Dreaming ~ A Danariel Drabble

Asariel ends up being badly injured after an altercation with her family about her relationship with Dan after about a year or so of dating.

He arrived at the emergency room, going straight for the front desk. He had asked for her, but he wasn't allowed back to see her at the moment... And they wouldn't tell him her condition either because they weren't engaged yet and they weren't family. He cursed under his breath, taking a seat in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. Soon the doctor came out asking for her family. He luckily managed to tell the doctor what had happened.. Or the lie her family had played out.

"She was on her way home after seeing her family... We've been dating for a year or so now.. and she was just telling them.. They didn't take the news too well." Dan said ducking his head as the doctor led him down a long, dimly lit corridor. "They don't approve of me not working... Considering how rich I am."

"Then I guess I have no choice but to have you sign some forms for us, Mr.."

"Humphrey. Dan Humphrey." Dan answered quickly.

"Mr. Humphrey... She didn't come in in the best condition." The doctor said. "And even for a hybrid like herself... She should be okay. Her physical wounds have healed but... There could be damage to her brain."

"Wait, you know..."

"I'm a warlock. I know exactly what she is. She's saved my skin a few times." The doctor said with a grim smile. "But back to her condition, her physical wounds have healed... But she's not waking up. I've put on her chart that she is comatose."

"And of course you don't know when she could wake up... Especially with her being a hybrid as she is." Dan said as they came to a stop outside of an ICU room. He saw her even through the curtains, bloodied bandages over wounds that were healed by now, a breathing tube stuck down her throat, and a transfusion IV of blood hooked to her. "How could a hybrid go into a comatose state?"

"Your guess is just as good as mine, Mr. Humphrey. But that is where she stands now. She could wake up any minute... or it could centuries before she wakes up... I'd give her at least a year... And after that I would suggest asking her uncle for a white oak stake and driving it through her heart. For all we know she could be in pain and just not be able to tell us... But I'll leave you here with her." The doctor patted his shoulder gently before walking off. "I'll come by to check on her in a few hours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Inside Asariel's Comatose Mind~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asariel was sitting in bed with Dan, smiling happily. But it wasn't the present day...

It was back when Dan had been human. As if he had never become an angel. She sat listening to him sing to her as she worked on a handkerchief. Suddenly their door burst open to reveal two curly headed children. The little boy was Dan made over other than his eyes, which he had taken after his mother. The little girl was a perfect mirror image of her mother except for her eyes. They were the same beautiful color that Dan's were.

"Mother! Make Dayton stop taking my dollies!" Maria cried, barely five years old, as she climbed into her mother's lap.

"Dayton," came Dan's voice, never wavering as it became strict.

"I didn't take them!" Dayton said angrily, his arms crossed over his chest. He was only ten and was already nearly as tall as his mother.

"Dayton, if you are taking your sister's dolls, stop." Asariel said looking over at him as she ran a hand through Maria's curls. "Besides, it's bed time. I put you two down over an hour ago. You should be asleep by now."

"Maria won't sleep without the lamp burning! I can't sleep with it burning!" Dayton whined. Dan chuckled before getting up from the bed, lifting their little girl.

"Come on, Dayton." He said smiling. He knew just how to work this out, like he always knew how to work it all out.

Asariel went back to her stitching until Dan came back.

"They're both asleep in their room." He said, kissing her once he was back at her side in bed.

"Good, now I think it is time we both did the same." Asariel answered with a smile as she put her stitching aside and curled under the covers. Dan dimmed the lamp before he did the same.

"I love you, dear." He said rubbing her left ring finger where her engagement ring and wedding band sat proudly.

"I love you, too," she whispered before her eyes shut in peaceful sleep.

Outside Asariel's Comatose Mind

Dan hadn't left her side for a month. She just laid there, breathing because of the machine. The blood bags had become less needed and were only changed on an every other week basis. His head rested on his hand that held his as he prayed, hoping someone would hear the whispered words and bring her back to him.

At the three month mark, he asked her to marry him... Hoping the words would bring her back to him... His only answer was the sound of the machine making her breath. He had slid the ring on her finger anyways, wanting it to be the first thing she saw when she woke up.

One night as he dozed in the chair next to her bed, he slipped into a dream... But it was strange. He was human in it... Asariel was there... And there were two children there as well. That's when he realized that that must be what is keeping Asariel in her comatose state...

Physically as an angel, everything worked. But just like a vampire, Dan could not procreate. No chance of children... Something he knew she had wanted from the beginning. He woke with a start, shaking his head as he sat up. Asariel was still out cold, an occasional twitch of her fingers was nothing exciting now. It happened all the time.

"Asa, please... wake up," he whispered as he kissed her left hand. "Please... I'll do anything... Please... You promised you wouldn't leave me... Not unless I sent you away... I'm not sending you away... Please, love."

He begged for almost a year, when he realized it was no use. The part of her that wanted a child was so strong that it had created the perfect fantasy for her within her comatose mind. He'd used her cell phone to call Klaus to ask him for one of the white oak wood stakes. Klaus had answered and agreed to bring him one but it would be another week before he'd be there.

He had one last week with the woman he loved before he did what he knew was best. He had a week to say goodbye to the reason he was still functioning... Or functioning at the moment.

"Asa... I'm begging you... Klaus will be here with one of the stakes by the end of the week... wake up by then... Or I lose you forever." He whispered kissing her hand again.

The week seemed to drag on and on. No sign of her having heard him at all. Klaus arrived with little fan-fair, leaving the white oak stake outside the door. He didn't have the heart to watch his niece, who he had raised, die. Dan held the stake in his trembling hand when his phone went off.

On the calendar, so he wouldn't forget it, there was an event. He clicked it and saw that it was her birthday... He broke down, kneeling beside the bed with his face buried in the covers. He cried for the children they could have had had they'd met before he became an angel... For the pain he had put her through in the beginning... For his breaking heart.

And then something in the room changed. Dan didn't look up, just thinking that it was a nurse who might be coming in to check on her as they always did. Suddenly a hand was on his arm, making him jump up. Her eyes were open, staring at him. She was very calm for someone who had a breathing tube down her throat. He called for a nurse who then called the warlock doctor to remove the tube.

His tears renewed, happier this time. He kissed her forehead a million times before she swatted him away playfully. He held her left hand gently, making sure she would see the engagement ring he had placed on it.

"I proposed to try and get you to wake up.. Not my best proposal.. but... I was trying to bargain with you." He said laughing a little. "I'll make it up to you though... I'll put it back in the box and propose to you for real."

"No... I've waited long enough to get that ring on my finger..." She croaked, her voice hoarse from not having been used.

"Hush," Dan said smiling, kissing her hand. "At least let me do it properly then... Not now.. but when we're home, love."

She nodded, resting back into the pillows. The sooner he got her home the better.

"We'll be home soon, I promise..." He knew he needed to bring up the dream but at the same time he couldn't. He didn't want her to cry as he had for their children that would never exist.

"They were sweet you know," she whispered, tears in her eyes as he looked at her. "Looked exactly how I would have wanted them too."

"You're sacrificing them for me..."

"Yes, but I love you, Dan... We can adopt if we want... As many children as we want... We have the money to..." She said wiping the tears from her eyes.

Fifteen Years Later~~~

The sound of laughter fills the house as four beautiful children chase each other down the hall ways. Two boys and two girls. One little boy looks just like his father with his mother's eyes... And one little girl looks like her mother with her father's eyes.

Dan and Asariel sit on the couch in the living room watching them as they come into the room and begin fighting over what movie to watch.

"Star Wars!"

"Van Helsing!"

"Princess Bride!"

"Alice in Wonderland!"

Asariel shakes her head as Dan place peacemaker as always. And the movie selection begins with Alice in Wonderland. Their youngest little one, the girl that looks just like Asariel, curls up in Dan's lap to watch the movie only to fall asleep by the end of it. The pattern continues well into the late hours of the night with the boys being the last to join their little sisters and parents on the couch.

Dan carries two up to their rooms before coming back for the other two. Someone had heard their prayers. A few weeks after adopting their oldest, Nathan, Asariel had become pregnant. Bonnie had had no hand in it, having sworn on the bible and her powers that she hadn't. Nine months later Dayton, who was Dan's miniature with her eyes, was born with ten fingers and ten toes.

Four years and three months later they adopted Katelyn, soon after they found out Asariel was pregnant again. And just like with Dayton, nine months later they held their precious Maria, Asariel's miniature with her father's eyes, for the first time. She was a Daddy's girl, even though she denied it whenever asked.

Asariel curled up in bed that night with Dan, snuggling up close to him as she always had. Prayers said, thanking for their many blessings and healthy family.

"I love you, Asa... So much." Dan whispered kissing her forehead. "Happy anniversary love."

They'd been married for fifteen years to the day now.

"Happy anniversary, darling," Asariel replied with a small smile. "I love you, too."

And they fell asleep together, just as they did every night.