Dimitri POV
Vasilisa took the phone from me and dialled a number, holding the phone up to her ear. I shouldn't have been surprised that she would have known the number by heart but I was. It was the reason that I hadn't called myself. I would have had to get the number out of Roza's phone, which would have meant leaving her side and I couldn't do that.
"Janine isn't answering." She said.
"Call Lord Szelzky."
Vasilisa nodded and dialled another number, waiting patiently for it to be answered. Someone must have answered because she spoke. "Hello, I'm trying to reach Guardian Hathaway... Yes, I'm aware of the time... No, I can't call back at a more civilised hour. It's important that I speak to her immediately..."
I could tell that she was becoming impatient and she finally snapped.
"Whom am I speaking to?... Right, well. Please inform Guardian Hathaway that Queen Vasilisa Sabina Rhea Dragomir wishes speak to her immediately... Yes, you do that." I gave her a tight smile and she returned it. "Apparantly, Lady Szelzky doesn't like to be woken up at such an uncivilised hour." She said.
"That's a shame." I said and turned my attention back to Roza. Her temperature was rising and I knew that Yeva had been right. We were running out of time.
"Janine, it's about Rose... No. She was attacked and she's been poisoned... We're with her now but the doctor had an emergency and he won't be able to see her for a while... We don't know... Dimitri asked me to call you... Yes, he's here... Okay."
She held the phone out to me and I took it, preparing myself for the onslaught of questions that were sure to follow.
"Belikov?"
"I'm here."
"Is she all right?"
"She's been poisoned. Her wound is infected. She has a fever but she seems to be stable for now."
"Why isn't the doctor there?"
"A Moroi woman went in to labour, he's trying to save her and the baby."
"I don't care about her child, I care about mine. Why doesn't Court have more than one doctor?"
"Dhampirs rarely get sick, it's usually simple proceedures. Morois only have the occasional blood test or minor injuries." I knew that she knew that, but she wasn't thinking straight. All she could think of was her daughter being sick and needing medical attention.
"What kind of poison is it?"
"We're not entirely sure at the moment but we believe that it's from an Amphisbaena."
"That's ridiculous. The Amphisbaena is a creature of myth. They don't exist."
"And as far as the rest of the world is concerned, neither do we. I have it on good authority that-"
"Whose good authority?"
"My grandmother's."
"Your grandmother who thinks that she's some kind of seer?"
"Janine, this isn't the time. I need to speak to Abe."
"Why?"
"Because if anyone has the resources to track down an antidote for Roza, then it's him."
"Yes, of course. I'll call him now."
"Hurry. We don't have much time."
She made a noise low in her throat, the noise that only a mother with a breaking heart could make. My eyes watered at the sound but I blinked them away as she promised that she'd call him as soon as she hung up with me and then she'd leave for Court immediately afterwards.
Vasilisa was still standing in the room, staring down at Roza. She walked to the other side of the bed and sat down, tucking on of her legs underneath herself as she did so. She took Roza's hand in hers and smiled down at her friend. "Even like this, she's still so beautiful."
"Yes." I said quietly.
"You know, I used to be so jealous of her. She was always beautiful and I would have killed for her body – after puberty any way. She seemed to go from a flat-chested child to a curvaceous woman over night. That combined with her attitude... I always wished that I could be her, just for one day."
"Why?"
"Because everyone liked her. Not so much the teachers but the students did." She swiped a tear from the corner of her eye and huffed out a laugh. "It's crazy if you think about it. Most people would want to look like me but I always wanted to be just like her. People were only nice to me because of my name or my brother or because they felt sorry for me. Everyone except Rose. She's loved me since the day we met."
"I know."
"I never wanted it to be like this. I didn't want her to have to risk her life me all the time."
"You saved her, too."
"I know but sometimes I think that she'd be better off if I hadn't. If I hadn't been so selfish, if I'd let her go, none of this would have happened to her."
"It isn't your fault."
"Maybe this isn't, but the rest of it is. Victor, Mason, you, Adrian... Everything that's happened to her has happened because I saved her."
"She doesn't blame you." I said, rested my hand on her back awkwardly. "She loves you. You're her family."
"She has her own family. Janine and Abe. You."
"I'm not her family."
"Yes, you are. The only way that she would have let you love her so much or even lived with you, is if she thought of you as her family. She's never felt this way about anyone, Dimitri."
"Neither have I."
"If she wakes up, you have to do something for me." She said, shifting slightly on the bed so that her jade eyes held mine. "You should make it official. Get married. Spend forever loving each other, the way that she deserves to be loved."
"She doesn't believe in marriage."
"She didn't believe in marriage before she met you. She might now. She deserves to have her happy ending, Dimitri, and you're the only one that can give it to her." She stood up and after a long, lingering look at Roza, she left me alone with her.