Reaction to Vampire Academy

Chapter 19 - Pavel POV

Abe decided to pass the book to Pavel. He knew his long time guardian and friend would have happily taken on the role of Uncle if he had been allowed in his daughters life. Suspecting they'd not seen the worst in the chapters yet, it also gave Pavel an excuse to be seated. That also provided additional barriers between Janine and Dimitri, (himself too if needed if he was being honest with himself). While Abe may be alright with the idea of his daughter and Dimitri as a couple, he can't say he won't react as a protective father at hearing about his daughter's romantic life. Pavel protested originally but acquiesced knowing that Abe would get his way regardless, like his daughter he thought smiling.

IT'S HARD TO SAY WHAT finally made me do it. I'd held on to so many secrets for so long, doing what I believed best protected Lissa. But hiding her cutting did nothing to protect her. I hadn't been able to make her stop—and really, I now wondered if it was my fault she'd ever started. None of this had happened until she healed me in the accident. What if she'd left me injured? Maybe I would have recovered. Maybe she would be all right today.

Alberta looked to Abe with sadness. "I told you she'd blame herself". Abe felt incredibly sad, Alberta was yet again right. He thought of the impact this would have on her, without Lissa his daughter would be dead but the toll seems steep.

I stayed in the clinic while Dimitri went to get Alberta. He hadn't hesitated for a second when I told him where she was. I'd said she was in danger, and he'd left immediately. Everything after that moved like some sort of slow-motion nightmare. The minutes dragged on while I waited. When he finally returned with an unconscious Lissa, a flurry arose at the clinic, one everyone wanted me kept out of. She had lost a lot of blood, and while they had a feeder on hand right away, rousing her to enough consciousness to drink proved difficult.

"I hope she is alright" Tatiana worried, voicing everyone's concerns while Alberta was thinking about how long those minutes must have felt for Rose.

It wasn't until the middle of the Academy's night that someone decided she was stable enough for me to visit. 

"Is it true?" she asked when I walked into the room. She lay on the bed, wrists heavily bandaged. I knew they'd put a lot of blood back into her, but she still looked pale to me. "They said it was you. You told them."

"I had to," I said, afraid to get too close. "Liss...you cut yourself worse than you ever have. And after healing me...and then everything with Christian...you couldn't handle it. You needed help."

Kirova snapped, asking why Rose is afraid to get close. Alberta sighed. "When they fight it is bad. Right now Rose feels guilty for Lissa hurting herself because of the healing and Christian, guilty for it all starting with the accident and guilty because she broke Lissa's trust and told someone which means her secret is out. Rose is afraid because she knows she can push Lissa over the edge and doesn't want that. She is trying to at least give her space to decide how to move forward" she finished with a sigh.

She closed her eyes. "Christian. You know about that. Of course you do. You know about everything."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to help."

"What happened to what Ms. Karp said? About keeping it all secret?"

Alberta sighed again as she realized that Lissa is now going to make Rose feel even more guilty, but like Rose said, she had cut deeper. It would have only been a matter of time before she killed herself, even by accident.

"She was talking about the other stuff. I don't think she'd want you to keep cutting yourself."

"Did you tell them about the 'other stuff'?"