Tales Of A Frozen Sailor

by AllisonReader

Summary:

A letter in a bottle. A sailor frozen at the bottom of the ocean where it should be an impossibility. All tied to one of the most famous shipwrecks of all time, and one family's continued pain finally gets some closure.
Or…
There was always a slight controversy about what happened to the sailor Jesse Hudson on the Titanic. Common wisdom said that he was nothing more than one of the many unfortunate casualties of the sinking. His close friend and would have been brother-in-law; John Winters, begged to differ. Years after the sinking and John's death, a letter and more surprisingly a frozen body just might prove John Winters' suspicions that his friend's supposed death was not as innocent as just being another victim of the wreck and not enough lifeboats.

Notes:

Please feel free to skip this author’s note and jump a head to the story. This is a rewrite (in progress) of my story written for the Tumblr hosted annual writing challenge; The Inklings Challenge in October. This was the story that I wrote for the first run of the challenge, which is supposed to focus on short stories. My word count goal had been somewhere between 10-15km, but ended up being more around 30k by the time I was done. Only about twice of what I had intended. So now this rewrite is just trying to further expand the story a bit further, to just give it a fuller effect than what I currently have. It’s very much still a work in progress. It’s not finished by far, but I’m impatient and am hoping that by beginning to post what I do have, that it will keep me motivated to actually finish it.

For anyone whom might’ve read Tales Of A Frozen Sailor before, it’s not starting off the same as how I originally posted it on Tumblr (though that version will remain on Tumblr and in my pinned post on my blog). I also think that I might include notes at the bottom about what’s changed each chapter.

Would love to hear some thoughts and feedback on the story.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1- The Sinking; John’s Perspective

John Winters hadn’t been on shift on the bridge for long when they saw the ice and hit it. The confusion afterwards was great.

He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he ended up being able to run down to the berths and wake up his friend; Jesse Hudson. Jesse woke up groggy and cranky from having just barely been asleep.

At least until Jesse was clear minded enough to understand what he was telling Jesse. That the two of them would be manning a lifeboat because the ship was sinking and wouldn’t be staying afloat.

They had to move now . Jesse agreed and got ready fast.

The two started jogging down the corridor before Jesse stopped suddenly.

"What’s wrong?" John asked as he stopped with Jesse.

"My etching- I forgot it. I’m going back for it."

"Do you want me to come with-?"

"No- you go ahead. I won’t be long."

"You sure?"

"Yes Used-to-Winter; go," Jesse said exasperatedly.

"Alright Georgian Heat, I expect you to be right behind," John stared his friend down. Jesse gave a firm nod before turning and jogging back towards their quarters.

He continued up to the boat deck, expecting Jesse would only be a couple of minutes behind. They hadn’t been that far from their berth when Jesse turned back.

He took his place at their assigned lifeboat; number 13.

One minute passed, then two minutes, then three. At five minutes he started to wonder where the hell Hudson had gone or what was taking him so long. At ten minutes the worry started to kick in.

This wasn’t like his friend.

Had Jesse gotten caught somewhere?

At 15 minutes, his concern kicked up a notch when O’Donald showed up instead of his friend.

"Where’s Hudson?" John demanded.

"Dunno Winters; maybe he was reassigned," the large burly Irish man snapped at him. John glared at the answer. It sounded off to him.

"Where was he ‘reassigned’ to , O'Donald?"

"Said I dunno American. Just saw him being reassigned somewhere else."

He didn’t believe him. O'Donald wouldn’t look him in the eye and was acting cagey when he never had before. And the answer didn’t seem like a full answer. It didn’t seem likely that Hudson would be reassigned when he already had an assignment.

O’Donald remained snappy and cagey as they loaded the lifeboat. It seemed like O’Donald knew more than he was letting on.

As the night went on and the full scope of the disaster became clear, O'Donald only became more surly and didn’t want to help as many people as possible. He had never had such issues with O’Donald before.

The two of them had never been friends but had also never been this antagonistic against each other. Which only furthered his belief that O’Donald had either done something to Jesse or knew what happened to Jesse.

When they were finally rescued by the Carpathia, O’Donald made himself scarce. If O’Donald hadn’t, he would have confronted O’Donald again about what happened to Jesse Hudson. Especially since Jesse; whom was his best friend, hadn’t made it to the Carpathia when he should have.

Leaving him with the hard task of having to break the news to Jesse's siblings; Ruth and Henry, that he didn’t know what happened to Jesse. Only the assumption that Jesse somehow went down with the ship like so many others.

What was worse yet was once they arrived in New York City, he couldn’t go home to Maine or down to Georgia to break the news to the Hudson siblings in person. All surviving sailors were being held to be questioned in the inquiry being held to figure out what had gone so very wrong on a brand new state of the art ship.

Somehow when he was being questioned, the topic of Hudson not showing up to the lifeboat they had been assigned to came up.

"I don’t know what happened to Hudson, but something must have prevented him from making his post. He never had a negative strike against his record before. He always took his assignments seriously. It went completely against his character to not show up to his post. Have you questioned O’Donald? I believe that O’Donald was the last one to see Hudson alive. Because O’Donald was claiming that Hudson had been reassigned. How would he know that if he didn’t either see Hudson being reassigned or having heard it from someone? I couldn’t get a straight answer out of O’Donald one way or another about it."

John never did learn if O’Donald ever said more about the subject. His questions were certainly never answered in that regard.

When he was finally released and made it down to Georgia to face the Hudson siblings, Ruth crumbled at all that he could tell her. While Henry took it stoically, trying to remain strong for his sister. John himself couldn’t keep it together and broke down in front of the siblings.

Admitting for the first time to them and himself that he wouldn’t be going back to sea again. At least; not to sail, his days as a sailor were over.

He couldn’t handle it.

He had now not only lost his father to the sea but one of his closest friends, one whom he had hoped to have as an in-law one day.

He found himself moving from Maine to Georgia and joining Henry in his work as a farrier and blacksmith, before he married Ruth.

Over the years he never liked to speak about the sinking. The couple of times that he was convinced to give a public interview, he always stressed how out of character it was for Jesse to not show up to his post and even his own speculation that O’Donald had something to do with it.

He only told family how much he had wished that he hadn’t let Jesse go off alone. Not that it made much of a difference at this point.

Life moved on though. Through all of the regular joys and sorrows and wars that they all wished hadn’t needed to happen.

Until his dying day if he was asked about Jesse, he stuck to his story that something prevented Jesse from making it to their assigned lifeboat, and that something was likely a someone named O’Donald. Jesse wouldn’t have gotten lost, nor did he put any stock in the idea that his friend slipped through time, found another dimension, was abducted by aliens or any other outrageous idea that people might come up with or not.

The only theory that he would accept was that of O’Donald had either directly or indirectly murdered Jesse. Any other possibilities weren’t possibilities to him. Whether he was believed or not, or even if the truth might never be learned.

Chapter 2: Down to the Wreck

Summary:

An expedition down to the Titanic finds some interesting artifacts.

Notes:

For those who have read the original, this chapter incorporates some of the chapter called The Book and combines it with The Search.

Gordon Roy had jumped at the chance to work on the research vessel that would be sending down an ROV to explore more of and deeper into the Titanic wreck site.

He personally wouldn’t be directly participating with the handling any of the artifacts. Nor would he be one of the people controlling the ROV; but he would get to scour and be an extra set of eyes looking over all of the video footage for anything significant. As boring as that might be at times.

The exciting thing about this expedition; other than he was participating in it, was that they were going to try and go a little deeper into the ship itself. The goal was to see parts of the ship that hadn’t been seen since the Titanic sunk.

His own particular fascination with the sinking was all of the conspiracies around the ship. From whether the Titanic was actually the Olympic purposely sunk for insurance reasons, to the cursed mummy that was rumoured to be on board. There was little chance that he or anyone else on the expedition expected to solve any of the mysteries, rumours, or conspiracies during this trip.

Gordon did know someone who thought he might be able to though. Jonny Winters. Jonny’s one older cousin had been an old flame of his. He and Lydia had been semi-serious about each other, which was why he and Jonny knew each other at all. He liked the kid and Jonny was particularly fascinated with some of what he had been studying. Leaving both of them in contact, even if he and Lydia weren’t speaking currently. Jonny wanted him to keep an eye out for anything that could remotely be related to Jesse Hudson. Jonny's great grandfather's best mate whom hadn’t made it off the ship.

Over the years Jesse Hudson had gained an astonishing amount of conspiracies around what actually happened to the man. He personally would argue that there were more theories as to what happened to the able seaman than the claims and speculation about what actually happened to Captain Smith.

Hudson definitely had the wilder tales about what happened to him.

Seemingly, it all stemmed from Jonny's grandfather insisting that something had prevented Hudson from making the lifeboat he was supposed to help man.

Personally his favourite wild theory about what happened to Hudson, was a time travel one. Where someone from the future decided that they needed to go back in time and saved Hudson for some reason or another.

His favourite theory that made no sense was that with Hudson being as short and slight as he was, pretended to be a woman to get into a lifeboat. Though that one was too easy to poke holes in. A few questions and the theory would start to unravel.

Starting with would Hudson have even needed to pretend to be a woman to get onto a boat when he had sailing experience? The next would be if that was the case; why wouldn’t Hudson have let his family and friend know that he was safe? Why continue to say something happened, if they knew he was safe?

It didn’t make sense.

Anyways his job was not to solve the mystery of Jesse Hudson; no matter what Jonny thought. He was just to be keeping his eyes open for any interesting artifacts.

On one of his shifts they were finally deeper into the ship, in a part that hadn’t been explored before. The only things that they could see on screen were those that could be seen within the spread of the lights built into the ROVs.

The cameras and monitors were some of the best on the market; but the image quality suffered at times due to the particles and organisms that drifted into the camera's field. Worse yet was when the ROV bumped or stirred up silt or rust, which would make the image near impossible to make out.

He didn’t catch it, but as the moved down a corridor, someone caught the glint of a green glass bottle through what had once been a doorway. With the bottle being spotted there was the new goal of trying to pick it up and to bring it to the surface if it was indeed intact yet.

It was a slow process to manoeuvre the ROV in through the doorway to get into place to even begin to pick up the bottle. As the ROV was moved into place, they hit the doorway a little, creating a flurry of particles obscuring the camera view.

The ROV was stopped and all the light was focused down to where the bottle was suspected to be. It took a moment or two for the particles to settle in the water enough to see the green glass bottle that happened to be covered in a fine dusting of silt.

Once the view was clearer the questions started.

"Is there something in the bottle?" someone asked.

"Can’t tell yet, but the bottle does seem to be intact and possibly sealed. I’ll try and bring it up," the ROV operator Frank said. Frank positioned the camera and lights down now that he could see where the bottle was clearer.

Gordon thought that he saw something odd further back into the room, but didn’t get a good enough glimpse past the other debris in the way. That thought was going to have to wait to be explained until after the delicate procedure of picking up the bottle in one of the most difficult kind of claw games.

While the others in the room were encouraging Frank to gently grab the bottle, he was trying to see if he could make out anything of what had caught his attention further back in the room. Unfortunately, the angle just wouldn’t give him the clarity he needed to make out whatever it was. In his struggle to try and figure out what he was looking at, he nearly missed the success of the bottle being grabbed. Everyone let out a big cheer and focused in on trying to get a better look at the bottle now that it was picked up.

"It does look like there’s something inside."

"It’s not liquid, potentially paper…" the discussion circled around the room with wild speculations.

"Here’s an idea! Why don’t I put it in my basket to bring it up and then we don’t have to speculate about the bottle at all?" Frank asked sarcastically. A murmur of consent went around the room. Letting Frank do just as he intended to do. Frank started to back out of the room once the bottle had been secured.

"Wait! Before you leave; can you go a little bit deeper into the room?" asked Gordon.

"Why?"

"I thought I saw something odd near the back, but I couldn’t make it out when the focus was on the bottle," Gordon answered.

Frank let out a sigh. "What are we looking for?"

Heat flooded to his cheeks  as he spoke; "I don’t know, but something doesn’t look right in that back corner area. There’s a larger something that doesn’t look like furniture."

Frank moved the ROV towards the direction he had mentioned. The camera; still looking more at the floor showed two boots lying haphazardly in different directions from each other, making them look like they had been kicked around. A chill went up his spine as the others in the room let out gasps and shutters. He bet they were all feeling similar. Then, as the camera panned up into the corner, there was a greater round of shock that went around the room, leaving him chilled to the bone.

"Oh- my- word-!"

"Is - is that a person!?"

"It can’t be. It shouldn’t be possible."

"So what is that then? A statue ?"

Whatever… or whoever the answer truly was, didn’t matter currently. As far as he was concerned, they were looking at a person. Possibly a man due to the short dark hair, gently shifting in the current their ROV was making. The person’s face was concealed by looking down and buried against the knee that the person was holding against their chest. The other leg in the position as it crossed legged. What was left of the clothing was the remnants of a white shirt of some kind and the remnants of dark coloured pants. There appeared to possibly be something in the one hand, but it was hard to tell at this time. If the boots hadn’t sent a chill up someone’s spine, this most certainly would. It was the eeriest thing that he had ever seen.

"What do we do?" He asked softly.

"It’s impossible to know what that actually is…"

"Nothing. At this time, we do nothing because there isn’t anything that we can do. We don’t have the equipment this time, to try and bring up something that large currently. All we can do is mark the spot so that we know where to come back to, and come up for now," Frank said.

Consent went around the room.

"We’re still here for a week or so and we can always rewatch the footage…" someone mentioned. The decision was made and Frank started manoeuvring the ROV to come back up. None of them bothered to look for interesting artifacts as the ROV made its way back. All of them dwelling on the figure left behind in that room. Maybe; just maybe, with that bottle being found in that same room, it might tell them a little something about the figure in that room.

Chapter 3: The Letter in the Bottle

Summary:

The bottle found in the Titanic has been raised and it’s contents are revealed.

All of those who had been in the control room when the bottle had been found, had gone onto the deck to retrieve the glass bottle. Anxious to see if there was truly something inside the artifact. If there was, what might that reveal? Would it explain anything about the figure in the room?

There was a great debate over whether or not the bottle should be opened without one of the conservationists around; but most were more interested in learning what was in the bottle without waiting. With that in mind, everyone had washed and dried their hands extremely well in preparation to handle the artifact. Even though what they were about to do could potentially be considered mishandling.

One of the women on the team took the lead and was able to carefully open the bottle.

There were papers in the bottle that were delicately removed. The first paper that made its way around the group didn’t have anything written on in. Instead, at about the centre of the page was a rubbing of the name Henry Hudson.

Alarm bells started ringing in his brain. Almost immediately he started thinking back to what Jonny Winters had asked him about keeping his eyes open for any clues that there might be about his great grandfather's friend, Jesse Hudson.

He didn’t know if anyone else in this group was as familiar with the mystery of what might have happened to Jesse Hudson as he was, but seeing that last name of Hudson was putting him on edge.

Slowly the other paper went around the group. Leaving each person with a look of shocked confusion to some degree.

He wasn’t the last one to read the letter as it turned out to be. None of them said anything until they had all finished reading the letter and it was placed back inside the bottle for the time being.

 

Dear Ruth,

My death is imminent. I don’t know when my death will come, other than it will come before the end of the night.

As I gather my last words here, I pray that my death is not drawn out. Though it most certainly will be unpleasant as I go. I shall drown by the way of having been locked in the bowels of the Titanic as she sinks.

I suspect that this being my last letter will never make it to yours or Henry’s eyes. Instead these words will remain as lost to the world as I. I do wish that this letter could manage to find you. So that you might learn of what happened to me. So that you’re not left wondering where I am. Please understand that I have not willingly left my assigned post of manning a lifeboat with John.

This shall surely leave a mark on my record, though I shall be dead.

How I came to be stuck in this room; is by a fellow sailor, one that John will be faced with. He was determined to save his own skin by any means necessary. Which was in my place.

O'Donald used his size and strength against me. He grabbed me from behind and threw me into this room. It seems to be a supply closet of sorts. One I cannot get out of.

I’ve tried Ruth, I have. I’ve tried so many ways to try and get out. I’ve yelled myself hoarse trying to get anyone’s attention. I’ve tried to unlock the door handle, but there’s nothing to unlock it with in here. I’ve even tried ramming the door to no avail.

This room's my coffin and O'Donald my murderer.

John will be wondering why O’Donald showed up in my place. Whatever O’Donald tries to tell him will likely leave him suspicious. I pray that John doesn’t abandon his post to search for me.

If I cannot make it home then at least he should try and make it home. I know how much that you’ve begun to care for him. You shouldn’t have to lose both of us. If he makes it home, then he can share what he thinks happened.

Be gentle with him Ruth. He’s going to be as upset as you and Henry will be. He’ll probably blame himself, although it’s not his fault. I’m the one who decided that I needed to run back to the berth alone to get the rubbing of daddy’s name I made.

Now you and Henry won’t get to see it anyway.

I am glad that Henry has Joan to lean on. You and Henry will need her and John to lean on in the tough times to come. Our family of once five and then three, will now be two.

Water has been filling the room as I’ve been writing this. It’s bitterly cold and well above my ankles and rising quickly.

I wish the cold would take me before I drown. I’m scared Ruth. I don’t fear being called home to the Lord and being reunited with momma and daddy, but I am not looking forward to the process of getting there.

This is one time that I would prefer the cold. I love you and Henry so much. I can’t imagine how hard it will be for you to not have the answers you’ll want.

I love you.

My remaining time will be spent in prayer until my time comes. Pray for those of us who will lose our lives and the survivors.

Farewell Ruth, I love you. We will see each other in the new world.

Always your loving sister,

Jessica Hudson, AB.

 

He was going to need to get in touch with Jonny or his family to see if they could or would answer some questions. Even after they had all read the letter it took awhile for anyone to say anything about what they had just read.

"Do you think that it could be true? Could that figure possibly; however unlikely, be her?" one of the younger women in the group asked.

"We need to check the passenger and crew lists; compare the names and see if anyone matches up," one of the seniors of their group said.

"I don’t know if the passenger lists will help much, but one of the able seamen was a Jesse Hudson…. A Jesse Hudson whom has a variety of different conspiracies floating around him. Mostly because his friend John Winters swore that something had to have happened to Jesse. He happened to claim that a fellow sailor named O’Donald knew more than he was letting on about it and suspected O’Donald had something to do with it. I don’t know about you guys; but to me, that does seem to line  up with what we just read," Gordon said.

There were some sounds of agreement going around the group.

"How do you know all of that Gordon?"

"I was dating a Lydia in college for a bit, who just so happened to be a great granddaughter of John Winters. I’m still in contact with her younger cousin," he said

"We should do a little bit more research before trying to reach out to the family. We don’t want to give them a false hope about all of this."

Reluctantly he agreed. He thought there were too many coincidences for the truth to not be in reach.

He held off getting in contact with Jonny as requested. Letting the researchers do their jobs as they tried to find reference to every name that was mentioned in the letter. From the Joan, Ruth and Henry to John and O'Donald.

As the research was being done, all the names were seeming to line up with what he had said and suspected.

Over the next few days they went back down to study the figure.

The only real possibility seemed to be that the figure was the Jessica Hudson from the letter.

Everyone was still completely baffled as to how her body had not decomposed or apparently having not been eaten by the organisms in the depths of the ocean there. Never had they previously come across any remains. Let alone ones as magnificently preserved as hers appeared to be.

Then the debate started on whether it would be ethical to try and bring her up or not. The debate having started before her family even knew anything about her letter being found.

It was decided that it would be best to wait until they returned to land before they were to try and contact the family.

It was left to him to get in contact with Lydia or Jonny. It ended up being Jonny who ended up passing them onto one of his great aunts.

"We believe we found a letter from your relative who was lost on the Titanic. The only thing is… it’s- it’s that the letter was signed off by a Jessica Hudson. Not a Jesse Hudson," he stammered out slightly.

"No… Jessica Hudson would be correct. More so than Jesse. The only Jesse Hudson in the family was never a sailor, but a race car driver in his younger years. He’s retired now. Unfortunately, Aunt Jessica had to go by Jesse to sail back in those days. At least to be a true sailor and not a stewardess," said Jonny's great aunt.

"Why had no one say differently after the sinking?" Gordon asked.

"It wouldn’t have done any good at the time. Everyone who knew she sailed at the time, knew her as Jesse. It just would have caused more of a scandal and caused more conspiracies about her to pop up. But tell me more about this letter that you say was found," her voice increasing in curiosity.

"It’s a bit of a goodbye message in a bottle," Gordon told her.

"Can I see it? Will my family be allowed to see it? We’ve all desperately wanted to know what happened to Aunt Jessica, all of our lives," she asked.

"Yes, we should be able to figure something out."

What was figured out, ended up being a special interview/documentary where the Hudson/Winters family would be presented with Jessica's letter, the bottle and the rubbing.

All three of which would be the originals.

Which had been thoroughly studied, documented and copied before the family could be given those items.

The plan was to tell the family about who they presumed to be their aunt being found in the bowels of the Titanic and ask them what they would like to see happen with her. He was being given the honour to tell them about their speculations about him having found her down there. Though that was still months away as the documentary wouldn’t be ready to be filmed until then.

Notes:

This chapter is essentially taking the middle of the original chapter (The Search) and stretching it out, so that the end of the chapter can become its own thing, a separate chapter from the rest of this.

Chapter 4: The Family Interview

Summary:

Jessica's family receives her letter and reads it for the first time while being filmed.

The months until the day to film Jessica’s family passed quicker than he would have liked.

He was told to arrive at the Hudson’s original homestead fairly early. He ended up being there early enough that the film crew was still setting up the living room; while more than just the elder Hudson/Winters family members were milling around outside on the back porch and garden area. Jesse Hudson (the racer) was inside watching as the film crew rearranged his living room so that they could film in it.

The youngest family members were running around the yard under grandparents and parents' careful watch. Both parents and grandparents promising that the kids would be removed from the location before filming started.

Jonny was one of the kids running around. Though as soon as Jonny spotted him, he was stuck to his side.

"You found out what happened to Auntie!" Jonny exclaimed excitedly.

"Not me particularly, I was just there when we found the letter," Gordon said.

"Still, you were there. What was it like?" Jonny asked.

"Mostly boring."

"It couldn’t have been too boring. You found the letter!"

"That was about the only part that was interesting buddy. There were long periods of time where we didn’t see anything interesting."

"I want to do that though. Find ships and figure out answers for them. I’m learning everything I can about doing such."

"That’s what you need to continue to do then, if that’s your goal," he ruffled the kid's hair.

"Jonny! Come on, it’s time to go. They’re almost ready to film," Jonny's mother called for him. Jonny scampered away after saying goodbye.

He made his way back towards the house. He wasn’t quite sure where they were going to want him. His part wasn’t really supposed to happen until after all the filming was done.

"Good, you’re here. We’re going to get you to present the artifacts when the time comes," said the director.

"Me?" Gordon asked incredulous.

"It’s because you know the family a little," the director said.

"Okay…" he said hesitantly.

"Don’t worry about when. You’ll be told. The artifacts are currently on a tray on the kitchen table. None of the family has seen any of it yet. They won’t until you bring them out."

He nodded to show that he understood. He was shown off to the side where spouses and other crew were as Jessica’s nieces and nephews were seated in the living room; in front of the fireplace with three arm chairs and a love-seat. The five people sat from oldest to youngest. The interviewer, a young man named Davey sat off screen on one of the basic wooden chairs from the kitchen.

"Before we start, I want to not only thank you for not only welcoming us into your family home to film; but for allowing us to film at all," Davey said.

"Oh, I don’t want to speak for my siblings and cousins, but I don’t think that I would be out of line to say that we’re just glad that Aunt Jess' story finally gets to be told properly," one of the nieces said as nods went around in agreement.

"That’s good to hear. Now to give a bit of a rundown of what to expect over the course of filming. We’re going to start with introductions and then telling your aunt's story before we bring out the letter and such by Mr. Roy here," the director nodded to Gordon.

"We might get a few different takes for the introductions and story; but we want to keep your reactions to the letter as natural as possible, with as few takes as possible. Preferably one if we can. With that, I think we can begin," the director said.

With that the clapper was brought out and the interview began. With a couple of takes each, Jessica's nieces and nephews introduced themselves. Rebecca the oldest, born to Jessica's brother Henry, then her younger brother Daniel. Then there were the twins Penelope and Josephine and their younger brother Gabriel whose parents were Jessica's twin Ruth and John Winters. After the introductions they moved into the true story of Jessica Hudson.

"It’s been well documented that John Winters was always sure that something had prevented his friend; Jesse Hudson, from manning the lifeboat with him. Recently there has now been new evidence found that proves this to be true; but it also reveals something that your family has kept quiet over the years. This letter that has been found; that none of you have read yet, is signed off as Jessica Hudson, instead of Jesse. What kept your family from coming forward to say that your uncle was actually your aunt?" asked Davey.

"It wasn’t like today, where anyone can sail. To fully understand the why, you must look at the era Aunt Jess was wanting to sail in," Daniel said.

"Women were just gaining the right to vote. It would have been frowned upon and much harder for Aunt Jess to sail as a woman, than for her to dress as a boy and sail. I believe that dad said that Aunt Jess had taken inspiration from female pirates, and used them as an example that her idea would work. As to why we continued to keep it quiet, it was to keep her respect. Had it come out in the years shortly after the accident, any credibility she had left would have been gone," Rebecca said.

"Besides that, it would have brought more attention to mom, dad and the family that wasn’t wanted. They wanted to keep their grief personal. The only reason that dad would speak when he was asked to on occasion, was to stress that Aunt Jess wouldn’t willingly abandon her station or have gotten lost on the ship. He couldn’t stand her name being slandered; even if it meant hiding her true identity," Gabe added.

"Daddy and momma always struggled so much with Aunt Jess' death. I know that Uncle Henry and Aunt Joan did as well, but it was different. Momma was Aunt Jess' twin and daddy had survivor's guilt," said Josie.

"He always felt that he should have gone back to the berth with her to get the rubbing of grandfather’s name," Penny chimed in.

"My birth had been extremely bittersweet to the family. My parents realized that they were expecting me only a month or two after the loss of Aunt Jess. To say there were overwhelming emotions for them, would have been an understatement," Rebecca said.

The filming of the speaking about the fallout went on and on. Sometimes asking for certain points to be phrased differently for clarity.

Then, it was time for him to bring in the tray of artifacts.

"A few months ago; on an expedition down to the Titanic's wreck site, there were some artifacts that were found and brought up from the wreck, ones that are personal to your family. And now for the first time you’re getting to see the message in the bottle that your aunt left for your parents," stated Davey.

The five elders nodded in agreement.

He was motioned to bring forward the tray with the artifacts laid out on it. There was no need to worry about close up shots of the artifacts because they had already been filmed. He brought the artifacts forward and placed them on the little table in front of the family members. All of the nieces let out a gasp at seeing the artifacts as they teared up a little before pulling themselves together. The two men kept themselves together, remaining solemn and stoic.

Filming stopped after a couple of minutes of catching their reactions. Giving the five a moment to collect themselves and get a little closer to the artifacts, chronicling their aunt’s last moments. The spouses of the five were allowed to come forward and give comfort as well as getting a better glimpse of the artifacts themselves.

It also gave the film crew time to reset anything that they might need, like bringing out the duplicated letter. The duplicated letter would be the one read from, in an effort to protect the original, which would be sent out after filming with the rubbing to be properly framed.

Once the film crew was ready to go again, the spouses were shuffled back off to the side. And it was asked who was going to read, so they knew who to give the letter to.

"We discussed this before filming started and agreed that as the oldest, Rebecca was going to try and make it through the reading," Gabe said.

"How I wish Mommy and daddy could be here to see this," Josie sighed longingly. Others nodding in agreement to the sentiment.

Rebecca was handed the letter and was told that since it was a duplicate, she didn’t have to worry about damaging it. The original was remaining on the tray with the other artifacts off to the side. She nodded in understanding as she held it on her lap.

The filming area was cleared and the countdown began to start.

Rebecca picked up the letter from her lap; shaking slightly, cleared her throat and began.

"It starts; Dear Ruth, My death is imminent, " Rebecca let out a shaky breath, followed by a slight laugh. "That’s certainly one way to start a letter."

"It does get straight to the point. It feels like something dad would say is just like her," Gabriel said, getting some nods.

Rebecca took a deep breath before continuing on.

" I don’t know when my death will come, other than it will come before the end of the night. As I gather my last words here, I pray that my death is not drawn out. Though it most certainly will be unpleasant as I go. I shall drown by the way of having been locked in the bowels of the Titanic as she sinks. " Rebecca closed her eyes for just a moment to recentre herself. " I suspect that this being my last letter will never make it to yours or Henry’s eyes. Instead these words will remain as lost to the world as I. "

"They’re not as lost as Aunt Jess suspected…" Penny said.

"She wasn’t wrong about Momma and Uncle Henry not seeing them," Josie said. Penny agreed.

"Let me continue…. I do wish that this letter could manage to find you. So that you might learn of what happened to me. So that you’re not left wondering where I am. Please understand that I have not willingly left my assigned post of manning a lifeboat with John. This shall surely leave a mark on my record, though I shall be dead. "

"She was right— about the mark on her record. Uncle John loathed that nothing he could say to those in charge would clear her record at the time. He knew she wouldn’t willingly leave her post and her record had been flawless before. With this; do you think we could get this blemish removed?" Daniel asked.

"I certainly hope so," Gabe agreed.

Rebecca's lower lip started to tremble as she started again. " How I came to be stuck in this room; is by a fellow sailor, that John will be faced with. He was determined to save his own skin by any means necessary. Which was in my place. O'Donald used his size and strength against me. He grabbed me from behind and threw me into this room. — Oh , this is getting hard to read…"

"Do you want to take a break? One of us can read for a bit," Josie asked.

Rebecca shook her head. "No, I’m still fine to read. Thank you for the offer though. I’ll keep it in mind if it does get to be too much Josie," Rebecca cleared her throat before returning to the letter.
" It seems to be a supply closet of sorts. One I cannot get out of. " Rebecca stopped for a moment, closing her eyes again as she took a deep breath and releasing it, clearly bracing herself for what she would be reading next. " I’ve tried Ruth, I have. I’ve tried so many ways to try and get out. I’ve yelled myself hoarse trying to get anyone’s attention. I’ve tried to unlock the door handle, but there’s nothing to unlock it with in here. I’ve even tried ramming the door to no avail. This room's my coffin and O'Donald my murderer …" Rebecca trailed off, putting down the letter as the tears she had been holding back released.

The director cut filming for a moment as the only sound in the room was various sniffles as people were drying their eyes. Rebecca’s husband went up and hugged her as she dried her eyes with a hanky.

It had been one thing to read the letter when it was first brought up, but was completely different to hear it being read out loud by one of Jessica’s family members.

Once everyone was in more control of themselves again, they started filming again. Getting Rebecca to start with the last sentence she had read again. Silence fell over the room again.

"Daddy was right… O'Donald did have something to do with it… he is the reason," Penny said.

"Just as always suspected… Uncle John is vindicated now," Daniel said.

"Are we ready to continue?" asked Rebecca. Nods went around the room as Josie asked "are you?" Rebecca nodded in return and focused on the letter again.

" John will be wondering why O’Donald showed up in my place. Whatever O’Donald tries to tell him will likely leave him suspicious. I pray that John doesn’t abandon his post to search for me. If I cannot make it home then at least he should try and make it home. I know how much that you’ve begun to care for him. You shouldn’t have to lose both of us. If he makes it home, then he can share what he thinks happened. " Rebecca didn’t stop reading but Penny and Josie reached across to grab each other’s hands.

" Be gentle with him Ruth. He’s going to be as upset as you and Henry will be. He’ll probably blame himself, although it’s not his fault. I’m the one who decided that I needed to run back to the berth alone to get the rubbing of daddy’s name I made. Now you and Henry won’t get to see it anyway. I am glad that Henry has Joan to lean on. You and Henry will need her and John to lean on in the tough times to come. Our family of once five and then three, will now be two ." Rebecca stopped again. "We’re almost to the end; but can I get a glass of water?" She asked.

"Of course." Filming stopped and one of the crew scampered off to the kitchen to do so.

"Do you want someone else to finish?" asked Gabe.

"No, I just need a drink and I’ll be fine," Rebecca answered, shaking her head.

Her water was brought and she took her time sipping it before being ready again. Filming began and Rebecca read the last line before picking up where she left off.

" Water has been filling the room as I’ve been writing this. It’s bitterly cold and well above my ankles and rising quickly. I wish the cold would take me before I drown. I’m scared Ruth. I don’t fear being called home to the Lord and being reunited with momma and daddy, but I am not looking forward to the process of getting there. This is one time that I would prefer the cold. I love you and Henry so much. I can’t imagine how hard it will be for you to not have the answers you’ll want. I love you. My remaining time will be spent in prayer until my time comes. Pray for those of us who will lose our lives and the survivors. Farewell Ruth, I love you. We will see each other in the new world. Always your loving sister, Jessica Hudson, AB. "

The room was silent again, until the tears broke free.

"Oh poor Aunt Jess…"

"We never knew… how could we not know!"

"What a terrible way to go…"

"How traumatizing that must have been."

"I want to kill him. How could a man live with himself after doing that to her?" Daniel asked.

"He had no right… If I had known during the war…" grumbled Gabe.

Their reactions were filmed a little bit longer before a few more questions had been asked and filmed as well as anything that was to be refilmed. Until finally the film crew was finished and packed up.

The nieces, nephews and their spouses left the living room and congregated in the kitchen, helping themselves to the food and drink in the fridge. Once they had all settled he braced himself for what he had to tell them. He had still shots to prove what he was saying.

"Before the rest of us leave; there is one last thing that we have to discuss with you," he said.

"We’re not being allowed to keep Aunt Jess' letter…"Josie said dejectedly.

"No! I mean the letter, bottle and rubbing will be remaining with you, after they’re properly framed. It’s something beyond that. When we came across the bottle- we came across something else in the same area," he said, laying down the picture of Jessica curled up in the wreck. "We found her still down there, in the wreck."

"What does this mean?"

"We don’t know. It shouldn’t be possible. There’s never been any other find like this. We aren’t fully certain that it is her; but, it seems most likely. There have been debates on whether it would be more ethical to leave her down there or if she should be brought up to be buried by family. The higher ups decided that the choice should be given to the family. So, the choice is yours. Do you want some time to discuss?"

They looked around at each other, he couldn’t read their expressions.

"No, I don’t think we need to discuss anything. I believe it’s time for Aunt Jess to come home," Daniel said. Murmurs of agreement went around the kitchen. He gave a nod.

"It might take a few years to get the appropriate funding and plans ready, but I will inform my higher ups of what you want."

"We don’t care how long it will take, as long as Aunt Jess makes it back to us. A few more years after she’s been missing so long won’t hurt."

Chapter 5: Finding the Funding

Summary:

People work to get Jessica brought up.

It wasn’t really surprising how well the documentary did once it aired.

It had been released at the right time. Being able to ride the wave of interest created by James Cameron’s blockbuster success. Add in the shock value of Jessica's letter that confirmed a conspiracy theory about what happened to Jesse Hudson (being that Jesse was Jessica) and was murdered. It cemented the letter; now known as, Jessica Hudson's Death Letter, into the public psyche and pop culture.

The amount of books and discussion that spun off from the release of Jessica's letter, was huge. Novels were being written by people who became enthralled with the idea of a woman secretly being a sailor, like a more modern day female pirate; without the pirating. Nonfiction writers were rushing to update their latest understanding of what the sinking was like with the new information provided by the letter.

More interest was generated about John Winters and Ryan O’Donald.

People wanted to look back at Winters and O’Donald’s statements given in the American inquiry. Where O’Donald had little to say on the matter and refused to speak about the Titanic in his later years, being more open to speak about WWI and his experiences during The Troubles, having remained with his family in Ireland for the remainder of his life. While Winters always spoke of something having to have happened to his friend and in-law.

All the interest gained from the documentary and subsequent books, discussions and general interest, made it a little easier in trying to find funding and resources for further research.

All sorts had been drawn into offering support. Many times in the beginning that support ended up falling through for one reason or another.

He was personally asked to remain with the project to be a liaison for the family, since he did know the family personally and had honestly reconnected with Lydia before and after the filming of the documentary.

He did agree to remain with the project. It wasn’t like he was being asked to devote all of his time to this project but was kept up to date on everything. So that the Hudson/Winters family could know what was happening.

It was an interesting part to play. He often got tours of the technology that they were putting together to try and get Jessica’s body up to the surface safely.

He; along with a film crew, were invited to go on any trip where they were going to try and retrieve Jessica; or as her family so often called her, Jess. Which he found himself copying more and more.

Many times in those early expeditions there were mechanical failures or bad weather that either sent them home early or stopped them before they even left the dock. As the years passed and the technology changed, he got married to Lydia, now making him a member of the Hudson/Winters extended family (much to Jonny’s delight).

He watched as Daniel had passed only a couple of years after the documentary was released. Followed up Rebecca and her husband in the next couple of years, before they saw any real progress being made besides the failures that had happened.

Daniel’s wife passed a couple of years after Rebecca's husband, leaving him hoping that they would manage to bring Jess up before her last nephew and nieces passed. That hopefully Penny, Josie, and Gabe would live long enough to see their Aunt get her proper burial.

As he started to fear that the project to bring Jess up was going to fail, they got a new set of donors helping with not just financial aid but also facilities and other experimental technology and equipment.

Margaret and George Piston picking up the tab was a great boon for them. With their resources and research facilities (of which one included research into time travel) the expeditions to retrieve Jess started to look like they might actually become successful. If figuring out if time travel was a possibility, then surely bringing a body up from great depths should be easy in comparison.

There was a lot of research and work done on land before sea tests were conducted. Once the tests were completed and showed that they had a piece of equipment that seemed like it should do the trick, a new expedition date was set. The weather forecast seemed to be favourable and a new film crew for an updated documentary would be coming along.

George and Margaret Piston didn’t join them on the expedition, but would be given updates as the expedition went on.

Both he and Jonny would be part of the expedition. He had his communications position to relay updates to the family and Jonny was going to be one of the sailors.

Jonny was no longer the young kid from when he first met him. He was a young man growing into his own and well on his way to becoming the maritime archaeologist that he wanted to be.

The trip was a hectic few days. The sole mission was to bring Jessica up. The weather stayed clear and there were thankfully no mechanical failures.

He was in the room as they once again found where Jessica lay in the depths of the ship. It was still as haunting of an image to see her there curled up amongst the debris, as it was when he first saw her there.

He watched as they oh so carefully picked her up and positioned her to bring her up. He couldn’t watch as they manoeuvred her out of the ship for the first time in over 90 years.

It was a cautious procedure to remove Jessica from the ship without damaging her body. Their hope was to keep her in as pristine condition as possible. Which lead to it being hours to remove her from the ship. Then it would take them even longer to bring Jessica back up from the great depths. She was going to be treated like a diver ascending, hoping that she would survive the trip to the surface intact and not simply implode from the pressure.

This was all uncharted territory. No one had done anything remotely similar before.

In all it took them more than a day for Jessica to be brought up to the surface.

As soon as she was on ship, she was transferred into the specialized freezer that had been made at the Pistons' research facility so that she could safely be transported to where she would be defrosted so an autopsy could be performed, to try and understand how she was so well preserved and more about how she had died.

While still on ship, Jonny had been given permission to enter the freezer (with supervision) to have a moment with his great aunt.

While he wasn’t someone who could supervise, he too was given permission to see Jessica.

It was remarkable to see her up close and in person, not through a screen and underwater like he previously had seen her. She didn’t look like the other ice mummies that he had seen. She honestly looked like she could just be asleep in her awkward curled up position.

If she wasn’t firmly frozen and blue tinged, he would have sworn that she was alive and could be woken up. He shook himself from those thoughts. That would be for those conducting the autopsy to determine the why and how of it all, if they could.

He needed to let the rest of the family know and that Jess was starting her journey home towards them.

After so many years, this project was nearly at its end.

Once Jessica’s autopsy was completed and she was given back to the family to be buried, his job for this would be done. The Hudson/Winters family would finally have their closure and their aunt back.

Notes:

This is one of those mostly new chapters that didn’t have an equivalent separate chapter previously.

Chapter 6: The Autopsy

Summary:

Dr. Westerly starts preparing Jessica to get her ready for an autopsy.

Dr. Westerly had been expecting Jessica Hudson’s body when it arrived. The expedition had been long planned and she had been introduced to Gordon Roy whom had become the contact for Jessica’s family. In part due to having been the one to notice Jessica's body in the first place, let alone his ties to the family.

Unfortunately; due to unforeseen circumstances, Jessica’s autopsy had to be put on hold. She had personal matters that had come up that needed to be resolved before she could supervise the thawing of Jessica. By the time she could begin the careful process, Jessica had been in their freezer for weeks.

The start of her part of the project was almost delayed again. This time by the fact that Gordon Roy (whom happened to be younger than her) was away on a vacation with his wife and kids. So any updates for the family were put on hold until Gordon returned. But thankfully; before Mr. Roy had left, she had been given permission to begin.

To help her with the entire process, she had two young (and fairly eager) assistants in Miss Jill Russet and Mr. Perry Thompson. Jill was her day assistant while young Mr. Thompson would be her night assistant. Jill and she would be working closer together than she would be with Mr. Thompson.

Jessica was an interesting subject, since her letter told vaguely of what happened to her in her own words. Knowing such didn’t change what the procedures would be. Jessica would still need to be treated as any other subject with a suspicious death, especially since Jessica's case was an indirect murder case.

Had they not found Jessica’s letter, their findings could potentially be presumed to only be due to the sinking and not due to foul play.

First, before they even started to thaw Jessica, they needed to remove any and all remains of her clothing, so that they could begin taking pictures of any visible injuries.

Taking photos before Jessica thawed, would also keep record of any changes that might happen as the thawing process took place. With how fleshy Jessica seemed to be yet, the thawing could loose or change the story her skin told.

Everything had to be documented on Jessica.

From the smallest scratches and bruises and any signs of frostbite, to the largest most obvious injuries. They made sure to take extra care in taking pictures of the bruising on her neck and sides. The front of her would have to wait until she was unfrozen enough to try and lay her flatter.

She wanted to try and avoid breaking bones if she didn’t have to.

It would only be after Jessica was finished being thawed and could be lain flat and after they finished documenting Jessica's injuries, that she would be able to determine what the cause of death was. Whether it was hypothermic shock that managed to take the poor girl, or if she did indeed drown like she feared in the letter.

She prayed for the young woman's sake, that it had been the shock of the cold that took her. Or that at very least that Jessica had been unconscious before drowning.

The entire process of Jessica’s thawing needed to be done under careful watch. Jessica was an extremely unprecedented case. Never before had she dealt with a body which they all knew to be nearly 100 years old; from a watery grave, but didn’t look it.

Jessica was not like one of the known frozen corpses like the ancient Alps iceman Otzi, skin shrunken over his bones, well preserved but clearly a mummy. Nor was she like an Egyptian mummy, skin dark and preserved with care. Jessica was too fleshy to compare to either of those.

Neither was she bloated or waterlogged like a body would typically be after being pulled out of a lake, river, or ocean. There didn’t even appear to be any predation from fish or other sea creatures.

The best comparison was truly to say that she looked like she had been found by the side of the road less than a day after perishing. Though had that been the case, she would have been treated much differently.

It was in fact eerie and more than a touch unnatural for how life like she looked yet. It simply shouldn’t be possible— and yet… the proof was right in front of her. Maybe, once Jessica was unfrozen and the proper autopsy could begin, she’d find something that might explain it. That was still at least a week away though, they were just at the beginning of the defrosting process, one which needed to be done slowly to not speed up the decay process too fast so that they would loose valuable information.

As it was, she and Jill were just beginning to make their initial observations and photographs of Jessica while she was still curled up on herself as she would be until she was a bit more defrosted. Dr. Westerly and Jill had been working in silence, with only the sounds of notes being jotted down and the occasional camera shutter going off, one on each side of Jessica, when Jill broke the peace.

"Hey Doc?"

"Mmhm?"

"Does she count as not being dead yet? Or maybe only sorta dead or mostly dead?"

She stopped what she was doing, brow furrowed as she stared silently at Jill for a moment as Jill continued to work.

"What do you mean?" she asked as Jill straightened up from her task and looked over. Jill's brown eyes glinting slightly mischievously. Jill removed her gloves, and pulled the hair in her ponytail to keep the curls from her face tighter again. Jill shrugged and pulled on a fresh pair of gloves.

"You know— it’s— how a person with severe hypothermia isn’t declared dead until they’re warm and dead? She doesn’t exactly look like your typical ice corpse; does she? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that she’s just someone who was found with an extremely severe case of hypothermia, whom would try to be saved, whether she actually lived beyond that or not."

She pursed her lips and shook her head before answering. "No. It would be highly unlikely…"

"As unlikely as us finding her in the wreck like she was?" Jill asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"You can keep an eye open for life signs; should you so desire, but don’t get your hopes up. The poor woman has been frozen for nearly 100 years. It shouldn’t be possible. Even if she could be made to breathe and get her heart pumping, there would be no way to get her brain to function. Not counting the fact that she will take at least a week for her to thaw in the first place."

"I know… I only brought it up because I’ve never seen a dead person look so alive…"

Internally she agreed, but it wouldn’t do Jill any good to know that.

"It would be a miracle for that to be true. A complete and utterly inconceivable miracle…" she trailed off. She shook her head to clear her thoughts back to the task at hand.

What was best was to just let the girl defrost so that she could be given back to her family, so that they could finally give her a proper burial. Their job description didn’t include creating miracles.

The week of thawing went about how she would have expected it to for the most part. It was surprising how little decay Jessica showed signs of; considering the only thing preserving her was the fact that she was frozen. What decay there was, seemed to be more from the remnants of her clothing, which seemed to disintegrate upon touch.

Jessica herself didn’t even seem to have the smell of death lingering around her. All of this was noted down in their observations.

It took nearly to the end of the week until Jessica was unfrozen enough to lay her flat and be able to remove what ended up being a pocket watch clutched in her hand. They carefully removed and cleaned the remnants of her clothing off of her.

Now they could fully document the full extent of her injuries. Beyond the obvious bruising on the back of her neck from where she had been grabbed; there was bruising from where she tried ramming the door to try and escape. Those bruises ran down her right shoulder, her elbow, hip and thigh. She must have tried several times with how deep they seemed to be.

There was also another set of hand prints on her back. Most likely from O’Donald pushing Jessica into the room. How much force had he used on her? She also had a deep bruise on the outward side of her left thigh, perhaps from something that she potentially rammed into when thrown into the room.

Jessica’s hands were a story all of their own with their various cuts, bruises and ripped nails. Some cuts had splinters in them, possibly from banging on the door and others being defensive wounds. Even her knees were bruised.

It certainly seemed like she under played what she mentioned in her letter. Though there probably wasn’t time to explain deeply no want her family to know the full depth. The ship sinking was also probably a much greater concern for her.

Once her current documentation was done, she retired to her office to let Jill finish her own observations and to start compiling her own documentation into a report. She suspected that in another day or two that she could begin the proper autopsy. For now, they would continue as they were.

She quickly became absorbed in translating the raw data that had been gathered that could be given to both Mr. Roy for Jessica’s family and for the Pistons to look at.

She had been working for at least an hour when she was startled from her work with Jill bursting into her office. The door banging open harshly as Jill; looking pale, was rushing over her words.

"Doc, Dr. Westerly, Doc— you Need tocomenow! I don’t know if I’m actually seeing this  or if it’s all in my head. You just need to come and see this n ow !"

"Jill, calm down, what’s this all about?"

"Doc our subj- it’s Jessica Doc. You just need to come ."

Once she got out from behind her desk, Jill essentially pulled her down the hall, back to the room Jessica was lying, defrosting.

"Look at her! Watch her! She’s trying to breathe …"

Dr. Westerly froze in place, staring at the young woman on her slab that she had been intending to do the autopsy on. The subject- Miss Hudson- did indeed appear to be trying to breathe.

"I haven’t been able to feel a heartbeat…. What do I do?" Jill asked.

She had never seen Jill with such a tremble to her hands, nor her eyes so wide and pleading about what needed to be done. It was enough to snap her from her place.

"Since she is trying to breathe, she has to have a heartbeat. It’s just likely to be too faint to feel at this point." She took Jill gently by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You need to go and get the medical team. Tell them that we have a severely hypothermic patient who is in dire need of medical attention. They’ll know what to do. Don’t forget to mention that she’s struggling to breathe. I’ll stay with her. Now go!"

Jill ran out of the room. For all that Jill had spoken about whether Jessica could be properly classified as dead, not mostly dead or whatever nonsense, to actually see such was a different experience.

A completely, utterly, unprecedented possibility. Something that shouldn’t be possible and yet, it was. And she was seeing it with her own eyes. A miracle that Jessica, a young woman frozen nearly 100 years was trying to breathe; with difficulty.

She needed to get a better look to see if there was anything blocking Jessica’s airway. As much as she was struggling to take even the shallowest of breaths, it did not appear like she was fighting against any water. Something greatly in her favour.

The cold must have stopped her breathing before water could enter her lungs.

As she covered the girl up a bit more, she turned her on her side, just in case she was wrong about whether there was water in her lungs or not. The sheet she had covered Jessica with would do little to help warm her, as it had always been more for her dignity.

It was the best she could do before the medical team could come.

It didn’t take long for the medical team to arrive. Maybe 10 minutes. There were five of them who quickly got her out of the way to start working on Jessica.

Jill came and stood beside her as they watched the flurry of activity around Jessica. Before the medical team had done much, they had moved Jessica onto the gurney they had brought, done their own testing of Jessica’s vital signs and confirmed that Jessica did have a heartbeat.

They intubated her and started an IV, of what she assumed was warm saline, and put hot water bottles in her armpits and groin area before wheeling her away to the medical area of the facility.

Both herself and Jill remained frozen in place for a couple of minutes after the medical team left. How much had just changed in a matter of minutes?

Less than an hour ago she had been expecting to do Jessica’s autopsy in a day or two. This girl was giving them surprise after surprise in what should be impossible ways.

Jill broke the silence first. "What now? There won’t be an autopsy."

What now indeed, since their job was cut short. She swallowed hard, licked her lips before clearing her throat and answered slowly.

"Now we wait. We still might end up needing to perform an autopsy. Until we know one way or another, we have what findings we do have to compile into reports. They’re still as important if not more now." They both fell back into a silence again as neither of them moved. Both of them lost in their thoughts.

"Her family is going to need to be contacted about this, aren’t they?" Jill asked.

She nodded slowly.

"Yes, Mr. Roy will have to be informed when he’s back to explain this development to them." That was his job though, not theirs.

Their's was to take the plethora of data they did have and turn it into reports. There was a certain amount of data that she wanted to study again, with this most recent turn of events.

Notes:

This chapter has been updated from the original but follows along the same lines (and still might be my favourite chapter of the whole story).

Chapter 7: Telling the Family

Summary:

Jessica’s family is updated with her new status.

When Gordon came back from his holiday, he did not expect the bombshell that he was given. How could anyone expect this piece of news?

He had seen Jessica Hudson frozen as she was brought out of the ocean. He had spotted her on the screen in the wreckage of the Titanic. He had known from the beginning how lifelike she looked.

Knowing that Jessica hadn’t looked like a corpse and learning that she had started trying to breathe on her own, were two very different things. Especially when he was the one who would still be delivering the news to his wife’s family.

This might be the most difficult news he’d have to break to them yet. Not because it was bad, but just because of how wild this new turn of events was. He spoke in depth with both Jessica's medical team and Dr. Westerly to get the full picture before relaying anything to the family. At least as much as anyone knew.

He took the one report Dr. Westerly had with him to the family gathering for this update. He once again found himself at the old family homestead speaking with Penny, Josie, Gabe and their spouses. Though this time Jonny wasn’t a young boy running around and sticking to his side, but a young man studying what he wanted to do for a career.

Penny, Josie, Gabe and their spouses were all eagerly watching him for whatever he might tell them. He didn’t want to get their hopes up too much, let alone shock them with it.

"Over the past week or so, the team that had brought Jessica up has been working on thawing her out. When she was nearing the end of this process, they hit a little bit of a snag before the autopsy could be done," Gordon told them.

"What kind of snag?" Gabe asked.

"She started trying to breathe. She’s on life support and it’s unknown if she’ll wake up;  but currently at least, she’s alive."

"Can we see her?" Josie asked.

"Yes, you’re allowed to visit," Gordon confirmed.

"We need to prepare in case she does wake up," Penny said, getting nods of agreement.

"We should bring her one of momma’s blankets," Josie said.

He was surprised by how well they just seemed to accept the possibility that their aunt was not only alive but had the possibility to wake up.

Their acceptance and excitement was contagious. As their plans for multiple situations were planned out. Both plans for a funeral were discussed,but more importantly they were concerned about being able to visit her. Which he had to reassure them several times that they would be able to do so. That they could go whenever they wanted to. Thought it would be better if it wasn’t all of them at once.

Before he knew it Penny, Josie and Gabe had sorted out a visiting schedule for everyone, as well as a plan about who would bring what and when for Jess.

Their plans covered nearly six months with notes about what should happen in certain circumstances. Whether it be Jessica passing or even one of them. It was honestly impressive and he didn’t know how much longer he’d be needed after all this time.

The medical team might take his place, especially if Jessica did wake up. He wouldn’t be needed then.

Notes:

This is another chapter that doesn’t fully have an equivalent from its initial posting.

On a different note, I have been posting chapters regularly every Thursday so far, but I only have until chapter 17 pre-written as a rewrite. So after that there is a high probability that regular updates will stop. Hopefully I will keep from getting distracted by other writing at that point. But until then I will keep to posting a chapter per Thursday.

Chapter 8: The Donors

Summary:

Dr. Westerly explains to the donors Jessica's condition.

Mr. Roy had done his job well. Using one of the reports that she and Jill had finished Mr. Roy explained everything that they knew to the family.

All that was left now, was to finish up a couple of reports that weren’t quite finished and explain what was happening to the ones who had funded this project to begin with. George and Margaret Piston.

It was going to be an interesting conversation. One that she would be having with them in person today. It had only been just a little over a week since Jessica was found to be alive. And now she would get to break the news.

She did wonder a little bit about why Mr. Roy could not explain to the Pistons as well as the family. She did know the reasons, but she couldn’t help but think that he would be better at the job.

The main reason he wasn’t, was the fact that the Pistons had requested that she be the one to explain what had been found and what was currently happening. One of the other reasons included the timing of when the Pistons were able to come; Mr. Roy had other engagements that could not be moved. As well as having to organize how to update Jessica’s entire family with what was happening. So, the Pistons were left in her hands.

To prepare, she had cleared her desk of all but one file and report. The file; currently lying innocuously closed in the middle of her desk beside the report, contained pictures of Jessica's injuries. Waiting for the Pistons to look at, should they so desire.

It would be an understatement to say that she was simply nervous about breaking this news. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it.

As it was it still seemed surreal that Jessica Hudson; who should not be alive after having been frozen for more than 90 years, was alive. Especially since she had been at a level of pressure that no one could or should have been able survive without a submarine. So the fact that they were not only able to recover her body, but Jessica was now unconscious and had the potential to wake up, was simply incredible.

Whether she actually would wake up was a completely different question.

If Jessica was able to regain consciousness and not remain in a vegetative state, those who were interested in cryogenics would find her an interesting case study. Let alone the miracle it would be onto of already miraculous circumstances.

Jill knocked on the door and poked her head in, breaking her thoughts.

"Dr. Westerly, the Pistons are here."

She nodded and came around her desk, straightening her skirt.

"Thank you Jill. Bring them in."

"Yes Doc," Jill said with a single nod back.

She took a deep breath and released it slowly. It was time.

It only took Jill a moment to guide the Pistons into her office.

It took her a little bit off guard to see three people enter with Jill instead of the expected two. The elder two were who she expected. Both were well dressed in business attire and arm in arm together, but then there was the young man with them. He was likely at least a couple of years younger than Jill, but was as well dressed in business attire as the couple he came in with.

"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Piston—" she greeted, shaking both their hands and the young man’s. "I’m afraid that I was only expecting yourselves and not the young man with you," she motioned to the two chairs in front of her desk.

"I hope that you don’t mind that we’ve brought him along. We can send our grandson out if you would prefer. Emery here has always had a bit of a fascination with Miss Hudson’s story. So very last minute we persuaded him to come with us, so that he might see some of our other interests outside of the main family business," explained Mrs. Piston, leaning in as she spoke about her grandson’s fascination like she was revealing a secret.

"That’s fine Mrs. Piston. He’s welcome to stay, whether he would like to stand or we could get another chair brought in for him. Or perhaps Jill might even be willing to give him a tour of the facility while we speak? Which ever the three of you might prefer." Hopefully Jill would mind her volunteering her like that. Personally she was hoping that the tour option would win out. Presenting to two people was what she had prepared for, not three.

"Well Erik, it’s your choice. How interested are you in hearing what’s been found out about Miss Hudson so far?" Mr. Piston asked his grandson.

She noticed that each grandparent had referred to him differently. She wondered what that was about before putting it out of her mind, that wasn’t any of her business. She watched the young man think for a moment before he decided.

"The tour I think, if it isn’t too much trouble. If the developments are something interesting then Nanna and Granddad can share afterwards?" he looked towards his grandparents who nodded back at him. She let out a breath that she hadn’t been aware that she was holding.

"Thank-you. Jill, if you would be so kind to give young Mr. Piston the grand tour of the facility?" she asked.

"Sure thing Doc. It’s been a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Piston."

"You as well Miss Russet. Do take good care of my grandson. Don’t let him get too lost," Mrs. Piston teased with a bit of a wink.

"Absolutely Mrs. P," Jill brightly responded back.

"Oh, and please- call me Margaret or Peggy dear."

"You bet Peggy!" Jill's smile grew into a full out grin as she led the young man out the door, already talking his ear off about everything that she knew about the facility. It seemed like she had no issue about doing the tour.

"Dr. Westerly, that goes for you as well. George and I prefer to drop the formalities when we can. Don’t we, dear?" stated Mrs. Piston.

"We do. It makes everything a little bit more friendly. But the choice is yours Dr. Westerly. Whatever makes you most comfortable. No matter how much Peg tries to pressure you out of being formal," Mr. Piston agreed

"Oh, er, thank-you. Onto business then, if you please." The pair nodded as all three of them went to sit. She only began once she was seated behind her desk with both George and Margaret sitting across from her and looking at her intently.

"As you are both aware— there has been a rather large— and unusual development with Miss Hudson‘s case. One that was best to wait until they could be discussed in person like this. Because of these recent developments, we have had to put a halt to our previous plan of researching documentation of Miss Hudson’s condition since being brought up from the Titanic. As of this moment, Miss Hudson’s autopsy has been put on hold. Before I explain why that is, I would like to share what we have learned so far," she paused for a moment, taking a sip of water, from the bottle she had under her desk.

"Yes, please do. I’m sure you have a plan to explain everything," George said. She gave a brief nod and continued on.

"One of the things that we’ve discovered how extensive the bruising she has is. If you care to look at the photos we have of her injuries, it quickly becomes clear that she barely touches on her injuries in her letter. She might not have even realized how bruised she was before she ended up in her current state. In this file is a collection of photos showcasing close-ups of the worst of her bruising," she said, tapping the file with her nail.

Margaret pulled the file closer to her and George, thanking her while doing so. The file was opened, and the first of the nasty bruises were starting staring them in the face.

She cleared her throat. "That is the picture of the back of her neck the bruises are in the shape of the hand of the man who grabbed her and threw her in the room. Her clothing was in terrible condition when she was brought up. There was no way to tell if anything had been torn during her altercation. We tried to save as much of her clothing as possible, but the clothing was decaying nearly as fast as we were thawing Miss Hudson. Miss Hudson herself is incredible condition, considering that she had been in the ocean for so many years. I cannot understate the fact that the state Miss Hudson was found in should not have been possible. There should be some signs of her having been underwater for nearly 100 years, but she doesn’t. She’s not mummified and as far as we can tell, she didn’t inhale any water before she stopped breathing."

Both Pistons sharply looked up at her.

"What do you mean? What are you getting at? You had said that you hadn’t been able to perform an autopsy due to new developments. So how can you know that she didn’t inhale water before she stopped breathing? That seems like an odd way to phrase the poor girls death."

She sucked in a deep breath. "Mrs. Piston- Margaret- the unusual development is that- well- Miss Hudson technically hasn’t died yet."

Mr. Piston leaned forward, brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that because Miss Hudson has been deemed a hypothermic patient, she cannot be considered dead until she is warm and dead. Until this point Miss Hudson has been presumed dead. Her current status is unclear. As she has essentially been dead since the Titanic sank, but now is in a limbo state of whether she will live or if she will die. What it boils down to is that when Miss Hudson had gotten to a certain point in her warming, she had started trying to breathe completely on her own. Much to everyone’s surprise."

Margaret let out a small gasp, prompting George to grasp her hand.

"So while Miss Hudson was frozen, she was in a death like state, but not technically dead as we know it. At the moment she is in a comatose state. We don’t currently know if she will ever wake up or what her brain function might be like if she does."

"That poor dear. What a different world she’ll wake up to," Margaret said.

"It will be, if she does wake up and is aware. But it’s too early to speculate about such. She’s only been in the state she is now for about a week, and it’s miraculous already."

It wouldn’t do to get ahead of themselves. There was plenty that could go wrong yet. Nothing was going to guarantee that Miss Hudson would ever live a normal life again.

"We'll be praying for her to continue on her miraculous recovery," George said.

"Has her family been alerted about this news?" asked Margaret.

"They have been. Both Mr. Roy and the medical team have been keeping her family informed."

"Has her family been allowed to visit yet?" Margaret asked.

"As far as I’m aware, they have. At this point I have very little to do with Miss Hudson directly. I am being kept updated about the progression of her injuries; but beyond that, my job is coming to an end. Unless Miss Hudson were to take a turn for the worst and end up on my slab again."

"Let’s pray it doesn’t come to that," George said.

"Is there anything else that you might be able to tell us about?" Margaret asked.

She had to think hard about where she left off.

"We were able to match up the bruising on her body to what was mentioned in her letter. Though her bruising was understated in such, as many of her bruises are deep. How we figure that she stopped breathing before having the chance to drown is that as she was trying to start breathing again, was that while struggling to breathe there was no sounds of fluid on her lungs, nor the choking on water like you might expect. It’s all speculation because we don’t know what really happened. We called in the medical team as soon as we realized what was happening. The medical team wasted little time in intubating her after their assessment of her. She’s been being treated for hypothermia and frostbite since then. If she does recover, it will take a long time for her to do so."

The Pistons took a moment to absorb what she told them.

"Would we be able to see her?" Margaret asked quietly.

"You should be able to go by her room. I don’t believe anyone besides family and doctors are allowed in her room though," she warned.

"That should be more than enough. We don’t need to get that close," George clarified, Margaret nodding in agreement.

"Do you want to go over more of the findings on Miss Hudson? Or go and see her now and finish up later?" she asked.

Margaret and George looked at each other and made a decision without a word.

"Let’s go now and then come back to finish up if needed."

Chapter 9: The Tour Turned

Summary:

Erik is given the tour by Jill when they meet up with an interesting couple.

Jill had been leading Erik all over the facility and explaining everything that she knew about facility and the different projects that were happening within.

Including the reasons why they had a medical centre. Which was mostly a precaution in case anything went wrong while testing the potentially more dangerous projects. Having a medical centre within the facility also saved time in getting help, as there as always at least one medical team on call at all times in the building.

The two of them were nearing the end of the tour; heading towards the mentioned medical area, when they came across an elderly couple who were older than his grandparents.

The grey haired woman out of the elderly couple clutched the man’s arm hard and froze up for a moment upon seeing him and Jill.

He looked around to see if there was anything else around other than he and Jill to cause such a reaction. Did she perhaps stumble? The only other options were that her reaction was either a coincidence or was potentially something medical.

"Are you alright ma’am?" he asked.

"Oh yes, I’m just fine. The pair of you just startled me a little. It’s very kind of you to check on me. Can I get your name young man?" the older woman asked.

"It’s Erik Piston ma'am. Are you sure you’re alright?" he asked, concerned about her well being.

She smiled softly at him. "I promise you that I am as well as can be. In fact, I should thank both you and your family for providing the funds to help rescue my aunt."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Jill couldn’t help but chime in with a; "whose facility are you in?"

He gave her a look of what does that have anything to do with anything?

"Your family’s funds allowed my aunt to be brought up from the Titanic. Might I assume that you are aware of Jessica Hudson’s supposed death letter?" the niece of Jessica asked him.

"Oh… ah— yes, I am familiar with it. We read a copy of it and watched the documentary in school."

He had never cared for how intrusive it felt to read the letter, even though Jessica’s family was willing to sharing it with the rest of the world.

"Something that wasn’t mentioned in that documentary was that that was when we learned that the crew of the expedition had not only found Aunt Jessica's letter during that expedition, but that they had also presumably found Aunt Jess as well. Though those crew members weren’t 100 percent certain at the time. They had left it up to us to choose whether we wanted to try and bring Aunt Jess up or not. We certainly didn’t have the funds to try and host such an expedition ourselves; even with a famous race car driver in the family. It took a few years to find the right kind of donors for such a difficult challenge. Before your family took control, there were a few people who donated, or said that they would finance some of the expeditions and then backed out, but it was never enough to follow through. Now Aunt Jess has the chance to heal and maybe even get the chance to live life again. Whether that is due to your parents, grandparents or both."

"It would have been my grandparents mainly. I can thank them for you, if you’d like?"

"Would you? It means a lot to us. Please do give them our most gracious thank you." He nodded in agreement, which gained him a bright smile. Jill chose this moment to butt in.

"It’s been lovely bumping into you, but we should probably get back to the tour we were in the middle of and allow the two of you to go on your way," Jill said.

"You’ve hardly delayed us. We’re just on our way to visit Aunt Jess," said Jessica's niece.

"Why don’t the two of you join us?" the man asked, speaking up for the first time.

Jill shook her head as she responded, "we really shouldn’t intrude on your time with her. I still have a little bit more of the tour to finish with Erik…"

"Nonsense. You wouldn’t be intruding at all. You would be improving my day greatly. Please join Ralph and I," Jessica's niece brushed off Jill's concerns.

"Only if you’re sure…" he asked cautiously.

"We are. My wife and her family have been through a lot, the both of you joining us is no burden," Ralph reassured him.

"Besides young man, you remind me of my one uncle; God bless his heart, he was a good man with a big heart. Well suited for my aunt."

"Well since you insist, I could conceivably finish the tour for Erik. If everyone is alright with it?" Jill asked.

He nodded in agreement with Jessica’s niece and Ralph.

"Let’s get going. I would have been taking Erik this way soon anyway. I work with Dr. Westerly and had been keeping watch over Jessica’s thawing. I was the first one to notice her trying to breathe."

"Then I owe you a big thank you as well. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you didn’t," Jessica's niece said warmly.

As Jill and the niece started to get deeper into a conversation about Jessica’s state; he fell back a little, following behind the two women talking side by side each other. Grateful that Jill had explained Jessica's situation before they had run into her niece. Ralph started to match his pace instead of his wife’s. The two of them were quiet for a time, listening to the ladies' conversation.

"I really don’t want to intrude on your time visiting Miss Hudson," he told Ralph, breaking their shared silence.

"Erik; trust me, neither Josie nor I consider it an intrusion. Joining us would only further brighten Josie’s day. Jessica is going to need all the support she can get if she happens to wake up, like my wife is certain will happen. If that is the case, she won’t know any of the family; while we all know many stories about her. I’m sure that you can imagine how awkward that might be. There are none of us left who had been born when Jessica could have known us. As it is, there’s only Josie, and her siblings who remain of Jessica’s siblings' children. Who knows how long we’ll last. We’re not getting any younger. To get to my rambling point, you don’t have to come in with us; even if Josie begs, but you are more than welcome to visit Jessica when we’re not or say hi if we are. Thank you for listening to an old man."

He nodded thoughtfully as Jill turned her attention back to him as they entered a rather plain hallway. There wasn’t any artwork on the walls like there was in other parts of the facility.

It was just doors and windows alternating on the one side and blank wall on the other side with a few uncomfortable, looking chairs on it. The doors also had windows in them long rectangular ones running nearly the entire top to bottom of the doors. Each side of windows and doors looking into their own rooms.

"The last stop on the tour essentially. The medical hall. Mostly for safety precautions in case there are injuries sustained while experiments are run. Particularly good for observation for any of the unusual side effects that a regular hospital might not be prepared for," Jill waited until Josie and Ralph and Jessica’s room and close the door.

"Time travel has yet to be successful or lead to any injuries thankfully – but they prepared for the possibility," Jill continued.

"Should we move away from the window? It feels weird to be staring at them."

"If you feel awkward, by all means step back. The window is a two-way mirror though. They can’t see us. It’s that way so that there can be unseen observations. There’s a camera as well, especially for Jessica at this point."

"Thank you, I think that’s all I need to know for the time being." Jill nodded and became quiet.

He watched as Josie went to her aunt's side while Ralph hung back a little bit to give Josie a bit of space at first. Josie put her hand on her much younger looking aunt’s hand, obviously being careful to not disturb the different lines and wires that were there to help Jessica.

He couldn’t help but wondering if all the lines and wires were actually needed or if some of it might be overkill. He wasn’t a doctor and he didn’t think that watching a medical drama or two, gave him enough to create an appropriate opinion.

He thought it looked like Josie was talking to her aunt before Ralph joined her and they both sat in the chairs beside the bed. Holding hands with each other.

"Were you really the first to notice her breathing?" he asked Jill, breaking their silence.

"Trying to breathe, but yes. It was kind of terrifying in a way. Everything about Jessica‘s case has been unprecedented. When I had been working with Dr. Westerly I had sort of made a joking comment about whether Jessica could be considered legally dead yet. As hypothermic patient has to be warm before time of death can be called. So I wondered if she could only be considered mostly dead. I never expected this— for her to have a chance to live again."

They both fell into silence again.

He tried his best to study Jessica from his position. There wasn’t much he could discern from behind the glass. Her face was mostly covered by breathing tube. She herself was mostly covered by a blanket.

Maybe he would visit her, just get a better look at her.

Notes:

I feel like this could be edited a lot more than it is, but it was being stubborn. It very much follows along the lines of the original chapter.

Chapter 10: Waiting for a Change

Summary:

Jessica’s family visits and waits to see if she’ll wake.

Once Gordon had confirmed to the family that they were able to go and visit Jessica at the facility, it didn’t take long for Gabe, Penny, Josie and their spouses to plan their first visit and their visits to follow.

For their very first visit to Jessica, Gordon lead the three siblings without their spouses through the facility to see their aunt.

It was Gordon's first time back in the research facility since Jessica had been in medical care. He had previously been through the facility on tours while the technology was being developed to bring Jess to the surface. Those tours had included the temperature controlled room that had been intended to be used as a morgue for Jessica’s no longed necessary autopsy, and the medical hall where they were currently headed to meet up with the doctors in charge of Jessica’s care.

This first visit would be a little less about seeing Jessica than it would be introducing the doctors to the three siblings.

This would be his first time meeting the doctors in person as well, having only previously spoken to them over the phone.

Dr. Wheeler and Dr. Richardson would be the direct overseers of Jessica's health and healing. The two doctors were going to be Jessica’s best chance of recovery.

It didn’t take long for the four to make it to the medical hall, where the two doctors were waiting for their group outside of Jessica’s room. Before they entered Jessica's room, the doctors introduced themselves and shook all of their hands before leading them in. The doctors led their group of four over to the bed that contained Jessica lying within, not that there were any other beds in the room.

Overall the room was pretty sparse. On the right hand side of the room as they entered there were a couple of doors on the wall, one labeled bathroom and the other supply closet. Along the back wall there was a row of lower and upper cabinets with a grey countertop. On the right side of the room there was also a small round dining table with four chairs around it. On the left side of the room was the hospital bed surrounded by all the monitors that were hooked up to Jessica. There were also another couple of chairs near the window looking out into the hall, though you couldn’t see through it. Chairs that looked uncomfortable but were clearly supposed to be moveable armchairs of a sort.

He hadn’t even realized that he had tuned the doctors out until he realized that they were talking about how they were monitoring Jess, not only by the various monitors but by camera as well. The siblings followed the doctors as they were lead away from Jessica's side to go over her treatment plan in more detail. One that he had been told, but could only convey so well to the three siblings.

Gordon found himself remaining beside Jessica and studying her. Even covered in tubes and wires she seemed so very young. He knew that she was 24, not much different in age than he had been during that expedition he had been on that he had spotted her on after finding the bottle with her letter. She had already been through so much more than he had ever been through at that age.

He left his pondering and rejoined the group, who were now checking if their schedules to visit Jess would actually work for the doctors. It was once that was done that the doctors left, leaving him and the three siblings alone with Jessica.

He hung back to give the three some time with their aunt.

He knew that he would end up coming to visit Jessica himself, even though his connection to her was different from the family’s.

After Josie’s first visit with just her and Ralph, Josie came back giddy.

"You’ll never guess who I met on the way to see Aunt Jess."

"Who?" both siblings asked in unison.

"Oh, no one too important. Just a young man by the name Erik Piston," Josie said nonchalantly.

"Josie! No one important, my foot. That’s so exciting!" Penny exclaimed.

"I also met his grandparents, Margaret and George, who are lovely," Josie said rather smugly.

"Josie!" An amused, astonished and slightly scolding tone came from Gabe.

"I know, it was lovely to meet them all," Josie replied.

Gordon didn’t get the excitement over meeting the Pistons, but apparently it was exciting to the family.

Weeks passed by with visitors stopping by to see Jessica at minimum once a week. Sometimes he and Lydia would go and visit for a short time. He had gone a couple of times with Josie when Ralph, Lydia, or one of the other family members couldn’t go with her.

The updates would keep coming as the weeks progressed, even as no changes continued to be the norm. There was even a couple of times that he had come across Erik Piston stopping by for a visit. Erik was a polite enough young man but it still didn’t explain Josie, Penny and Gabe's fascination with him.

Summer turned into fall and kids went back to school. Halloween came and went with Thanksgiving upon them before they knew it. Christmas was starting to loom close as Jessica’s care was changed up to try and see if it might help Jessica wake up. As the Christmas season ramped up, family visits to Jessica slowed down due to other commitments like Christmas concerts, pageants and parties. Updates remained steady, being told that this one particular treatment did nothing, so now they were going to try this other type of treatment to see if it might do anything.

Until finally one day he got the call from Dr. Wheeler. Jessica was starting to show signs that she might be able to be awoken, but there had to be patience yet.

This could still be a long process and that it would be best if the family could hold off visiting until it was clear what was happening. It would be better for Jessica to not have visitors that could get in the way, if she were to go into a medical emergency in this possible in-between stage.

Gordon would be kept updated as the doctors had more information on the situation.

Notes:

This is pretty much a completely new chapter that hadn’t been previously written.

Chapter 11: Jessica’s Last Moments

Summary:

Jessica's last moments and waking.

Getting her etching didn’t take long. She had tucked it safely in her pocket as she started making her way up to the lifeboats.

She still didn’t quite feel awake from the small amount of sleep that she had gotten. Maybe that was why O'Donald was able to sneak up on her. It also could have been the intense amount of noise that hid his movements behind her; that she normally would have noticed, but not this time.

She hadn’t even known who it was grabbed her before she heard O’Donald’s Irish lilt in her ear. Dragging her by the back of her neck; while telling her terrible things about how she deserved this. That it was unnatural and wrong for her to want to sail. That he was actually doing her a favour. She wasn’t going to have to face the law for cross-dressing.

It was a shame that she and her curves were going to end up on the bottom of the ocean. But since she wanted to act like as a man, she could die like a man. He had a family to get back to.

There was so much more than that, that he flung at her; like being called dirty and nasty. It almost didn’t register as she fought against him. Trying with all her might to get out of his grip, unsuccessfully. It didn’t matter how much she flailed or tried to hit him, it didn’t help.

He was holding her in such a way that she could only reach his arm and hand that was holding the back of her neck tightly. Which also left her unable to get as much force behind her hits. Going limp only led to him throwing her over his shoulder; giving her more places to hit, but it didn’t help. He was simply just too much bigger and stronger than her.

Then he flung her from his shoulder; into a room, hitting into the door frame as she tumbled into it. Twisting her ankle before her hip jammed into something and hitting the floor fully.

O’Donald leered at her as she tried to scrambled for the door. She had nearly had her fingers through the door to catch it, but only ended up cursing as her fingertips pinched and the door was locked or jammed.

When she tried to open the door, her worst fears were confirmed. She was stuck; but not giving up.

She tried several different ways to try and open the door without luck. She even tried to ram the door; which only lead to her getting further bruised. Trying to scream for help ended up being another fruitless effort, leaving her hoarse.

Looking around the room she tried to find anything that might help her break or remove the door. The only items that she could find was an empty bottle, paper and a pen. Nothing that would help with the door. But with those items she could preserve her last thoughts and words. Though nobody would probably ever see them, but at least she could say some good-byes.

She took a shaky breath. She would have to write quickly. She could hear the water coming. As she blinked back tears, she addressed her twin.

"Dear Ruth, I am about to die…"

When the water started filling the room her tears nearly broke free. The only way that she managed to continue to hold them in, was not wanting tear stains on her letter.

It was only after she had finished her letter and had it and her etching sealed in the bottle did she finally allow them to over come her. For the reality of her situation to fully hit her. This room was her coffin and she was going to die in it.

The water was already nearing knee height. She didn’t want to drown, but it seemed the most likely. Still in tears she removed her boots and threw them into the corner.

The water was freezing.

She was going to die alone and cold. How she loathed the cold; but the cold would be better than drowning.

She removed all top layers except her undershirt. Shivering hard in the increasingly cold room. She could only hope and pray that the cold might take her or at least render her unconscious before she drown. Before she threw her shirts into a corner, she rescued her father’s pocket watch.

"Oh… daddy, I guess I will be seeing you and momma soon…" she swallowed heavily before sobbing harder again.

She curled herself up on the floor the best she could with the water rushing in. One knee up, one leg in a crossed position, arm wrapped around her upright knee, her other hand resting on the wrapped hand sort of against her knee, pocket watch tightly grasped within her left resting hand, head resting upon her knee and hand while praying.

Praying for herself, for John and that he would get home safe. Praying for those on ship who might also die tonight and for those who would survive. Praying for Ruth and Henry at home with their soon to be grief.

She fell unconscious with those prayers on her lips.

 

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There was a beeping in her ear. Something was on her face. She was so tired. She couldn’t open her eyes. What was happening? Her limbs were so heavy. It was so cold, she was cold. Maybe death would be quick. The noise faded as she went under again.

 

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Breathing was hard. She couldn’t move. She needed to move, to get away from the beeping.

Why was there beeping? What was making that noise?

There was something on her face. What was on her face? She needed it off, the beeping noise needed to stop.

She needed out.

Opening her eyes she immediately closed them again.

It was so bright. Why was it so bright?

What was happening?

The beeping became more rapid and intense as she tried to remove whatever was on her face. There were things attached to her arms.

Suddenly there were people around her, holding her arms down, pushing her down as she struggled against them.

There was a pinch, leaving her unable to fight back against them. Drifting off into darkness again.

 

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The beeping was slower again. It was so bright, making it hard to open her eyes. She needed to open her eyes.

It was so hard to move. Her mouth was so dry, but nothing was on her face.

Where was she? She clearly wasn’t dead— not feeling like this. What was going on? She needed to know.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position.

She was so groggy.

Once she was sitting it was a little easier to open her eyes. Blinking and squinting in the brightness until her eyes finally adjusted. The beeping ever present in the background.

There were things on her hands that she removed. That turned the beeping noise into a blaring noise.

It was too loud.

She covered her ears and closed her eyes, wanting it to stop. It brought a woman running, who made the blaring stop and removed her hands from her ears. The woman tsked her.

"Really Miss Hudson, you need to stop doing this. Messing with your lines. It’s all for your own good. We need to put your IV back in and hooked back up to the heart monitor. They’re there to make sure you’re doing okay. At least the sedatives are helping keep you a little bit calmer. Now back to resting, you’re still recovering."

Nothing made sense.

"Where am I? Who are you? What’s happening?"

"Don’t you worry dear, you’re safe. Once you’re a bit better all will be explained. Just you wait." The woman said.

The answers never seemed to come and the only people she saw were doctors and nurses who only wanted to sedate her instead of answering her questions.

She just wanted to understand what was happening and go see her family. To go home since she wasn’t dead. Why was that so hard?"

Notes:

This is a new chapter that wasn’t in the original posting.

Chapter 12: Losing Contact

Summary:

The doctors stop updating Jessica’s family.

Gordon didn’t hear any updates about Jessica over the week before Christmas. It wasn’t too concerning, at least not at first.

Jessica’s medical team was probably short staffed over the holidays and there likely weren’t any big changes happening right away either. On the plus side; not being able to visit Jessica gave more time for the family to focus on each other and celebrating Christmas.

Everyone gathered back at the old homestead for at least a couple of days. There were discussions about what would happen if Jess did wake up soon or if she took a turn for the worse. Overall there was still mostly excitement about the possibility of Jessica waking.

They also didn’t hear any updates in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Again, he didn’t think much of it. It was still the holiday season and everyone at the facility was probably pretty busy and distracted by the season.

It was only after it was a week into January and still not getting an update of any sort that had him getting concerned.

Even if not much had changed with Jessica's condition, certainly he should still be getting word about that shouldn’t he?

It was once Gabe reached out to him asking if Gordon had heard any updates about his aunt, that Gordon knew that he had to try and reach out to Dr. Wheeler or Richardson and see what was possibly happening. It took him a couple of days of phoning the facility to actually reach one of the doctors.

Once he had finally managed to get ahold of Dr. Richardson; who told him that while Jessica was still showing signs of improvement towards waking, that she was still currently comatose. That Jessica waking would not be a quick thing like the movies and tv made it seem like. Dr. Richardson shortly after that, ended the phone call.

Another week passed without hearing anything more. Leaving Gordon once again trying to get ahold of someone who could give an update on Jessica’s condition, but all he was getting was a brush off.

It was starting to irk him, the constantly being brushed off and it being near impossible to get ahold of anyone who could tell him anything about Jessica's condition.

He was used to being in the know and being able to tell Jessica’s family what he knew. It wouldn’t be so frustrating if he knew that he wasn’t being told anything because Penny, Josie or Gabe were being contacted directly, but they weren’t. Each of them had asked at least once if he had heard anything at different points and each time he had to say no and then tried to get the three of them some news.

He was always a little surprised with how patient they were about not visiting Jessica when they had been going regularly. Often comforting him when he didn’t have any news for them. Positive that everything would be sorted out eventually.

Then he finally had a call from the facility without having to call them, an update from Dr. Richardson.

Jessica had finally opened her eyes once. Still asking that the family stay away for a while yet as; "We don’t want to overwhelm her. She’s not fully awake yet. It will take her awhile to be fully alert and aware. We need to take things slow. She’s going to have a lot to process at first."

Dr. Richardson had no timeline of when Jessica's family might be able to visit her again. Telling him that he would be contacted once Jessica was ready to receive visitation again.

Though it once more fell into the habit of no updates being forthcoming. This time when he started searching for answers, he was told that now that Jessica was waking, she had doctor patient confidently and that her health could no longer be shared.

He thought that was a load of bull.

He didn’t need the details on her health and improvement, he just needed to know if she was fully awake yet and when her family might be able to return to visit her again. But those answers weren’t forthcoming any time soon it seemed.

Notes:

This is a completely new chapter that has no previous equivalent in the original posting.

Chapter 13: Challenging the Way

Summary:

Erik challenges how Jessica has been treated so far.

"Mr. Piston, just because your grandparents own the facility, does not mean that you get free rein of them."

He was trying extremely hard not to scowl at the man in front of him. This was the first complaint that he had gotten about any of his visits to Jessica.

Why was he being stopped now? When he hadn’t on any of his other trips? It wasn’t like he came here and ran down their halls screaming like a little boy, disturbing everyone's work. It wasn’t even like he was stopping by every day or every other day. It was only once every couple of weeks or so to see Jessica and get an update or two about her progress. He hadn’t even been in since before Christmas! And it was well past now.

Her family certainly didn’t mind him coming in, as they practically encouraged him to do such.

"I am not snooping on research or trying to cause problems. I was just dropping by to see Jessica Hudson and get an update on how she’s doing. Just like her family always comes and does," he said tightly.

"No one is allowed to see Miss Hudson currently."

"What do you mean? Surely her family is still allowed to visit her?" he asked incredulously. What was going on here?

"Not even them. Only the medical staff is allowed in her room for the time being."

"Why is that?" He sounded demanding even to himself.

"It’s not my place to say," the doctor said coolly, looking down at his phone, texting.

That didn’t seem right, there had to be a real reason, right?

"Mr. Piston; respectfully, I must ask you to leave. We will contact you when you can visit again."

He crossed his arms and stared the man down. He wanted real answers, not to be shoved out the door as soon as possible.

"What if I am here to see Dr. Westerly and Miss Russet then?"

"Dr. Westerly has moved onto other projects outside of this facility and I believe that Miss Russet has joined her," he said while looking at his phone.

"Are you the one in charge Mr.-" he looked for a name on the man's white coat, but found it on a badge on a lanyard, "Richardson?"

"It’s Dr. Richardson. No, I am not the lead, but I am to enforce Dr. Wheeler’s orders. It’s for Miss Hudson’s health . Certainly you understand that ?" Richardson stressed looking up from his phone.

"I would, if I could understand why isolating her from family is what is best for her health."

"Mr. Piston, it’s not only for Miss Hudson’s health, but for her family’s as well. Miss Hudson is not in a condition to be seen currently. It would only cause more confusion and strife to her already ongoing struggle to adjust," Richardson said, once again texting and seeming absorbed in his phone.

"Struggle to adjust? Confusion? Is she awake?" He asked, Richardson's brow furrowed and his lips pursed before he could school his features back to a more neutral position. (He could tell by Richardson's annoyance that she was.)

"She’s awake and her family hasn’t been allowed to see her? Do they even know that’s why they are no longer able to visit her?" His tone sharp. Now that Jessica was awake, her family should have even more of a reason to see her. A horrible thought came to mind.

"Did you try to shoo them away like you did to me?"

"No, they were not shooed away. We got in contact with Mr. Roy when Miss Hudson started to wake and asked him to pass on that we requested that the family halt all visits for the time being. That it would be better for Miss Hudson and them if visits did not occur until after Miss Hudson was fully awake and aware of the situation that she is currently in. Once she has had her situation explained, then her family can visit again." Richardson explained impatiently, still on his phone.

"Is she fully awake now? Have things been explained to her yet?"

"She has not yet been calm enough to explain anything to as of yet. Once she has stopped waking up panicked and needing to be sedated, then we will explain such in detail to her."

"Are you telling me that she’s been told nothing within however long she’s been waking up? That you’re just sedating her at the first sign of panic? Did you ever think that maybe if what was happening was explained to her, that she might stop panicking?" He asked, his voice raising with anger upon each question.

"I would keep your voice down Mr. Piston. How we handle her care is none of your concern," Richardson said waspishly while typing again.

He wished the phone would die on him.

"The hell it doesn’t. She’s being treated in a Piston facility. Does her family know that she’s been told nothing yet?"

"Mr. Piston, I think you need to calm down—"

"Or what? You’ll sedate me too?" he sneered. "If she’s awake, why not just explain things to her? Even if she is sedated while doing so."

"Mr. Piston, we don’t want to cause her more emotional distress than necessary. She likely won’t retain anything while she’s sedated," Richardson told him patronizingly.

"Has anyone even tried? If you and the others on the medical team are so hesitant to explain to Miss Hudson as to what her situation is, then bring in a family member to do so. Or Mr. Roy, who has already had practice with keeping her family up to date with each turn of events that has happened. Either option might be better than someone who has no attachment to her. Does the entire medical team even understand what she’s been through?"

"Yes—"

"Then try to remember that when you speak with her. What she probably last remembers is being in the process of dying on a sinking ship because she had been left to die. There was an attempt on her life; which until recently, was successful. If I was in her position, I would be waking up in a panic each time at first as well. Once I understood what was happening my panic would probably start to lessen."

"Perhaps you should visit Miss Hudson if you think it’s as easy as that. You’ll see that she’s in no state to currently have explanations that hold up and are acceptable to her."

He blinked in shock. That was an abrupt change in tune from being denied access to Jessica. Was he well enough informed to explain everything that she needed to know? Apparently he was going to have the chance to see. As odd as the sudden turn around was.

"Let’s go then Mr. Piston," Richardson snapped his keyboard shut and pocketed his phone, "she’s currently sedated but awake. Maybe then you will understand that sedate her to keep her from unintentionally harming herself."

Richardson opened Jessica's door without knocking, entered the room without making any acknowledgment to Jessica and motioned for him to enter as well.

He could see Jessica sitting up in the medical bed, shivering and looking lost in a listless kind of way. He scowled at Dr. Richardson and his lack of respect for Jessica, who was under his care.

Richardson frowned at him for not having immediately having followed him into the room. Jessica hadn’t even seemed to notice that Richardson was in the room with her.

He stared Dr. Richardson straight in the eye as he made a big show of going to the open door and knocking on it three times. He made each rap loud and clear so that rap could be heard individually, hopefully in a way that would catch Miss Hudson’s attention.

He was not in the habit of entering private rooms without permission, if someone was able to give it.

Jessica looked towards him a little dazed and confused, like she was still bleary eyed. He wondered how much of that look was due to the sedative.

"May I come in Miss Hudson?" he asked her, ignoring the frustration and annoyance that was radiating from Richardson.

She continued to stare at him, brows furrowing, as she slightly tilted her head, as another deep shiver shuttered through her. Still not giving any recognition to the doctor already in the room. Her head straightened back up as her brows slightly unfurled as she answered him softly, her voice dry and crackling from unused.

"Yes… who are you?"

He just caught a glance of Richardson watching him in quiet distain. He continued to ignore him.

"I’m Erik Piston. It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Hudson. I would like you to know that I am not a doctor or nurse. I’m not here for any medical reason; I’m just here to visit you, and perhaps try and explain at least a little about what’s going on. As crazy as it might be. If I can," he said as he came closer to her bedside.

As soon as she started shrinking away from him as he drew near, he stopped and took a step back from her. He wanted her to feel safe around him.

"Has anyone explained what happened to you?" he asked.

She shook her head slowly.

"Do you know what year it is?" he asked her. She shook her head again.

"No. — I want my sister. Where’s Ruth?" Tears were starting to build in her eyes.

His heart started to break for her. She didn’t know. She truly had been told nothing yet and he was going to have to break the news to her. That the family members that she knew were no longer around.

"I am so sorry to have to be the one to break this to you Miss Hudson… but you’re not going to be able to see your sister. It’s currently 2011. Your sister passed quite a few years ago…"

Jessica paled at his words as her tears finally started, her voice was trembling. "No… no— that can’t be…" her eyes darted all over his face.

"I can’t imagine how foreign and unbelievable this seems. It must feel like a hoax. If you let me, I can try and explain what happened, to try and help you make sense of all this overwhelming newness?"

She didn’t answer him, just turned to face the wall and continued to let her tears stream down unbroken. Slowly he moved towards the chair near her bed, narrating what he was doing so that he wouldn’t scare her.

"I’m just going to sit in the chair near your bed…" he didn’t get a response. He only started explaining once he sat down, speaking softly as he did.

"Your story of how you are here, starts after the Titanic sank. Only about 709 people survived the sinking that night. One of those people was John Winters. He was your friend, right?" he asked. There was still no response or acknowledgment from her.

"He was always adamant that something happened to you, to keep you from your post. A truth he shouted, to the end of his life. He married Ruth, and they had three children, who are all still alive and visited you while you were still unconscious. About 70 years after the Titanic had sunk- the wreckage was found on the ocean floor. A few years later, there was another expedition down to the wreck to explore it a bit more. When down there, on this particular expedition, your letter was found. After it had been brought up, it was given to your nieces and nephews. On that same trip, you were found not far from your letter. After much ethical debate and hearing the opinions from your nieces and nephews, it was decided to bring you up. This took many years to do successfully. Once you were brought up, you needed to be unfrozen. No one expected that you could possibly be alive or able to be revived. But then you started trying to breathe. So that’s sort of how you came to be here in this time…."

He had seen her dry her eyes at some point, but had remained turned towards the way, sometimes picking fuzz balls on the one blanket. Still shivering at times. Never giving any indication that she was listening, but never telling him to leave either.

To the best of his ability he explained the medical equipment around her and went into a little more detail of what he knew of her family.

He hadn’t even been aware of when Richardson had left the room. He had lost track of all time, when he was startled by the ding of his cellphone receiving a text message. It had been well over an hour since he had arrived at her bedside. He certainly hadn’t intended to stay as long as he had.

The text had been a message wondering where he was.

"I’m sorry Miss Hudson, but I’m afraid that I have to go."

"Will you come back?" she asked him.

He looked at her; wide eyed and slacked jawed as she stared at him without a smile, blue eyes intensely serious, a look so different from her confusion when he had entered the room. Had some of the sedation worn off during his explanations? His mouth went dry. How had she ever convinced anyone that she was a boy?

"If you want me to, I will…"

"Please do… you’re the first to talk to me like this…."

His indignant anger on her behalf was boiling up again. He gave her a smile that he hoped didn’t look as forced as it felt. How dare they. Just how were they treating her?

"Of course I’ll visit again. I don’t know how soon that will be, but maybe next time I’ll bring you a history textbook to help you get caught up."

Her eyebrows scrunched as she nodded slowly. They said their good byes and he left.

He was going to get to the bottom of this. What he learned today was going to have to be a discussion with his grandparents.

He shouldn’t have had to be the one to explain things to her. She shouldn’t have had to wait until he broke the doctor down, for her to learn what was going on. She also shouldn’t have to shiver like she was.

Her family needed to be allowed to visit again.

Most of all, the way she was being treated needed to change and change quickly. She wasn’t some science experiment. She had already been through too much to deal with that. It wasn’t right. It needed to be sorted out and he would see that it was.

Chapter 14: Figuring Out Changes

Summary:

Erik speaks with his grandparents about Jessica and what needs to change.

He was grateful that when he left the facility he was going to meet up with his grandparents for lunch. This situation with Jessica needed to change as soon as possible. As soon as his grandparents saw him stomp into their home, both of them rose their eyebrows.

"What’s gotten you in such a mood?" asked his grandfather.

"I just came from visiting Jessica at the facility. Did you know that she’s awake?" They both shook their heads.

"I don’t know about this Dr. Wheeler and Dr. Richardson who are supposed to be in charge of Jessica’s care. Since she’s been awake, she’s had no visitors and no one had explained anything to her in the slightest before I came today. She was shivering the entire time I was there and the blankets she had seemed kind of thin for someone who had been frozen for so long. To top it all off; because she hadn’t been told anything to try and help her understand what’s going on, they’ve been keeping her sedated. None of this is fair to her. Let alone her family. We can’t let this continue."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Nanna asked him.

"Me?" He blinked in surprise.

"Yes. What changes are you going to make? This situation is clearly something that you’re passionate about. So let’s hear what you would like to change and put in place," Nanna prompted.

"I- ah- hadn’t thought that far ahead…"

"You must have a bit of an idea of what you want to see different? Otherwise you’d be fine with the way things are. Just talk us through what you would like to see changed and what the solution might be for that. What would be the first thing to change?" His grandfather asked.

"Her family being allowed to visit. They should be allowed to visit with only Miss Hudson allowed to turn them away."

"That’s an easy one to implement. Staff aren’t allowed to ban Miss Hudson’s family from visiting. What’s next?" his grandfather agreed.

"Medical staff should at least be knocking on her door before entering, barring a medical emergency. They should also be explaining and discussing her treatment with her, in a way that she can understand."

His grandparents pursed their lips at that.

"They should be doing that already, now that she’s awake…" his grandfather said.

"We'll set up a meeting with Miss Hudson's care team and some of the coordinators within the facility to set up all of the procedures and expectations in place. Rules will be put into place and if people aren’t meeting what’s outlined, they will either be removed from Miss Hudson’s care team, or even risk losing their employment through us," Nanna said with his grandfather nodding in agreement.

"It might take a little bit of time, but we will get this oversight taken care of," said his grandfather.

Notes:

This is a new chapter to this story, there is no equivalent previously.
Next week’s chapter will probably be the last chapter for a while. I’m kind of caught up to where I had written my rewrite.

Chapter 15: The Interview

Summary:

Jessica is interviewed about her time on the Titanic.

Dr. Richardson and Dr. Wheeler were watching from another room. This interview had to happen now, before the young Mr. Piston began to enforce what he thought was proper protocol when dealing with Miss Hudson. As there had already been rumours swirling about the changes that the Pistons intended with Miss Hudson's care.

They had set up the interview room before Miss Hudson was brought into the room. They were going to be watching a live feed of the interview here in Dr. Wheeler's office, while the interview itself would take place in a small conference room not far away.

The camera was already filming and broadcasting to them when Jessica was brought in and set up in front of the camera. She was the only one on camera. She had been sat behind a large wooden table, in a plush office chain with arm rests.

Jessica had been dressed in a baggy, ill fitting, light grey sweatsuit that had been given to her. Her dark, not fully black hair was pulled back as much as possible into a ponytail, the hair that was still too short to be contained, remained down.

Their interviewer was a gentleman named Nate, who was set up behind the camera with the list of questions he was to ask Jessica.

Jessica was staring directly into the camera, clearly ignoring Nate, clearly unsure about said camera. They could hear Nate clearing his throat, trying to draw Jessica's attention without luck, she continued to stare warily at the camera.

"Miss Hudson; Jessica, we need to ask you a few questions to understand what happened to you the night the Titanic sank. Can you answer our questions?"

"What is that thing? On that tripod/stand thing?" She asked, hands presumably on her lap as they weren’t on the table, ignoring the question Nate asked, all while continuing to look directly at the camera.

"It’s a camera to record our conversation Miss Hudson. It’s on a modern tripod."

"Never seen a camera like that before."

"Well it is one. It’s one of the current models and it’s filming us like a moving picture, if you’ve ever seen one of those. Now we do need you to focus, we have a lot to go over," Nate said.

"I don’t like it. It looks odd."

"Then don’t look at it. It’s digital, it doesn’t contain any film."

"How does it work if it doesn’t have film?"

"Miss Hudson, we are not here to discuss how technology has changed since you were last active in the world. That is a conversation to be held at a different time than now. It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not. Our main topic of discussion is to focus on your experiences on the Titanic. Particularly the evening and night of the sinking."

The rustling of paper could be heard off screen.

"Oh… that…" Jessica said finally took her eyes off the camera, still avoiding looking at Nate by looking at her hands on her lap.

"We'll start off easy Miss Hudson, with some background information. Please tell us your full name, date of birth, where you were born, your parents and any siblings names," Nate said.

"My name is Jessica Erin Hudson, I was born in Thomasville, Georgia to Henry and Sarah Hudson on September 9, 1888 with my twin sister Ruth Anne who is ten minutes older than me. I also have an older brother Henry who was named after our father," Jessica said still looking down.

"When did your parents die?"

"Daddy died in 1898 when he was fighting in the Spanish American War…. Momma died only a few years later to illness in 1904…"

"When did you first start sailing?" Nate asked.

"In 1905."

"Why did you start and/or want to be a sailor?"

Jessica shrugged her shoulders and brought her hands onto the table, folding them together.

"Bring on the water fascinated me from a young age. There was a challenge to it and I could travel and contribute to the house hold income."

"When did you first meet John Winters?"

A small smile crept onto her face.

"My first stint. He figured me out pretty quick, but kept quiet about it. It was his first stint as well. He followed me home to Georgia instead of going straight back home to Maine."

Nate continued to ask her about her home life and different stints that she had taken before boarding the Titanic. Getting her a little more comfortable talking with him. Taking a sip of water every so often from the provided glass and giving the camera a wary side eye at times.

Eventually Nate got to the point where he couldn’t avoid it any longer and started to bring her around to what they all wanted to know about. Her experiences on the Titanic.

"On your last stint Miss Hudson, how did you and Mr. Winters end up on the Titanic?" Nate asked.

"We had been serving on the S.S. City of New York. It was the last leg of our stint before we would be done and go home. There was a coal strike that would potentially leave us delayed weeks, so we decided to try and switch ships to make it home sooner… but I never did…"

"Where were you when the Titanic left port?"

"On the bridge, I was there as the New York was pulled from its mooring and nearly collided with us. It left all of us on the bridge tense afterwards."

"How did the rest of the trip go before the ship hit the iceberg?"

"Typical. There wasn’t much out of the ordinary. We put in our shifts, smoked and played cards when off duty and not sleeping or eating."

Nate asked her a few more clarifying questions about her duties on the Titanic before turning the questions to focus on the aspects of the sinking.

"When did you first learn that the ship was sinking and what had you been doing before that?"

"I had recently finished one of my shifts. I hadn’t eaten before going to bed… John woke me up shortly after I had fallen asleep…" she was speaking softer now, though not so soft that she couldn’t be heard.

"How long had you been asleep for?" Nate asked.

"Maybe 15-20 minutes before John woke me up to go man the lifeboats."

"Do you remember what time that was?"

She hesitated slightly before answering.

"Not exactly… around or a little after midnight… maybe."

"What happened next?"

"John waited for me to get dressed. We started up to the lifeboats together… but I had forgotten the rubbing I had made of my dad’s name from the City of New York…"

"Did you go back for the rubbing?"

"Yes," Jessica was starting to look away more again and fidget more.

"Did you tell John that you were going back for it?"

"Yes, I told him to go ahead without me… I would only be a few minutes…"

"Did you manage to retrieve your rubbing?"

"Yes…"

"What happened next?"

"I started to head towards the boat deck…" check deck.

"Did you make it to the boat deck?"

"No…" she was starting to look around listlessly.

"Why didn’t you make it to the boat deck?"

"O'Donald…"

"Who is O’Donald?"

"A sailor… Irish…"

"What did O’Donald do?"

"He…" her jaw clenched.

"He what? What did O'Donald do?"

Jessica didn’t answer. She had fallen still and was staring wide eyed looking past the camera and Nate. Her breathing was noticeably heavier.

"Did O’Donald grab you?"

She closed her eyes and noticeably swallowed before licking her lips and answering her quietest yet, "yes…"

"Can you tell me where he grabbed you?"

"…. Can I have a cup of tea or maybe coffee? Anything that’s warm or hot?" she asked, ignoring the recent question.

"Of course Miss Hudson. We will need to continue your questioning though."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes. We can wait until after you get your hot drink," Nate said.

Dr. Wheeler instructed one of his interns to make her a large mug of lemon tea.

Once she received it, she immediately wrapped her hands around it, bringing it up to her nose to smell it before taking a few sips. Looking back towards Nate after she was done.

"We'll come back around to speak about Mr. O’Donald later. We'll start with something different for now. In the room that you were found in, your boots were beside you on the floor. Did you remove your boots?"

"Yes," she looked into her mug.

"Why did you remove them Miss Hudson?"

"I removed them, my coat, my cap and my sweater to try and hasten the effects of the cold…"

"You wanted to speed up the effects of the cold? Why?"

She looked back up, giving the camera the side eye before focusing in on where Nate must be.

"I did…"

"Why? Nate pressed again.

"Why?" She asked her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Why did you want to hasten the effects of the cold?"

"I didn’t want to drown. I was hoping for a more peaceful death. I had written my letter and sealed it with my rubbing in an empty bottle that I had found in the room. It no longer seemed prudent to try and fight death. No one heard my calls for help, nor was I able to open the door, as much as I had tried. Water was quickly filling the room…. If the cold could help numb the panic and awareness of inhaling water while trying to breathe; being potentially unconscious from the cold is the preferable option."

Nate didn’t hesitate going into the next question.

"If you were supposed to be manning a lifeboat, how did you come to be in that room?"

Her face became blank as she closed down again. Her attention shifted to her mug as she ran her finger around the rim again and again.

"Miss Hudson,"

"Yes?" She asked without looking up.

"We need you to answer the question."

"Which question?" She asked without looking up.

"The ones about how you ended up in that room, with that many bruises and what Mr. O'Donald had to do with it. You can’t keep avoiding them."

"I’d rather not," she answered looking away from Nate, the camera and her mug.

"Miss Hudson we realize that you would rather not, but there’s no one other than you to be able to explain in detail what happened to you. We just want the truth."

She remained, continuing to look away from Nate and the camera, but was once again looking down at her mug. Nate waited at least five minutes to see if Jessica would start to explain on her own. She didn’t. All she continued to do was stare at her mug and hold it.

"You were on your way to a lifeboat after retrieving the rubbing of your dad’s name; then what happened?" prompted Nate.

"…. I— I didn’t see him… didn’t… notice him… at all… when he… he grabbed me…" she said hesitantly, slowly lowering her mug down. "Grabbed me by my neck— the back of it… almost like the scruff of a kitten…. My one arm… pulling it backwards; towards him… I tried to get away…" tears were welling up as she paused once again.

"How did you try to get away from him?" Nate prompted once again when it seemed unlikely that Jessica would start by herself.

"By kicking… punching… screaming… I couldn’t reach him… he was so much bigger than me… taller… broader… stronger… I would have tried biting if I could have reached to do such…"

"Did he try and do anything to you?" Nate asked. Jessica looked puzzled for a moment.

"He told me that if I wanted to act like a man, I could die like a man?"

"Was there anything else that he might have done to you?" Nate pressed further.

"He told me this is what I got for playing at what I wasn’t. That I should have been more careful about where I changed… he knew… he knew and it sounded like he knew for a while already… I tried screaming… flailing. He was holding me too tight… my arm behind me… I couldn’t reach him… I pleaded with him to let me go… he didn’t have to do this… —he threw me hard into that room… I tried to get to the door before he closed it… I wasn’t fast enough. I banged on the door and pleaded for him to let me out… I tried everything I could think of to get that door open.Ramming into it, tried to put something through it… tried to break the lock… everything…. Screaming for help… hoping that anyone might hear me… I— didn’t care if my secret was revealed… if it meant getting out… before I gave up and started writing my letter… —I never thought anyone would get the chance to read it…" she faded off without picking up again.

"Miss Hudson— do you think that he had any designs against you?" Nate asked her softly.

"What?" asked Jessica, suddenly straightening from her slouched and looking down position.

"Do you think that his intentions had gone beyond just removing you from a spot in a lifeboat? That he might have had other intentions had the ship remained afloat?" Nate asked.

Her jaw was slack and eyes widened in horrified shock.

"What?! No! No! He was desperate! He wanted to live! His original assignment likely would have left him dead. He just wanted a spot in a lifeboat. If he wanted to—" she swallowed heavily and shivered, "assault me, he could have done so before. No. He saw me as an easy way onto a lifeboat. He took his chance to survive by condemning me to die," shaking her head throughout. Nate continued Jessica’s interview as they started speaking again, starting with a sigh from Dr. Richardson.

"It’s a shame that we don’t have O’Donald's side of things."

Dr. Wheeler looked at his partner sharply. "What if we could?"

"What do you mean?"

"Richardson, there’s been a successful test done with the time travel technology that has been in development. We could collect our own statement from Ryan O'Donald. Hear his side of things first hand. Potentially we can even record it, so the interview can be referred back to much like we will be able to with Miss Hudson's. Best of all, if it’s done in the past there will be no Erik Piston to question the ethics of it all."

"We could be the only ones to get a true interview from him. When would we go visit him?"

"The best time would probably be in 1919. We wouldn’t want to kill the man when he’s older."

"This will take some planning," Richardson said with a frown.

"It will, but we don’t have a lot of time to waver over those plans. If we want to gain learning what we can from O’Donald we will have to be precise and quick in our leaving. Who knows what Erik Piston will choose to do after seeing our supposed mishandling of Jessica’s case."

Their planning began in earnest as Jessica Hudson's interview continued.

Notes:

This will likely be the last chapter for awhile. I’m caught up to where I had rewritten.

Notes:

This chapter is a completely new chapter to the story. There isn’t an equivalent to it previously. (Still not completely sure that it’s the appropriate first chapter, but it works for now. At a later date the chapter order might change). Originally the very first thing that I posted for this story was The Letter, which will still come up later.