Infected Waters: A Titanic Disaster Read online

  Crossing the room to check on the still form laying on the bed, Nora was thankful Patrick seemed to be unaware of any pain.

  Closing the door firmly behind her, she informed, “Make sure no one goes in or out until you are relieved by myself or Jonathan.”

  “Yes, Miss.” The crewman resumed his seat guarding the door.

  Unsure as to how long Patrick had, Nora vowed to keep this from spreading further. She would have to see that Jonathan came by more frequently as she feared he didn’t have much time left.

  The new infirmary was running well with Nurse Peggy overseeing the two volunteers from steerage.

  “Good morning, ladies. How are things going here?” Nora inquired of them.

  “Oh, Nurse Ryan, things are going splendidly today. I’m so sorry for taking things overboard yesterday.” Peggy hoped she would forget her behavior and not mention it to the new nurses.

  “We all have bad days, Peggy. Yesterday was trying for all of us. We won’t speak of it again.” Nora smiled, hoping to put her at ease.

  “Things seem to be under control. If you need me for anything, I’ll be downstairs seeing to the other patients.” Nora left, knowing the new infirmary was in capable hands.

  Dreading what she would find upon her arrival, she braced herself and opened the door. The room was quiet except for the raspy breathing of the two patients who were still conscious, at least for the moment.

  “Nurse Nora, please tell me you haven’t come to rescue us from the attentions of this gorgeous Nurse Judith?” Timothy pleaded.

  “She is very good at distracting us from our upcoming demise,” Billy, the other crewman, heartily agreed.

  “Oh, now, let’s not speak of demise. It hasn’t come to that yet,” Judith corrected quickly.

  “Truly said, Nurse Judith, but you mustn’t excuse what we all know will happen in the next few days,” Timothy proclaimed with little remorse for his fate.

  “Just promise me, when the time comes, you won’t hesitate to kill me before I bite anyone and spread this horrible disease,” Billy moaned. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. It hurts so much.”

  “Let me get you something for the pain.” Judith hurried to the cabinet for the medicine.

  Gripping Judith’s arm as she brought him the glass to take the medicine in, he reiterated his request. “Promise me. This sickness can’t reach land.”

  “Now, now. We have to be hopeful that you will get better and be just fine by the time we reach America,” Judith soothed, patting his arm gently.

  The medicine took effect and Billy dropped off to sleep.

  Exchanging glances, Nora and Judith hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he spoke to them.

  “Nurses? Could you bring me some paper so I can write a letter to my family so they have something to remember me by?” Timothy questioned hopefully.

  “Certainly. I’ll let Nora do that while I go and get some rest.” Judith proceeded to head to her room.

  “Here we go, Timothy. I’ll write it out for you if you’ll dictate it to me.” Nora pulled a chair closer to the bed.

  “Thank you, nurse.”

  When Nora finished the letter, she said, “I’ll make sure your family receives this, Timothy.”

  Looking around for somewhere to place the letter, she found the doctor’s bag.

  “I’ll take some of that medicine now, nurse.” He smiled weakly. “It’s been a pleasure, Nurse Nora.”

  “Oh, don’t say your goodbyes yet. Just rest and I’ll be right here.” Nora sat by his bed until his breathing evened out into a raspy snore.

  ~~~~~~

  Mid-afternoon, Jonathan stopped by with a late lunch for Nora. Since both of the patients were sleeping and nobody was allowed around the area of the infirmary, she had been overlooked when meal time came and went.

  “Jonathan, how thoughtful.” Nora met him, taking the tray from his hands and placing it on the table in the corner farthest from the patients.

  “Have they woken up since this morning?”

  “No. We gave them enough to put them out for several hours, but they both understood they might not wake up again.” Nora left the rest unsaid.

  “Should we eat while it’s hot?” he asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

  “Definitely.” Nora smiled for the first time that day.

  “Hmm, this is so good. Or it could be I’ve had nothing to eat and I’m starving,” Jonathan spoke around the food in his mouth.

  “I sort of forgot about breakfast as well. I was worried everything would be in shambles after yesterday, but the girls stepped up and kept things going. I was impressed.”

  “Everyone can do their jobs without me. I’m mostly around to make sure they do them and fix any problems they can’t handle.” Jonathan shrugged off the importance of his job.

  “What did you do before this voyage?” Nora asked curiously.

  “I’ve been a butler over several years during the main seasons when the large amount of society come back from their summer homes. I’ve done two voyages on ships, but this is the best ship I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’ve got a servant’s spirit and are a good leader. People follow when you speak.”

  “What were you before all this?” Putting the focus back on her, Jonathan felt uncomfortable with her praise.

  “A nurse, in several different hospitals, and this is my second ship voyage. My last ship sunk, but we were close enough to an island they could send the boats back and forth. We only lost those who were severely injured before it sank.” Nora shuddered at the thought of the men lost on that voyage.

  “It must have been horrifying.” Jonathan couldn’t imagine seeing death on a regular basis, much less knowing you couldn’t save everyone, which was so much worse.

  “Haunting would be the best way to describe it.”

  Each sat lost in their own thoughts when the door flung open.

  “Patrick is up and moving around his cabin,” the guard yelled at them, panicked.

  “Is the door shut?” Jonathan asked.

  “I didn’t open it. You told me it was dangerous so I ran here as fast as I could.”

  “Run, inform the captain.” Jonathan instructed. “Get ready, just in case it gets ugly and we can’t contain it.” Jonathan said over his shoulder to Nora as he ran out the door.

  His heart pounded as he raced through the corridors, barely making it around the corners.

  As several crewmen saw Jonathan running, he yelled out, “Help! You need to follow me now!”

  Rounding the last corner, his worst fear was realized.

  Another member of the crew had his hand on the door knob, turning it as Jonathan screamed, “NOOO! Don’t open the door.”

  Too late.

  The crack in the door was pawed open by bleeding nails. The man that Patrick had become flew at the surprised crewman.

  Holding the animal-like person back with his arms, the infected man continued to lunge forward, trying to use his teeth on any part of the man in front of him.

  As his nails dug into the crewman’s arms, Jonathan and the others approached cautiously.

  Taking the hose attached to the wall, he threw it around the infected man, who then turned his attention and force toward Jonathan.

  “Don’t let him touch you with his hands or teeth. We have to contain him!” Jonathan yelled at the men standing behind him.

  “Catch the hose.” He tossed the injured crewman the end trapping the infected’s arms, but they had to push him back and forth carefully a few times until he was restrained by the hose.

  Using the chair the guard had been sitting in to hold him back against the wall, the men looked to Jonathan for further instruction.

  “Hand me the axe.”

  The sound of breaking glass made the men nervous.

  When the axe was placed in his hand, Jonathan considered the next step.

  “One of you get two of the blankets off the bunks in there and lay them
on the floor here.”

  While they did as instructed, Jonathan and the injured crewman held the infected against the wall.

  “Stand back, men.”

  Jonathan leaned forward and put his foot behind the infected’s ankle, pushing him sideways. He tipped, looking like a mummy.

  The infected landed on his chest, so Jonathan placed a foot in the center of his back and swung the axe toward his head.

  The sound of a melon being opened made even the toughest men turn green. A few dispersed to the nearest lavatory to empty the contents of their stomachs.

  Those still standing when Jonathan pulled the still dripping axe from the infected’s head looked away from the gruesome sight.

  “Take your knife and cut the hose free. Now, you two, help me gather the blankets up. We have to take him to the furnace.”

  Jonathan gave orders, expecting them to be carried out and after his unemotional display of ending his roommate’s life, no one questioned him.

  Turning to the injured man, Jonathan sympathized with his predicament, but had to stay unattached.

  “Go see the nurse in the normal infirmary and have those wounds cleaned. Then come back and make sure all the blood is cleaned up. When you’re finished, I’ll meet you in the infirmary.” Jonathan didn’t want to tell him, his wound was now a death sentence.

  “Yes, sir.” The injured crewman confirmed.

  “All right, men. Lift on my count—one, two, and three.” The four men lifted and groaned at the dead weight of the infected’s body.

  The men in the furnace area didn’t even acknowledge Jonathan’s approach with a blanket wrapped body.

  When they neared the furnace, the men tending it simply stepped back and allowed them to throw their load into the flames.

  Everyone watched as their comrade’s body vanished in the fire. Turning away when the deed was accomplished, Jonathan waited to speak until they were outside the engine rooms.

  “Men, if you have any blood on you I suggest that you scrub down and put on fresh uniforms. Bring everything on you to this cart out here and I will make sure that it is burned.”

  The crew did as they were told, brushing past Jonathan in their hurry to leave the horror behind.

  Informing the captain about the incident did little to calm Jonathan’s unsettled feelings that their time aboard was running short.

  Chapter 10

  Millie Jean had decided to go out and sit on the deck for the afternoon. As she began to feel better, her attention was focused more on her daughter, much to Lillian’s dismay.

  Gil would be getting off shortly, and Lillian knew there was no way her mother would allow her to run around the ship with him.

  “Why darling, it’s so nice to see you with color in your cheeks. We can enjoy being out on the decks for a little air after all those days cooped up.” Richard smiled at his wife.

  “Richard, really,” Millie Jean protested as a blush rose, putting a healthy glow on her face.

  “Would you care to walk about the boat for a while, ladies?” He offered, holding out a hand to each of them.

  “No. I do believe I will stay here for a bit. Lillian, go walk with your father so you can sit still properly when it’s time for tea.” Millie Jean’s seat was in the shade, making it slightly chilly.

  “Samuel, would you please find a steward to bring a blanket for your mother?” Fixing his wife with a loving smile, Richard placed Lillian’s hand on the crook of his arm.

  “We are off to explore. You are welcome to join us, Samuel.” Richard hoped his son would take him up on their walk.

  “Nah. I’m supposed to meet the fellows on the other side, but thanks for the offer.” Samuel snatched a blanket from the steward coming out the door with an armful.

  “Here you go, Mother.” Samuel tucked the blanket around her legs, making sure she wouldn’t be too chilly. “Catch ya later.” With that, Samuel disappeared before they could stop him from leaving.

  Hastening out of earshot, Richard and Lillian moved toward the other side of the ship where the sunshine was inviting them to walk in the warm breeze.

  Millie Jean leaned back, closing her eyes as she soaked in the fresh air. Her side of the deck was almost empty so she didn’t feel as conspicuous if she dozed for a short while.

  Whispered voices roused her, and without opening her eyes, she focused on their voices.

  “Did you hear there was another attack last night?”

  “No, what happened?”

  “The crewman, Patrick, died, but then he wasn’t dead and they had to put him down.”

  “Put him down? You mean, kill him?” The steward was incredulous at the implication.

  “Yes. Jonathan, the head steward took an axe to his head, then they burned his body.”

  “Bloody Hell.”

  “Shhh, there’s a passenger over there.”

  “She’s asleep.”

  “They don’t want the ship to know about it so there’s not a panic.”

  “Can you believe he’s the fourth person to die since we sailed?”

  “All from this infection?”

  “Yes. One of the nurses was telling us about it at breakfast this morning.”

  “Do they know what’s causing it?”

  “It’s an unknown disease so far, but the only way you become infected is if you’re bitten or scratched by the victim.”

  “I guess we need to hope it doesn’t spread too much in the next few days so we can get off this cursed ship.”

  “Cursed? Didn’t you hear about the mummy coffin?”

  “There is more than one curse on this ship?”

  “Yes. The infection, and then every time this mummy’s coffin is moved, the ship or building it’s in are sunk or destroyed.”

  “Why haven’t we thrown it overboard?”

  “The captain did have it brought up to his cabin. I guess he is contemplating it.”

  “Why would he want that thing in his cabin?”

  “No, silly. He wanted to make sure that the mummy was still in the coffin.”

  “It’s a mummy. It’s not like it could escape and go wandering around.”

  “Wandering around is exactly what a mummy does, and if it was unwrapped and let loose, it could have any number of diseases coming from it.”

  “So they think this mummy is causing these people to be infected?” The crewman shuddered.

  “No. It doesn’t seem so because they put the coffin back in the cargo hold, but it does make you wonder where it came from.”

  “I plan to stay far away from the infirmary so there is no chance of this infection coming my way.”

  “If this spreads, there won’t be any way to stop it from being all over the boat.”

  Both stewards moved out of hearing range and Millie Jean hoped it was just a case of the crew telling stories to each other, but Richard needed to be warned just in case.

  Feeling a sense of urgency, even if Richard investigated and found it to be nothing, Millie Jean’s inner senses were screaming to find a way off the boat before it was too late.

  Removing the blanket, she sat up and followed their path around the deck, hoping they were only on the other side of the boat. Her condition was completely forgotten in her hurry to make it around the deck to her family.

  As she rounded the corner, she could see Richard standing there, talking with a few other gentlemen.

  Slowing from her hurried walk to a dignified stroll, Millie Jean approached them at the railing.

  Seeing no sign of Lillian, she frowned, realizing Richard had helped her escape her mother’s presence, leaving Lillian to roam the boat unsupervised.

  Shock covered Richard’s features as his wife’s approach registered.

  “Excuse me, gentleman. May I introduce my lovely wife, Mrs. Lambert?”

  “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

  “Likewise, I’m sure.” She acknowledged them all with a nod before returning her attention to her husband. “Dear, w
ould you mind escorting me as I walk around? I need you to lean on since I’m not feeling myself. I’m sure you gentlemen will be able to get along without him for a little while, won’t you?”

  “Certainly, darling. If you’ll excuse us, I’ll catch up with you later and we can finish this discussion.” Richard held out his arm to Millie Jean and they began to make their way down the deck.

  “Richard, I just heard the most disturbing situation on the other side of the deck.” Millie Jean glanced around before lowering her voice so the other passengers couldn’t overhear. “They are saying there is a disease on board and it’s infecting everyone. They have four dead already. Have you heard about it? Should we be worried?”

  “I’m sure if it’s as bad as all that they would have issued a warning to take precautions. If someone has died, then they did everything they could. A shipboard death is not uncommon, darling.”

  “I’ll make some inquires, but since we aren’t in the infirmary, the chances of being infected are very slim.” Richard tried to reassure her.

  “They did mention the infected were bitten or scratched by other infected people.” Millie Jean shivered in the warm sunlight.

  “Ah, see? We have nothing to worry about. I don’t have any scratches or bites and neither do you. We will be just fine. Let’s get you back to the room where you can lie down and warm up for a bit before dinner.” Richard took off his overcoat and placed it around her shoulders. “That should help until we can get to the room.”

  “All right, dear. If you say there isn’t anything to worry about, I’ll try not to. A nap does sound lovely though.” Millie Jean agreed, wondering if she could dismiss the nagging thoughts as easily as her husband seemed to.

  “Oh, Richard, we need to make sure the children are safe and not around the infirmary.”

  “After I get you settled in our rooms, I’ll go find them and make sure they know to stay away from that part of the ship.”

  “Thank you, dear.” Millie Jean sighed in relief.

  ~~~~~~

  Judith wanted to have a little fun when she woke up, but since most of the crew was helping to serve dinner, the decks of the ship would be deserted.

  Not knowing where her male entourage was, she opted for eating in the crew kitchen by herself.