Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well! I was wondering if you all were still able to read my story. When I go to settings I see that the last few chapters have zero views? I don't know if it's because of my computer or if it's because of in issue on this website... does anyone else have this problem? xoxo

Chapter 17

A Life So Changed

April 22nd, 1912

It was a bright light that made him aware that he had in fact not died. It hurt for a while, pierced a sharpness in his brain that made him eventually open his eyes. Soft and mumbling sounds happened around him and Jack tried to clear his throat. He could not move, but quickly heard footsteps coming closer and the face of a young woman hovered above him. Her eyes widened before she let out a sigh and smiled.

"Can someone call for the doctor?" She spoke with a rather loud voice, "he is awake!"

Jack squinted his eyes and tried to sit up straight. There was no strength left within him and he fell back down. The room began to spin before the nurse's kind eyes appeared in front of him again.

"You need to stay put, sir." She instructed him, "the doctor is on his way."

"Am I in the hospital?" Jack managed to whisper.

The nurse nodded her head. It did not take long for an elderly man to rush into the room. He grabbed some utensils out of his long white doctor's coat and started doing some tests. As time passed, Jack's body aches became even worse than the moment he woke up. It felt as if he was being tortured by the people who were trained to help him.

"You are a very lucky man, sir. Apart from the wound on the back of your head, you have no further injuries," the doctor then glanced at him, "You know why you are in the hospital, right?"

Jack nodded his head. Of course, he knew. He still remembered every detail of the whole disaster. The screaming of people, followed by their dead bodies floating in the water. Then they managed to climb up, her hands grabbing onto his for dear life, their bodies trembling against each other until the water reached them and pulled them away from one another. As Jack tried to look for her in the darkness of the Atlantic Ocean, he felt something smash against his head and now he was here.

The doctor wrote down some details and stopped for a second. "Can I have your name, sir?"

"Jack Dawson."

"Thank you."

"Did I come in here alone?"

"I am afraid so, but nurse Clyde will inform you further." The doctor slowly headed out the room and the nurse put a glass of water on the bedside table.

"Are you looking for anyone, sir?" she asked.

"Multiple people actually."

She grabbed a small notepad and pen out of her apron. "Tell me."

"Tommy Ryan, Fabrizio DeRossi and Rose…Rose DeWitt Bukater."

"I've heard they put out a survivors list. I'm going to see what I can do for you." She gave him a reassuring smile before continuing with her duties. Jack closed his eyes again and fell into a deep slumber. He had been sleeping for a long time, for it had already turned dark when he woke up again. The pain, thanks to the morphine, had slowly started to subside and Jack managed to sit up straight. Gazing in front of him, he noticed the large painting on the wall. The mixing of colors eased his discomfort. Art had always had the power to calm his soul.

The door suddenly opened. "Mr. Dawson." Nurse Clyde rushed up to him. As Jack straightened his back, he saw that she was holding a newspaper. Her facial expression was painful, and for a second, as Jack looked into her eyes, he believed she had been crying, "I am so sorry." She said before placing the newspaper onto his lap.

ROSE DEWITT BUKATER, FIANCEE OF STEEL TYCOON CALEDON HOCKLEY, DIES IN TITANIC DISASTER AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN

The couple, who was on their way home to America for their engagement gala, lost each other amongst the chaos of the disaster. Hockley amongst Miss DeWitt Bukater's mother were one of the lucky ones to be saved by the rescue ship The Carpathia. Her body was never recovered. A service will be held on the 26th of April for close friends and family

Up until this day, Jack had no recollection of what happened after he had read the obituary. His reaction remained a mystery to everyone but the strangers who were in the same hospital room as him. All Jack knew was that he had managed to drag himself towards Philadelphia and visited her grave. It was large and elaborate, surrounded by dozens of flowers. Still, even her grave was lonely. For the week Jack remained in the city, he had only seen two young girls visit. It made him angry; angry at the world and especially angry with himself. Jack believed that he had failed at the one thing he was supposed to do: save her.

Now Jack was alone like he was at fifteen. The courage and strength he felt those years prior to build up his own life were long gone. He felt weak and that weakness remained within him for years to come. Like a lost soul, her wandered his home country, trying to find any form of purpose.

1923

"And that is when I met you father." Jack then said to Lauren, "He saw me sitting on a bench at Sunset Boulevard. He sat down next to me and inspected my drawing and laughed. And you know, the rest is history."

"Why did you never tell us the truth about what happened prior to meeting dad? Well except from your life in Chippewa Falls and your travels through Europe." Lauren said as he leaned down in his chair. Cora was sitting next to him with her eyes glued onto Jack. There was one thing she could not wrap her head around: Rose. Why didn't he mention her name? She thought. There wouldn't be a possibility for him to have forgotten her for Rose still remembered every inch of his existence. Cora knew that telling the truth after she had already lied would be like a bolt from the blue. She sighed making the men turn their heads towards

"Because it bores people, Laurie." Jack chuckled referring to Cora. Cora's head turned red, and she quickly signed the waitress to bring them another pot of tea.

Lauren crossed his arms. "I am being serious, Jack. You went through quite a dramatic event, maybe even more, remember your house burned down when you were fifteen and you lost your parents? Oh, and not to forget that woman who left you for that wrinkled old man! And you always pretend like everything is fine."

Jack then leaned forward. "But everything is fine. Look at what I have. I have a house, loving people around me, and I am about to become the owner of an art gallery."

Shaking his head, Lauren poured everyone another cup of tea. "Have you ever told anyone you were on the Titanic?" he asked Cora as he pushed her cup towards her.

"No." she mumbled.

"No one?"

"No, Lauren." Cora stated firmly, "Again, I was six. I barely remember anything of it apart from being put inside a lifeboat. I don't even remember my life in England. As far as I know I'm a full American."

"And it suits you very well, Cora," Jack smiled at her before standing up. He grabbed his wallet out of his pocket and put some money on the table, "feel free to stay as long as you would like, but I unfortunately must get going. It was great to see you two."

Lauren waved him goodbye before turning his attention back to Cora. Looking frozen like a statue, she gazed at her cup. Then, Lauren waved his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Cora."

"Huh what?" she vaguely looked up.

"Where are you with your head?"

"Nowhere."

"Listen, if you do remember things from the sinking, you can tell me. I can imagine it was very traumatic."

"I think you are very rude, Lauren." Cora hissed at him, "Trying to dig into my life like I am some sort of history project." She stood up, grabbed her purse, and marched out of the café. Luckily, the smell of salt and sand eased her mind, and she took a deep breath. It did not take long before she could hear the door open and close behind her, followed by footsteps that came closer.

"Cora, wait." Lauren put his hand on her shoulder to stop her in her tracks.

She pulled back. "Don't you think that me walking away means that I don't want to talk to you?"

"Yes, and I don't care to be honest because I do want to talk to you," he stated firmly, "I want you to tell me what is going on with you."

"Nothing is going on with me!"

"Do you really believe it, Cora? I know I don't know much of the world, but I am not completely stupid. Ever since Jack appeared you have been acting extremely quiet and distant, like I can't reach you." Suddenly, his voice turned softer, "Tell me, Cora. Please, tell me what is going on."

Cora could feel the lump in her throat starting to grow, the tears behind her eyes starting to burn. "I can't" she whispered, afraid that if she spoke the truth, the whole world would collapse around her. Lauren took a step closer before taking her hands in his.

"Cora, I want to help you." He whispered back. His kind eyes pierced through her and embraced her body like a warm hug. She trusted him, there was no doubt about it. Yet, one word and everything would change. One word and she would free herself, not knowing what other consequences were about to happen. She took a deep breath before letting it all out again. Then their eyes met.

"Rose isn't my cousin." As soon as the words escaped her lips, Cora burst out in a flood of tears. Lauren's arms wrapped themselves around her trembling body and he slowly led her towards the edge of the beach until they reached a bench. Carefully, he sat her down and simply waited until the grandness of her tears had subsided.

"Rose isn't your cousin?" Lauren repeated to make sure he hadn't misheard it.

"No," Cora whispered back, "She isn't related to me in any way whatsoever."

"Then who is she?"

"Some aristocrat from Philadelphia who saved my life. And it all started on the Titanic." With that being said, the truth started to slip down her tongue with such ease that she wasn't able to stop to let Lauren react. But he listened carefully, nodded his head multiple times, and kept holding her hand. "I don't know everything that happened between Jack and Rose, but I did know they were very much in love. It has taken her years to get over his death."

"Did her fiancé ever find out about their affair?"

"I believe he did. But thanks to Rose's mastermind, he nor her family ever found out she is alive. It's also the reason why she didn't accept Henry's first proposal, because it meant we had to move to Philadelphia."

"I can imagine that would have been rough for her."

Laughter was heard a few feet away from them and when Cora looked up, a young couple walked past them. The woman was clenching her arms around the man's and gazed at him with such loving eyes. He said something else, making her burst out in laughter once again.

"And now she is happily in love with Henry and about to marry him. Oh Laurie, what will I do when I get home? How will I be able to live with myself knowing the truth of it all. I can barely look Jack straight in the yes let alone Rose!" Cora shook her head and buried it in her hands.

"You will by telling them the truth. Both of them." Lauren said and Cora could feel her heart starting to beat even faster. "How they live and have lived their lives is not your responsibility, Cora. They are the adults in this story, and it is ridiculous to think you have to carry the burden of it all."

"But what will happen if I tell them?" there was still desperation in the tone of Cora's voice.

"That is up to them. I don't know Rose very well, but I do know Jack and he is a tough fellow. He will know what the right thing is to do."

Trusting his word, Cora sat inside her room until she had found enough courage to come to terms with it. She sat on her bed whilst looking at that one photograph she had standing on her bedside table. It was a picture of her and Rose from when Cora was still very young. They were sitting in Elizabeth's car with Rose behind the wheel and her resting on Mabel's lap. It had always been one of her favorite images to look at and she eventually managed to smile. Cora knew it was time.

As her feet marched through the evening heat of the city, Cora realized that Jack lived only ten minutes away. The architecture of the apartment complex was nothing compared to the buildings in San Francisco, but it looked welcoming. An elderly man greeted her kindly when she walked through the entrance. Luckily, Jack's apartment wasn't too far up and she quickly reached his front door after she stepped out of the elevator. She knocked onto the wood. Footsteps were heard from inside and Cora held her breath until the door swung open.

"Cora?" Jack said, beyond surprised by her presence.

"I hope I am not disturbing you." She shyly answered.

"Of course not. Please, come in."

As Cora stepped inside, she felt as if she was stepping into a painting itself. The colors of the apartment blended like a romantic dream. Paintings were stacked together in multiple parts of the living room, and she immediately recognized the same woman on the painting at Lauren's house.

"Do you still draw?" she then asked him.

Jack's eyes widened and he chuckled. "Occasionally I do, but I am more into painting now. You remembered that?"

"Of course. I still remember you drawing me and my father on the deck. Oh, and the time you let me sit on your lap and draw in your sketchbook."

"And to say you don't remember anything at all. I am starting to believe you remember more than you say you do."

"Only the voyage. I don't remember much about the sinking." Now she was telling the truth, "A steward put me inside a lifeboat and before I knew it, I was on that rescue ship waiting for my new life, but on that ship my life started to change."

Jack frowned and pointed at the couch, waiting for Cora to sit down. "I am afraid I'm not quite following you, Cora." He admitted before taking a seat himself. "Your cousin picked you up in New York, right?"

Cora quickly shook her head before looking down at her own hands. She was starting to pull the skin around her nails. "I lied to you Jack. In fact, I lied to everyone about the whole situation. And now I must tell the truth, no matter the consequences." As she dared to look at him again, she noticed that Jack's face had turned completely white. Something had clicked inside of him as if a voice had whispered something in his ear. He swallowed the lump in his throat and after a few seconds he dared to say what he had been thinking.

"It's about Rose, isn't it?"

"Yes." Cora responded before opening her purse. She had taken the photograph with her and placed it carefully in her wallet. Glancing at the picture one more time, she handed it to Jack. His hands were trembling as he took hold of it. There she was in full glory; the way he had always tried to remember her. The soft smile and radiant eyes, her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. Grasping for air, Jack could feel the tears running down his cheeks. Cora simply watched him in silence. She felt both scared and relieved at the same time. The word was now out. There was no going back.

After what felt like ages, Jack had slowly started to calm down. "How…how is this possible?"

"Rose stayed in the cabin of a very nice lady. Her name is Elizabeth. Whilst searching for you she found me and took me in. Later, Rose also managed to find my father, but he was already far gone. His final words were to her, asking her if she would take care of me. That's when Elizabeth took us to her home in Oklahoma and we stayed there a few months before moving to San Francisco," Cora took a deep breath, "she did look for you, Jack. She looked for you as best as she could, but your name was never on the survivors list. Well, it all makes sense now knowing you were unconscious for a couple of days."

"I've read her obituary, Cora. I even went to visit her grave."

"I can understand it all seems surreal. After believing you were dead her main focus was to keep herself hidden from her family and that man."

"Cal."

"Yes. That's why she took my last name and ever since that we've told the world we are cousins. We've lived this very peaceful life; thanks to Rose I've been given a future therefore I never really saw the problem in lying to the whole world until you appeared."

Jack placed the picture onto the coffee table and kept staring at it whilst lighting a cigarette. "Is that why you have been acting so distant towards me?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me something about her?"

"Of course. What would you like to know?"

In reality, Jack wanted to know everything from the past eleven years. Not a thing could be detailed enough. Yet, his mind was going all sorts of places that he barely knew how to respond. "Anything is fine."

When the evening had fallen in Los Angeles, Lauren was waiting for Cora outside of the house. He noticed that she looked exhausted and to his surprise, she fell into his arms once reaching him.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"I think it went well… apart from…"

"Apart from what?"

"Apart from the fact that Jack thinks it's best not to tell Rose. He doesn't want to disturb her now that she is engaged and all."

Lauren sighed. "How do you feel about that?"
"All I feel right now is that I want to fall asleep."