It was not the first time that Stefan Salvadore's poor excuse for a brother needed to be escorted back home. It wasn't like Damon hadn't been hurt before. But it was without no doubt one of the worst injuries that Damon had ever suffered. It even hurt him seeing Damon like this. Damon, helplessly dangling from the bear clamps. Not being able to keep himself upright, anymore. Bleeding out like a slaughter pig. Damon… so weak and stupid-looking, unlike himself. His tottering feet in his own pool of blood dripping on the unfolded plastic sheet. And the blood was not even the worst part according to Stefan, though. It was that sad look in Damon's eyes. That pleading look. He hadn't seen his brother that scared and sad for a long time, since his vampire years. It was almost like he watched his big brother die again, from that time, long ago. That had hurt him.
"... S-Stefan ..."
It was so horrible to his brother die that day. This injured face reminded him of it all. And Stefan hoped that he would forget this again, soon.
"Come on, Damon. Don't be such a wimp. One foot before another, and repeat, remember? I got you. Try to stay awake."
His older brother was barely alive at the moment but he still made well-intentioned efforts, to at least, carry one half of its own weight. Although, his legs were giving out more than ones already.
For the moment there was no hatred against each other. There was no jealousy. Only that painful niggling feeling of his deepest concern for Damon's worsened condition. After everything that was going on between the two of them, and Elena, this kind of pain and suffering Rebecca and Klaus had given to his big brother, was too much! Damon was a mess. He had lost too much blood. Even for a vampire this can be turning south, fast.
"... Cannot ... Take…one m-more…step ... n-need b-blood ..." he heard his brother moan in weakness.
"No no no no. Come on Damon. Keep walking. My blood will not cure you. You need humanblood to heal these wounds. Just hold on, okay?"
"Ghnnn ... 'kay ..."
Shuddering and moaning from total exhaustion and pain, Damon hobbled himself forward for at least a few more steps away from Klaus' mansion. But eventually he clung more and more on to Stefan for support. Several times he made a dive to the ground and before he got to the actual falling part Stefan helped him up, again. Stefan was pleased he still managed to keep Damon awake this long, with just one slap on his face.
But after a couple of more times, it went wrong.
Damon wasn't walking anymore. Stefan just dragged him around for the most part. And suddenly his big brother muttered something unintelligible in Stefan's ear that made him standing still in wonder. It was like he was calling Elena's name. But his brothers' voice was so weak and fragile that Stefan suggested that he'd probably didn't get that fact straight. Then, suddenly, Damon gave out. His cold head slumped down against Stefan's shoulder. After that, his whole body just collapse. It was just like someone was cutting the strings from a marionette doll, one by one.
Damon was out. He made it pretty far, though. But Stefan wasn't happy about it.
"Wow, Damon?" When he made a quick left side glance he saw just in time how Damon's eyes rolled back into their sockets. He shifted his grip while pushing Damon's lifeless back against some wall. Slightly he tapped Damons' icy cheeks, as an attempt to resurrect him. But this time his eyelids stayed close. The silver moonlight from the dark evening sky made Damon's face shine pale. Stefan had to swallow hard in concern. He'd never seen his brothers' skin this pale before.
"Damon? ... Open your eyes. Come on, bro. If you don't do what I say I'm afraid you're not going to make it." Conscientiously Stefan kept his brother upright against the wall as he looked around. It was clear that he didn't have to expect any move from Damon, anymore. He needed human blood to recuperate. And then Stefan realized he was too far away from their home to carry Damon all the way on his shoulders.
As he looked around for some solution Damon sunk a little deeper into the ground. With a glance at the ground saw Stefan how much he was bleeding from all his injuries that Rebecca had done to him. This wasn't going well.
Think, think Stefan! Should he compel someone on the streets, to safe his brother? No... That would be bad. He will never do that again.
Stefan had to lift his brother twice before he had found some kind of solution.
There stood a taxi across the street, in front of a cafe. At least he had found a fast way to get them back home. With a sigh of relief he didn't have to feed his brother some innocent blood he smiled at the soft face of Damon.
"Okay, big guy. I know you're not going to like this, but you've given me no other choice."
He grabbed the less injured arm and pulled it towards him while he bow himself forward. In a quick and smooth motion he pulled his unconscious brother on his shoulders.
Mystic Falls was not a place for heavy traffic. The streets were fairly quiet at night. Stefan crossed the street without even looking, knowing that no cars were coming at him. Without making eye contact with the driver first, he pulled open a door and dumped his brother in to the back seat. Only when he was sure that his brother was still breathing, he averted his gaze on the startled old man.
"What the hell!" he cried out. So Stefan knew he will be better step on it. So he looked a little deeper in to the pale green eyes from the taxi driver.
"You bring us to The Salvatore Boarding House. I've just paid you. As soon as we both step out of the taxi you will forget that we were ever in here," Stefan compelled the old man and the man nodded with a smile.
"Okay, youngman. And thanks for the tip. Your father must be very well off concubines." Without any thought Stefan crawled in the backseat, next to his big brother and placed his icy head on his lap, carefully. With a quick glance he saw how much blood Damon already had been wasted in the backseat and he sighed deeply. For the first time he took in all the injuries. It all were deep clean cuts across his whole body. Only for the purpose of bleeding him out until the vervain had left his system. Stefan had never seen his big brother so determinant to go home before, when Klaus compelled him. Looking at his raw wounds on his pols he shook his head. He hated Klaus, so much for this. But then again, he had ruined his only change to take him out with the white oak stakes, in order to safe his brother. He almost killed Klaus this evening. But then again… he couldn't do it. That sick bastard was just too strong.
And just like that, Damon unconsciously started to grunt in pain and despair.
Damon was getting worse.
"Please, sir. Drive as fast you can," he pleaded with seriousness in his low voice. With one hand he pressed at his brothers' side where he was bleeding the hardest. It left Damon just simmering pain, despite his absentia.
The ride was fast and when the taxi came to a halt a front of their house, Stefan opened his door almost immediately. With some force, he hooked his hands from under Damons' armpits and rushed him out of the backseat. Damons' head lolled in the proses. The taxi driver immediately wanted to pull away but Stefan suddenly remembered the bloody back seat from Damon's injuries. That will make someone suspicious if he didn't take the precautions.
So he stopped the driver and compelled the old man just one more time, before he could help his brother.
"Sir. Your backseat is smeared with ketchup. Stop your service for today and clean it up before someone sees that you have been very sloppy." The man nodded.
"Thank you, youngman. I'll clean it up as soon as possible." And the taxi drove away.
Sighing again Stefan strengthened his grip on his big brother. With a quick glance he saw that Damon's skin turned blue in the lack of circulation. A deep frown was now on Stefan's face. This was usually not a good sign for both vampires and humans. He should get his brother straight to his own room, now, and force him to drink. He really was in bad shape.
It wasn't long before Damon had shown some signs of acknowledging when Elena was holding out a full glass of warm blood from under his nose. His mouth quivered as he took in the scent of coppery goodness; longing for a taste. But he couldn't drink on his own, anymore. He was far too weak to move. So Elena brought the glass through his purple lips and poured in a small amount. Stefan said nothing and began to rumble in some of Damon's drawers and cupboards. Looking for clean clothes. The sight of the blood, was a torment for the both of them.
"Stefan. He doesn't drink," Elena finally shuddered when she saw the blood slowly trickled back down from his mouth. "He reacted a little at first at the smell, I think, but he is too weak or too passed out to do the actual drinking part. What should I do?" Elena stared into the eyes of the youngest Salvatore. She was clearly panicking. Her compassion for his big brother had clearly grown, Stefan noted. Now he was wondering if she knew this, also. Although, it was pretty logical that they all were very concerned about Damon, right now. He himself felt that nagging fear of losing his big brother too.
But this strange kind of her, bonding with Damon, wasn't just happening today. Her compassion for Damon had grown more and more. And he couldn't blame Damon for this. It was his own fold. He let it happen when he was working for Klaus.
With a deep sigh Stefan silently walked into the bathroom and came back with a clean white towel. In a slow movement he pushed Damon's head towards him as he caught the blood with it. Damon was clearly too far away to drink, right now. His eyed the wounds again and then shook his head.
"You are right. He's too weak to drink," he murmured softly.
With two fingers he pressed against Damon's neck to find some kind of a heartbeat. Even vampires had a heartbeat. As long as a vampire drank human blood, the body worked quite the same. They even needed a little oxygen from time to time. They could life without it a couple of hours. But not that long. Damon's breathing, however, had stopped for some time now. Like his heartbeat. That probably explained the gray color on his sunken face and the damn purple lips.
Although it wasn't such a big deal for a vampire, since they were already death. But if he didn't drink within an hour and started up his physical activity, again, he would be turning into some sort of mindless zombie killing machine. At least that was what others said about this. Stefan didn't actually know what would happen.
"We can do nothing much for him, now. He has to drink, on its own. But for now, we could take care of his wounds. I'll get the first aid kit." Elena looked at him for a moment.
"No, Stefan. Stay here with your brother. I'll get the first aid kit instead," she suggested, and scrambled up from the bed.
When she had disappeared through the door Stefan let out a low sigh. He put a hand to Damon's forehead and felt how cold it was. Damon didn't react at all. So he started stroking his hair a bit. And tapped on his cheeks to awake him. Still nothing, though.
"Come on, man. Let me see those angry eyes. Do not give up on me. I cannot go up against Klaus, by myself. You know that. I just gave all the stakes away to safe your sorry ass. Don't make me regret it. I need you, big brother. ... I need you more than ever." It seemed that it made Damon respond a bit. An eyebrow went up for a second, while his mouth trembled as if he wanted to smirk. But that was all. Immediately afterwards, his blue-gray face went slack again. Leaving a cute soft sleeping face behind.
"Good. You are still in there somewhere. I saw your annoying smirk, buddy," Stefan whispered in his ear. Then a weak grunt came out of those purple lips. And Stefan smiled.
He was delighted by these signs of life and grabbed the glass of lukewarm blood.
"Come on, Damon. Let's drink on that," he whispered again. With one hand he lifted Damons' head slightly up so he wouldn't choke. With his other hand he poured in some of the blood. It seemed that Damon again lost the battle of controlling this motion. But eventually he found enough strength to restart this natural impulse. With slow and weak swallowing movements the vampire had managed to get a little blood inside. It was only a small amount. But it was a start. And Stefan could not resist to grin at him.
"Good job," he said softly.
When Elena came back into Damons' room the vampire chose just that moment to gasp for air.
"Oh my god, Damon?" Elena stammered surprised, and rushed through the bed.
"It'll be okay," proclaimed Stefan calmly as he looked at her with a smile. His hand wanted to grab Elena to share his relief with her but her hands went directly to the face of the still unconscious vampire who finally greedily gasped for air, again; like a fish that had jumped out his bowl for no reason.
"Anyway, we can help him feel better by taking care of his wounds, until he is able to drink more."
"... Uhhhhgg ..." Damon suddenly groaned and forced his eyes even closer.
"Stefan ... I ... I n-need ... B-blood ..." His voice was so soft and fragile that both Elena and Stefan had to come closer to hear what he had to say. It actually didn't really matter to Stefan, though. The fact that Damon was talking was enough to pour even some more blood into his mouth. With small slow sips Damon drank his glass empty. Elena had the towel moistened with water and began to wash him gently around the wounds to see if they already where healing up. After drinking an infusion bag of blood Damon began to gain his strength. The wounds stopped bleeding, and the gray color on his face started to fade, finally.
Stefan finally had managed to lower two more bags of blood into Damon and that was when his big brother started to fall asleep. He still needed some rest. Three liters of blood was still not enough for him to be fully healed, but it was enough to let him sleep without any worry. Stefan quietly left the room while Elena stayed at the foot of the bed. Her brown eyes squinted as the sleeping vampire. There was a long awkward silence.
Stefan said nothing to her that night and sought his silence for the rest of the night.
And Elena? She didn't dare to stay for long at Damons' side, even though she had wished it. Damon was so weak at the moment. She felt that he needed her. But deep within herself, she knew that it was she who needed him the most. She didn't even know why.
And Damon? Damon knew nothing. He lay there basically all night to recuperate. Until the early morning.
And the rest of the story you already know
...
AN: This is a sloppy 'tag' to the episode: 3x18 of the Vampire Dairies. Damon was caught and taken by Rebecca who planned on to bleed him dry, until all the vervain was out of his system. So that he finally could be compelled for various reasons. Stefan has sort of saved his sorry ass and that was all we saw, after our poor Damon plopped down on his knees, in his own pool of blood. A couple of scenes later Damon was perfectly fine again. And it just missed a little brotherly love. So… Enjoy! And review if you felt the same!
I do not really think there are people who read this, anyway. But I am very curious what you think of this. (this is my first vampire dairies fanfic. And this isn't my mother languages. I am Dutch. So spare me)
X
Josie