Chapter 2

Lissa and I ran towards the med clinic, and when we got there, I took her straight to the room where I'd left him. She gasped as she saw him all broken and bloody; bruises were starting to form all over his body. They had unbuttoned his shirt and he had all of those sticky things that measure your heart rate on his chest.

Dr Olendski was just putting an IV in his arm as we walked in.

"Princess, thank god you came."

Lissa and I walked to the side opposite side to where the doc was working. His eyes flickered open as he heard us enter. They followed me as I walked across the room. He started to move his hand as I stood by him; he moved it so it flopped over the bar. I knew what he wanted and I held onto his hand, and I felt him relax, just a tiny bit.

Liss touched the gash on his neck and, as I watched his face, the pain receded. Then she placed her hands over his chest and fixed any internal problems he may or may not have. Once again, he visibly relaxed, and Dr Olendski, Lissa, and I watched the monitor as his heartbeat went back to a regular rhythm.

"Thank you, Princess. I don't know if he would've made it if you hadn't showed up. Rose, can I see you outside for a second; I need to check you haven't got a concussion. Then you can come back and sit with him until he wakes up." I nodded, and at the mention of me leaving, Dimitri's hand tightened on my own. "I don't want to take him for a scan or x-rays until he's rested; I don't want to risk moving him right now."

Lissa looked pale, and she left to go straight to the feeders.

I tried to pull away, but he held on stubbornly. "I'll be right back. Promise." I whispered in his ear. He released my hand, and I placed his back on the bed beside him.

Dr Olendski checked me over and gave me the all clear, and when I got back to Dimitri, he was asleep. I sat with him until he woke up.

This wasn't for another three days.

"Hey," I whispered. I had my chin resting on his bed, and I'd sat up as I saw his eyes flicker open.

"Hey." He tried to sit up, but I pushed him back down before he could do any damage.

"Lie down. Lissa healed you so you weren't in immediate danger, but she was weak, so she said she'd fix anything else when you came back around." I stood up to adjust his bed so he was in a sitting position. "Better?"

"Much." We sat in silence for a few minutes.

He was the one to break it. "So, how bad was I? Or do I not want to know?"

I shrugged. "Internal bleeding, a great gash on your neck, broken bones, blood loss, and high as a kite." He laughed as I added in the last one, and I smiled to see him back to normal…nearly.

"Well, how bad am I now? That's got to be a lot better."

"Bruises, cracked ribs and a bandage on your arm." Dr Olendski had come in to bandage a cut on his arm after everyone else had been cleared. "So yeah. Loads of improvement. She did pretty good considering that when she left she almost keeled over on the floor."

He frowned. "She shouldn't have done that for me."

"She didn't. She did it for me. I am way too selfish. And don't say you wouldn't have done the same if it was me."

"You're right." He turned his face so it was closer to mine. I leaned in and pecked him on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Comrade." He rolled his eyes at my nickname for him. "Do you remember what you said in the caves?"

"Vot derʹmo." He swore in Russian.

"I take that as a 'yes'?"

"We're totally busted, aren't we?"

"Just a tad, yeah. But no one's said anything about it yet. I expected Mom to come in and yell at me, and Alberta was just grinning at me as we dragged you back here. Thank god there weren't many people there."

"Alberta's known about us since the lust charm. I was never worried about her knowing; she'd promised to keep it a secret until after graduation. It was Kirova and your mom I wanted to hide it from, really. Stan and your mom know, so one or the other will tell Kirova, and the second I'm out of here, Janine's going to kill me."

He looked terrified. I'd never seen him like this before, but he was still going on. "And it'll be painful, I know it will be, and then I'll lose my job and be ass—" I cut him off with a kiss.

"No, you won't, because no matter how much she hates to admit it, my mommy loves me." He still looked wary. "She'll probably punch you though. But not kill. And if she did try, I'm pretty sure that I'd be able to take her this time." He laughed, and I was pretty sure it was because I had a big grin at the thought of beating up my mother.

"Rose, it's not healthy to be grinning when thinking of injuring your mother." We both laughed now. He reached for my hand and grasped it tightly; I laced my fingers with his. Dr Olendski poked her head into the room.

"Good, you're awake." She walked in. "How're you feeling?" she asked Dimitri.

He squeezed my hand. "I'm feeling great, thanks." He smiled at the doctor, and I smiled to know that he was telling the honest truth.

"Well I need to take you in for a scan to make sure there's no broken bones or any permanent damage, which I doubt—the princess did a good job—and then I just want to keep you in for one more night to keep an eye on you; you can leave in the morning." He nodded. "Rose, you need to eat something; you said you would when he woke up, and now he's awake, so go get some food." She left, giving me stern look.

"You haven't eaten?" he asked me. I sighed.

"I didn't feel like eating, and anyway, I didn't want to leave you alone." I admitted. "But now I'm going, and I'll bring you a donut or whatever they have today."

"Good." He said. I thought he meant because I was eating, but then he added, "I'm hungry." I laughed and kissed him one last time before leaving.

I walked towards the commons with a big smile on my face. It was eight a.m. so everyone would be there for breakfast right now. I walked in and got five doughnuts before sitting down at my usual table with Lissa.

"Bit hungry today, Rose?" Christian asked with his trademark smirk…but there was something different today. And not good different.

"They're not all for me, asshole."

"Ah, so they're for lover boy then?" Shit. I glared at him and thought he might piss his pants.

I'm so sorry, Rose. He wanted to know where you were; when I told him he wanted to know why. I can't lie to him, Rose. He'd know if I was .Lissa said through the bond.

"We'll talk later." I said, and then stalked back to the infirmary, taking my doughnuts with me.

"Hey," I said, as I walked into Dimitri's room.

"Roza, what's wrong?" he asked, immediately picking up on my mood.

"Lissa told Christian about us and I know he'll never let it drop."

"And why does that matter?" He sighed. "Rose, if you don't want to be with me, it's okay. I am your mentor after all, and if anyone else finds out, you could get expelled and—"

"Shh." I interrupted him. "I want to be with you, it's just I already know that he's going to be taking the piss relentlessly. It's just annoying when he does it normally, and now he's got a reason, it's going to be ten times worse." I complained, sitting down.

"You'll manage. You always do." He stroked my face with the back of his hand. "And you have me, as well, you know. I'm always here for you." I grabbed his hand and held on tightly.

"I know. I love you."

"I love you, too, Roza." I smiled at his nickname for me.

"You want a doughnut?" I asked. Is only response was to scoot over on the bed and pat the space beside him. I sat down and leaned my head on his shoulder. He put one arm around my shoulders and used the other to pick a doughnut out of the bag I was holding.

"Hey, that's my favourite!" I said as he took a bite out of the chocolate glazed doughnut in his hand.

"Well tough. It's mine too." He retorted. I scowled at him and got sprinkled one out the bag. He just laughed at me.

"It's not funny, Comrade." I scolded him, hitting his chest with my free hand.

"Ow," He winced. "And actually, it was. You look so cute when you do that; like a kitten trying to be a tiger." He chuckled again.

"Well, how come Christian almost pissed himself when I did it to him?"

"Aren't you always pointing out what a pussy Christian is, though?"

"Yeah, but he isn't, though, is he? Plus I don't really have any right to call him names; he's saved my life on more than one occasion." Dimitri turned to me with a worried look on his face. He touched my forehead with the back of his hand.

"Roza? Are you feeling alright?"

"Ha, ha, Comrade." I said, knowing how much he hated it when I called him Comrade. "Very funny." I clapped my hands sarcastically.

"I'm not joking. Rose, you were just nice about Christian." I glared at him and he laughed again. Just then, my mom walked into the room, and—I am not joking—I fell off the bed in my attempts to separate myself from Dimitri.

I quickly righted myself, but when I saw the look on my mom's face, I nearly pissed myself. I looked over to Dimitri and he visibly gulped. This is what he had been afraid of: telling Janine.

"Guardian Hathaway." He spoke respectfully, but I could tell there was a part of him that was shitting himself, wishing he could run away without looking back.

"I want to know the truth. I heard what you said up there, Belikov, and now I want to know exactly what is going on. Now. No Lies."

He took a deep breath. "I am in love with your daughter. I love her with every fibre of my being, and have no intentions of hurting her, ever, if that's what you're worried about." He spoke with such conviction, I thought I would explode with happiness. "Nothing you say or do will keep us apart. Not now."

"What do you mean 'not now.'" She asked through gritted teeth. I watched as her fists clenched at her sides. I took a step forwards, preparing to restrain her.

"Um," he faltered. I saw her eyes narrow.

"I said no lies. Tell me the truth, Belikov. Are you sleeping with my daughter?"

His eyes flickered to me and back. "Yes." His voice was quiet and strained; just a little too high. Her self-control snapped.

"You bastard!" she screamed.

And then she lunged at him.

"No!" I yelled. I tackled her to the floor. She started struggling beneath me; it was no use—I was stronger than her now. "Mom, listen to me. I love him and he loves me and nothing you say or do will keep us apart. You can go tell Kirova and Alberta, but if you do, I will leave and you will never see me again. I am eighteen in four days. You can't stop me doing anything then. I know the school can, but in four months I'll graduate. Then no one can stop us being together. So there's no point. Just leave us be." I was nearly in tears by the end of my speech. I got up and held Dimitri's hand. "Please." I whispered.

She'd recovered her composure by now. "Fine," She said, a little too calmly for my liking, "but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I won't tell anyone as long as you promise this will end until graduation."

"Sure." We both said at the same time.

"Just don't expect my blessing or anything." And with that, she turned and left the room. I sat back down on the bed with Dimitri once again.

"Thank you." He breathed in my ear.

"For what?"

"For standing up for me. For us."

"I would've done it even if she hadn't gone all psycho-bezerk at you. I love you, Dimitri Belikov, and that's a fact.

"I love you, too, Rose Hathaway, even though your mother puts the fear of God into me."

"You're more than a foot and a half taller than her. You could take her down easily."

"Taller doesn't mean better. I told you this before. Plus…yeah she can take me down. When I first graduated she was at court with her charge. There was some sort of competition in the gym, and she was just going through guardians like flies. I think she was just looking for the biggest opponent she could find, because she just looked to the audience and picked me. It took her about five minutes and I was flat on my ass. It was pretty embarrassing being beaten up by someone literally half my size." He laughed and I had to join in. "I didn't even know who she was until she turned up here last Christmas."

I kissed him. "I'm sorry my mom beat you up. But that was, like, six years ago. You're probably stronger and better than you were when you first graduated, though."

"Yeah, but your mom's also a lot stronger and better than when I first graduated, too." I kissed him again, a little bit longer this time.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that because she isn't coming after us anymore. So relax, and give me my doughnuts back."

"I think you dropped them when you fell." I leaned over the edge, and his arm tightened around my waist.

"Aha!" I said as I found them under the bed. I flipped back up—swatting Dimitri with my hair, probably—and offered him another. He took the sprinkled one. And I took a jammy one. Good Doughnuts.

I just couldn't wait until Dimitri got out of the infirmary.