Work Text:
September 8th, 2022, 19:30 circa
From her lab Rosa had been experimenting with various plants and flowers non-stop for the past three hours now, and she gave no sign of wanting to give up. Just some other minutes of work, and she was sure she was going to discover something to improve the local flora’s health and make the tiny, delicate blossoms more resistant to plant diseases (which really do exist, it’s just that most people are more concerned with their own or their pets’ health over their plants’).
-“Rosa! Are you done yet?”- her coworker Bea -who differently from her wasn’t a botanist but an entomologist- asked, a hint of worry in her voice. -“It’s almost dinner time! We have to go home!”-
From her desk the older woman rolled her eyes and sighed.
-“Yes, Bea. I’m almost done.”-
Bea couldn’t help but feel a shiver go down her spine. Rosa was never grumpy or unpolite, and a reply in such a fashion was an unmistakable sign that she was really, really concentrated on what she was doing.
-“Okay. I’m going to play something on my phone in the meantime. Want me to wait for ya?”-
-“Yes, please.”-
-“Fine. See ya at the entrance!”-
-“Bye.”-
A minute or two passed, and Rosa finally decided to stop and call it a day. She turned off her little robotic ‘child’ Sprout and left it to sleep in its little corner (she wasn’t just an exceptional botanist, but a great robotic engineer, too, and that was how little Sprout was born: an exotic plant inside a metallic body!), and then briefly stopped by the chemical toilet to let out all the coffee and energy drinks she hadn’t bothered to release before (it was hard to allow yourself to take bathroom breaks when you’re working on something so big and interesting!).
She was just about to exit when she heard a blood-curling scream from near the entrance of the building.
In just a handful of seconds she (messily) pulled up her pants and rushed out to see what was happening.
And when she reached the source of the scream, she was terrified to find Bea on her knees on the ground, her face buried in her hands as big, salty tears ran down her face.
-“Bea, honey…what’s wro-“
-“SHE’S DEAD!”-
-“What? Who is…”-
-“SHE’S DEAD!”- the poor entomologist repeated, her mind so clouded by despair she couldn’t even answer her coworker’s questions anymore.
If Rosa had to guess, whatever had happened Bea knew from her phone. She went through all of her message chats, to try and see if some relative or friend had passed, but found nothing.
-“Bea, please, can you tell me at least who-“
-“THE QUEEN!”-
-“…”-
-“QUEEN ELIZABETH DIED!”-
Rosa really didn’t know what to say. She found herself instinctively shaking her head gently from side to side, as to ask the redhead coworker for reassurance that she was just pulling a prank on her or something of the like. As a British-American woman the knowledge that the ruler of the Motherland she had lived in for like half of her life was gone forever, never to come back, was among the very worst news she could have received. This had to be a prank. No way it was real.
Then again, her and Bea shared the country of origin, so it wasn’t like she was going to mess with her about a topic so close to both of their hearts.
-“I…I bet that’s a fake one. Just some days ago she was shaking hands with that lady, Liz Truss, and she seemed fine. I really, really feel like you just read something fake.”- her voice was trembling, far from sure about what she was even saying. She knew it was extremely unlikely it was yet another piece of fake trash, but for her own sanity’s sake she didn’t want to believe it.
-“No, no…look.”- With quiet, almost inaudible words Bea snatched her phone from Rosa’s hands and pressed the google app. After some types she was on a news website, one that didn’t have the looks of something shady or even just satirical. It was crowded with articles announcing the Queen’s death, and what was worst was that nearly all of them had pictures of the dreadful written announcement the royal guards had hanged at the palace's gates. With such strong, undeniable proof of the ruler’s demise it was now completely impossible for Rosa to make up an excuse for what she had been informed of.
The botanist just stood there, her mouth open and her eyes fixed on her coworker’s phone, reading about what the journalists had to say about the tragic event that took place that very afternoon.
But though her eyes were reading, her brain wasn’t there.
It was still trying to find reassurance that what she was seeing wasn’t real, and that the Queen was alright.
It was listening to the erratic beats of her heart throbbing against her sternum, almost threatening to break through the bone and skin and pop out of her chest.
It pretended to be at the old monarch’s side as she lay dying on her death bed, hoping that reassuring someone else was going to make her feel better.
Her mind was doing everything at once, except from actually attempting to read the news article her coworker was showing her. She wasn't really reading, in fact, just merely staring at the words, without really understanding what was written on the screen.
-“I…I don’t know what to say, really. My Lord…”- she finally managed to mutter, hiding her face in her cupped hands, not much differently than how Bea was doing just a minute prior.
The entomologist then threw herself against her colleague's body in a hug.
-"I...I really hope she's in a better place now."-
Rosa did her best not to mind her nose getting stuffy and instead took a deep, deep breath.
-"Yeah. God save the Queen."-
~~~~
Fast foward an hour later Rosa was in bed, looking at the pale silver-colored moon out of her window. What a day. Just the thought of her discovery sent her to the verge of tears.
Oh well. It just had to happen. If not today, some other day. The Queen was already 96 years old, she was lucky to even get to that. It was just how things worked, nobody could really do anything about it. Just because she was rich and famous and the literal queen of an entire nation it didn't mean she was immortal. When things like that happened one could only accept them and move on.
And still somewhat teary-eyed Rosa dozed off to sleep.