"Rose? Rose can you hear me?" The soft voice slowly drifted through the comatose state which my mind had entered. A soft hand patted down my hair in a soothing action and I could vaguely feel a weight push down the bed beside my torso which I assumed was due to someone sitting beside me.
"Rose?" The voice whispered again as I tested my limbs one at a time to ensure I could still move. Slowly peeking my eyes open, I quickly scrunched them together once again as the bright florescent light shone into my eyes making me flinch painfully. As I flinched, my breathe caught in my throat which resulted in my chest heaving as I coughed repeatedly feeling thick copper-like fluid rise and spurt from my mouth.
Grabbing out frantically to the person who owned the voice, I felt the harsh, weathered hands pull me forward to a sitting position, placing a metal dish below my chin to catch the blood.
With tears in my eyes I glanced up to the figure and through my blurry vision I could see my mother sitting beside me, soothing me as she rubbed my back reassuringly.
"Mum?" I choked in surprise as I whipped my head around franticly to take in my surroundings. Groaning internally I realised that I was back in the sterile academy's clinic. I only just got out of here!
"What are you doing here? What the hell am I doing here?" I asked in confusion as my mother located the small red button beside my bed head which would summon Dr Olendzki. She hushed me and pushed softly against my shoulder to keep me in the hospital bed.
"Rose, calm down. You collapsed in the snow a few days ago and have been in and out of consciousness since." My mother assured me as I heard the heavy doors open and close as the doctor walked in.
"It's good to see that you are finally awake, Ms Hathaway." Dr Olendzki commented as she walked towards us with a glass of water. I timidly took hold of the glass and sipped at the cool liquid which soothed my burning throat. However, the soothing effect seemed to be short-lived as I felt the liquid seep further through my system cutting off my airways making me choke on my breath. Sitting forward instantly, I threw the glass to the floor as I choked and coughed in order to clear my airways. The doctor seemed to act on medical instinct as she hooked up a large machine with way too many buttons before placing a small mask over my nose and mouth. I began to panic as the air around me seemed to thin from the assistance of the damn mask which clawed at desperately to remove it. However, my hands were instantly pinned to the bed by my mother as the doctor pressed a number of buttons on the machine which caused it to lurch to life, pumping clouds of oxygen through the mask.
"Rose, just breathe and clam down." Dr Olendzki whispered by my ear as my coughing and spluttering calmed down as I could finally feel my airways clear up.
"It seems your condition may be getting worse…" The doctor trailed off as she wrote some notes down in her small notebook and my mother stood from the bed to sit in one of the chairs provided beside the hospital cot.
"Wh-What happened?" I asked in bewilderment at the serious lack of accountable days and my mother's sudden appearance.
"Well, after your tests the other day I realised you had left before I had the chance to propose a trip to an actual hospital next week for further assessments of your condition. However, when I entered the cafeteria to see you were missing I realised something may be wrong. Unfortunately I found that I was right when I was walking towards the Dhampir dorms and I found you lying behind the cafeteria in pool of blood and snow." Dr Olendzki finished her recount of events which I couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that she had found me and not someone like Lissa or Dimitri.
"But, as I was saying – next Monday, you, Alberta and I are leaving the academy for the day to visit a human hospital just North of here. It will be a long trip but I spoke to the Headmistress and we have decided that as your condition becomes worse, so does the need for you to have further assessments somewhere other than a small school hospital." I hated the idea of having to go to an actual hospital which would be filled with sorrow and illness but I had no choice but to agree – I mean, I am currently using a machine to breathe.
"Okay" I slowly agreed as the doctor injected the usual set of needles with colourful liquids into my arm, causing my eyes to become heavy and my fingertips to go numb.
"I'm sorry, Guardian Hathaway – but I am going to have to get you to leave so that Rose may have a full rest. I'm sure Mr Mazur will be waiting anxiously to hear news of Rose's condition though." Dr Olendzki informed my mother as she stood with a worried expression upon her face – something I had never really seen before (apart from when we were kidnapped during last winter break by a group of Strigoi).
"Oh umm sure – I'll see you later, Rose." My mother whispered as she pat my hand gently before walking through the doors to the main entrance of the clinic. As she walked away I couldn't help but play over these last few minutes in my mind and boy, did I have one exhausting week ahead of me.
Visit the human hospital
Find out who the hell this Mazur guy is
Try to avoid breathing with this infernal machine as much as possible
Avoid Lissa, Dimitri, Christian, Eddie, Adrian and the rest of the school from finding out about my condition
Repeat all of the above…
Well, whoever said dying of cancer would be easy…?
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Breaking Inside (VA Fanfic)
FanfictionRose develops lung cancer which she has found has the ability to disturb her life at the academy which causes her to fall into a deep depression. Can her friends and family help her get a hold of her life once again or is she doomed to give into the...
