Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from 'Vampire Academy' – they all belong to Richelle Mead.
I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long – I've been very busy. I didn't realise it had been quite so long since I last updated. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as it has taken me quite a while to write. Please comment on what you think because I find your replies really helpful and sometimes they inspire me further on in the story.
Rose's POV
The evening after my visit from a familiar stranger, I woke up.
The room was white, everything was white. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes and open them slowly in order for me to be able to see anything. When I could finally open my eyes properly, I looked around the room, scanning my surroundings. The door was to the right of the bed, it was open only slightly, just enough for someone to slip through without waking a sleeping person. Opposite the door was a small window. As it was now dark outside, no light was coming in, so a small white curtain was draped across it. My bed was in the middle of the room, and it was the only one. I had a room to myself.
The next thing that I had to do was to find out what was wrong with me. Why had I slept for so long? Why couldn't I wake up? Why was I here? Where was I?
At the end of my bed, a small clipboard hung with a pen beside it. I crawled across the bed and grabbed the clipboard. The first sheet of paper stated my name and date of admission. I had been here for over a month. And nobody had come for me? Great. Anyway, I flipped the sheet and read the next page. It said that I was in a temporary coma due to severe stress and some minor head injuries. Come to think of it, my head was pounding. I continued to read their interpretation of what had happened to me; but I couldn't tell if it was right or not. I simply couldn't remember. The next sheet of paper held the list of visitors that I had received and when. There was only one name, over and over, and one time: 2:30. They had visited every night. The voice returned to my head, how he said that he couldn't stop loving me. Why couldn't I remember?
I decided to leave. I couldn't do anything from this bed.
I flung me legs over the side of the bed and looked around again. There was a small wooden table beside the bed, holding an old lamp, a glass of water and a pen. The lamp was switched on. I briefly wondered why there would be a pen on my bedside table. I continued to study the old piece of furniture. The table contained one tiny draw, but no handle. It must have fallen off. When I had finished looking at the desk, I decided to take a sip of the water. My throat was so dry I was sure that if I tried to speak, I would sound like a frog. What started as a small sip ended up being the whole glass. Wow I really had been thirsty. I put the glass down and stood up. I must have not done this for ages because as soon as I did I got a major head rush and stumbled. I quickly reached out with my hands, trying to catch my balance. I managed to grab onto the corner of the table without knocking off the lamp or the glass, but the pen fell down the back. I decided not to go straight after it as I knew that I would just fall. Besides, it wasn't going to be of much use to me in the mean time. I lay back down on my bed and closed my eyes. I was suddenly feeling tired again. A few minutes of sleep wouldn't do any damage. As I began to fall asleep I noticed a clock directly opposite my bed. It was 11:15pm.
The sound of a woman's voice woke me. It was one of the nurses, I recognised her. But I didn't dare open my eyes or show any sign that I was or had been awake. I didn't want a swarm of people around me. Besides, I still had to make a plan to escape. The thought of the word shot a funny picture through my mind. A dark cave? A tunnel, maybe? I wasn't too sure. I didn't remember. The nurse must have been just checking on me because she left fairly soon after I woke up. I heard her open the door and I opened one eye. The room was empty, apart from me of course. I sat up and flung me legs over the side of the bed as I had done earlier. I glanced at the clock. It was 2 o'clock. There was still no light coming in through the window so I presumed that it was 2am. When I tried to stand this time, I didn't feel dizzy. I stretched out my arms and legs, feeling the best I had since I had woken up. I looked around, scanning the room again. When I caught sight of the desk, I realised that my empty glass was still there and the pen hadn't been returned. That reminded me. I turned to the desk and walked to the side of it. I crouched down and looked behind it, sliding the table out enough to be able to see behind it. The pen wasn't on the floor; it had fallen into a small compartment. I tried to pull out the compartment, but it wouldn't move, so I pushed it. It moved forward and into the table. I put the desk back into its original position and moved to the front of it. The draw was sticking out of the front, just enough for me to be able to see inside. I pulled it out and found two things. Right at the back was the pen. It must have fallen into the back of it. I also saw a small dark blue notebook underneath it, tucked into the corner. I picked them both up and closed the draw, quickly checking that there was nothing else in there. It was empty. I stood up and sat on the bed. I put the pen on to the table and opened up the first page of the book:Rosa,
I turned the page: I am writing this to show you how much I care, and how much I regret the decision that I irresponsibly made. You are my life and I was selfish to take away the only thing that I could provide for you. I miss you. I visit everyday and write this whilst observing your peaceful rest and occasionally hearing you mutter words in the depth of your sleep. The nurses thought it was a sign that you are beginning to wake, but I assured them that it's always been something that you have done. I would know. I know that you're awake. Or at the very least you can hear the nurses, and me, when I visit. I notice your heart speed up when I speak and I can tell that you're deep in thought. If you can hear my voice, why won't you wake to see me? I have to go for now, but remember that I will return, everyday until you wake. If you don't forgive me, I'll never forgive myself.
There were many more pages, some describing how his day had been and some talking about the past. There were even a few talking about the future. They were each different and unique, but they always ended in the same way: "If you don't forgive me, I'll never forgive myself." I began to panic. I know that his messages were sensitive and caring, but they scared me. I didn't even know who this person was, or myself for that matter, and they knew what seemed to be everything about me. He spoke of our past and our future. I wasn't even sure of my present. I'd taken my time reading through the notebook and was just pages in when I realised something. I should have realised before, the times. I put the notebook on the table and got up and walked to the end of the bed, looking at the clock in the process. It was 2:20. I picked up the clipboard and flipped the page. The same name repeated…. Dimitri Belikov. And the same time: 2:30. Every day…
I dropped the clipboard and ran to the window. I pushed it open and breathed in the fresh air. I also shivered when a gust of cold window blew in. I looked down at what I was wearing; a hospital nightgown. Brilliant. There were no other items of clothing that I could see so I just had to make do. I only had ten minutes to come up with a plan to get out without being seen by anybody. I climbed up onto the window frame and jumped out. My feet landed on concrete. When I looked around, I could see a few streetlights scattered around and the reflection of the light in the windows and mirrors of cars. I was in a car park, most likely the hospitals. I was near the edge of the lot so I pulled myself together and started to walk towards the row of trees and bushes at the side. As I reached them I heard the sound of a car pulling into the car park. I ducked into the hidden bushes at the base of a tree and pulled myself up onto a branch. I was surprisingly strong considering how little I had done recently. I was about half way up the tree when I stopped on a branch that looked and felt strong enough to hold my weight, and looked down into the car park. A black jeep pulled up into a space in the corner of the car park. It was hidden by the shadows of the trees. Unfortunately for me, it was also being covered by the shadow of the tree that I was hiding in. A tall thin figure elegantly climbed out of the car and started walking towards the doors of the hospital. It may have been him, I wasn't sure.
I saw him walk into the hospitals front room and then I lost sight of him. This was my chance, I thought. I jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground. I took one last look into the window that I had jumped out of just as he entered the room. I hesitated for a moment, the familiar image of him with white pale skin and red ringed eyes startled me. He looked shocked and after grabbing something from the table (the notebook I suspected) he turned and began to run towards the front desk.
I turned and started to run into a field behind the rows of trees. I noticed a problem, there was no hiding places, no cover. I felt very vulnerable. And my instinct told me that he wasn't looking for me just so that he could see me again, something told me that he was angry, and wanted revenge.
I'd begun to run through the field and after just a few moments, I looked back just to check that he wasn't following me. There was nobody. I slowed down to a walk, keeping my head turned towards the car park as a precaution. I mean it wasn't like I was going to walk into anything in a field. I was wrong. I stumbled and then turned to see what had caused me to trip. There he was, standing over me, smiling.