Chapter 11

"Dimitri calm down, it's all going to be alright," Vlad said trying to comfort Dimitri as they waited in the hospital waiting room.

"Vlad I can't! The woman I love is in there and—"

Vlad cut him off, grab his shoulders and made him sit down, "Dimitri, my son, you can not do anything to help her right now but wait. And when you see her you must be strong for her, you hear me?"

Dimitri nodded his head yes to Vlad. Dimitri was a nervous wreck, he just kept thinking; Why did she collapse like that out of no where? Is she hiding something from me? What if it's the baby? I can't live with her, without them! He then sat there waiting, he put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, and he repeatedly would run his hand through his hair, nervous habit.

Finally a doctor came through the doors, Dimitri, Vlad, Sophie, and Marie all looked up.

"Mr. Leongard?" he said walking towards Dimitri.

"Yes," Dimitri said rushing over to the doctor.

"Thankfully, your wife was only unconscious for a short time, ten minutes later and it's very possible that—"

"Is she alright?"

"Well, yes sir but—"

"Can I see her?"

"The nurses are just finishing up, you'll be able to see her momentarily."

Dimitri was furious, but he did his best to hide it. This was his wife they were talking about, his only love, he'd lost her once and never wanted to lose her again.

"But I can take you back to the rooms if you'd like—"

"Please, and can they come?" Dimitri said pointing to Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama.

"Of course, I'm not saying no to letting the Emperess, her cousin and cousins husband see their ailing granddaughter."

Dimitri was not in the mood for jokes; he sort of gave of a fake laugh while he signaled for them to follow the doctor in.

They went through the doors and into a long hallway, then through another pair of doors and then he saw her. Laying in a bed asleep while two nurses attending to her. Dimitri stared at her through the glass.

"W-What happened to her? W-why did she collapse?" Dimitri almost whispered to the doctor.

"We are still running test but we believe that there may be something wrong with her lungs."

"Her lungs? But she has never smoked a day in her life and she rarely drinks. I believe she has allergies and maybe asthma and she—"

"I know, that's the unusual part. We have figured out that she has a very weak immune system, usually caused by being sick a lot when she was young or if she lived in an environment with illnesses."

"She lived in an orphanage when she was eight until she was eighteen." Grandmama noted.

"She has always got sick easily, but just colds and flu's, nothing that ever lasted longer than a week or so." Dimitri pointed out trying to prove the doctor wrong.

"Exactly, over the years, these colds and flues on top of his allergies have been eating at her lungs, causing them to break down recently and—"

The doctor continued talking and Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama kept listening, but Dimitri dozed off. He looked at Anya, just laying there, he felt so helpless, he just wanted to run in, sweep her into his arms and take her far away where everything would be okay. It was like living nightmare… he then looked over to Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama who were still closely listening to the doctor. Vlad was holding Sophie tight to him and Grandmama was clutching Sophie's hand. They should not have to go through this! They have been through enough in their lives! That should be me in that hospital bed, not Anya! She can't leave, not now! He thought.

"How long does she have?" Dimitri whispered to the doctor as he was speaking.

The doctor stopped and looked at Dimitri who was now looking at the floor. "Mr. Leongard, your wife's condition has—"

Dimitri whipped his head up and glared at the doctor, "How long does she have?" he exclaimed.

There was a short silence between them, "It is still in the early stages… but—"

"So your saying you can stop it?" Dimitri said now looking back at Anya.

"Unfortunate sir, there is no way of stopping the progression. She will live at the most a year and half, maybe two years. But at the same time, we could lose her any day. The chest pains you told me about earlier. They're progressing in strength, so there's no telling when one could come along and just be to strong for her to handle."

Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama were all in tears, how could this happen to their Anya, their Anastasia? They thought. Dimitri had already talked a little to the doctor before Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama had arrived about if Anya was pregnant or not. The doctor was able to confirm that she was two to three months pregnant and should start showing any day now, but he had known nothing else yet.

"What about the baby?" Dimitri asked.

Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama were in shock, she really was pregnant! They were both overjoyed and paralyzed with fear inside.

"On a better note, the baby should be okay, but since Anya immune system is weak, there are chances of complications, but hopefully none will occur."

The nurses then came out of the room and handed the doctor a chart, he looked it over.

"I'm going to go in and speak to Anya for a minute," he said as he began to reach for the door.

"Wait!" Dimitri said stopping him, "Does she know she's dying?"

"No sir, I was about to go and explain it all to her. Sometimes its easier if the family comforts them if you would like to come in."

"No!" Dimitri yelled and then brought his voice back down low and said, "Don't tell her, you can't tell her. She may be as tough as bricks on the outside but on the inside she's as fragile as glass… I'll tell her when the time is right."

"But Mr. Leongard, what do we tell her? She'll wonder why she fell?

"T-Tell her it was because… her body was to weak for the baby and that she just needs to be more careful… you're the doctor here can't you think of something?" Dimitri said gesturing to him.

"Mr. Leongard, I—"

"I don't care what you or any of your little nurses say. She's my wife, if I don't want her to know, then she's not going to know," Dimitri said furiously as he got closer to the doctor.

"Dimitri!" Vlad said trying to calm him down.

"Now doctor, that is his life in there, she and that child are all that he has ever loved. Anya and Dimitri have been through enough pain in their lives to last you a lifetime and more. If he does not want her to know, then she will not know," Grandmama said sternly to the doctor.

"Yes, your highness." The doctor said nodding is head.

"Now let him talk to Anya, she is probably confused and needs the comfort of her husband," Grandmama said gesturing to Anya who was barely awake.

"Yes your highness," he said opening the door for them.

Dimitri barged into room in front of the doctor, as the rest of them waited outside the door, and he went straight to Anya's side.

"Dimitri!" I said softly.

"Anya!" he said as he knelt down to hug her, he never wanted to let go of her. He then kissed her on the forehead.

"Dimitri what happened? All I remember is us laughing and then… then the next thing I knew you were holding me tight… telling me to not go to sleep," she said confused trying to remember.

"It's okay, don't speak. You need to save your strength," Dimitri said softly.

Then I suddenly remembered, The Baby!, I thought. "Dimitri! The baby! Is it okay? Please tell me it's okay!" I said with every last bit on strength I had left in me.

Dimitri started crying, "Yes, yes it's perfectly fine," he said holding me close to him.

Thank god!, I thought. "What was wrong with me? Why did I fall like that?" I said almost crying but closing my eyes to hide it.

Dimitri looked up at the doctor who was standing on the opposite side of Anya as him, Dimitri was thinking, If he tells her the truth I swear to god I will kill that man if it's the last thing I do!

The doctor then looked at Dimitri and said, "You only fainted." The doctor said. Dimitri then gave out a small, almost undetectable sigh of relief and put his head on the bed next to mine. The doctor continued saying, "Your body was not used to the baby, so it over-heated so to say. You just need to be more cautious with your actions and everything should be fine… you will be able to leave in the mourning but you should stay bed-rest for next few days to be safe in case it happens again.

Unfortunately to me these words were all too familiar. No one knew it but a few weeks earlier when the pains first started, I had went to the doctor's back in St Petersburg while Dimitri was at work, or so I thought, to see what was wrong. They told me that my immune system was weakening by the day and that my lungs were failing. I couldn't tell anyone, I did not want to see them all have to watch me go through this thinking, Is this it? Is this the last time I'll ever see her alive?, every time I had an attack. That's what I called them, Attacks, because they were like when I would have allergy and asthma attacks back at the orphanage. They also confirmed to me that I was pregnant and that the baby was at risk with my conditions. That's why I waited to tell Dimitri, I knew how much he wanted to have a family and children and I didn't want to have him be crushed if we lost it.

The doctor then went outside to talk more to Vlad, Sophie, and Grandmama.

"Dimitri, I –"

"Shhhhh, you've had a long day," he whispered holding my head, "I wont leave you, just relax, and go to sleep my love."

I listened to his voice as it calmed me down, every bone and muscle in my body was relaxed and I dozed away falling asleep.