Thanks to everyone who left a review for last chapter! My internet is really bad this last week so I wasn't able to respond to all your kind words! But they are appreciated and I read every one. Enjoy the chapter!
'Who did this to her?' I ask Abe as I spin around to face him. Almost ready to pin him up against the wall. Anger filling up inside of me and threaten to take over. My beautiful Roza unconscious and bruised lying in that big white bed.
'Victor.' He answers and in that moment I have him pinned against the wall. For all those years I have learned to fear this man. But in this moment I can only see an old man who failed his promise. His fingers grasping my arm, trying to breathe again.
'I thought you made sure that he wouldn't bother her again.' I his, my face only inches away from his.
'Belikov.' He manage to say while he keeps clawing at my arm. I nod and let him go. Letting him fall to the ground where he tries to catch his breath again. I drag my hands through my hair and try to make up my mind. This Victor guy is going to pay for what he did to my Roza.
'Listen Belikov. You have no idea who Victor is and what he is capable of.' Abe says while rubbing the skin of his throat. I turn fully to him and glare at him.
'And you are?' I ask him. He is wasting my time here in this hallway. I should hunt that bastard down and let him know what I am capable of.
'Yes. And I will make him pay for what he did.' He says completely serious now.
'And why would you do that? Why would you risk everything for a girl you don't know?' I ask him, my voice raising.
'Because that girl is my daughter.' He says and I can feel my mouth drop open. He is Roza's father? The great zmey is the father of the love of my life? But if he is her father why did she have to fight for everything for all those years?
'You're not her father.' I say, crossing my arms in front of my chest. A father wouldn't let his daughter sell her body so she can live.
'I am Belikov. It is complicated and I recently found her again. But it isn't important at this moment.' he says and I want to say something but he holds his hand up. Telling me to shut up.
'I will make Victor pay for what he did to Rose. But in that same time I need you to take care of her. Be there for her. Do everything you can to make her feel better. I will show up again when things have been dealt with. Can you do that for me?' he says and I sigh loudly.
I want to get revenge at this Victor guy myself. But I also know that if I do there is a large chance that I will end up in jail. And that will ruin my business and ruin the possibility of a relationship with Roza again. It seems like I have to let this go and let Abe handle this.
'I will let you handle Victor. But I won't be doing it for you.' I say and he chuckles but nods.
'I can live with that. Do we have a deal?' he says while holding his hand out. I nod and shake his hand. After that he walks into Roza's room, saying his goodbyes and he nods at me when he passes me again. After that it is just me standing outside of the room I am dreading to go into.
After calming myself down I finally walk into the room and towards the bed. She looks worse and worse with every step that I take towards her. Her face is bruised and swollen. Her left arm and right leg are in a cast. There are bandages covering her right upper arm and even her nose is covered with adhesive plaster, guessing that it is broken.
I sit down at her right side and take her hand carefully in mine. She looks peaceful now she is asleep. But all those bruises and beeping noises from the machines make me nervous. She shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be this broken.
'Hey Roza. Everything will be alright. I promise you.' I say and kiss the back of her hand. It doesn't look like she will be waking up anytime soon. I settle back into the chair with her hand in mine and make myself ready to spend the next couple of hours next to her. Waiting for her to wake up.
A loud beeping noise and movement from Roza wakes me up with a jolt. Her upper body arches from the bed and she sounds like she is trying to catch her breathe again. Before I can even think of anything to do a couple of nurses rush into the room. Pushing me backwards.
And the following moment it all goes fast. The covers are thrown off and revealing an even more bruised Roza. They are giving orders to each other and asking questions until one of them makes a small incision and a tube is placed into the body. And with a miracle Roza's breathing becomes normal again and the machines start making their normal beeping noises again.
I feel the tears spilling from my eyes as I watch the scene in front of me. So scared that at some point this night she will stop breathing and never start again. When everything settles down again the nurses tuck Roza back in and leave the room. Only one of them stays to check the rest and finally she makes her way towards me.
'Excuse me sir. You need to leave now. She needs rest.' She says and lays a hand on my upper arm. Slowly trying to guide me outside the room.
'No, I'm staying with her.' I tell her, my eyes only on Roza. I need to watch her myself to make sure that she is going to make it through the night.
'Only family sir.' She says and her grip becomes a little harder. She is a feet shorter than I am but she isn't backing down for me.
'I am her husband.' I tell her. It escapes me before I can think about it.
'Oh, I am sorry sir. You can call us if anything changes.' She says, her hand releasing my arm and she makes her way out of the room. It surprises me how easy she believed that I am her husband. I sit back down at the chair and clutch Roza's hand tightly in mine.
'Please Roza, please. Don't leave me.' I whisper against the skin of her hand. Tears falling form my eyes on the sheets of the bed and in that moment I actually pray. I have never been a great believer but in that moment I can't think of anything else I can do.
The doctor just left after his morning rounds and he told me that Roza survived the first critical hours. Well, I knew that she survived. But he also told me that she has a big chance at surviving from now on. The only thing she has to do is wake up.
'Come on Roza. You can do it! You can wake up!' I try to encourage her and press a light kiss on her cheek before leaving the room. I really need to make a couple of phone calls. I have to call Lissa and tell her what happened. I thought about doing that when I first got here but I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell a pregnant woman this news in the middle of the night.
And I have to call Ivan and Viktoria. Telling Viktoria where I am and that she doesn't need to worry about me. And call Ivan to tell him that I won't come to work today and asking him if he wants to bring me a couple of my stuff so I have something to do while I am sitting next to Roza.
First I called Lissa to tell her that Roza is in the hospital. She cried a lot and Christian had to take over the phone because I couldn't have a normal conversation anymore with Lissa because she was hysterical. They told me they would be here in half an hour.
After that I called Viktoria and was surprised that Ivan was with her. They were both worried about me because I left in the middle of the night. And they were shocked when I told them where I was and why I am here. They promised me to come over later today and bring me some of my stuff.
When I finally get off the phone Lissa comes running towards me and before I can do anything she has wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face into my chest. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me for a second.
'How long have you been here?' Christian asks as he reaches us. I look at my watch and realize that it is already nine thirty am.
'Since one.' I tell them. 'Rose has been here since ten last night. She is out of the critical hours but she hasn't woken up yet.'
'Where is she?' Lissa asks, looking around her and trying to find the room that Rose is in at the moment. I point at one of the doors and Lissa disappears before we can say another word.
'Come. Let's grab some coffee. Give them a moment alone.' Christians says and I nod. I want to go back inside and be with Roza at the moment but I know that Lissa needs a moment alone with her best friend. We walk in silence to the coffee corner.
'Thank you for letting Lissa sleep through the night.' He says and I nod again. Knowing that it is difficult for Christian as well. Lissa has been anxious and stressed since she has been pregnant and is having a hard time with being a victim in the stealing case. And Christian and Roza are always bickering on each other but I know that they actually like each other in a brother and sister way.
'We found out last week that we are expecting a girl. And the only thing Lissa could say the entire time since you told her about Rose is that she hadn't had the chance to tell Rose that we were expecting a little girl. She wants to name our child after Rose.' Christian says as we get our coffees. It is amazing to drink coffee after a night like this.
I congratulate him at having a daughter and he smiles at that. I can see that he is really happy to get a child. And I think about Lissa and how she is going to have a daughter that she wants to name after her best friend. Her best friend who isn't waking up and who she hasn't told any of this. I can only feel bad for her.
'Rose is going to wake up soon and then Lissa can tell her everything.' I tell him not sure who I am trying to convince. Christian or myself. But it is what I want to believe and what I need to believe. She is my everything and I can't lose her.
'How did you know that Rose was in the hospital?' Christian asks suddenly. I look up and grimace at the thought of Abe.
'I was called by Abe. Apparently he is her father.' I tell him and see that this is nothing new for Christian. He already knew about Abe.
'Yes he is. He told her that night of the final fundraiser. She has been staying with him since you two broke up. I know that he seems shady and possible is. But he is a good father for Rose and they have been working on their relationship.' Christian tells me. So he is also the one who told Roza about Victor.
'But why didn't he help her all those years ago?' I ask him. Not understanding how a father can ignore the fact that his daughter is living on the streets, addicted and selling her body for drugs.
'He didn't know where she was. Rose's mother has been sick for a long time. She was depressed and a lot more and when Abe was on a business Rose and her mother disappeared. They changed their names, changed cities and even states. He has tried to find them but failed for many years.' He tells me the short story.
It makes more sense like this. Because I can't believe that Abe would have let his daughter live on the streets. He has enough money to provide for both of them and even more people if he wanted to. How I wished that Roza had known him for longer.
And maybe that would have meant that I would have never met her but that way she could have had a better live. The things I would give up to erase all those memories from her mind. To let her have the live she deserves to have.
If she is going to wake up and if she is going to give me another chance I am going to make sure that she is going to have the live she deserves. That she gets everything that she wants to and reaches every goal she sets in her life.
'Let's go back.' I tell him and stand up again. We have given Lissa an hour with Rose and I hope that that would be enough for her.
'I always thought that hospitals only let family stay the entire night.' Christian says when we reach the room Roza is in.
'I told them I am her husband.' I tell him with a wink and he smirks at my answer. A little lie for staying with the woman I love.
'You should go home.' the nurse says while handing me a cup of coffee. I have been staying with her for two days without leaving the hospital once. I am tired and I could use a shower but I refuse to leave her side.
Viktoria and Ivan showed up the same day and stayed with me for a couple of hours. They brought me some of my stuff. A new set of clothes, something to read and some work I could do while sitting next to her bed.
'I am not going.' I tell her. I told the nurses the same thing yesterday and the day before. I am just not able to leave her side. Afraid something bad happens while I am gone. Or afraid that she wakes up and I am not around when she does.
'You need to shower.' She says again while folding her arms in front of her chest. I chuckle and look up at her.
'A nice way to tell me that I smell.' I say and she sighs. She shakes her head while she walks out of the room. It is a normal behavior of the nurses. I guess that I am driving them mad with my presence. I am not listening and not doing what they want me to do.
'Come with me.' another nurse tells me when she walks into the room. I shake my head and turn back to Roza. Watching her breathe.
'Come on. Bring your bag, just for half an hour. I will let you back into the room after half an hour.' She says and as I look at her I can tell that she means her words. I stand up and swing my bag over my shoulder as I follow her.
'What are we going to do?' I ask her, curious where we are going.
'I am not going to do anything. You are going to shower and sleep a little.' She says. I nod, knowing better than to go against her. And showering sounds nice and she isn't making me go home so that is a good thing.
'Why do I need to leave the room for half an hour?' I ask her.
'We are going to clean her up a little. Change the bandages and things like that. Nothing you want to be around for.' She says and I nod. Respecting Roza enough to give her a little privacy even when she can't ask for it.
'So this is the nurses' room. You can shower here and take a nap if you want to.' She says and after that she leaves me alone. Letting me shower and maybe I am going to take a quick nap.
Five days have passed and she hasn't opened her eyes yet. They tested her brain functions but they seemed normal so the doctors doesn't understand why she is still asleep. Her body is healing and a couple bruised turned yellow already.
Lissa, Christian, Viktoria and Ivan show up every day to see how Roza is doing. Lissa cries every day when she sees that Roza hasn't woken up yet and I can see the bags under her eyes. Christian tells me that it would be better for Lissa that Roza wakes up.
Spending all your time in a hospital room makes your world really small. I know three different ways to the exit and can find the nearest toilet with my eyes closed. But the good thing is that I have managed to do more work than I could the last couple months.
'Dimitri.' A croaked voice says and I look up. My heart skips a beat before beating faster. She has woken up. Her eyes are open and she is looking straight at me. I stand up and hover over her. Cupping her cheek with my hand.
'Roza.' I say in a breath and stare into her eyes. Not believing that she actually has woken up.
'How long have I been asleep?' she asks me and I smile at her. She is awake. She is talking and she is going to be alright. I have never been so happy as in this moment.
'I am so happy that you are awake.' I tell her as I feel the tears falling from my eyes. I have never cried a lot in my life but I can't stop the tears in this moment. I am just so happy.
'You have a beard.' She says as she reaches up to trail her fingers along my jaw. I chuckle at her words and lean into her touch.
'You like it?' I ask her. She nods and tugs a little on the short hairs on my chin.
'It is kind of sexy.' She says and I chuckle again. I lower myself and press my lips against her in a soft kiss before pulling back.
'I am going to call the doctors now, okay? They are going to be happy that you are awake.' I tell her.
'Wait. Just one more time.' She says as she pulls lightly on my shirt. I lean in again and give her one more kiss before pressing the button that will alarm the nurses.