"Please wake up, Rosemary. It's been a year. We miss you. Mom and Dad have been worried. They say if you stay like this for longer, we'll have to let you go. Please, please wake up! I don't want to say goodbye."
"Listen, Rose, Mary, and every other nickname you've hated. Wake up, okay? Like, seriously. This isn't funny anymore. It's been more than a year."
"Rosie...you honestly have to wake up. I've been coming here every day, and the homework I've been bringing you has been piling up. We had dreams, remember? To go to college together, learn about the careers we wanted...you can't do that if you're held back."
"Rosemary. It's me, Will. Your brother. Can you hear me? If you can, I miss you. So much. It's been a year and a half and I can still feel your absence at home. I've grown up, a little, I think—but I've missed you. You always took me to that ice cream parlor, remember? Now I can't even look at it. Please come back, okay? Mom and Dad say that it's all up to you whether or not you want to wake up. Please wake up. But if you don't want to, I—I—I get it, okay? No pressure."
"Hi, Rosemary, dear. It's been too long since I saw your eyes. Please open them for your mom. I can't bear seeing you like this, half-dead...I'm sorry your dad didn't talk to you, he took one glance and ran out."
"Rosemary, hey! The doctors said that you have a chance of waking up. They've been monitoring your brain and they said that there's some activity going on! Wake up soon! This is your brother, by the way. Will."
"Rosie! I heard the good news! You're waking up! I swear to god if you don't wake up, I'll wake you up myself and then kill you and then bring you back—"
"Rosemary...it's me, Will. Again. The doctors say that you won't be waking up. Your brain activity is apparently 'bizarre'. Their words, not mine. They say something else is happening to you, and that it might be dangerous, so if you don't wake up soon, they'll take you off life support."
"Seriously, Rosie? I just got the news you'd wake up last month and now they're telling me you might die?"
"Rosemary. It's too late. Mom is crying. Dad's sobbing and I'm afraid he might die himself from heartbreak. Tomorrow...tomorrow you're going to be gone. I—I honestly can't—can't—I'm sorry, I'll come back in an hour."
"Okay, I'm back. Um...look, Rosemary. You're my older sister. I'm sorry if I ever got mad at you, or ever called you stupid and annoying and bossy. These last two years, I've come to realize that I love you and that I miss having you around. Please, Rosemary, there's still a slim chance. Please...please..."
"It's Will. Today they're taking you off life support. I'm sorry. I love you. I know you love me too. Don't forget me, okay? Wherever you end up...anyway, I love you. Good bye."
On September 20, 2008, Rosemary Miller's eyes opened for the first time in two years, minutes before her death.
Her family, especially her younger brother, William Miller, had been relieved.
But they didn't realize that Rosemary's fight was far from over.
~Lyn
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𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝...
General FictionA game against time. A story of sibling love. Would it be all right at the end? At twelve years old, Rosemary Miller had been part of an accident that had sent her into a coma for two years. Two years later, when she woke up, she wasn't the same...
