--Rose--

When I woke up, Michaelangelo's voice was the first thing I heard and I craned my neck to the right where he was speaking to a woman I didn't recognize.

"Mike..." My voice was hoarse and frail but nonetheless at the sound of his name he turned and his eyes widened before he rushed over to me.

"Rose, oh gods you're awake." He lifted my hand gently towards his mouth and kissed the top of it before bringing it to stroke his face.

I sat up slightly and took notice of his puffy eyes and the way he looked upon me with such concern.

"Are you crying? Michaelangelo what's wrong?" I questioned as I cupped his face in my hands and looking at the IV embedded into my right hand.

"Rose I've been so worried these past couple of weeks I thought I'd lost you." He spoke softly.

"Weeks? Michaelangelo I don't understand what's wrong?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" He replied and his voice held surprise.

I shook my head in confusion and watched as he took a chair and placed it beside my bed before taking a seat.

"Jack...is dead, he kidnapped you and he scarred you up pretty badly."

I looked down to the sheets wrapped around my body and fiddled with the loose string sticking out from the fabric.

"How did he die?" I questioned and he breathed in slowly.

"I don't want you to be upset Rose, and I want you to listen to everything that I say before you say anything else is that alright?"

I nodded and urged him to go on, squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"Jack died by your hands, I'm not entirely sure what happened but you grew so powerful in such little time and your power overwhelmed the area. Jack was drowned in the brook while your body was encompassed by some sort of light. You sounded so different, like it wasn't really you who was speaking. You killed him Rose, and the world is now a better place because of it."

I was dumbfounded at his words, but piece by piece I could feel the recollection of that day coming back into my memory.

Gods, it was true. I remembered the events but it felt as though I was only a spectator, it couldn't have been me who killed Jack.

The sting of the knife as he ran it across my body made my hands drift further down my body until I flung the sheet of of my legs.

They were littered with small lacerations and bruises but it was the pain in my stomach and jaw I remembered the most.

"I need to see what he did Mike, I need to see it all." I spoke suddenly.

He opened his mouth to say something when the doctor came striding in the room.

"Good morning Ms. Burnett, I'm happy to see you alive and well and awake no less! You had us all worried for a moment." He smiled broadly.

I nodded and watched him walk over to the side of my bed and sit down where my legs were.

"I'm going to do a few simple things to gauge your stability and development is that alright with you?"

I nodded and let him do as he wished.

First he had me follow his pen with my eyes and not my head, and he checked my pupils, asked me about my memory and various other things while his colleague wrote down the results on a clipboard.

"You did very well, if it is alright with you and the Prince we think it best that you return to the castle as soon as you feel well enough. Whether that be today or a couple of weeks from today is up to you." He nodded and stood from the bed.

"Doctor." I called after him.

"Yes Ms. Burnett?" He turned back to face me.

"Does this mean I can walk? Stand and go to the bathroom if I please?" I questioned.

He nodded once before crossing his arms over his chest and responding.

"I will send for a nurse to retrieve those IV tubes from your hand and she will assist you towards the restroom if you need." He spoke before exiting the room.

I sat with Michaelangelo, speaking of the news of the kingdom, Max and he updated me on Tyler.

"He's worried about you of course, but he is with Max and I trust that he is in good hands."

I smiled at this as I recalled Tyler's face, so innocent and happy but the last time I'd seen him his features were contorted into that of pain and fear. A look which did not suit him in the slightest.

"Ms. Burnett, your grace." The nurse walked in and greeted Michaelangelo and I, bowing and nodding to us both.

"I'm here to take out your IV and if you need any assistance I will be happy to oblige." She spoke sweetly as she worked with the tubes in my hand.

Once they were out and I was rid of the stinging pain in my hand I felt her help me off of the bed and I found my legs a little weaker than before as I tried to steady myself.

"One step at a time love." Michaelangelo spoke and I sent a smile his way as I eventually found my footing and made my way to the bathroom, dismissing my nurse as I entered the restroom.

As I found myself in front of the mirror I took a deep breath before ridding myself of my hospital gown and surveyed the damage Jack had done to my body.

I gasped as my fingers grazed the various scars across my stomach.

Crookedly, I noticed the scars ran across my abdomen and close to my crotch.

It read:

I tried my hardest to hold back the tears which were going to spill at any second, I took in the wound which scarred the left side of my jaw down towards Michaelangelo's mark and the tears came pouring out.

"Rose, please don't cry my love. Look at me." He turned my jaw towards his face and wiped my tears away with his thumb.

"I loved you before your injuries, what kind of man would I be if I left you at your weakest? You saved me Rose, you saved yourself. You are the strongest woman I know, and not only that but your courageous, beautiful and gods you're mine. So, if you'll still have me...I-"

He sunk down to one knee and looked up at me with a love I'd only dreamt about.

"I want to make you mine forever, I promise to love you until our dying breaths and perhaps even further than that. Rose Burnett, will you marry me?"

I let out a small laugh, it was filled with angst and depth but most of all it was filled with a love and adoration that was made just for him.

Gods, I loved this man.

"Yes, a hundred times yes. I will marry you wherever you want, whenever you want. I love you so much." I cried.

He smiled and cupped my face with his hand before bringing a feverish kiss down upon my lips, parting them and licking my lower lip before kissing his way down my neck until he reached my stomach.

Small kisses littered the scars which maimed my body and he looked up at me once more.

"I think it's time we went home." He grinned, standing up to his full height and taking my hand in his.

"Yes, I think so too." I replied.