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CHAPTER 37

RPOV

By now, the police had also arrived. I hadn't known the woman had also called the cops. I guess it was dumb to think that she wouldn't after I'd told her Dimitri had been stabbed. I didn't pay attention to them, though. I just needed someone to get me to Dimitri.

"I need to see Dimitri," I said to no one in particular. I tried to stand, but the paramedic pushed me down again as he continued to wipe the blood off my face and hands. "Can someone take me to him?"

"Rose?"

I shut up when I heard that voice. Oh no. It was my mom. I'd completely forgotten that she was working tonight. Crap. She was standing a few feet away and a look of shock crossed her face as she took me in.

"Oh my God, Rose!" she exclaimed. "What happened? Why are you covered in blood?"

The paramedic didn't stop her when she jumped into the ambulance and put her arms around me. I started to cry again.

"Sweetie, what happened to you?" She brushed a few strands of hair out of my face and looked at me, concerned. I just shook my head, unable to give a response. "What happened to my daughter?" she said as she turned to the paramedic.

"Your daughter is fine, ma'am," he answered. "She just got a couple of bruises and scratches. The other guy she was with has been brought back to the hospital. He had severe injuries. That is all I know."

"What guy?" Mom turned back to me, a frown on her face. Now that she knew I was fine, she didn't look so concerned anymore. "Who where you with? And what happened?"

One of my mom's colleagues entered the ambulance and said, "Janine, calm down." He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it before turning his attention to me.

"Hi, my name is Mikhail Tanner. I'm one of your mom's colleagues," he said, sticking out his hand. I took his hand and shook it as he offered me a small smile. "I talked to one of the residents," he said as he nodded at Dimitri's apartment building, "and she told me a little about the incident, but she didn't have any details. I was hoping you could help me with that."

I didn't say anything. I just stared down at my hands. They were still covered in Dimitri's blood. A tear leaked out of the corner of my eye and I quickly wiped it away. When I kept quiet, he continued, "Well, Mrs. Brill told me one of the residents from this building, Dimitri Belikov, got stabbed." My mom gasped and her eyes snapped wide open as she heard his name, but she didn't interrupt as officer Tanner talked. "She said she found you with him near the entrance and that you asked her to call 911. Is that correct?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Now, could you tell me what happened before she found you?"

I took a deep breath and wiped at my eyes again. "We were..." I cleared my throat and tried again, trying to ignore my mother's presence. "We were outside…My ex-boyfriend, Jesse, was suddenly there. He was angry and acting crazy. He wanted…he wanted me to come with him. He was scaring me and Dimitri…" I started sobbing again.

"Easy, Rose," Mikhail said as he put his hand on my shoulder. I didn't bother to ask how he knew my name. Mom had probably told him lots about me. "Take a few deep breaths."

I did, but it wasn't helping much. "Dimitri… h-he told me to go inside and call the cops," I managed to choke out. "But then Jesse grabbed me and…they started fighting. A-and then Jesse pulled a knife and…stabbed him."

"Is this the knife?" Mikhail asked as he held up a plastic bag with the bloody knife in it.

I nodded.

"What about Jesse?"

"H-he ran off," I said. "I don't know where to."

"Can you give me his full name?"

"Jesse Zeklos."

"Okay. Thanks."

Tears were streaming down my face as I looked down at my bloody hands again. Dimitri's blood… "I need to see him! I need to see Dimitri," I cried. "I need to know if he's okay." I turned to my mom. "Mom, please… I need to see him."

"Rose, you need to come with us to the station. To give your statement," Mikhail said.

Mom turned to him. "Don't you see now is not the right time?" she snapped. "She's covered in blood, hurt and tired. She needs to get home and get some rest."

"But-"

"Mikhail, now is not the time!" Mom repeated. "We'll come to the station in the morning for her statement, okay?"

He glanced at me again and said at last, "Okay. I'll see you in the morning then."

"Mom, I can't go home," I said. "I need to go to Dimitri."

"Rose, you need to-"

"No!" I exclaimed. "I need to see Dimitri! Please, Mom…"

She looked torn, but at last she sighed and gave in, "Fine. But we're not staying there all night, okay? You need some sleep. We'll just check if he's okay and then we'll go home."

"Okay," I said quickly. I guess it was better than nothing and maybe I'd be able to change her mind when we'd get there.

"Mikhail, do you mind if I take the car?" she said as we exited the ambulance.

"No, go ahead. I'll ride with someone else when I'm finished here," Mikhail responded.

"Okay. Thanks."

We got inside the car and we drove to the hospital in silence. I was glad she didn't ask any questions. I knew she would start to ask questions soon, though. Maybe not tonight, but if it wasn't now, it would be tomorrow. All I could say was that I wasn't looking forward to it.

When we arrived, I jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the emergency room. My mom was right behind me. I came to a stop at the nurses' station and said, breathless, "I'm looking for a man who's been brought here about half an hour ago. He…he was hurt badly. Can you tell me where he is?"

"Are you family?" the nurse asked.

I hesitated, but then said, "Yes."

I knew they wouldn't give me any information if I wasn't family. And I couldn't tell the nurse I was his girlfriend with my mom here with me. Now was not the time for her to find out what was really going on.

"Okay. Why don't you wait over there," she said as she pointed to the waiting room, "and then I'll go get the doctor."

I nodded and walked toward the waiting room, with my mom in tow. She sat down beside me without saying a word. She just looked at me intently.

"You should get cleaned up," she said at last. "You're still covered in blood."

"I'll clean myself up later," I mumbled.

We waited for over ten minutes before the nurse finally came back – without the doctor.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little more. The doctor is not available now, but he'll be here as soon as possible."

I shot up from my seat. "What do you mean, he's not available? Where is he? Where is Dimitri? Is he in surgery?"

"Please calm down, miss," the nurse said. "I can't help you right now, but as soon as I have any news I'll tell you."

She walked back to the nurses' station. I sighed and sat back down, praying Dimitri would be alright. After a while the nurse came back with a box and a clipboard.

"These are his belongings," she said as she handed me the box. I looked inside the box and found his wallet and cell phone. "Could you please fill out this form and then give it back to me? We need as much information as possible."

I nodded and took the clipboard from her. She handed me a pen and disappeared again. I stared at the form and wrote down what I knew. That wasn't much. I didn't know anything about his life insurance, if he was allergic to something. I didn't know anything.

"Rose?" Mom said hesitantly. "What's the matter?"

"I… I can't fill out this form. I don't know anything."

"What about his family? When will they be here?" Mom asked.

My eyes widened in shock. Oh my God. His family had no clue what had happened to him. I needed to tell them.

My mom realized this too. "Oh, right… They don't know yet what has happened."

I stared at Dimitri's phone and picked it up. I didn't know his family – aside from Sonya, but I didn't have her number. I would have to call with Dimitri's phone. I searched for his sister's number and when I found it, I dialed the number. It was past midnight now so she was probably asleep, but hopefully she'd hear her phone.

"Hello?"

I held back a sob. "Mrs. Hale?" I said in a tight voice.

"Who is this? And why do you have my brother's phone?" she asked.

"It's… It's Rose," I said. "Dimitri has been in an incident. You need to come to the hospital now."

I gave her a short version of what had happened and then she disconnected. I didn't know any other family members so I didn't know who else to call. I figured his sister would tell the rest of her family and they'd come as soon as possible.

As we waited for more news, a nurse came to help me get cleaned up. When we returned to the waiting room, a man was there.

"Miss?" he said as he gave me a small smile. "What's your name?"

"Rose Hathaway," I replied, a little dazed.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Crawford," the man said.

"Have you any news on Dimitri? Will he be okay? Where is he?"

"Calm down, Rose," the man said gently. He took a seat next to me and motioned for me to sit down again. I did. "He will be alright."

"He will?" I asked. I didn't dare to hope.

Dr. Crawford nodded. "He got lucky. No vital organs were hit, but the stomach injury required surgery."

I started crying again, but this time it was from relief. "And you're sure he'll be okay?" I sniffled.

"Yes, yes. It'll take some time to heal, but he'll be fine," the doctor said, giving me a small smile.

"Can I see him?" I asked.

"He's still in recovery so I'm not supposed to let anyone in."

"Please?" I begged. "I need to see if he's alright."

Dr. Crawford sighed. "Fine. But only for a couple of minutes."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"Come with me," he said, getting up. I followed him down the halls to the room Dimitri was in. "He's still under anesthesia, though," he said. "He won't wake up until over a few hours. I'm still running a few tests, but I expect a full recovery."

I breathed out a sigh of relief. Dimitri would be okay. He would heal. He would be fine. Thank God…

The doctor opened the door for me, but stopped me from going in. "Only a couple of minutes," he said again. "I'll wait here."

I nodded and went inside. I sucked in a breath when I saw him lying there on the bed, hooked up to an IV. Next to the bed, there was a machine, monitoring his heart rate. It was steady.

Slowly, I walked toward his bed. I took a deep breath and took his hand in mine as I watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful. I bent down and kissed his forehead.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

I wiped my eyes with my free hand, but the tears kept streaming down my face. When the door opened again, I turned around to the doctor.

"I'm sorry, but you have to go now," Dr. Crawford said.

I nodded and turned to Dimitri again. "I love you, Dimitri," I whispered before kissing him again. "I'll come back. I promise."

I let go of his hand and left the room. Dr. Crawford brought me back to the waiting room. My mom was there, pacing the floor. She looked up at me when I entered and asked, "How is he?"

"Okay, I guess," I said, my voice trembling. I let out a shaky breath and wiped at my eyes again. "He'll be okay."

Mom let out a sigh and walked up to me. She pulled me against her chest and hugged me. "Shh, you don't have to cry. He's going to be alright." I nodded and she let go of me. "We should go home now. You need to rest."

"No, I have to wait until his family is here," I said.

Luckily, they arrived a few minutes later. I knew he had a big family, but man… I'd never thought they'd be with so many! Mrs. Hale saw me and she ran up to me. The rest of the family followed her.

"Where is he? Will he be okay?" she said, frantic. "What happened?"

"He'll be okay," I said. "The doctor said he got lucky. No vital organs were hit when he got stabbed. He did require a surgery, though. But the doctor said he'll be okay. He expects a full recovery."

"Oh thank God!"

They all looked relieved. Mrs. Hale kept asking me questions and I tried to answer them as best as I could. I gave her the form and asked her to fill it out. She gave it to a woman who looked like she was in her forties. I figured it was Dimitri's mother. She gave me a kind smile before sitting down and starting to fill out the form.

A nurse came to inform them about Dimitri. My mom led me away from his family, but then I remembered I still had Dimitri's wallet and phone. I ran back to Mrs. Hale and handed them to her. She thanked me and I walked back to my mom.

She put her arm around my shoulder as we walked back to the car. I'd rather stay at the hospital and wait for Dimitri to wake up, but I didn't want to disturb his family. They deserved some alone time with him. I could go back tomorrow – if my mom would let me.

I knew she was dying to know what was going on, but she was holding back because I was so fragile right now. I knew she would freak out when she found out the truth, but I couldn't think about that now. All that matter right now was that Dimitri was okay. He would make a full recovery. He would be fine. It was all that mattered.

There. Dimitri will be okay. :)
Next chapter Rose will have to go to the police station to have a talk with Mikhail. Will she tell him the truth? And what about Janine? How long will it take for her to figure out what's going on?

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