*Updated 01-05-2018*

Chapter 22 - Alive?

Shaking her head, Rosa just passed it off as her imagination. She was emotional, upset and she was probably hallucinating. Then the voice came again, sounding louder and more clearer.
"Princesa, is that you?

It was Vaas.

Rosa jolted up and looked around, still seeing nobody.
"Vaas? Are you a ghost?"
"I fucking hope not, Rosa."
"Where are you?" she hissed, her voice quiet.
"Over by the couch. I'm real bad, hermana, real bad."

Rosa quickly got to her feet, running to the couch before she looked over it. Lying there was a bloodied Vaas, clutching his chest, blood seeping through his tank. He looked near death but an enormous smile erupted onto his face when he saw Rosa.
"Vaas." she whispered and she started to cry with happiness, "Fuck, it's really you. I thought I had lost you."
Rosa pulled the couch out of the way and crouched down next to Vaas.
"Shh. Don't cry, I will be okay. I think I've just been out of it this whole time and I really need to see a fucking doctor. Where is the Brody boy?"
"There's a lot to explain Vaas, but lets just get you better."

Rosa hurriedly stood up and ran to the warehouse doors.
"RAUL! VAAS IS ALIVE, WE NEED A DOCTOR!"
"YOU'VE GONE FUCKING MAD, ROSA! HE'S DEAD!" Raul shouted back. T
he whole compound turned to Rosa, including the hostages and rejects and nobody said anything.
"HE'S HERE, GET THE GOD DAMN DOCTOR, NOW!"

Rosa began pulling Vaas out from the darkness as he winced with every pull.
"I thought you had died." she whispered.
"I'm here now, princesa. I would never leave you."

Doctor Earnhardt burst in with a bag of tools with Raul close behind.
"Holy shit, he is alive." said Raul, a stunned look etched onto his face.
"No, I'm a fucking zombie, hermano." Vaas joked sarcastically.
"Get him onto the bed." instructed Doctor Earnhardt.

Rosa and Raul grabbed Vaas the best they could and hoisted him onto the bed. With every movement, he groaned with pain, making Rosa's heart break. She pulled off his shirt and grimaced. 5 major stab wounds littered Vaas' chest and they were all still bleeding. How he had managed to survive, she didn't know. Anyone else would have died. But Vaas wasn't just anyone; he was a warrior.

Rosa stroked his forehead and felt he was burning up. She kissed him, cupping his cheek.
"Can you please leave me to deal with him." instructed the Doctor, "C-Can't work with everyone crowding."
"Of course. We'll be right outside." said Rosa, motioning for Raul to follow.

"As if that fucker actually made it."
"I can't believe it. He has definitely put a dent in his nine lives." Rosa replied with a chuckle.
Suddenly, she was hit with a feeling, something she had been trying to ignore.
"Is Hoyt dead?" she whispered, trying to mentally prepare herself for the answer.
"Hoyt? No fucking way, Rosa. He was stabbed by that cocksucker Snow White, but no where near dead. He's been worried sick about you."
Rosa felt calm and the tension in her released a little.

"What the fuck happened?" she asked, sitting down on a nearby couch, the information overwhelming her.
"Brody got into the organisation. Don't ask me how but Hoyt knew it was him all along. Brody goes for a fight with him, gets a couple of stabs in and Hoyt plays dead. Jason made off with his friends, blowing shit up as he did, so your old man is pissed as hell. Last we hear, Brody is dead." Raul explained, Rosa captivated.
"Fuck. I gotta go and call him."

Rosa held the phone to her ear, the usual dialing tone ringing out.

"Have you found her? Is she alive?" asked Hoyt, frantically.
"Hi, Dad." Rosa breathed.
"Rosa?" Hoyt murmured, "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm fine and that Vaas is alive."
"Fuck me, he's alive?" Hoyt asked, "And you're okay? I've been sending out search parties for you, what happened?"
"Vaas' cunt sister did. That matter is taken care of and so is Brody."
"That's my girl." replied Hoyt, "I will be coming over as soon as possible to see you both. How is Vaas?"
"He's been unconscious for a while and the Doctor is sorting him out now, with his wounds and shit. He should be fine."
Rosa was saying that to reassure herself. Vaas had to be okay.

"How are you, heard Brody got a couple of shots in."
"I'm fine. That stupid fucker tried to pull the wool over my eyes, trying to have me think that he was a privateer. I've been playing the game a lot longer than that kid has and he should have known who not to fuck with. He stole all of my valuable merchandise and killed a lot of guys, destroying everything. Thank fuck I have the money to fix it all."
Rosa smiled to herself at Hoyt's familiar voice and attitude.
"But, really, you're okay?"
"Rosa! I'm fine, the Doctor got me fixed up. You might want to mention to Vaas that the Brody boy's arm was glowing, he's going to have something to say about that, I'm sure!"
"Wha-?"
Rosa was interrupted by shouting.
"ROSA!" Raul called, "Vaas wants you!"

"Hoyt, I gotta go, Vaas needs me. I'll see you when you come over."
"Okay, take care of yourself." Hoyt replied, "And Rosa? I'm so glad you're okay, sweetheart."
Rosa ended the call and bounded down the stairs and ran to the warehouse to see Vaas.

Propped up in bed, Vaas looked much better. His chest was bandaged and the pained look on Vaas' face had subsided.

"Hey, princesa." he said, softly and beckoned her over.
Rosa sat on the bed as Vaas grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb over it.
"You're okay?" Rosa asked.
"I'll be fine, you know me, hard as a fucking brick wall. Doc has given me some meds and the stitches will need taking out. He said there shouldn't be too much damage internally because of some new herb shit he shoved in the wounds. I just gotta take it easy."

Rosa smiled as Vaas looked at her.
"Kinda reminds me of when we first met." Rosa said.
"And I thought it was impossible for you to get more beautiful." said Vaas.

"What happened at Badtown, princesa? Did Citra get you?" asked Vaas, his voice quietly serious.
"She got her group of cocksuckers to take me to the temple and was about to kill me, like in that dream I had, but Mali killed her."
Vaas' eyes widened.
"Citra ... is dead?" he whispered, his face going a little paler.
Rosa nodded.
"Vaas ... I know what she did to you. What she tried to do to us. But she was still your sister. Your family."

Vaas scoffed.
"Sister? Family? That cunt didn't know the meaning of the word. I'm glad she's dead. She was poison on these islands. I'm just sad I didn't get the chance to spit on her grave." Vaas stated, his voice full of venom.
Rosa grasped his hand, noticing his eyes having gone dark with anger and his breathing quicker. She gently stroked his hand, calming him down.

Vaas cleared his throat.
"And Brody?"
"Dead. She killed him. I got out with Mali but Dennis shot her; I think he was aiming for me. Dennis is dead too."
"Mali is dead? Fuck, princesa, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." she whispered as she gripped Vaas' hand tighter.
"And the Rakyat?"
"Still alive and kicking, we'll sort them out soon enough."
"Of course." smirked Vaas.

"What happened to you anyways? Did you know that fucker was coming?"
"The final showdown. I got word from the boys that he was coming for us. I didn't want you here. He could have gotten you, or killed you. He nearly slaughtered my whole band of men and then came for me. I stabbed him with a drug needle, you know that strong dosage Doc gave me and he started hallucinating. I was taunting him, winding him up and next thing I knew he had jumped out of nowhere, taking me by surprise."
Rosa sighed, looking sympathetically at Vaas.

"I thought I was done for, princesa. I lay on that floor, bleeding out and all I could think of was you. Never seeing you again, not getting to explain, not getting to say goodbye. Not telling you how much I love you. The thought nearly finished me off. But I knew you would come back to me. My amor." Vaas said, his words getting caught in his throat.
Rosa blinked away the tears in her eyes, taking a breath.
"I'm here now, okay? I'm not going anywhere." she replied, earning a small smile from Vaas.

She gently touched the bandages on Vaas' chest and frowned.
"That's so fucking weird." she mumbled.
"What is, princesa?" Vaas asked.
"When I was gone, I got really bad pains in my chest. I swear it was right where you were stabbed."
Soul mates, hermana. That's what we are. " Vaas replied and smiled, "What about Hoyt?"

"Snow White went for him and he got a few hits in. Nothing too serious but he's coming over soon. He said something about Jason's tatau glowing."
Vaas didn't say anything, looking down and frowning again.
"When the tatau glows, it means that the person has reached their limit. The ultimate warrior."
"Shit." Rosa breathed.

Neither said anything for a few minutes before Rosa got to her feet.
"I'm gonna go for a wash, I'll clean you up when I'm back."
She pulled off her shoes and grabbed some shampoo, along with a towel. Vaas whistled her over, gently pulling her in for a kiss and Rosa came out dazed. She couldn't believe that Vaas and Hoyt were alive. Vaas and Hoyt were alive.

Rosa practically skipped to the ocean, stripping off and diving in, the cool water feeling so good and clean against her. It felt nice to get rid of all of the grime and dirt from the jungle and temple. She dipped her head under and began to scrub in the shampoo, soap bubbles forming around her; the sweet smell was intoxicating to her.

Rosa lazied around in the water for a while until she heard her stomach growl; she hadn't eaten in a while and neither had Vaas. Reluctantly, she hauled herself out of the sea, wrapping the towel around her, going through the back entrance of the compound into the warehouse which only her and Vaas knew about. She slipped into the warehouse as Vaas wolf whistled, making Rosa blush. She pulled on some new clothes and combed her damp hair, feeling relaxed. Making her way over to Vaas, she used her towel to wipe his face over, cleaning him up dramatically.

"You can go in the sea when your cuts are ready; you need a proper clean. And salt water is good for you. Works as an antiseptic."
"Yes, yes, Mama." Vaas winked, making Rosa giggle.
"I'm gonna get us some food from the kitchen. I'll be back."

Scurrying out of the warehouse once more, Rosa picked up some fruit and soup that was lying around in the kitchen, showing them off to Vaas when she walked back in. She sat on the bed, munching a banana, whilst Vaas carefully had some soup.
"I like it when it's like this." he said in between taking sips of soup, "When it's quiet and calm."
"I like it when we're having rough sex but this is nice too."
Vaas chuckled.
"All in good time, princesa."
"We never got a chance to play before I left."
Rosa made a puppy dog face as Vaas smirked.
"When I'm ready, you're in for the night of your life and believe me it's going to be hard to wait."
Rosa planted a small kiss on Vaas, their lips soft under each other.

"Te amo." he murmured.
"Te amo."