A New Beginning

Chapter 27: Fighter

Chapter 27: Fighter

"Rose?" is the first word out of his mouth, another survivor.

His blue eyes open to bright sunlight and the white surroundings of the hospital. Jack attempts to sit up, but his body protests all the way. He's dressed in a white hospital robe, the clothes he was dressed in the night of the sinking are folded next to him, as well as the remains of the handcuffs Rose freed him from. In his arm is a needle and tube connected to a packet of liquid next to his bed, feeding fluid into his body. He feels his body shake slightly and most of his strength is gone. The last thing he remembers was that he and Rose were floating in the cold Atlantic water and he made her promise that she would never let go. He remembers how cold he felt and hopeless the situation was. Everything seemed to go black as he heard Rose's voice call for him. He wanted to live, he really did, but his body was giving up and the cold was unbearable. Yet, he survived.

A young nurse, approximately a few years older than him, comes into the room.

"You're awake?!" the woman says in shock.

"I guess I am..." Jack shrugs.

"I will go get the doctor...Two in the past two weeks, that has to be a record!" she says to herself before leaving.

Jack is confused by her words. Two in two weeks? Were there others like him who had been pulled from the water? Where was Rose? Was she one of the others in the hospital? He begins to look around for any signs of those lovely red curls, but he's in a room by himself. She had to have survived, she promised that she would try and stay alive, for him...he had told her that she would grow old and die in a warm bed. He made her promise that she would never let go.

The doctor comes in.

"Two in two weeks, that is some miracle!" he says, a huge grin on his face.

"Where am I?" Jack asks.

"New York City General Hospital," the doctor answers. "You were one of the lucky few to be pulled from the water..."

The doctor immediately sets to work, he orders the nurse to fetch him something warm to eat and then begins his work on Jack.

"How long have I been asleep?" Jack asks.

"About a month..."

"A MONTH?" Jack says in confusion.

"Yes, to be honest, no one was expecting you to survive. You, son, were half-frozen when you were brought aboard and yet you were still breathing. You're a fighter, I must say."

Jack is overwhelmed by the fact that he's been unconscious for over a month and yet he didn't die. He was surprised that the doctor didn't give up on him.

The doctor checks all of Jack's vital signs, heartbeat, and blood pressure.

"There wasn't much that the doctor on the ship could do for you, except try to keep you warm. When you were given to me, I performed several blood transfusions to make sure your circulation wouldn't fail anymore and get rid of the cold blood in your body. Once your body heat returned to relatively normal, we kept you under surveillance, we were unsure for awhile if you would ever wake up..."

Jack is stunned beyond belief.

"Your limbs all seem to be in working order, you were lucky we did not have to amputate any, the blood transfusions work to prevent any vital body parts from failing. You are yet another miracle patient."

The nurse comes in with a hot meal that she lays in front of him. She winks at him before leaving. Her attraction to him is clear, even while recovering, Jack is still considered very handsome to the female nurses. Jack uses his pale hands to reach for his cutlery.