Is this destiny?

Vasily was lost in the void, unaware of the passage of time. There was nothing to indicate where he was or for how long or if he was alive. Occasionally he would hear some indistinct sounds before silence blanketed all his senses. No matter how much he tried, he had no idea if it was minutes or hours or days before the next sign of life stirred around him, but he still kept on trying. Giving up was never in Vasily's vocabulary.

After an unknown measure of time, he heard some voices, it reminded him of Sarah and JoAnna talking… Sarah was there? JoAnna was telling Sarah that she should leave.

'No, don't leave!', Vasily wanted to cry, but he had no way to make a sound.

Was someone holding his hand?, Vasily wondered. Before he could ascertain, the sensation was gone.

He fought mightily against the darkness because he wanted to see who was there. He didn't want Sarah to leave, not now after she called him 'Uncle'.

"Uncle…", Sarah said in a choked voice and Aiden was holding her from the back, fearing that she will collapse and hurt herself (and baby Logan).

"I told you to yell…", JoAnna reminded Sarah and she held her breath when she realized that Sarah was staring at Vasily whose eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, God…", JoAnna put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from talking, but she was unable to stop the tears that rained down her cheeks.

"You are a doctor.", Aiden's voice broke the emotional mood. "Shouldn't you check on the patient?"

JoAnna was pulled out of her daze. She shook her head while wiping her eyes with the back of her palm.

"Don't talk…", JoAnna said to Vasily who had his mouth open. "Try to relax and not move until I can confirm your condition. We will take this one step at a time. Blink once for no and twice for yes. Do you understand?"

Vasily blinked twice and JoAnna broke into a smile. Those two blinks indicated that he understood her and that he has control over his body. Well, over his eyelids at least.

"Do you recognize us?", JoAnna asked and she relaxed a bit when Vasily blinked twice.

"I guess you have many questions. You are in the hospital in Los Angeles. You got shot in the head and had two surgeries…", JoAnna explained briefly. She wanted him to stay still because he had major surgery (two of them, one for the skull and the other for the brain), and he was also heavily medicated. "Don't try to move until I tell you it's OK. Do you understand?"

Vasily blinked twice and his eyes rested on Sarah who was holding his hand and sobbing quietly. He thought that she said she was sorry, and he was happy to see her standing in front of him, safe. And she called him, 'Uncle'. He didn't imagine it.

"Are you in pain? Do you feel this? …", JoAnna started asking questions, and Vasily was glad to see that both Sarah and JoAnna were looking at him without a trace of hostility. There was even some tenderness in their gazes, and he hoped that this was real. Or maybe he finally died, and this was what Heaven was like, when one gets his mortal wishes fulfilled.

Vasily dismissed the Heaven idea. He did many things in life and if there is such a thing as Heaven, he would definitely not end up in one.

Sarah was blinking her tears away while looking at the man whose head was bandaged, revealing only his face. The mighty man looked fragile, and her heart ached, but she was happy that he woke up.

Sarah wanted to apologize and to say that she is sorry for everything, but she knew that no words can fix the wrong she did.

Since she was born, Vasily protected her from the shadows. And what did she do? The moment Sarah became aware of Vasily's existence, she was ostracizing him and treating him as a villain, blaming him for everything bad that happened to her, while he only had her best interest at heart. And despite Sarah mistreating him, Vasily gave his life so that she can be safe. How does one 'sorry' make up for all that? It doesn't.

Sarah needed to show him that things are different, and she was determined to treat him like family. All three sisters agreed on this.

Soon, Vasily's room buzzed with activity.

Sophia was there with Felix, and Jeff arrived as soon as his important meetings ended.

Stella and Edward were flying in from Seattle, they were on their way to the airport when Sarah called to tell them that Vasily woke up.

Konstantin also received the news that Vasily was awake, and Sarah notified Hong and Maksim as well.

The necessary exams and tests confirmed the obvious, the surgery was a success. However, Vasily suffered a heavy blood loss, went through two major surgeries and he was very weak. It will take a lot of rehabilitation to get him to resume regular activity. Luckily, his body was in great shape before the injury. If it wasn't, he wouldn't survive.

Other than nursing Vasily's weakened body to health, JoAnna needed to assess any loss of memory or cognitive abilities. For that, another set of tests will be done, but his physical recuperation was set as the primary objective.

Vasily observed JoAnna, Emma, and several other doctors and nurses busying themselves around him, and Sarah and Sophia watching their every move with concern.

It took several hours for JoAnna to finish all the exams and tests and to get feedback from Liz.

By evening, they reclined Vasily's bed, so he was in a half-seated position. He would occasionally take a few sips of water and was talking.

One by one, everyone dispersed other than Stella who was determined to stay with Vasily for the night. Edward left with Sophia and Felix. He had a date with Lia, Adam, and Valentin. It was grandpa-time.

"Don't make him talk too much…", JoAnna warned Stella who was eager to talk to her Cousin, before JoAnna and Jeff left.

Aiden and Sarah still lingered in the room. They were on the side, doing their own thing related to the mess that the Council created.

"Do you remember how you ended up shot?", Stella asked Vasily.

Vasily frowned. "No."

"That's OK. Don't force it…", Stella said in a hurry. "Let me tell you some of the latest information, and if you don't know or I'm not clear, ask for more details."

Stella paused while thinking from where to start. She decided to start with the family and work her way from there. "Sarah officially joined the Lebedevs and she is the Grand Elder. Do you remember that?"

"No."

Stella exhaled sadly. "Aiden was kidnapped by the Voronins and Sarah joined Lebedevs in order to find him. She needed power, so she challenged…", Stella was narrating what happened within the Lebedev family and Vasily listened attentively.

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