A/N This is a prequel to Halo. You may want to read that first. I also want to give a big round of applause to my dear friend Sandra for always willing to help me out in my writing endeavors. She's a wonderful person and a brilliant beta reader. You makes the stories so much better than initially written. Read Sandra's story "When the Thames Froze" by dutchtreat. It's wonderful as are all of her stories.

I feel a hand squeeze my shoulder. "Damon, honey you need to wake up. It's time to go to your doctor's appointment." My mom states softly.

I have another appointment. My life revolves around hospitals, doctors and sleep. I'm fatigued all the time. More often than not anymore. I need to have supplemental oxygen. I recently had a ventricular assist device implanted. It helps my heart pump blood through my body. While it buys me time, it pretty much keeps me a prisoner in my home. It has a battery backup, but needs an electrical source to keep it functioning. My Dad went so far as to buy a generator should a storm or something else knock out our power.

My only chance of survival is a heart transplant. We have a pager with us at all times for when and if one is found in time. I want to live, but how can I wish, how can anyone, wish death on someone else so that I might live?. That man or woman probably has a family too who love them as much as my parents and brother love me.

"Mrs. Salvatore, Damon, we've requested you be placed on the top of the transplant list. Your heart is failing rapidly. The VAD is buying us time but it's not a panacea. Eventually your heart will give out," Dr. Thompson states truthfully, regret evident in his eyes. He stands to show us to the door, "we'll see you next week, okay."

I'm worn out by the time we get home. I'm no longer able to climb the stairs to my bedroom. My dad had his study converted to a bedroom, hospital bed and all. That way I can raise the head of the bed because I have trouble breathing when I lie flat. I have an oxygen concentrator in my room as well as one in our family room. I tell my mom I'm going to nap before slowly making my way to my room slash Dad's study.

Not long after I've closed my eyes my dreams transport me back to a time when all of this wasn't even a glint in my eye.

I'm the guy who all the ladies ogle. My messy black hair and sapphire eyes make all the heads turn. I'm a star athlete at my school having lettered in baseball, basketball and track. I'm a senior in high school. We're in the semi-finals for the state basketball championship. I'm the shooting guard on my team. I'm just under 6' tall. I practiced and practiced some more until I became quite proficient making the shots, thus earning my place on the team. My older brother Stefan often played hoops with me before he left for college.

It was a day of the big semi final game. The winning team would play in the state championship against the Virginia Beach Raiders. I have the ball, I'm dribbling my way down the court, I leap …

Suddenly I wake up to bright lights, a whooshing noise and the blipping sound of some other machine. I can't move my hands. My mom tells me they had to restrain them so I wouldn't pull my breathing tube out. I'm petrified, I don't know what's happened to me. Why am I in the hospital? Why do I need a breathing tube?

What scares me the most is the frightened look in my parents' eyes. They each take one of my hands, I see tears flooding my mom's eyes. Even my dad is teary. My heart starts thundering inside my chest, I'm terrified. A nurse rushes in and tells me I need to calm down. The man I assume is the doctor comes and introduces himself. "Damon, I'm Dr. Thompson, your cardiologist. You had a massive heart attack on the basketball court. You were clinically dead for nearly 15 minutes. By some stroke of luck, an ambulance happened to be at the game in case of player injury. CPR and a defibrillator saved your life Damon."

He goes on to tell me that my heart muscle is severely damaged and that odds are fairly high that I'll need a heart transplant at some point. They think my "death" was caused by an abnormal yet often 'fatal' arrhythmia.

I wake up, again realizing that after that day suddenly my world was turned upside down. I went from being a healthy, happy go lucky kid to being a very sick kid. I couldn't do the things I wanted to do anymore. I couldn't participate in sports anymore. I couldn't party with my friends as my medication could prove lethal with alcohol. And what fun is a party if you have to drink water or caffeine free soda?

Soon my "friends" had no use for the 'guy that couldn't' and stopped hanging around. Depression set in and quickly I was prescribed anti depressants in addition to my heart pills.

Only my best buddy Ric and my friend Nick never gave up on me. They would always make time and include me in their plans. My brother really stepped up too. He'd come home for weekends at least twice a month and wouldn't allow me to wallow in self pity.

The next few years were relatively stable. As long as I paced myself and took my medication, I got along relatively well. I moved out of my parents' home but that was only for a couple of years, though. Always scared that something would happen, my parents just worried too much. Moving back was the least I could do. I swear they've aged 20 years since I got sick. They just felt better knowing I was nearby so they could check on me easily. I even started taking some college courses.

The guys and I even went on a road trip, oxygen tanks in tow to the little town of Mystic Falls, VA. My father is a Navy man, stationed in Norfolk. Somehow he was able to work things out with his superiors so we would be permanently stationed there since my doctors were in the area.

It was really a wonderful weekend. We spent time at the falls. Although I couldn't traverse the countryside, I could admire the serene beauty of the place. We spent Saturday evening at the grill. I couldn't drink but I visited for quite awhile with the bartender. His name was Matt. We talked for a long time. He's pretty young. The guy told me he was working his way through college and was engaged to his childhood sweetheart, then offered me a beer. I explained that given my heart condition, I couldn't mix alcohol and pills.

We continued to chat most of the evening. Suddenly I felt someone brush my shoulder. When we made eye contact she smiled and apologized for bumping into me. Turning her attention to Matt, she handed him a ring of car keys, he leaned over the bar to plant a kiss on her lips. She flashed him the most beautiful smile I've ever seen before turning on her heels and exiting the grill.

"That's your girl?" I said to Matt.

Smiling, he nodded, the look of pride in his eyes unmistakable.

Everything crashed back to earth just a few weeks ago. I was outside planting a few flowers in my Mom's garden. It wasn't stressful for me at all. Suddenly it felt like a Mac truck was sitting on my chest. I screamed for my Dad before I collapsed.

So I am sitting here in the hospital attached to tubes and wires once again. Soon I drift off to sleep to try to escape this life for just a little while. I'm dreaming my life is that of a healthy young man. I jump, I score. 'three point shot by Salvatore saves the game for the Norfolk Cougars!'

Suddenly I feel hands on my shoulders. "Damon wake up, they found you a heart. The nurses here are going to take you to surgery. I'll meet you there in a little bit." Tears pour from my eyes. I hug my Mom and Dad. I tell them I love them so much and thank them for everything they've done for me just in case I don't make it.

I find myself on the operating table, scared. The mask is lowered and placed over my mouth, my eyes close …

It's been eighteen months since I received the gift of life. Aside from having to take my anti-rejection drugs, I'm free to live my life as I please.

I want to meet the family of the man who gave this precious gift to me. I can only imagine their grief at losing a loved one. I want them to know, his heart is still beating strong.

I contact Lifesource. They are contacted when someone meets criteria to become an organ donor. They set everything in motion to get the organs to their recipients. I tell them I'd like to thank this family. I'm told that they will have to contact them to see if they're agreeable to meeting me.

Sometimes I try to imagine who the man was whose chest held this heart. What kind of a man was he? What were his goals and dreams that were so cruelly ripped away from him and his family?

I'm being told his wife consented to meeting me. She lives in Mystic Falls. That same tiny little hamlet that the guys and I went to on our road trip a couple of years ago.

Here I stand at her door with butterflies fluttering in my gut. I ring the doorbell and wait. The door opens. I feel something, a connection, as soon as my eyes meet hers. Smiles spread across both our faces. She reaches to shake my hand. I take her hand in mine, bring her palm toward my chest. With her conceding nod, I place it against my chest where my - his- heart is thumping against my rib cage. "His heart beats still inside of me. I can never begin to thank you enough Mrs. Donovan. My name is Damon … Damon Salvatore."

"Won't you come in Damon. I'd like you to meet 'his' and my son, Jack."

EVERYONE should make the effort to learn CPR. It does save lives.