I decide to be responsible and stop down the road.
Pulling up my sleeve, to see the wound, I wince.
The cut not bleeding as but it's pretty bad. I grab a shirt from my bag and wrap it around. I'll get something to disinfect it later.
This was a long day.
I throw my head back and just close my eyes. Then I hear Lissa in my head. She's trying to talk to me through the bond.
Oh god, I completely forgot the bond. Rose, please come back. You are pregnant! You need to be here, where we can take care of you. You're safe here. I know you can here me, but since you can't respond, give me a call, you know my number. Rose, I'm begging you.
I laugh out loud. I don't need anyone taking care of me. I'm pregnant, not disabled. But since I can feel her anxiety, I decided to call her.
She picked up on the first ring.
"Rose!? Is this you!?"
I stayed silent but eventually sighed.
"What do you want Lissa?" I tried to say this as polite as I could.
"What do you mean 'what do you want'" Her voice raised an octave"I need you to come back, Rose. I'm worried about you, okay? And I miss you. I don't want you hurt. Or your baby."
"What makes you think I'll get hurt? I mean if I'm not mistaken, I have beat plenty of Strigoi to prove I can handle it."
"This is different ,Rose." She paused and then whispered "you're -"
I finished her sentence.
"Pregnant. Yeah I know. But that doesn't make a difference. Lissa, you have to understand. I can't be there with Dimitri. Now that he knows I'm pregnant, he won't leave my side. I just can't let that happen."
She sighed, "Rose, he's the father. He has a right to be in your child's life."
She was right.
"I know. I just can't-"
She interrupted me "You can, you just don't want to. Now tell me the real reason."
I look down and sigh into the phone. "Lissa, I'm afraid that I'll fall in love again."
I was surprised what I heard next. Lissa laughed.
"Rose, you are already in love in him. You know that." She paused "You don't want him hurting you again?"
"I don't want him hurting me or my baby. He tore me apart when he left. I just don't want to trust and love him then he abandons me again. Or even worse, my baby girl gets hurt by his abandonment. That would be torture for me."
"He won't leave. He loves you,Rose."
Suddenly, I hear shuffling then a mans voice replaces Lissa's.
"Rose, just tell us where you are."
Eddie.
That means Lissa is with them, trying to find me. How could she betray me like that? She knows why I can't come back. Why can't she respect my decision?
I think it through and I come to the conclusion that I'm actually on a wild chase against my best friend, Adrian, Eddie and Dimitri.
How fun.
Suddenly Dimitri comes on the line.
"Roza, just let us bring you back. We need to talk."
"How about... No?" I sigh "and I don't want to talk."
"Please. You're pregnant with my child and now you're running away because you think ill hurt you two.I love you. More than you can even imagine. And I'll love our baby just as much." He whispers and I can hear his voice cracking. "Roza, please."
I hadn't realize I started crying until I felt the hot tears fall down my face.
"Dimitri, I love you." I breathed. "But I can't."
"You have to. I'm going to find you."
"Good luck." I hung up the phone.
I stopped trying to wipe away my tears because it was worthless. I'm pretty sure in a couple seconds, I'll cry a river.
I hear a car coming from a distance.
Dimitri has better luck than I thought because when I turn around ,I see the black van.
Crap.