My senses awakened before I could bring myself to open my eyes. A sterile smell forced its way up my nose, like cleaning alcohol. I could hear beeping and muffled footsteps as if they were through a door. I finally opened my eyes and wasn't surprised to find that I was in a hospital bed. There was a cannula in one of the veins in the back of my left hand with clear liquid slowly running through.

My skin was mostly clean now, though some spots still remained lightly caked in mud and blood, like the crook of my elbow and in between my fingers. I expect whoever took the time to wash me was in a rush.

The ends of my fingers felt like a dozen wasps were stinging them, but they were lightly bandaged so I couldn't assess the damage. Aside from that there was an ache in my ribs and a few more deep cuts on my arms which were covered in dressings. I was surprised to see that I came away from the fight relatively unscathed.

The fight.

Oh Vlad. I killed someone. I'm a murderer. Sure, I had probably killed hundreds of Strigoi before, but this was different. Victor was a Moroi, I had killed one of the people I had trained my whole life to protect, and more than that he was pretty much harmless and defenceless by the end. He was by no means innocent, but he didn't deserve to die, I would much rather he served his sentence is Tarasov.

You are a monster.

His final words repeated in my mind, I knew they were true. I knew it, now more than ever.

I had to get out of this room. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, as if all the oxygen was being sucked away. I needed to find Dimitri and make sure he was ok.

As if sensing my unrest, a smartly dressed woman wearing a blue lanyard entered the room, she gave me a warm, soothing smile. "Oh good, you're awake. My name is Doctor Patel. How are you feeling?" She asked in a lightly accented voice.

"I feel fine." I forced my voice to remain steady, as if I hadn't just been on the edge of some kind of breakdown. "How long have I been here? When am I allowed to leave? Can I see Dimitri?" I asked.

She gave me another warm and sympathetic smile while she replied, "Of course you can see him. Give me a few minutes to take your cannula out and redress your wounds and then you can get changed and we'll discharge you, we really only kept you here to rehydrate you until you woke up. Your body needed rest; you've been here for a day." She explained.

I waited as patiently as I could while the doctor slowly unpeeled the wrappings from around my fingers and applied a generous amount of ointment onto them. My fingernails were a mess; some of them were cracked and chipped all the way down to the nail bed. She gave me the ointment to take home and instructed me on how to apply it twice a day. She then redressed the dressings on the deeper wounds on my arms and explained that they were waterproof and could be removed in two days. After all of that the doctor took my observations a final time which she deemed satisfactory and then removed the needle from my hand and left me to get dressed.

Someone had brought me a bag of my clothes and so I hastily ran a brush through my hair before dressing in jeans and a hoodie. I felt better already.

Once I was ready, Doctor Patel lead me through a couple of maze-like hallways packed with people rushing around until we stopped outside a door. "He's awoken a couple of times, we're rehydrating him like we did with you, but he's also on painkillers for the wound on his head. We're keeping him in overnight for further observations but he should be discharged tomorrow. You're free to stay as long as you like." She explained before opening the door for me and then walking away. I thanked her and she gave me a dismissive wave of her hand.

Dimitri's room looked identical to mine, white, washable floors and walls, a table with Dimitri's phone and a cup of water on beside the hospital bed which he was laying on, fast asleep, or unconscious, I couldn't tell.

I took a few tentative steps and released a sigh of relief when I saw his chest gently rising and falling. He, like me, was covered in a few bandages here and there, and there was a large dressing that I could see on the back of his head.

I ran my fingers through his hair; it was still slightly matted with blood and dirt. I was tempted to wash and brush his silky locks, but I decided against it in case I disturbed his wound or caused him more harm.

I quietly pulled up a chair beside his bed and sat down. His hands were bandaged similarly to how mine were when I first woke up, but I carefully took his hand into my own and brushed my thumb over the back of it.

Occasionally a nurse would come into the room and quietly take Dimitri's observations and write them on his chart before leaving the room again, he didn't stir during any of these brief encounters and I stayed by his side during all of it.

The sun started to rise beyond the small window in the room, had I really been here all day? I rested my head on the mattress and closed my eyes, breathing in Dimitri's scent. Despite already having slept for a whole day, I felt exhausted; every part of my body felt heavy and weighted down. I was asleep before I knew it.

-xXx-

I awoke to the most glorious feeling. Strong fingers gently running through my hair. I slowly lifted my head, my neck aching in protest, and met Dimitri's eyes. He was smiling down at me. "Sleeping beauty awakens." It was so good to hear his voice; I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"How do you feel?" I asked, the words came out dry and hoarse. "I was so worried about you."

"I feel fine, much better. What about you?" He asked straight away, a concerned look in his beautiful eyes as he scanned the wounds on me. His thumb gently brushed over a cut that marred my cheek.

"Never better." I replied with a forced grin. I should have known he would see straight through it.

"What is it? What happened?" I tried to stay strong, I really did. I didn't want to burden Dimitri with my guilt, but I couldn't keep it in anymore.

"I killed him, Dimitri." I couldn't stop the tears that clouded my vision and slowly fell down my cheeks as I whispered the words that had been haunting me ever since I woke up. Dimitri brushed them away with his thumbs, his eyes filling with sadness as he held me.

"Who?" He asked gently.

"Victor." I said, pulling away from his touch. I couldn't stand being comforted, I didn't deserve sympathy. There was probably already a prison cell with my name on it.

"How?" He replied with equal quiet, as if someone might hear us even though we were completely alone.

"I didn't mean to kill him, Dimitri, I swear. We were fighting after he knocked you out, I was so angry, I couldn't control it anymore. I was strangling him, he was so weak by then, and he was basically defenceless." My hands were shaking my now. "I'm a murderer, I'm a monster."

I watched as Dimitri sat up with a slight wince, before he reached for me and pulled me onto the bed in front of him. He cupped my cheeks with his bandaged hands once more. "Listen to me, Roza. You are not a monster; I never want to hear you say that again. It was a difficult situation, but you did what you could. You didn't do it on purpose, I know you didn't." He comforted me, leaning in to brush a kiss against my forehead, I leant into the touch. "Who else knows?" He asked gently.

"Croft." I replied instantly, my chest squeezing with fear. "He found me after; he's surely going to arrest me."

He didn't deny it, and instead simply told me, "We'll get through it."

We didn't speak much after that, just simply held each other until it was declared that Dimitri was free to go. He was given careful instructions on how to tend to his wounds, and was told to do no physical activity for at least a week while the stitches in the back of his head dissolved and to only do light work after that.

We walked home hand in hand, I wasn't quite ready to let go of him yet.

We only parted ways to shower when we got home, and I was just rubbing my hair dry with a towel when Lissa's concerned voice filled my head. Eddie has just told us what happened, are you alright, Rose?

I'd have told her that I felt numb if I felt like I could be honest, but I didn't want to worry her. I sent a text filling her in.

We're both fine, a little scratched and bruise but nothing serious. Sorry I didn't let you know, things have been a bit crazy. Can I see you tomorrow and fill you in properly then? Xx

Her telepathic reply was instantaneous. So glad you're ok, of course we can talk tomorrow, get some rest.

I felt a little bad for not explaining things properly, she must have been worried sick, but I just couldn't face retelling everything that happened just yet, I needed time to pull myself together.

Dimitri had already ordered pizza by the time I made it back downstairs, and he was waiting downstairs with Netflix open for me to choose a film. "Let's just relax for now; we'll go over things tomorrow." He told me when I sat down beside him as he pressed a kiss to my temple.

We had only just chosen a movie and pressed play when the doorbell rang. "That was quick." I commented as I got up to answer the door.

"I only ordered the pizza ten minutes ago, it can't be them already." Dimitri replied, getting up from the sofa.

I checked the bond quickly to see if it was Lissa, but she and Christian were together making some final wedding plans.

I opened the door and I was filled with dread at the sight of Guardian Croft.

Hey guys! I bet you're all as surprised as I am to see that I have updated this story so soon. Well I was given the day off and instead of enjoying the British sunshine I decided to update this story. Thanks so much for all of your ongoing support, I really appreciate it. And for those of you who have kindly asked about An Assassins Flame, I do plan on continuing that story, I'm just not sure when. Back to this story though, would you guys like me to continue with it and write Lissa's wedding, or would you rather I stopped before then? Also, sorry the chapter isn't as long as some of the others, I just felt like that was a good place to end it and wanted to get it out to you as soon as possible. Thanks again everyone, stay safe and well.