As Elena watched Jeremy walk out of the room, she felt more thankful for her younger brother than she had in a long time. Without his support and his love, she wouldn't be here today. She also though of her friends and all they had done for her—showing up at her house today had been exactly what she needed, even if she was exhausted from the day's events.
Elena walked over to the paint can, picked up the brush and began to paint with the hope that a fresh coat would help renew the room and possibly her and Jeremy's lives. This room had been full of so much pain in the past 2 years—she only hoped that something good could come of it.
A sharp pain in her head stopped her mid brush-stroke and as the room began to blur before her. She watched in slow motion as a drop of blood dripped to the floor. Is that from me? Elena brought her hand to her nose and when she pulled it away, it was stained with blood. Slowly, she felt herself falling toward the ground. Her last thought was that she should try to call out to Jeremy, but everything went black before she was able to say a word.
"Elena—I'm glad we've decided to paint this room," Jeremy said as he made his way into Jenna and Alaric's old room. "I think—Elena!"
Sprawled on the floor was his sister, unconscious with blood dripping from her ear and nose, an empty can of paint spilled beside her. Her pale skin looked almost grey in the soft light of the room, and the tinge offered the appearance of death. Jeremy ran to his sister's side, careful not to jostle her too much in her fragile state. His hands lightly shook her shoulders trying to revive her.
"Elena! Elena, wake up! You have to get up!"
Getting no response, Jeremy pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.
"Damon! It's Elena! Get here now!"
"Jeremy, what's going on?"
"I found Elena on the floor unconscious. She's bleeding. You need to get here now!"
"I'm on my way." He hung up.
Jeremy hung up the phone and tried to revive Elena once again.
"Elena, you're my only family. You have to wake up!"
Jeremy continued to try and revive his sister and his attention was only pulled away when he heard the front door open.
"We're upstairs, Damon!"
In seconds, Damon appeared at the doorway of Jenna and Alaric's room, a hard look on his face. He rushed to Elena's side, pushing Jeremy out of the way.
"I don't know what happened. I just found her like this. Help her!"
Damon moved to sit behind Elena and gently lifted Elena's prone form into a sitting position with her back to his chest, his legs on either side of her. Leaning her head back against his shoulder, he bit into his wrist and moved his wrist to her mouth. His blood flowed into her mouth and he let out the breath he'd been holding since he'd arrived as her body began to react by swallowing the substance.
"That's it, Elena. Drink up. We need you to wake up."
Damon could hear her heart picking up speed, indicating his blood was working. Jeremy stood off to the side, running his hands through his hair, worry etched on his face.
"She's going to be fine, Jeremy. My blood is healing her."
The distraught boy let out a large breath and Damon could see some of the tension leave his form.
"Thank God. I don't know what I would have done. Thank you for coming, Damon."
"I'm just glad you called."
Elena began to stir, and Damon brushed the hair away from her face. The small groan she let out indicated she was coming around.
"Elena, are you with us?"
"Damon?" she rasped out.
"Elena, it's Jeremy and Damon. You're going to be okay. I found you unconscious in Alaric's room, so I called Damon."
Elena groggily looked around the room and slowly began to realize her position. She attempted to move into a standing position by sitting up further and immediately felt herself fall back into the arms of Damon.
"Whoa there, Elena. Take it easy. You're still weak from the blood loss. I've got you."
Elena allowed herself to relax into Damon's arms, appreciating the warmth his body offered. She could sense the room falling out of focus once again as Jeremy and Damon continued to converse in worried tones. She allowed herself the refuge of darkness as their speech became too much for her blood addled mind to concentrate on. The last thing she heard before falling unconscious was Damon's voice giving her a resounding "I've got you. You're going to be okay."