Midnight

Gil snuggled in closer to his wife hearing her softly breathing, as she was fast asleep under the nice warm covers. It was the coldest night on the voyage and the couple was keeping close to each other to stay warm.

All of a sudden the whole room shook causing Gil to open up his eyes. He looked up above the bed and saw the chandelier was swaying back and forth making noise as the crystal was hitting each other. A few moments later the ship stopped shaking and everything was back to normal.

Catherine opened up her eyes seeing that the light in the stateroom was turned on. She sat up squinting at the bright light seeing her half-naked lover up and out of bed. She took the covers off of her feeling the cold air in the room from outside and then heard a knock at the door.

Gil went and answered it seeing that a stewardess was standing there in her white uniform with a fake smile on her face to cover her look of fright and panic.

�I�m sorry to disturb you sir but I have been told to tell you to put on some warm clothes and a lifebelt. Then you and your wife should go up to the boat deck as soon as possible� she said and then left to go to the next stateroom.

Gil shut the door and saw Catherine sitting in bed with the covers up around her because she was so cold. He went over to the closet and took the two lifebelts off of the top shelves.

�What did they lady want?� Catherine asked yawning.

�She said that we should dress warmly and head up to the boat deck wearing a life belt each� Gil explained as he started to get dressed.

�We hit something didn�t we, that was the shudder that we heard seconds ago. Where sinking aren�t we?� Catherine said and then remembered that there were only enough lifeboats for half of the passengers.

�I don�t know sweetheart, let�s just do what they said and head up to the boat deck, don�t forget to dress warmly now� Gil said and gave Catherine a kiss on the cheek.

Down below Sara heard the loud noise and of something scrapping across the metal haul of the boat. The shaking of their stateroom was so rough that it tossed Sara out of the bunk she was sleeping in with her daughter and on to the hard cement floor.

She opened up her eyes seeing that everyone else was also awake and then someone swung open the stateroom door tossing the lifebelts on the ground and then leaving. Sara knew what was going on and got up off of the floor.

�Sasha darling let�s get you dressed.� Sara said and pulled out her daughter�s warmest clothes and began to get her dressed as August did the same to her sister.

There was a knock on the door. Greg and David walked into the room dressed in their clothes and each had a white lifebelt on smiling at their lovers getting the children ready along with themselves.

�Mama, why do we have to wear this?� Sasha asked as Sara put the lifebelt over her daughter�s head.

�Because sweetheart, it�s part of the adventure, see everyone�s wearing one� Sara said as she tied the strings in a bow around her daughter�s waist.

�We all set?� Greg asked helping Sara put her lifebelt on.

�Yes, now Sasha don�t let go of my hand and don�t let go of Francesca� Sara said and the group left their small stateroom.

Back above Catherine was dressed in her fur jacket and hat with her white lifebelt over top of her. Gil held her hand as they made their way up the grand staircase towards the boat deck.

When they opened up the door a gust of cold wind blew in their faces. It was a drastic change in temperature from inside to outside. They saw small groups of first class men, women and children standing in front of the lifeboats waiting to be called into them.

Catherine glanced around and saw that only first class passengers where up on the boat deck and not passengers in third and second. She was sure that the Captain would put the gates open in such an emergency like this.

�Gil do you think they would allow all classes up on deck in an emergency like this?� Catherine said rubbing her hands together to keep them warm.

�I would assume so in such an emergency like this.� Gil replied putting an arm around his lover pulling her in towards him.

Catherine loved having the feeling of Gil�s hands around her. It made her feel warmer, safer and more secure in this time of panic. Even though she was wearing a fur coat she could still feel the cold air coming in and touching her but Gil was there acting like a blanket shielding her from the cold.

�Excuse me sir?� Catherine asked one of the crew members that passed by the couple.

�Yes Miss?� he said stopping to stare at the beautiful creature standing in front of him. That could be the last time he sees one before he dies this evening.

�Are the gates between the classes being lowered this evening?� Catherine asked not being able to feel her feet anymore.

�I�m sorry but no Miss. Now please get in a lifeboat� he replied and walked away.

Catherine stood still in complete and utter shock. How could they not put the gates down in such an emergency as the ship sinking? Where they willing to kill the lives of many innocent women and children? Could metal bars keep the classes from the half a dozen lifeboats that were on the boat deck? She couldn�t bear to have her new friends stuck five levels down with a metal gate keeping them from their only chance for survival. Catherine wouldn�t allow them to be trapped like animals just waiting to die from the water rushing down the corridors and knocking them to the ground drowning them. She needed to help them, one way or another.

Catherine let go of Gil�s hand and began to run down the long and wood boat deck. She pushed and shoved her way through the crowds of weeping families and confused passengers towards the entrance to the Second Class Stairway. Gil was confused about what Catherine was doing and decided to chase after her to stop her from getting hurt or placing their unborn child in danger or doing something that she might end up regretting. He then remembered that they had made friends in the lower deck. He knew that Catherine wanted to help them and let them have a chance for survival.

He passed by one of the lifeboats along the deck and spotted Catherine�s mother being helped into the rickety lifeboat by one of the crewmembers. She looked into the crowd and noticed Gil running across the deck, which she found to be very odd. She decided to look ahead on the deck and saw her daughter heading into the Second Class Stairway. She would have gone after them but the men wouldn�t let her get out of the boat and after she was seated they began to lower. All she could do was pray that her daughter and Gil where going to be safe and aboard another lifeboat.

Gil swung open the door and saw Catherine beginning her descend down the long stairway. �Catherine!� Gil called after her while trying to keep up with her.

Catherine ignored Gil and concentrated on not tripping down the metal steps. She kept going until she reached the very bottom splashing into ankle deep freezing water. Nothing at the moment mattered to her except freeing her friends.

Gil was right in her heels running through the water ignoring the cold-water feeling like 1,000 bees stinging him all over your body. All that mattered to him was the safety of Catherine.

He then heard a whale of terror not seeing Catherine anymore since she had turned a corner. The first thing that raced through his mind was that Catherine was hurt and she needed his help. The noise sounded like it was a screaming and terrified child.

Catherine heard the noise as well and thought that it could be Sasha or Neleh that was in trouble and that they needed her help. She heard the screams getting louder and ran faster to the doorway and then stopped. Gil finally caught up with her and saw that she was fine but could see that she was looking at something inside the room. He grabbed Catherine�s shoulder and peeked inside the room to see what she was looking at.

Eddie was handcuffed to a hot water pipe trying to free him self from the cuffs. The water was rising and was now up to Catherine and Gil�s knees. Catherine couldn�t feel her legs anymore through her dress that was under her fur coat. She was slowly becoming exhausted because the fur was heavy when it was wet.

He looked up at the doorway and saw Catherine and Gil standing there looking straight at him not making any attempt to try and help him. He knew that they had stumbled upon him by accident and that this would be the last place that she would be but maybe he could find some sort of forgiveness in her.

�Catherine please, help me!� Eddie pleaded trying the remove his wrists from the handcuffs.

�Look Gil, we found a stinky, old rat� Catherine retorted smiling wickedly at Eddie

�Okay, I deserved that. Now can you help me get out of here?� Eddie asked

�Its kind of amusing watching you squirm for once. I think that will be the way it will stay as well� Catherine said turning around.

�Catherine! Wait! Please I beg you help me!� Eddie got down on his knees in the rising water pleading for help

Catherine turned back to face him and smiled �You had better hang on to your dignity because it is the only thing you have left. Goodbye Eddie� Catherine stated and grabbed Gil�s hand.

�Wait Catherine stop!� Eddie called after them wanting her to come back and help him but she never returned.

Greg and everyone else headed towards the main gate seeing a crowd of people pleading for the crewmembers to open up the metal gates to allow them up to the boat deck. Sara was holding Sasha in her hands, as her daughter looked around at all the people with scared looks on their faces.

Sasha leaned her head on her mothers shoulder while she clutched her doll in her other hand wrapped in a shawl to keep her warm. She closed her eyes confused by what was going on. She wished she were in her bunk sleeping in her nice warm covers safe and secure.

�Bring forward the woman!� the man yelled and opened up the gate.

Greg pushed Sara and Sasha towards the front of line as woman and children where being pulled through the gate. All he wanted was for Sara and Sasha to be safe he really didn�t care about himself at the moment and David felt the same way about August and Neleh.

A man pushed his way to the front of the line and was trying to get out of the gates not caring that it was only woman and children. One of the crewmembers took out a small hand pistol from his pocket. With his trembling hand he shot at the man and watched as he fell to the ground.

Sasha heard a gun shot causing her to wake up from her little nap. She heard the sound of many young woman and children scream out in fear as the man dropped to his knees with blood pooling from his wound.

Sara witnessed the whole thing and was feeling light headed. The whole room was spinning and then everything went black. She dropped Sasha on the floor and then fainted. Greg reached out and grabbed Sara before she hit the cement floor.

The crewmember closed the gate after they removed the man from inside and locked them. David knew that they wouldn�t be opening up the gate for anyone anytime soon and time was running out to bring the women up to the boat deck.

�Is mama going to be okay?� Sasha asked looking up at Greg with tears forming in her eyes.

�Of course she is Sasha. David could you carry Sasha, I need to carry Sara.� Greg said and David picked up the little girl.

�It�s hopeless for us to try and get out this way, we should head down to the other gate and try our luck there� David suggested.

�Alright, let�s go� August said seeing Greg holding Sara in his arms.

The group of friend headed down the skinny corridors filled with upset and frightened passengers towards the other gate. They were praying that they would have better luck at this one since it was the only other one. Gil and Catherine finally made it out of the water. Catherine�s fur coat was feeling heavy trudging through the water but she knew she couldn�t let go of it or she would freeze to death.

Catherine was holding Gil�s hand as they ran down the cement floor with that click of Catherine�s high-heels on the floor. She needed to reach the main gate before it was too late

As the couple was running they heard what sounded like a gunshot coming from the direction that the main gate was in. They heard the screams of many woman and children as they witnessed the murder of a passenger trying to escape.

They made it to the main gate and Catherine turned towards Gil closing her eyes not wanting to see the corpse of a man laying on the floor bleeding to death. She finally got up the courage to look in the gates and didn�t see her new friends any were.

�Sara! Sasha!� Catherine yelled. She couldn�t hear their voices or see their faces.

�Maybe they went to the other gate,� Gil suggested seeing that these passengers weren�t going anywhere anytime soon.

�It�s worth a try,� Catherine said and they where off to the other gate that was down the hallway a little way.

�Open the damn gate now!� a woman protested holding her 6-month-old baby in her arms trying to rock it to sleep.

�Go back to the main gate and everything will be sorted out over there,� the man said to the small group of passengers trying to get out.

�For god sakes man there are woman and children here that need to get to the boat deck. Please let us out!� David yelled still holding Sasha in his arms.

�They have a better chance of getting out if they go back to the main gate,� the man said hearing footsteps coming from behind him.

Catherine slid across the cement floor in her high-heels ending up at the gate where she saw her friends. Gil came seconds later seeing them in there as well and saw the puzzled look on the crewmember�s face to way they were down here.

�Miss go up to the boat deck and get aboard a lifeboat,� the crewmember said to Catherine seeing that she was in first class.

�Please miss, help us!� a lady pleaded and Catherine turned towards the group of people seeing Greg was holding Sara. That wasn�t good.

�Catherine! Please help us!� Sasha yelled seeing Catherine standing at the gate arguing with the man.

Sara heard her daughter scream and began to open up her eyes. She looked up at Greg seeing that she was in his arms and Sasha was in David�s. Sara looked out through the metal gate and saw Catherine was arguing with the man to convince him to open up the gate.

She also noticed that they were at a different gate. Or that all of the people at the main gate where already allowed through which she found very hard to believe. Greg looked down and saw that Sara was now awake. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled at her.

�Open the gate now!� Catherine yelled.

�I can�t miss� he replied.

�Why the hell not?� Catherine asked eyeing the keys around his waist. If he wouldn�t open the gate then she would.

�Captains orders now go up to the boat deck�

�If you won�t open the gate then I will,� Catherine said reaching for his keys.

The man grabbed her wrist, which ended up being the one that was still in pain from Eddie when he grabbed her a few days ago. She winced and Grissom noticed.

He was about to jump in and pound the life out of the guy but Catherine beat him to it. She kicked him in the crotch making him scream in pain and fall to his knees holding his privates and letting go of Catherine�s wrist. She then punched him across the face knocking him out cold and sending him to the cement floor.

Catherine reached for the keys around his waist and tried to find the right key that would fit into the keyhole. She turned around and heard the sound of rushing water coming in their direction and knew that she had to move fast. After trying the third key she heard the lock click into place knowing that the gate was unlocked. She tried to push the metal gate to the side but she didn�t have enough strength to do it herself. Gil came to her side and helped her push the gate to the side and the small group of passengers quickly made their way out of the opening and headed towards the steps.

�Thank-you so much Catherine� August said holding her sleeping sister in her arms.

�No problem, you didn�t think I would let you drown down here now would you� Catherine said giving her a hug.

�There are only a limited amount of lifeboats aboard the ship and if we want one we need to move fast,� Gil suggested as water began coming down the hallway and passed along their ankles.

�Come on let�s go� Greg said still holding Sara in his arms as they all headed towards the second-class stairway, which would lead them right to the boat deck.

The small group of friends made their way up the flights of stairs. It was hard on Greg carrying Sara up those five flights. Sasha looked back over David�s shoulder at Greg carrying her mother. She smiled seeing that her mother was now awake and Sara smiled back seeing that her daughter wasn�t frightened.

Grissom flung open the door at the top of the stairs as a gust of cold wind from the icebergs in the North Atlantic. Catherine�s legs were frozen and numb from the cold water that was up to her knees a few moments before. Even though she still had her fur coat she was still missing the warmth of Gil who was frantically looking for a lifeboat to put the woman on.

�Here�s one, we have to move quickly,� Gil said as Greg put Sara down on her feet.

They all followed Gil towards a small group of woman being helped into the lifeboat. The men were respectively standing off to the side allowing the woman through towards the boat, including Sara, and the rest of the ladies.

�Step aboard Miss� the man said and grabbed August�s hand that was still holding on to Neleh in her arms who was now fast asleep.

The man helped Sasha into the boat next and then a woman budged in front of Sara and Catherine as she was helped into the boat next.

�Prepare to lower!� the officer said and Sara looked at her daughter who now had fright in her eyes.

�Mama!� she yelled trying to get up but August held her back not wanting her to go over board and into the water.

�Be a good girl Sasha, Catherine and I will be on the next one and we promise you that we will see you on the rescue boat!� Sara yelled down as the boat was going down towards the ocean she blew a kiss to her daughter her blew one back.

Sara turned back towards Greg with tears in her eyes. She couldn�t watch her daughter getting farther away from her. At least she was with someone that she trusted and knew would take care of her and knew that she was going to be safe.

�Greg, this was Sasha�s nightmare from a few nights ago. I promised her that it would never happen and look it just did� Sara said crying on his shoulder.

�It�s going to be all right Sara, I promise you we�ll get off this boat,� Catherine said comforting her friend with a smile.

�Come on I see another life boat down the dock a little we�ll make sure we get you two on that boat� Gil said and grabbed Catherine�s hand leading her down the deck.

They reached the last lifeboat that was still on the ship and it was only half full since the officers were trying their best to keep the men back and bring the woman and children forward.

�Only woman and children!� the man yelled and shot two warning shots into the air with his pistol scaring Catherine and Sara.

Gil and Greg pushed and shoved Catherine and Sara up to the front of the group. One of the men took Sara�s hand and helped her into the boat as she blew a kiss back to Greg who was told to stand back and did as he was told. Another officer grabbed Catherine�s hand and was helping her aboard. She was on the edge of the boat almost grabbing Sara�s hand to be helped in when a third class gentleman pushed her trying to jump into the boat.

Catherine lost her grip on the officer�s hand and also lost her balance and fell over board. She tried to grab on to the side of the lifeboat but wasn�t fast enough and fell into the North Atlantic screaming with a splash.

The officer took out his gun and shot the man that had almost successfully got inside the boat. The woman in the boat screamed as the blood splattered back from his wounds and some of it ended up on Sara�s dress and face as she saw the look on Gil and Greg�s face as they dumped the man overboard.

All of the women were watching him fall down but Sara, Gil and Greg were all watching to see if Catherine had surfaced from under the water yet. The lifeboat began to descend down to the ocean and Sara would make sure that she would save Catherine since she saved her at the gate.

Catherine felt the cold water hit her body like a ton of bricks, which took her breath away from how hard she had impacted the water. She tried to surface but her fur coat was heavy when it was wet and was pulling her down no matter if she had the life belt on or not.

She opened up her eyes and the salt water stung her pupils. All that she could see was red. It was from the blood that was from the man that was dumped into the water. She moved her hands around trying to clear the blood out of her way and she came face to face with the dead frozen eyes of the man that pushed her off of the ship.

Catherine screamed loosing more of her limited air supply and was trying her best to surface but she was having no luck. Her only choice was to remove her coat and her life belt. Her hands were numb but she reached around and untied the white strings and removed the belt letting it float to the surface. She was now almost slipping in and out of consciousness because of the ice-cold water that was filling up her lungs and giving her a migraine. She tried as fast as she could to undo the buttons on the front of her fur coat and removed her numb arms of the nice warm fur, letting it sink to the ocean floor.

Catherine now felt lighter and was trying her best to swim up to the surface she needed some air before she lost all of her air supply. The water felt colder now that she didn�t have her fur coat to keep her somewhat warm but she had to think past that. She wanted to survive this night and then she heard a boat being lowered. Catherine knew that Sara would help her up into the boat if she could just reach the surface.

Sara looked over the side of the lifeboat and saw bubbles in one area almost in arms reach. She knew that it was Catherine and she would help her no matter what. Sara looked up and saw that Gil and Greg were still standing on the boat deck watching the water to see if Catherine was going to come up anytime soon. They saw her life belt surface but no Catherine, which scared Gil.

Catherine finally broke the surface and tried her best to catch some deep breaths, which is what she needed. She was dressed in her sleeveless blue dress and her arms were almost the same color as the dress because they were so cold.

�Catherine!� Sara yelled but Catherine could hardly hear her, as she was almost unconscious from being frozen from head to toe. Her arms hurt and her head was throbbing but she was trying her best to stay conscious.

Sara reached out towards her friend but she couldn�t reach her she was to far away. Another lady gave Sara one of the ores and she used it to extend out towards her almost dying savior.

�Grab a hold of this!� Sara yelled and Catherine obeyed the order.

Catherine extended her frozen arm out of the water and grasped the end of the ore. She clutched it as tight as she could not knowing if she was holding on to anything or not since her fingers where numb.

Sara saw that Catherine had grabbed a hold of the ore and she began to pull her into the lifeboat as she saw her almost going out cold. Once she was close enough to the side of the boat she grabbed a hold of Catherine�s shoulder and could feel how cold she was. It was like touching an ice cube.

She pulled her up feeling how light she was which was a good thing because she could have swamped the whole boat. Gil and Greg saw Sara pulling Catherine up into the lifeboat and placed many warm blankets over her trembling body.

Catherine looked up and saw the smiles on Gil and Greg�s faces. She mouthed the words �I love you� towards Gil and then huddled up close to Sara to keep warm. She was getting warmer with Sara there but she was still missing the warm touch of Gil that would keep her safe and secure as well as warm.

�It�s going to be alright, your going to make it I promise� Sara said wrapping the blankets tighter around Catherine.

�Th-thank-you fo-for sa-saving me� Catherine muttered.

�You saved me so I had to repay the favor somehow� Sara said and saw the small smile on Catherine�s face with what energy she had left before she shut her eyes from exhaustion.

August, Neleh, and Sasha all heard the gun shot ring out through the dark and almost starless night. Sasha buried her face in August�s shoulder not wanting to think that it was her mother that was just shot moments earlier. Her mother had promised her that her nightmare that she had would have never came true but it did exactly like she had pictured it. It was like she saw what was going to happen in the future instead of what was happening in her imagination.

Sasha turned her head towards the night sky away from August�s nice warm dress at the sound of her mother�s voice. It was so clear and loud that it sounded as if she was in the lifeboat with her. She heard her screaming out the name Catherine and knew that the first class woman was in trouble and Sara was trying to help her.

�August, is mama and Catherine going to be alright?� Sasha asked looking up at her mother�s best friend.

�Of course they will, I promise you we will all be reunited aboard the rescue ship� August said cuddling with the two girls.

�Including Greg, David and Gil?� Neleh asked.

�Including David, Greg and Gil. Now why don�t you two try and get some sleep and before you know it we�ll all be back together� August said giving each one a kiss on the cheek as they all huddled close together with a blanket around them and the girl�s dolls.

Exactly two hours later the Titanic was fully submerged under the bone chilling water of the North Atlantic. All that remained of the magnificent floating palace was a few pieces of debris and 1,500 passengers screaming as pain was shooting through their bodies from the freezing cold water.

All the woman and children that were in the lifeboats were able to do was pray that among the screaming passengers and among the ones laying frozen the death in the water were not their husbands, sons or other relatives that didn�t get the chance to get to a lifeboat.