Another Halloween treat for the day.

I rearranged my chapters so you will get the Dimitri POV for chapter 4, instead of chapter 5.

If you are confused here's a quick timeline - Car crash on Wednesday morning. She wakes up in the hospital in the early afternoon Friday. Reaches the academy Sunday night.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Dimitri POV

*Bethlehem - Hospital*

The hospital coffee was terrible, as was the food I purchased from the vending machine, but both were gladly welcomed, considering how tired and hungry I was. Standing was also appreciated by my back and legs, stretching my muscles in the hallway.

I didn't venture too far from Rose's room, staying close just in case. Abe stood with me, eyes studying my appearance, always a calculating look in his eyes.

"Hopefully, she wakes soon. I can't imagine Rose would be happy to wake up and find she's missed out on her birthday." Abe mused.

I couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped, imagining her reaction to that news. "No, she wouldn't be. I know she was looking forward to this weekend." It had been all she had talked about, and even Lissa had been bringing it up to me constantly as she planned the party. Though it wasn't a surprise party, Lissa had wanted to organise it all, keeping some parts secret from Rose.

But now, even if Rose did wake tonight, a party wouldn't be the best idea. However, Rose would try to act like she was okay, never one to turn down a reason to celebrate. Once she was awake, I would have to keep a close eye on her so that she didn't overdo it.

The corner of Abe's lip quicked up, "Indeed. Do you have something special planned for her?"

The implication in his tone put me on edge, choosing my words carefully, "Not particularly."

His eyebrow twitched but otherwise remained impassive, "Is that so?"

Before I could decipher what he was getting at, his phone rang. He quickly answered it, a fond smile on his face, "Hello, Janine. Yes, I will come to meet you in the lobby… See you soon." He ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket, "Would you like to accompany me downstairs?"

I didn't want to be too far from Rose, but I knew Janine Hathaway, and she would have questions. Though reluctant, I agreed to go with him.

Janine maintained a controlled expression as I reiterated the details of the car accident and what the doctors had told me of Rose's condition. No emotion broke through until she had asked to see her, the slight wavering in her voice the only tell.

And so I led Rose's parents back up to the third floor. The path I had to take to her room was ingrained in my mind from the rare trips I had taken around the hospital these last two days.

As we approached, I instantly knew something was wrong, my body sensing it before my mind caught up. It was a minor detail, but it caused a fear to take hold of my heart.

I didn't realise I had stopped walking until Janine spoke behind me, "What's wrong?"

"Her door is closed," I explained, remembering clearly that I had left it open. I moved forward, dread growing with each step. I turned the handle and entered the room, eyes frantically searching for Rose.

She wasn't here.

The bed that she had been in for the past two days was empty, blankets thrown back, and wires discarded on the sheets. I rushed to the bathroom, searching the small room as well, but still nothing.

"Where is she?" Janine asked, voice rising in volume.

I didn't stay to answer. I pushed past them and out into the hallway, turning my head back and forth as I looked for any sign of her. I could hear Abe calming Janine down in the room while calling for people to search for Rose. No doubt calling his guardians downstairs.

Retaining some composure, I marched to the nurse's desk, praying that Rose had just been taken for some examination or test and would be back soon.

The nurse at the desk recognised me, "What can I do for you, hon?"

"Do you know where Rose is? Was she taken for a test?" I managed to stop myself from yelling, but some of my panic must have shown. She picked up the phone, pressing numbers on the keypad.

"Not that I'm aware of, but I'll ask Doctor Webber."

My hands were clasped tightly around the edge of the counter, knuckles turned white, as I waited for the nurse to confirm where Rose was. Janine soon joined me.

"Do they know where she is?" She wore her guardian mask, her tone similar to when she would take charge of organising a battle. I shook my head.

My mind was running through all sorts of possibilities.

I hoped that if she was awake, that she had just wandered off, though I had no idea why she would. I was pulled back from my thoughts by the nurse turning back to me, a frown on her face.

"Doctor Webber hasn't ordered any tests. Is Rose not in her room?"

Janine answered, "No, she isn't. Where the hell is my daughter!"

The nurse didn't flinch from Janine's anger, simply picking up the phone again. Voice firm as she spoke, "I need security on the third floor. One of the patients has gone missing." She covered the receiver on the phone, talking to us again. "We will get people looking for her. I'm sure she is just a bit confused. We'll find Rose."

Her words didn't bring me any comfort.

Where are you, Roza?

We had all searched, going through the floors of the hospital and the surrounding area, but there was no sight of her. Some nurses complained that someone had been through their lockers, money and clothes taken, and I knew it had been Rose. But I couldn't figure out why.

If she had woken confused, surely she would have just found a phone and tried to contact someone or even just approached a nurse. Why would she just leave?

I sat in the hospital lobby, trying to make sense of everything. The police had been called both because Rose was missing and she had robbed the nurses, though Abe had promised to take care of them. The last thing we needed was the human law enforcement searching for her.

I knew without a doubt that Rose was no longer at the hospital, but I didn't know where she would go.

Lissa had sent Caleb and some other guardians to search places in the city and around the university where Rose may have gone, while she and Christian waited with her other guards at their home if she showed up there.

The later it got, the more the fear in me took over. It was dark now, and Rose was out there, possibly very confused and injured, and she had no weapon. If anything happened to her…

I dropped my head to my hands, needing to take a deep breath to calm myself.

I lifted my head at the sound of footsteps approaching, Abe hanging up his phone with a displeased look. "No one has found anything yet. I suggest we leave. I have someone taking care of everything here."

Nodding, I stood from the chair. We needed to regroup and make a plan. There had to be some reason for Rose disappearing. I just hoped that we found her before something happened.

The atmosphere at the house was tense; we still had no leads on where Rose was. Lissa had ordered that her disappearance wasn't told to anyone at Court as of yet, worried that it would be seen as Rose's abandoning her charge. Luckily, Abe had an unlimited amount of contacts in the U.S. to use.

Abe managed to get his hands on the hospital security footage that showed Rose leaving through the hospital's back entrance. At least we knew she wasn't forcefully taken. Granted, that just gave us more questions than answers.

I managed to maintain my composure, pushing my emotions to the side to focus on the task at hand. But as the hours passed, it was proving difficult.

It was decided that we would take a couple of hours to sleep and then return to searching, giving Abe's contacts some time to get back to him. After some convincing and an order from Christian, I relented and retired to Rose's room in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Her bed was unmade; some clothes lay scattered about on the floor, her book bag on her desk. You wouldn't think that it had been almost three days since she had been here. After showering and changing my clothes, I laid on her bed, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to sleep—everything smelt like her, the scent of her shampoo on the pillowcases.

Today was her birthday.

And instead of wishing her happy birthday and celebrating, I was staring at the ceiling, phone clutched in my hand, praying that she would call me. I needed to hear her voice, just to see her again and hold her in my arms.

I needed to know that she was safe.

Rose had been missing for almost thirty-six hours, and I wasn't happy. Barely holding myself back from telling all those around me just how I felt.

Abe's contact in Chicago had contacted him, saying that a woman matching Rose's description was seen getting off a bus from New York. And so Abe and Janine were going to go to Chicago to look for her or figure out where she went from there.

Janine decided that I should stay here with Lissa and Christian in case Rose returned.

We had already been spending all our time waiting around for any clue to her whereabouts, and when we finally found one, I was expected just to stay here and pretend that Rose was going to just walk through those front doors at any moment.

I very much disagreed.

"If Rose were going to return here, she would have by now," I replied through gritted teeth, struggling to keep my voice controlled. Both of Rose's parents were stubborn, and both, for some reason, believed they understood their daughter better than I did.

Though Lissa didn't speak out, I could tell she felt the same as I, casting doubtful looks at the two of them as Janine defended their decision.

Janine turned to me with a glare, "You have a charge to worry about, Belikov. We will find Rose, and when we do, we will bring her back here." Her tone was final—my anger mounting.

Lissa's hand laid against my folded arms stopping me from responding. "She's right, Dimitri. Let them go look for Rose in Chicago." I wanted to retaliate, but Lissa shot me a look, making me bite my tongue.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Janine dipped her head. Picking up her bag and leaving the dining room, a car was already waiting for them outside.

Abe stood to the side, having been quiet throughout the exchange. He gave a small smile to Lissa, "Very diplomatic of you, Your Highness." He nodded towards me, "I will be in touch."

I had waited until Abe was out of earshot before turning to Lissa, "With all due respect, I can't just sit here and wait. I need to be searching for Rose. I will call and arrange for another guardian to stay with Christian and -"

"That won't be necessary, Dimitri." She cut me off, pulling out her phone and scrolling through the contacts. "Do you really think that I want to sit back and wait as well?"

I was taken aback, unsure how to respond.

Lissa shot me a look, "Really, it's like you forget Rose is my best friend." Pressing dial on her mobile, "Hello, Sophia? Yes, I would like you to arrange for my jet to be put on standby for me. I will send the flight plan in an hour. Thank you."

It took some time to have Sergei and Chelsy agree with Lissa's plan and then get all the Royal Guard ready to return to Court.

After some discussion, Lissa and I agreed that if Rose were in trouble, she would be likely to go to the academy, so that was where Lissa told them for the flight plan. We ran into more delays once at Court, such as Hans demanding to know where the Queen was planning on going on such short notice.

Rose's disappearance was kept quiet, knowing that it was still challenging to get approval for a search party for a dhampir, no matter how important Rose was to the Queen. So Lissa lied and said she wanted to visit the school to discuss the Moroi defence classes. It took a good amount of convincing from both Lissa and Christian, a small amount of compulsion until finally, Hans relented.

I held my tongue throughout, not to demand them to hurry up. We hadn't heard anything from Abe yet, hoping they would find some trace of her there. If Rose wasn't at the academy, our next plan was Portland, considering the time Rose and Lissa had spent there hiding out.

We were given the go-ahead, the academy was informed of Lissa's impending arrival, and we boarded the plane in the middle of the Moroi night.

I sat by myself, looking out the window, focused on my breathing, as I waited for the six-hour flight to pass. It was almost forty-eight hours since I had last seen Roza, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go before my control broke.

The sun was setting as we landed, the Moroi morning just starting, though with it being Sunday, the students were mostly still in their rooms sleeping or getting ready for church. Lissa exited the plane, followed by six of her Royal Guards. I followed after Christian. I had been expecting the Headmistress to greet us, but instead, Alberta stood off to the side of the airstrip.

"I was wondering why you were coming, and now I know." She looked between us all, eyes settling on mine.

I stepped towards her, "What do you mean?" Hope rising in my chest. Was Roza here?

"I tried contacting you, but it seems you were already on the plane. Mind explaining to me what happened to Rose?" She placed her hands on her hips, voice taking on a defensive note. She had always been protective of Rose.

"You've seen Rose?" Lissa asked, excitement clear in her voice.

Alberta's raised her eyebrows in question, "That's why you are here, right?"

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"She's sleeping in the clinic. Arrived an hour ago -Wait!"

I didn't hear what else Alberta was saying. As soon as I knew Rose was here, I took off in the direction of the clinic. Christian would be safe in the wards of the school and with Lissa's Royal Guard with him.

I needed to see Roza with my own eyes.

Reaching the building quickly, I ran past the receptionist, who started to yell after me that I couldn't go back here, but I ignored her, going past each room finding them all empty. It wasn't until I reached the end of the hallway that I found one room with a closed door.

I hesitated for a moment before turning the handle.

The breath left my body as my eyes landed on her form. I couldn't see her face, but I knew. It was her. "Roza."

She didn't move, sleeping soundly. I wasn't surprised, considering the distance between here and Bethlehem. I wanted to know why she felt the need to come here rather than contact me for help. But first, I had to know she was okay.

I made my way to the side of her bed, not looking away from her as if she would disappear if I did. I reached for her, resting my hand on her hip so I could turn her to face me.

What I wasn't expecting was her elbow thrown back, hitting my nose. The blow broke my nose, making me groan in pain, backing away from her. Still disorientated, I wasn't able to block the kick she aimed at my chest.

My body impacted the wall painfully, my knees buckling as I slid down to the floor. I heard Rose run from the room before I could ask what she was doing. My hand tentatively touched my nose, definitely broken. Now I was even more confused.

Why would Rose attack me?

Maybe she was still confused after the accident. I had to find her and get to the bottom of it. I stood from the floor, pushing through the lightheadedness, and followed after her down the hallway.

I could hear her, "...He's coming."

She stood in front of Alberta at the end of the hall, Alberta gripping her shoulders.

Alberta shot me a look before asking Rose, "Who?"

I quickened my pace to reach them, "Rose!"

Thinking that maybe she didn't realise it was me that had woken her, I called to her. But when she turned to me, she had Alberta's silver stake held defensively in front of her. The sharp tip aimed at me.

I stopped, holding my hands out before me, "Rose. What are you doing?" A look of fear crossed her face before becoming determined.

"I'm not hesitating."

I avoided her attack. The exhaustion of the accident and travel had slowed her usually speed down. I didn't want to hurt her, but she was not holding back. There was a hard, determined look in her eyes, one I hadn't seen in a long time.

She slashed at me with the stake, and I knew I needed to disarm her first. She overextended her arm, and I was able to grab ahold of her, halting her movements. "Roza! Please, listen to me. You have to stop!" I pleaded.

Pain flashed in her eyes. "You aren't him!"

I faltered at her words, not reacting quick enough when she twisted in my grip, cutting my face with the tip of the stake. I released her, having to back away from her again. But she followed, stake at the ready.

"Rose, stop!" Lissa's voice echoed down the hallway, making Rose freeze, glancing over her shoulder.

I took my chance, lunging for her, this time wrapping my arms around both of hers, shifting her until I had her back pressed to my chest. She kept trying to struggle, but I held firm, leaning my head down to her ear to try to speak to her.

I yelled when the back of her head collided with my nose, an intense pain shooting from my nose. I cursed, my grip on her loosening enough that she slipped away from me. My back hit the wall, sliding down to the floor again.

Clutching my face, I watched as Rose remained on the ground across from me; her face was pale and her eyes unfocused. Dr Olendzki crouched beside her, hands on her shoulder to steady her.

"Is she okay?" I asked, voice muffled by my hand. Blood was running freely down my face now from both the cut to my cheek and my nose.

Lissa quickly moved down the hall to us, wide eyes looking me over, "Are you okay -"

Her question was cut off by Rose suddenly slumping on the ground reaching for her.

Lissa gasped, crouching before Rose, "Rose, you have to stop. I don't know what's happening, but you have to stop."

Rose reached for her again, taking hold of her hands, "Lissa, he's Strigoi!"

My breath caught.

It felt like everything froze. Her words were replaying in my mind.

Why would she think…?

Her yell shook me from my thoughts. "I have to stop him!"

There was so much hatred and pain in the glare she sent me. And now I remember when I had last seen that look.

Before I had been restored.

Lissa spoke to her softly, "Rose. Rose, he isn't Strigoi." Imploring her to understand.

"No, Liss. He is, I saw him, I know what he is."

The conviction in her voice made my stomach turn.

"No, Rose," Lissa gripped the sides of her face, making Rose look at her, "Dimitri isn't a Strigoi." Then angling Rose's head, so her eyes were on me, "Look at him. He isn't one of them anymore."

I didn't dare move, trying to draw in my form, so I appeared smaller, harmless. If Rose truly believed I was Strigoi again, I didn't want to give her a reason to be afraid. Alberta approached me with a towel, gladly taking it to wipe some of the blood from my face.

I could feel her eyes on me, slowly taking everything in. I moved my eyes so that they held hers, silently begging for her to see the truth.

Rose inhaled sharply.

Slowly she crawled towards me. I stayed still and allowed her to close the distance between us, barely holding in my sigh when her hand touched my chest, resting above my heart.

Her voice shook, "Dimitri?"

"Yes, Roza."

She threw herself at me; my arms quickly came up to wrap around her, holding her close. I made soothing noises as she started sobbing against my chest. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I was grateful that she wasn't attacking me anymore. But this reaction to me, both the anger and now the sorrow, were confusing, though something in the back of my mind guessed what had happened.

"Th-this is really happening, right?" Rose asked desperately.

I squeezed her, pressing her closer to me, "Yes, Rose. Everything is okay now. You're safe now, Roza."

Rose had passed out in my arms, and I swore my heart stopped. Dr Olendzki had assured me that it was likely due to exhaustion and partly because of the blow to her head when she headbutted me.

I carried her back to the room I had found her in earlier, gently laying her down on the mattress and pulling the blanket up to cover her. I softly stroked my hand down the side of her face, happy to know that she was safe now.

After Dr Olendzki had left the room, having checked Rose over first, Lissa spoke, "What was that about? Why did she think that you were Strigoi?" She was at Rose's side, examining her.

"I think it's to do with her injury from the crash. Maybe she…" I trailed off, not sure if I wanted to finish the sentence.

Her eyes widened. "Do you think she… forgot?"

"I don't know." I sighed. The pain from my nose was giving me a headache; I crossed the room to slump into the chair on the other side of the bed. I would have to get the bone set so it would heal properly.

"Did she break it?"

I looked up to see Lissa's eyes on me. "I believe so." Without a word, she crossed to me, fingers pressed over the break. I released a soft groan as the bone reset itself, making it easier to breathe.

"There," she pulled back from me, "I healed the bone, but you will still have a bruise, sorry."

Lissa had learnt to control her healing, focusing on specific parts to heal rather than everything. It helped limit the amount of darkness that spirit gave her, now that Rose wasn't taking any from her.

I dipped my head, "Thank you."

She returned to Rose's side, "If she has forgotten, I don't know if I can heal it. The mind is tricky." Lissa explained, appearing disappointed in herself. With a grip on Rose's hand, she moved the other to rest over Rose's forehead, "But I can try."

I watched with anticipation as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Moments passed in silence.

Then Rose's eyes opened.

She turned to Lissa, and as I listened, I realised that it didn't work. Rose didn't remember.

"Lissa, I- I think I had the weirdest dream. I was in Russia, but then I somehow got back here, and… and Dimitri was alive. Lissa, you said he was alive. Lissa, is he alive? That's not possible, right? Dimitri he -"

"Rose." Lissa cut her off, pointing at me.

When Rose's eyes turned to me, there was a combination of awe and disbelief, but also some fear. I looked to the ground, unable to see that look anymore.

"Dimitri?" Rose called to me. There was so much uncertainty in her voice.

I stood, "I should go tell them you are awake." It was cowardly, I know, leaving the room without looking back.

Once in the hallway, I paused, leaning against the wall as I took a moment to breathe, to process. I could deny it all I wanted, but clearly, she had lost some of her memories. If she didn't remember me being restored, then it was almost three years worth of memories. But what could she remember?

She remembered Russia. Was it when she had first arrived? Or was it after I had kept her captive, feeding off of her?

I pushed away from the wall to the end of the hallway when Alberta stood with Dr Olendzki and Christian, Lissa's guardians waiting outside. They paused in conversation as I approached. "She's awake."

Dr Olendzki nodded, walking past me to Rose's room, Alberta and Christian following after. Christian stopped to rest a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you holding up?"

It had taken some time for me to let Christian in, not wanting to let another charge get as close as Ivan had been. But over the years of guarding him, I had become close friends with him. He could tell how the last few days had taken their toll on me.

"I'm fine."

He gave me a look that said he knew I was lying but let it go. "Come on. Let's get you some answers."