"Bloody hell…" John mumbled under his breath. It was in the late hours of the fourteenth of April, and the wireless had just broken down the day before. After doing something they were neither paid nor trained to do, John and Harold fixed the bloody thing, but now, there was a bulk of messages needing to be sent. John listened closely to the sound sent by Cape Race, which was an onshore radio station. The sounds were dim due to proximity. "Beep, beep, beep…" there was then a sudden burst of loud morse code ringing in his ears, and he pulled the headset off. The noise was so loud it nearly deafened him! It was from the Californian, a nearby ship, reporting their position and saying they were stopped for the night by large things of ice. "Son of a…" John whispered. His near deaf experience did nothing to help his mood. With a breath, he put the headset back on and sent a well deserved message.
"M.L.W., THIS IS M.G.Y. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. YOU'RE JAMMING MY SIGNALS. I AM BUSY. I AM WORKING CAPE RACE."
With another breath, John continued to work until about eleven-forty, when a sudden shaking ran through the room. It didn't seem like much, so he didn't take much heed to it. On that night, Harold was planning to take over the key two hours earlier than usual, so he was currently asleep. But he soon awoke and poked his head through the closed curtain. "John, you looked exhausted!" He said. "I'm not exhausted… I feel as though I could lift a house right now…" it also seemed as if John couldn't make up his mind, but it wasn't long before he said, "Forget it. I'm going to sleep." "You sure?" Harold joked. "You don't want to stay awake for another forty-eight hours?" The boys joked for a moment as Harold sat down in the seat by the desk and John was just about to disappear into the adjoining cabin when Captain Smith appeared. "Captain Smith?!" Harold said, somewhat surprised. "We've struck an iceberg, and I'm having an inspection made to see the damage. You two better get ready to send out the call for help, but don't do it until I tell you to." He then left. After a few lines of talk, John made it clear that he'll stay awake until he finds out what is currently going on. The two operators talked more until Captain Smith came back once again. "Send out the call for assistance." He ordered, quickly leaving right after. John moved his friend out of the desk chair. "Let me take the key again." He said.
As she lay in bed, Kitty closed the book she was reading, putting it to rest on the nightstand beside her. She looked to the empty space next to her. Turning out the light, she nuzzles up to that empty space, holding the pillow close. To her, it was as if she could still smell his scent. With the light off, she heads to bed, thinking everything is fine, but it won't be until the very next morning when it would seem as if her world had suddenly changed.
Things were not going so bad so far. It was really just communication with other ships and spreading the word that assistance was needed.
"CQD. THIS IS TITANIC. WE HAVE STRUCK A BERG. COME AT ONCE. POSITION 41.46 N. 50.14 W."
It wasn't long before the gravity of the situation was made clear… Titanic is sinking bow first… John made sure to update their communication, telling those nearby that they were now sinking and the needed assistance was immediate. Contact was made with several ships, such as the Frankfurt, the Baltic, the Mount Temple, and soon they would contact the Olympic, who was Titanic's twin sister ship. There came no reply from the Califirnian, Titanic's closest neighbor… were they being ignored? Carpathia was another communication, and upon hearing the call for help, she immediately turned track and headed for Titanic.
"DO YOU KNOW THAT CAPE COD IS SENDING A BATCH OF MESSAGES FOR YOU?"
"CQD. WE HAVE STRUCK A BERG AND SINKING. ASSISTANCE NEEDED IMMEDIATELY. POSITION 41.46 N. 50.14 W."
"SHALL I NOTIFY MY CAPTAIN?"
"YES. COME AT ONCE."
"Carpathia's coming our way. Find the Captain and report this." Phillips said, handing Harold a paper with the written position and the current speed of the coming ship. Harold nodded, and out the door he went, still in his night clothes.
"PUTTING ABOUT AND HEADING FOR YOU. WE ARE 58 MILES AWAY."
"RECEIVED. THANK YOU."