710

My grandma had an obsession with two numbers. 7 and 10. 

Her alarm clock was set a 7:10 am. She didn't wake up at this time, but that was the default time on her alarm. 

She had seven seats in her cottage. Ten blankets. Ten plates and cups. Seven kettles, ten knives… She had seven raised beds in her garden. Ten flower pots… 

When she went to the market every weekend, she bought 10 of this or 7 of whatever fruits and vegetables she needed. 7 bananas, 10 tomatoes, 7 biscuits, 10 pieces of chicken, 7 apples, 7 oranges, 10 onions, 7 cuts of beef… 

I loved my grandmother, but I didn't like to go to her cottage. At least as I grew older. There were too many rules involving the numbers 7 and 10. 

Even though she didn't make you believe in it yourself, she made sure that in her space the numbers rules were followed. 

"Numbers follow you all through your life." She would often say. 

As kids, she sang to us folk songs and told us tales about 7 little rabbits, 10 little bunnies, 7 cunning foxes, 7 wonderful children, 10 precious stones, 7 twinkling stars… 

It wasn't until adulthood that I realised that all these had been her original creations. Figments of her creative imaginations. 

When meeting her or saying goodbye, she would give you seven or ten kisses. Yes, you can imagine we didn't enjoy it. At least all the time. 

Her name was Ellizabeth. With 10 letters in her name. I always felt it had been misspelt. Or had she deliberately added the extra "l" at some point in her life to fit her number 10 theory? She was also the 7th and last born of her parents. 

We had developed immunity to my grandmother's words and actions on these matters. When it got too much we would roll our eyes. We never actively questioned her and we never verbally attacked her. 

Her children, my mother included could not stand it, especially as adults. They often shared that this obsessing of their mother's had almost driven them crazy growing up. It was even a miracle that they grew up to be functioning adults. 

In total, they were 7 siblings. Definitely not a coincidence. 

My mother named me after her mother. But probably in an act of rebellion, she removed the extra "l" in my name. Thank goodness! 

My grandma's obsession was absurd and annoying yes. But the old woman didn't mean any harm. It was just her life. It was the way she was. And we all found our own ways to cope with it. 

"I had 10 kids. And 7 of them were boys." She'd always tell her grandkids or anyone who cared to listen really. " As a child, I had 7 kittens. Numbers follow you all through your life." 

On the day I graduated from nursing school, she bought me seven congratulatory pins and ten flowers of different colours. 

When my family took me to the docks on my work voyage at the hospital aboard the Titanic, she had packed me 7 different kinds of fruits and gave me 10 coins for good luck on my journey and the new job. 

I accepted them and smiled. I was too excited about this great opportunity that I wasn't keen on showing the rest of my family what she had given me. Plus it wouldn't be news anyway. 

Besides still, the dock was very crowded on that momentous occasion. Newspeople with cameras, excited passengers, their friends and relatives seeing them off, excited onlookers…  

I also needed to board earlier and faster to start my shift on this beautiful and magnificent ship. The RMS Titanic. 

I didn't get to experience the pomp and glamour of the sailing. Not even as we set. I was already busy with inventory, helping the passengers that were feeling anxious or getting seasick, those that we're exhausted from the queuing etc. I was there to work after all. 

I would work from early morning till 3 pm. I'd take a break and then go back for an early night shift, work for a few hours then go to sleep in the workers' dorm.

The schedule was gruesome but it was only going to be for a few days. Then I'd get to rest when the ship docked in New York before working my way back home. The pay was also very good. And I'd get to meet new people and see new lands. Hopefully, even meet a handsome gentleman to plan a wonderful future with. 

My grandma's 7 fruits were also very helpful. I'd munch them in between my breaks. 

It was a glamorous ship! The most glamorous of them all. And it attracted men of glamour. Maybe one of them would become mine. The thought made me smile. I liked to have a family of mine someday. 

"You need to have seven children Lisa. Maybe even ten." My grandma would tell me. 

I'd just smile trying to be polite. 

I didn't share in her sentiments. 

In between seeing patients, I'd fantasise about meeting a handsome man on the ship and going sightseeing with him in New York when we docked. 

But sometimes I'd get sad in my search for love. 

For the past 3 days, I had been attending to this pregnant teenager Kiera who usually came in for checkups during my night shifts. As I went to sleep, I would escort her to her cabin. 

The waters had made her pregnancy symptoms worse. 

That and the fact that her parents were sending her to go live across the Atlantic with a distant relative until she had given birth. They planned to give the baby away for adoption and have her return home to her normal life. 

The poor girl would cry and cry as she told me this. 

" I love my baby. They can't do this to me. I love my boyfriend too. We wanted to get married and raise the child…together…we were determined." 

Her parents had even spread rumours about her boyfriend's family. That his was a cursed one and no blessings would come from such a union. That they would be doomed to a life of poverty and misery. Them and all their future generations. 

Her sobs would always sadden me. But what could I do? Try to convince her traditional Irish parents that such an act was backward and uncalled for? That such beliefs had no place in modern society? 

Plus I was there to attend to her medical needs. Not to interfere in her personal life. I gave her a listening ear though. I hoped my listening would help her somehow. I allowed her to let it out. 

Even though I had encountered some crazy things in my family, the girl's situation was heartbreaking. 

Even my grandma and her obsession with the numbers 7 and 10 looked like nothing compared to this. 

Fourth Day

I was attending to Kiera on the fourth day of the voyage when we heard bells supposedly coming from the decks. 

"Do you hear that nurse Lisa?" She asked. 

"Yes, I do. It's probably just nothing. This ship is new. They are really taking good care of it. They don't want to ruin it. I heard the official announcement to staff earlier that we were approaching icy waters. Maybe it's just a warning calling for more caution." 

"Did you feel that too?" 

"What?"

"Like a bump." 

"Yeah, probably just the icy waters." 

"No. Seriously it was more than that." Kiera insisted. 

" It's probably just the pregnancy making you rather sensitive to movements," I answered her. " It helps you protect the baby more." 

She wasn't convinced. 

Before I could find more words to help my patient relax, the head nurse rushed in speaking in fast words.

" Lisa, word from the captain. We just hit an iceberg. People are panicking. Expect more patients before rescue ships arrive. Stay at the station for them as we go up to attend to the rest." 

I was dumbfounded!

Stay where? How? When? …. What!?

Before I could answer, she was gone! And some patients were beginning to stroll in nonstop. 

"Any answers nurse?" 

"What's happening?"

"Can I get a painkiller for my headache?" 

"My anxiety is killing me." 

"What about a rescue…?" 

"Do they have enough boats?" 

I didn't get a chance to think as I attended to them probably in the most unprofessional way ever.

I was also scared. Not just for me but for Kiera who had refused to leave the hospital and wanted to stay with me. 

" Go upstairs! Go to the decks! If it gets worse and there is a rescue, you will be given first priority due to your condition. Go!" I urged her.

" No!" She protested. "Come with me. I can't do it on my own. And you shouldn't be here too. Come!" 

She was right. And I wasn't even helping the passengers that were coming in. I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted to obey the orders of my superior but I still needed to know what was going on as at this point I was not getting any official communication. 

After about almost half an hour of going back and forth on it in my mind, I took Kiera's hand and told her "Come with me!" 

Plus if she was going to be safe, she needed to be taken to safety. I was helping a patient after all. A needy patient. 

I took her out of the hospital and to the decks. There lifeboats were being lowered and passengers were making their safe exits. This seemed to have been happening for a while as not many of them were left. 

I followed the-women-and children-first calls. But everyone was scrambling to get on. We tried to push our way through but so was everyone else. We exchanged looks with Kiera as though we were thinking the same thing. We had to get creative. 

" Pregnant maiden about to give birth. Pregnant maiden about to give birth." I screamed.

Kiera quickly jumped into acting mode. She held her belly, bent her back and started groaning. And the people around us slowly gave way as I kept screaming moving forward. I was also in my complete nurse uniform so they must have trusted my word and Kiera's convincing act. 

It took a while. But it worked. When we reached the railings of the deck we were quickly pulled into the lifeboat by the officer in charge of that specific rescue spot. 

" It's the last one. It's the last one." I heard a young man utter in panic when he was disallowed to climb in. " We are all going to die." He announced again. Sadness and despair filled his voice.

" A rescue ship is on its way." I heard an older voice attempt to reassure him. "We will be fine. We will be saved. All of us." 

Kiera and I got into the lifeboat and followed suit. Like the other passengers had been doing. We began to row away from the mighty-now distressed Titanic.

They had called it every great name ever invented. And in every language they could. They had made everyone want to be a part of it. They had made me strive to be a part of it. But as I looked at it rowing away, even as its lights went off, all I felt was gloom and grave sadness. 

Happiness and joy, pomp and glamour, class and privilege, wealth and glory all had been turned to wind and dust in an instant. The vanity of it all! 

They could offer you the whole world. But at the core of it, what truly matters in life is peace, serenity and safety. And the chance to live to see another day. That's what I realised at that point. 

I couldn't tell for how long we rowed. All I know is that it was cold and very tiring. We were also panicking as the ship we had just of boarded seemed to be deteriorating by the flicker. So many passengers were still on board desperate for a rescue. It was devastating. 

I felt grateful to be on a lifeboat. I didn't know what to think. I only hoped for a quick rescue. It was the only way we would all be saved. At least most of us. There were also two young men on the boat that kept looking lovingly at each other. I was very curious about what their story was. 

We were in the waters for a while when I realised the lifeboats around us were becoming less and less. Some even empty. In the dead of the night, it was difficult to see. 

They said that some people were returning to the Titanic after panicking in the lifeboats. Others were saying the occupants had onboarded a rescue ship. Some boats had also toppled in the freezing waters. 

It was confusing until I saw a light that could have only been from another ship. 

"Lisa, look…" Kiera had gestured. 

It was a rescue ship! 

As we approached it, I noticed several passengers had already been rescued. I kept panicking as we stayed in the lifeboat waiting for our turn. Could this rescue go any faster? 

It was dark and we were all frightened, cold, confused, devasted, sad and tired. 

I held on to Kiera. I could only imagine what she was feeling after all she was going through. She was also pregnant and had the maternal instincts of protecting the life of her unborn child. I understood her situation from a medical perspective. She needed to be safe. 

I also thought about my parents and family at home and what they would have made of all this! 

I felt the ten coins for good luck my grandmother had given me. I always kept them tight in a small pouch in the right-hand pocket of my nurse uniform. I felt warm touching them. They gave me hope. That poor old woman and her superstitions was my source of solace at my darkest hour. 

I missed her. And I wanted to hug her. And receive her kisses. Seven or ten. It didn't matter at this point. I just wanted to hug her and be with her. 

Things were moving in a way we couldn't understand in the dark night. But my hope was restored when I saw passengers from our lifeboat boarding the rescue ship. 

As a crew member. I let them board first. Kiera held on to me. She refused to go without me. But I still allowed her to board before I did. 

After I had gotten on board the rescue ship I heard a crew member mention to the other that was standing there with a pen and clipboard. 

" That was the last one sir. They couldn't find any more lifeboats." 

" Roger that." The senior answered. " Hopefully when it gets brighter, it will be easier to spot more. We have to prepare to leave and take these poor passengers to land. What a grave tragedy!" 

"Indeed sir." 

"How many people have we been able to rescue so far according to your sheet ?" The junior asked. 

"710. The nurse was the last one. She was number 710." 

I almost fell over on hearing this. 

I could hear my grandmother's voice ringing in my ears.

 "Numbers follow you all through your life, Lisa." 

I reached out to hold Kiera's hand and we followed the other passengers to safety. I probably needed support even. 

"Are you ok?" She asked me after noticing my reaction to the words from the officers.

We all knew the Titanic had more passengers and crew members on board than the rescue number they had just mentioned. She must have thought the thousands of possible lives lost was the cause of my reaction. 

I badly wanted to tell her the story. The full story. But I didn't know where to begin. I didn't even have the energy. 

"710," I murmured to myself. "710."