Thank you Dawscnss for the review :) x
30th April, 1912
New York
Jack gritted his teeth as he left the hospital. He had just spent 2 weeks being treated for Pneumonia, whilst also coming to terms with the fact that Rose had died. He'd had the nurse check the Titanic survivors list more times than he could count, but the outcome never changed… there was no Rose DeWitt Bukater.
He watched as he stood still but the whole city moved around him, like an out of body experience. He looked down at the small amount of money he had in his hand, most of which had been given to him as he disembarked the Carpathia, but 5 dollars of it was given to him by a 1st class passenger he had met onboard the Carpathia, unfortunately he couldn't remember his name, given the ordeal in the hospital, so had no way of finding him to thank him.
"I could use some of the money to stay at an inn for a few nights, then buy some art supplies with the rest… that way I can earn a little more and find somewhere more stable to stay" he thought to himself, before walking off in to the depths of the city, hoping to find somewhere to stay rather quickly, feeling as though his exhaustion might cause his legs to give way any minute.
—
Jack sighed relieved as he made it up to the room he had been allocated at the inn, it wasn't much, but it was enough- a small double bed and a desk. Unlike Rose, he didn't have the energy to go out and purchase any of the stuff he needed, but instead just climbed in to bed and fell asleep immediately. The sinking and hospital stay had taken it out of him more than he realised.
—
1st May 1912
4am
"Rose! Rose!" Jack called out in his sleep, tossing and turning before he woke up, covered in sweat. He sat up right, trying to catch his breath, staring at the wall in front of him as he processed all over again that Rose was no longer here. It was a nightmare he had been having since the sinking, 17 nights of the same dream, over and over again. Jack knew he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep anytime soon so instead got up and headed to the window, he sat beside it and began to smoke a cigarette, looking down at the world moving below him. He wondered what he and Rose would be doing now, had they disembarked the ship together as planned.
—
7am
Jack hadn't managed to fall back to sleep, so decided to get ready and head on out to the city. He headed to a cafe to get a cup of coffee, before wandering round for a while as he waited for the shops to open. Once it reached 9am he headed down a side street that he knew had an art shop from way back. "Hello sir" the manager nodded at him "hi" Jack smiled slightly as he picked up some paper, pencils, charcoal and an eisel and placed them on the counter. "3 dollars please" the man said. "Thank you" Jack replied as he handed over the money and picked up the items "have a good day" Jack said before leaving the store.
He stood outside for a minute, trying to decide where to set up a station that would attract tourists, soon settling on Brooklyn bridge.
Jack was surprised that after being there only an hour, he had sketched 5 customers. At 15 cent a piece he was incredibly happy at how things had started, and only prayed that they continued that way.
The next few chapters are Rose based but please stick with it- Jack is written in to it more as time goes on- I promise!