Caroline rested her head against the door, listening. It wasn't that she was dreading going into the room, but this room was especially hard for her to deal with.
She got the job almost a year ago, and has been loving it. Ever since her encounter with vampires it seemed she could face just about anything. In fact, any other job she could possibly have seemed like a chore. They were all too easy to handle…not this one though.
And where exactly did Caroline work? At a hospital…for mental patients.
Just a couple years ago she wouldn't have had the patience to deal with people that she used to call "whack jobs".
She found herself pausing at this door everyday she made her rounds, just to stop and listen.
Room 201 home to the patient known as Niklaus.
"Good luck with that one today." A nurse walked by Caroline rolling her eyes. She was accompanied by two other nurses that were helping her dress her wound.
On her arm, right under her elbow was a deep bite mark. Typical Klaus.
None of the other nurses were in any shape to handle him, they couldn't heal fast like she could. Most of the nurses were jealous that Klaus even got along with Caroline because, after all, she was the newest nurse in the building.
Caroline sighed deeply and turned the knob to the door.
Klaus was sitting in the corner, facing the wall, with his arms wrapped around his knees. At the sound of the door opening he turned to face her.
His eyes were still blood red, and looked fierce. His body was tense.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I DON'T WANT YOU HERE." Klaus shot up and was up against Caroline in an instance.
She backed away, but held her own.
"I know you don't, sweetie. But Nurse Sharon sent me to check on you. She said you wouldn't take any of the medicine she gave you." She ran her hands along his arms. He was burning up.
"I don't like her. I don't like it here. I don't like anything anymore." He screamed and shoved her into the wall, hard, as he went back to sit in his corner.
She braced herself for the shove. She knew all to well it was coming.
She pulled herself off and turned around. Just as she suspected there was a hole. And next to it were three other holes shaped just like it.
"Klaus, would you please just take the medicine. It is going to help you feel so much better." She sat down on the edge of the bed and held the tube in her hand.
e remained silent. Started rocking again.
This is the part where she usually kept quiet, waiting for him to speak.
She found herself looking at the room. She always surveyed the furniture; the bed, the desk, the bedside table, and the couch. The bed and the desk covered in picture frames.
It killed her, most of the pictures were of her and Klaus…from before.
She always had the urge to put the frames down so that the pictures weren't showing. It pained her too much.
"I don't know why you sit there. My answer is NEVER going to change." He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I know it isn't. But you know that I have to try."
"If you try any harder I'm going to hurt you." He clawed at the wall in front of him.
"Klaus, stop." She grabbed his hands to stop him but he just squeezed her wrists tight and dragged her down so that she was sitting next to him.
"I don't even want you here." He repeated, this time choosing to bash her head into the wall. This was a new one.
She wanted to burst out into tears and retaliate back at him, but she knew that if they heard anymore chaos they would send in the big security guards.
Instead, she waited a couple seconds until his grip finally loosened.
"I know that you didn't mean to bite Nurse Sharon. And she is okay, they got it taken care of. She is going to be alright Klaus. You didn't kill her, and she isn't even mad." She spoke in a quiet, gentle voice.
He paused, and then looked at her, still not saying a word.
So Caroline continued to talk, "Really I mean it. I wouldn't lie about it. We'll work on the biting, but I'm really proud of you. I'm proud that you didn't kill her. You're making progress." She smiled as she grabbed his face and leaned in and kissed his forehead.
A smile broke threw on his lips.
"I didn't kill her?" He sat up a little straighter, letting the smile hold for just two more seconds before the scowl came back. "But the others. I've killed so many." He began to get angry again. This was how the cycle always went.
Elijah had checked himself into rehab just a few years ago, when Klaus finally lost it. He had become a full blown ripper, killing everyone in sight. He left mystic falls and began killing in nearby towns, until Elijah finally got the nerve to stop him.
The two had a long conversation, a heart-to-heart sort of, which ended in Klaus admitting he had a problem. Of course Caroline was the only one out of all the nurses that actually knew this.
Klaus had told them that he was a vampire, and of course they all thought he was psycho, enough to have him wind up as a full-time patient. The bite marks and the "fake teeth" did it in for the staff. Only she knew better.
Klaus had genuinely felt bad about killing all of those people. None of his friends knew what had actually happened to change his mindset, but Caroline had been trying to find out since he got there.
"But you haven't killed in almost 2 weeks, that's awesome progress. You are going to change. You have the biggest heart out of anyone I know." She, against the rules, found herself climbing into his arms.
It felt unfamiliar to him, but he hugged her back anyways.
To her surprise he took the medicine out of her hand and chugged it. His face told her that the medicine was putrid tasting, something she already knew.
It made the patient have an overwhelming sense of being tired, the effects already stating to kick in.
She helped him up to his feet and into the bed.
"Thank you." She whispered to him.
He eyed the holes in the wall, which he had a perfect view of from his spot on the bed.
Caroline moved in front of him so that he couldn't see them.
"It's over now, tomorrow is a new day." She smiled and took his hand in her own.
She turned the lights off and began to walk out.
"Caroline?" He called just as she was about to exit.
"What?" She smiled
"It was a baby. I killed a baby. Sucked her dry of all of her blood. She was only a couple weeks old. I still remember her eyes, how frightened she was." He pulled the blankets up closer to his face as his eyes began to drift off into sleep.
"Shhh, sleep now. Don't worry about it. It's all over. You're a new man, Klaus." Caroline whispered, but inside she could see the face of an innocent baby inside of Klaus's arms. Him ripping off her head and sucking out the blood.
It was frightening, but she had to let it go. And she was actually glad that he had told her.
Something inside of her told her that this was just the start of a new beginning and a whole new Klaus.