A/N: I know nothing about ships and all the technology used in them or anything about the layout of a ship so for this chapter I referred to the script for a little dialogue and scene locations but everything else that's extra like mannerisms, thoughts, etc. are mine!
Thomas continued to draw his Rose and filled a few more pages. Just as he signed and dated the last drawing he felt a tremor beneath him. He looked up to see the chandelier shake just so and his heart sank. He knew, he just knew something was amiss.
Rose awoke to Thomas hastily buttoning his shirt and reaching for his shoes. "Thomas? What is the matter?"
"Something has happened, darling. I'm not sure what as of yet but I need to see the captain immediately. He stood and reached for his coat and then checked his pocket watch. 11:42. Whatever had happened, it had only been a few minutes but he had to act quickly. "I need you to get dressed but please wait here until I come back for you."
Rose could see the frantic, worried look in his eyes and only nodded. She watched him leave out of the door in a haste, blueprints clutched tightly in his hand, and felt dread to spread through her. If Thomas was worried then something had to be wrong. She dressed quickly, not knowing when he would return for her. She paced the room several times, stopped to check in on Lissie and finding the child sleeping soundly, she began to pace again. She stopped and decided to pour a glass of whiskey, hoping it would settle her nerves. She sat down on the settee and sipped at the warming alcohol. She noticed that Thomas's book had been moved. She opened it and skimmed till she came across a new set of drawings and blushed profusely though she was alone in the room.
There she was on the paper, her perfect likeness in charcoals dozing away naked and half covered, the massive diamond at her neck but downplayed as if added as afterthought on his behalf, his focus solely on her body. It was breathtaking really, to see herself this way, in the way he saw her. Rose knew she was conventionally attractive, and that many deemed her beautiful for her fiery hair and oceanic eyes but to see herself like this, even in black and white, she felt more beautiful than all the models in Milan combined.
Thomas met Captain Smith on his way to the Bridge. "I thought I might find you in your cabin, Andrews."
"I felt the shudder. What is it, what's happened?" Thomas asked anxiously.
By the ashen pallor the Captain's face had taken on, the news could be nothing short of disastrous. "Iceberg. Black ice, by the time it was spotted it was too late to steer Her completely out of harm's way. Murdoch put her hard to starboard and ran the engines astern but She was already too close. He tried to port it but She hit anyway."
All anxious feeling was gone, replaced now by dread and hopelessness. "The emergency doors?"
"Closed."
Thomas nodded gravely and both men hastily made their way to the Bridge. When they reached the chartroom, Captain Smith immediately went to the commutator and studied it a moment before turning to Thomas, "A five degree list in less than ten minutes."
Hutchinson, the ship's carpenter, rushed into the room, winded and unnerved. "She's making water fast…" he took a deep breath before continuing, "in the forepeak and the forward holds, and in boiler room six."
Thomas needed to see the water for himself, and soon if Hutchinson was correct in his assessment. He needed to know how well the ship was holding up against the water or, if She wasn't, calculate how long they had until She sank.
He was about to voice this need but was prevented from doing so by Ismay storming in. "Why have we stopped?" the arrogant man huffed and Thomas noticed the expression of annoyance Captain Smith now wore.
"We've struck ice." Smith answered before looking to Thomas. They expected the ship owner to begin worrying over his assets before he even bothered with the details. They were not disappointed.
"Well, do you think the ship is seriously damaged?"
Thomas barely held his anger in check. 'Over 2000 souls at risk here and get gives no thought to them, only himself!' he fumed internally. He noticed the scoul Smith wore deepen. With a mildly pleading look, Thomas nodded in the direction of the door and was relieved when the Captain began to move toward it.
"Excuse me." Captain Smith pushed past the man, Hutchinson and Thomas moved to follow him out.
The trio hurried down the outer stairs from the Bridge to B-Deck.
"Can you shore up?" the Captain asks Hutchinson.
"Not unless the pumps get ahead." his grim reply only served to worsen the overall dread Thomas felt.
They continued down into the well deck and the lower they went, the more Thomas worried about Rose and Lissie. If the worst were true, if the ship was sinking, he would never see them again after tonight. He was pulled from his inner turmoil by the commotion they came upon in the Mail Sorting Room.
Mail clerks were running about, pulling dry mail off shelves and dragging soaking wet sacks of mail from the hold below.
Thomas pushed past everyone else and climbed partially down the stairs leading to the hold. The water had nearly filled the entire room and was only rising higher. Mail bags floated by him but he paid them little attention. What did mail matter in a disaster? He was minutely amazed at seeing the lights still functioning under water. They cast a ghostly glow over the cargo below, trunks full of clothing and personal possessions, the Renault glinting like lost treasure. 'I'm sure it will be' he thought sadly. A sudden chilling cold engulfed his toes as the water level reached him. Panicking slightly he scrambled up the stairs.
"Andrews?"
He looked to Captain Smith and Hutchinson and shook his head wearily before rushing back to the Bridge, the others in toe.
As soon as he reached the chartroom and his blue prints, Thomas unrolled them all until he found the one he was looking for. He spread the side elevation blueprint across the table with shaking hands. He noticed Smith beside him and Hutchinson close by but did not register Ismay hovering about until the man spoke.
"When can we get underway, do you think?"
The Captain shot him a silencing glare but turned back to the table when Thomas tapped his drawings. "Water 14 feet above the keel in ten minutes… in the forepeak… in all three holds… and in the boiler room six." his hand moved from room to room on the blueprint, indicating the flooded compartments.
Smith nodded "That's right."
Thomas sighed. "Five compartments. She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached. But not five." His heart broke, "Not five. As she goes down by the head, the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads, at E-Deck. From one to the next, back and back." Hopeless, it was all hopeless. "There's no stopping it." Thomas saw his future fading and could do nothing to recover it.
Shaken, Captain Smith grasped at solutions "The pumps-"
Thomas interrupted him before the thought can even be finished. "The pumps buy you time… but minutes only. From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will flounder." he wanted to weep.
"But this ship can't sink!" Ismay sputtered. As if simply him saying those words would erase the whole debacle.
Exasperated, Thomas turned on the man. "She is made of iron, sir. I assure you she can. And she will. It is a mathematical certainty."
Smith, who looked both terrified and slightly ill, asked the one question they all need answered but couldn't bear to hear. "How much time?"
Without missing a beat Thomas answered him. "An hour. Two at the most."
Ismay paled but no one paid mind to him.
"And how many aboard, Mr. Murdoch?" the Captain knew but wanted to bring it to the owners attention. That it's not just his ship that will be lost, that people who are living and breathing right then will be dead in just a few short hours or less.
"Two thousand two hundred, sir." Murdoch answered gravely.
After a moment Smith turned to his employer who was still white as a sheet but rather obviously unnerved by added details. "I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Ismay."
Thomas set to work immediately, issuing commands and orders on how everything needed to be done and quickly. Outside, the men scurried about to prepare the boats. Having never been through a boat drill with the new davits, they struggled to set up the lifeboats.
"Turn to the right! Pull the falls out before you unchock!" Thomas yelled.
The steaming funnels overhead were deafening but the panic stricken crew barely noticed. Thomas checked his pocket watch and decided the men had it figured out enough that he could leave them on their own for now. He had to focus on getting his lover, his daughter, and his wife off his ship - his beautiful, doomed creation - before it was too late.
The sound of the stateroom door unlocking broke Rose's reverie and brought her back to reality. Thomas stepped through looking pale and more worried than when he left her. Positively hopeless, really. Rose didn't have the chance to say or do anything as he immediately crushed her in an embrace. She noticed he was shaking and held tight to him in an effort to offer comfort.
"She's sinking." his voice broke as a sob wracked his body. His emotions gave way like a dam burst, everything he had kept in check since feeling Titanic's mortal wound shudder down to his soul. "I've failed you my young Rose. I promised you a good, strong ship but she's done for." his head dropped to her shoulder, warm tears soaking the shoulder of her gown.
Rose's heart plummeted. "Are you certain?" he didn't answer immediately so she continued to hold him, fingers moving to comb through his hair until his shaking subsided.
He pulled away and held her at arm's length. He nodded, "Yes. In an hour or so... all this…" he gestured around the grand suite, "will be at the bottom of the Atlantic."
Rose felt as though the air had been knocked from her lungs. Her eyes welled with tears and a lump formed in her throat. Hands shaking, she gripped his arm as she swayed where she stood.
Thomas steadied her and held on, knowing the news to come would only hit her harder. "Rose, darling, listen. Go and find your mother. Take her and get to the lifeboats as soon as you can." he looked at her grimly, "You remember what I said about the boats?"
"All those poor souls. Oh Thomas!" He pulled her tight, allowing her this brief moment to weep. So many people would be lost tonight if help did not arrive, which he very much doubted.
"Rose, we have to move. I have to start getting people off this ship."
"What about Lissie?" she looked to the door, instincts telling her to run to the child.
"I will wake Helen and have her take Lissie to a lifeboat."
Rose looked back to him then, "What about you?"
He sighed wearily. "Rose, they will only be taking women and children first, there may not be any lifeboats left." he knew there wouldn't be. He had no hope of surviving this disaster.
"Won't you even try for it?" she whispered.
He dropped his head in sorrow. "I'm sorry that I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Rose." This was likely the last moment he would have with her, his Rose. Overcome with a wave of anguish, Thomas gathered her up in a tight embrace, crushing her lips with his. He wanted a lifetime of love with her but that lifetime was now cut short. He was determined to see her live on without him, but wanted her to always know just how much he loved her.
His practical side took over and he broke the kiss. He moved to the table and took up the book she'd abandoned and placed it in her hands. "I want you to have this. I'm not sure if you'll ever see Lissie again if I don't make it. I will tell Helen to look for you after. But just incase… I want you to have these. To give you some comfort."
Tears still streaming, Rose nodded and took the book. Thomas turned to the wardrobe and retrieved his his heaviest wool coat. He knew lady's did not spend much time in the elements and her coats, even fur, would likely not be effective against the freezing temperatures outside. He helped her in to it and buttoned down the front over her gown.
Rose choked back a sob and kissed him one last time, almost with reverence. She turned to go, book clutched to her chest.
Thomas sought out the thickest blanket he could find in his room and grabbed Rose's abandoned fur coat before making his way to the nursery. He scooped up his daughter gently and, for just a moment, held her close. Would she remember him when she was older? Would Helen tell her about him, show her photographs of them together? Would she speak fondly of him to Lissie, tell her how much he loved her? He was certain Rose would, given the chance. He wrapped her snuggly in Rose's coat and then bundled her tightly in the blanket to further insulate her against the cold to come. Lissie hadn't yet stirred but he knew the eminent uproar the panic was sure to cause would soon wake her.
"Helen, please wake up."
She immediately stirred and looked to him blearily. "Thomas? Is something the matter?" she saw Lissie bundled in his arms and the dread in his eyes. Terror ran through her like ice water.
"Titanic, she's sinking, and rapidly. Get dressed, we need to move." she jumped into action and he took Lissie back to his room while she changed. He sought out another warm coat for Helen and passed it to her when she arrived to his room. Once she had it on and secured, they left the rooms to head to the toward the lifeboats.
A/N: To faithful few who read this story I want to apologize for taking FOREVER to update! I have been busy trudging through the veritable swamp that is purchasing land and a home! But fiddle-dee-dee! It's all mine now! Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this chapter though honestly enjoy isn't quite the word that comes to mind! I have the next 2 chapters written down, just have to type them up!
Much love,
Nanahbelle