Bound For Eternity

Epilogue

Everything was in perfect clarity when I opened my eyes. I never realized how limited my eyesight was until now. Everything was so vivid and clear, it was like someone had taken a blur from my eyes.

"Roza?"

I turned my head and my eyes landed on Dimitri before moving to the bassinet that was beside the bed. I could hear Dimitri's slow heartbeat, but I could also hear the fluttering sound like hummingbird wings. The song that called to the deepest part of my soul. My son's heartbeat.

I sat up slowly and swallowed, my throat thick like I hadn't drunk water in days.

"Take it slow, it can be disorienting," Dimitri said softly as I slid off the bed and backed towards the door. I flattened myself against the wall and took another slow breath through my nose before choking on it.

"Take Noah away," I whispered, gripping the edge of the doorframe.

"Rose?"

"All I can smell is his," I choked with a small gasp, closing my eyes. Dimitri got up and walked towards me, gripping my shoulders gently as he maneuvered me out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. He kept his body between me and the door as we went down to the kitchen.

While still keeping his body between me and the stairs, Dimitri opened the fridge and rummaged through the drawer at the bottom and pulled out a reddish-looking bag. He tore the top corner of it off with his teeth and extended it to me.

I gingerly took it and did what I had seen him do so many times before, and brought the corner of it to my lips. I took a slow sip and as soon as the blood touched my tongue, it set fire to my veins. Before I knew it, I had drained the bag and Dimitri was already handing me another one and I finished it off quickly.

I tossed both the empty packages into the garbage and accepted the glass of water Dimitri handed to me.

"That was intense," I said after finishing the glass.

"It can be, that's why I said take it slow," Dimitri soothed. I nodded and sat on the edge of the counter, feeling a sensation of horror set in.

"Oh my God," I whispered as I rested my head in my hands, "What if you weren't in the room what I woke up!? I could have hurt Noah!"

Dimitri came to stand in front of me and rested his hands on my knees, shushing me gently.

"Roza, you wouldn't have hurt him," he soothed but I shook my head. Dimitri cupped my cheeks and tipped my head up so I was looking at him.

"Your instinct as a mother wouldn't have let you. Look at what you did, the minute you smelled his blood, you backed yourself into the wall. You wouldn't have hurt Noah," Dimitri said softly, stroking his thumb over my cheekbone.

I sighed quietly and leaned into him before sliding off the counter and heading past him and up the stairs. Dimitri followed behind me as I went back into the bedroom and I walked around the bed. I peered into the bassinet and smiled when I saw his big brown eyes open.

I smiled at him as he flailed his arms and legs inside the swaddle bag, gurgling behind his pacifier. I felt the tension leave my body as I picked him up, pulling the pacifier from his mouth.

"Hi bubba," I sighed and kissed his cheek, taking a tentative deep breath in. He still smelled like him, all perfect and baby-like, but the smell of his blood in his veins didn't have the same appeal as it did earlier.

"After a day or so, his blood won't make you thirsty. It was like that for me with you in the beginning. But becoming familiar helps, and like I said, mother's instincts."