Chapter 2
Rose's POV
Nine years ago, I had a happy, complete family.
Dad David and Mom Sarah were both doctors at Boston General Hospital. They'd been best friends with Leonard since medical school. Leonard was a medical prodigy—despite being much younger than my parents, the three of them interned together, pulled all-nighters researching, and fought their way through medicine side by side. Leonard was even my godfather—when I was born, Mom and Dad asked him to take that role.
The only shadow over our happiness was my congenital heart disease. Surgery carried enormous risks, and my parents kept hesitating, until that night that changed everything.
BEEP BEEP BEEP—
Sharp alarm sounds pierced the night's silence. My chest felt like someone had slammed it with a sledgehammer, the crushing pain making it impossible to breathe.
"Rose! Baby!" Mom Sarah's voice was pure panic as her trembling hands touched my forehead. "David, HURRY! Her lips are turning blue!"
"Damn it! Car's downstairs!" Dad David scooped me up and rushed toward the door. "Hang on, Rose! Daddy won't let anything happen to you!"
Am I dying? Why does it hurt so much?
The ER's fluorescent lights were blindingly bright. I was wheeled onto a cold operating table, surrounded by strangers in white coats whose voices sounded distant and muffled.
"Congenital heart disease, aortic coarctation with ventricular septal defect. Heart failure, extremely critical condition!"
"This complexity of CHD... success rate less than thirty percent..."
"The child's too young, heart structure too complex, risks are astronomical..."
Success rate? Risks? Are they saying I'm going to die?
Terror poured over me like ice water. I wanted to cry but didn't even have the strength.
"Let me take a look."
Suddenly, a gentle voice spoke up.
I struggled to move my eyes and saw a young male doctor striding over. Mid-twenties, with deep gray eyes like an endless starry sky.
"Leonard!" Mom and Dad called out almost simultaneously. "Thank God you're here!"
"I just got out of surgery and heard Rose's condition deteriorated." Leonard hurried to my side, his warm hand gently touching my forehead. That warmth instantly drove away some of the fear. "Hey, little princess, remember me?"
"Leonard..." I whispered his name weakly. He'd been like family my whole life. Tall, gentle, always smiling and bringing me gifts.
"Don't be scared, Rose." Leonard leaned down, softly wiping away my tears. "Look at me, sweetheart. Look into my eyes."
I forced my eyes wide open, staring into those deep gray depths.
"I promise you're going to live, Rose. I promise."
As the anesthesia slowly entered my bloodstream through the IV, consciousness began to fade, but only one voice echoed in my mind:
I was going to live. Because this man said so. Because Leonard promised me.
Six hours.
Leonard stood at that operating table for six solid hours, stitching my broken heart back together stitch by stitch.
The nurses later told me Leonard created a medical miracle that day. Everyone thought I was doomed, but he persisted until the very last second.
When I opened my eyes again, it was three days later, morning. Sunlight streamed through pale blue curtains into the hospital room, the air thick with the smell of disinfectant. My chest still ached a little, but I could breathe normally.
I'm alive.
"Mom? Dad?" I called weakly, trying to sit up.
"Rose, don't move." Leonard's exhausted voice came from beside the bed.
I turned to see him sitting in a chair, eyes bloodshot, dark stubble on his chin—clearly he hadn't slept. In his hands was a brand new pink teddy bear, but it wasn't my beloved brown one.
"Leonard!" I looked at him excitedly. "I made it! You were right!"
Complex emotions flashed in his eyes—relief, pain, and something I couldn't understand. Then he forced a smile. "Yes, Rose. You're the bravest little warrior I've ever seen."
"Where are Mom and Dad?" I looked around expectantly. "They said they were going home to get my favorite bear, Tom..."
Leonard's hands instantly clenched into fists, knuckles white. I saw deep anguish flash across his eyes, an expression that sent dread crawling up my spine.
"Rose..." His voice was hoarse, barely audible. "Sweetheart, I need to tell you something..."
No. No no no. From his expression, I already knew it wasn't good news.
"Is my disease really bad?" I asked innocently, my voice starting to shake. "Are Mom and Dad really worried? Where did they go?"
Leonard took a deep breath, his hands trembling as he held my small ones. "Rose, your heart is completely healed. You were so brave, the surgery was a complete success."
"Then where are Mom and Dad?" My voice grew more urgent. "When are they coming to see me?"
Leonard was quiet for a long time, the pain in his eyes frightening me.
"Rose... Mom and Dad... last night when they went home to get your bear, they were in a car accident." His voice shook. "They... they went to heaven."
What?
Heaven?
The word echoed in my brain, but at my young age, I didn't fully understand what it meant.
"Car accident?" My voice began trembling. "Because they were getting my bear? When are they coming back?"
"They're not coming back, Rose." Leonard's voice broke. "But they asked me to take care of you. Their last words were asking me to protect their little angel."
Reality hit me like a sledgehammer.
Mom and Dad are dead.
Because of me.
Because I wanted that damn bear.
"NO!" I suddenly started crying hysterically. "It's all my fault! I killed them! If I hadn't gotten sick, if I hadn't wanted the bear, they wouldn't have..."
"Rose, that's not how it is..." Leonard tried to comfort me.
"IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" I frantically pushed away his reaching hands. "I'm a murderer! I killed Mom and Dad!"
"Rose..." Leonard tried to hold me, but I fought desperately.
"Don't touch me! It's all my fault! All because of me!" Tears blurred my vision as despair engulfed me like a tidal wave.