Reading VA: Reading Vampire Academy (A VA fanfic)

Eighteen

RPOV
We took an hour and a half long break for morning tea. In that time, we decided on Spaghetti Bolognese for lunch. And Mama, ever the efficient cook, had decided she-along with help from Karo, Sonya, my fiancé and Christian- could cook it while we ate and talked.

After all, the kitchen and accompanying pantry was practically professional. Almost something off one of those cooking shows humans are currently addicted to. So, she had enough burners and space to have six people making a batch on their own. There was also enough ingredients. So that was exactly what we did. Or, well, Mama and her helpers cooked while the rest of us talked.

Dimitri opened Vampire Academy to chapter eighteen when ready. I hope he knows what he's doing. "I woke up staring at the boring white ceiling of the clinic. A filtered light-soothing to Moroi patients-shone down on me. I felt strange, kind of disoriented, but I didn't hurt.
""Rose."
"The voice was like silk on my skin. Gentle. Rich. Turning my 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 framing his face."

"Were you by her bedside the whole time?" Abe just had to ask that. Almost accusingly, too.
"Where else was I going to go? I didn't have a shift and she was hurt." Abe glared at my future husband's challenging in his word choice and structure but respectful in tone response.
"Settle Abe," my mom said in a gentle voice. "It's water under the bridge. Not even Her Majesty is pressing charges. She wants them together."

What had been her briefing? And had we all been briefed by Tatiana personally? My father was calmed by my mother.

"And you say we're a hard-to-fathom match?" I sighed and shook my head. My parents glared at me then told Dimitri to keep reading.

Everyone stayed silent except for a few "aww"s as my fiancé read through what went down in the clinic. My mother kept Abe under control. My Comrade read through the deepening of our connection, the sparks and the touches, the words and unspoken double meanings.

The next thing revealed was Lissa healing me. The attic fight with Christian. And the toll both took. Everyone remained silent as Dimitri continued. Uninterrupted.

Through the bond, I could feel Liss still felt bad about that explosion and blow out. But, she did understand that my choice had been hard and now appreciated my decision.

"Drops of blood splattered onto the dusty floor, and her world began spinning. Seeing her own blood intrigued her. She had taken blood from others her entire life. Me. The feeders. Now, here it was, leaking out. With a nervous giggle, she decided it was funny. Maybe by letting it out, she was giving it back to those she'd stolen it from. Or maybe she was wasting in, wasting the sacred Dragomir blood that everyone obsessed over."

Sympathetic looks crossed listeners faces. They stayed quiet while Dimitri continued. Nearly finished the chapter.

"I'd forced my way into her head, and now I couldn't get out. Her emotions had ensnared me now-they were too strong and too powerful. I had to stop her. She was too weak from the healing to lose this much blood. It was time to tell someone.
"Breaking out at last, I found myself back in the clinic. Dimitri's hands were on me, gently shaking me as he said my name over and over in an effort to get my attention. Dr. Olendzki stood beside him, face dark and concerned.
"I stared at Dimitri, truly seeing how much he worried and cared about me. Christian had told me to get help, to go to someone I trusted about Lissa. I'd ignored the advice because I didn't trust anyone except her. But looking at Dimitri now, feeling that sense of understanding we shared, I knew that I did trust someone else.
"I felt my voice crack as I spoke. "I know where she is. Lissa. We have to help her."" Dimitri took a deep breath. "That's another chapter done."

Everyone sat around in silence. Shocked, stunned, surprised silence.

It was deafening. Every person gathered was so tense and uncertain what to do, what to say, what to think. Unsure how to react. Unable to react.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably no more than ten minutes, I had enough. "We have more reading to do. But first, it's lunch time!" I finished with a cheer.

The group broke from their daze. Everyone agreed to break for lunch.

Those who'd cooked, left. Headed for the kitchen to plate up for the eighteen of us. Of course, I was left to baby sit. I was beginning to enjoy time with the kids, but I couldn't have them with Dimitri so I didn't wish I could. At least for my own sake. I still thought the best part was being able to hand them back to their mothers.

The topic of conversation over lunch was me and Dimitri getting married. Lissa wanted to start planning. As did all three of Dimitri's sisters. Some in the room remained impassive and didn't speak. Jill and Sydney were two such people. Eddie wanted to talk security, big surprise there. My parents simply wanted to forget about it for a decade. Or longer. Dimitri and I wanted alone time, and to start planning when we wanted to, when we felt it was time to begin prepping for the biggest change in our lives since first meeting each other.