The Royal Rose

Prologue

The doctor placed his hand on her pulse, and looked at her pale,anxious face. He had no idea how to break the news to the family. His eyes moved to the beeping monitors of the ICU. The erratic waves of ECG and the irregularity of her breathing made him worried. He took another look of his ailing patient, and turned around to leave the room. The woman removed her mask with the trembling hands, and gasped for the air.

"My b..baby?"

The words escaped her dried lips and vanished away in the beeps of the ICU. The doctor heard her, but didn't turn back. He wasn't going to lie to a dying woman but telling her the truth would be too cruel. She opened her mouth again, and gasped for more air.

The doctor turned around, and placed the mask back on her face.

"It's a girl. 3.5kg and healthy. She's kept at Nursery for a while, just for observation."

The woman's pale bony cheeks raised as her lips stretched into a smile. The irregular waves of ECG started breaking, as the doctor rushed to resuscitate her. Her heart beat was dropping, and the waves converted to a dead straight line. There was a smile on her face, and a happiness in her fixed eyes. She had died being a mother,the biggest wish of her life. Though her arms remained deserted, but the news of her tiny soul's presence in the same hospital made her contented.

The doctor looked at her lifeless body. She never knew that her husband had chosen the baby over the mother. He had asked the doctors to save the baby, no matter whether it killed his wife or not.

Outside the ICU, peeking through the glass window of the Nursery,was a man watching a little baby .The tears in his eyes,finally trickled down to his lips when the baby yawned and opened her big eyes keenly. His eyes moved towards the door handle and back to the glass window. He was waiting for the doctor, to tell him about his wife. Although, he knew that the doctors believed him to be a bad husband. But it was his wife's wish, to save the baby, no matter what happened.

She wanted the baby so much, but the doctors have labeled her infertile 7 years ago. Then, one day she returned back home from the forest bringing a basket full of apples. She had traded her horse for the fruits as she believed that these would help her bear a baby. Just like the forbidden fruit which made Eve bear children.

The man never believed her, but in a month, her pregnancy was confirmed. The woman was happy, but she never told her husband that she had promised something precious to the old witch, not only her horse. As every magic comes with a price, her life could have been the price selected by the witch. When the woman fell very ill in her 35th week of gestation, she told her husband about the deal and asked him to keep the baby safe always.

The doctor informed the man that his wife was dead. The man's heart broke, but he had to stay strong for his little daughter. The snow white baby girl with her blood red cheeks, was the most beautiful little thing, he had ever seen. He held her in his arms, and the warmth of her little fingers around his finger made his heart warm.

He spoke,"I would name you,Rose Mary."

Rose, because she was so beautiful just like a blooming rose. And Mary, after her late mother. So, Rose Mary became the light of his dark life and he was ready to do anything to fulfill his promise to his dead wife.