Waves of Tomorrow | Titanic

Going Left (Ending 2/2)

"Left." I say confidently. I know deep down it's our only chance; staying on the ship longer will only extend our lives by minutes.

Andrews pauses for a while, clearly apprehensive about entering the cold water, but eventually nods with a stern yet worried expression.

I take a deep breath, knowing that voluntarily entering that water, and possibly speeding up my demise, will be the hardest thing I will ever have to do.

"I think you'll need to get rid of this," Andrews says, breaking my stream of thoughts. His hand holds the strap of my satchel. "We need to hurry, the longer we wait, the father away the boat gets."

Reluctantly, I remove the satchel. The more I think, the more I remember my life is worth more than my possessions. Throwing the satchel to the side, I nod to signal I'm ready.

"Can you swim? We can move faster without these, my dear." Andrews grips his life jacket tightly, beginning to remove it from the front. I gulp.

"Andrews... I can't swim." I say bluntly, though I am embarrassed to admit it as my stomach drops. At this point, however, I am more terrified by the present situation than I am mortified at my water-related shortcoming.

He pauses yet again but continues to remove his own life jacket. After tossing the flotation device aside, he leans close to me, placing his hands on either side of my face.

"Listen to me," he begins. I have never before heard his tone become so serious. "This is what is going to happen. We're going to enter the water at the same time. I'm going to swim, and you need to do your best to get away from the boat. You'll be able to paddle with this life jacket, you'll just be slow. Don't worry about keeping up, okay?" He stares intensely at me, and I nod.

"I'm going to swim as fast as I can towards that boat and yell for them to come back, and when they come to get me, I'll lead the boat back to you." He finishes, tilting his head down to me.

"What if they won't come back for me? Or if they won't let you on board?" I ask urgently. My heart hurts; I can't hear my own thoughts behind the pumping.

"We will deal with it, I promise," Andrews says as he leans in closer, grabbing the back of my head and burrowing me into his chest. I wrap my arms around him and press closer into his chest. It's nice to know he's just as nervous as I am, I think as I hear his heart beating, even through his thick coat.

I pull away and stare towards the sea, the sea engulfing the lower half of the ship. It's so dark, and as I look deeper into it, I wonder if I'm going to be entering hell.

"We're going to get through this, we're going to survive." Andrews talks as he takes his coat off, presumably to swim more efficiently.

Before I can even take a deep breath, he grabs me and I can feel his warm lips press against mine. He pulls me in tight, and in this moment, I forget about the turmoil ensuing around us. Just in this moment, I feel safe.

As quickly as it started, it's done. Andrews pulls away, his eyes glossy, reflecting the moonlight.

Staring out at the horizon, I can see the pack of lifeboats growing further and further away. I shudder at the thought of not making it onto one, not even wanting to delve deeper into those thoughts.

"Alright, it's time," Andrews says firmly, rolling up the sleeves of his button-up shirt. Without waiting for me to respond, begins pacing down the deck, straight towards the water. I run to catch up, feeling my heart pounding out of my chest.

We stop at the current edge of the water, though the level slowly creeps up towards our shoes, and Andrews turns to me, holding out his hand. I nod, taking his hand in mine and staring deep into his eyes, eyes I may never gaze into again. I'll cherish the moment forever.