"Lissa, No!" I heard someone yelling as I charged into Rose's room. Doctors and nurses filled the small space, leaving barely enough room for me to step through the doorway.

"Princess, you shouldn't be in here," a Moroi nurse told me softly as she took my arm to lead me from the room.

"I can help her. Please, let me try?" I begged as tears threatened to spill down my cheeks.

"It's no longer in our hands, Princess. Only Rose and God can help her now." She said softly. The words being the final push as my tears began to fall in earnest.

"I can help, let me go!" I yelled as I pushed past her grip and through the stunned medical staff that stood about the room.

"It's her heart, Princess." One of the doctors whispered as I took Rose's hand in mine.

"Get Adrian Ivashkov. I will need him and Dimitri, both." I said to the doctor. I spent the next few minutes gently talking to Rose in soft whispers until I felt Dimitri's hand on my shoulder. Looking through my soaked lashes, I nodded at him. "I have to, or we will lose her. I'm sorry." I murmured as my eyes fell back to Rose. Dimitri could only nod.

I took Rose's hand in mine and taking a deep breath, locked eyes with Adrian. "Her aura is pretty dark. Maybe if Dimitri lay next to her, I could try healing darkness at the same time you heal the physical body. It's the only thing we haven't tried and the only thing I can think of."

"It is actually a pretty decent idea. Thank you Adrian." Dimitri mumbled as he began to climb onto the bed next to Rose. He lay down and wrapped her in his arms.

"That is already making a small difference." Adrian noted to us.

"Perhaps if we both healed the darkness first," I asked.

"We can try, but as soon you need to heal the physical damage as soon as I give the go ahead." I nodded my agreement to Adrian's words and we began. Slowly we healed the darkness in her aura. After what seemed like hours, Adrian finally called out that it was time. I could tell by his facial expression that he was nearly spent.

I gave one quick surge of healing towards her vital organs as Adrian drained himself as he healed any new darkness that Rose absorbed. He slumped into a nearby chair and kept a careful gaze on Rose.

"We did it. What little bit of darkness that was left is being devoured quickly now with the joining of their souls."

"Her vital signs are back to normal, too." The doctor finally spoke up in amazement. "I will secure the two of you a feeder. It looks like you could use one."

"Thank you that would certainly be appreciated." I told him as I also sat down. I watched as the doctor left and the nurses one by one behind him. "How much darkness was she harboring? It took way longer than it ever has to heal her of it, and that was with the two of us working together."

"It took ten minutes before her aura even began swirling. Another seven before it began to lighten. She will be okay now I think. Her aura is nearly pure white now."

"What do we do now?" I asked, scared of what the answer may be.

"We wait for Rose to be ready to join us again." Dimitri said as he ran a finger over her cheek, moving a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I am going to find a way to break the bond, Rose. I promise you I won't let this ever happen again. I would rather die than have to see you go through this again." I whispered next to her ear, before giving her hand one last squeeze before falling back into my chair and giving in to the exhaustion that was overtaking me.

I was awoken a short time later when a nurse led Adrian and me to the feeders they had secured. Afterwards one of Abe's guardians drove us back to the house for rest. Once inside I hugged Adrian and told him I was going to wait upstairs for Christian to return.

I knew what had to be done. We had researched for days and the same answer came to us again and again. I just had to find a way to die, without actually dying. I turned on my computer, hoping to find some answers when a disheveled Adrian burst through my door.

"I saw it in your aura and I couldn't place it at first. I thought maybe you were still a bit drained, but it was more than that. I made it to the liquor cabinet when it dawned on me; you were showing shades of the same hopelessness that I feel. You can't let that take control. It won't end well. You can't do it Lissa. It would destroy Christian. What about Rose? She may not be responsive, but do you know what that might do to her in the end?" He ended is tirade with a heavy swallow of brown liquid.

"It would free her, Adrian, completely." I challenged.

"It's not the way. Neither of you should have to die. Suicide is not the answer Lissa. Trust me; I've thought it plenty of times."

"Suicide? Adrian, what are you talking about?"

"You, you know, killing yourself. Suicide is pretty self-explanatory."

"I wasn't going to commit suicide! I was going to"

"Die, Lissa, you want to die. If that isn't suicide then what is it?" Adrian spat, cutting off my words.

"I was going to find a way to die, without actually dying." I said hurriedly before he could interrupt me again.

"That's for the movies. It doesn't work that way in real life."

"It doesn't?" I asked him blankly. "How do you explain Rose being bonded to me then?"

"That-That," Adrian stuttered and grew quiet.

"She died; I healed her back to life. That wasn't a movie scene, but real life. Look, it just came to me, in all the books we have read, it never mentions two Moroi being bonded."

"So what, you're going to off yourself and hope some Spirit user will be able to heal you back to life?"

"Not just some Spirit user." I told him giving him my best "duh" face.

"No! Absolutely not! I can't heal as well as you can for one. For two, Christian would murder me if he even knew we were having this conversation."

"They will never know. We wait until Christian leaves tomorrow morning. I'll stay behind again, claiming to look through the rest of the books. We try then. If it ends badly, I will make sure there is a note explaining everything."

"That still makes me an accessory to murder if I can't bring you back."

"No one can be held accountable for suicide except the dead person, Adrian. Don't be absurd."

"I'm being absurd? I will tell you what is absurd. This stupid idea you have. Just drop it Lissa. I won't help you, not with this."

"What idea? Do you need help, Lis?" I heard Christian's voice from behind Adrian. I glared daggers at Adrian in warning to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh it was nothing, just some Spirit stuff." I answered in return hoping it would be enough for Christian to let it go.

"Oh. Well, have you heard yet?"

"Heard what?"

"Abe called, said I was needed at the hospital for a few moments before I headed home. I thought you were there and wanted something or whatever. Abe and Janine said I should come get you. Rose woke up a few minutes before I had arrived."

"She's awake or she is awake, awake?" I asked him hesitantly.

"She spoke to Dimitri. Told him find me and make sure I got home as soon as I could, that you were thinking…. Lis, she said you wanted to kill yourself."

"Christian, no! She had it wrong." I gasped.

"Did she Lissa, because Rose has a pretty good front seat into what goes on in that head of yours." Christian asked as he pushed past Adrian and came to stand directly in front of me.

"I'll explain it all, I promise, but for now, let's go to the hospital. Please?" I asked as realization that Rose was actually speaking sunk in.

"There will be a later, Vasilissa. Don't think that Rose's improvement will make me forget." Christian conceded to me. I nodded my agreement and grabbed my purse. It was time to face Rose and whatever that entailed.