Read Online Waking Rose: A Fairy Tale Retold by Regina Doman - Free Book Online

routine of college small talk about academics and hometowns until they reached the cafeteria. As they approached the building with its stone pillars flanking the entrance, Rose noticed another figure in a black trench coat and dark glasses standing on top of one of the pillars, looking down on the crowd below. When they were within shouting distance, Paul hailed him and Alex gave a small salute. The student dropped down to the ground easily and strode over to meet them. He had thick, dark brown hair cut in 50’s style with sideburns, and his appearance was a touch more flamboyant, a purple shirt and black pants. Rose felt as though she were caught in the middle of a Mafia huddle, with these men in black all around her. It was interesting.
    “So you’re learning to look down on the world, Leroy? Is that a good thing?” Alex said, by way of introduction.
    “I just wanted to find out if I could climb those things. You can see a long way from up there,” the pillar-stander said.
    “You could be the campus stylite. You know, like Saint Simon, who lived up on a pillar for years. Hey, it could work. Right outside the caf. We could throw food up to you.” Paul said.
    “I don’t know if G. K. Chesterton would approve, however,” Rose said.
    Three pairs of male eyes in sunglasses looked at her. She continued on, not intimidated.
    “There’s this one detective story he wrote about a priest who always prayed at the pinnacle of the cathedral, and grew so proud that he played God and committed murder. It was a good point, I always thought.”
    There was a silence. Then Paul looked at Alex.
    “She knows Chesterton.”
    “She lives,” said Alex.
    Ten minutes later they were all sitting at one of the round cafeteria tables, having successfully crossed the bridge from small talk to what Rose termed “real talk.” Philosophy, Theology, and Political Ideology had joined the conversation, and Chesterton was wrestling with Lord Acton in magnificent contest.
    While Paul and Leroy took sides over which economic system was more compatible with the Catholic faith, Alex and Rose speculated about what Thomas Aquinas would have to say about the latest summer movie.
    “So what are you doing for your bioethics class paper?” Paul asked her during a lull in the conversation, as they went to refill their plates.
    “I’m actually thinking of something on the treatment of patients in hospitals—maybe the treatment of comatose patients,” Rose said. “My sister was in a coma once after an accident, so I’m sort of interested in the issue. Also, my dad apparently had done some research on the topic when he was a news reporter.” She told him what she knew about her dad’s interviews with the nurse.
    “Wow, that’s awesome,” Paul said appreciatively. “I had thought about doing medical cannibalism in Asian countries, but this sounds interesting too.”
    “Medical what?” Rose repeated, flabbergasted.
    Paul helped himself to some strawberry Jell-O and said, “In China, there have been cases of doctors recommending that their patients eat dishes made from the remains of aborted babies for certain ailments. Some Western reporters didn’t believe them, so they posed as patients and went to the doctors, and were given jars of the remains for cooking with.”
    “Oh,” said Rose, losing her appetite.
    Leroy winced, overhearing them. “Paul, stop being so medical! Not everyone has as strong a stomach as you do.”
    “Oh,” Paul said, catching himself. “I guess it’s not good lunch conversation. Anyhow, I was going to take an unusual angle on the subject. You see, I’m interested in Eastern medicine. I was going to argue that cannibalism contradicts the inherent principles of healing in Asian medicine.”
    “My,” Rose said.
    “I’m pre-med, but I can’t decide if I’d rather do the traditional kind of Western medicine, or do something more alternative, like acupuncture. When I was recovering from a basketball injury in