"Veronica!" Eduardo rushed to the side of the blood-soaked bed where his wife lay. He held in a gasp as he saw her up close and resisted looking away from her. It was almost a sin, to see his strong desert rose wilted and weak as she was now.

Her bronzed face that used to be full of such vitality and challenge was now a dismal jaundice yellow. The sharp proud cheekbones that he had stroked lovingly night after night now stuck out; combined with her sunken eyes, she took on the appearance of an emaciated skeleton. He bit his lip and inwardly cringed at the sight, his eyes forcing themselves to not look at the ever-growing blood pool on the bed.

The yellowing eyes on the once beautiful face turned toward him, the bright glow from her cinnamon eyes faded to a small glimmer that flared for a brief moment when they caught sight of her husband. The chapped and shriveled lips managed to twist themselves into a weak smile and her hand slowly slid toward the edge of the bed to take his.

"Mi amor," she whispered, her breath hitching slightly in chest from the slowly-building fluids in her lungs. Her gentle voice that always managed to hypnotize him snapped him back into reality.

"Hush, my dearest." Eduardo put his finger to her lips, wincing at how fragile they felt. "You must rest. If you do not, you—"

"It is already too late," Veronica breathed weakly. "El medico has told me of what will happen:

I'm dying."

Edwardo paled.

"I lacked a fisica fuerte to be able to have our nino and live to see him. Please, mi amor, take care of our baby. He is the prueba of our love; when he is around, I will also be contigo."

"NO!"

Veronica's eyes widened slightly, but she stayed put as Eduardo viciously turned toward the exit to the room.

"Those doctors that I am paying for can fix this! They are the best in the world. This is nothing; you're much too strong to have this little thing take you away from me!" he boomed as he stalked toward the door.

" Eduardo, por favor no me sale! Yo no quiero ser sólo cuando voy."

He froze in his tracks, a look of horror crossing his face before he turned back to her. His tortured gaze told her and showed her everything that he felt and thought; it showed her the very depth of his soul.

Eduardo slunk back to the bed, defeat etched in every part of his being. He crumpled into a pile when he reached the bedside and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why…why must you be taken from me? Why not I?" he cried into the bedsheet, crumpling it under his clenched hands. "Why am I not the one to be taken away?" His head flew up and screamed, "WHY NOT ME?!"

"It is not your time." Veronica gave him a sad smile, her breathing so labored it was a wonder she was getting any air. "Dios decides when it is time. I have received the key to la puerta santa before you." A ghost of her old self flared for a brief moment as she added, "I may leave it open for you. Maybe." She gasped a tight breath, the end obvious.

Eduardo leaned forward to brush his lips against her clammy brow; there was still a faint scent of the oleander that lingered. She raised a hand to his cheek, stroking it with her thumb before they closed the distance between them for their one last kiss. It was not a kiss of passion that they usually had nor was it one of intense love: it was one of goodbye with a promise to see each other again when they both left the mortal coil.

"Please," she whispered as their lips parted, "do not lose faith, Edwardo. Do not end this with my death either. Live for yourself, live for our son, live for someone else. But please, live…"

She gasped, a painful grotesque sound that seemed so foreign coming from her. Her breathing became ragged, uneven, before slowing to a complete stop. Edwardo tried to comfort her the entire time, holding her despite the blood that now soaked the sheets and their clothing, but could tell that it did not reach her where she was now.

"Veronica…my deserte rosa," he gasped, his breath hitching wetly in his throat as his tears fell on the now-still body of his beloved. Eduardo wasn't sure how long he sat there, cradling the body of his dead wife. It was almost too hard for him to believe. They were supposed to be together forever, weren't they? Why did she leave him? Why did she leave him alone like this?

"Uhm…sir?"

Eduardo raised his head and turned it to look at who dared to interrupt the mourning of his wife.

One of the doctors he'd hired to care for his wife.

He would have been angry at the man; he should have been furious at him and the entire worthless group of them. But Veronica…she would not have wanted that.

"Yes?" he asked wearily from his position on the bed, still cradling his wife lovingly.

"Well…" the doctor nervously sidled farther into the room as if he were afraid of being attacked by the grieving man. "It's your son."

Son?

Ah. That's right. His son.

No. No, that wasn't right.

Their son.

"Yes. Our son." Eduardo gently laid the body of his love on the bed and stroked her hair back into place before turning away, which was more difficult than he thought it would be. This was but an empty vessel; his Veronica was gone to the other side. Yet it was still so hard to remind himself of this as he turned away from her.

"It's, uhm…what do you want to name him?"

The European noble blinked in surprise. "Name?" he repeated dumbly like the idea had never crossed his mind.

"Yes." The doctor straightened up when he realized he wasn't going to be assaulted out of misplaced anger. "The name you wish to give to your son?"

Eduardo searched his brain, trying desperately to think of even one of the names that the two of them had considered for the name of their child. Nothing. He could think of nothing that they had discussed at the moment, his brain too taxed to properly work as it usually did. Then a memory tickled at him, almost like a revelation.

'"Your name is very distinguished, Senor Senior," the dark-haired woman he would one day marry had said. "It is a good, strong name." A thoughtful smile briefly crossed her face, making his heart skip a beat. "Quizás yo algún día se lo daré a mi niño?"'

Eduardo straightened himself up and walked toward the doctor, his stance brooking no argument.

"Eduardo Carlito Senior, Junior."

Yeah...I have some basic knowledge of Spanish, but I don't think I did a very good job. If I really messed somethin' up, could someone tell me? Thanks! :D

EDIT: Changed the spelling of SSS's name. Had the wrong form of it. Thanks noncynic fer the help!

Kinda a pre-show look at SSS, why he dotes on his son so much even at the age he's at and such.

Hope that, above all, you enjoyed it. Thanks ta cpneb fer lookin' at it before I posted.