It had been a little over a day since Alicante's latest fugitive group had entered Alexandria's gates, and although Lissa was fatigued from the journey, she had no desire to rest. She'd reunited with Adrian first, spirit guiding her to him, but he'd barely been comprehensible. Last time she'd spoken to her cousin, during the dream he'd created, he'd seemed healthy. Happy, even. Of course her delivering the news of his Aunt Tatiana's death would've changed that, but Lissa hadn't expected him to resort immediately back to drug use to cope with the intensity of his grief. When she'd tried to question it further, he'd muttered something about Eddie and then dismissed her entirely.
Lissa had remained with him anyway, cradling him as she cried, unsettled by the darkness shrouding his aura. Spirit users were meant to burn gold, but Adrian had been tainted by an intense, deep blue. Over an hour passed before he'd settled, and then he spoke her name. Rose. In an instant, Lissa's entire body ran cold. Of course, it'd always been a possibility. That somehow she'd made it. Rose had forever been strong enough to spit in the face of adversity, to defy death itself. But Lissa had never allowed herself to wonder, to pray, or to hope. In fact, she'd barely allowed herself to think about Rose at all. Those wonders coincided with a pain so unbearable it mirrored Adrian's own.
Getting an explanation from Adrian was intensely frustrating, considering his mental state, and it was the first time Lissa's patience had worn thin with him, suddenly feeling the pressures of time. Eventually, he managed to slur out the word 'hospital'. She kissed him goodbye and ran out the door, shaky legs barely carrying her. Luckily, in the few instances in which she stumbled, Mikhail was there to steady her. He followed silently behind, having been trained never to question a royal, but he clearly understood the importance, even without all of the information. Lissa would fill him in later, as well as offer her gratitude.
The nurses were reluctant to allow her in, which was to be expected, as they were protective over their patients. Uncharacteristically, Lissa had to use compulsion to gain access. Vervain carried through the town's water supply, but herbs were no deterrent for Spirit, and neither were a match for the bond she had with her best friend. Although it'd only been minutes since she'd left Adrian's, it felt like hours until she was finally where she needed to be.
The ward was quiet, and solitary, and Lissa shivered as she passed through the doors, as if she could somehow feel Rose before she'd even seen her. But as soon as she did, Lissa's breath left her body, stunted by disbelief. "Rose?" Her best friend was clearly on the verge of unconsciousness, battling with an illness Lissa didn't understand. She felt her heart break as she approached, slow in her movements, still struggling to accept this as reality. "Rose, it's me." Evidently, their dissociation was shared, and Lissa laughed through her tears at the response she was given. "I'm not here to scold you. Not yet," she teased, wiping the dampened hair away from Rose's forehead.
"Mikhail, Eggsy, Ciri, Harley, Mia and I escaped Alicante. It was Mia's idea, if you can believe it. But that's a story for another time," she explained softly, pulling up a chair, and allowing Rose a moment to process. "Right now, I just want to be with you, and help you get better. I've missed you so much. If I'd have known..." Lissa shook her head, dismissing herself. "I love you, Rose. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to find you and tell you that."
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