Chapter Twenty Two - Rumours and Reunions

I looked over my sleeping Roza with a heavy sigh, brushing a soft hand atop her hair that lay splayed across the pillow. She was resting in a bedroom that Abe had previously made up for her, her clothes ripped and matted with blood from both the fight and from the doctor Abe had called attending to her injuries. She'd lost consciousness almost as soon as I'd driven through the gates of Zmey's land, and had been resting for the past two hours.

By the time I had gotten her to the SUV back in the forest, she was beginning to lose a lot of blood from her leg, and I'd been forced to rip open her jean leg to expose the wound. There was a medical kit in the glove compartment, from which I pressed a flat dressing over to help soak up the bleeding. I used the fabric of her jean that I'd ripped off to tie it around her knee as tightly as possible, a makeshift tourniquet to limit the bleeding.

I didn't care about speed limits, or any other drivers on the road. All I cared about was getting Roza to safety as soon as possible. I'd tilted her chair back as far as it could go so she was practically lying down, her injured leg raised up on the dashboard to alleviate the bloodflow. Her shaky breaths and whimpers of pain the entire journey had told me that she was trying her best to stay awake, to fight the pain.

It took just fifteen minutes to get to Abe's, and a further ten for the doctor to arrive. Doctor Abdil had assessed her injuries immediately, given her the necessary treatment he could give on such short notice. Turns out her leg was almost completely shattered, and he'd said that if she'd been a human with normal healing abilities then she would of had to go into immediate surgery. Thanks to her advanced Dhampir healing, and my quick actions, the bones had already begun to heal themselves to a certain extent, though she still wouldn't be able to walk for at least a couple days, possibly a week. She'd also sustained a couple broken ribs, a broken nose, and a dislocated jaw. I could already see the bruises forming across the centre of her face, though I knew by tomorrow they'd be gone again.

He'd also insisted to checking me out as well, once he was satisfied he'd done all he could for Rose with the limited resources he had with him. I was nowhere near as bad as her, though I did have a dislocated right shoulder, a broken clavicle, and a couple cracked ribs. He'd righted everything the best he could and gave me some painkillers, before heading off to gather more supplies for Roza's injuries. He'd be putting her leg in a cast and supplying her with a set of crutches, as well as specific medication.

I cupped a hand against her cheek as I looked down at her sadly, my thumb grazing the bruise on her cheekbone lightly. "You'll be okay, Roza." I whispered to her from where I sat on the edge of the bed, as if she could hear me. "Though you won't be able to train or even walk for a little bit. I can already imagine how stubborn you're going to be about that." I chuckled softly to myself as I heard the door behind me open and close.

Abe walked in with a polite nod, his hands clasped behind his back in a business-like manner. He crossed over the bedroom to loom over the edge of the bed, peering at his daughter thoughtfully. "How's our Little Girl doing?"

"She's alright." I told him as I looked back at her, moving my hand from where it still was at her cheek. "She stirred a little while ago, but other than that she's been pretty deeply asleep. I guess the sedatives the doctor gave her really knocked her out."

"You should probably get some sleep as well." He said in a firm, no-joking tone. "You were injured as well, and I'm sure your body will thank you in the long term."

"I'm not leaving her." I shook my head firmly, looking back to him with a determined expression. "I want to be here with her when she wakes up. She'll be confused and worried about me."

Abe sighed and dropped his head in defeat, and I saw him shake it ever so slightly. "Abdil will be back in half an hour to take the splint off and replace it with a cast." He explained, looking up at me. "After that, I suppose we could set you a bed up in here besides her for the night. She'll be awake by tomorrow, and her friends should be arriving in the afternoon, so we can fix more permanent sleeping arrangement then."

"Thank you, Abe." I nodded graciously, recognising how generous he had been in the weeks since Rose had discovered he was her father. For someone who had been absent for seventeen years of her life, it was evident how hard he was trying to make up for it, giving his assistance and his love wherever possible. It was a nice sight to see.

I waited by her side until the doctor returned with more advanced medical equipment, including a heart monitor and an IV drip. At first I'd thought it was a bit overkill, but he'd assured me that it was regular protocol for all over-night patients, no matter how severe the condition. He'd also removed the splint from her leg and shifted the healing bones back into place, before encasing the injury in a plain white plaster cast. I laughed silently to myself as I imagined what she'd have to say about that when she woke up - probably that it made her look pale like a ghost, despite the fact she had naturally sunkissed skin anyway.

During the procedure he placed a gas mask over her mouth and nose that constantly drained anaesthesia into her system so she wouldn't wake up or feel pained during the process. He left some medication at the side of her bed to take regularly during the day for the next two weeks, as well as a pair of crutches. He'd given Abe and I strict instructions not to let her apply pressure to the leg for at least the next three days until he came for a check up - until then she was required to use the crutches at all time, and was to preferably be accompanied by someone in case anything happened.

By the time he'd left it was well past 1 in the morning, and I felt my eyelids drooping as I kept my gaze fixated on Roza's sleeping figure. The noise from the door startled me awake, and I blinked hard several times to try and hide the fact I'd started to fallen asleep. I turned to see Pavel and another male Guardian bringing in a large single bed through the door, and I stepped up to help them bring it to Roza's side. A third Guardian brought some clothing for both her and I as we were putting the bed into place, setting the pile on a large white armchair in the corner of the room

Pavel stopped just as he was exiting the room and I was heading to the clothing, turning to me. "Mr. Mazur wanted me to let you know that he has placed an alarm on the cabinet besides Rose's bed, just in case anything happens during the night. Either myself or him will be up immediately, and the doctor will be alerted."

"Thank you, Pavel." I said gratefully, walking over to him to shake his hand in thanks. "Tell Zmey that I appreciate it."

He bowed his head politely before heading out the door, closing it as he went. I sighed softly at the new found silence, looking back over at where the two beds lay, one with my beloved fast asleep. The sight was slightly comedic, in all honesty. She looked so small compared to the heaping lump of plaster on her right leg, and her dirtied and bloodied clothes were a stark contrast to the nice white sheets beneath her.

I gingerly shifted her body to rip open the remaining pieces of her clothes so that I could change her into some fresh stuff, knowing she'd appreciate it in the long run. I disappeared into the ensuite and wet a cloth to wipe her down, before drying her off with a towel and carefully changing her into the light sleepwear the Guardian had provided. I changed into my own clothes before dumping everything into the laundry basket at the end of the bed. I switched off the main light and left the desk light on as I climbed into my own single bed, rolling onto my side to face Rose before reluctantly falling asleep.

My entire body ached as I stirred awake, the throbbing sensation being most prominent in my right leg. I tried to turn over in my half-asleep state, only to be stopped by an uncomfortable thing engulfing my limb. I opened my eyes with a perplexed glance downwards, only to see an ugly white plaster cast. Memories of the fight the night before flooded my mind, and I let out a shaky sigh as my head dropped to the pillow.

The last thing I remembered was seeing the large ornate gates in front of a luxurious mansion, which I presumed to belong to Abe. After that, everything was blank, and slightly hazy. There were foggy visions of a doctor and Dimitri, but nothing clear enough for me to cling to it as reality.

Dimitri.

I bolted up out of the bed as worry filled me, only to be overwhelmed with dizziness and a throbbing sensation in my head. I leaned forwards with a groan as I clenched my eyes shut and held my head, soon feeling an arm wrap around my shoulders. "Calmly, Rose. You took a pretty bad beating."

I took a couple steady breaths before glancing to the side, seeing a vaguely familiar Guardian stood besides my bed. He straightened up once I let go of my head and stepped back to give me some personal space. "Pavel, right?" The Guardian nodded with a small smile. "Where am I?"

"You're in a bedroom at Mr Mazur's safehouse. Guardian Belikov brought you here late last night after a battle with several Strigoi. You suffered some very intense injuries, and you've been knocked out for about thirteen hours now."

"And Dimitri?" I said, mixed with hope and concern. "What about him? Is he okay?"

"Belikov is perfectly fine." I let out a sigh of relief, letting myself rest against the headboard of the bed. "He sustained a couple of cracked ribs, but that was the worst of his injuries. He's currently with Mr Mazur - I believe your friends will be arriving soon, and he wanted to be there to greet them and explain the situation."

"My friends?" I narrowed my eyes in confusion, sitting up straight again as I peered curiously at him. "Why are they coming here?"

Pavel gestured to the end of my bed, politely asking if he could sit, and I nodded immediately. He sat besides my injured leg, careful not to touch it, and turned his body to face me. "Belikov requested Mr Mazur to protect you and your friends until further notice - until the... target, shall we say, on your back is removed. He thought you would be in a better frame of mind if you knew your friends were safe, especially after the most recent attack on St Vladimir's Academy."

I laughed slightly to myself, looking down at my lap with furrowed brows. Shipping my friends across the world, just for my sake. It was such a Dimitri thing to do. I doubt he'd thought about their feelings in the matter, or even how it may affect Abe's lives or his life. His main concern was me, as it had been for so long. I had a million questions flying about my mind, half of which I wasn't even sure how to phrase. I knew they would be better left for a different occasion, but I also knew that I'd go insane if I didn't ask them soon.

I looked up at Pavel. "Can I go down and see them?"

"You may." He nodded as he got up from his seat. He walked over to the other side of my bed and grabbed two metal closed cuff crutches that appeared to have thick, fluffy socks covering the handles on each of them. "However the doctor has given you strict orders not to walk on your injured leg until he returns for a check up in a few days. Until then, you're required to use these at all time, and take some pain medication twice a day."

I rolled my eyes with a childish whine as he made his way over and placed the crutches besides my bed, then gesturing to an orange bottle filled with pills on the bedside cabinet that sat besides a glass of water. When I gave him an incredulous expression as if to say, 'really?', he appeared to laugh at me with a shake of his head before physically handing me the medication.

With a sigh, I took it, barely even flinching. I was so used to taking medication from the countless times I'd been injured back at St Vladimir's, I didn't really need a drink to take it down with, but I did it anyway. I downed the rest of the water before placing the glass back on the cabinet. I grabbed the crutches and carefully heaved myself to my feet, making sure to lift my injured leg up slightly so it wasn't touching the floor. I knew after a while it would get tedious and irritating, but it was the doctors orders, and I was way too tired to fight the doctor. Pavel stood near the open door, awaiting me to steady myself. I nodded, hobbling my way over, before we both set off towards where the others awaited.

It was a little after 2 in the afternoon as Zmey and I waited in the main living room of his safehouse for Roza's friends to arrive. They had traveled across with Lissa's Guardians, and Abe had sent several of his own to pick them up from Omsk Tsentralny Airport. An alert came through on the building's intercoms that told us they'd arrived at the gates, and Abe cleared them immediately before jumping to his feet to greet them at the door.

The SUV had just pulled to a stop outside the front door as we exited, myself a little behind Abe in a subconscious Guardian position with his second in command, Alicia, besides me. I watched as Eddie Castile climbed out the car first, followed by the two Mazur Guardians, then Adrian, then Christian, Lissa, Grant, and Serena. I smiled upon seeing the latter two, having been good friends with the pair of them before I left for Russia all those months ago.

"Lyttle, Woods!" I called with a teasing voice as I made my way past Abe and towards where the Guardians were unloading their bags. Grant looked up at me immediately, and for a split second all Guardian formality disappeared as he took me into a sharp hug. He patted me on the back as he greeted me, and I laughed. "You're looking well."

"As are you." Serena smiled politely as we shook hands, myself leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "The Siberian winter suits you."

I chuckled, stepping back to greet the younger students nearby. Eddie was looking at me with a sense of familiarity, which I guess I should have expected since we had spoken casually on several occasions back at St Vlad's when I hadn't been on duty. Lissa and Christian were looking slightly perplexed between the pair of them, and Adrian looked like he didn't have a care in the world. As usual, really.

"Princess Vasilisa." I nodded formally as I approached her, and she looked up to give me a polite smile. "It's a pleasure to see you again. That goes for the rest of you, as well - Lord Ozera, Novice Castile, Lord Ivashkov."

"It's good to see you as well, Guardian Belikov." Vasilisa shook my hand politely, before dropping it and folding hers across her stomach as she looked warily around the place. "Where exactly are we? We weren't told a lot back at St Vladimir's, except that we were all to fly here immediately for our safety."

"It's a complicated story, one that will be explained to you as soon as possible." I explained diplomatically as I guided them towards the entrance of Abe's house. He and the Guardians had already gone inside with the bags. "For now, let's get you out of the cold and settled inside."

Twenty minutes later, most of us were gathered in the back room, some with mugs of tea in their hands and others simply watching. Alicia and I stood to the side in at-ease stances as we watched over everybody - Abe sat on one chair, Adrian on another, with Eddie, Christian, and Lissa on the long sofa together. Grant and Serena had been dismissed so that they could get themselves settled.

Abe had just finished retelling the story of how he found out he was Rose's father, and everything in between - about the money during the time she and Lissa was on the run, about the evacuation of St Vladimir's. Even up to the day he came to the Academy. I could see there was questions to be had from the four youngsters, but whatever they wanted to say was cut short by the quiet tic, tic, of metal rhythmically hitting the ground outside the room.

I looked up hopefully as I saw my Roza walk through the door, still dressed in the white sleep shirt and black shorts I'd put her in the night before. Her hair, though slightly messy, still hung nicely around her shoulders, and the only eyesore was the cast on her leg. Pavel lingered behind her, and he nodded first at me and then at Abe as he walked into the room to stand besides Alicia.

"Rose!" I heard Lissa gasp in horror as she saw her best friend on crutches, and she was on her feet immediately. She bounded over towards her and wrapped her arms rightly around her, forcing a slight whimper out of Rose. "What the hell happened to you? Are you okay? Two months I've not seen you, and this is how we meet again?"

"Careful, Lis." She whimpered at her friend's tight grip. "Everything's a bit sore and fragile right now." Vasilisa slowly backed away with an apologetic expression as she went back to her seat besides an eagerly awaiting Christian.

Rose looked up to me hopefully, and I could see the war she was internally waging was evident on her face. She wanted nothing more than to run towards me and make sure I was okay, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my embrace. But her friends didn't know about us, and there was enough drama to explain already without having to explain why their best friend was romantically embracing her Guardian and former mentor.

Instead she looked at me with one last longing expression before slowly making her way over to the chairs. Abe was on his feet in an instant, offering his chair for his daughter. She thanked him gratefully before sitting herself down, placing her crutches on the floor besides her.

"Well?" I swallowed hard as I looked between my four friends - well, if you could classify Adrian as a friend. "What do you know so far?"

"Your father introduced himself." Eddie spoke up first, looking over at where Abe was stood besides me. "He told us about how he found out you were here in Russia, and about how he offered you his protection. That's... about it, really."

"That's not even the half of it." I murmured with a humourless laugh under my breath, fiddling with the hem of my shirt as I looked down at my hands.

For the next hour, I told them everything. Everything.From the day Dimitri and I left St Vladimir's, up until that very moment. Every seemingly significant moment that happened, I told them. Lissa had already heard some things from our weekly calls - like the situation with Feliks when I first arrived, and the exams I had several weeks back. But she didn't know everything else.

She didn't know about Dimitri, or Dimitri's sister. She didn't know that I'd visited his family while I was here, or that we were in love. And so I told her. I told all of them.

I couldn't bring myself to look at their reactions, or even Dimitri's, as I explained how we fell in love, and every detail after that. I knew I should have spoken to him about it before I spilled our guilty secrets to my friends, but somehow I just couldn't stop myself. It was like my entire body didn't want to stop, and the moment I started I just couldn't stop. The emotions were overwhelming, and I silently blamed it on the pain medication, but I soon found myself crying.

I felt Abe's comforting arms wrap around my shoulders, and I forced myself to take in a deep breath to try and pull back some of the tears. I continued through explaining everything, sniffing back the remaining tears as I finally looked up at my friends. Christian was looking at me with sympathy as his arm was wrapped around a tearful Lissa, who looked at me with such heartbreak. I swallowed hard to hold back the tears, knowing that she'd be feeling guilty for not realising the secrets I'd been hiding. Eddie appeared thoughtful, and Adrian's own cruel gaze was fixated on where Dimitri stood by the window.

Eventually I told them about Dimitri's plan to keep them all safe here in Russia, which is why they were there. I told them about how I'd fought with Dimitri on the drive over here last night, and it was my own foolishness that had forced us into an easily avoidable fight with several Strigoi. I cursed myself for being so stupid, earning a light scolding from Pavel. "You're a Guardian-to-be," he'd told me. "It's an occupational hazard."

By the end of things, everything was silent. The tears were done and the story was over, and everyone was sat soaking things in. I shrunk back into the chair and folded my arms tightly around my torso, as if physically holding myself together, as I stared a hole into my lap.

I'd expected Abe or, even Lissa to be the first to speak up and say something. You can imagine my surprise when Adrian got to his feet, theatrically clapping his hands together. "I always knew you'd have it in you, Dimitri." I looked up and narrowed my eyes as I watched him face Dimitri. His back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. "The moment I saw you on that ski trip - when I saw you and Rose together, I knew there was something different between you. That didn't stop me from making my advances, but a part of me always knew that you'd end up getting her. Rules be damned"

I saw Dimitri laugh slightly as he looked down at his cousin, a friendly expression on his face. "I guess the winner really does take it all." They shook hands firmly, and I watched Adrian clap Dimitri assuringly on the shoulder.

"I don't think I've ever given you enough credit, Rose." Christian spoke up, and I glanced over at him. He'd withdrawn his hand from around Lissa and was now leaning towards me, a humouress expression on his face. "Who'd of known you could single handedly kill three Strigioi, one of which while having a shattered leg?"

I pretended to gasp, giving him a shocked expression. "Careful, firecrotch. Anyone overhearing that may think you were giving me a genuine compliment." I wiggled my eyebrows and grinned teasingly as he rolled his eyes, flipping me his middle finger. I made a kissy face at him and held my hands in a heart shape to annoy him more, giggling all the while.

I looked towards Lissa, who was quiet with her body turned into Christian's. Her own tears had also stopped, but her eyes were still red and puffy. "Liss," I said softly, and she looked up at me immediately. I offered her a smile, opening my arms. With a choked laugh she got to her feet and made her way over to me, dropping to the floor in a rather unladylike manner as she wrapped her arms around my mid section.

"How did I never know?" She mumbled into my chest, and I held her tightly. "You're my best friend, and I never realised. Back at St Vladimir's, our phone conversations the past two months. I never noticed anything different with you, and I should have."

"You had your own stuff to deal with." I reassured her as she pulled away to look up at me with a sad smile. "Dealing with the Spirit Magic, the Darkness. Christian." I grinned, and she laughed with me at that. "I can't expect you to notice every detail about my life when you've got so much on your own plate. That's my job, remember? I'm your Guardian, and you're my Moroi. Not the other way around."

She smiled, taking my hands in hers as she looked up into my eyes. "Thank you, Rose. For being a good friend. Even on the other side off the world, you somehow still knew how to look after me. I'd probably of gone crazy if you had been completely gone these past two months."

"Well it's a good thing you'll never have to experience that. You're not gonna get rid of me that easily." She wrapped me into another hug, and I smirked over her shoulder at Christian's jokingly exasperated sigh. "Sorry, Sparky."