Twisted Frame (VA Fanfic)

Thirteen: Aligning the Frame

I woke to see Dimitri beside me. Again. I smiled. He's hardly left my side or Annabella's and it makes my heart swell with love. He's not hiding from me anymore, and that alone makes my lips turn a frown upside-down. He's not hiding from himself either, nor is he blaming himself... well, just a little, but I wasn't going to begrudge him that given it was a tiny part of his conscience. I'd be worried if he didn't feel emotions such as guilt or remorse, but I'd be more worried if he'd never rediscovered his love and similar emotions.

"Good news, babe, you're getting moved into a normal ward before lunch," said Dimitri as I ate the horrid hospital-food breakfast.
"Really?" I practically squealed. What this man does to me!
"Yes, Roza." His deep, sexy, breathy laugh was a turn on. Was it even supposed to be possible to be this turned on so early in the morning?
"Yay!" Only, despite my happiness about getting out of here, I couldn't help but worry how much longer Annabella needed to be in NICU. Yup, she'd taken over my world too. Sure, she wasn't at the forefront of my mind 24/7, but she was always in there somewhere.

As promised, I was moved by lunch. To the mat ward. By dinner we'd spent hours with Annabella. I swear that girl is just a little bigger every time I see her and every time it re-ignites my hope and a sense of relief floods through me. Each day with her was a miracle and a treasure. But just before 'bedtime' news came of a date having been set for my hearing. It had ruined what had otherwise been an amazing day. Our day had been flipped upside down when we were told the hearing was set for the day after tomorrow, even if I had to be in a wheelchair it was going ahead in under 36 hours.

Those 36 hours simultaneously sped and dragged by. I spent as much time as possible with Dimitri and Annabella, treasuring every second I had with them. If I was put behind bars- which I uneasily felt sure would happen- then I wasn't going to be seeing very much of Dimitri and not at all seeing Annabella. Lissa stopped in and wanted to heal my arms, at bare minimum. I didn't let her; they would support the picture evidence.

When the time came I was wheeled to the court by Dimitri, with guards and hospital staff flanking us. Embarrassment flooded through me but I refused to let it show, especially when I was wheeled into the courtroom. Regardless, I kept my head held high with determination to make it out of this and change people's opinions. I was innocent and there was proof of it. When I reached my assigned table Abe and Damon Tarus were arguing over being my legal representation. Damon Tarus was related to Adrian via his mother, but I didn't feel comfortable having him representing me. That didn't mean I felt any better with my father.
"Cut it out," I called since the judge hadn't entered yet. "Abe, just sit. Lord Tarus, I'm honored, but ..."
He huffed indignantly and moved to sit at Daniella Ivashkov's side.

The judge and jury entered as customs dictated. I was called to the stand and swore to tell the truth. I compared it to the last time I was up here and to say it was so much easier to swear knowing you weren't about to lie when the need arose would be a serious understatement.

"Miss Hathaway," the prosecution began, "could you please verify for the court your whereabouts on Sunday August 26th and Monday August 27th?" Why they bothered phrasing the requests as such never made any sense to me. Oh well.
"On that Sunday I went to morning mass-" I was stopped of course.
"Can anyone corroborate that?" I hated prosecuting lawyers with a vengeance.
My eyes met Dimitri's. "Yes, there is." My eyes shifted to Abe's. His held a torrent of emotions and attempted silent guidance. One was a warning not to spill. Too late, Dimitri had told me he'd told Hans everything in the hope it'd save me. Dimitri's eyes sought mine out and held the direction to tell. "Dimitri Belikov can confirm I started that Sunday in Church."
Heads turned towards where he stood against the wall. Come on, people, I know you know the man's my boyfriend and Annabella's daddy. Dimitri didn't falter under the sudden attention.
The lawyer riffled through her sheets and found his statement. She clearly already knew, but didn't like it. "Anyone else?"
"His guards, I'm sure, would have noticed."
She did a good job of hiding it but her face fell a little when she found the matching alibis. "What happened during the service, Miss Hathaway?" And on the dissecting of those days went.
Then came the reveal I didn't want. "I share- shared a bond with the Princess, she works with spirit magic and that comes at a price. A price I paid late that morning sometime. The bond allowed me to take away the instability from the sheer extraneous magic exhausted while restoring Mr Belikov," that felt so off rolling from my tongue. "Except, my own state of mind wasn't such that I was prepared to deal with it. I returned to my room and got my hands on a knife from the kitchenette. From there I ran to one of the hill near the edge of the wards. I wanted—needed—a release from the torture cell of my conscious mind, so once I was at the hill I put the knife to my skin." The squeamish Moroi were paling and sweating. Weaklings.
"What did you do then, Miss Hathaway?" Ugh. Did I mention prosecuting lawyers are a pain up the backside?
"I lightly cut open my left wrist. It wasn't enough so I deepened it and I made my way up to my elbow." I held my left forearm out as I knew they'd desire. The picture from a few days ago flashed up on a screen. "That still wasn't enough and repeated the process on my right forearm." Again I showed it to the audience and the screen flashed up the matching photo.