Rose woke up, stretching lazily. It was a Sunday, so she didn't have work today. She looked over at John, who was still snoring loudly next to her, and she couldn't help but chuckle. Their apartment was relatively quiet, which meant that the two-and-a-half-year-old in the room next to theirs must still be sound asleep.
She got out of bed as carefully as she could so she wouldn't wake John up, tiptoeing into the bathroom, quickly brushing her teeth and combing through her hair. Today would be the perfect day.
She got back into bed, straddling her husband and starting to kiss him awake. A few moments passed before he started kissing her back, humming happily. "Good morning, Mrs Tyler-Smith," he said, rolling over so he was on top.
Rose chuckled, putting her hand on his bare chest "And good morning to you, Mr Tyler-Smith. Happy anniversary." She said, kissing him again.
He opened his mouth to say something more, but a little voice from outside spoke before he had the chance.
"Mummy? Daddy? I'm hungwy," Jack called from outside.
They smiled at each other before getting up. Rose opened the door to him as soon as they were both decent, and Jack ran in. John laughed and picked him up
"Alright, Jack. Why don't you and I go and make breakfast while Mummy gets ready?" he said. Jack nodded eagerly. He absolutely adored his father, and wanted to be just like him, in every single aspect.
"I want waffles. I love waffles, don't you love waffles too Daddy?" Jack asked, doing a bad imitation of his father's accent.
John laughed, "I do love waffles, Jack. But do you know what I love more? Banana waffles." He said.
Jack nodded "I like them too… Can we have 'Nana waffles?" John smiled and nodded, putting Jack into his high chair as he prepared them.
Rose joined them after 15 minutes, dressed and ready for the day. She sat down next to
Jack. "What's Daddy making for us, then?" she whispered to him.
Jack had been too hungry to wait for his father to finish the waffles, so he was eating small bits of apple "'Nana 'ffles" Jack said with his mouth full.
Rose sighed, wiping the juice of the apple he had spit out from his chin "Don't speak with food in your mouth, Jack." She said for what felt like the thousandth time.
He nodded, looking down "Sowy, Mummy…"
"It's okay. Just try and remember another time."
John walked over to the table and put a plate down in front of each of them "Breakfast is served. Just how you like it." He said. After getting his own food, he sat down next to Rose.
They settled for comfortable silence while they ate, Rose and John holding hands under the table.
"What are we doing today?" Jack asked when he felt full.
"We are all going to the park now." John said, "And after that, you are going to the babysitter's house." He said.
Jack smiled "I like Martha. She lets me watch TV while I eat, sometimes."
"Well, that's because you can sit at the dining table and see the TV in her living room." Rose said. "She doesn't live in an apartment as big as ours because she is still studying. She wants to be a doctor, just like daddy." She explained.
Jack nodded "Can we go now? To the park. I want to show Daddy how good I am at somersaults." He said happily, trying to stand up in his chair. Rose lifted him out, and resting him on her hip
"All right. But you have to promise not to run away like last time." She said, looking down at him.
Jack nodded "I pwomise, Mummy. Don't wander off," he said, reciting what his father had told him so often.
It didn't take them long to walk to the park, and spread out the blanket they had brought. Rose lay down, enjoying the sun, whilst her husband and son played where she could see them. After an hour, Jack was tired and wanted an ice cream.
He sat down in his mother's lap, hugging her while his father went to get him one. "Mummy?" Jack asked.
Rose smiled down at him "Yes, love?"
"I love you Mummy. And Daddy. And I want to be just like daddy when I grow up." He told her.
Rose smiled and kissed the top of his head "I love you and Daddy too. And I know that he loves you very, very much. He is so proud of you." She assured him.
She looked up to see John returning, with a solemn look on his face.
"Work?" she asked. He had really tried to get the day off, but due to illness among the hospital staff he was on call.
He nodded "It's a small operation, but it is an emergency so they need me to come in now. I'm sorry, love."
"It's fine, I understand." She said, used to it happening by now "I'll go home and cook dinner for tonight, and drop Jack off at Martha's after we go shopping. Don't worry. I'll wait for you."
John smiled and nodded. He handed the ice cream to Jack "Here you go, buddy. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Be good while I'm gone, look after your mummy, and remember that your Da loves you very much." He said, kissing jack's head.
He smiled up at Rose "See you later, Rose." He said, giving her a peck on the lips. "I love you. I'll make this up to you. I promise." He said sincerely.
Rose smiled "All right. See you later. Go save a life." She smiled "I love you."
"See you." He called cheerily back at them.
Rose took Jack's hand and they waved together.
They stayed in the park another hour after he had left, before going shopping and then to Martha's flat.
Rose was back in the flat around two in the afternoon, and started cooking a nice meal for them. It was their fourth year together as a married couple, and they were still as happy and in love as they had been in the beginning.
It was about six when the dinner was ready, but John still wasn't back. She kept the food in the oven at the lowest heat, and sat down. She knew that operations could easily drag out if something went wrong, so she wasn't the least bit worried.
It was nine when she gave up waiting and ate alone, leaving the rest in the microwave for him.
At half past eleven, she was starting to get worried. She sighed with relief when her phone finally started ringing. "Hey. You on your way home now?" she asked, already feeling sleepy.
However, the caller was not who she expected.
"Mrs Tyler-Smith, this is Dr Grace Holloway form the hospital." She heard from the other end. Rose frowned. She knew Grace. She had met her a few times at hospital fundraisers and faculty dinners, but she also knew that her and John weren't even in the same department so it was weird for her to call.
"Oh, hello Grace. Is John out of the operation yet?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"Mrs … Rose." Grace started, carefully choosing her words."John never made it here for the operation. On the way here, John was involved in a car crash. According to witnesses, he ran into the traffic to push a little boy out of the way of an out-of-control vehicle. He was brought into hospital, but there was nothing we could do. He died in surgery. I…"
Rose was sure that Grace had continued speaking, but the phone fell out of her hand.
John was dead.
Her husband was dead.
Had Rose been standing, she was sure that she would have collapsed
With shaking hands, she picked up the phone, hanging up without even checking to see if Grace was still there. She got her keys and put on her jacket, running down to her car.
It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. She had get to him, so she could see him. It had to be a misunderstanding of some sort, her husband couldn't just be dead.
Her hands were shaking and tears were brimming in her eyes as she drove.
She ran into the hospital, bumping into another doctor. The personnel of the hospital all looked sad. Some of them offered their condolence. They all knew her. Everyone knew John, who always helped others and took their shifts when they needed time off with their family. And apparently they all remembered her, too.
Someone she was sure that she had met before guided her into a room where she could sit down, offering to call someone for her. She mumbled something about calling Martha Jones, Martha Jones who was a student there and who was looking after their son.
She sat there, staring at the white walls for what seemed like an eternity before someone entered. She looked up, seeing Mickey, her oldest friend.
"Mickey?" she whispered.
"Hey, babe." He said softly, sitting down next to her. Without another word, he pulled her into a hug, and she finally broke down. A distraught Martha had called him, telling him of what had happened, and he had hurried to the hospital to find Rose.
"Mickey, John is dead." She whispered, "He was hit by a car, and now he's dead Mickey." she couldn't take it any more. She felt like she was going to burst with all the emotions she was feeling. She covered her mouth with her hands as sob wrecked through her body. She could feel Mickey's arms envelop her
Rose kept crying until her head was aching and she had no more tears to cry. "I want to see him," she sniffled.
"Are you sure, Rose? You don't have to. I can take you home if you don't want to be here," Mickey offered.
Rose shook her head. "I have to see him." She said determined "Please, I have to. So I know that they didn't make a mistake."
Mickey got up and left the room, returning with a nurse who could show her there, a few minutes later.
The entire walk there she tried her best to hold herself together. It all felt so surreal. Like a bad dream. She could almost convince herself that she would wake up soon, John's snoring filling their bedroom as it always did.
That was, until she saw him. He was lying on a metal table, looking too pale. Despite the cuts and bruises on his face and shoulders, which was the only part of him that wasn't covered in a white sheet, he looked peaceful. "John." she croaked, tears welling up in her eyes again. She couldn't breathe. She felt wrong. This whole situation was wrong. He shouldn't have died like this.
She reached out slowly to cup his cheek, but pulled her hand back immediately. He was too cold.
"Please don't be dead." She whispered to him.
"I love you… I need you, John. Don't be dead. Wake up and tell me I'm silly for crying over nothing. Please." She begged.
"You have to wake up. I can't do this alone. Me and Jack… We need you. You have to be here when he grows up. He loves you so much. He adores you. I can't raise him alone." She sobbed.
"It's not fair. You weren't supposed to die like this. We were supposed to have decades together. Six years together isn't enough… Why did you have to be so damn brave?"
She started crying again, hugging her own body. She felt sick. The air was too dry and sterile, and the room was too cold. John hated that about working at a hospital. He shouldn't be in here.
She leaned in slowly, placing a light kiss on his lips "I love you, John, and I always will love you. And so does Jack" she whispered. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to leave him here all by himself, but she didn't want to stay either. She just wanted him back.
She left the room again, finding Mickey right outside and asking him to take her home.
She tried to keep her back straight and head held high on her way out. She knew that he would want her to have a fantastic life. She wasn't sure that she could do it, but she would try for him.
The next few hours were a bit of a blur, but she found herself in the guest bed in Mickey's flat. Her last thought before she gave into the tiredness brought on by the emotionally draining day, was how she would tell Jack.
Dr John Smith was buried on a rainy day. Everyone who knew him would talk about what a great loss it was. How kind he had been. But mostly, they would talk about his wife and their young son, who had cried the entire time, and what would happen to them now that John was gone.