A New Beginning

Chapter 45: Nightmares

Chapter 45: Nightmares

Rose suddenly notices that the temperature in the Renault is dropping. She shivers hard; she can see their breath now. She tries to get closer to Jack, but his body temperature is dropping. He was very cold.

A sudden noise interrupts their bliss. It sounds like gunshots mixed with metal being ripped open. Rose sits up in the back seat and peers through the foggy window. To her horror, giant waves of water are rushing at them in their sanctuary.

The car is suddenly knocked to the side, spilling both of them against the window, shattering the glass in the process. Cold water sprays onto them, and both of them freeze up from the shock. The water begins to mix with their blood.

"Rose!" Jack hollers.

Rose tries to regain her balance, but she's in too much pain. She gasps when she sees Jack covered in cuts, bleeding from his head and all over his body. He's so pale now that the blood is very noticeable. The water is filling the car quickly. They are both torn from trying to stop the bleeding or escape the flooding waters that are freezing both of them. Jack is trying to find a way out, climbing over the driver's seat to open the door before the car fills with water. Rose slips continuously, trying to help Jack, holding onto him, but he's so cold that it scares her.

There are distant rumbles and more cracking against the metal of the hull.

Rose screams as another wave washes over both of them, forcing them both underwater. They both struggle, in a tangled mess, to find air. Rose shuts her eyes, her body completely numb from the cold and the red of their blood mixing.

When she opens her eyes again, there are screams of all the desperate souls trying to survive in the icy cold water. They are above the surface, but the Titanic is not. She's floating on the door, with Jack clinging to her, promising to never let go. Shivering in their damp clothes that have frozen to their bodies. The sounds of the others around them echo in her head, and any tears that Rose sheds are frozen on her face.

As the noises quiet down, both Rose and Jack cling to each other. Jack is barely conscious. Rose remembers that this is about the time that the boat shows up to rescue them, but instead, there is no light, no voice calling out for anyone alive, just the lapping of the water and Rose's struggling breaths.

"Jack," Rose whispers. "Jack!"

Jack doesn't respond.

"Jack, please," Rose begs.

Rose's heart begins to sink. The boat never came, so Jack has now died. She tries to cry, but her body is burning from the pain of losing him. He's so cold now and pale, void of all life. She'd never see those blue eyes again or hear his laugh. She feels little hope, and it is only a matter of time before she joins the dead floating around her...

All of a sudden, there's a jolt from below; perhaps the darkness has come to claim them. Rose feels Jack's hand slip through hers, and Jack's face disappears beneath the icy water...into the darkness.

Rose sits up in bed. She's panting hard and sweating. She immediately turns to her side, and her heart soars. Jack lies next to her, sleeping peacefully, warm and alive. Rose realizes that she's also been crying as she wipes tears from her eyes. The covers around them are rumpled beyond belief, and despite everything, Jack remains unconscious.

She's so distressed that she has to get up. She can't sleep anymore. The images of Jack so pale and lifeless, along with the screams of all those who died that night, still echo in her ears. She is haunted by everything that happened that night, and she can't stand lying there any longer. She reaches for the crutch that Peter had used while recovering from his injury, and she props herself up