August 2, 2011

Summer is half over I look forward to a new year and having a class full of kids again. I need 6 more students to have a full class so I hope we get them in the next 4 weeks.

Thank You to my beta RangaRose, you are awesome Ranga.

I will also be posting a chapter of The Love Wielder's Journey as a treat to myself for getting this chapter done. I am working on the next chapter of The Truth Gets in the Way and hopefully I will have it done soon. Rose will be waking up after have her memory scrambled.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I do not own VA but that which is of my own imagination I share with you.

Chapter 16: To Tell or Not To Tell

Lissa POV

Ever since Rose had the encounter with the Strigoi in September, I have been weary of letting Dimitri get to close to her. I was afraid of the distraction that he is to her. Funny thing is I was one of the people who had conspired to get him reassigned here. He needs to know the truth and Rose should have pushed him years ago but she didn't want to take him from the family he formed with Tasha. Even after learning from Jonathan that there was no more than a friendship between Tasha and Dimitri she refused to 'Break up' his happy family. After Jonathan told us that he wanted to propose to Tasha; Adrian and I decided that it was time to give Rose a bit of a push.

She hadn't seen Dimitri since three years ago when she had to go to Maine and stop a group of Strigoi that were targeting humans near Dimitri and Tasha's home in Great Pond. That was the first time I actually got sucked into her head.

She and I were communicating through the bond as she was running to meet up with her pack for lunch before leaving for home, after neutralizing the threat. Suddenly I was sucked into her head and found myself watching a happy couple walking on the other side of the street. The woman had black hair and she was laughing as the tall brown haired man next to her had tickled the child in his arms. They were sharing a moment as a family and from all outside appearances it was perfect. I could feel Rose's anguish. Part of her wanted so badly to run up to him and tell him that he has a daughter who would love to be held and tickled by her father. Part of her heart broke farther when she saw how happy he is with Tasha and what Rose at the time believed was their son. To this day Rose does not know that I got sucked in that day. I also know that was the inspiration for her song Think of You. She plays it often. I wonder if Dimitri would realize what it meant if he heard it. Part of her lyrics even say; ("Well, you got yourself a family. And you planted roots down by the sea. I saw you once on the street; you didn't notice me.")

Annemarie has been asking about him since she was one. Rose will tell her very little about him because she is afraid that Annie might tell other people. Little Annie isn't good at keeping secrets, every year she manages to spill the beans about what she has given Chris or the girls for Christmas or birthdays. All Rose has told her about her father was that he has brown hair and eyes, he is tall and that they loved each other very much. Annie thinks he is a Moroi and she knows he has a family with a Moroi woman. Other than that she doesn't know enough to figure out his identity.

It was Adrian's idea really but I jumped in wholeheartedly. We figured that if Dimitri was brought back into her life that she would have to tell him eventually. That or even if she still insists that he figure it out for himself well how could he figure things out if he wasn't given the opportunity to do so. I am still weary; I am afraid he will hurt her but well I guess I am taking a leap of faith here.

Emma is Rose's adopted daughter and she is also related to Rose on her mother's side which meant that under the right circumstances Emma had the ability to become a Wielder of Life and Death. Everything fell into place and she had followed in Rose's footsteps. Emma is also the newest providets in the family. A providets is Russian for seer. Becoming a providest was something that only happened to Emma after she began to transform into a Wielder. Dimitri's grandmother is the one who saw this and she gave Emma a very special gift to help her on her own journey.

I spoke to Emma about the bringing Dimitri here and she said that it was the only way to save Rose. Rose has not told her children or her parents about the fact that she is slowly dying of a disease that acts a lot like cancer. Emma herself is the one who came to me and told me that she knew. When she said that Dimitri was the key to saving Rose well I don't know how but I have to trust her.

I got a call from Emma when Rose was in the hospital at Court. She told me that I have to encourage Dimitri to reestablish his bond with Rose. She told me to tell Rose that Dimitri needs to know the truth about her illness and to allow the doctors to speak with him about her medical history.

I was going to talk to Rose about this but when I went to the room she was going to be staying at in the clinic… well let's just say she did one of her famous Hathaway disappearing acts. About 45 minutes later Dimitri brought her in and she was in such terrible shape that it took me, Adrian, and all five Spirit wielders from her beta packs to stabilize her.

When I came out of her room and saw Dimitri sitting there waiting to be allowed in; I knew then that somehow Emma is right. Dimitri needs to reestablish the bond between them. I sent him in there and told him to stay with her and let her know that he is going to be there for her. I told him he could even lie next to her so long as she knows he is with her.

I was surprised to see that not only was he able to see her scars but he caressed them lovingly. I hate them, not only because they mar her beauty but because they are killing her. He sees them as a badge of courage that makes her even more beautiful in his eyes. I guess I have never seen them that way. Before I did see them as something that disfigured her once stunningly beautiful face; then when we found out that they were killing her I could barely stand to look at them.

Rose knows this and I am afraid that it has caused a bit of a drift between us. She tries to keep most of our communication between us to the bond. When she does have to spend time with me she uses scarves and makeup to hide them. I feel so guilty that I have made her feel so bad when I should have seen them the way Dimitri does. I can see from her aura that it is soothing to her that he is not afraid to touch them.

I left them alone and went to talk to the doctors. I knew I would find Sasha and Maria both in Maria's office. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." Maria said.

"Dr. Olendzki, Dr. Isham; I wanted to talk to you about both Rose and Annemarie."

"Yes dear, we have already checked on Little Marie and she is stable and will sleep for a few days. Well it is going to take a while to find out how her scars will react this time but we are looking into a different type of Chemotherapy than last time."

"Dimitri asked that she be moved into the room with Rose. He wants to stay with them and help care for them. I haven't gotten permission from Rose yet, but Emma said that he should be told about her medical history. He might not know it but they are married through the bond of the Marriage of the Heart. I think we should at least let him know about everything from the date she gave birth to now. I know Rose would kill us if we let him see her maternity records. Unfortunately I think we have to keep the IVF records in there because that is partly how we found out she is dying." I told them hoping that they would see things my way.

"Lissa without Rose's permission we can't do that." Sasha began to say but Maria cut her off.

"Sasha, the secrets have gone on long enough. I have told you that the man has a medical background. After he did emergency surgery on Rose years ago I looked into his med school records. He was in the top Five percent of his class in the Human University and he was the top of his class in the Moroi School; even higher than his charge Ivan. In University he showed interest in Oncology, and surgery but opted for general medicine. He might be able to help us he is truly brilliant, when he isn't being a blooming, blind idiot that is."

"Do you really believe he could add anything?" Sasha asked both of us.

"I don't know about his medial expertise but I know Emma believes he can. That is good enough for me." I answered truthfully.

"I am willing to give it a try after all we have been trying to fight this thing for more than five years. It is more than just Rose's, life at stake here. Annemarie is also in peril even if she is not nearly half as sick as her mother." Maria chimed in.

"OK. Tonight we move Annemarie into the room with her mother and tomorrow we begin talking to "Doctor" Belikov about our patients." Sasha chimed.

Dimitri POV

I woke up feeling refreshed and happier than I have felt in years. Before I even opened my eyes I was aware of her next to me. She must have moved in the night. When I laid next to her last night she was lying flat on her back but now she was spooned against me with her back to my chest and her hand laced in mine; holding it firmly to her. The fact that she was snuggled against me made my heart soar. I nuzzled my nose into her hair and breathed deeply.

A soft thrilling sound caught my attention and I opened my eyes to see where it was coming from. I cannot express how amazed I was to see a small bluish grey cat nestled on Roza's hip. It peered at me through blue gray eyes that reminded me of the winter sky in Russia. The cat trilled again and this time it reached a paw out to me and opened and closed it as if to say hello and good morning. I reached out and scratched behind its ears. I remembered that Annemarie mentioned that Rose had another cat named Misty Blue.

I continued to pet her and she began to gently need on Roza's hip in turn as she purred. It was then that I heard another trill and then felt something jump onto my hip from behind. My guardian training would have me knock it off because any unknown is a threat; but something told me to stay still. A second later I was met with the piercing sapphire eyes of mocha latte. She walked along my side then butted my face affectionately.

"Now brother I never thought I would ever see you playing with cats." I turned to Adrian's chuckling voice.

"Since when do they allow cats in here? It's not sanitary you know." The medic in me seemed to rear his head.

"There is no keeping Misty or Mocha from their mistresses; especially when they are upset or ill. They are part of what keeps Rose and Marie balanced. They filter the darkness and right now neither of them can deal with it on their own. They need the cats."

Mocha jumped back to the previous perch on the bed behind me. I sat up to look behind me and realized that Ladybug was sleeping in the next bed. I got out of bed and checked the readings on her monitor, then looked for her chart at the end of the bed but it wasn't there. I couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh.

"Dimitri, I know you want to help them; and maybe you can. Last night Lissa talked to Dr. Olendzki and Dr. Isham and convinced them to let you see the medical histories. You will be given access to almost all of it except anything that will give any hints as to who Annemarie's father is. Rose was conscious enough for me to check with her through a dreamwalk. I wanted to let her know we were going to do this no matter what she wanted but she gave us permission. So if it is ok with you I will watch over your little family while you go meet with the other Doctors."

It took me a moment to process what he was saying. They were going to let me in, let me try to help my Roza and my ladybug. I leaned over ladybug and kissed her head and gave Mocha a pat. Then I did the same for Rose and Misty. As I walked out of the room I couldn't help the words that came out of my mouth.

"Adrian I swear, whoever the fucked up Moroi sperm donor was who left Rose when she was pregnant; has no clue what he gave up. If I could have five minutes with him…. He would never be able to walk away from anything again."

"I would be careful what I say about him if I were you. Rose seems to think he had his reasons for leaving when he did. I don't know how she did it but she forgives him." Adrian said in a dry voice.

"She might forgive him but I don't."

"I am sure you will never forgive him for what he did and didn't do. But Rose would want you to. Now go; be Doctor Belikov." Adrian turned from me and sat at the edge of Rose's bed; taking her hand in his. I closed the door behind me and walked to Dr. Olendzki's office.

POP QUIZ

1. Dimitri and Lissa have very different thoughts about the scars. How do you think Dimitri will feel about them after he learns that the scars are killing her?

2. Rose has tried IVF how do you think Dimitri will feel about this and who do you think the donor was?

3. Adrian tells Dimitri to be careful of what he says about Annemarie's father. How do you think Dimitri will feel about the things he said when he finds out he was the 'sperm donor' who abandoned Rose when she was pregnant.

4. Do you think Dimitri will be able to help them? How?

Please Review. Reviews make me happy.

Think of You is a song by A Fine Frenzy.