Chapter 26: Awake
The world is quiet here. Everything is warm, everything is still.
Emma rolls over and her eyes open. She is greeted by the warm sunlight in an open window. She embraces the feeling and sighs contently. Is she dead? Is this heaven? It certainly feels like it.
"She's awake! By god she's awake!" someone hollers, practically giving Emma a heart attack.
Emma sits up in a shock and lets her eyes adjust to her surroundings. The room is pale and white. She's laying in a strange bed, dressed in a white gown. She turns her head and her arm explodes in pain. She gasps as everything comes back to her in a rush of memories. She looks down to see her sore arm is in a sling and her other arm injected with an IV tube. Her body appears thinner and slightly shaky, as if unstable and wobbly. How long has she been asleep?
A doctor comes in.
"Goodness, you are awake," he says. "I thought the nurse was making things up."
"Y-Yes, I am, but where am I?" Emma asks.
"New York City General Hospital."
"New York City?!" Emma gasps.
"Yes, you were one of the survivors of the Titanic disaster."
"How? Where?"
"The Carpathia brought all the survivors to New York…"
"Survivors, Where's Peter and Sybil?"
"Who?" the doctor says in confusion.
"My husband and little sister, they were survivors! Are they here too?"
"I'm afraid I don't know who they are. Can you settle down please, I must check to make sure you are not injured anywhere else."
The doctor begins to check Emma over. Emma sits anxiously, trying to process everything going on around her.
"You are one lucky girl," the doctor says as he rotates her head to check for any head or spinal injuries. "The doctor on the ship said you were not likely to survive, but you did."
"What do you mean?"
"You were allegedly bleeding and hardly conscious when you were brought aboard the ship. You were suffering from hypothermia and significant blood loss. The doctor on the ship could not do anything to remove the bullet, but you were still breathing, so they wrapped the wound up and kept you hydrated and warm until the ship pulled into port. They then handed you over to me. I finally got a good look at you. The bullet wound you received was lodged in your shoulder, preventing any further bleeding and the cold froze your dress to it, creating a sort of clot to protect it."
"Is it still there?" Emma asks, looking at her arm in the sling.
"No, my surgeons were able to remove it and we've been treating it to prevent any infection. I also say you were lucky because the bullet missed any of your major veins and arteries, it did, however, sever a nerve in your arm."
Emma gasps, showing the doctor her worried face.
"It is still usable; it is just some of the feelings will be gone in your arm. We're hoping the nerve will heal a little bit. That is why you are in a sling, giving your shoulder a chance to heal properly"
The doctor takes off her sling and pulls her gown down slightly, so she can see the scar. There is stitching where the surgeons made the incision remove the bullet and the rest is wrapped in gauze. The wound seems to be healing well, too well for just coming off the ship.
"How long have I been out?"
"Approximately three weeks."
"THREE WEEKS?!" Emma says in shock. "Has anyone come looking for me? What's been happening all this time?!"
"Calm down child, it is not that much time. You are one of the lucky few who regained consciousness."
"Do you know why no one has come looking for me?" Emma asks.
"Well, you had no identity on you when you were brought in so we were calling you Titanic Jane Doe number 3."
"3, there are others like me?"
"Only a few, some John Does too, all of whom have no identity, but are still alive."
"Why did you keep us alive?" Emma mumbles.
"Why child!" the doctor says in horror. "Every human life is worth being saved. We were not going to give up on you or anyone else, that is what doctors are sworn to do."
"I'm sorry," Emma says. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm just confused."
"As you would be," the doctor says sympathetically. "Fortunately, you being unconscious has allowed your arm to begin healing and your body to recover from hypothermia."
"That's a silver lining I guess," Emma mutters.
"I'll have the nurses bring you something to eat, I'm sure you are starving."
Emma has to admit to herself that she does feel quite empty, her stomach especially. She still can't believe that she has been out that long. Why hadn't Peter come looking for her? What about Rose and Jack, were they one of the John and Jane Does? Had the survived at all?
Emma looks beside her, and she sees her belongings laying next to her. Her mother's wedding dress hangs on a hook nearby, the right shoulder is covered in dried blood. she sees her mother's heirloom comb on her bedside table. She reaches over with her good arm, dragging the IV with it, and holds it in her hand. It is slightly bent from her using it to pick the lock at the dividing gate and one of the jewels is missing, but it is still the same from when she left it. It looks like it has been polished and well kept by one of hospital staff. The family vow on the comb, still visible. She sees the officer's coat hanging on a hook next to the wedding dress. She begins to tear up, the selfless act of one officer on that ship saved her life, well it was a few contributing factors, by the officer gave her his jacket so she would not freeze to death in the water. She wonders if the officer made it, which was unlikely. She wiped her eyes as the doctor comes back with some papers and a nurse comes in with a tray of warm food. Emma's stomach growls and she puts the heirloom down.
"Thank you," Emma says. The nurse smiles and leaves the doctor with her.
Emma begins to test out her right arm. It hurts to move it, but she's always been right-handed. She's used them for everything.
"Please don't do that right now," the doctor says. "Your arm is still healing."
"Okay," Emma nods and uses her left hand to use the spoon to scoop up her warm soup.
"Pace yourself, child," the doctor warns. "Your stomach will have to get used to digesting again since you've only had the IV to feed you."
Emma nods. She takes a small sip of soup. The warmth of the food fills her right up and her body seems to come right back to life. She feels a bit of her strength come back and her stomach seems to thank her for feeding it again.
The doctor does some more tests on her while she eats, mostly testing her arm and injecting her with a clear solution that is supposed to keep her wound from being infected.
"Once your body is well nourished and hydrated you will heal even faster," the doctor reassures her.
"How long do you think I need to be in the hospital doctor?" Emma asks.
"We'd like to hold you for another week or so, make sure there are no further complications and then you will be free to go. Do you have someone who can help you for the next little while as your arm heals?"
"I'm working on that," Emma says. "Do you have a telephone I could use in the future?"
"Yes, but for now try and rest a little bit."
"All right," Emma says.
"Before I leave, can you tell me your name, so we don't call you Jane Doe anymore."
"I'm Emma Carson-Whitman."
…
The following day, Emma tries reaching her home. She's upset when no one answers.
"Where's Peter?" Emma asks herself. "I thought he'd be home by now…"
She then calls her father's office.
"Hello?" a voice answers.
"Mr. Jamieson?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"It's Emma Carson,"
"E-Emma Carson?!" Mr. Jamieson gasps.
"Yes, it's me."
"We thought you went down with the Titanic."
"Well, I'm alive and I'm in New York, I'm in a hospital recovering from some of the wounds I received during the sinking."
"I can't believe this, you're alive! The company will be saved and everything will not be sold!" Mr. Jamieson hollers. He then yells into the office, "Hey everyone, Ms. Carson is alive, she survived!" There are sounds of cheering on the other end.
Does everyone think I'm dead? Emma thinks. She nearly drops the phone. That's why Peter hasn't been looking for me, he thinks I'm dead!
"Ms. Carson you have no idea how happy everyone is…"
"I can hear, Mr. Jamieson, tell me has Peter Whitman been into the office yet?"
"No ma 'me, we haven't heard a thing from him or anyone involved with your sister. "
"Well, they are alive, they were lucky enough to escape in a lifeboat. So nothing at all, not even a phone call. Have you tried reaching him?"
"We have Ms. Carson, but we do not know where he could be in this large city. In fact, we've heard nothing about you or anyone for the past three weeks. And we've heard nothing from him, but we are looking forward to you coming back…"
"That's the thing, Mr. Jamieson, I'm going to need someone to come and get me, you see my arm was injured in the sinking and I am unable to drive or care for myself very well until it heals completely."
"Ah, I see," Mr. Jamieson says. "When will you be discharged?"
"In about a week," Emma says.
"That's good, why don't you give me the address and I will bring over some of the paperwork to prevent the selling of your father's… excuse me, your company,"
"All right…" Emma sighs. She tells him where and then hangs up the phone.
She looks down at her hand, where her engagement ring has managed to stay all this time. She starts to wonder where Peter might've gone and where he would have taken her sister.
…
The next week is filled with paperwork that Mr. Jamieson brings by the truckload for Emma to read and sign. She is annoyed by this, but it beats having to lie in bed all day. When Mr. Jamieson came to greet her, he gave her a hug, so happy to see the child alive.
Mr. Jamieson was an old family friend whom Emma had known since she was little. He was a managing partner in her father's business for many years. He had taken over many of the company's affairs when she was mourning her father's death and making sure it was running smoothly. He said he would help Emma as much as possible when it was discovered that Emma would be running the company. He was confident, nice and did not seem to be at all concerned that he would be working with a woman, unlike several other employees who hated the idea of a woman running the company. Emma felt their resentment, she knew little about running a business and had yet to educate herself in business affairs.
Mr. Jamieson kept going on and on about when the news of the sinking happened, and Emma was not reported on the list of survivors, he was worried he would have to sell the company. He did not have enough money to buy out her father's share and no one wanted to go against her father's wishes. They had become worried that the bank may seize the company since both sisters' fates were in doubt and Mr. Jamieson said that Emma's timing could not be more perfect, she could now save everything her father had worked so hard to build.
Emma signs paper after paper to prevent the bank from buying out and asks every day if Peter had been in the office. She still got no. She felt angry that Peter had not even tried to contact the office to say that he was okay. The couple had agreed a long time ago that they would run the company together, but now Peter had disappeared.
The day she's released from the hospital, Mr. Jamieson is there to drive her home, the home she was supposed to be sharing with Peter and Sybil. The doctor told she was set to go for the most part. She would have to come and visit so he could always check on her healing and she only had to wear her sling for a little while longer. She'd also received a prescription to take to prevent any infection. Emma thanks the doctor with all her heart and the doctor calls her the miracle patient before allowing her to go free. Emma takes the officer's jacket, the dress, and the heirloom home, the only things she had that reminded her of the disaster.
As Mr. Jamieson drives down the road, Emma can feel her stomach becoming uneasy, now it was time to back into the stressful work life, to her it felt almost worse than the bullet wound she had. It was time to go back to reality.
However, Emma was not the only patient that would be considered a miracle in that hospital because two days after she had left, another survivor woke up.