Dimitri's POV

Drawing in a number of deep breathes through my clenched teeth I wiped the tears from my face and quickly cradled Rose to the wooden floor. Laying her before me I could see the blue tint of her lips against her stark white skin which I could feel was slowly becoming col by the minute.

"Roza, my love…" I choked on my words as I forced them from my lips before leaning down to place a single kiss to her forehead. Brushing away the strands of blood soaked hair from her face I trailed my lips down to her cold ones and slowly parted her mouth. Breathing deeply I grasped and pulled her chin up and pinched her nose between my fingers before forcing my breath into her system.

As an assistant to the academy there were a number of procedures which I had to go through, which luckily also involved CPR and first aid experience. So, as I forced oxygen into her system and pumped at her chest to get her heart moving and beating properly, I knew there was at least a chance of her pulling through this. I knew I was slowly inching towards the reality of breaking point as I constantly repeated my love's name in a hushed whisper.

"Come on, Rose… Come on!" I screamed in pain as I continued pumping away at her chest with no visible changes in her condition.

"Guardian Belikov!" I vaguely heard a masculine voice behind me as the door burst open letting in a strong gust of icy wind which blew a number of strands in front of my eyes. Yet I refused to stop my efforts – even as Dr Olendzki came to kneel beside me and attempt to pry my hands away from my Roza.

"No…" I whispered through my tightly clenched jaw as I watched the love of my life law in a pool of her own blood with a lifeless pale skin tone and blue tinted lips.

"Dimitri – let me take care of her…" Dr Olendzki whispered as she rested her palm on my upper arm as she also slowly pushed me back to make room for herself and the large bag of medical equipment which she had brought with her. In my moment of weakness I let a single Moroi take power over me and push me away from Rose before she set to work over my love's still body.

In the bustling confines of the academy's infirmary I could hear several different conversations going on around me, all regarding different subjects from Rose to the freaking weather. Through the bodies I could faintly see Dr Olendzki attaching Rose to a number of different machines and tubes which slowly put a little more colour into her skin. I was overjoyed to view such a sight but I felt my spirits plummet as I felt a tapping on my shoulder behind me. Turning slowly around, my eyes instantly zeroed in on Guardian Hathaway and a tall yet mobster-looking Moroi man.

"Guardian Hathaway and…" I greeted Rose's mother before searching through my memory in a desperate attempt to match the Moroi man's face with a name.

He stood tall as he held out his hand to shake mine before uttering in a thickly accented voice that his name was Abe Mazur.

However, Janine barely batted an eyelash as she stared with a stony glare directly into my eyes.

"Belikov – what was the last and only thing I asked of you today?" She asked in a tight voice before her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned into a microscopic pink line across her face. I wanted to tell her so badly that I knew I had messed up – oh I most definitely knew that. As soon as I saw that she had run into the woods I knew right away that nothing good could have happened and as I sat before her in that tony wooden cabin all I could think about was that if I had of caught up to her just a few seconds earlier I would have been able to help her… but no… no, of course I had to royally fuck up and not even start CPR for quite a while!

"I know Guardian Hathaway, I know… You asked me to make sure she was safe and I failed you – I failed her and I cannot tell you just how sorry I truly am." I felt the sting before I actually fully registered the hand coming towards my face but as soon as her palm made contact with my cheek I knew that there was definitely no chance of forgiveness in this scenario, and I really couldn't blame her.

Abe Mazur, having stayed silent the whole time, placed a steady hand on her upper arm before guiding her away from me and out the side exit doors of the infirmary.

Breathing out a painful sigh, I quickly buried my emotions into the mental drawer I was so used to using and jammed it shut before turning back around in the direction of Rose's room. Dr Olendzki had decided to put her into her own room so as not to crowd the ER section too much and to also supply a small amount of privacy for the tests which she had been carrying out these last few hours.

Walking slowly to her bedside I silently pulled the door closed before falling into the chair beside her hospital cot. I grabbed her hand in both of my large ones and engulfed hers into the palms before placing a long kiss to her skin. A single tear inched out of my eye and onto our joined hands as I held them to my mouth, just breathing in her scent. Pulling one of my hands away from our knotted fingers I brushed back her hair before slowly tracing a single finger down the side of her face to brush over her lips and finally rest against the corner of her lips.

"Oh! Guardian Belikov, I didn't know you were still here, shouldn't you be in your room resting?" Dr Olendzki bustled through the door holding several multi-coloured clipboards close to her chest. Quickly righting my position I cleared my throat and brushed away all traces of tears from my face and turned to greet the doctor – continuing to keep Rose's and my own hands knit close together.

"Umm no – I switched shifts with Guardian Crowley so I could keep an eye on Miss Hathaway." I answered in a monotone voice before turning back to Rose in her unconscious state.

"Well, in that case am I correct in assuming that you are interested in hearing all updates in her condition?" She asked quietly before glancing down at her clipboards.

"Of course."

I reluctantly release Rose's hand as I stand to see eye-to-eye with the doctor who was still flipping through her mountains of paperwork clipped to the boards. After minutes of searching she finally released a single slip of paper which she held out to me so that I could take it.

Grasping it in my sweaty palm I scanned my eyes over the many numbers and graphs on the page before slowly raising my gaze back up to Dr Olendzki's.

"Umm… I don't know what any of this means…" I speak quietly, slightly embarrassed and cursing the fact that I was admitting to yet another fault I possessed… or really – didn't possess.

"Oh, of course you wouldn't – I didn't go through 5 years in medical school for nothing. Basically what it says is that the tests which I sent over came back not only listing an increase in Rose's lung cancer but it has also picked up on another condition. These test results right here have come back positive for a branching of the cancer cells … into the brain…"

I felt my breath practically stop as I heard that news and all I could do was nod once in the doctors direction before sinking back into the chair beside Rose's bed and grasping her hand tightly in my hands. I heard the doctor quietly leave the room before I breathed in Rose's scent and placing a single kiss to her knuckles.

"Roza – what are we gonna do with you…"