Troubles of Rosamund Mary Watson Holmes

Here we go again

It was Anna's voice, Rosa knew it from the moment she heard it, but it was so far away. Like she was in one and Anna was in the other room. Maybe they were far away from each other, maybe they weren't, Rosa couldn't tell, she could just feel warmth around her hand. She held onto that warmth and slowly the light surrounded her. It was so bright and then she opened her eyes. She saw four familiar faces in the all white room. In the chair next to her was Anna, sleeping Anna, holding her hand. On the couch across her bed were people she once considered family. Her dad, her papa and her uncle. They were all asleep. And she was in the bed, with something in her mouth, going down her throat. She saw the nurse button and clicked it. When a nurse showed up, Rosa waved her and the nurse removed the tube from her throat, but when she tried to thank her, her voice was gone.

-You are mute now, Rosamund. The wound damaged your vocal cords.

The words made a lot of sense, but then she felt Anna moving and stopped looking at the nurse. When Anna saw Rosa's eyes open, she started crying. She jumped on top of her girlfriend and kissed her. On Anna's cries everyone else woke up and approached the bed. 

-Hello, Rosa...

Anna moved away from her, but still held her hand tightly.

-Annabelle, could we talk privately with her?

The small girl nodded and left the room. Rosa felt the need to follow her, to protect her all the time. She didn't want to ever feel what Anna felt when Rosa "died".

I can't talk.

She explained on sign language and they all nodded. After that she added a small "sorry" and they all chuckled.

-Do you remember us now?

She nodded, immediately showing them with grabby hands to hug her. And they did. She started crying. It's her real family that is surrounding her, not Jim and Sebastian. Not anymore.

-You are such a big girl now! A woman!

Rosa nodded at her dad's words. She is twenty one years old. The last time she saw them was sixteen years ago. It feels like yesterday.

-You joined the army, I see.

Her uncle Mycroft commented looking at her uniform on Anna's chair. She tried to chuckle, but nodded again.

-That explains your aim and approach to those people.

-Mycroft!

Her papa stopped his brother from talking instantly, but Rosa already remembered what she did. What she had to do. To get back to Anna, to be able to protect her again.

Three years in Vietnam. 

Rosa showed to her dad and he translated it to the other two. 

-The damn best soldier and assassin they ever saw...

Anna's voice was heard from the door. She entered, followed by the doctor. Anna sounded proud of her girl, and Rosa was proud to be the best in something too. She told Anna that she is the best at her job too, but Anna shook her head.

-If...

But before she could say anything, Rosa threw her pants at her.

Shut up. It was not your fault.

-Rosa is right, it was Eurus' fault. Rosa's aunt who kidnapped her.

Eurus. Rosa finally connected the dots. Her aunt Eurus. That's why the voice was so familiar. They talked over the phone couple of times when Rosa was little.

She is a genius. You couldn't have stopped her. There is only two people that I know that are smarter than her and that's her brothers or my papa and uncle.

-I'm not translating that.

Her dad joked. He is right. The amount of ego in this room is already over the roof.

-Well, she can go home now. I wish you all the best, Miss. Watson Holmes.

Rosa nodded. That last name almost made her cry. She didn't hear it for so long. It was like  a music for her ears.

-Then, let's go.

Her dad suggested and Rosa quickly changed from her hospital robe into her uniform. She didn't want her name tags anymore, but they are a part of her that lived once and forgetting it would be saying that part of her never existed. So she kept them in her pocket as she walked out of her room, where her family waited. In 221b Baker Street was a party for her. Everyone was there and everyone was finally happy. There was even a few gifts waiting for her at the end of the day. She opened all of them and read all the cards except one. This one looked far too familiar. The paper felt delicate and the writing on the back was making her crazy. Why is it so familiar? She opened the envelope and froze. What she read made her stomach twirl and her eyes tear up.

On the almost empty paper, two words, six letters were written and they were the last words Rosa saw before the world went black.

Miss me?