Prologue
April 10, 1912
As the sun shone brightly down on large groups of people of all ages walking along the main boat deck or sitting on lounge chairs, staring out at the beautiful sea, happy chatter floated through the air. Young children tore off from their parents to run around the large ship, taking in the beauty or to just have some fun on their own.
As people walked past each other, those who looked like part of the rich and famous didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to which they were passing, especially if they looked to be poor people. Coming out of one of the doors to the main deck, a rich-looking, older woman, who looked to be in her mid-40’s and a younger-looking teenager with long, red hair pulled back into a fancy clip walked over to the ship railing, each of them engaged in deep conversation with one another. The look on the younger female’s face showed no happiness whatsoever, just bitterness and even some sadness, and her blue eyes showed no sparkle either.
As the two continued talking, who looked to be mother and daughter, a soft, Irish voice spoke up…a voice that didn’t seem like any of the people around the ship: Not the voice of one of the rich ladies and not like one of the poor, either.
"So…which ones are they, Tess?"
The question came out quietly as the young looking, Irish angel gazed around at the many people gathered amongst her on the ship. Crossing her legs and leaning back against her friend, Andrew’s, arms, who both sat on one of the long lounge chairs, Monica’s gaze fell onto the two ladies who were still engaged in deep conversation…For some reason she didn’t understand, she felt as though one of those women were her assignment…
"Patience, Angel Girl," Tess’ stern voice ordered as she stood behind her two friends, a hand resting lightly on Andrew’s shoulder. "Patience. I’m going to tell you two, but you both have to understand that this case isn’t ordinary—"
"Well, when is a case ordinary when you’re on a ship called ‘The Unsinkable Titanic’, Tess?" Andrew joked; raising his green eyes laughingly to his supervisor and chuckled.
"This is no joke, Mr. Halo," Tess gruffly replied, staring down at her Babies with all-time seriousness.
"This is serious. Everyone’s lives depend on how things turn out these next few days…especially your assignments, Angel Babies…"
"Assignments?" Monica and Andrew interrupted at the same time. Glancing at Andrew behind her, Monica turned her eyes back to Tess.
"You mean, there’s more than one??"
Sighing, Tess rolled her eyes and sat down beside her younger friends, resting a hand on Monica’s knee.
"Monica…Have you even developed some patience yet?" Shaking her head, the older angel continued, turning to Andrew and then back to Monica, her voice turning to seriousness once again.
"Yes, there are two assignments…and then some…" she softly replied, looking into her charges confused-looking eyes.
"’And then some’?" Andrew repeated, frowning as he took in everyone around him and his friends. The way that his supervisor mentioned those three little words somehow made him really nervous and tense all of a sudden…as if there was going to be some danger in the next few days…
"Yes, Angel Boy, and then some," Tess confirmed, turning her eyes away from him to turn her gaze to the mother and daughter standing by the railing, their voices traveling down to the three angels, but neither woman paying any attention to anybody around them.
Raising an eyebrow curiously, Andrew turned his head to see what his friend was staring at, Monica following right behind.
"The young woman is Rose DeWitt Bukater," Tess informed her Babies, still staring at the two humans.
"And the other is her mother, Ruth. Monica, your assignment is Rose. That young baby is going through a lot right now and she feels like no one understands at all…or, I should say, doesn’t WANT to understand what she’s going through or how she’s feeling. Ruth lost her husband several years ago, leaving her and Rose all by themselves, to fend for themselves. They’ve always been rich—as you can tell, Babies…"
"Yeah, they look rich all right…" Andrew mumbled under his breath, tilting his head to stare at the two women.
"Rose is only 17 years old and her mother is forcing her into marriage with a man named Caloden Hockley. Cal for short…He’s a lot older than Rose and very rich, a quality that Ruth has been looking for in the "right" man for her daughter."
"She’s only 17??" Monica cried softly, her eyes on the wee teenager not that far from her.
"Does she even WANT to marry him, Tess?" she questioned, turning, wide-eyed to face her older friend behind her.
Sadly shaking her head, the older supervisor met her "Angel Girl’s" eyes and softly answered,
"No, she doesn’t. Her mother wants her to marry him and Ruth doesn’t care that her daughter doesn’t want to. As long as they stay rich…that’s all that matters to her…"
Staring open-mouthed at the girl, who looked like she was going to get angry any minute, Andrew’s heart went out to her immediately as he shook his blonde head, his short hair swinging across his forehead. Turning back to his friends, the handsome-looking angel frowned once more as he met Tess’ chocolate-brown eyes.
"What about my assignment, Tess?" he asked curiously.
"Your assignment is right there, Angel Baby," Tess replied, nodding her head over to a handsome-looking, young man, who didn’t look older than 21, walking down the dock, a sketch pad underneath his arm and a happy look on his face. His clothing looked worn, brown pants with suspenders and a tan colored long-sleeved shirt, but the man didn’t seem to care. His eyes darted for someplace to sit down and possibly sketch out a stranger on his art pad.
"His name is Jack Dawson," Tess smiled as she spoke, her eyes twinkling now at the sight of the young-looking male not very far from Rose and Ruth.
"He won his way onto this ship this morning after winning a game of Poker. He doesn’t care that he’s in Steerage—"
"Steerage?" Andrew repeated, raising an eyebrow once again.
"Third Class, Andrew," Tess explained, looking into her young friend’s green eyes. "Rose and Ruth are in First Class—which is where you will be, Angel Girl—and Jack is in Third Class…which is where you will be, Andrew…"
"I am??" Andrew grumbled, sighing to himself.
"Yes, you are," Tess replied sternly, gazing back at Jack.
"You both will have to learn something here, Babies. There’s more to life than which class you’re in and don’t you forget it…because in the next few days…you’ll have to know that in order to make it and pass this assignment…"
Chapter 1
The next thing Monica knew was that she had been transformed in a 1st class lady of the early 1900’s. She gazed down in surprise at the elegant blue dress with black trim she was now wearing with a large hat to match. She immediately became aware of the fact that she felt strangely uncomfortable and soon realized it was the corset she was wearing that made her feel as if she could scarcely breath. Her deep auburn hair was tucked into a neat bun beneath the hat, with only a few curly wisps of hair framing her lovely face.
Tess nodded her head in approval of her Angel Girl,
"Not bad, baby. Not bad at all."
Monica looked around her, her expression puzzled,
"What happened to Andrew, Tess?"
"He’s now in Third Class, Monica and Third Class is not permitted on the First Class deck, or in the dining room or in any other part of First Class."
Monica sighed softly, feeling disappointed that it didn’t look as if she would be working very closely with her best friend for this assignment and she was already beginning to feel a sense of dislike for this whole "class" thing. She loved working with Andrew and she was already concerned about this assignment after the things that Tess had said.
"No sense in worrying about it, Angel Girl," Tess responded, seeing Monica’s reaction to being separated from her friend,
"You have your work to do and so does Andrew, but you both stand to learn plenty from this assignment. You’re a First Class passenger now, Monica and First Class tends to look down their noses at anyone who has less than what they do, so you need to do the same if you expect to fit in with Rose and the rest of these passengers on this voyage."
"But Tess, that is awful! God made all humans in His image, He never meant for anyone to act as if they are any better than anyone else!" Monica’s eyes were distressed as she looked at her supervisor.
"You just remember that, Baby," Came the gentle, yet firm reply. Tess then nodded her head in the direction of Rose and Ruth.
Monica followed her friend’s gaze and watched as Ruth walked away, leaving her daughter glaring after her. But looking closer, Monica could see the hurt and tears in the young girl’s eyes. She turned back to Tess, but found that her supervisor was gone. Sighing softly, the young angel looked back to Rose and watched as the teen-ager walked up the steps to the upper deck. Deciding that there was no time like the present, Monica followed her, groaning inwardly as each step up seemed to cause the corset to cut off her breathing and she wondered how on earth women wore these things all the time.
The angel reached the upper deck at watched as Rose walked to the far end and leaned up against the railing that overlooked the other decks. Monica approached her slowly and then leaned up against the rail beside of her,
"Hello," She offered with a friendly smile.
Rose glanced sharply at the person behind this unwanted intrusion, and then cast her eyes back on the desks below them,
"Hello," She replied, her voice flat and devoid of any emotion.
Beginning to feel frustrated already, Monica decided to plunge on ahead to see what kind of dent she could make in this young girl’s angry façade,
"It’s a lovely day, don’t you think? The sky is so blue and the ocean just stretches on for miles on end. It makes you think you’ll never see land again."
"I should be so lucky," Came the bitter reply, though Rose never looked at her. She was too intent on something or someone on the lower decks.
Frowning, Monica followed Rose’s gaze and her eyes soon came to rest on Jack Dawson. He was sitting on the Third Class deck; sketchbook in hand and Monica immediately noticed that he seemed to be staring right at Rose. The angel watched as Rose hurriedly looked away before she noticed Andrew walking out onto the deck near Jack and once again she felt saddened by this barrier of class.
"My name is Monica," She offered after a moment,
"I’m traveling alone and was hoping to be able to make a friend to help pass the time until we get to New York. I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed a wee bit lonely over here by yourself. I thought maybe the two of us could have a little fun aboard the largest ship in the world."
Rose glanced once more at the chatty stranger, who stood beside of her,
"Fun?" She asked softly,
"Monica, I’m not even sure I know what fun is anymore. The only fun my mother believes in is planning my wedding and believe me, that is of no fun to me."
"Ahhh, so you’re engaged?"
"I prefer the term ‘sold into slavery’," Rose sighed, her words feeling as heavy as her heart. Finally giving in, she turned to Monica and extended her hand,
"Rose, Monica, and it is nice to meet you."
Monica smiled, feeling relieved that the ice had finally been broken,
"You know, I couldn’t help but notice that young man down there seems quite taken with you, Rose."
A short burst of laughter came from Rose as she looked at Monica incredulously,
"Oh Monica, come now! A Third Class passenger? You surely must be new money, or you would know that unless you want everyone in First Class gossiping about you and pointing fingers, you don’t speak to Third Class passengers. I think it’s in the rule book or something."
Gazing down once more at her dearest friend, two decks below her, Monica felt ready to rush to his defense before she caught herself. After all, this was an assignment, even if it was not going to go down in history as one of her favorites. She pushed aside her own feelings as she heard Rose continue to speak.
"I’m afraid I have to go for now or Cal, my fiancé, will be looking for me and we don’t want that. Will you be attending dinner in the main dining room?" Rose almost looked hopeful, thinking that it might be nice to have dinner with someone who didn’t seem to have her nose stuck in the air all the time. Seeing Monica nod her head, Rose smiled,
"Then you are more than welcome to sit with us, if you would like."
"That would be lovely. I’ll look forward to meeting your mother and your fiancé." The Irish angel replied, watching as Rose’s expression hardened once more.
"We’ll see," She replied as she bid Monica farewell and hurried back down the stairs.
Monica sighed softly, crossing her arms over the railing as she gazed out over the vast ocean, wondering exactly what this voyage was going to bring.
Chapter 2
As Andrew walked nervously across the deck towards Jack Dawson, who was sitting on a bench near the railing of the side of the large ship with a large sketchpad in his hands, the angel turned his eyes upwards, sensing the gaze of someone…and not a human.
Turning his head, blonde hair gently whipping through the air and the light breeze slowly picking up, but the coolness still there, Andrew’s gaze landed upon Monica, who had turned back to the railing after Rose had departed from her. Her brown eyes were set upon the Angel of Death, a look unhappiness showing in them…as if she would rather be anywhere other than where she was, in First Class.
Meeting his best friend’s slightly pained eyes, Andrew nodded his head slowly; just enough for him to know he saw her, and turned his green eyes back towards his assignment…and new roommate…
From what the young angel sensed, this Jack guy seemed nice and well mannered…even though Andrew hadn’t met him yet. But, that’s what I have to do, the angel thought. I have to get to know him. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know the Father doesn’t make mistakes and He sent me here for a reason…and Jack is my assignment…
Quickening his pace, Andrew plastered a smile on his face, although he felt rather uncomfortable in brown, slightly worn pants and a raggedy, cream-colored shirt with a vest over it. Looking himself over, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he WAS in Steerage now…and for now; this is where he was to stay.
Stiffening a sigh of regret from not being able to be with Monica, his dearest friend, Andrew turned his eyes back to Jack, ready, as he would ever be.
*****
A feeling of disappointment overcoming him at having seen the beautiful, young woman disappear from the railing in First Class, Jack Dawson let out a sigh as he kept his eyes on where she had once stood, talking with another young-looking woman beside her.
Finally turning his brown eyes away from the First Class area, which separated them from Steerage, Jack suddenly felt a presence beside him. Turning his eyes upward, his eyes squinting from the bright sunshine, the 20-year old man came face-to-face with a young-looking male, who looked to be no older than 30, with short, blonde hair and green eyes, standing beside him. A smile on his face, the young man stepped forward and sat down beside him.
"Are you, Jack Dawson?" the man asked, his head tilted and an eyebrow raised slightly.
Closing his sketchpad and setting it down on his other side, Jack turned towards the man at his side curiosity displayed on his own face.
"Yeah, I’m Jack," he replied, a strand of hair blowing in his eyes from the windy afternoon.
Still grinning, the man extended his hand and continued to speak, "Hi, my name’s Andrew. I’m your roommate on this ship."
"My roommate?" Jack repeated, relief evident on his features as he clasped Andrew’s hand with his own and shaking it. "I was wondering when my roomie was going to show up, man. You’re him, huh?"
"Yeah, I’m him," Andrew confirmed, releasing his roommate’s hand and setting it down at his side, his eyes still on Jack.
"Well…it’s nice to meet you then," Jack flashed a smile back as he reached over to his pad of paper by his side and turned back to Andrew. "Tell me, don’t you have a last name??"
Letting a chuckle escape from him, knowing that he’d been asked this question one too many times, Andrew shook his blonde head and turned his gaze back up to the beautiful sky above them.
"I know it’s different, but, no, I don’t have a last name," he replied, meeting Jack’s eyes again, waiting for his reply on what he had just told him. Watching as Jack raised an eyebrow curiously, the angel couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.
"Okay…" the brown-haired human said slowly as he nodded his head up and down. "So, don’t you have any luggage with you or somethin’?" Jack questioned, gazing down at the ground, looking for some bags of some sort beside his new roommate, but finding nothing.
"I found the room which I’m bunking with you," Andrew replied, standing to his feet. "Room 360, right? I’ve already put my bags in there…"
"Yep, Room 360 in Steerage," Jack confirmed, following Andrew’s movements and standing to his own two feet with him, grasping his art pad tightly in his hand. "You know, Steerage isn’t all that bad, Andrew," he continued, sensing the look of uneasiness displayed on Andrew’s face. "We’re just at the bottom of the heap, I guess you can say…But, we’re just normal people. There’s nothing to be ashamed of because you’re in Third Class…"
"I’ve never been on a ship before," Andrew whispered, watching the crowd pass them as they walked towards the lower decks to their room. "From what I’ve seen so far, it seems as if…I don’t know, that the upper decks think of us as—"
"As less than them?" Jack finished for the angel. Looking into his green eyes, the human watched as Andrew nodded his head in agreement to that statement.
"Well, actually, they DO think that they’re higher than us and we’re less than them," Jack explained as they entered the ship and looked around for the nearest elevator to D Deck. "I mean, why else would they block us off from entering the First Class suites? But, I don’t mind being in Steerage, Andrew…and, in my opinion, neither should you. First Class can think whatever they please, but I don’t have to go agree with them, you know?"
"That’s true," Andrew replied, pushing the "Down" button on the elevator they came across and leaned against the wall. "You don’t have to agree…"
But, deep down in his heart, Andrew knew that it did matter that the upper class thought less of those lower than them…For some reason, he knew that those decisions that First Class made about blocking the lower classes off from them could effect them somehow. But, what was it? Andrew had no idea…
*****
Later that night, Monica fidgeted in her seat as she sat beside Rose in the First Class dining room, listening as everyone was engaged in "serious" discussion. Voices were low and quiet and all the women’s manners were beyond what Monica had ever seen before. How could anyone sit this straight in a chair?? Her back aching from her position in her seat, Monica delicately picked up one of her spoons and scooped up a bit of her caviar, wondering if she should taste it or not.
Before she put the dark food into her mouth, however, the Irish angel glanced around the table, looking from one face to the other. The man seated on Rose’s other side was really starting to get on Monica’s nerves…Was THIS the Cal Hockley that Tess had described earlier that day? The one that Rose was engaged to and was forced to marry? The one that was so much older than him?
Watching out of the corner of her eye as Cal strongly scolded Rose on what she was saying to him at that time, Monica slightly flinched at Cal’s piercing look. Although the man was good-looking, Monica thought, his attitude needed an adjustment…and a huge one at that…
Why aren’t I assigned to CAL? The young angel thought to herself as she turned back to her meal, ignoring the rest of the talk around her. So Rose has to marry this guy…I seriously doubt she needs an angel. Cal is the one that is in desperate need of an angel…
Just as her mind was about to really take off and travel to another different time and place, the angel’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard Rose’s voice speak up, mainly just loud enough for her and Cal to hear.
"Excuse me," she whispered, pulling back her chair and standing to her feet, her feet slightly shaky. "I’ll be back in a while…I need some fresh air."
Without bothering to wait for a reply from any of her table mates, including her mother, Ruth, and Cal, the young teenager walked as quickly as she could, but making sure not to run, out of the gorgeous dining room, ignoring everyone around her.
Watching as her assignment took off from them, Monica suddenly felt another presence not that very far from her…a presence of one of her fellow angels…
Turning in her seat, her gaze over to where Rose had exited the spacious room, Monica inwardly gasped as Andrew appeared beside the door. His green eyes showed loving compassion as he met his friend’s look and slowly nodded his head.
Feeling herself start to shake, Monica wiped her mouth with a napkin and gently placed it back on her plate, politely excusing herself in the process from the large table. Heading over to where her best friend stood, Monica’s heart started pounding louder than ever as she suddenly came to the realization of what could possibly happen in the next few minutes…Rose’s life was at stake this very moment.
Chapter 3
"Andrew?" Monica uttered as she approached her dear friend and felt herself immediately becoming transformed from human to angel.
"C’mon," He beckoned urgently, clasping her hand in his,
"There isn’t much time."
Monica followed him, having to run to keep up with his strides as they raced along the deck of the ship, the whole way to the bough. What Monica saw there, caused a scream to escape her lips, though being in angelic form, no one heard her cry.
Rose had climbed over the railing and was clinging to it with her hands, the heels of her shoes locked over the railing to keep her from falling, but it was obvious that jumping, not falling was the young girl’s intent. Rose’s red locks blew in the night sea breeze and her tears mingled with the salt air that blew off the ocean.
"Andrew!" Monica cried out, turning her panic-stricken eyes to her friend,
"I have to do something! She’s my assignment! I can’t just let her kill herself!"
Andrew shook his head, his blond hair blowing softly across his forehead,
"We haven’t been told to do anything yet, Angel Girl," He reminded her gently.
"Is she going to die?" Came the pained question, her Irish lilt trembling with fear and uncertainty.
"I don’t know, Monica. I haven’t been told anything other than to be here."
"Don’t do it!"
A voice from behind them caused both angels as well as Rose to turn their heads and Monica and Andrew breathed a temporary sigh of relief at the sight of Jack Dawson.
Rose however, though startled, was not as thrill at the intrusion,
"Stay back," She threatened, her tear-filled blue eyes glaring at him,
"Don’t come any closer!"
Jack ventured a few steps closer and extended his hand,
"C’mon, take my hand and I’ll pull you back over."
"I mean it!" Rose cried out, turning back to the ocean and trying to concentrate on her reason for being here in the first place. She wanted to end it all. It was a much better alternative to spending the rest of her life with Caledon Hockley,
"I’ll let go!"
"No, you won’t," Jack replied calmly, causing Monica to glare at him.
"What is he trying to do, Andrew? Cause her to prove a point?" She exclaimed, but she was silenced with a gentle look from her friend as the two continued watching the scene before them.
Jack continued to chat with Rose, who begrudgingly responded to his questions and chatter about how cold the water beneath her was, and both angels could sense the fact that the young girl was already having second thoughts about jumping.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Rose permitted Jack to help her back over as he introduced himself to her, remembering all too well that she was the lovely vision he had been watching from the deck earlier that day,
"Jack Dawson." He said with a smile as he reached for her to help her back over the railing.
"Rose DeWitt Bukater," She replied, watching as he smiled and she looked at him questionably.
"I may have to get you to write that one down," Jack chuckled, thrilled when she joined with shaky laughter.
But as Jack prepared to help her back over, Rose’s heel caught on the beads of her dress, causing her to lose her footing as she plummeted downward, Jack’s hand the only thing saving her from going into the icy ocean below her. She screamed in terror as she held as tightly as she could to Jack’s hands, her cries for help filling the quiet air all around them.
Andrew’s heart leapt into his throat as he watching agonizingly as Jack held onto the teenager with all of his strength. He saw the tears in Monica’s eyes as she started to move towards them, but he stopped her with a firm hand to her shoulder.
"I’ve got you," Jack said in response to Rose’s cries for help as he looked straight into her terrified blue eyes that he was sure he could get lost in,
"I won’t let go. Now, pull yourself up."
Something in Jack’s words seemed to speak to the fear within Rose as she used every ounce of strength she had to pull herself up so Jack could get a better grip on her. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her back over the railing, both of them toppling to the ground in an exhausted heap, their hearts pounding loudly over what had nearly occurred.
Before they even had time to recover though, a whistle blew through the air and 2 security guards accompanied by Ruth and Cal rushed over to Jack and Rose. Jack was ripped from Rose by the guards as Cal snarled something at him about what right he thought he had to have his hands on his fiancé.
Andrew saw Monica bristle at the words from Cal and he looked at her questionably,
"What is up with that guy?"
"That’s Rose’s fiancé and if it weren’t for Rose trying to jump off the Titanic, I would think he is the one who needed an angel the most," She replied, her gentle voice holding a bitterness he wasn’t accustomed to hearing from her. She continued watching the scene as Rose lied about what had really happened, convincing Cal that she had slipped while looking at the propellers and that Jack had saved her. It seemed that Cal was buying it though as he handed Jack a twenty dollar bill.
Rose met her icy blue eyes with those of her fiancé,
"Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" She asked, her voice etched with sarcasm.
"Ah, Rose is displeased," Cal responded with a belittling smile,
"What to do? I know, Mr. Dawson, join us for dinner tomorrow night to regale our group with your heroic tale."
"Sure," Jack replied, eyeing up Cal coolly, already knowing that there was nothing about this man he liked and he didn’t miss Cal’s sarcasm as he turned away from Jack.
"This should be interesting." Cal muttered as he steered Rose and Ruth back inside.
Andrew and Monica watched as Jack headed back to steerage, before Monica turned miserable eyes to her friend,
"I don’t understand them, Andrew. Why is it like that between the First Class and the Third Class? Jack isn’t any less of a person than Cal is. Why, he is more of one if you ask me!"
Andrew sighed softly, as he pulled her close for a moment and kissed the top of her head, trying to shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen before this ship docked in New York Harbor,
"I don’t know, Monica," He said softly,
"I just don’t know."
Chapter 4
"…I can’t believe that that girl almost jumped off the ship, Andrew!" Jack cried loudly as he threw his hand in the air and looked around the group of Steerage passengers gathered in the Third Class Commons Room.
Leaning back up against the bench he was sharing with his roommate, the young-looking man gripped his sketchpad tighter to himself as he shook his brown head, his hair swinging across his forehead.
Andrew held his breath as he listened to his new friend speak of the events of what happened the night before…and forced himself to not spill the beans that he and Monica were there, too…Sighing inwardly to himself, the young angel kept his mouth shut and turned his compassionate, green eyes to Jack again, listening to what he was telling him about Rose’s attempted suicide.
"I mean, what could be so bad that she would want to end it all?? I mean, really, Andrew…Think about it. She’s so young and has her whole life ahead of her…I just don’t get it…" He let out a sigh and faced Andrew beside him, who was quiet through his entire explanation of what happened.
"What do you think, man?" he questioned, his voice low and a bit quiet. "I saw that some of those First Class people seem a bit—I don’t know…they seemed like—"
"First Class people?" Andrew finished, raising an eyebrow as he kept his eyes on Jack.
Chuckling a bit, the human nodded his head and was just about to open his mouth in response when he noticed a familiar figure walk down the steps of the lower decks and enter the room. Her long, red hair was piled up on her head and she wore a beautiful, yellow dress with see-through, lacy sleeves. Her eyes searched the crowd before her, as everyone seemed to grow quiet at this First Class woman coming into Steerage. Eyes stopping on where Jack sat with Andrew, her face grew a bit red for a minute as she walked quietly, and shyly, over to the one she was looking for.
As she came closer, noticing that everyone’s eyes were riveted on her, she opened her mouth, her words coming out quiet with a bit of an accent.
"Mr. Dawson?"
Glancing over at his friend beside him on the bench, Jack turned back the woman he had saved the night before and stood to his feet, looking her over from head to toe.
"That’s me, Miss DeWitt Bukater," he replied as politely as possible, smiling at her as he took in her beauty.
"Can I talk to you for a little bit on the main deck, Mr. Dawson?" she whispered, glancing nervously around the Steerage room, gulping as she noticed that everyone was still staring at her, which made her more nervous.
"It’s very important…" she finished quietly.
His smile growing broader, Jack extended his hand towards the stairs and turned Rose again. "After you," he requested, watching her make her way back to the stairs. As he followed her figure out the door, Jack turned back to Andrew, who was still watching them with almost concern in his green eyes.
Raising an eyebrow slightly in his roommate’s direction, Jack turned back to follow Rose, up the stairs and to the elevators to the main deck.
*****
"I called you up here, Mr. Dawson, because I wanted to thank you for your actions last night," Rose glanced over at Jack as they walked side by side on the main deck.
"You can call me Jack, Rose," Jack interrupted, meeting her blue eyes, which held an uncertainty and a nervousness in them. "No need to be that polite…"
Her lips turning up into a bit of a smile, Rose continued speaking, walking faster down the deck, ignoring the strange looks the two received from First Class passengers on the deck. She knew it had to be such a strange site: A First Class girl, who was rich and engaged to one of the richest men on the ship walking around with a Steerage male, who wore a casual, cream colored shirt, suspenders and held an art pad in his hand while his slightly uncombed brown hair blew lazily in the morning breeze.
"Okay…Jack…" she muttered, turning quickly to him before walking over to the railing and leaning against it.
"You didn’t have to do what you did last night, believe me—"
"What do you mean I ‘didn’t have to do it’, Rose?" Jack demanded, staring straight into her beautiful blue eyes worriedly. "I did it because I saw someone, a wonderful woman like yourself who has her entire life ahead of her, about to jump off the back of this very ship—"
"How do you know how ‘wonderful’ I am, Jack??" Rose snapped back, shooting an annoyed look in his direction. "You don’t even know me and you don’t even know WHY I was about to do what I was going to do last night…"
"Then tell me why, Rose," Jack once again interrupted, leaning up against the railing beside her, his eyes never leaving her nervous-looking face. Her features looked so tense and sad all at once that the look had his worried for her. What was going on here?
As soon as the question came to his mind, he watched as Rose extended her right hand and showed him the beautiful ring on her finger, which held more sparkles than he could count and was the largest he had ever laid eyes upon. His jaw nearly dropping to the deck, Jack grasped her hand and looked down at the ring in awe.
"Gosh! Look at that thing! You would have gone straight to the bottom," he quipped, shooting a teasing look at her before his face turned serious as he realized the full situation: Rose must be married to some guy that she didn’t want to; someone who wasn’t her type, but was being forced into marriage anyway. Shaking his head, he listened as Rose started speaking once again.
"I see that look on your face, Jack…Yes, I am engaged. The man who arrived last night after—well, you know…well, he’s my fiancé, Jack," Her voice grew annoyed at the mention of the word "fiancé". "And, no, I don’t want to marry him—"
"Then why are you engaged to him then?" Jack asked, without thinking of what he was saying before it was out of his mouth. Although he already sensed that this was being forced on her, he wanted to hear such words come out of her own mouth first.
"Why am I engaged to him??" Rose repeated, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the railing once again, looking down at the boat deck. "I’ll tell you why I’m engaged to him, Jack. I’m engaged to Cal because mother is making me to because my father died a few years ago and we’ll have more money if I marry Cal. She doesn’t care about my feeling in this engagement—"
"Have you tried to talk to her about this, Rose?" Jack questioned calmly, still gazing at her worriedly. He knew that there was something really special about this young teenager; he knew that she was very fragile, but her own mother didn’t seem to care about that, but only about money. "Have you told her that you won’t marry him—"
"I can’t believe that you would suggest that I deceive my own mother, Jack!" Rose raised her voice, turning away from him, glowering. "I HAVE to marry him and that’s all there is to it! I have no way out of it whatsoever…you just don’t understand, Jack; you’re not me…"
"I’m not asking you to ‘deceive’ her, Rose," Jack reassured the young woman before him, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder, turning her back around to face him. "I’m only asking if you’ve TALKED to her about it and explained to her your feelings."
Sighing as she finally met his eyes with hers, Rose tried to regain some of her strength and took a deep breath as she lifted her head up and answered, "No, I haven’t…"
Just as Jack was about to question her further, he was suddenly stopped as Rose’s face took on a more annoyed look as she seemed to be looking over his head. Raising an eyebrow, Jack turned around and found two older-looking woman coming towards them. One of them looked to be an older resemblance of Rose, while the other was dark-skinned and looked friendlier. Her brown and gray hair was piled up on her head, similar to Rose’s hairstyle and she wore a dark purple dress over her large frame. A smile was on her face, as she seemed to be talking to the woman beside her.
"Oh, great…" Rose’s voice broke into Jack’s thoughts as he turned back to her. "It’s mother. Just who I needed to see right now, Jack…"
"Do you know who the other woman is?" he questioned in return, turning back to the duo, was heading in their direction. Rose’s mother had an annoyed and slightly angry look on her face. Was it because she was talking to him? He thought to himself as he frowned. Was it because he was a Steerage passenger and not First Class??
"All I know is that mother told me that her name is Tess and she’s in First Class…But surely doesn’t act like it…"
Shaking his head, Jack turned back to where Ruth and this Tess lady were heading towards them and straightened his shoulders as they approached, trying to put on his most modest and polite look.
"Rose, what are you doing out here?" Ruth demanded as the finally arrived up to where her daughter and Jack were standing side by side. Glancing at Jack and looking him up and down, Ruth quickly turned her dark eyes back towards Rose and gestured for her to follow her. "You know that we have tea in just a few minutes, Rose…"
Shooting a stern look her way, she faced Jack once again and finally spoke to him, her voice low and anything but friendly. "And as far as I remember, you’re coming to dinner tonight, is that correct…uh…"
"Jack Dawson, ma’am," Jack replied, extending his hand in a friendly gesture, but, as he realized that Ruth wasn’t going to shake it, his face fell slightly and he lowered his hand to his side, deciding to ignore the rudeness.
"Let’s get going, Rose," Ruth ordered, nodding her head towards the entrance of the ship and giving a brief nod towards Jack. "We don’t want to be late for tea."
Nodding slightly, Rose turned back to her companion beside her and gave him a small smile before turning around to follow Ruth back into the ship and to First Class.
"I’ll see you at dinner, Jack," she said friendly before quickly heading to catch up with her mother, both of them soon disappearing into the ship together.
"You okay, Baby?"
Tess’ loving voice broke into his thoughts and he turned his eyes away from Rose’s figure departing from him and turned towards the grandmotherly woman standing at his side, her eyes shining and friendly to him.
"Ruth has her moments, Jack," she explained, patting his arm in reassurance, smiling up at his face.
Oh, I’m okay, ma’am," Jack replied, returning the smile brightly, looking her over and finding this woman to be rather different than any other First Class passengers. It seemed to be that Rose was right; this woman wasn’t like any other upper class woman…
"You can call me Tess, Jack. So, you’re invited to dinner tonight, right, Baby?" Tess confirmed, removing her arm and lowering it to her side, staring at him, eyebrows raised in question.
"Yes, that’s right, Tess," he replied, leaning back against the ship, his hands resting on the edges and eyes set on Tess’ own dark eyes. "I got invited last night…"
"I do have a question, honey…" Tess squinted her eyes, gazing at Jack’s clothing and looking him up and down before returning her gaze to meet his eyes. "What are you planning to wear at the dinner??"
Nonchalantly raising his shoulders in a shrug, the 20-year old human lifted his arms and turned around, showing what he had on as his attire to dinner that night. As he faced the older woman in front of him again, he noticed her eyes go wide as she immediately grabbed hold of his upper arm and started dragging him towards the entrance of First Class.
"I figured, Baby…Come on…"
*****
As she once again sat straight up in her seat in the First Class dining room late that night, Monica almost found it easier and easier to get used to sitting this straight in a chair and also the corset she had to wear day in and day out since this assignment had first begun.
Her hair neatly pulled up on top of her auburn head, the Irish angel waited slightly nervously for her tablemates to show up. As what she heard with Andrew last night after Rose’s attempted suicide, Jack would be there that night, as an "offer of appreciation" from Cal.
Sighing, Monica looked all around her at the group, her eyes finally setting on several people coming towards the table…ones that she recognized. Rose was being escorted on the arm of Jack, while Tess was on Jack’s other arm. Watching as her supervisor briefly caught her brown eyes, Monica shot a warm smile her way quickly before turning back to the others coming towards them, too. Ruth and Cal walked arm in arm beside Rose, Jack and Tess, each of them wearing rather self-centered looks on their faces.
Turning back to her plate, Monica drew in a deep breath and nodded her head slowly to herself.
It was now time for another dinner in First Class…
*****
"…Jack, must you go?"
Rose’s question caused Monica to turn slightly in her seat and watch as Jack quietly whispered something back to her and noticed that Rose let out a slight chuckle, but a look of disappointment was evident on her assignment’s pretty features.
Watching as Jack whispered, "Good night, Rose" to her and leaned down to kiss her hand gently, the Irish angel leaned over slightly and watched as, just as Jack was departing, Rose looked down at her hand and quickly unfolded a piece of paper.
Confused at what was in her assignment’s hand, Monica continued to watch as Rose’s eyes widened and, making sure her mother wasn’t watching her read the note once again, she politely excused herself from the dining table and stood to her feet, heading towards the Grand Staircase. Even from her viewpoint, Monica could notice that Rose’s eyes held a confused look of their own, but…also a somewhat excited one…
What was that note?? The Irish angel thought to herself as she kept her eyes on Rose’s back until she disappeared around the corner and out of the dining room.
*****
Having received the note from Jack right before he left, Rose found curiosity growing inside of her more and more as she continued her walk towards the Grand Staircase. Lifting the hem of her long dress to avoid tripping on it, Rose finally found herself at the destination that Jack wanted her to meet her at: The large clock at the top of the Grand Staircase.
As she looked up and saw Jack’s back at the top of the staircase, staring silently at the clock before him, Rose let out a soft sigh as she slowly climbed the long staircase towards him. As if knowing she was behind him, Jack suddenly turned around, a small grin playing on his lips, and before she could ask why he wanted her to meet him here, he replied.
"How about I show you what a good time REALLY is?"
Chapter 5
"Jack, where are we going?" Rose asked for the third time, as she clung tightly to his hand and followed him down to the Third Class deck. She could now hear the sound of music-Celtic or Irish music coming from around the corner.
"C’mon! You’ll see!" Jack pulled her gently along with him as they both rounded the corner of the lower deck.
Rose’s eyes grew wide as she took in the ongoing party before her. Steerage passengers were playing instruments-bagpipes, flutes, and dancing, laughing, talking and drinking. Why, these people were not miserable because they were poor, Rose thought to herself, they were having a grand time!
"Andrew!" Jack spotted his friend and waved to him, before pulling Rose across the deck to where Andrew sat.
Seeing Jack and Rose coming towards him, Andrew raised his eyebrows in surprise. Father, what is Rose doing down here? And where is Monica?
"Andrew," Jack smiled approaching him,
"I’d like you to meet Rose. I had dinner with her tonight and then thought I could bring her here for a real party," He shot a smile at Rose, who smiled back.
"Nice to meet you, Rose," Andrew smiled, tipping his cap at her,
"So, how was dinner?"
Rose laughed a little shakily,
"Nothing like this, Andrew!" She said with a nervous laugh. If Cal found her down here, she was sure he would do nothing short of killing her.
The three chatted as the music slowed and Andrew, still sensing Rose’s nervousness, turned her,
"May I have this dance, Miss Rose?" He asked, a bit sheepishly, as he bowed in front of her.
Rose giggled a bit as she curtseyed,
"Of course, you may, Andrew." She winked at Jack as Andrew took her hand and led her out onto what had become the dance floor.
"So, what do you think of the RMS Titanic?" Andrew asked once they had begun to move to the much softer music.
Rose sighed softly as she looked into the eyes of Jack’s friend,
"As far as ships go, it’s fine, I suppose. There are just other places I would rather be."
Andrew nodded his head, agreeing with her more than he was willing to let on. He just couldn’t shake this horrible feeling that something was going to happen while they were on board this ship. He also wished he knew where his best friend was. It would do his heart good to see her right about now.
"Okay, that’s enough," Jack joked as he stepped in between Rose and Andrew, causing them both to laugh,
"We need to liven things up around here! C’mon boys!" He shouted to the musicians, who took the hint and changed gears to something much faster.
Jack grabbed Rose’s hand and in minutes the pair was caught up in the midst of an Irish gig. Jack was amazed by Rose’s dancing ability to this kind of music, but she more than kept up with him, laughing the whole time. In that instant, Jack knew that this was the real Rose. Not the one that Cal and Ruth kept penned up in a cage, but the real Rose. The Rose who wanted to enjoy life and make each minute count.
Rose felt herself being caught up in Jack’s arms and she looked into his eyes for a moment and then realized she didn’t want to ever leave the warmth that she found radiated there. She had no idea of what she was doing, but she only knew that for the first time in so long, something felt good.
******
Cal was unusually silent during breakfast the next morning in her stateroom. Rose could feel his eyes upon her, even as she didn’t dare to meet them. She kept telling herself that there was no way he could know where she had been last night, but then why was he so quiet.
"So, Rose," Cal said coldly, after what seemed to be an eternity,
"Did you enjoy yourself last night?"
Rose’s heart began to race, wondering if this was a trick question,
"Dinner was lovely, Cal-," She began, raising her teacup to her lips to stall for time.
But at that moment, in one fell swoop; Cal knocked the cup from her hands. It flew across the patio and went crashing to the floor,
"Don’t play innocent with me, Rose!" He growled at her, putting his hands on the arms of her chair to stare into her pale face,
"I know you were with HIM last night!"
"Cal, whatever are you talking about--," Rose stammered, feeling herself trembling from head to foot.
Wanting more than anything to slap that look off her pretty face, Cal wisely stepped back from her, but his anger was great and he turned and grabbed the table, knocking it, and all the china that held their breakfast to the floor.
Rose gave out a small cry of fear, as her wide eyes looked up at him.
"I won’t be lied to, Rose and I promise you, if I so much as see you talking to him again, I’ll kill him. You have my word on that!" With that, Caledon Hockley turned on his heel and stormed off the patio.
Starring numbly at the mess that surrounded her, Rose got up, but weakly sank to the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. How could he have known? How could I have been so stupid?
"Rose? Trudy left me in, I hope you don’t mind," Monica’s gentle accent filled the air, but as the angel walked out onto the patio, she froze, seeing the mess and hearing Rose’s quiet sobs,
"Rose?" Monica quickly approached her and knelt to the floor beside of her,
"Oh Rose, what happened?" Carefully, she laid a soothing hand on Rose’s shoulder.
Rose struggled to control her tears as she looked into Monica’s dark eyes,
"I…I went to a party last night in Steerage with Jack and I guess somehow Cal found out about it. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy."
Monica nodded her head in understanding, her eyes pained at the young girl’s plight,
"I’m so sorry, Rose," She responded softly, her hand continuing to rub Rose’s back, remembering the times Andrew had done that for her when she was upset or afraid. She smiled, thinking about him, then looked at Rose,
"How was the party?"
Rose smiled in spite of her tears,
"It was wonderful, Monica. I can’t recall the last time I had so much fun. We danced and laughed and talked. I met his bunkmate, Andrew, who is really quite sweet. But Jack…Jack…" Her eyes brimmed with tears once more,
"What am I doing, Monica? I can’t be with Jack! I have to marry that monster, Cal!"
Monica drew the weeping girl into her arms and sighed softly, praying for the right words that would help Rose,
"You have a choice, Rose. You aren’t married to him yet, and you know what? There is someone up there who would love to talk to you about this."
"You mean God?" Rose uttered bitterly,
"We don’t have the best of relationships. We disagreed on the death of my father when he was far too young to die. So, don’t talk to me about God, Monica. He is the reason I am in this situation to begin with. If He hadn’t taken my father, my mother wouldn’t be forcing me to marry Cal to keep us from poverty."
Monica drew in a sharp breath as she listened to Rose’s words and the whole truth came together for her. This was why she was here. Rose no longer accepted God and to keep her First Class status, she had to marry Cal. Even though Monica had only been in First Class for a few days, she could already understand how people could get accustomed to living in the lap of luxury. After the first day, she herself had found the transition to be very easy. So, how did a girl like Rose, give it all up?
Unsure of what else to say to comfort the teenager in her arms, Monica just stroked her hair, finding herself feeling more confused about his whole assignment than ever before.
Chapter 6
Still overcome with anger and fear over what had happened with Cal during breakfast early that morning, Rose found herself sitting alone in her State room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Glaring at what she saw in front of her, although she was sure that what she wore was appropriate for the church service in the next hour, the teenager grimaced and looked down at her make-up table, staring at it.
The sound the door opening behind her all of a sudden startling Rose out of her thoughts, she looked into the mirror without turning around and saw her mother coming through the door. Stifling a scream of anger that Ruth didn’t have the decency to knock first, Rose sucked in a deep breath and stared into her mother’s eyes through the large mirror, waiting for the first words to be spoken.
"Cal informed me what happened last night, Rose," Ruth began in a firm, controlling tone as she walked over to her daughter, fully dressed in her attire for the day. Stopping behind the young girl and resting the palms of her hands on the back of her chair, Ruth set her mouth into a hard line as she stared into Rose’s hurt, blue eyes.
"What is the matter with you, Rose??" the older woman continued, her voice slightly rising as it was traced with a bit of anger.
"What went on with you last night, huh? Going down to Steerage with that piece of trash—"
"How did you know that I went there, mother?" Rose interrupted, shooting a challenging look her mother’s way as she kept her eyes steady on Ruth’s brown ones.
"And what right to you have to call Jack a ‘piece of trash’—"
"I can call him whomever I please, Rose!!" Ruth’s voice continued to raise as she shot a stern look back at her daughter.
"And you should know that! You had no business going down there with that boy; you’re an engaged woman, Rose—"
"That’s what it’s about, isn’t it, mother?!" Rose shouted, turning around in her seat finally and glaring up into Ruth’s angry eyes.
"That I’m ‘engaged’! I can’t BELIEVE that you’re forcing this on me! I’m only 17 years old and already you’re choosing my soul mate for me!!"
"I chose Hockley for you, Rose, because we’ll survive that way," Ruth sternly shot back, staring into the young girl’s eyes.
"Your father is dead now…when you marry Cal, then things can go back to the way they were before—"
"See??" Rose raised her voice even more, standing to her feet and backing away from her Ruth.
"This is just what I’m saying, mother! But you just won’t listen to me!! I can’t believe you…"
Her voice getting choked up and tears threatening to spill over, Rose turned on her heel and headed for the door as fast as she could, but before her hand could come in contact with the brass doorknob, she felt a firm hand grab her arm and yank her back, turning her around once again. Her red hair flying, Rose met her mother’s gaze with a piercing look of her own, but didn’t say a word.
"I’m telling you right now, Rose…" Ruth threatened, looking dead into her young daughter’s blue eyes.
"You will never see that boy again—you know who I’m talking about. You are not to go near him, talk to him or much less LOOK at him. Do you understand what I’m saying, Rose?? I forbid this…"
Not able to believe what her own mother was informing her at that moment, Rose quickly yanked her arm out of her mother’s grasp and reached for the brass knob of the door again and, this time, pulled it open wide, running out into the brightly lighted hallway, the tears now coming to her eyes and running down her cheeks.
*****
"…You’re a very nice young man, Andrew," Thomas Andrews, the Titanic ship builder, commented as he smiled at the young fellow beside him as they walked on the deck of the large ship, engaged in conversation.
"I can tell that you care a lot about people, son."
Returning the man’s smile with one of his own, the young angel chuckled a bit as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Although the smile looked genuine, Andrew couldn’t help but feel the terror that something would happen soon…very soon. Not only to everyone on board, but also to the ship herself…but, what that sense was, he couldn’t imagine what that could possibly be.
"Well…thank you, Mr. Andrews," Andrew nodded his head as they continued walking past the lifeboats.
"And, yes, I do care a lot about people, especially young children…"
Taking in a deep breath, the Angel of Death stopped walking and turned to face the ship builder in front of him, deciding to go ahead and take the risk of asking what he was about to ask.
"So…forgive me for asking this, sir, but…I’ve done some research on how many lifeboats there are here and how many people on board this ship, and—to tell you the truth, the results came out to me that there seems to not be enough for everyone aboard, Mr. Andrews…" Andrew commented, frowning as he continued.
"I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but I just have this feeling that if anything happens…not everyone will be able to board the lifeboats…"
Chuckling at the young man’s words, Mr. Andrews placed a compassionate hand on Andrew’s shoulder and gave it a friendly pat, turning to the lifeboats beside him.
"You have nothing to worry about here, Andrew," he replied, smiling once again. "The ship is unsinkable and even if it did sink—which is impossible—there would be enough for everyone on here. Believe me, son."
Forcing himself to smile back at his companion, Andrew nodded his head briefly and continued walking along the main boat deck, his heart beating faster than ever before. Much to his horror, instead of feeling better at having asked the question…it only made him feel worse inside.
I do know one thing, though, the young angel thought heavily to himself as he and Thomas Andrews headed further down the deck, the ship builder starting to talk to him once again. I do know that I have to tell Monica about this…and soon…
*****
Just a few minutes after having exited her suite because of the argument with her mother, Rose suddenly found herself walking along the same walkway that she and Jack had walked along after the Steerage party the night before. Having needed some time for herself before the church service began, the young teenager forced back the remainder of her tears and gulped as she stopped and looked over the railing at the mighty ocean, wishing again for a brief moment that she could just jump right into it for the time being…
"Rose!"
Jack’s voice breaking her out of her thoughts, Rose twirled around and opened her eyes wide at the site of Jack running up behind her. Wishing that she could just run over to him and have him protect her from her horrid life, Rose instead backed away from the man she had come to almost love…
"Rose? Are you okay??" Jack questioned worriedly, his brow furrowed, his concern for her evident on his handsome face.
"What’s wrong?"
Taking a deep breath and forcing herself to say this, although she didn’t want to at all, the teenager plastered a fake look of stubbornness and hardness on her pretty face and looked Jack square in the eye.
"Go away, Jack," she whispered, her voice slightly trembling. "Just get away from me…"
Shocked at her words, Jack took a step closer, a hand outstretched and a look of slight pain on his features.
"Rose?"
"I said ‘get away from me’!!!" Rose suddenly shouted, backing further away from the love of her life, shooting a glare at him to prove her point, although none of her heart and soul was into that dirty look.
"And stay away from me! You don’t know me, Jack…and you have no right to interfere in my life like you’ve been doing these last few days. I can take care of myself and I’d appreciate it if you’d stay out of my business and my life."
Not trusting herself to look back at Jack, Rose whirled around and tore down the deck, red hair flying as she ran, and back to her nightmarish hell hole…the last place where she would never want to be even if it was the last place on the earth…
Chapter 7
Monica waited impatiently outside of the chapel for Rose. She was supposed to meet her assignment in time for the church service, and the angel kept searching the crowd of First Class passengers who were piling into the chapel for any sign of Rose.
Finally, she spotted the teenager hurrying towards her, and Monica could tell that Rose still seemed highly upset. Had something more happened since breakfast two hours ago the angel wondered. Monica was even more confused when Rose nodded to her before hurrying inside the chapel.
Monica prepared to follow her, when she heard the soft sound of her name being called. Whirling around, an expression of annoyance on her pretty face, she saw Andrew standing over to the side. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching her, she stepped closer to him, her eyes almost demanding answers to this interruption that was taking her away from her assignment.
"What is it, Andrew?" She whispered, impatiently crossing her arms in front of her as her inquisitive eyes met his.
Andrew was a little taken back by his best friends irritated expression, but he put it aside, knowing he needed to speak with her regardless of how big of a hurry she was in at that moment,
"We have to talk, Monica. I spoke with Mr. Andrews today, the ships builder about the lifeboats. He assured me that there were enough lifeboats if something were to happen, but I’ve counted and recounted them, and there is no way possible-."
"This is what you came here to tell me?" Monica hissed at him, unable to keep the distain from her voice,
"Andrew, I don’t have time for this now. Rose is in there and the service is getting ready to start. I need to go."
Andrew raised his eyebrows in disbelief at her words,
"Sorry to bother you, Angel Girl, but this is important!" He replied, his own tongue sharper than what he had intended.
"And so is this! What are you doing here anyway? You know you are not permitted on the First Class deck, Andrew!" Her brown eyes looked at him accusingly.
"I never expected to hear those words coming from you," He replied, after a moment, his eyes flashing his hurt at her words.
Monica looked around her and felt the stares of several passersby as they observed the scene before them between a First Class passenger and the man from Steerage, and she felt her cheeks burn with her embarrassment,
"You need to go, Andrew. Now." She uttered, turning away from him and preparing to go inside of the chapel.
Andrew grabbed hold of her arm and turned her back around to face him,
"What has gotten into you, Monica?" He asked, trying to understand where this open hostility towards him was coming from.
"Let me go!" She hissed, her eyes burning into his,
"You come here all full of gloom and doom, where you are not supposed to be, acting like this ship is going to sink! It’s unsinkable, Andrew! You don’t even know if you were placed here as an Angel of Death. You should be with your assignment!"
"Excuse me, miss," the Master at Arms approached them, glancing at Andrew with a look of mistrust in his eyes,
"Is this man bothering you?"
Monica froze, her eyes on Andrew’s before she turned to face the Master at Arms. Looking around, she saw a small group of people had gathered to watch the exchange and once again, she felt her face flush bright red,
"Not now that you’re here," She replied, unable to meet the eyes of her fellow angel,
"He did no harm, but he does need to be removed from First Class." Even as she said the words, she had to shake off the great sadness that was creeping into her heart. Had she seen Andrew’s hurt and distraught look, she would have wanted the floor to open up and swallow her, so she was careful to avert her eyes from his.
"Very well, then," the Master at Arms stated, taking Andrew’s arm,
"Allow me to escort you back to Steerage, young man."
As Andrew was led away, Ruth approached Monica, her cold eyes filled with curiosity,
"What was that all about?"
Monica smiled faintly,
"Just a misunderstanding, Ruth, really. Come on, we don’t want to be late." Giving a brief nod to Rose’s mother, Monica hurried inside of the church, wondering if she would find absolution for what she had just done to her best friend.
*******
An hour later as Monica entered her stateroom, another unexpected visitor greeted her. She gasped, startled, to see Tess standing in front of her, arms crossed and a more then a little perturbed look on her mahogany face.
"I don’t care how long it takes, Monica, but I am not leaving until I have an explanation."
Monica tossed her handbag into the chair, hardly daring to meet Tess’ eyes,
"What do you mean, Tess?"
"Don’t you dare give me that, Miss Wings! I saw what happened between you and Angel Boy earlier and don’t pretend you don’t remember either. Let me tell you something right now, baby, pride and snobbery do not become you at all!" Tess was trying hard to remain calm, but she had spent the last hour trying to calm her temper to not much avail.
"He wasn’t supposed to be in First Class, Tess!" Monica shot back, the pride Tess had mentioned unwittingly coming to the surface once more,
"You said yourself that in order to fit in with First Class, I’d have to look down to Third! Imagine how it looked, a Third Class passenger trying to talk me before church!"
"That’s right, Monica, I did say that," Tess replied, her voice never losing its sternness,
"So, what you are telling me is that you agree with the way First Class acts towards anyone who has less then they do, so much that you would deny your friend in order to fit in? What kind of an example is that setting for Rose? She’s supposed to be learning from an angel that there is more to life than class. I never thought I’d have to remind the angel of God of that fact!"
Tess drew in a deep breath, noticing that much of the color had drained from her young charge’s face and she had no doubts that Monica was already beginning to rethink her actions from that morning, but Tess was not quite finished driving her point home. She had hated what had transpired between she and Andrew not long ago-theirs was a friendship Tess had watched grow and thrive over the last few years, and she was not about to allow Monica, who was confused over her place here on this ship, to sink this friendship.
"Monica, you know I love you very much, baby, but let me just fill you in on what happened an hour ago. You have spent a few days with some of the richest people in America, who have nothing more to worry about than how cold their champagne is at dinnertime. Some of these people are more than willing to squash those who they feel are beneath them, and these are not good attributes for you to take on, baby. Now, you can deny it and say that you didn’t do any such thing, but an hour ago, when a certain angel tried to talk to you, you didn’t see the angel that was your friend; the angel that is your best friend. You saw a Third Class passenger, baby, and nothing more and I’m afraid our Angel Boy is feeling more than slightly wounded by your words and actions."
Monica had listened to everything Tess had said, starring at the floor as tears had welled up in her eyes. She knew her supervisor was right, about everything. What had gotten into her? What had Andrew even been trying to tell her? Something about lifeboats, but she realized now she had never really been listening. She had been too concerned with the fact that the passengers behind her were talking about her.
Andrew.
She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob as she thought about her dear friend and what she had done. How could he ever forgive her?
"Baby?" Tess said softly, seeing the pain that the truth had inflicted on her young charge. Tess sighed softly; this whole assignment was going to be one tough lesson for both she and Andrew and she wished she could somehow spare them.
"I..I need some air, Tess," Monica uttered, brushing past her supervisor and friend, too ashamed to meet Tess’ knowing eyes.
"Monica!" Tess called after her, but she was too late. The heartbroken angel had already vanished out the door.
Monica ran, sobs tearing from her soul until she reached the back end of the ship. Clenching the railing, she allowed the tears to come freely as she lowered her head onto her hands,
"Please forgive me, Andrew," She choked softly, thinking of the ever-gentle Angel of Death who she loved so much,
"Please."
Chapter 8
Feeling a sense of relief that the room that he shared with Jack was empty when he arrived back in Steerage, Andrew quickly closed the door behind him and ran towards his bed, throwing himself face-down onto it. The sobs that he had been trying to hold back for an hour, ever since the little incident with Monica, now coming to the surface, the wounded angel buried his head into his arms, his body shaking with sobs at what had occurred earlier.
I don’t understand how this could have happened, Father, Andrew silently prayed as tear after tear coursed down his face and dripping onto his pillow. I just don’t understand…how could Monica have changed so much in only a few days? She’s my best friend…I don’t want to lose her, Father. I—I don’t want to lose her…
His sobs growing louder, drowning out the Voice of his loving Father, Andrew’s shoulders shook even more as he let out every emotion he had been trying so desperately to hold in. His heart was shattered over what had happened with his best friend and he wasn’t going to hold that back.
And Monica still had to know…She just had to…
*****
Hugging her arms to her chest as she finally approached Room 360 down in Steerage, Monica’s tears started flowing again as she stared at the closed door. She knew that Andrew was in there; he had to be. After all…She was the one that had sent him back to here by the Master of Arms…
Shakily raising a hand and making it into a fist, the angel, still dressed in her outfit from the church service, knocked tentatively on the door, hoping that her friend would reply to the knock. Her heart breaking once again after receiving no response from behind the closed door, the Irish angel tried knocking once again, only louder this time.
Again, nothing.
Drawing in a deep, shaky breath and glancing around her at some Steerage passengers, who had turned shocked eyes to her, Monica’s heart beat wildly as she grasped the doorknob to Andrew and Jack’s room and slightly turned it, a sense of relief flowing through her at the door having been unlocked.
Oh, Andrew…if you’re in here…please forgive me for everything, my friend, Monica silently pleaded as she stepped into the small, dim room. Thankful that she was able to see through the dimness and that the blinds were open, the sun shining through the small window, Monica turned her auburn head over to the bed on the left, her heart shattering all over again at the figure lying face-down onto it.
Andrew’s shoulders shook with every sob as he lay on his made bed, his blonde head buried deep into his arms, oblivious to the mere presence of the angel behind him or even the door opening. Not able to make out the face of her best friend, but able to hear every sob he choked out—all because of what she had said to him back in First Class—the Irish angel took a hesitant step closer to the Angel of Death and sat down beside his shaking body.
Still, no response from him.
Her hand moving to rest on his trembling shoulder, Andrew all of a sudden jerked his head up and sat up straight on the bed, blinking his eyes from the tears that flooded them, and tried to make out the figure sitting beside him…and suddenly drew in a deep, shaky breath, not sure what to believe when he realized that it was Monica sitting beside him on the bed, her hand still resting on his shoulder.
"Andrew…" Monica uttered tearfully, her tears rolling down her still pale face as she tried to get her words out.
"Andrew—I’m so, so sorry…about everything that I said to you back outside the church. I don’t expect you to forgive me, my friend, but know how truly sorry I am. Please, Andrew…"
"Why did you do that, Monica??" Andrew whispered, his voice shaking as he lifted his hand and wiped away as many tears as he could, only having them been replaced by new ones.
"Why? I never thought…"
"I got so caught up in the First Class routine, my friend," Monica informed him, taking his hand into hers and giving it a tight squeeze.
"I don’t know how that could have happened to me…I wasn’t a good example to Rose; I was starting to act like everyone up there and I decided to go ahead and look down on you, too…Because you were a Third Class passenger…"
"What had made you change your mind all of sudden, Monica?" Andrew whispered again, turning his teary green eyes away from those of his friend, who was still staring at him regretfully.
"Tess made me realize what I did, Andrew…and—"
"And so you’re here because Tess told you to come, Monica??" Andrew raised his voice slightly, the pain in it coming through loud and clear as he turned back to his fellow angel, the tears coming once again like never before. Pain stabbed at his gentle heart as he listened to Monica speak. The young Angel of Death thought that his friend had come to apologize because she made that choice by herself. NOT by the choice of their supervisor…
"What else did she tell you to come and tell me, Monica?? Everything that you’ve told me so far? You only came here because our supervisor told you that you were wrong and everything that you’ve said was words that Tess TOLD you to say?? Isn’t that it, Monica??" Andrew cried, shaking his hand free from Monica’s tight grip and turning back to the pillow, burying his face in it again, sobs quietly tearing through him.
Shocked at what she all of a sudden came to realize what her best friend thought, Monica felt tears streak her pale cheeks as she leaned over Andrew’s trembling form and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Not knowing whether her own tears would come to a close or if she would be able to get her words out, Monica took a deep breath and forced herself to speak her heart.
"No, Andrew…No," Monica shakily whispered, rubbing his shoulders as he continued to look away from her.
"Tess didn’t tell me to come here. This was my choice and I chose it ‘cause she made me realize what I did…I came here to apologize to you, Andrew…and I mean it with all of my heart and soul. I was so selfish; I was a snob; I didn’t listen to what you were trying to tell me and I was mean to you…" Monica stated, her gentle Irish voice trembling as she whispered into her friend’s right ear.
"I’m so very sorry, my friend," Monica sobbed, ignoring the wetness on her face from her tears.
"You’re my best friend, Andrew and I wish I could take back everything that I said to you, everything that was hurtful and cruel just because you’re in a different class than I am…Can you ever forgive me, Andrew?"
A silence pervading the room for several minutes and Monica’s heart beating wilder than ever before, she held her breath as she watched Andrew mull everything she had said over in his mind. Finally, though, the Irish angel watched in silence as her best friend sat up from his position and turned back around to face her. His eyes were still filled with tears, but his face had softened a bit as he shakily reached his arms out to her.
A sob once again escaping her throat, Monica didn’t hesitate in throwing her arms around Andrew’s neck tightly, hugging him to herself with all of the strength she had in her being. His arms encircling her waist tightly, Andrew buried his face in her soft hair as she rocked him back and forth, repeating the words,
"I’m sorry" over and over again against his shoulder.
His body not trembling as much anymore, but the tears still refusing to end, Andrew lifted his eyes to the ceiling and gave a deep sigh. Knowing in his heart that his friend was truly sorry and that she really did care for him, Andrew tightened his hold around Monica as he whispered shakily into her auburn hair.
"I forgive you, Monica…I forgive you."
His soft voice echoing in her head and his words echoing in her heart, Monica felt her body break down with immense relief and thankfulness as she only tightened her hold around her best friend, never wanting to let him go. For some strange reason—a reason she couldn’t really understand—she was so worried that if she let him go, she wouldn’t see him ever again.
At least not in THIS lifetime…
Not trusting herself to speak, the two angels continued to hold one another tightly on Andrew’s bed as each of them sobbed out all of their grief. After several minutes and finally finding he was a lot calmer than a few minutes ago, Andrew finally pulled away from Monica’s arms and took her hands in his, squeezing them tightly as he realized that they were shaking, too.
"Monica…I really do forgive you. That’s the honest truth…and I care about you so much, so that’s why you have to know this. And—please believe me. Please…" Andrew desperately pleaded, looking straight into his best friend’s tear-stained, brown eyes.
"What is it, Andrew?"
Taking a deep breath as he felt his tears come to the surface again, Andrew glanced down at their entwined hands and spoke, his voice shaky and fearful.
"Monica…I talked to Mr. Andrews, the master ship builder of the Titanic, earlier today. You know how everyone has said that—this ship is unsinkable?" he whispered softly.
Nodding her head slowly, Monica felt her heart and his beating in time together as she listened to her friend speak, finding that the fear she was feeling a few minutes ago was coming back.
"I did some research on this ship and the amount of lifeboats there are aboard here…" Andrew continued, his voice slightly cracking.
"I found out that there’s 2200 souls on board this ocean liner and not as many lifeboats to fit everyone on here…Ever since the other day, Monica…I’ve had this strange feeling about this voyage. I don’t know why, but—I feel like…soon, very soon…this ship will sink. I don’t know how; I don’t know when; but I keep getting this strange feeling in my heart about all of this…"
Her body nearly breaking down, Monica leaned forward against her friend and rested her weary head against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him again, as if trying to reassure herself that as long as she held him, he’d be okay. After all…Andrew was the Angel of Death; when he felt these kinds of emotions and feelings, they were rarely ever wrong. Tightly gripping him, Monica’s muffled voice sounded against his strong chest.
"If by some chance this ship does sink, Andrew…I’m not leaving you. We’ll go through this together," Monica uttered tearfully, her shoulders trembling with every choked sob.
Firmly pulling back from his best friend, Andrew kept a tight grip on her shoulders, as he looked deep into her scared eyes.
"Monica, you do have to go back to First Class…You can’t stay here—"
"Yes, I can, Andrew," Monica replied stubbornly as she gripped Andrew’s hand tightly again as she felt him standing to his feet. Looking up into his fearful, green eyes intensely, Monica whispered,
"I can and I will! I’m not going to let you go through it alone…I don’t know why, but I’m getting this sudden strange feeling, too, in the pit of my stomach. You CAN’T go through this alone if the ship sinks— I won’t let that happen—"
Lifting his trembling hands up to her gentle face, Andrew cupped her face in his hands and made her meet his eyes.
"Sweetheart, you have to go," Andrew choked out, wishing she would go before he broke down completely and lost control of himself at his best friend leaving his side.
"If the ship does go down tonight, or tomorrow night or whenever…God is with us and is taking care of us. Plus…we also have our assignments to finish. You know that, Angel Girl…You know that…"
No words able to come out of her mouth for a minute, Monica finally uttered,
"But—"
Lifting a finger to her lips, Andrew shot a firm look at his best friend, sending her a silent message that he was serious about all of this. His finger still held in place at her mouth, Andrew met her teary, brown eyes before departing with his last words.
"I do love you, Angel Girl," he shakily whispered, his eyes never leaving hers as his heart beat wildly. Finding his hand was shaking madly, the angel brought his hand back to his side.
Once more throwing herself full force into her best friend’s arms, Monica choked out,
"I love you, too, Andrew…Be careful…"
Giving her one last loving squeeze, Andrew gently pulled away and took his fellow angel’s hand in his own and, without saying anything else, gently led her to the door, immediately opening it. Their eyes meeting one final time before Monica walked out of the room, Andrew grasped the doorknob and shut it behind her.
As soon as it clicked shut, the Angel of Death leaned a palm against the wooden door and rested his pounding head against it, sobs once again tearing through his body. Turning around, his back leaned up against the wood, Andrew felt his body sink down the ground as he brought his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them and buried his face deep into his shaking arms, the fear coming back at him full force, like Monica’s final embrace had been.
His mind in a whirl, the angel continued to sob as he sat on the hard floor, wishing with all of his heart that he could be wrong about the sinking of the largest ship on the Earth…
Chapter 9
Rose slowly backed out of the room, unseen by her mother or Cal. She had stood, silently listening as her mother and the monster that would be her husband had discussed her wedding. As always, they never asked for her input or her opinion on any of the things that they decided. She was merely a pawn in the whole process; a pawn whose life would be destroyed if this wedding came to be.
But she had choices, didn’t she? Jack had said that she did. Jack was poor and didn’t seem to regret it at all. He called his own shots and handled whatever hand life dealt to him optimistically.
"Life is a gift that I don’t plan on wasting," He had quipped at dinner the other night. A gift from whom, Rose wondered. God? The God had taken her father?
Rose listened as her mother commented to Cal on who her maid of honor would be and Rose could suddenly hear no more. Unseen by either of them, she left the room and walked out to the deck of the ship, wanting more than anything to see the one that she had said should not interfere in her life.
Her life? Not as it stood right now, she decided, her resolve strengthening. But if it was a gift, then it did belong to her, didn’t it? This wasn’t what she wanted-to be sold into marital slavery to Caledon Hockley. No. For the first time, she was coming to terms with her life and suddenly she wanted to make it hers.
The sun was setting on the ocean horizon, the brilliant red and orange glow seeming to symbolize her newfound freedom. She walked to the front of the ship and her eyes came to rest on Jack.
He stood silent at the head of the great ship, the wind whipping through his hair. Silently, Rose approached him and laid a tentative hand on his shoulder. As he turned to face her, a look of surprise on his face, she managed a small smile,
"I’m sorry, Jack. I was wrong." She said softly.
"How so?" He asked, looking at her intently and seeing something different in her blue eyes that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
"You interfering in my life has been the best thing to happen to me in a long time," She confessed,
"I’ve watched my whole life go by and have never had a say in anything that happens in it. Oh Jack, I so want to change that." Tears shimmered in her eyes.
"Then you change it, Rose." He replied confidently.
"But I need you to help me," She uttered softly.
"C’mere," He directed her to stand in front of him, helping her to step up on the railing at the bow of the ship,
"Close your eyes," He said softly, as he stood up behind her, careful to keep hold of her, lest she should fall. Gently and with great purpose, he extended her arms out from her sides, watching tenderly as the wind grabbed hold of her brilliant red hair and blew it back over her shoulders,
"Open your eyes, Rose."
Rose opened her eyes and gave a small gasp as she gazed out over the ocean and at the setting sun,
"Jack," She whispered, overcome with emotion at the beauty and freedom she felt in her soul.
"You’re flying, Rose," He smiled, watching as she soaked it all in, delighting in her expression of peace.
She turned her head to face him, tears glistening in her eyes,
"We’re flying, Jack. We’re flying!"
Before she knew what had even happened, her lips met with his as they shared their first kiss. All thoughts of Cal and her mother vanished-all that remained was Jack and the journey that they were both sharing together.
"When the boat docks in New York," She whispered,
"I want to come with you."
Jack smiled as his heart soared,
"I want that too, Rose."
*******
Several hours later, Monica wandered the deck aimlessly. She had tried to sleep, but had been unable to and had finally given up. Her mind was still filled with all that had happened that day. Even though she knew Andrew had forgiven her, her heart was still heavy with her guilt over what she had started to become. Hurting one that she loved so much was not something she took lightly and it frightened her to think of how close she could have come to losing her best friend.
Then there was everything Andrew had said about the boat sinking. Nightmares of being trapped in water had tormented her mind as she had tried to sleep. She had finally gotten dressed, putting on a simple dress that was not cumbersome and she had skipped the corset altogether as it seemed to symbolize something that she had no desire to be.
She longed to race to Steerage to see her friend, but he had been adamant about her staying in First Class. So, she found herself wandering the decks at nearly midnight. The night air was cold and she could see her breathe before her as she exhaled slowly, trying to rid her human body of the tension that had built up over the course of the day.
Walking over to the railing, she gazed out over the ocean, surprised and a little unnerved at how black and still it seemed to be. There wasn’t even a ripple in the water and all around her there seemed to be silence. The quiet made her even more nervous and she once again had to talk herself out of going to Andrew.
Monica crossed her arms in front her, considering going back inside for a coat, when suddenly a cry shattered the silent night.
"Iceberg! Right ahead!"
Her heart leapt to her throat as the angel raced back to the railing, her brown eyes widening in fear and disbelief as right ahead of them loomed the iceberg. Her eyes filled with frightened tears and her breathing came in short, panicked gasps as she watched the ship slowly turn in the hopes of missing the iceberg altogether. The slowness of the ship’s progress was agonizing to watch.
"Father, please," Monica whispered, her eyes never leaving the iceberg looming ever nearer,
"Please Father, don’t let this happen. Please, don’t let this happen."
Her prayers seemed to be answered as the ship began to turn away from the berg, and she swallowed hard, for a brief moment, daring to breath again. Maybe this is what Andrew had felt-a near miss with danger, but now all would be well again.
But her hopes were soon shattered as deep below her, she felt the ship come in contact with the iceberg. The awful sound of metal scraping ice sent cold chills up the angel’s spine and she suddenly felt herself shaking uncontrollably. She had to jump out of the way as several large pieces of ice, pelted to the deck around her. Her eyes rested on them as she felt the great ship stop moving and she knew in her heart that Andrew’s premonition was coming true.
There seemed to be a flurry of activity coming from the officer’s quarters, and Monica moved as if in slow motion as her ears were filled with bits of conversation coming from the officers, the captain, Thomas Andrews…
"She hit hard.."
"There is water filling the lower chambers…"
"The ship will sink…"
Monica’s hands flew to her mouth as she struggled to comprehend all that had just occurred in a matter of minutes,
"Oh Father, why?" She whispered as tears coursed down her face.
"Monica?" Rose’s voice interrupted her thoughts as the angel turned eyes filled with agony to Rose, who stood holding Jack’s hand,
"What happened?"
"We..we hit an iceberg," The angel whispered, trying to stop trembling with the fear that was quickly consuming her, but suddenly one thought filled her mind…
… Andrew.
"Jack, you have to help me!" She grabbed hold of Jack’s free hand, her dark eyes pleading,
"Help me find Andrew, please!"
A look of confusion crossed Jack and Rose’s faces,
"You know Andrew?" Rose asked.
"Yes!" The angel cried out, her eyes brimming with unshed tears,
"Oh yes. He is my dearest friend and I have to find him before things get any worse-."
"Worse?" Jack looked at her in concern,
"The iceberg did that much damage on a ship of this size?"
Monica swallowed hard, trying to rid herself of the lump that had formed in her throat,
"Yes. The Titanic, Jack, is going to sink."
Chapter 10
Father…What was that?? It couldn’t have been… Andrew’s heart and mind filled with terror as he sat up in bed, breathing hard. The sudden violent vibration had jerked the angel wide-awake and now he sat straight up in the dark room, staring into the nothingness. His heart beating wildly in his chest, Andrew swung his legs over the side of the bed and let out a shout as his bare feet came in contact with ice-cold water.
Jumping out of the bed and running over to the light switch on the wall near the door, the Angel of Death quickly turned the light on, gasping as he looked down at the icy water his feet were in up to his ankles. Finding himself nearly paralyzed with fear for a second, Andrew finally got a hold of himself and immediately turned around, opening the door wide. Poking his head out, he gulped as he realized that the entire hallway was filled with ice-cold water and Steerage passengers were coming out of their rooms, voices ringing through the halls.
Turning back to his room, Andrew rushed through the icy water to grab a pair of shoes sitting near his bed. Although soggy with water, he pulled them on his feet and rushed out the door once again, not wasting a moment of following the other Steerage passengers…To where?? To the angel, he didn’t know at the moment.
For now, all that he knew was at least trying to get out of Third Class— and find out if his worst fear about the sinking of this ship was coming true after all…
*****
"Did you hear how much time we have?" Rose asked desperately as she and Jack followed quickly behind Monica towards the nearest elevator to Third Class to search for their friend.
"I didn’t hear, Rose…" Monica answered, her heart pounding louder than ever before.
"I just heard from Thomas Andrews that—that the ship was going to sink. How much time we have…I don’t know. But—we have to find Andrew! We have to…" Feeling her body start to shake at the mere thought of the possibility that if the ship would sink in just a matter of hours and not being with her best friend…Just that thought sent in near hysterics as she stopped walking, bringing her shaky hands to her face as tears welled up in her sorrowful, brown eyes.
Noticing that Monica wasn’t behind them, Rose turned back around and hurried over to her friend, wrapped her arm around the trembling angel’s shoulders and whispered reassuringly, her voice also tinged with fear, in her ear,
"We’ll find him, Monica…We will. Andrew will be all right…"
Running her hand through the angel’s long, auburn hair, Rose kept her arm around the Irish angel’s shoulders as she hurried back over to Jack, who had a worried look displayed on his handsome face. Grabbing Monica’s hand in his own and helping Rose pull her along with them, the trio eventually found the nearest elevator.
His eyes widening as he noticed that several First Class passengers were arguing with the obviously irritated Elevator Operator, who wore a stubborn look on his face as he refused to allow passengers through the gate to the elevator. Letting go of Monica’s cold hand and heading quickly over to the operator, who was shooing passengers away from him, Jack looked the man in the face challengingly and spoke in a calm voice.
"We need to go down, sir," he spoke, trying to keep calm, although inside he was worried sick about his friend down in Steerage.
"This is important..."
"I’m sorry, sir, but the lifts are closed," the operator stated, exasperated as he looked back at Jack, his arm blocking his path to the inside of the elevator.
Her eyes turning to anger at what the man was saying to Jack, Rose released her hold on Monica’s shoulders and hurried over to where Jack stood with the man and got into his face, grabbing his shoulders roughly and pushing him backwards into the fancy elevator. Surprising herself with her obvious strength and harsh tongue, the young teenager shouted into the Elevator Operator’s face.
"Yes, you ARE going to take us down!" she shouted as she shoved the man up against the wall of the elevator, gripping his jacket tightly.
"And you’re going to do it now! You obviously don’t know what’s going to happen, so take us down!!"
Chuckling inside at Rose’s order, Jack grabbed hold of Monica’s hand once more and dragged her inside of the elevator with them. Shooting a look at the flabbergasted Elevator Operator beside them, whose dark eyes grew wide at Rose’s actions, Jack grabbed hold of the gate and quickly shut it tightly, pressing the button titled, "D Deck".
*****
His fear growing with each passing moment, Andrew followed the crowd towards who knows where and soon found himself at the back of a growing crowd. Standing on his toes to try to see above everyone’s heads, the frightened angel listened closely as voices traveled down towards him; frightened voices from the Steerage passengers; words that seemed to drive a hard fist into his stomach.
"You can’t keep us in here locked up like animals! This ship is sinking, for crying out loud!!"
It WAS an iceberg…Andrew thought, terror struck, to himself as he tried to elbow his way farther through the crowd, but not succeeding that much. Tears flowing from his tired, green eyes, the human angel gave up trying to get up front to the large crowd and leaned up against the wall, slowly lowering himself to the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest.
Forcing himself to not break down completely in front of everyone here and trying to reassure himself that he would see Monica again—along with Jack—Andrew shook his head and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as his tears rolled down his pale cheeks.
Suddenly feeling a small hand rest on his shoulder, the Angel of Death turned his head slightly to the left and came face to face with a young girl, who looked to be no older than 7 years old. Looking into her own fearful, blue eyes, Andrew’s heart broke all over again. How—HOW—could young children have to go through something like this?? Especially at such a young age??
"It’s going to be okay, mister," the young girl’s voice tried to reassure the angel as she reached a hand up and brushed away the tears on his cheeks.
"My mommy told me that something happened to this ship, but we will get out of here all right. You are going to be okay. Mommy and I are going to be okay and so will we all. Mommy says that God is taking care of us."
The tears that the young child had tried to brush away suddenly coming to the surface again, Andrew’s lower lip began to quiver slightly as he reached a hand up and gave the child’s hand a gentle, loving squeeze, nodding his head as he was unable to speak, fearing his voice would break.
Not saying anything more to the man in front of her, the child reached her small arms out and wrapped them around his neck, holding onto him tightly. She knew deep into her gentle, young heart that God really was with them, no matter how this horrific night would end…
*****
Chapter 11
Monica let out a startled cry, as the lift landed on D Deck and a rush of the coldest water the angel had ever felt flooded around their feet. Her heart raced frantically as she starred at the water that was coming into the elevator, trying desperately to calm her fears. She couldn’t fall apart now; she had to find Andrew.
The Elevator Operator gasped at the amount of water that was flooding the lift and he reached to push the button to go back up, but Jack stopped him and then flung open the gate,
"C’mon!" He called to Rose and Monica as he quickly stepped out; the two females close behind him,
"This way! Maybe Andrew is still in his room!"
The threesome broke into a run, the water splashing all around them. Jack reached their room first and found the door open, but the room empty.
Monica stopped in the doorway, tears filling her eyes once more as she leaned her forehead against the doorframe.
"Oh Father, where is he? Where are You? Why is this happening?" Her heart cried out in silence as she struggled to hold back the sobs that wanted to rush from her small frame.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into Jack’s eyes.
"We’ll find him, Monica. He can’t be far from here."
"Jack’s right," Rose added, as she gave a gentle tug on the angel’s hand,
"C’mon. Lets go and find your friend."
Monica nodded her head numbly, as she turned to follow Jack and Rose around the corner where they found a large group of steerage passengers had gathered.
Jack surveyed the situation in silence for a moment, his blue eyes pained,
"They aren’t letting anyone out of here," He said softly, refusing to speak aloud the fact that they appeared to be trapped and the water was slowly getting deeper.
Monica looked through the large group of people, trying to catch a glimpse of the blond haired angel she loved with all her heart and soul, but there were so many people and she couldn’t see through them. Her desperation grew until she could stand it no longer. Without a second thought, the angel began to push her way through the crowd, her anguished face gazing up into the faces of so many frightened strangers, her frantic eyes seeking only one.
"Andrew!" She cried out, her voice choking in a sob as she splashed helplessly through the water, shivering, and not sure if it was from cold or deep fear.
Still sitting on the ground, Andrew’s head shot up when he heard his name called.
Monica!
He knew that voice anywhere and there was no mistaking the panic and anguish that laced her Irish lilt. Jumping to his feet, his eyes searched for a glimpse of the auburn head.
"Andrew!" Jack called out, seeing his friend. As he made his way to Andrew, Jack hugged him affectionately.
"You guys okay?" He asked, his green eyes still searching for the one he needed to find more than anything,
"Where is Monica?"
"Looking for you," Rose stated urgently,
"We have to find her in this crowd-she’s been so worried about you."
"Monica!" Andrew shouted above the roar of the angry crowd, who was still trying to talk their way into being released from this part of the ship,
"Monica!"
"Andrew!" Monica cried out, hearing his voice. He was all right! Sobs began to tear through her as she turned around in the crowd, making her way back to where she had heard him. A moment later, her eyes came to rest on her best friend, the worry in his eyes for her apparent.
Two seconds later, she was in his arms, her arms wrapped tightly around him as painful cries emerged from her lips. She felt his arms wrap just as tightly around her as his hands ran through her brilliant auburn hair.
Tears coursed down Andrew’s cheeks as he held her close to him, saying a silent prayer of thanks for her safety. After several moments, he was finally able to find his voice to speak,
"I’ve got you, Angel Girl," He whispered reassuringly into her ear,
"You’re shaking like a leaf, sweetheart."
"I…I was afraid I wouldn’t find you…" She uttered tearfully, as she held onto him even tighter, even as she willed herself to calm down.
Hearing her sobs begin to quiet, Andrew pulled away slightly and kissed her forehead before moving to the bench that was attached to the wall. Gently, he sat her down and then sat beside her, facing her. He knew that they had to get out of Third Class, but right now, he had to know that Monica was all right, so that they could face what was ahead of them, whatever it may be. He looked at her, seeing her eyes gazing at the water on the floor.
"Andrew," She whispered shakily,
"The water…"
Andrew nodded his head as he squeezed her hand. Other than the Father, he knew her better than anyone and he knew that as surely as she was addicted to coffee, she was deathly afraid of the dark and water,
"I’m going to take care of you, okay? Monica, what happened? Do you know?"
Swallowing hard, the young angel nodded her head,
"It was an iceberg, Andrew. I couldn’t sleep, I kept thinking about today and how terrible it was…about how I hurt you…"
"Monica," He said softly, his hand moving to her cheek,
"All is forgiven."
"But you’re a part of me, Andrew and I don’t ever want to lose you," She whispered, squeezing his hand tightly.
"You won’t," Came the gentle reply, though in the situation they were in right now, he hoped and prayed that was the truth.
She nodded her head, wanting so to believe him,
"I was on the deck and it came out of nowhere, Andrew. The ship couldn’t turn in time and it hit," She swallowed hard once more, tears threatening again,
"I heard Mr. Andrews say that the Titanic would sink."
Andrew nodded his head, her words only confirming what he already knew. He glanced up at Jack and Rose and saw them in nervous discussion, before he looked back at his best friend,
"We have to get to the deck, sweetie. Are you okay?" Seeing her nod her head, though his fear was reflected in her eyes, he got to his feet and looked at Jack,
"They aren’t going to let us out, so we’re going to have to find a way."
"I’ve already thought of that, Andrew," Jack replied and with a wink, he nodded at the bench,
"That could very well do the trick."
As Andrew and Jack pulled the bench out of the wall, Rose and Monica worked on separating the crowd,
"Move aside!" Rose cried out, indicating to the panicked passengers that they needed to move to either wall.
Once the crowd had separated and given Andrew and Jack the room they needed, Rose and Monica moved quickly out the way as they raced with the bench, plowing into the gate with all the human force they could muster. It took them three attempts, but finally, the gate was broken and the relieved crowd flocked up the stairs to the deck.
Jack grabbed Rose’s hand as he nodded to Andrew and they followed the crowd out of Steerage.
Andrew turned around, his eyes meeting with those of his friend and he held out his hand. As she clasped onto it tightly, he summoned up an encouraging smile for her, before they too, followed everyone else up to the deck.
But on the main deck, there was total mayhem. Lifeboats were ready and women and children were being called for to board them. The foursome watched through tear-filled eyes as husbands and fathers loaded their families onto the boats, fighting back tears at the thoughts of never seeing them again. Wives clung tightly to their husbands, sobbing in anguish and fear, even as the great ocean liner continued to slowly sink.
"Andrew," Monica stopped and turned to him, her dark eyes filled with anguish,
"You said that there weren’t enough boats for everyone. How many are there enough for?"
His eyes met hers as tears shimmered in them and he was filled with regret for having to tell her this truth,
"Half." He whispered.
Her eyes locked with his for a moment, her shock written all over her face. How could this have happened?
"C’mon," He urged her, his heart already breaking at what he knew he had to do. This whole assignment no longer made any sense. As they were still human, he only knew to act accordingly and that only left him with one choice.
As they approached Jack and Rose, who were already in line, the two were already arguing,
"No, Jack! I’m not going in without you!"
"Rose, you have to. I’ll catch one later, once all the women and children have boarded, but you have to go now." He cupped her face in his hands, his eyes pleading with her.
"Women and children, please! I need women and children to board now, please." The officer called out to them, his eyes lingering on the foursome that stood there.
Wordlessly, Andrew gave Monica a gentle push toward the boat, knowing this was going to be the hardest thing he ever had to do. But he had promised to keep her safe and he was determined to do so.
Feeling the gentle nudge from her best friend, Monica froze. Turning to him, her expression a mixture of fear and quiet resolve, as her eyes held tears and fire, as she spoke only one word to him, her voice firm and yet shaking with the control she placed into it.
"No!"
Chapter 12
"What??" Andrew gasped as he heard Monica cry out that one little word: No. "Monica…you HAVE to get in the lifeboat—"
"No, Andrew!" Monica cried, her voice choked as she looked into her best friend’s tear-filled, green eyes. Her heart pounding loudly as she came to realize what exactly she was doing, the angel stubbornly kept her feet planted on the boat deck as she glanced over to where Jack was still trying to urge Rose into getting inside the waiting lifeboat, which was almost full.
"I’m not leaving you here, Andrew…" Monica whispered, just as Rose’s voice rang out loud and clear towards Jack.
"No! I’m not going without you! I can’t, Jack—" The young human’s desperate voice echoed over to Monica as she turned her tear-stained, brown eyes back towards Andrew.
"Monica…Please…You’ll be safe in there, sweetheart," Andrew pleaded desperately as he gently grasped her around the shoulders and tried to drag her over to the lifeboat, where Officer Lightoller was quickly ushering a young mother and her two young girls into the waiting boat.
"I promise you I’ll be okay, Monica—"
"Andrew, I CAN’T!" Monica cried as she turned her eyes over to the lifeboat, gasping inwardly as she noticed the familiar figure of Tess, who sat worriedly near the back of the lifeboat. The older angel’s face was tear-stained as she looked up at her young charges, one still refusing to get into the lifeboat.
Seeing her supervisor’s look to get in, Monica looked desperately back over at Andrew and grasped his left arm, still refusing to be separated from her best friend…not again!!
"Step aboard, miss!"
Lightoller’s strong voice breaking into her thoughts of how to stay with Andrew, Monica all of a sudden felt herself being pulled away from him. The feel of the officer’s strong arms grasp her around the waist and drag her over to the lifeboat, Monica tried helplessly to struggle against his grasp, but found it useless.
Glancing over her shoulder at Andrew’s tear-filled eyes, the Irish angel felt her entire body break down as she was forced to sit down. As soon as she neared the back of the boat beside Tess, the young caseworker felt her supervisor’s hand tightly grasp her arm to keep her from getting out. Shooting a shocked look over at her older friend, Monica gazed back up at Andrew just as the officer grabbed Rose and roughly pulled her away from Jack’s arms.
Tears flooding her brown eyes like never before, Monica watched helplessly as Rose, who was also struggling with the officer to free herself, was pushed into the lifeboat to sit down beside her. Her eyes still glued on those of her best friend, standing beside Jack, Monica’s heart shattered into tiny pieces as she realized the full situation of this…
She was being separated from Andrew, her best friend…on a sinking ship…and who knew WHEN the officers would allow the men to get into the lifeboats!!
How COULD they?? Monica cried in anguish to herself as she felt more tears wet her cheeks like rain. How could those officers be so sexist and refuse the men to get in, too?! Oh, Andrew…I can’t leave you…
"And lower away!!"
The shout of the officer’s voice breaking into her anguish thoughts of despair, Monica turned her gaze over to the officer on the dock as he waved his arms, instructing the full lifeboat to be lowered to the freezing water…and away from the sinking Titanic…
Turning her eyes from the officer on the deck to the ropes lowering the lifeboat and then Rose’s tear-stained face as she stared up at Jack, Monica turned her own eyes over to Andrew’s sad face. As she watched, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as the boat continued to lower down the side of the ship.
Watching as her best friend’s lower lip began quivering slightly at the thought of this separation and Jack’s arm going around Andrew’s shoulders for some comfort, Monica watched closely as tears streamed down both of their faces as the distance between the foursome became an even longer stretch…
Oh God…I can’t do this! I just can NOT do this…I can’t leave Andrew! Not now! Monica screamed up above, looking down at her feet and then quickly back up at Rose, before turning her eyes over to her best friend again.
Suddenly, before she even realized what she was doing, the human angel was pulling herself free from Tess’ firm grip on her arm and rushing forward to the edge of the slightly rocky lifeboat. Trying her hardest to push her way through the passengers on the boat, she ignored Tess’ strong, desperate voice to try and stop her.
"Monica! Don’t, Baby! Someone…Stop her!"
But, finding a strength she never knew she had in her, Monica continued to push her way forward and throw herself out of the lifeboat…and grabbed hold of the edge of the ship, her feet dangling over the edge. Hearing Rose’s voice call out to let her go, too, Monica felt a pair of strong arms grab her and pull her back into the sinking ship. Right before she felt herself landing back onto the ship, she turned around quickly only to find Rose being held back by Tess and another Steerage passenger. Tears streamed down the angel’s face as she turned away from her assignment and felt her body landing with a thud on the lower deck of the ship.
Upon watching as his friend jumped out of the boat, Andrew’s green eyes widened with shock as he screamed out Monica’s name, hoping to stop her somehow…
"Monica! Monica, what are you doing?!!" he screamed down to her, the tears flooding his eyes once more as he watched as she was pulled back into the ship and, before anyone else could do anything, darted away down the deck towards the Grand Staircase.
Jack’s voice shouting down to Rose to stay put, Andrew rushed off to the nearest entrance to the Grand Staircase, his heart pounding loudly. Pushing his way through the large crowded gathered around the main deck, the Angel of Death kept his eyes on only one things: Getting to Monica; holding her to himself…and find out the answer to why she did what she did…
*****
Racing past officers and curious passengers, Monica tore down the deck as she kept her teary, brown eyes on the Grand Staircase entrance. She had to get to Andrew now! She just wasn’t going to leave the best friend she ever had by himself on this ship…
Oh, Andrew…I had to do this! I just had to, my friend…I love you so much I can’t leave without you…
Sobs tearing through her as she shoved her way to "A Deck", Monica looked above and watched as Andrew’s figure ran through the swinging doors and looked around for her. Sensing her gaze, the human angel ran as fast as his feet would allow down the staircase towards his friend.
As soon as the space between them had closed, Monica threw herself into her best friend’s strong arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, almost afraid to let him go ever again. Sobbing her heart out, the angel was unable to speak for several seconds as Andrew held her, sobbing himself.
"Monica…Why did you do that?? Huh? Baby, WHY?! Oh, Monica…" the angel uttered as he only held his friend tighter than he had ever held her. Burying his face in her curly, auburn hair, Andrew felt his body shaking once again as he suddenly thought about his best friend’s actions just now. She could have been injured as she jumped out of that boat!
"Andrew…" Monica choked out as she only continued to sob,
"Andrew…I couldn’t leave you…I just couldn’t…"
Gently pulling back a bit to look into her slightly pink face from her tears, Andrew brushed the wetness away as much as he could and brought his hands up to her hair and stroked it with his hands.
"Sweetheart…You—you did this for me?" he sobbed as tears flooded his eyes once more.
Watching Monica nod her head, Andrew only pulled her tighter into his arms, his heart touched so deeply that his friend cared and loved him so much to be willing to jump out of a lifeboat and back onto a sinking ship to be with him…and him alone…
"Oh, Monica…" the angel gasped out, not sure if he would be able to speak as he held Monica only tighter. Burying his face deeper into her shoulder, the two angels only continued to hold one another at the bottom of the Grand Staircase, each one’s thoughts now only on how to get off of this ship together…
Not even the sinking of the largest ship in the world would separate them; whatever they would go through in the coming hours of the dark night, they would go through it together.
Chapter 13
The minutes ticked by as the two angels held tightly to each other, trying to bring their emotions under control. Slowly, Andrew pulled away, moving to kiss Monica’s forehead before he looked deeply into her teary, brown eyes.
"I just wanted you to be safe, sweetheart," He said shakily, his thumbs moving to swipe at the tears on her cheeks.
"Don’t you see, Andrew," Came the trembling response from his friend,
"Even on a sinking ship, in human form, I feel safe as long as I am with you."
A shaky smile filled with the love he felt for her, graced his handsome face as he hugged her tightly once more,
"I do love you, Angel Girl," He whispered softly to her before he pulled away once more and cleared his throat, trying to compose himself,
"We need to find Jack and then figure out what to do. I don’t know what the lifeboat situation is looking like out there, but we need to find out soon."
At that moment, the sound of a gunshot caused both angels to jump and then whirl around, Andrew holding Monica close to him protectively. His eye widened as they saw Jack come racing around the corner and not far behind him, wielding the gun, was Cal.
"Andrew," Jack panted, his eyes filled with terror,
"I think Cal has snapped!" Glancing back over his shoulder, Jack turned and bolted down the steps back towards D Deck.
Grabbing Monica’s hand, Andrew raced after him, the angels taking the steps as quickly as they could. A scream escaped Monica as another bullet whizzed by their heads. A moment later, they were on D Deck, the water now up to their calves and they both cried out at the bitter coldness of the water.
"We need to split up," Andrew panted, watching as Jack raced as quickly as his legs could carry him down the corridor. Giving Monica’s hand a tug, he pulled her in the other direction in the hopes that Cal would follow them, but that they could lose him.
Monica fought back her terror at the water that had become so much deeper in the 20 minutes since they had been down here. She didn’t want to panic and have to have poor Andrew deal with that as well as everything else, so she held her fear intact as much as she possibly could. Her heart however was racing and she found herself trembling once more as they continued to race through the water.
Andrew finally ducked into a room, pulling Monica along with him. Once they were in the corner, he pulled her close, sensing her fear, though he shot her a pleading look to be silent as he listened. He could hear the splashing of the water not far from where they were and he swallowed hard, praying that Cal would overlook them.
But that was not to be.
A moment later, the angry face of Rose’s fiancé looked inside the room, his lips turning into a cruel smile as he saw the two angels in the far corner,
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" He chided, entering the room.
"What do you want?" Andrew asked, instinctively pulling Monica closer to him, feeling her trembling fingers clenching at his shirt.
"What do I want?" Cal repeated, coming a few steps closer,
"I want to get rid of two meddling angels, that’s what I want!"
Andrew and Monica both gasped at his words as they exchanged a frightened look. How could Cal possibly know that they were angels?
"That’s right, Andrew…Monica…one non-human can always recognize another, even in human form and even when we answer to different Masters." Cal retorted with a chuckle.
The truth was then clear. Cal belonged to Satan’s dark army and Monica wondered why she hadn’t seen it before. She had developed such a strong dislike for him-more so than she ever had for any human. Why, she had even berated herself for having such terrible thoughts about one of God’s creations, but now she knew better-this one was not of God and never had been.
"But now you two have made it very easy for me by trying to hide in the room where the Master at Arms would take a thief or worse," He commented, rummaging through a drawer in the desk and pulling out two sets of handcuffs,
"I’m not stupid enough to try to kill two of God’s angels-no, this ship will take care of that for me, unless of course you get a miracle," He laughed as he approached them.
Andrew released his hold on Monica and tried to shove past Cal, but that maneuver was rewarded with an agonizing blow to his stomach, which doubled the angel over in pain.
"Andrew!" Monica cried out, fearing he was badly hurt. But as she tried to go to him, Cal stopped her.
He slipped one of the handcuffs behind a pipe on the wall, before yanking her roughly over to it, slapping the cuffs onto her wrists. He then grabbed hold of Andrew and did the same, only to a pipe that was directly overhead,
"Now that you two are out of the way, I can take care of what I came here for-Rose and Jack. Hope you both tread water well!" With a wave of his hand, Cal splashed back through the water and out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Monica looked over at Andrew through tear-filled eyes, feeling her panic rising,
"Andrew! Are you okay?" The blond angel’s head was down so it was impossible for her to read the look on his face.
At that moment, Andrew let out a cry filled with rage and anger, as he pulled at the handcuffs and pipe in a violent minute of fury. He felt completely helpless and angrier than he could ever remember feeling. He was powerless to free them, powerless to protect Monica and powerless to know why any of this was happening to them.
His outburst frightening the younger angel, Monica once again felt sobs begin to tear at her, wanting more than anything to be able to comfort him, but not close enough to feel like she could. Weeping softly, she gazed down at the floor, already finding the water nearly to her knees. Starring at it, feeling its icy coldness, the angel began to shake violently as the little bit of color that was left in her cheeks faded, and was replaced by a ghostly whiteness. She heard a loud pounding in her head that seemed to consume her, and she wasn’t even aware of the fact that she was now screaming.
Chapter 14
"Jack! Jack!"
Rose’s scream was powerless as the lifeboat carrying she and other women and children, continued to row away from the sinking ship…Glancing over at the spot where Monica once sat, Rose felt more tears wet her pale cheeks as she recalled what her new friend had just done a few minutes ago.
Oh God…if only they had allowed me to follow her! Then I’d be with Jack right now…She thought fearfully to herself as she kept her gaze on the ship that was sinking faster and faster by the minute. Almost the entire bow was under water by now…
woman that Monica was sitting beside only a few minutes ago; the woman that Rose knew was Tess, but didn’t feel like talking to right now. All she needed at that moment was reassurance that her beloved Jack would be okay…
Along with Monica and Andrew.
Sobbing heartbrokenly into Tess’ soft shoulder as the lifeboat departed further and further into the black ocean away from the large ocean liner, she barely acknowledged the soft hand that stroked her long, curly hair in reassurance and her strong, loving voice whispering in her ear.
"It’s going to be okay, Baby…It’s going to be okay…"
*****
Leaning up against the wall in a small corner of Third Class, water almost up to his waist, Jack forced himself to take deep breaths, but not to make any sounds that Cal would somehow find him. Oh, God…Andrew, Monica, please be away from that creep…and please be safe…
Lifting his eyes up to the ceiling and saying a quick, small prayer—something that he hadn’t done in quite a while—the young man mumbled the few words of help to God and poked his head around the corner hesitantly, ready to duck back into it if he came across Cal’s unmistakable figure, but not seeing anything, except for rushing water making its way faster and faster on "D Deck".
Gulping quietly and quietly taking a step out of his hiding spot, Jack turned his head in every direction for any glimpse of Cal, but, much to his utmost relief, again didn’t spot Rose’s fiancé. Rose.
Oh, Rose…Please stay in that lifeboat…I need you all in one piece once we get out of this mess and are reunited. But—right now, honey, I need to find our friends! I just have to…They could be in grave danger
Glancing all around him, coming face to face with long halls that seemed like a maze and endless, Jack tore down one of them, lifting his voice and calling out his friend’s names, hoping against hope that at least one of them would respond or be nearby…
"Andrew! Monica!" he cried out, quickening his pace as he raced through the water as fast as possible, shivering from the icy coldness.
"Andrew!! Are you guys here??!"
Giving a long, loud sigh and turning another corner, Jack continued running down the halls, not knowing where he was going, but hoping to find the two people he had come to care about a lot and get off of this ship…
Wait a minute…Was that a scream? He thought to himself as he slowed down and listened closely. There it was again!
A woman’s scream, followed by a man’s shout of anger ringing through the air and floating towards Jack, the young man’s eyes widened as he realized that he recognized those voices: Andrew and Monica!
"Andrew! Are you there?! Monica!" he continued to shout as he turned back around and racing towards the voices he heard in the other direction. The screams coming nearer, the young human suddenly came across a closed door and immediately swung it open, gasping at the sight before him.
"You guys, are you okay?!" Jack shouted as he rushed through the raging water towards his two friends, who were both handcuffed to a pipe. The water was closely coming up to Monica’s chest, while Andrew had practically climbed up onto one of the pipes he, himself, was handcuffed to and was pulling with all his strength on the metal clamps around his wrists. His green eyes shut and his teeth clenched, he continued to pull until his wrists were turning pink.
But, at the sound of Jack’s voice in the room, Andrew and Monica both turned around and cried at the same time, Monica’s Irish voice ringing above Andrews,
"JACK!!"
Running over to his friends, his eyes still wide open, Jack immediately leaned over and inspected the cuffs that were securely clamped around the wrists of the two angels.
"What happened to you two?!" he cried as he looked up into Andrew’s desperate face first and then Monica’s fearful one.
"Did CAL do this??"
Climbing off of the pipe and nearly collapsing into the icy cold water, his strength almost gone from his body, Andrew closed his flashing, green eyes once again and answered, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.
"Yes…It was Cal," he loudly replied, looking into his friend’s eyes and then glancing over at Monica’s trembling form. Looking back over at Jack, the angel nodded towards a nearby desk in the corner, which was starting to fall apart and the drawers floating in the icy water.
"Jack…you have to find some keys somewhere," he pleaded as tears filled his eyes at the thought of this situation that they were all in.
"There HAS to be a key for these handcuffs." Giving them one last pull in anger, Andrew kept his eyes on what he was doing as Jack immediately set to work on trying to find the right keys to free his friends.
Searching frantically and as fast as possible as more water only continued to flow into the small room, and a loud roar soon following, Jack searched through drawer after drawer, each time coming up empty-handed. His face turning sheet white as he searched fearfully through anything that could hold two small gold keys, Jack felt panic rising inside of him as he again came up with nothing.
Turning around and splashing over to another nearby, smaller desk and grabbing hold of the middle drawer, pulling it open, Jack once more searched desperately through the pens and pencils, searching for only two small keys…and suddenly came across a small shiny object near the back of the drawer.
Letting out a cry of relief, the young human immediately grabbed hold of the key, which was held on a key chain which held another identical one next to it. Heading back over to his friends, his face showing relief as tears rolled down his face, Jack held the key chain up in the air with a cry of triumph,
"I found ‘em!" he cried.
Once more letting himself drop to the icy water, letting out a cry of pain at the iciness of it, Andrew felt tears roll down his cheeks in relief as he looked over at Monica, who was near hysterics by now.
"Hurry, Jack…Please…" she whimpered, holding her wrists out as Jack inserted one of the keys into the hole of the handcuffs. Giving it a quick turn, but nothing happening, Jack let out a grunt as he switched keys and tried the other one. Desperation showing plainly on his face, Jack once again tried to insert the key and turned it in his hand…
Although the key was stubborn, Jack let out a cry of joy as the handcuffs suddenly came off of Monica’s shaking wrists. Not wasting any time as he dropped the cuffs into the icy water, Jack headed over to where Andrew was standing, a look of terror etched on his handsome face as the water only came in faster and faster…
Running through the water towards her best friend, Monica grasped hold of the handcuffs clamped securely around his now red wrists and turned the keyhole to Jack and waited anxiously as Jack once more fiddled with the key. The young man’s face turning red from the struggle, a click was suddenly heard as the handcuffs all of a sudden came loose.
His face showing immense relief, the Angel of Death in human form, threw his arms around his new friend and former roommate and hugged him quickly, but tightly. Turning back to Monica beside him and grabbing her hand, Andrew raised his voice above the sudden roar that seemed to come nearer and nearer.
"We have to get out of here!" he screamed as he pulled his friend towards the door, Jack right behind them after tossing the last pair of handcuffs and keys into the ocean water. As he followed the two angels out the door, a sudden gasp came to his throat as the trio came upon a large rush of water coming straight at them like a mighty roaring lion.
Nearly paralyzed with fear, he felt Andrew’s hand tug him on the arm and his voice screaming through the hallway.
"RUN!!"
Still holding onto his best friend’s hand and the other dragging Jack behind him, Andrew turned a small corner and raced as fast as possible down it, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest and his entire body shaking with fear. Letting go of Jack as he soon realized that his friend was finally back to the land of the living, the angel, however, kept a tight grip on Monica’s as she screamed louder than ever before as the huge rush of water, like an ocean wave, came up behind them.
Before any of them knew what had happened, however, the rush of water came down on them, sending the two angels and one human to the water with a splash. Lights flickering all around them as the trio was dragged farther down the ruined hallway, water coming from all directions, Andrew suddenly felt a hard and sharp jab as he found himself slammed up against another one of the shut iron gates, followed by two more bumps and shouts right beside him.
Quickly pulling Monica away from the gate as the water continued to rush at them at full force, Andrew kept his arm wrapped around her and turned his eyes towards a small staircase right beside them, leading upwards.
"Up there, you two!!" he cried in fear as he helped Jack free himself from the gate and rushing water.
"C’mon, Jack! Give me your hand!!"
Grasping onto his friend’s shaking hand tightly and, with all of his strength, followed the two up the stairs, his body still shaking. But, as soon as he looked up, fear came to his heart once again as he realized that they weren’t out of danger yet.
"NOO!!!"
Monica’s scream tore through her as she grasped the iron gates with her hands and gave them a good shake, her soaking auburn hair swinging into her face and practically sticking to her shoulders. Glancing over at Andrew and Jack, who had appeared beside her and were soon shaking the gates with their hands, also, Monica looked, horrorstruck, behind her and then at her feet.
The raging water that they thought they had escaped from was quickly coming up the small staircase towards the trio. Water already splashing at their ankles, Monica lost all of her control as she rattled the gate as loudly as she could, her voice ringing loudly along with Andrew and Jack, hoping for a miracle that someone was down here and would help them…a crew member or whoever!
"Somebody!! Somebody, please!!! Someone help us!!!"
Chapter 15
The threesome continued screaming for help, when suddenly a member of the Titanic’s crew raced in front of them, stopping short, hearing their cries for help. The man’s eyes grew wide as he saw the three soaking wet figures in front of him and he watched the water continuing to flow towards them. Panicking, he turned to run up the steps, but a strong Irish lilt, which was half screaming and half sobbing, stopped him in his tracks.
"No, please! Do you have a key? Please, let us out!"
Turning back to face the threesome, the man dug into his trouser pocket and pulled out a key ring, his hands shaking as he saw the water flooding around them quickly, now nearly up to the young lady’s waist and spilling over onto his own shoes.
"Hurry, please," Jack implored him, the cold and the fear, nearly unbearable.
Finding the key, wordlessly, the man inserted it into the lock, trying to open the gate despite the water and his shaking hands. A moment later, the angels and Jack looked horrified as he fumbled and the keys fell into the water. He looked up at them, his expression horror-stricken,
"I’m sorry…I’m sorry," He mumbled, before racing up the stairs and out of the water.
"No, please!" Andrew cried out, but the man was gone, leaving the three of them stranded, the water coming in faster than ever. It was up to he and Jack’s chests now, and even deeper on Monica, and the angel felt as if he were reaching his breaking point.
Letting go of Monica, he placed her hands firmly on the gate,
"Don’t let go," He stated firmly, before he dove down into the freezing water, his hands searching for the keys. He looked desperately, and just when he felt as if his human lungs were surely going to burst, his fingers brushed across something and he grabbed the keys up in his hand, surfacing with a huge gasp for air,
"I’ve got them!" He cried out, moving to the gate as his own fingers, numb from the icy water, fumbled to find the lock, which was now submerged in water.
"Hurry, Andrew," Jack uttered as he struggled to keep his head and Monica’s above the water, but they were running out of room between the water and the ceiling.
Andrew furiously searched, wanting to sob as he felt the key slip into the lock and he turned it frantically, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as the gate came loose. Grabbing Monica’s hand once more, he and Jack pulled the gate aside, and Andrew herded them both up the steps and to temporary safety.
Gasps were heard as the three humans, soaking wet and trembling emerged into the room where the Grand Staircase was, but none of the threesome heard. They were each trying to get hold of the wide range of emotions flowing through them.
Jack brushed the water from his eyes as he peered outside, seeing that mass hysteria had broken out on deck. People, now terrified were flocking the lifeboats and he said a silent prayer of thanks that Rose had gotten on one early and should by now, be safe in the Atlantic with Tess. Without knowing why, Jack knew that Tess would take care of her-there was no doubt in his mind.
He could already feel the floor in the entrance way was slightly sloped with the ships’ sinking and wondered how long they had. Looking over, he saw that Andrew had slumped down on a bench, breathing hard, and he approached his friend,
"You okay?"
Andrew nodded his head without looking up,
"Yeah, how about you?"
"I’ve been better, but alive is always good," Jack quipped half-heartedly,
"I just hope Rose is okay."
Andrew nodded again, before looking up into Jack’s worried eyes,
"Tess is with her and if I know nothing else right now, which I don’t, if you are with Tess, you are in good hands," He replied, wishing that they were all with Tess right about now, instead of here, on board a sinking ship.
"We can’t stay here long, Andrew," Jack said after a moment,
"That water is coming in fast and it won’t be long before it is here too. We need to get out to the deck and see if we can’t get on board a lifeboat."
Andrew nodded, his eyes moving to Monica, who had sat down on the steps of the staircase. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, her head lowered. For a brief moment, he wished that the gentle Irish tongued angel had stayed in the lifeboat, as he could clearly see the toll this was taking on her. It was terrifying enough for him, and he wasn’t afraid of the water. But once he thought about if he would be able to leave her in such a situation, he understood completely why she had jumped. Love could overcome all fear, and he would never be able to leave her alone in such a dark place. Just as he knew he couldn’t leave her alone now, in the darkness of her frightened mind,
"Give me 5 minutes, Jack," Andrew said softly, shakily rising to his feet, watching as Jack nodded his head in understanding.
As Andrew started to approach his friend, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turning around, he came face to face with an older gentleman, who was dressed up as if headed to a huge gala. Andrew looked confused as the man handed him his tuxedo jacket, with a wry smile.
"For the lady," The man replied, nodding his head towards Monica,
"Though by the looks of things, you could all three use one, but it’s the best I can do, I’m afraid."
Andrew felt tears flood his eyes as he starred at this man. On a ship full of people trying to save themselves, this human was reaching out to another person, and that was something Andrew had not expected,
"Thank you," He replied, his voice choked, as he took the offered coat.
"God be with you," Came the response as Andrew just nodded his head once more.
Turning back to Monica, he approached her and gently laid the coat over her trembling shoulders. As she looked up him, her eyes held a dazed look, though there were no tears.
"You still with me, Angel Girl?" He asked softly, kneeling in front of her, his hands moving to smooth back the wet hair around her face.
"I think so," She whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming.
"Good," He replied, his eyes searching hers, trying to make certain that she was indeed all right after all that had happened so far,
"I need for you to stick this out with me, sweetie."
"I know…I’m just so afraid, Andrew, but I know you are too…I can feel it in you," Reaching out, her hand clasped onto his, linking her fingers tightly through his,
"How are we going to get out of this?"
"I don’t know, baby, but we’ll find a way…I promise we will. But I need to know that we’re still in this together," leaning forward, he pressed his forehead to hers, listening as she drew in a shaky breath,
"You were great down there, you know."
Monica forced a laugh to keep herself from crying, knowing if that happened now, there would be no stopping the tears,
"If you say so, my friend."
Andrew chuckled softly, as he pulled away, relieved when he saw a weak smile on her pale face. Gently, he pulled her to her feet,
"C’mon. We need to go see what is going on," He stopped long enough to help her into the coat, which seemed to stop her from shaking so much, and then led her over to where Jack waited.
"Everything okay?" Jack asked, exchanging a look with his two friends.
Andrew looked at Monica and nodded his head, once he heard her whisper the word "Yes."
******
Tess gazed at Rose, who had fallen into a restless sleep against her shoulder, worn out from all her crying and worrying.
Now the angel gazed at the ship, watching as the bow continued to slowly submerge in the ocean. Tears flooded her eyes as she thought about her two angel babies, who could very well still be on board and she could only imagine how frightened they must be.
"Oh Father," She prayed softly,
"Even if they have forgotten about You for the moment, I know You haven’t forgotten about them. Keep my babies safe, please."
The angels eyes grew wide as at that moment, the lights on the great ship flickered a few times and then went out completely, leaving the 2500 people in the Atlantic in total darkness.
Chapter 16
Monica screamed as the lights in the ship flickered and went out, leaving them in darkness,
"No! No! This can’t be happening!" The Irish tongued angel whimpered as her frail body began to tremble more violently once more.
Andrew’s heart began to pound loudly, knowing that they were running out of time,
"Monica, I need to for you stay calm," He ventured sternly, knowing she was nearly at her breaking point, but also knowing that if he couldn’t keep her calm, then they’d never get out of this mess. He tightened his grip around her shoulders,
"I’ve got you."
"But you’re forgetting who has both of you," A gentle voice spoke up as a soft, warm light surrounded them.
"Sam," Andrew uttered, wanting to collapse with relief at the sight of the other angel,
"You’re here to get us out of this, right?"
But sadly, Sam shook his head,
"No Andrew. I’m here to remind you that God is still in control and that you and Monica should remember that. You’ve forgotten to trust in Him," The older angel looked at Andrew, who had lowered his eyes, and then to Monica, but the youngest angel, seemed so shaken, Sam wasn’t sure how much she was understanding right now,
"You both have assignments here, people who need to be reminded about God’s presence. I wasn’t expecting to have to remind the angels of that."
Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but as he did, he realized that Sam was gone, as if he had never been there to begin with. Deep in his heart, Andrew knew that God always gave them what they needed, when they needed it, and at that moment, they had needed Sam.
"Andrew, C’mon!" Jack called, his eyes now adjusting to the darkness,
"We have to get out of here and up on deck! We’re running out of time!"
"Wait, Jack," Andrew stopped his friend by placing a hand on his shoulder,
"Maybe we should take a moment to ask God to guide us the rest of the way. Monica and I have been doing it on our own, and things haven’t gotten much better, so maybe it’s time to ask for a little help."
Jack hesitated for a moment, thinking about the prayer he had said when he was trying to lose Cal. God had listened then and hopefully, He would listen now. Nodding his head, the threesome joined hands, Monica’s shaking hands held firmly by each of them, as Andrew lifted up his trembling voice,
"Father, we have forgotten to trust in You. Please help us as we seek to find a way to safety. We know that You love us and are here with us. Please help us to take our fear in stride, Father and to be able to see Your light. We ask this in Your Name. Amen."
There was silence for a moment, before Andrew said softly,
"Let’s get up on deck and see where we go next."
As the trio finally found their way on the main deck of the rapidly sinking ship, Andrew’s heart jumped in his throat and he tightened his grip he had on Monica’s hand as he quickly made his way over to the edge of the railing, leaning over it slightly. His eyes having adjusted to the darkness around him and his friends, the young angel gazed around at the black ocean, his vision making out the sight of the lifeboats…
The lifeboats that were nearly half empty…
"All the lifeboats are gone!!" he cried as he moved his head to the other side and looked in the other direction.
"And they’re only half full!"
"Half full?" Jack repeated, leaning up beside his friend and looking out over the pitch-black ocean. Squinting until his own eyes adjusted to the dark, he drew in a shaky breath and gulped as he soon saw what Andrew was talking about: Every lifeboat that was out in the ocean were only half full…and from what it looked like, they could have been filled up a lot more…
"Oh God, now what?!" he cried as he turned his head to the left, letting out a gasp as he realized that water was quickly making its way towards them; the bow was completely under and the ice cold water was making its way up on the deck. Passengers screaming and running to get away from the water around them, Jack’s eyes widened as he backed up, almost as if in a daze.
Following his friend’s gaze, Andrew forced himself to not scream as he removed his hand from Monica’s and wrapped his shaking arm around her waist tightly. Oh no…he thought desperately to himself as he, too, backed up with Jack. Now what, Father!!
His voice shaking madly, and his tears making their way down his pale cheeks once again, Andrew turned quickly to Jack and yelled,
"That water is ice cold, Jack! All of us have to stay on this ship as long as possible! We have to!! There aren’t any more lifeboats and we just have to stay on, no matter what!"
Her body shaking as she took in all around her, Monica bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm, although that wasn’t very possible, as she felt her best friend’s arm around her. Tightly gripping Andrew back as tightly as she could, the Irish angel listened to him speak and knew that he was right. They had to stay on; no matter what would occur in the next few minutes or hours, they couldn’t let themselves get swamped until the final moments of the sinking…
"You’re right, man," Jack shakily replied as he quickly turned around, having noticed that the water was quickly coming faster towards them…and faster still…
"C’mon, you two! We have to get to the stern of the ship! Now!" Jack yelled, grabbing Andrew’s free hand and pulled his friends up the quickly tilting ship, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
Making sure to not release his best friend from his tight grip on her, Andrew quickened his pace as he felt Jack’s pull. Looking around him, his heart pounding madly as he watched crowds of people trying to make their way to the back of the ship, too…while others, who were so terrified, they just decided to jump off the side into the black ocean.
His tears trailing down his face like rain, Andrew forced himself to turn away from the horrific scenes before him and concentrate on getting up to the stern of the sinking Titanic.
"C’mon, Monica!" Andrew urged, pulling her up quicker as he saw her fragile body shaking madly and her steps growing slower.
"We have to get up there, sweetie! You can do this, Monica…"
"I’m trying, Andrew…" Monica whimpered, forcing her legs to quicken until the trio finally made their way to the stern of the ship. Releasing his hold on Jack’s hand and quickly putting it over the back of the ship to clench the railing, Andrew moved his arm and pulled Monica closer to him. Feeling her arms wrap around him in return and a slight scream escaping her throat as the ship only continued to tilt and people continuing to fall, Andrew’s tear-filled eyes met Jack’s as he, too, wrapped a supportive arm around Monica’s waist to try to keep her from falling overboard.
I can’t believe this is happening, Father…Andrew silently prayed as he moved his eyes away from those of Jack and stared at the starry sky, his heart continuing to pound like crazy. I wish I knew what’s going to happen before this night is over, but You are in control here…You are in control here…The angel continued to reassure himself as he closed his eyes and looked at his right.
Choking on a sob as he saw a young woman jump off the back of the ship and into the icy Atlantic, Andrew lowered his head and buried his face as much as he could in Monica’s soaking hair. Keeping his arm around her shoulders tightly, he tried to whisper as reassuringly as possible into his best friend’s ear,
"We’re going to be okay, Monica…" his voice trembled as he spoke,
"We’re going to be okay…"
No words coming from her mouth, but feeling her nod her head, Andrew raised his head and bravely looked around him, his heart breaking at all that he saw. The screams of the human beings tumbling to their deaths as they either jumped or fell and the loud crashes of expensive items in the ship, Andrew no longer decided to hold back the sob in his throat,
"Oh God…please help us…" he sobbed as tears streamed from his green eyes. "Please, Father…"
But, suddenly, before the frightened angel could continue his plea to the Father above, he and his two friends heard a loud rip like no other tear through the air. The rip obviously coming from the sinking ship…
The noise sounding louder and more horrific than any he had ever heard before in his existence as an angel, Andrew suddenly felt his heart leap into his throat and his stomach do a somersault as he felt the stern quickly come down to the dark ocean. Landing with a loud splash and more screams coming from all around, the Angel of Death heard Monica let out an ear-piercing scream. Gripping his friend from behind as tightly as possible and holding onto Jack’s hand with the other, Andrew slightly turned his head and finally noticed what had caused this sudden occurrence.
The ship had torn in two.
Hearing Monica yell out loud, her voice shaking like never before, Andrew lifted up the exact same thought in his head.
"Father!! Help us, please!!"
Just as the words escaped the younger Irish angel’s lips, the trio and everyone else still on board the ship, suddenly felt the stern of the ship lifting again…only this time coming faster and faster…People continued to jump as they felt the stern of the ship coming up faster than ever thought possible…
"We have to move!"
Jack’s voice broke into Andrew and Monica’s cries and the two angels looked fearfully up, watching as Jack made his way to the other side of the railing, his hands clenching the iron railing tightly.
"Monica, give me your hand!" he shouted as he lowered his hand to the terror-struck angel, meeting her frightened, brown eyes.
"It’s going to be okay, Monica! Andrew, hang on!!"
Tentatively releasing her hold she had on the railing as she felt the ship almost coming to a straight position, she felt Jack grab onto her hand and pull her over with him to the other side of the railing. Still gripping her hand in his own, Jack then lowered his arm down to Andrew to help pull him up.
"C’mon, man!" Jack cried down to his friend and, with as much strength in him as he could, the human closed his eyes and pulled the angel up with them.
As Andrew finally made his way over the back of the railing, he didn’t waste another moment of tightly gripping Monica’s shaking hand again and holding it with all of this might in his own. Watching as Jack took her other hand tightly, Andrew returned his gaze to the ship and gulped as he realized that it had stopped straight up in the air.
Not letting go of his best friend’s hand, Andrew looked over his shoulder and gasped at the long way straight down. Turning back to his friends, he raised his voice over the horrible screams.
"Hang on, you guys!!"
Screams for help from all around tearing through his being, the Angel of Death looked down with heartbroken eyes as people plummeted to the deadly waters below them, men and women. Bangs echoing all around them as bodies tumbled, Andrew closed his green eyes and lifted up one last prayer of strength and help to God before he gave Monica’s hand one last tight squeeze.
As she returned the squeeze of her best friend’s own trembling hand, Monica kept her grip on both Andrew and Jack as she suddenly felt the ship move again…only this time, straight down…
"This is it!" Andrew cried over the loud noise, tears streaming down his cheeks as he realized what was awaiting them all: The deadly, ice cold water…
Wishing with all of his might that he had the power to stop all of this, Andrew only continued to whisper reassuring words to himself in his mind as the ship continued to sink faster and faster.
Turning to face Monica, who was once more losing all of her control and letting out screams of her own, Andrew gave her hand a tight squeeze once again and yelled over the roar of the ship,
"The ship is going to suck us down! I can tell!"
Shivering from her head to her toes, Monica felt her tears stream like rain down her face as she watched the water come closer and closer to her…Before any of them would know it, they would be under, too. Turning back to Andrew at the sound of his voice again, she stared into his own frightened face and tried to keep as calm as she could.
"Kick to the surface after we go down and keep kicking, Monica!! And take a deep breath when I tell you to! Do NOT let go of my hand, you hear??"
Nodding her head shakily and fearfully turning back to the black ocean, which was almost up to them, Monica’s heart pounded wildly in her chest as Andrew spoke up once again.
"We will be okay, sweetheart!" he yelled over the loud roar as he looked into her horrified features,
"Do you trust me, Monica??"
Her own voice shaking like never before, and not even sure if it would stop, Monica yelled back,
"I trust you!"
All three friends turning back to the ocean, Andrew fought to keep himself calm as he realized that the end was just about near from the Titanic. Forcing himself to know that they all would be okay, the angel put all of his strength and courage into his voice as he raised it once
"Ready, you two?!"
Watching both of their heads nod, Andrew let out the one single word that he dreaded to use at that moment,
"NOW!"
Each of them gulping in a deep breath as the water all of a sudden came to them and before any of them knew it, the ship, which had earlier been declared as "unsinkable", sunk completely in the depths of the Atlantic ocean…taking with her over 1500 passengers…
Chapter 17
The two angels and Jack were plunged into the icy Atlantic, all three feeling the suction as the ship pulled them deeper in to the freezing water in the early morning of April 14, 1912.
Monica gripped Andrew’s hand as tightly as she could as she struggled to keep her terrified mind calm and kick to the surface. But due to the ship’s sinking, the water was rough and tumbled and soon she felt her fingers slide from his, despite her desperate attempts to hang on.
Fear filled her like never before as she struggled to reach the surface, her lungs screaming for air and just when she thought they would surely burst, she found the surface and with a cry drew in a breath of air.
Breathing hard, she looked around her, her heart racing in the freezing water,
"Andrew! Jack!" She cried out, but she soon felt that it was hopeless, as the water was filled with cries for help as 1500 people searched for a way to survive.
***
Andrew surfaced, his burning lungs taking in the cold night air as his eyes searched frantically for Jack and Monica. As hard as he had tried, he had lost them both once the ship had gone under and his grieving heart was longing to know that they were both all right.
The sounds of people crying for help was deafening as Andrew too, lifted up his voice in the hopes that Jack or his best friend would hear him. The water was so cold, he couldn’t stop shaking and his heart broke at the thought of Monica being alone in something she feared so much.
"Andrew!" The sound of his name caused him to turn around in the water, his relieved eyes coming to rest on Jack,
"Jack! You’re all right!"
"All right? I’m freezing!" He shot back, being careful to keep moving in order to keep his blood flowing,
"Where’s Monica?"
"I don’t know," Andrew replied fearfully,
"But we have to find her."
As the two swam and called out her name, they each said silent prayers for safety, for themselves, for Monica, for all those who were struggling for life right now in this ocean.
"Andrew!" Monica cried out, certain she had heard someone call her name. Her exhausted eyes searched frantically for any sign of he or Jack, but her search was interrupted as she felt herself being pushed back under water.
Finding one last bit of fight within her, the angel struggled to get back to the surface, only to find that the cause of her angst was a terrified passenger who had decided to use her as a life preserver,
"Please no!" She begged as she heard him cry out and once more felt herself being forced under. As she surfaced again, gasping for air, she felt strong hands tear the man away from her.
"Get off of her!" Jack snapped as he pushed the man away from her and soon the bewildered Irish angel was looking into Andrew’s eyes once more.
"Andrew," She uttered, her voice trembling with fear as much as with the cold.
His eyes filled with relief, Andrew reached out and touched her cheek softly,
"I need for you to swim, baby," He told her, watching for her nod, before the threesome began swimming, headed in a direction a little away from the crowd.
"Here!" Jack called, reaching what appeared to be a door from the ship that was floating on top of the water,
"Get her up here, Andrew," Jack ordered as the two helped the shivering angel onto the door.
"Now you, Jack," Andrew instructed, but as Jack attempted to climb on, the door nearly flipped over, causing a frightened cry to escape Monica.
"It won’t hold more than one of us," Jack remarked, exchanging a concerned look with his friend.
Monica raised her head wearily, her eyes looking into Andrew’s,
"Jack should be on here," She remarked softly.
"No," Jack shook his head adamantly, refusing to even consider it,
"The lifeboats will be back shortly to pick us up. I’ll be fine till then."
Andrew saw his best friend’s distressed look and he looked back at Jack, but he only shook his head. Turning his gaze back to Monica, Andrew smiled sadly as he shook his head. He watched as Monica tearfully laid her head down on the door, her hand reaching for his. Andrew took it and linked his fingers tightly through hers as the threesome waited.
"I guess your prayer worked, Andrew," Jack commented, trying to keep his teeth from chattering,
"We got off the ship in one piece."
"Prayer always works, Jack," Andrew replied, his own body shivering as he kicked his legs to try to keep as warm as possible,
"Because God always listens, even if He doesn’t always give us the answer that we want."
Jack nodded his head in agreement,
"I know that I certainly could not have survived some of the scrapes I’ve been in without Him. I don’t pray a lot, Andrew, but I do know He is up there and I know He watches out for me, just like He’s watching out for you two."
Monica smiled weakly, not lifting her head,
"I know He is, Jack, but sometimes God’s lessons are not so easy to learn…"
Andrew exchanged a look with his dearest friend and reached to stroke her ice covered hair with his hand,
"No, they aren’t, are they? But He does love us."
As the minutes ticked by, Andrew listened, his heart turning fearful as he realized that the cries from the ocean were becoming fainter. People were dying. His heart raced as he realized that even Jack’s and Monica’s breathing had slowed in the last few minutes, and he himself felt as if everything was moving in slow motion.
In his heart, Andrew already knew what would happen, and his heart broke at the words that were spoken to him. Listening, he turned his head, and saw the lifeboat a few yards away from them. Looking over, he saw that Jack’s eyes were closed and he then turned back to Monica,
"Your ship awaits, Angel Girl," He said softly, watching as she stirred and gazed over at the lifeboat.
She turned her weary eyes back to him and tried to smile through her chattering teeth,
"We’re saved, Andrew."
Andrew was quiet for a moment, trying to make her understand,
"Sweetheart, you need to swim to the lifeboat. I need to take care of Jack right now."
Monica’s eyes moved to Jack and tears filled them instantly,
"Is he going to…"
"I don’t know. I just know that I can’t leave him right now. So, go, Monica. Get to the boat." Andrew repeated, knowing if he wasn’t careful, he would be met with an argument.
"No, Andrew, I--."
"Now, Monica!" He raised his voice, knowing that time was running out and he needed her to get to safety. He held onto his stern expression, even as tears filled her eyes once more.
Hurt by his words, but deciding not to argue, the Irish tongued angel slipped back into the icy waters, and forced herself to swim towards the boat. Each stroke, a sob escaped her, but it wasn’t long before two officers were pulling her into a lifeboat.
Feeling blankets being wrapped around her, the angel struggled to speak,
"Please…my friends are up there. Please, find them!"
But they searched for nearly half an hour with no sign of Andrew nor Jack, and finally, the exhausted, shivering angel cried out the ocean of tears that she had been holding inside ever since the words "Iceberg, right ahead," had been spoken.
Chapter 18
Tears flowed down Andrew’s face as he looked towards Heaven, all of a sudden receiving the response from the Father that he wished he didn’t have to do. Blinking his eyes to try and stop the wetness in them, but that not helping, the angel turned towards his friend, who was floating in the ice-cold water beside him. His brown eyes, which only minutes ago were alert, were now shut tight and his freezing hands were still clenched to the wooden door that Monica had laid upon only minutes ago.
Gulping as he nodded his head at the loving Voice of the Father telling him what to do now, Andrew rested a hand on the human’s shoulder and, before he knew what had happened, the Angel of Death in human form was all of a sudden transformed back into his angelic being. Andrew was no longer in the Atlantic Ocean and he looked around him, tears still shining in his compassionate, green eyes. This was the place between Heaven and Earth and now, Jack was right in front of him. The young human’s face wore a look of confusion as he looked down at himself; seeing that he was no longer wearing the wet clothing he wore during the sinking.
His brown eyes raising upwards and looking around him at the beautiful mountains, luscious green hills and beautiful flowers all around him, Jack turned to the shining figure in front of him…his friend, Andrew.
"Andrew?" Jack whispered, looking down at his hands and then back towards the angel.
"Andrew…What’s going on here??"
"Jack…" Andrew whispered back, his own voice getting choked up as he walked over to his friend and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, squeezing gently.
"Jack…I’m an angel. Sent from God…to take you Home to Him…"
Gazing, surprised, up at his friend, Jack’s eyes widened in surprise as he took in the golden, soft light surrounding Andrew from head to toe. His green eyes were full of compassion and love, as while tears were still falling from them like a river.
"Am I dead, Andrew…" Jack croaked out, although he already knew that answer fully well.
"Either I am or I’m going crazy here…"
"You’re not going crazy, Jack," Andrew released his hold around his friend’s shoulders and stepped forward till he was looking right into Jack’s somber, brown eyes.
"This is for real, my friend. I am an angel…the Angel of Death, to be exact. And…yes, you are dead, Jack…The Father has told me to come and take you to Him…"
"I can’t believe this, Andrew…" Jack uttered, turning away from his angelic friend for a bit to look around him as he felt tears slightly brim in his eyes.
"What—what about Rose? Who will take care of my Rose…"
Folding his arms across his chest, Jack let out a soft sigh as he recalled the very last time he saw the love of his life: Rose being forced into the lifeboat; barely getting a chance to say ‘goodbye’ to her; the look of despair in her soft, blue eyes as they were separated…Where would Rose go after she found out that they would never see one another again?
Seeing the look in his friend’s eyes, Andrew stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him tightly, hugging the human close to him for a moment. Tears still falling down his cheeks as he lifted his green eyes to the Heavens, where they would be heading in just a matter of minutes, the Angel of Death gave a quiet sigh as he pulled away to look at Jack once again.
"I promise you that Rose will be okay, Jack," Andrew whispered, keeping a hold on his shoulders as he stared into Jack’s slightly wet eyes.
"Rose will be just fine, God promises you that, my friend…"
"Would you promise me something, though, Andrew?" Jack questioned, looking into the angel’s loving eyes with seriousness showing in his own gaze.
His brow furrowed, the angel looked back at the human and gave his head a nod, responding quietly,
"What?"
"Promise me that you’ll tell Rose…to never give up," Jack responded, his voice slightly shaking as he spoke to the angel in front of him. Giving a deep breath, he forced himself to continue.
"Make her promise to never give up. No matter what happens in the next few years…Please, Andrew…Tell her for me…"
His eyes flooding with more hot tears, Andrew closed his eyes tightly as they trickled down his cheeks. Finding himself at a loss of words for the time being, the angel wrapped his arms around his friends once more, hugging him tightly for a moment. Finally finding his voice, however, the young Angel of Death replied softly into the human’s ear,
"I’ll tell her, Jack," he softly answered, his voice choked up with emotion. "I promise I’ll tell her…"
The two friends continued to hold one another, one human and the other an angel, for the next several minutes before Andrew gently pulled back and offered a brave smile for his friend in front of him. Trying to blink back his tears again, he gave his head a small nod before speaking.
"You ready to go Home now, Jack?" he gently asked, squeezing the shoulder of his friend one last time.
"The Father is waiting for you, my friend…"
The angel’s gentle words making Jack offer up a small smile in return, the human gave his head a small nod of his brown head and quietly answered,
"Yes" before Andrew nodded his own head again in return. Wrapping a gentle arm around his friend’s shoulders, the angel and human walked away from the lovely field they had been standing in for the last few minutes and into the beautiful, golden light up ahead…
The light that would take Jack to Heaven…and to the Father, the One Who loved all…
*********************************************************************************
Chapter 19
Rose wandered the decks of the ship called Carpathia shortly after daybreak. They had been rescued two hours ago and the survivors had been brought on board. The overall tone of the ship was a somber one. Just over 700 Titanic passengers had survived the horrible night-all the rest had been left to perish in the seas, due to not enough lifeboats and not enough caring hearts. More could have been saved, had more of the scarcely filled boats returned to search for survivors sooner, but that was not to be.
Now, Rose searched for any sign that perhaps Jack had survived the horrible sinking of the unsinkable Titanic, but she had found no sign of him. She had been careful to stay away from First Class, not wanting to run the risk of running into her mother or Cal. With her heart nearly broken, there was no way on earth she could possibly bear to tolerate any of their self-righteousness now.
"Oh Jack," She whispered to no one in particular,
"Where you are?"
****
On the other side of the ship, another lowly figure searched as well. Still wearing her dress from the night before, her usually brilliant auburn hair hanging lifelessly around her shoulders, Monica scanned the deck through exhausted and swollen eyes. She kept telling herself that angels couldn’t die, but what if they could?
Horrible images of the previous night flashed through her mind again and again. The water, the cries for help, the darkness and finally the sounds of hundreds of people dying. She was sure it would all be forever etched in her memory; that no matter how diligently she tried to escape it, Titanic would always be a part of her.
There was only one she longed to see, to put her heart at ease that he was all right. Oh, she did hope against hope that Jack too had survived the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic. If only he had gotten up on the door that she had been floating on! But he had used his free will and had refused.
She had fought so hard to stay with Andrew and in the end, it hadn’t mattered anyway-he had left her no choice but to swim to the lifeboat, leaving her best friend behind in the deadly waters in human form,
"Oh please, God," She whispered, her tired eyes brimming with tears once more,
"Let your angel be safe."
"Monica!"
A cry caused the weary angel to turn her head, sobs spilling from her at the sight of Tess. Crying, she stumbled towards her supervisor, nearly collapsing in her arms,
"Tess…Oh Tess…"
Tess held her trembling charge in her arms, knowing the horrible ordeal she had been through and longing to take it all away, despite the lessons that were being taught,
"I’m so glad to see you, baby," She whispered, tears in her own eyes as she stroked the tangled auburn hair. Her Angel Baby was as white as a ghost, almost a mere whisper of the angel she had been three days ago, but Tess knew that the Father had the power to heal.
It was Monica who needed to remember.
"Andrew…" She choked out, her Irish lilt thick from her tears.
"I know, baby, I know," Tess soothed, holding her tightly,
"But I haven’t seen him, Angel Girl," her words bringing more tears from her young charge.
"Monica, maybe there is someone else you need to be asking about Andrew. I would imagine that the Creator of the Universe might have some idea if your friend is all right."
Still crying, Monica pulled away as she nodded her head. Turning away from Tess, the human angel wandered over to the railing, her blurred vision looking out over the ocean; an ocean that had held so much terror a few hours ago. Trying to stop the tears enough to be able to speak, she lowered her head, her quivering voice coming as little more than a whisper. But even in her anguished state, she knew that the Father could hear even the faintest cries.
"Oh Father, please tell me Andrew is safe with You. I know I should have gone with Rose into the lifeboat, but I couldn’t leave him…I couldn’t! I know he is Your angel, and my friendship with him is a gift from You. I know that! Please, Father, don’t take it away. From the moment you placed us together, he has become such an important part of my existence. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t understand why any of this happened, but I do know You were there last night, even if it seemed that I had forgotten. Just let him be all right…just let him be all right!"
Unbeknownst to Monica, Andrew had appeared beside of Tess, looking a bit more like his old self, having been in the comfort of the Father’s arms. His green eyes were still a bit haunted by all that happened last night, and listening to the words of his best friend, tears clouded them. He smiled sadly as Tess wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly for a moment,
"Go to her, Angel Boy," Tess said softly, ruffling his blond hair affectionately,
"We all need to talk, but you’re the one she needs right now."
Nodding his head silently, Andrew quietly approached his friend, remembering the look in her eyes as he had demanded she go to the lifeboat. He knew she had been hurt, but there had not been time for him to explain and now she was suffering with the not knowing what had happened and it broke his heart.
"Angel Girl," He whispered softly, tears springing to his eyes once more as she turned around. One look at her brought back all the memories from the night before, as she still looked trapped in those horrible moments of fear and uncertainty.
"Andrew.." Monica uttered, before she found herself wrapped tightly in the protection that was Andrew and always had been from the moment she had found him in Steerage after the ship had hit the iceberg.
He kissed the top of her head, hearing her soft sobs against his shoulder and feeling the exhaustion within her,
"Shhh," he crooned softly to her,
"It’s okay now, baby. The hardest part is over."
"J..Jack?" She whimpered softly, already knowing in her heart, the answer.
"He’s with the Father," Andrew responded gently, his fingers tenderly working through a tangle in her hair,
"That’s why I needed you to go to the lifeboat, sweetheart."
"I tried to find you, Andrew…I tried to find you and Jack, but…"
"I know," He smiled sadly as he rested his cheek against her hair.
"Poor Rose.." Monica whimpered miserably,
"I understand how she feels as I thought I had lost you."
"But you didn’t," Andrew whispered warmly into her ear,
"Not this time and not ever." He pulled away to look into her tired face,
"C’mon, lets go and get you cleaned up and then Tess wants us all to have a talk."
Nodding her head, the Irish angel wrapped her arm tightly around Andrew’s waist, her head resting against his shoulder as they approached Tess.
"Lets go, babies," Tess said gently, still seeing the pain in their angelic eyes,
"There is still some work to be done."
Chapter 20
At the sound of the shower turning off in the connected bathroom inside of the three angel’s new stateroom, Andrew let out a deep sigh and leaned his head against Tess’ shoulder as he sat, cross-legged on the large bed.
Without saying a word, Tess silently wrapped a loving arm around her "Angel Boy’s" shoulders and gently rubbed his arm; listening to the sound of Monica finishing getting cleaned up, the older, more in-control angel planted a small kiss on Andrew’s soft, blonde head as she, too, let out a soft sigh.
Several minutes passing in total silence, the sound of the bathroom door opening broke into it and Monica, quietly, slowly, stepped out and into the warm, comfortable stateroom. Her waist-length, auburn hair hung around her shoulders, still quite wet from the shower, and her clothing looked more comfortable. Having put on a long, flowered dark skirt with a white turtle-neck sweater to match and her feet now clad in a soft pair of slippers, Monica’s dark, brown eyes still held the haunted and frightened look from the night before. The Irish angel still appeared in shock, but no tears were in her eyes as she entered.
Giving Andrew’s back a final, soft rub, Tess released her hold on her friend and stood to her feet, nodding over at her younger charge as she stood as still as a statue before them.
"Have a seat, Baby," Tess gently urged, placing loving hands on the angel’s shoulders and guiding her over to the bed where Andrew still sat, a sad look displayed on his handsome face.
Taking the seat where Tess had sat earlier, the young, Irish caseworker pulled her own legs up onto the bed and scooted as close as she could get to her best friend, wrapping her arms around him once again, as if he would somehow disappear from her again and leave her all alone…
Taking the arm of the forest-green chair sitting across the room, Tess pulled it close to the large bed where her two "Angel Babies" were sitting, their arms wrapped around one another tightly. Sitting quietly in the chair as soon as she positioned it where she wanted, the dark-skinned angel kept her eyes on Monica’s face, gazing into it worriedly.
Sensing her supervisor’s dark eyes on her, Monica slowly turned her head slightly to the left and looked back at Tess. Before her older friend had a chance to speak, the Irish angel spoke up, voice quivering and laced with tears, for the first time.
"After we arrive in New York, I never want to step foot onto another ship or boat ever again…"
Sighing inwardly, Tess closed her eyes and lifted up a quick prayer of help to the Father for her two Babies…especially Monica, who still appeared more shaken up than her "Angel Boy". Giving her shoulder-length, brown and gray head a small nod; the supervisor drew in a deep breath and once again opened her dark eyes, facing her friends.
Deciding to avoid Monica’s comment about ships, Tess knew that she had to cut to the chase here…and tell her charges the truth, which they so needed to hear…
"Monica…Andrew…" she began softly, looking into their faces as soon as they turned towards her again.
"Babies, I know these past 24 hours have been extremely hard and frightening for both of you. I know that you two, along with Rose and Jack, went through something horrific last night—something that none of us, especially God, wanted to happen. But…I’m going to tell you something, the same thing that Sam informed you last night: God was with you during that difficult time. He never left you and He never forsake you…"
"I know that, Tess," Monica interrupted, slightly releasing her grip around Andrew’s waist, but kept her head resting wearily against his shoulder and her teary, brown eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Raising an eyebrow at the words her Baby spoke, especially since they came out as fast as they did, Tess leaned forward in her chair and tried to meet Monica’s eyes, but failed miserably. Sighing deeply, the angel continued speaking.
"I know I don’t have to remind you that the Father loves you so deeply, Babies," she softly whispered, but loud enough for the other two angels to hear.
"I’m sure you two know that God would never ever desert you or forsake you, but…Monica…look at me here, Angel Girl, and listen carefully…"
Not speaking a word, the young, Irish angel reluctantly looked back over at her supervisor, tears flooding her eyes again as she forced herself to listen.
"Angel Babies, the Father has told me that He never left you while you two were on that ship and He did hear your prayers. You know He always does, even the faintest cry for help. But…you two have come to experience such human emotions during these past few days, especially forgetting about the Father, Who loves you and cares for you more than you can ever imagine. I know that it didn’t seem that He was with you, but you got so caught up in the fear—the human fear—and terror going on that you forgot, Babies…"
"But why did any of this have to happen, Tess?" Andrew whispered, letting out a heavy sigh as he lowered his teary, green eyes to the bed and fingered the comforter with his hand,
"I still don’t get WHY the ship had to sink…WHY so many innocent people had to die before their time…1500 souls, Tess! 1500 lives were lost last night…"
Feeling hot tears start to pool in her own eyes at Andrew’s words, Tess’ voice cracked as she tried to speak again.
"Angel Boy, you know that I don’t have all the answers here. But I DO know—and so do you—that humans and angels have free will. The afternoon before the sinking, the ship’s crew was warned of ice fields up ahead and to be on the lookout for any icebergs, but they used their free will and chose to ignore the warning. God’s warning, Andrew. The ship didn’t have to go down, Babies, and everyone could have survived if they didn’t judge them on what "class" they were in…"
Noticing that both of her young friends were fully listening now, the older supervisor continued her explanation.
"Jack had free will last night, too: Whether to get up on that door with you, Angel Girl, and risk your life, or…stay in the water with Andrew and know for a fact that you would be okay. He made his choice…and he’s in the arms of the Father at this very moment, the best place anyone could ever be. I also have something else to say, Monica; answer me truthfully here, sweetheart. I’ve heard the saying, "Friendship overcomes fear’. Isn’t that true? While the ship was sinking last night, didn’t you feel safer when Angel Boy was with you?"
Sniffling and wiping away as many tears on her cheeks as she could, Monica glanced up at Andrew, her very best friend, and allowed a small grin to play on her mouth. All of Tess’ words echoed full force in her brain, along with the feel of the Father’s everlasting Love…the Love that would never end.
Just like Tess and Andrew’s love would never end…
Giving her head a jerky nod, the Irish-tongued angel opened her mouth, her voice shaking with emotion.
"You’re right, Tess…you’re right. In a way, friendship can overcome fear. Andrew’s presence and protection and love last night…while I was with him, he was able to make me feel a little less afraid than if he wasn’t there…"
Her words getting choked up and her voice cracking as she spoke, Monica turned her head towards Andrew, tears falling like a shower at the very sight of her best friend.
"Andrew…thank you for your protection last night…and—and your friendship…" she croaked, sniffling again.
"Thank you, my friend…"
Tears now streaking his cheeks, Andrew, without hesitation, reached his arms out and drew his friend close to him. Her arms encircling him tightly, Monica’s sobs tore through her human body as she cried against Andrew’s soft shoulder, never wanting him to let her go.
As she watched the exchange between her "Angel Babies", Tess blinked back more tears as she raised her soft, brown eyes to the ceiling, whispering silently to herself,
"Thank You, Father…I think they’re finally coming to realize Your never-ending Love for them. Thank You…"
Turning back to the two younger angels, who were still sobbing against one another’s shoulders, Tess stood to her feet slowly and made her way over to the bed, sitting down on top of it in front of the two embracing angels. Again without bothering to say a word, the supervisor reached her strong arms out and wrapped them around her two charges, drawing them to herself.
Unable to hold back her flood of tears any longer, Tess allowed them to roll down her chocolate-colored skin as she rocked her Babies back and forth, a grateful smile spreading across her face.
"I love you two so much, Angel Babies…I love you so much. And I’m so thankful that you’re both safe."
Chapter 21
Rose sat down on a lounge chair on the Third Class deck of the Carpathia, her exhausted mind and body unable to take anymore wandering. No one had seen any sign of Jack, and she had asked numerous people, but no one by the name of Jack Dawson had been reported as of yet.
But even though she struggled to hold onto the hope that he would suddenly appear, deep down inside, Rose knew the truth.
Jack had not survived.
She could feel it in her soul-the emptiness, the loss-so real, she feared it might threaten to consume her at any moment. She drew in a trembling breath; unshed tears clinging to her lashes,
"Why?" She whispered, her voice choked with emotion,
"Why did this have to happen? Where were You this time, God? But then again, You always seem to vanish when someone needs You the most."
"That isn’t true, Rose," Monica’s gentle Irish lilt disturbed her thoughts as Rose looked up to see not only Monica, but Andrew and Tess as well.
"No?" Rose asked, unable to keep the hostility from her voice,
"Then where was He when my father died?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Monica, then Andrew, one last surge of hope flowing through her,
"Jack?"
Andrew lowered his head momentarily, before meeting Rose’s eyes once more,
"I’m sorry, Rose. He didn’t survive the sinking."
Rose bowed her head as the pent-up tears began to course down her pale cheeks,
"And you dare to tell me that God was there? How can you say that?"
As Rose looked back up at the threesome, she gasped softly, seeing the warm, soft glow that seemed to emulate love itself coming from them,
"Wha-"
"Don’t be afraid, Rose," Monica said softly, looking at the young girl before her,
"Through this whole terrible ordeal, you have been in the company of angels."
"Angels? God sent me angels now?" A sob escaped her throat as she shook her head,
"I’m alive! I’m not the one who needed angels! Jack did! If you had been there for Jack, he might be alive now!"
"I was Jack’s angel, Rose," Andrew said gently, his green eyes flashing his grief over all that had happened,
"I was with him when he died and it was I who took him to God. He’s safe now and free of pain-he’s with his Heavenly Father."
"I don’t understand any of this," Rose wept, the truth causing fresh pain to flow freely from her,
"God sent me angels and sent me Jack only to lose him in the end? What good is there in that?" Her eyes then met squarely with those of Monica,
"And if you are an angel, then why were you so afraid for Andrew? You had to know he would be all right if he was an angel too. "
Monica knelt down in front of the hurting young girl, and reached for her hands,
"When angels take human form, Rose, they are susceptible to all of the feelings and emotions that humans can have. Yes, I was afraid for Andrew, just as you were for Jack and this was all a lesson for me as well. You see, when I became so incredibly frightened of the water and the sinking, I forgot that God was with me. Just as you felt He had left you when your father died. But Rose, He never did. He was with you the whole time, just as He was with us last night during that terrible time. That’s the miracle of God’s love, Rose, even when we forget how much He loves us, He never leaves us," Monica drew in a trembling breath, still finding it so hard to talk about all that had transpired in the last several hours. She brushed at the tears on her cheeks and then looked back to Rose,
"God brought Jack into your life to help make you see that you did have a way out of marrying Cal. Humans have free will, Rose, it is God’s gift to all of us. You just needed help realizing it."
"So, God doesn’t want me to marry Cal?" Rose whispered shakily,
"Even though it is what my mother wants and I’m supposed to honor her, right?"
"Baby," Tess chimed in gently,
"The Father doesn’t want any of His children to be unhappy and Cal is not of God, Rose. Cal is from someplace much darker and it is not the Father’s wishes for you to give any part of yourself to him."
"There’s one more thing," Andrew said as he knelt down beside of Monica and looked into Rose’s eyes, remembering the promise he had made,
"Before I took Jack Home, he asked me to do something for him. He wanted to tell you to ‘never give up’. He said that no matter what happens in the next few years, for you to not give up." Andrew’s eyes glistened with tears,
"His last thoughts in this life, were of you, Rose."
Several more tears spilled from Rose’s blue eyes upon hearing those words and imagining Jack’s voice saying them,
"Will…will God help me?"
Monica’s voice caught in a sob as she answered,
"Oh Rose, all you have to do is ask Him."
Still crying, Rose bowed her head, her lips moving in silent prayer. When she looked back up, the three angels had vanished from her sight and standing before her instead was a member of the ship’s crew.
"Name, miss?" He asked, his pencil ready to write down her response upon his clipboard.
Rose hesitated for only a brief moment as she remembered the words Jack had asked Andrew to tell her.
"Never give up."
She snapped back to attention as she looked at the crewman and her voice not so much as wavering, she replied,
"Dawson. Rose Dawson."
Cal cursed under his breath as he watched from a distance, knowing he had lost both Rose and Jack to God now. Defeated, he vanished from the deck.
The three angels watched, unseen by anyone else as Rose gave her new name and the demon admitted defeat.
"You did good, Babies," Tess said softly, as she stood behind her two charges, knowing that very soon the healing would come for both of them as well.
Monica gazed out over the ocean, still able to hear the cries for help from last night echoing through her mind as well as still being able to feel the cold from the icy water. Drawing in a shaky breath, she looked at Tess, then at Andrew,
"I want to go Home." She said softly.
Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he looked at Tess, who nodded her head. Drawing Monica closer to him, he whispered softly into her ear,
"Then that’s where we’ll go."
Epilogue
"...1500 People Go Down With The Titanic, April 14, 1912," Andrew read the title of the article aloud as he knelt down beside Monica in front of a large, brass trunk in the small, dim attic.
An old feeling of distress that she hadn’t felt in years, crept into Monica’s heart at the mere mention of Titanic. She closed her eyes briefly, already able to hear the screams in her mind again, and she shivered despite the warmth of the attic on the warm, spring day. A thought striking her, she looked up into Andrew’s eyes,
"88 years ago today," She whispered.
"Yes," He replied solemnly, gazing down at the article once more. Neither angel had any idea of why they were here in this attic, on this day. Tess was apparently running late, so curiosity had gotten the better of them, but upon opening the trunk, they were finding things that neither was sure they wanted to remember.
Monica looked back in the trunk, shocked to find many more newspapers pertaining to that fateful night so long ago,
"Who would want to remember this?" She uttered softly, her hands trembling as she picked up the next paper on the stack.
"I don’t know, Angel Girl," Andrew responded sadly, shaking his head at the picture of Carpathia on the front of the newspaper,
"Maybe whoever this stuff belongs to, lost someone on Titanic."
Monica gazed at the paper in front of her, her eyes looking over the list of names of those who had died that night. So much wasted life when it need not have been so-had the warnings of icebergs been heeded, had the lifeboats been filled….
"Why did Tess tell us to come here?" Monica cried out suddenly, rising to her feet and walking to the other side of the attic,
"I don’t want to remember what I’ve spent 88 years trying to forget!"
Startled by her outburst, Andrew rose slowly to his feet, his loving, green eyes filled with concern,
"You know, Monica, ever since we left the Carpathia, you have never once mentioned anything about that night. Were you really able to forget it so quickly?"
Monica met her pain-filled eyes with his briefly, before looking away,
"Forget it? No, Andrew, I was never able to forget it. The year following the sinking, whenever I was in human form and on assignment I had nightmares every night. It was like it was happening all over again-I could feel the panic and the cold of that water, I could hear the screams of souls pleading to be rescued, I could see humans plunging into the water, trying to find a means of escape. I could see the children clinging to their fathers, somehow knowing that they would never see them again in this life. Oh no, Andrew, I never for a moment forgot. There are things in the human world that you just never, ever forget."
Her words caused the images she spoke of to rip through his mind in a blur and he let out a deep breath to force back the tears that the horrible memories caused him. He took a few steps closer to his best friend, seeing her struggling with her emotions,
"I think you are right about that," He remarked softly,
"There are things you never forget and in looking back at it, there are things I don’t want to forget." Seeing her shocked expression, he smiled before he continued,
"Like finally realizing that your dearest friend, who is deathly afraid of water, was willing to jump out of a lifeboat and back onto a sinking ship in order to not leave me alone." A sweet smile played on his lips as he watched her closely.
As she listened to the words her best friend spoke at that moment, Monica stared into his green eyes, which were now finally brimming with tears, and felt a lump forming in her throat at that moment. Gulping it down, the Irish angel looked down at her feet for a second before taking a step closer to Andrew and wrapping her arms around her friend tightly.
Memories flooding back to her, Monica allowed her mouth to turn slightly into a small smile as she raised her brown eyes to the ceiling. The memory of jumping out of that lifeboat, her heart beating loudly as she did it, and back onto the sinking Titanic to be with her best friend came back at her full force…I had almost forgotten about that, she thought to herself as she felt Andrew’s arms wrap around her waist tightly and his gentle hand stroking her back.
"I forgot about that…" she slowly whispered into Andrew’s ear before the two angels finally released one another.
"I-I don’t know how I had forgotten it…but I did…"
Stroking his friend’s cheek with a loving hand, Andrew blinked back more tears as they threatened to spill from his eyes again,
"But I didn’t, Angel Girl," he whispered softly, his voice slightly catching in his throat,
"What you did that day-for me-still means so much to me, even after 88 years have passed."
Raising her eyes back upwards to meet Andrew’s again, Monica shakily felt another smile tug at the corners of her mouth before giving her head a slight nod, her auburn hair bobbing against her shoulders. Forcing herself to get a hold of her emotions, the Irish angel took in a deep breath before taking hold of Andrew’s hand and walking back over to the waiting trunk, which was still overflowing with Titanic articles, newspapers and anything regarding the sinking of that fateful night.
Not knowing why, the two angels once more knelt down in front of the brass trunk, digging through the papers. Without looking at what he was picking up right then, Andrew suddenly pulled out a small slip of paper; a clipping from a newspaper article dated just a few months ago:
"In Memory of Rose Dawson-Calvert
Born: March 10, 1896
Died: January 12, 2000"
His eyes widening at the heading of the obituary he held in his hands, Andrew’s mouth opened, but no words came out except for a few stutters,
"Monica…" the Angel of Death stuttered as he turned back to face Monica beside him, his eyes still showing disbelief.
"Look…"
Not knowing what else to say, Andrew handed the newspaper snipping over to his best friend, his hand slightly trembling, now knowing whether to believe what he just read.
Watching the other angel’s facial expressions, Andrew soon realized that he wasn’t imagining this: The piece of paper really did say what he thought it did…The Rose in the obituary was the same Rose the two angels had encountered on the Titanic 88 years ago…
"Andrew?"
At the sound of his name, Andrew faced Monica again, his eyes starting to flood with tears, and met her brown ones. Her own tears falling freely, but with a look of confusion on her pretty face, Monica read the article once again before meeting his green eyes,
"Andrew…Is this…?"
"Yes, she is, Angel Girl."
The sound of Tess’ voice behind them startled the two angels out of the surprise and the two friends turned back around to face their supervisor, who was kneeling between the two, a faint smile playing on her lips as a few tears brimmed in her own chocolate brown eyes,
"Rose didn’t let go, Angel Babies," Tess continued, meeting each of her young charge’s surprised eyes,
"She kept her promise to Jack. She married, had children of her own and lived to be 104 years old with lots of grandchildren. That Baby lived a full life, moved on and died an old woman."
"She-she kept her promise?" Andrew choked out, a smile spreading wider across his handsome face as he stared at his older friend.
"Rose…"
Wrapping her arms around her two "Angel Babies" and drawing them close to herself while stroking their hair with loving hands, Tess’ eyes sparkled as she stared at the ceiling and nodded her head, her brown and gray hair bobbing against her shoulders.
"She did, Angel Boy," the supervisor confirmed, tightening her arms around the two younger angels,
"That she did…"
Unseen to the three embracing angels still sitting together on the floor in the small attic, a snow white dove cooed on the windowsill and flew off into the robin’s blue sky, the sun shining bright, and up to the Heavens.
THE END