Hello everyone! I'm sorry that it has taken so long for an update.

But that was partly due to my own stupidity.

I had thought I uploaded this chapter mid-June, and that no response meant that this chapter just sucked.

Turns out I uploaded it to the website but didn't actually publish the chapter (face palm).

So, here I am, updating officially now. I know it's short, but there isn't much left to this story now. I want to take a moment to thank my loyal readers. It means a lot that you are all still here.

"I hope you realize just how much trouble you're in young lady."

I sighed with a wince as I met Baba's shrewd glare. I was what the doctors all called lucky. A millimetre to the right and Nathan's bullet would have shredded my aorta. Instead, the bullet hit my ribcage and punctured my lung.

"Yes, Baba. I understand that I'm in trouble," I grumbled. Baba shook his head and uncrossed his arms that over his chest and sat down in the chair across from me. He looked like he had aged ten years in the last few days, and that was mostly my fault.

"Is Randall ok?"

Baba scoffed. "Randall is fine, he wasn't the one who got shot!"

I let my head fall back into the pillow and groaned quietly to myself. I felt horrible that I let Baba down and that he was disappointed in me. I was disappointed with my actions as well, but it is what it is.

Can't turn back time. If I could, I would turn it back to prevent Mom from going to work.

"Can you please pass me the water?" I asked quietly, earning myself a raised eyebrow. He was either going to make me work for it or beg for it.

"Please? It hurts to sit up and use my arm," I whined, to which Baba got up and got me a cup of water. He held the cup up and I took the straw into my mouth, taking a few deep sips before pulling away and laying back into the pillows.

"Baba, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?!" Baba exploded, "You're sorry?! What the fuck were you thinking, kiz! You could have died, Randall could have died! Did you think about that? Did you think that protective custody was optional? If I wasn't as relieved as I am that you're okay, I could strangle you right now!"

I shrank back into the pillows. I knew he was mad, but I didn't expect him to be that mad.

"I don't know what else to say except that I'm sorry," I whispered, toying with the fraying edge of the blanket. Baba exhaled sharply as he sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, fire still burning his eyes with watering of unshed tears.

"I can't lose you too. I don't think I would survive it."

My lips pulled into a tight line and I reached out to take his hand, squeezing it while giving a small tug. Baba leaned forward and I managed to wrap my arm around his, and he carefully helped me into a sitting position so he could return my embrace.

"I love you, Baba," I whispered, knowing that it wasn't going to make up for what I did, but I felt that I needed to say it anyway. Baba squeezed me gently and kissed the side of my head with a sigh.

"I love you too. But you're still grounded when you get discharged."

I scoffed a laugh and nodded my head. I guess I could live with that.

I don't know who was madder at me; Baba, Lissa, or Olena. Dimitri had a guilty look in his eyes when I saw him after surgery, Lissa screeched at me through the phone for ten minutes before she whispered that she grateful that I made it out okay, and Olena cupped my cheeks with her lips pursed tightly before kissing my head and muttered something under her breath. Something that made Dimitri choke on his own breath and threw her a hard look.

"Please tell me you did not bring me roses. I will throttle you," I groaned as Dimitri stepped into my bedroom holding a wrapped bouquet of flowers. The gesture was nice, but everyone that sent me flowers sent me roses, and the smell was starting to give me a headache. Plus, I hated roses and rose-themed gifts.

"No. I know better than to buy you roses, Roza," Dimitri smirked, kneeling on the edge of the bed to kiss me. I smiled as he pulled away and took the wrapped flowers from him, smelling the white lilies and sunflowers.

"Thank you, they're beautiful," I said as I set them down on the nightstand. Dimitri nodded and lingered beside the bed, hands tucked into his pockets. I rolled my eyes and patted the spot beside me, gesturing for him to lay down next to me.

The hospital room I was in was private, but nothing was better than being at home in my own bed with my own clothes and my own sheets. Dimitri gingerly climbed up beside me and laid back, putting his arm out so that I could cuddle up to him.

"I'm surprised Baba let you up here, you know, with me being grounded," I said, tucking my face into the juncture of his shoulder, breathing in the smell of his body wash and deodorant. Dimitri hummed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my hair.

"I may have pulled the 'you almost died' card."

"You did not!"

"No. I'm not an idiot. I just told him I wouldn't stay long and I'd make sure you took your pain killers that I know you'd probably refuse to take."

I grumbled and ran my hand over his stomach. "But they make me feel fuzzy!"

"Roza, I don't care. You need to take them if you're going to heal properly. You need rest, and you can't rest if you're in a lot of pain," Dimitri placated. I pouted into his shoulder even though he couldn't see me. I hated taking them. I felt weird and fuzzy when I took them, and I would flutter between being awake and asleep.

"Will you make me a hot chocolate?"

"Is that all it'll take for you to take them?"

"No," I said pulling my head up, "I just know that if I don't take them willingly, you'll probably force me to take them. Remember the penicillin?"

Dimitri laughed and nodded his head. "Yes, I remember when you had an ear infection. It was terrible for all parties involved. I'll go make the hot chocolate and bring you a snack. You should eat with the medication."

I smiled up at him and watched him walk back out of the room, to which I promptly hissed in pain as I laid back on the bed. With my refusal to take the pain medication, it felt like my chest was permanently on fire, and it took everything in me not to cry out in pain when I leaned into Dimitri. It wasn't long until he came back, tray in hand with two mugs and a plate. Beside the plate were three bottles of pills.

I let Dimitri help me sit up and he propped my pillows behind me before handing me the plate with a peanut butter sandwich. I ate it slowly and sipped my hot chocolate, feeling his eyes on me the whole time.

"Can you please stop starring at me?" I asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Sorry," Dimitri said quietly, giving me a small smile. I swallowed my food and set my sandwich back on the plate.

"If want to say something, please say it. I hate that you keep starring at me."

"If I knew what I wanted to say, I would. I just feel so many things and I don't know what to voice first," Dimitri sighed as he laid diagonally on the bed, his head near my feet as he propped himself up with his arm.

"Well…what do you feel the most?"

"To be honest, I was a little angry at you. Not because you snuck out, but because he told you to run and you charged into danger without thinking. How could you do that? What do you think would have happened to me or your dad if you died? Or Mama or Lissa? We would have been devastated! Why didn't you use that brain I know is in there somewhere?" Dimitri said calmly, but I knew he wasn't really calm. He was getting upset and wanted to hide it.

"Is that the only thing you feel?"

"No. I'm relieved and grateful that you're ok, but I just feel guilty too. If you hadn't snuck out to see me, Nathan wouldn't have been able to get to you."

I nodded and gnawed on my lip. "What happened to Nathan?"

Dimitri furrowed his brows. "Nobody told you?'

"No, they told me, that's why I'm asking you," I said dryly as I picked up my sandwich again. Dimitri raised a brow at me, but let it slide.

"Nathan's dead. He died on route to the hospital."

"So he can't hurt your family anymore?"

"No, Roza. He can't hurt my family anymore," Dimitri replied running his hand over my blanket-covered shins. I ate the last of my sandwich and set the plate back on the tray. I picked up one of the bottles and looked at it.

"I don't know what is what."

"That one is for infection," Dimitri said pulling it out of my hands and cracked the top open. He handed it to me before opening another one. "This one is for pain," he said handing two pills to me. "And this one is for if you feel anxious, but you can't take it for an hour after these two."

I looked down at the pills in my hand and scrunched up my nose. I popped them in my mouth and swallowed them down with hot chocolate before I could decide against it and spit them out. Dimitri smiled at me when I shuttered after swallowing. He cleared the tray off the bed and came back to lay beside me.

"I'm sorry that I worried you. Baba is furious with me because of what happened," I whispered as I shuffled carefully towards him. Dimitri moved closer and draped his arm over my waist.

"I know you're sorry. We all do. We're just trying to come to terms with it."

"Is your dad okay?"

Dimitri was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I think seeing you like that messed him up a bit. It's one thing for him to see it at work with people he doesn't know, it's different when it's someone you've known for years. He kept washing his hands a lot while you were in surgery, and he has some difficulty sleeping. But to be honest, I think he's not dealing with the fact that he shot his own brother. I mean, him and I don't have a good relationship, but I'd be messed up if I had to shoot him too," Dimitri explained, moving in a way that I was cocooned in the blankets and his arms.

"Have you heard anything back about school?" I asked hesitantly. I was worried to hear if our schooling would be jeopardized because of all of this.

"Yeah. The police department ended up writing letters for us to explain the situation. The university wants to see if you can train cheer in four months. But if you can't, you can still get in with partial funding for the other scholarship you applied for."

I let out a slow breath of relief and closed my eyes, smiling to myself. It was better than I thought it was going to be.

"How long can you stay?"

"Maybe a half hour or so? I'm pushing it to begin with."

I rubbed my toes against his leg and rested my head against his chest. "Will you stay long enough for me to fall asleep?" I asked through a yawn, knowing that the mixture of exhaustion and the pain medication was going to put me to sleep.

Dimitri rubbing his hand over my waist. "I'll stay until you fall asleep. Just don't fight the sleep," he said, his breath ruffling my hair. I nodded and closed my eyes, silently thankful as the numbness started to seep over my chest, putting out the white-hot flames.

Let me know what you think!