Here's the second re-done chapter, I know there isn't any Klaroline in here but they will be featured in the next chapter. I promise.

I hope you enjoy :D

Caroline stood in the now empty room with her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stared at the remade bed wondering why everything went the way it did.

After Liz was announced to have passed, the blonde had remained by her side for what felt like only a few minutes but was in fact nearly two hours. She had refused to move when the nurses had come in to clean Liz and take her down to the morgue, she wanted-needed- this to be a cruel joke, she needed her mom to jump up and shout boo. Bu it didn't happen and as Caroline remained in her sobbing mess the nurses pulled her away slowly as they took Liz away.

A nurse had brought in a cup of tea and placed it in Caroline's hands and she felt the burn of the cup against her flesh, her eyes fell from Liz's covered body to the cu which brought so much false warmth to her body whilst the woman who was supposed to look after her now lay frozen providing nothing to the girl, leaving her in a vulnerable and barely sane state.

She remained sat in the chair which stood beside the now-gone bed where her mom had passed, her eyes were locked onto the ground, she hadn't moved at all until Dr Jackson came back into the room and asked her to walk outside with him to allow the staff to clean the room up. He instead offered her a seat in his office where he slowly began to tell her about Emma's passing. She remained frozen in her seat, the tea had grown ice cold a long while ago.

"I'm sorry Caroline, I wish we could have done something to help them but…" he let out a deep sigh, "…it just wasn't meant to be." He whispered. Caroline's eyes slowly lifted and she searched his face for something.

"Explain it to me." She murmured, he tilted his head slightly listening to her words. "I mean, you're a doctor," the lump in her throat rose again, "tell me why it was meant to be. Why didn't you realise before." Her words had no edge, her tone remained bland as she continued. "You're supposed to help people, so tell me Doctor Jackson, tell me why you couldn't help my mom."

His lips parted but no sound came out, he cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Your mother had a severe brain injury, Caroline, it hadn't been detected before. We thought, seeing her positive recovery when she was brought in, we thought she was out of the woods."

"You thought wrong." She murmured in reply keeping her eyes fixed on his.

"I'm sorry." Caroline's brow furrowed before she blinked rapidly, "Emma…" she gasped for air as she tried to remain composed, "…what happens to the ba-baby?"

He let out a sigh, "As we have no father on our records, the baby will be given to the child authorities once she has fully developed." He opened his drawer and took out a piece of paper before sliding it across to Caroline. "However, as you are the next of kin, you will have the first opportunity to adopt her."

Caroline's eyes drifted to the little brochure aptly named 'Adoptions'. The blonde glanced back to the doctor who met her gaze. "Your decision would be preferred before the baby is discharged, but I understand that you have just suffered a great loss and you are of course young so it's perfectly understandable if you choose for the baby to be given-"

"I get it." Caroline said cutting him off, he nodded and got up.

"I'm sorry again, Caroline." He said as he led the blonde out of the office and back into the white corridor filled with the stench of disinfectant."If you are going to visit her, the baby is currently in the maternity ward which is just down the corridor, she's in room number 17." He said giving her a parting nod before returning to his duties and disappearing into a stream of doctors in white coats.

Unconsciously, Caroline walked towards the room where her mother had been and entered it to see the bed having been remade but everything was under a dull lighting. She renounced the darkness of the room, it kept her mind at ease for a few moments as she continued to stand with her arms wrapped around her body trying to summon up warmth but failing miserably.

Caroline sat in the waiting area, her eyes locked onto the double doors with the heading 'Maternity Unit' outlined in black above the entrance. It had been hours since she had first sat down, new parents had come and went as nurses passed by giving her intrigued looks. She ignored every one of them but she couldn't ignore the sounds bombarding her ears. The wailing cries and steady shuffling as babies shifted in their sleep, the constant rhythm of the ventilators pumping air into the tiny bodies that lay unaware of what was occurring around them.

She let out a deep sigh before standing up to her full height, the nurse at the desk glanced at the blonde as she approached. "Could you…uh…" Caroline felt her throat go dry, what was she supposed to say, open the doors I need to see my dead cousin's child? Thankfully the nurse pushed the button and allowed the doors to swing open, Caroline gave her a nod feeling uncomfortable to allow a smile to present itself instead.

The blonde made her way slowly through the doors and was greeted by pictures of cartoon animals stuck on the wards as notice boards were filled with childcare leaflets and pictures of babies showing rare smiles. Caroline averted her eyes feeling nostalgia arise as she saw the happiness leaking out from the pictures, instead she carried on down the corridor glancing at the room numbers.

3, 4, 5…6…7…10, 11…14…15…16…

17.

Caroline inhaled a deep breath regretting it immediately as the disinfectant stormed up her nose, they should really make disinfectant the hospital's poster child. Pushing the thought back, the blond stepped closer to the grey door with a glass panel in the middle, her orbs caught a glimpse of multiple ventilators with tiny bodies lying encompassed within them. Her fingers twitched to reach out but she was startled as an ebony skinned woman pulled the door open with a light smile on her face, she jumped back seeing the blond in front of her.

"Sorry, sweetie, you startled me." Caroline, not knowing how to reply, gave her a small smile which they both sensed was forced. The moment was interrupted as a sharp wail emitted from one of the little creatures in the transparent cases, they both looked at the baby in question and Caroline felt the breath leave her as she saw a woman move towards the ventilator and gently place her fingers inside of the little hole and lightly tickle the babies' hand.

The nurse looked back to Caroline and stepped aside still holding the door open, she watched her carefully as Caroline didn't step through the door, her feet remained planted outside of the threshold. "So which little angel are you here to see?" She asked drawing Caroline out of her thoughts who blinked rapidly at the question.

After clearing her throat she answered hoarsely, "Um...Emma Forbes' daughter…" a look of pity graced the nurses' face as she nodded with sorrow.

"She's right this way." The nurse gestured for Caroline to follow her, after a moment of hesitation the blond stepped forth and became overcome with coldness, she looked at the babies in the glass cases and she continued to lose her breath as she saw the number of wires sticking out of the tiny bodies. "Here she is."

Caroline's eyes blurred with water but her vision was clear enough to see the tiny baby lying in the middle with a thin tube running up her nose as it was held in place with white tape that was attached to her round, puffy cheeks that had a rosy pink lilt to them. Her chest was covered with 4 pieces of tape that were attached to wires running back out of the ventilator and fed into a miniature version of the heart rate monitor her mother had been linked to. The blonde stepped closer and unconsciously placed her fingers against the glass reaching towards the little baby whose heart fluttered like…like… a hummingbird.

Sniffling the blond averted her gaze and ran her fingers along her eyes getting rid of the overwhelming dam of water that continued to build up, she looked back and stilled as she saw the baby blush name tagged on the edge of the case, the writing was an innocent pink on a pure white background.

Baby Forbes.

Caroline gasped. "Baby Forbes." Finding it incredibly hard to breath she turned away and was faced with the nurse who gave her a concerned look.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" she asked placing her hands lightly on Caroline's arms, the blonde nodded her head frantically.

"I need some air." She choked out, pulling her arms away from the woman she swiftly turned towards the door and walked out of the room, her back burnt as if she could feel the little girl's gaze on her. "Air…air…." Caroline murmured glancing from side to side to find a way out, she felt the walls close in on her and the piercing wails echo in her ear, rushing past the nurses she barged through some glass doors to end up in a courtyard with little benches dotted around the garden.

"Oh God." Caroline let out a sharp sob trying to muffle it with her hand, she flashed to a bench hidden behind a few bushes and placed her head in her hands as her body trembled. The echo if the screeching in her ears wouldn't seize, she tried using her hands to cover them but it didn't-wouldn't- work. Caroline continued to cry out as she felt overwhelmed by a sharp emptiness that bored into her chest and filled her lungs causing them to collapse inside her and struggle to re-inflate.

The blonde dug her fingers into her hair, she felt the sharp edges of her nails hit her scalp but wouldn't relent as the intensity of the emotions inside her grew. Caroline scrunched her eyes shut trying to get rid of the images of her mom's lifeless body flashing across her eyes which were soon joined with Emma's body covered in blood and the tiny baby attached to wires. Her eyes snapped open and were instead hit with light drizzle falling from the sky.

Caroline felt the coolness of the liquid run along her skin and join with the ice that had settled within her chest. The blond vampire's breathing turned into hoarse pants as she strived to get some air into her body. She stood swiftly and began to pace, her hands swung by her sides itching to grab onto something, her body continued to tremble in the cold but burned with anger that coursed through her veins.

The blonde felt the never-ending tears stream down her cheeks and grew irritated that they wouldn't stop, she froze as she clenched her fingers into fists before lashing out to grasp the bench and spinning it against the brick wall allowing it to smash into pieces and crumble to the floor amongst brick dust from the wall.

Caroline cried out as she looked up to the dark sky and felt the rain hit her face masking the tears that kept falling, she mirrored the action by allowing her head to fall as well as she looked down to the ground and the rubble laying at her feet. Her hands fell back to her sides as she felt defeat overcome her.

Heaving a few more times, she dragged her phone from her pockets and automatically dialled the number she thought she could always rely on. The rain grew heavier as the dial tone grew longer before the tell-tale sign of someone having picked up sounded:

"Caroline now's really not a good-"

"Stefan…" She whimpered out before choking on any further words, what the hell was she supposed to say anyway, hey Stef, my mom and cousin just died but she left behind a baby who is so small that I'm scared I'll crush with one little touch? I was wondering if you'd come down 'cos I'm standing in the middle of a downpour and I've already smashed a bench into pieces 'cos I'm really angry. I mean, like, seriously, don't the hospital have a detonation room where I can just go and explode 'cos that's what I feel like. Anyways, did I forget to mention my mom died?

"Care, I can't talk now, I'll call you later."

"Stefan, please-"

"Jeremy and Elena are missing, I've really got to go, I promise I'll call you later."

The phone slipped from her down her fingers and was wedged between her jacket and shoulder still leaning against her cheek, she blinked slowly trying to regain her bearings at the blunt rejection. She caught her phone as it fell from the juncture, unconsciously she turned and her feet slowly but surely dragged her back into the hospital that was illuminated on the pitch black canvas.

Her mind was clouded over images and words that her body just wouldn't accept. She didn't notice the people that glared at her or gave her curious looks, she didn't notice the path her feet were carrying her on and she didn't notice the ward she walked onto until she was standing back in front of the now-open grey door leading into the room full of babies on machines.

Licking her dry lips she walked towards the little girl known as 'baby Forbes' and grazed her fingers against the glass, she tilted her head as her eyes ran over the girl's tiny body which remained attached to wires. Slowly, the blonde stepped back and sat on a worn chair in the corner which stood beside the ventilator.

Caroline looked down at the phone in her rain covered hands and tried to brush off the little raindrops that had clung to the screen, accidently she swiped the phone which lit up with the image of her mother in mid laugh as she looked up at the blonde figure who had her arm around her neck whilst trying to hold the camera steady. The blonde leaned back in her chair to feel the softness welcome her as she tightened her grip on the phone, her focus was interrupted as a couple left the room leaving Caroline on her own as she watched the little girl slowly stretch her arms out before laying them down again.

Her eyes remained locked onto the girl as she placed her phone beside her and watched the rise and fall of the baby's chest as the rhythmic beeping of several ventilators continued to echo in the room. Caroline watched her as the fluttering of her beating heart resonated in her ears.

See you next time :D