Slowly, the Belsan victims are recovering:

It was an iconic image of hope in the death and chaos that ended the three-day Beslan (search) school siege — a girl's bloodied hand clutching a golden cross.

The girl shown in an Associated Press photo that ran on front pages worldwide is now recovering in a Moscow hospital, a piece of shrapnel embedded in her brain.

Viktoria Ktsoyeva (search), 14, said she prayed every day while held captive, not letting go of the cross even as she plunged into unconsciousness after being wounded in the violent climax of the siege that killed more than 330 hostages.

"I prayed that I would stay alive and that everything would be good again," Viktoria told the AP in her room at Children's City Clinical Hospital No. 9, sitting on her bed, barrettes holding back her long black hair.

Viktoria and her brother were first held in the main gym — which was packed with explosives — and the teenager said she was certain she would die if they went off.

The siblings later moved to an adjacent room, and when Viktoria heard the first explosion Sept. 3, as the standoff spiraled to its violent end, a bomb planted near her didn't go off. She said a teacher quickly disconnected the wires to the device and threw it out the window.

As gunfire erupted, adults in the room told everyone to scream "Don't shoot!" to the forces outside. "Maybe they didn't understand or didn't know who was shooting, but they still all were firing — both our (troops) and also the terrorists," Viktoria said.

Viktoria ran. She remembers the horror of escaping through the gym and seeing the bodies there — some without arms or legs — including those of friends, parents and teachers.

At one point, Viktoria was hit in the head. As she lay wounded, Artur pleaded with her: "Don't die. Don't die. Open your eyes. Don't die." At one point, he even held her eyes open with his hands.

Soldiers later passed her out a window to safety, the cross still in her hand. Her picture was taken soon after at a nearby triage tent, a bandage around her head and her white blouse stained with blood. Artur suffered only scratches on his legs from broken glass.

The shrapnel is still in her head and the doctors plan to leave it there, unless complications develop.