sapphire and her family sat together with Philip, and the story was read out.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!
Mrs Stone finished reading it, her children embraced her, their father, Philip, Thomas, and Olivia, not to mention each other before they headed off to bed.
As Sapphire snuggled down between the sheets, she grinned. It had been a pretty good day, even though her nearly dying at breakfast could have been and should have been avoided.
She rolled over in bed, all comfy and warm
It was getting quite late, she thought with a yawn
As she closed her eyes tight, she said filled with light
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
AN: Next one coming soon :)