Chapter 3

I watched as a nurse covered up the President’s lifeless form. There was nothing more eerie then a white sheet at that moment. Jackie planted herself down in a chair as we watched the nurse roll her best friend down the hallway. By this time, the priest had made arrangements for a casket. We had to wait for them to clean up the body.

It took hours, but to Jackie, it must have felt like days. Jackie paced around for the whole time, asking herself over and over what she would tell the children. I finally convinced her to sit down, and 10 minutes later the medical examiner came out to tell us that he was finished. Jackie stood up.

“Thank you, doctor.” She said, offering her hand. The doctor shook it.

“Of course. And I am very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Kennedy.” Jackie bit her lip at the sound of her last name. She nodded and turned away. Two of the secret service men that had waited followed the doctor down the hall to carry the casket. Jackie would pick out a better casket once in Washington. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson came inside to get us, so we could fly back to Washington D.C. He was afraid that it was still very dangerous. We made arrangements to fly on Air Force one. We had a police car take us to the airport. Some secret service men carried the president’s casket onto the plane. A woman was on their, I didn’t know her name, to swear in the new president.

“I do solemnly swear,” She began

“I do solemnly swear,” he repeated, and it went on from their. Jackie went in that one moment, from a married first lady, to a former first lady. The flight was long, hard and the most heartbreaking thing ever. Jackie didn’t cry while President Johnson was sworn in. She stood silently by his side, because she knew it had to be done.

We arrived in Washington some time later. Jackie wept as she watched them load her husband’s body into an ambulance, I stood behind her. I pulled a moist towelette out of my purse and went to walk with her.

“Mrs. Kennedy?” I asked. Right then I knew I had made an awful mistake.

“Please, Elisabeth, Call me Jackie.” She paused. “And yes, you are still employed.” I was shocked, I wasn’t even thinking about that!

“No, Jackie,” I rolled the name around on my head a while, trying to make myself remember it. “I was just wondering if you wanted to clean up a bit.” I handed her the cloth. She had wiped her face and removed most of the gore from her hair already.

“No, thank you though, Elisabeth.”

“You’re welcome.” I said, sticking the towel back in my purse. I tried.

When we finally got back to the white house, there were reporters everywhere. We had to get Jackie in to see her kids, but that proved very hard. We finally got her inside, where she darted towards the children’s bedrooms. They heard her walking down the hall, and Caroline ran to greet her.

“Mommy?” John Jr. asked timidly, while slowly creeping out of his room. He was dragging his blanket behind him.

“Yes, John, It’s mommy.” Jackie did her best to put on a smile for the little boy that was almost 3. Caroline suddenly perked up, and by the look on her face, I could tell she knew something wasn’t right.

“Where’s Mr. President?” She asked, as she had named her father.

“He isn’t here, honey.” Jackie whispered, fighting back tears.

“Well, where is he then?” Caroline argued. She had her hands on her hips. I knew it was killing Jackie to look at her daughter’s youthful face, and know it would soon be wet with tears.

“Caroline, Daddy’s gone.” Jackie was trying to put it lightly as possible.

“What?” Caroline whimpered.

“He’s in heaven, sweetie, I’m so sorry, Caroline.” Jackie finally let her tears fall.

“NO! He’s still here!” Caroline screamed. She ran fiercely into her room, and slammed the door. She may have only been six, but she was a fireball. Jackie was now in a heap on the ground, sobbing once again.

“Now she’s mad at me.” She whispered. She hated making her children mad.

“No, Jackie!” I counseled softly, “She’s not mad at you. She’s just upset.” I walked over and sat next to her, placing my hand on her arm as some sort of comfort. She didn’t pull away as I thought she would. She just sort of, sat there. When her tears had dried, John Jr. ran up to her.

“Did mommy fall down?” He asked in his little boy voice.

“No, honey, Mommy didn’t fall down.” Jackie corrected lightly. She stood up and dusted her self off. “If I can just get through tonight…” I heard her whisper. I knew it would be so hard for her tonight. She’d be all alone in a half empty bed. I hoped Caroline would be alright. I could hear her sobs coming from her room. It broke my heart to see that sweet little angel so sad. Suddenly her door cracked open, and she stepped into the hall.

“Mommy?” She murmured. Jackie turned her attention to her Daughter.

“Yes?” She answered.

“Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

“Of course, little one.”

By this time, it was already 9 pm. I heard a phone ring, and was compelled to answer it, but a staff member beat me to it.

“11 pm. They say the autopsy will be done at 11 pm.” He reported. No one said a thing. I just stood their, waiting for someone to do something. Jackie wanted to send everyone to bed, but if she was waiting up, we would too. At 11:00, we got a call from the coroner’s office, saying the body was ready to be picked up. We sent, or rather, Jackie sent, some secret service men to pick him up. An hour later, the casket was brought in.

“Jack!” Jackie whispered. It was almost as if he had just returned home from a vacation, the way his wife rushed to the casket. The casket was draped in an American Flag. The men set it on a pedestal that had been set out earlier. Jackie ran to it, and wrapped her arms around it. She kissed it, and lay her head down upon it, and just stood there. She had never looked so alone, all my years of knowing her. I worked with her long ago when she was an avid Journalist. Then she met Jack, and I never saw her again. Until she called me to work with her, but of course it was only because of my application for the job. I don’t think she remembered me. We watched Jackie hold on to that casket for dear life, as though it was her husband. All of us around were crying. It was horrible to see a woman holding on to a casket, especially when she was only 33, and her husband inside was only 46. I knew, Jackie and the rest of the staff would not rest until the person who did this was caught. I tried to persuade Jackie to change, but she refused. She said that she wanted them to see what they did to her husband. By 7 am Jackie was still standing by her husband’s casket. We couldn’t get her to move, or even to sit down. Half the staff was still there, and the other half was crowded around the television, watching news reports. On man rushed in at 10:00, and told us that at 11:15, the man would be revealed.

“They’ve caught him?” She asked, turning to the casket, “Oh, Jack they’ve caught him!” All I could do was smile politely at Jackie; it was all so pitiful and sad.

At 11:10, we moved into the living room, to see the man that murdered the president,

11:15 revealed the man that had ruined lives. A man named Lee Harvey Oswald. We watched silently as a man stepped out of the crowd, approaching Oswald.

“What is he doing?” I wondered aloud. He whipped out a gun.

“Oh!” Jackie yelled. A loud shot rang out. I smiled. That man was arrested on the spot. I am glad that my name never came up in the questioning of Jack Ruby, considering I knew all along what he, the nightclub owner, was going to do.