Disclaimer: I don't own Saving Hope or The Vampire Diaries

Hello, dear readers. This is on time which is great, because at the same time, I am rewatching Saving Hope. First of all, I'm going to say thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing too, you know who you are. Second of all, there is no way in hell that I'm having Joel die at the end of season three. No. Personally, I tried watching season 4 and got about 5 minutes in before deciding I could never watch past the end of season 3 because it's just not the same. Also, for some reason, I've got one of those songs from Oliver Twist in my head and I keep picturing Elijah, Stefan, Damon and Klaus as it's going around in my head. It's clear we're going to get along. Anyway... I'm going to have so much fun, writing this. I already have a proposal planned out if I decide to go that route.

On with the story.

Chapter 2

The man in front of her looked confused.

"Who?" Then the introduction caught up to her and she looked quickly to see that his name tag said 'Dr J. Goran.' This was Dr Goran?

"Um, no, sorry, I thought you were someone else. Old... friend of mine."

"Right," Dr Goran gave her a look which said he wasn't entirely convinced before Dana said her goodbyes. "So, I'm Joel Goran – not Elijah –" He smirked slightly. Elena bit her lip, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, I got that."

"You can call me Joel. Follow me, we've got our first patient."

-TVD/SH-

Joel led Elena to a bed in the ER where a man with horns and multiple piercings was sat on the bed next to a woman with short hair and dressed in scrubs with a doctors coat.

"Dr Lin, this is Dr Gilbert. Dr Gilbert, this is Dr Lin. And this is our patient, Barry, is it?"

"It's Karn, actually."

"You do realise these kinds of implants are illegal right?"

"Can't you just give me something for them?" Karn asked. "And I can get the hell out of here?"

"We're still waiting on the results of your bloodtest," Dr Lin started. "It could be any moment now."

"So, where did you get these done?" Joel asked, pulling on a pair of gloves and pressing on the horns.

"I've got my own tattoo parlour."

"Mhm."

"Everything from belly buttons to Prince Albert's. Do you know what that is?" he asked in a condescending tone, clearly not expecting the doctor to have that knowledge.

"Yes I do, it's a ring through the glands of the penis," he said, holding out a hand for the file Dr Lin was holding. Both female residents had a look on their face, part 'seriously? Who has that?' and part 'how does he know what that is?'

"Do I even want to know how you know what that is?" Elena asked.

"I don't know, do you?" he shot back, giving her a quick look. And she wasn't quite sure, but she thought that might have been the hint of a smirk on his face before it went back to serious as he continued to examine the patient.

"5 years I've had my business, no problems. Everything you see here? I did it all myself."

"You put these horns on your own head?" Joel asked, slightly dubious, slightly sounding like he was thinking 'why do other people have to be such idiots?'

"How do you deal with the anaesthetic?" Elena asked.

"I don't use it. Too dangerous."

"OK, Karn. What you have here is two transdermal implants gone awry. The source of the contamination is possibly the knife you used to cut your own skin, or it's the implants themselves. Diagnosis Dr Lin?"

"Cellulitis," she answered immediately.

"At the very least. But my concern is-"

"Osteomyelitis," Elena cut in. Joel and Maggie looked at her, Maggie surprised, Joel torn between surprised and impressed.

"What is that?" Karn asked.

"Care to explain, Dr Gilbert?" Joel asked, raising an eyebrow. Elena would have let him finish, but could tell that this was some kind of test.

"It's an infection of the bone. When things like your horns get infected, there's always a risk of the infection passing onto and even through the bone." Joel nodded.

"We'll need a CT to see if the cranial vault has been compromised."

"Compromised?"

"The infection could be eroding your skull," he answered, blunt. Elena grimaced slightly. No such thing as pulling your punches with this guy, was there?

"You want to take off my horns!"

"If I have to, yes."

"Not happening," Karn said, slipping off the bed. "It took a year of work to build them up."

"Well it's your choice," Joel told him. "But if it is osteomyelitis, then all those nasty germs could get from your skull into your brain, and if that happens, then you're facing meningitis, brain abscess, possible death."

"But we won't know until we get a CT," Maggie quickly interjected, "so first things first, OK?"

"Yeah," Karn sighed, scowling and got back into bed. The three doctors walked away from him.

"You may want to talk to your friends Gavin about a psych consult," Joel told Maggie. "I have a feeling that Damien is going to resist treatment."

"His name isn't Damien," Elena said. "And I don't think he's crazy."

"Karn is not his name either. And is 'not crazy' your professional opinion, Dr Gilbert?"

"Yes, to both. I've seen crazy, and that's not it. And Karn can be his name of he wants it to be, he's an adult, he can make his own decisions."

"I'll go get Gavin," Maggie said. "And it's nice to meet you, Dr Gilbert."

"It's nice to meet you too. You can call me Elena."

"You can call me Maggie. I get the feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship." Maggie walked off to find Gavin for the consult. Elena turned back to Joel, only to find that the older doctor was already gone and sighed.

-TVD/SH-

Elena walked back into the ER about an hour later to see Joel standing at the desk with a young man with dark hair in a suit that just screamed psychiatrist and walked towards them.

"Hi," she said, reaching them. "I'm guessing you're Gavin?"

"Yeah, that's me. You must be the new resident. Elena Gilbert, right?"

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you. You can call me Elena."

"You too. You can call me Gavin."

"The only name I know you by," she said, giving him a bright smile. For a moment, Joel felt a small feeling, like jealousy, making itself known, before he pushed it back down, slightly confused. No. No feelings, nothing like that, especially not for some woman he's just met. Not. Happening. "So what do you think of Karn?"

"Like I was telling Dr Goran," Gavin shot him an annoyed look, "Karn is a sane and competent decision maker."

"So, he's not crazy," Elena concluded.

"No, he's not," Gavin said, happy to have at least one of them understand that. Elena shot Joel a look which said 'I told you so'.

"Well that's great. His skull's still infected, and he might get septicaemia so, the horns have to come off."

"Joel," Elena said with a sigh.

"The body mods are his identity," Gavin said, getting annoyed. "It's who he is, so you can't just go in there and order him to do whatever you want. You have to sit down with him. You have to talk him through it."

"Yeah, maybe I'll show him the CT. I'll point out exactly where his brain is turning into mashed potatoes," Joel said, annoyed. "Are we done here?"

"Do you ever think of the other person?" Gavin asked. Elena looked between the two, not sure what she could do to stop the sort of argument. "Like, anyone who isn't you?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

"OK," Gavin said, before walking off, shooting Elena a 'good luck' look.

"Let's go," Joel said, gesturing for Elena to follow him. The two of them went through the doors to the ER and Elena immediately saw that Karn wasn't there.

"Miller," Joel said, walking up to where he was signing a few sheets of paper. "My patient, have you seen him?"

"Karn?" he asked. "Checked himself out, signed a refusal of treatment and took off."

"And you didn't try to stop him?!"

"Of course he tried to stop him, Joel," Elena said.

"Thank you, uh-"

"Elena."

"Thank you, Elena. I did everything I could to stop him, Joel, but if the guy wants to go, he's allowed to go, I don't make the rules." Joel was halfway across the room before he could finish his sentence. Elena sighed.

-TVD/SH-

A few hours later, and Karn's surgery – which Elena had actually had a minor part in – was over and his family had come by as he was recovering. Elena was with his wife and son as they quietly exchanged stories about their lives, Kat, the wife, of her husband and son, and her about her life in Mystic Falls, obviously dramatically edited to leave out the supernatural parts. Joel knocked on the door and all three of them looked towards him. Elena noted the plastic tub he was holding and withheld a smile. Obviously what the nurse Victor had said in the OR was true. Joel Goran was becoming a softy.

"Hey. I'm Dr Goran."

"I'm Kat, Karn's wife," she said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you," he said with a smile.

"You too. Dr Gilbert told me you saved my husband's life, but said she'd leave all the details to you. How's he doing?"

"He's doing very well, actually, yeah" he told her, before looking down at the boy. "How you doing, mate?" The boy just smiled shyly and didn't answer. "I'm, his surgery –"

"I'm awake," interrupted the tired voice from the bed. Kat lifted the going boy into the bed next to his father.

"So the surgery was a success. We were able get rid of all the infected bone. I'm going to put you on some oral antibiotics and as soon as you're in the clear we'll discharge you."

"Thank you," Kat said with a soft smile.

"You've for a beautiful family here, Karn," Joel said, looking at them, before looking down, then meeting his eyes. "Hope they get to keep you around."

"What does that mean?" he said suspiciously.

"It means you can't work on yourself anymore," he said, quietly.

"Because only a guy like you can do something like that?" Karn said, getting angry.

"No, because unless you're in am OR, it's not sterile," Joel retorted just as he got the sentence out. "You're going to get an infection. Guaranteed."

"I'll think about it."

"Good. And got can think about it." Joel sighed as he held out the tub. The boy took it and shook it about a bit, the horns rattling inside. "Because we saved your brain today." Joel smiled at Karn's family before taking his leave. Elena have her own smile before going after him.

"So," Elena started, walking next to him.

"So," he repeated with a slight smile. "How was that for a first day?"

"Can't say it was boring."

"Drinks later?" Elena let out a laugh. "No, seriously. Drink?"

"I'm good," she said with a smile. "I think I'll wait for that until I've known you for at least two weeks." And with that Elena and Joel went their separate ways, Elena going to the ER.

A few hours later, Joel opened the doors to the ER wearing a T-shirt and jeans, heading out.

'Never any harm in looking,' Elena thought, checking him out. 'Because damn, he looks good.'

"Hey doc!" came Karn's voice. Both Joel and Elena looked over to see him in a wheelchair. "Slow him your horns, buddy," he said to his son who was on his lap. The both of them made the rock on sign with their index and pinkie fingers. "Keep it real."

"Always," Joel said with a smile, before leaving, giving her a look she couldn't describe as he left. Now the only question was would she tell Bonnie and Caroline that Elijah had a doppelganger.

Thanks for reading the chapter, don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you next time. And if anyone could recommend a good Joel/Elena fanfic, please please do. And for some reason, my tablet keeps auto-correcting Joel as hotel and Elena as weekend. It did it twice as I was writing Joel in this author's note and is now auto-correcting weekend as Elena as well, so if you spot that in the chapter, just tell me and I'll fix it. Review please. Please. Pleeeeaaaaassse? I love hearing what you guys think.