A/N: Hey everyone! So I'm not sure how you're feeling about this story, I didn't get many reviews, so i'm not sure if i should continue. I will say that i know this is a sad subject and that many of you want Damon and Elena right away, and i apologize for the lack of Elena so far; but i promise you we will get there and i ask that you please stay with me. Please review, it encourages me and i love hearing your feedback

Thank you!


What's that smell?

Whatever it is, it's burning my nostrils

And my head hurts, why does my head hurt?

Are those Sirens? What in the world is going on, and why am I upside down?

I force myself to open my eyes, where am I?

Suddenly it all comes back to me; I was at a charity gala.

No, I wasn't alone; we were at a charity gala. Andie and I

Oh god.

"Andie" I croak

I turn to check on her "Oh no" I gasp, there's blood dripping from her head

"Andie" this time is comes out a little louder

"This is NYPD, are you guys ok?"

"My wife, she's five months pregnant, and she's not responding to me. You need to get her to the hospital"

"We're working on it. What's your name?"

"Damon Salvatore"

"Ok Damon. We're going to have to cut you guys out of the car because the doors are jammed. We have ambulances and a paramedic team ready to help you guys as soon as we get you out of there, in the meantime please try and remain calm"

Is he joking? How the fuck am I supposed to stay calm right now

"Andie sweetie, please wake up. I need you to wake up and be ok" I plea "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have taken my eyes off the road, I promise I will spend the rest of our lives trying to make it up to you but right now I just need you to wake up"

I've never been a fan of the sound of metal on metal, but right now its music to my ears as they cut us out of the car.

I feel someone grab my shoulders

"No! Andie first, get my wife first"

They must know I'm serious by the tone of my voice because they don't push it. They immediately start helping Andie.

Once they've got her out of the car and onto a stretcher they come back for me

"She's five months pregnant" I say

"They're aware sir, now we need to get you on a stretcher and get you to the hospital as well"

"I'm fine" I argue

"I hope so, but we need to make sure there aren't any internal injuries" he argues

Just as I'm about to argue with him he says "Your wife is in very good hands, and we have some of the best doctors in New York waiting at the hospital for her arrival. Please just let us run a few scans, and if everything checks out fine, you can go be with your wife"

"Ok" I agree, part of me wants to argue with him, but the other part is reminding me that I'm a little dizzy, and that I need to get treated as soon as possible so I can be with Andie.

"Thank you" he smiles kindly at me

I follow him into the ambulance, as soon as I'm on the stretcher they start poking me with needles and running a hundred different tests.

"Ok Mr. Salvatore, I need you to look straight ahead" next thing I know they're shining a light into my eyes "page the hospital, let them know they need to have CT open when we get there, Mr. Salvatore needs a head scan"


"Damon! Thank god I found you!"

"Stefan? What're you doing here" I ask

"I'm your brother, of course I'm here; and I'm a doctor Damon, why didn't you call me?"

"Because I'm fine"

"Are these your discharge papers?" I nod "Damon, you have a concussion…You're not fine"

"Yes I am Stefan, I'm just worried about Andie, They said she was going in for an emergency c-section over an hour ago and I haven't heard anything since" I'm trying not to sound like I'm panicking but on the inside I'm freaking out

"Let me go see what I can find out"

I don't know how long a C-Section takes, but the fact that Stefan didn't assure me that an hour is not enough time to perform one makes my stomach churn

"They said the doctor will be out shortly" he sits next to me

"How did this happen Stefan? We were just at the gala having a nice night, how did we end up here?" My eyes start to tear up

"I wish I had answers for you, I really do" he throws his arm over my shoulders

"Mr. Salvatore?" a nurse in blue scrubs calls out

"That's me"

"Will you please follow me?"

I don't question her because at first I think she's taking me to Andie, but instead she takes me to an empty room with a few chairs, one of those plug in water fountains that is meant to calm you down, and several boxes of Kleenex

The doctor will be in shortly" she leaves the room before I have a chance to question her about what's it going on but the look on Stefan's face tells me everything I need to know

"This is the bad news room isn't it" I ask

"No, it's not, they probably-"

"When you get good news they tell you in the waiting room, when you get bad news they bring you in here so you don't scare the other families" I interrupt "am I right?"

He doesn't answer me; he just looks down at the ground

"Am I right?!" I raise me voice

A knock on the door interrupts us

"Excuse me Mr. Salvatore?"

"Yes" I answer

"Hi, I'm Dr. Steinman" he holds his hand out for me to shake and glances at Stefan

"It's fine, he's my brother. He can stay"

"Well Mr. Salvatore, when your wife was brought here she was already very dependent on hand pump ventilation. We tried everything we could to get her to breathe again on her own but she was unresponsive"

"What does that mean?" I ask

"It means she was not able to breathe on her own, and once we stopped ventilation, she didn't make it"

"Oh my god" I whisper, I look down as my body begins to shake, I don't realize that I'm crying until I feel the drops sliding down my face. Stefan puts his hand on my shoulder to help steady me

"I'm very sorry Mr. Salvatore"

I rub my hands over my face, trying to get rid of the moisture that's collected

"Um uh" I 'm not even sure I want to know the answer to my question, so instead Stefan asks for me

"What about the baby?"

The doctor looks down

"No" I shake my head "No, not both of them"

"After we realized that Mrs. Salvatore was unresponsive, we did an emergency cesarean. However, the lack of oxygen was just too much for the baby. There was nothing we could do"

"No, no, no" I shake my head

I know the doctor is waiting for more questions but I can't even wrap my mind around what is happening, and I just wish he would leave

"Thank you Dr. Steinman, I think Damon just needs sometime right now" Stefan says as if he can read my mind

"Yes of course. Here's my card; if you have any questions please don't hesitate to call"

"Damon…" Stefan says as the doctor leaves, but I just shake my head, begging him not to continue

He just nods his head

I don't know how long we sit in silence before I finally muster the strength to speak

"Will you drive me home?" I ask

"You're welcome to stay with me if you want" he offers

"Why would I want to do that?" I ask

"I just want you to know that you have options, you don't have to go home if you're not ready"

"Why wouldn't I be ready?"

His face is full of pity, and I know it's not his fault but I snap

"My wife is dead Stefan, and nothing is going to change that. She's still going to be dead no matter where I sleep tonight. I would drive myself, but I'm assuming my car was totaled in the accident that killed my wife and daughter. So will you please just shut up and drive me home."

He doesn't say a word, he just nods his head.


The doorman to our apartment building greets me as if it was any other night, and I suppose to him, its.

The elevator stops at our floor, and just as I reach our door I stop.

I can't go in there; into the home we built together.

I can't sleep in our bed.

I can't lay my head on the pillows that I know will smell like her. On the pillows that she insisted on buying even though I thought they were too expensive; god, why did I fight her on that?

And what about the nursery?

Oh god, the nursery.

The one we spent the weekend painting a light shade of pink.

The one with the wooden letters that spell 'Sarah' hanging on the wall; I hung them right before we left for the gala, it was my way of surprising her that I wanted to go with the name she picked out.

Although I think I let it slip at the gala anyways, I don't know for certain though, that all seems so far away now.

Did I shut the door to the nursery before we left? Or if I walk in is that the first thing I'm going to see?

I quickly pull out my phone

"Hello" he answers after one ring

"I can't do it Stefan" my voice cracks

"I'm coming back" he says

I hang up and slump against the door, all of the tears I've held back finally coming out

"Hey" Stefan slumps down next to me. He must have not been far, probably waiting for my call

"I can't do this, any of it. This wasn't part of the plan. She's twenty-six years old, you're not supposed to die at twenty-six; we were just getting started" I bang my fist on the floor, trying to get rid of some of my anger "she always wanted to be a mom, but I kept saying we needed to wait to pay off some of our debt, that we needed a bigger place, a better car. Why didn't I give her what she wanted, why did I wait, It's my fault all this is happening"

Stefan doesn't say anything, though I don't blame him. What does one say in a situation like this?

"What do I do now Stefan, because I know I'm good at being a husband, and that I was excited about being a dad, and now I'm not either of those things so what do I do know, Where do I go from here" I break down again "I don't know how to fix this"

"I don't know Damon, I wish I had answers for you but I don't" he sighs "but what I do know is that you need to get some rest, and that you're not alone. I'm here Damon and I may not have any answers for you right now, but I will help you figure this out, you've always been there for me and now it's my turn, I will be here with you every step of the way as we figure out where to go from here, you're not alone, I promise" He looks at me sincerely

"Thank you brother" I smile weakly

He stands up and extends his hand to help me up "that's what I'm here for"