Chapter 4
flashback two years ago
"Oh Rooooseee, you can't hide forever…"
"Stop running little one"
Foot steps are pounding closer..
No. Rose shook that night from her mind. She's here for Lissa now.
Squaring her shoulders she prepared herself for whatever awaited her in Lissa's infirmary room. Gingerly opening the door, Rose felt Lissa's presence before her eyes landed on the broken figure. She was hooked up to machines in an expanse of tubes and wires, and the dark rings below her eyes whispered nightmares that Rose knew Lissa would never repeat.
What had she done? She thought leaving would protect her, but instead she had unknowingly condemned her favorite person to a new kind of hell.
Already feeling the darkness from across the room, Rose practically ran to Lissa's side and hugged her sleeping form, begging the darkness to fill her instead. Immediately she felt the cold permeate her being, the chill settling in her bones, and then came the tears, the anger…she heard screams before she realized they were hers. Doctor after doctor and the guardians stationed throughout the infirmary had burst into the room, but none of them knew how to process the scene before them. Rose lay screaming and shaking on top of a sleeping Lissa, who's complexion was slowly returning to normal and her vitals rising to a healthy range. The only one who seemed concerned for Rose was Dimitri, his guardian mask slipping as the minutes of her screaming ran on and on.
"Doctor, we have to help her!" Dimitri cried out, the panic in his voice reflected in the eyes of his companions.
Reaching out to Rose he pulled her off of Lissa and into his arms, but still she continued to scream and shake, completely unaware of her surroundings.
Dr. Olendzki was the first doctor to respond. "Belikov, this way!" Leading him to the room next to Lissa's, Dimitri attempted to lay the young woman down on the bed, but her thrashing and screaming only intensified at the loss of his touch.
"I don't know what you were doing, Belikov, but for the love of Vladimir do not stop," Dr. Olendzki says, somehow keeping calm.
Dimitri wrapped himself around Rose on the bed, restraining her and calming her at the same time. He murmured soothing words into the crook of her neck, a mix of English and Russian washing over her. Dimitri was confused on why this felt so right, why she felt so right. He had never been one to fall easy, rarely developing attachments at all, but something about this complex creature in his arms touched him deeper than he had ever imagined anyone would. He wanted to protect her, fiercely. And to hold her, always.
Rose's screams and thrashings subsided after a few more moments, leaving her whimpering in a fitful sleep. Dimitri took this as his cue to leave, but as he slid out the bed Rose unconsciously reached for him. Deciding that sitting beside the bed was measurably more appropriate than laying in the bed, Dimitri reached out to hold her hand.
Dr. Olendzki and a few guardians stepped in to check on Rose, her mother and Guardian Petrov included.
"Oh my, how is she? She was always so damn impulsive!" Guardian Janine stated to no one in particular as she sat beside her sleeping daughter.
"She's stable now, I believe she just needed some time for her system to work through the trauma. Guardian Belikov here is really to thank for that," Dr. Olendzki said kindly.
Guardian Hathaway narrowed her eyes suspiciously, just now noticing his and Rose's entwined hands.
Guardian Petrov stepped in before she had the chance to say anything, "Guardian Belikov, thank you. Rose is quite known for taking on more than she should," she admitted with a sad smile. It was quite obvious the older woman had a soft spot for the girl, thinking of her more as a daughter than a student.
"So what now, Doctor?" Guardian Janine inquired, breaking the somber silence.
"Now Janine, we wait."