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EIGHTEEN

I WOKE UP STARING AT the boring white ceiling of the clinic A filtered light - soothing to Moroi patients - shone down on e, kind of disoriented, but I didn’t hurt

"Rose"

The voice was like silk onmy head, I met Dimitri’s dark eyes He sat in a chair beside the bed I lay on, his shoulder-length brown hair hanging forward and fra out as a croak

"How do you feel?"

"Weird Kind of groggy"

"Dr Olendzki gave you soht you in"

"I don’t re have I been out?"

"A few hours"

"Must have been strong Must still be strong" Soht I couldn’t reain Tentatively, I triedthe toes on my healthy foot "I don’t hurt at all"

He shook his head "No Because you weren’t seriously injured"

The sound ofcame back toe to sit up, so I could look at my ankle

"Or at least sprained"

He ht be fine, but you’re probably still a little out of it"

I carefully shifted to the edge of the bed and looked down My jeans were rolled up The ankle looked a little red, but I had no bruises or serious ot lucky If I’d hurt it, it would have put , he returned to his chair "I know You kept tellingyou You were very upset"

"Youyou carried me here?"

"After we broke the bench apart and freed your foot"

Man I’dDi hi me in his arms

Then the reality of the situation hit roaned

"What?"

"I survived the whole day guarding Lissa, and you guys said I did a good job Then, I get back here and h "Do you kno euys saw, too"

"It wasn’t your fault," he said "No one knew the bench was rotted It looked fine"

"Still I should have just stuck to the sidewalk like a norive et back"

His lips held back a smile "Maybe presents will cheer you up"

I sat up straighter "Presents?"

The smile escaped, and he handed me a small box with a piece of paper

"This is from Prince Victor"

Surprised that Victor would have given , I read the note It was just a few lines, hastily scrawled in pen

Rose -

I’m very happy to see you didn’t suffer any serious injuries from your fall Truly, it is a miracle You lead a charmed life, and Vasilisa is lucky to have you

"That’s nice of hi the box Then I saas inside "Whoa Very nice"

It was the rose necklace, the one Lissa had wanted to getits chain overfree

"This is pretty extre the price

"He actually bought it in honor of you doing so well on your first day as an official guardian He saw you and Lissa looking at it"

"Wow" It was all I could say "I don’t think I did that good of a job"

"I do"

Grinning, I placed the necklace back in the box and set it on a nearby table "You did say ¡®presents,’ right? Like ht, and the sound wrapped around h "This is fro Puzzled and excited, I opened it up Lip gloss, the kind I liked I’d co out, but I’d never thought he was paying attention

"How’d you e to buy this? I saw you the whole time at the mall"

"Guardian secrets"

"What’s this for? For my first day?"

"No," he said siht it wouldabout it, I leaned forward and hugged hi froht hiht myself by surprise, too But he relaxed a few moments later, and when he reached around and rested his hands onto die

"I’lad you’re better," he said His mouth sounded like it was almost in my hair, just above ht, ¡®Wow, she’s a loser’ "

"That’s not what I thought"

He pulled back slightly, so he could seeHis eyes were so dark and deep that I wanted to dive right in Staring at them made me feel warm all over, like they had flaers of his reached out and traced the edge ofup the side of my face At the first touch of his skin on er, just like he had in the gyedwhat it’d be like to kiss hiht both excited and scared uys and never thought much about it No reason another one - even an older one - should be that big of a deal Yet the thought of hi his lips to

A soft knock sounded at the door, and I hastily leaned back Dr Olendzki stuck her head in "I thought I heard you talking How do you feel?"

She walked over ande and finally shook her head when finished

"You’re lucky With all the noise you ht your foot had been amputated Must have just been shock" She stepped back "I’d feel better if you sat out froood to go"

I breathed a sigh of relief I didn’t remember my hysteria - and was actually kind of eht about the problems this would have caused me if I’d broken or sprained it I couldn’t afford to lose any ti

Dr Olendzki gave o and then left the roohtat him, I felt a warm flush sweep me as I recalled what had happened before the doctor had entered

He watched as I slipped one of the shoes on "You have a guardian angel"

"I don’t believe in angels," I told him "I believe in what I can do forbody" I glanced up at hi, I mean I heard about the accident"

He didn’t specify which accident it was, but it could be only one Talking about it nor

"Everyone said I shouldn’t have survived," I explained "Because of where I sat and the way the car hit the tree Lissa was really the only one in a secure spot She and I walked aith only a few scratches"

"And you don’t believe in angels or miracles"

"Nope I - "

Truly, it is a miracle You lead a charhts cael after all

Dis "What’s wrong?"

Reaching out with ering effects of the pain h to me Anxious Upset

"Where’s Lissa? Was she here?"

"I don’t knohere she is She wouldn’t leave your side while I brought you in She stayed right next the bed, right up until the doctor came in You calmed dohen she sat next to you"

I closed ht faint I had calmed dohen Lissa sat next to me because she’d taken the pain away She’d healed ht of the accident

It all made sense now I shouldn’t have survived Everyone had said so Who knehat kind of injuries I’d actually suffered? Internal bleeding Broken bones It didn’t matter because Lissa had fixed it, just like she’d fixed everything else That hy she’d been leaning over me when I woke up