A/n; another chapter guys. :D You finally get to find out what's wrong with Elena! This and the next few chapters are where things get really interesting…and hey, who knows, there might end up being a bit of smut very soon. Hot vamp sex is on the way. ;D As well as some very exciting plots, of course. Trisha and I are really excited about this, and as we have already roleplayed out about five chapters worth ahead, we know how epic it gets. Thanks for continuing to read! We love you all, please let us know what you think! Oh, and thanks to the person who gave some feedback with the paragraphs thing; totally my fault there, so I have tried to separate them more now. Enjoy c:
Chapter Four: Confusion.
Once he was sure Elena was settled and okay, Damon went off to find Meredith, who was thankfully okay. He'd gotten Elena off her quickly enough to not bring any permanent damage. After talking to her for a while and explaining everything - including about Stefan, although omitting the bit where he'd walked in on them kissing - he got given a large cooler of blood bags, enough for them both. At least it meant he and Elena could get some rest and time alone in the room, and not have to worry about going out to find someone to feed on. Elena would want to feed properly eventually, but for tonight at least they could just get some rest. The vampire didn't know what was going to happen - with the rest of the Originals etc. and their other numerous problems, nor with him and Elena - but for tonight at least would they just focus on relaxing.
After giving Meredith strict orders to let nobody up, even if they were Jeremy or Elena's friends, without asking first, Damon headed back up to the room, his feeding bags in hand. The corridor was deserted, which was perfect - no surrounding rooms with lots of humans, most of whom would probably be bleeding in some way, to tempt Elena. When he walked into her room, he smiled, although it did seem like she moved quickly. Still, he shook it off, thinking he was perhaps being a bit too suspicious. She was now a vampire, after all - he was much too used to her being a slow human. "Hey," Damon greeted, walking in, moving to sit in the chair beside her bed. He examined her carefully, unsure what to say. At least she wasn't crying...
Elena looked up, Damon sat down next to her and she shifted a bit uncomfortably, though not enough for him to notice. Underneath the sheets she pressed the towel onto the cut again, still trying to stop the bleeding. It hadn't stopped, and the last she had checked was right before Damon had walked in. Well, she couldn't tell him, he'd flip out. What if it was something serious? Where was Bonnie when she needed her? Those thoughts raced through her mind at a mile per minute, finally when her phone vibrated on the table next to the bed she jumped slightly. "Sorry…I was thinking." she said sheepishly to Damon.
With her free hand she leaned over and grabbed her phone, seeing it was a text from Bonnie. Mentally, she let out a sigh of relief. Thank god, she thought. Opening up the text she quickly read the small print on the screen:
Elena, I know what's wrong. You're just not going to like it. It's hard to explain but you need to tell Damon, or someone. Otherwise, things could get bad. According to the Grimoire, since you've technically cheated death so many times, that now that you've actually died and are a vampire? There are consequences. Basically nature's way of punishing you. Even though you're a vampire, and you crave blood which is a necessity for you now ,you can easily get hurt. Which explains why your cut is bleeding. Basically, you're a human without a heartbeat, fangs, and feeds on blood, but you are able to survive. There's nothing vampire about you besides the fangs.
If Elena's face could pale, it would have at that moment. She looked at Damon, he didn't seem too suspicious. "Uhm...there's something I've got to tell you." she said nervously.
Damon continued to watch her. She seemed really spaced out. Then again, who could blame her? After everything that had happened...well, it was a lot to take in. Even he couldn't really believe it had all happened, so much had gone on. He just sat back, wishing he could know what to say to make it better. There wasn't anything, though. She'd died, turned into a vampire - something she had never wanted - kissed Damon, been caught by Stefan, and then he'd been an absolute idiot to her. It was hardly surprising she seemed more than a little out of it.
He jumped too as the phone rang, and just smiled at her words, glad she had at least spoken to him - acknowledged his existence, even. Then again, it was no wonder she was thinking. "Don't worry about it," Damon replied, giving a small smile in return. "You've got a lot to think about." He leant back in his chair as she reached for her phone, though his gaze never left hers. It meant he saw every single emotion that registered upon her face, as her eyes scanned the phone. The vampire had been about to ask her if there was something wrong, when she spoke herself.
Instantly, he was sat up straighter, arching an eyebrow. "What? What is it, Elena? Tell me," he urged, reaching out and placing his hand on top of her covered one which, unbeknownst to him, was on the end of the same arm she'd injured - the very thing she was about to tell him about. The thing was though, Damon had no idea what it was. What could be wrong? Clearly, it had something to do with the text she'd received, but...
A small shiver ran down Elena's spine, could she tell him? No, she had to. There was no other option. "Just promise me, you won't get upset." she said carefully, choosing her words. When his hand rest on hers, that was on the same arm she had cut herself earlier she stiffened. No, this was all too much. "Damon, I...I don't really know how to explain this." she began, swallowing thickly. " When you left to go talk to Meredith, it all became too much," she said, shoving the blanket off she rolled up her sleeve slowly, revealing the cut and the blood that continuously was oozing from it.
She quickly pressed the towel back on it. "And I know, I thought that since I'm a vampire, it would've healed. We both thought that. As in, Bonnie and I. I called her." she said, frowning.
"Here comes the bad part. You ready?" she asked, looking at him. When Damon simply nodded she took a deep breath. "The text I got just now? That was Bonnie." she paused, taking a moment to take everything in. "She said that since, I've technically cheated death so many times, now that I've actually died, this is nature's way of restoring balance and punishing me." she frowned. "And that basically, I can still get hurt, I can still...die. Not just by a stake, by any other way that a human can die. She also said that the only thing vampire about me is the fangs and blood drinking." she looked at him, and he looked horror stricken. "I'm sorry.." she whispered. "I..I don't know what to do an-" suddenly she winced in pain, her hand flew to where the cut was. "Holy shit!" she cursed. She looked up at Damon, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "It really hurts."
Here it comes, Damon thought. She was going to say something about him, and Stefan. Tell him that things still wouldn't work about between them - that she still loved Stefan despite everything, or something. He'd anticipated it. He simply nodded, agreeing not to get upset, bracing himself. When she began to speak though, he frowned. Soon, everything was explained, as she removed her arm from under the sheets, and showed him the cut. The vampire's eyes widened. She'd done this? She'd hurt herself? But then, logic caught up, meaning his trail of thought matched her words. She was a vampire, she should heal... At the mention of Bonnie, his heart sank. It was witch related, then. That could not be a good sign. It never was, he'd learnt. Especially not when it came down to Elena. Nothing was ever simple with her, in any aspect of the word.
Damon listened as she explained everything, and felt everything come crashing down around him. She was a vampire, in that she had fangs and drank blood - but she was mortal? Didn't have super strength, or speed? No mind compulsion? It was almost like she had every slightly good part of being a vampire taken away, and every bad aspect remained. And, it meant that after all of this, she still wasn't safe. He barely allowed himself to believe it was real. It couldn't be. Yet, everything made sense, and as much as he disliked her, Bonnie knew what she was talking about…
Everything disappeared as soon as Elena let out a cry. The vampire could see how much it was hurting her, and instantly wanted to help. Standing up, Damon began to rummage through the various drawers etc., looking for things to help. It was a hospital, after all.
He soon returned with some supplies, gingerly taking her arm and examining it with a deep frown. "We probably need to clean the wound before anything else. Really, it needs stitches, but I can't do that. I've learnt enough over the last century and a half to hold it for tonight - we can see what Meredith thinks if it is still bad tomorrow. What did you use to cut yourself?" Damon still couldn't really believe she'd harmed herself, but then, even if she wasn't a total vampire, she would still have double the emotions, so it wasn't surprising.
Elena sighed heavily, she'd gotten it out, into the open. See, it wasn't that hard. She frowned when he asked why she'd done it, and then moments later, what she had used. "There..." she pointed to the drawer. The drawer is where she had stashed the knife, when Damon pulled out the blood stained knife, Elena wrinkled her nose. Suddenly, feeling very self conscious.
"I'm sorry." she kept repeating, feeling as if she said it enough he'd believe it and accept it. She felt as if Damon was going to be mad at her, hate her, and maybe even stake her. She wasn't sure why she was feeling like this, but she was. Instead she sighed aloud, "Alright. Maybe...we can talk to Meredith tonight?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side slightly. "I mean...I don't think this can wait until tomorrow, Damon. It's really deep." she frowned at the words that had come out of her own mouth.
She felt like she was disappointing him. Like she herself, was a disappointment. "I'm sorry," she began rambling. "I just...everything, it was all too much. Turning, hurting Meredith, kissing you, Stefan catching us, all of it. I couldn't take it anymore." she said, feeling tears prick in the back of her eyes.
Elena took a deep breath and bit her tongue slightly, willing herself not to cry. Not again. "And so...I just needed to get rid of all the worry, pain, and heartache. Then I found the knife...and I just...I got lost in it all. And I'm so, so, sorry." she said, sitting up to look at him now. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she repeated, her cheeks now flushed red as she grew a bit warmer. Her phone vibrated again, it was Bonnie with another text.
Elena, hurry and get that checked out. Otherwise I can't help you until further notice, and if you don't get it checked? You could spike a fever and become ill. Elena read the text, then quickly handed Damon the phone so that he could see it. "Help me." she whispered, feeling helpless.
When Damon saw she'd used a pocket knife, he let out a small sigh. That could not be a good thing - it was probably full of germs, which could spread in the cut and make her sick. His blue eyes examined the cut closer, wincing as he saw how deep it was. "You're right," he agreed, meeting her gaze as she spoke. "I really think we need to get Meredith up here to sort you out. Looks like it'll need cleaning, stitching, and bandaging. I'll just quickly put a dressing on to keep the blood back while I go find her."
The vampire very carefully put a pad on top of her wound, holding it in place while he wound a bandage around. It was still bleeding, and began to soak the bandage slightly already, but at least it would do until he could get Meredith up here.
Damon looked up as she began to speak, and shook his head, placing his hand on her good arm. "Hey. Shh, Elena. It's okay. Believe me, I get it. I know what it's like to be self-destructive. When I go out, get drunk, sleep with and feed off women, if something goes wrong? That's not really any different to what you did. Physically, I don't hurt myself, but internally I do."
When she continued to apologize and get herself worked up, Damon held up a hand, before moving to sit next to her on the bed, budging her up slightly, putting an arm around her. "Don't apologize. Stop getting yourself upset. It doesn't matter, okay? It happened, and it's over. Don't worry about it." When she showed him the text, and asked for his help, he let out a sigh, before nodding. He realized how warm she was then, and put a hand to her forehead. "You're burning up like mad," Damon said, looking worried. "I'll text Meredith to come up here. I'm not leaving you." He did as he said, before sitting back against the bed, letting his hand gently stroke her hair, trying to calm her down and comfort her at the same time.
Elena sighed, she and Damon had been sitting on her bed now just talking. It seemed as if it had been an hour maybe two, but in reality it had only been a few minutes. Her fever must have spiked up even more because Elena soon found herself becoming slightly delirious. The only thing that made her slightly feel better was the fact that Damon was there, comforting her, stroking her hair ever so gently. "Damon?" she spoke suddenly, catching his attention. He blinked momentarily, and she wondered if maybe he had dozed off. "Do you think I'm going to die?" she asked, now reaching her other hand over to hold his gently.
She momentarily let her head fall back against the pillow, a sigh escaping her lips. "You know.,." she said, beginning to ramble once more. "Sometimes, I just wish that maybe it would have been better, if.." she paused, glancing at her hands for a moment. Her gaze then shifted to the wall across from them, as her eyes bore into it. "If I had never met you two...maybe then...things would have been all rainbows and sunshine." she said, a small giggle escaping her lips. Being that it was, Elena never usually spoke like this, so in her mindset, she figured it was just the fever talking. " Hm. La la la! LA!" she said, smirking, glancing over at Damon.
Damon did jump a little when she spoke, because of the silence. He blinked, looking down at her. When she spoke, he looked alarmed. "No! Of course not, Elena. I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you, okay? Just relax." His brow furrowed in concern, realizing how out of it she was. She was getting warmer and warmer, and he could see she wasn't quite all there, wasn't quite on the same planet as everyone else - not entirely, at least. He was examining her face carefully, not liking the way she was looking. She was clearly getting sicker by the minute. Where on earth was Meredith?
Damon stroked the hand that held his, trying to comfort her. When she began to talk, rambling on, he frowned again, wondering where she was going. When she mentioned what it would be like if she'd never met them, he looked indignant, before logic caught up with him. She was ill. She didn't mean it. When she spoke about sunshine and rainbows, before almost singing, it just confirmed his suspicions. "You're sick, Elena. You don't know what you're talking about. Just relax. Meredith will be here soon, sort your wound out and give you some medicine to make you feel better."
Elena sighed softly, and nodded. "Haha, okay." she said giggling. Finally, after twenty or so more minutes of talking Meredith arrived.
"She doing okay?" Meredith asked as she walked in, taking a look at Elena's arm. "The cut's pretty deep. A few stitches and a bandage should help. I'll also give her some medication. Then you can take her home. Just keep giving her the meds every hour on the dot and she should be fine by Friday, at the latest." she said, matter of factly. Within ten minutes Meredith had Elena's wound stitched and bandaged, she glanced at the clock. It was almost dawn. "You need to get her home, quickly." she suggested, having no idea of the conversation Elena and Damon had, had earlier.
~*~
Soon enough, what with all the medication and everything Elena found herself slowly waking up, except this time they were no longer in the hospital. Instead, she found herself in Damon's bedroom, resting on his bed. Blinking her eyes to get rid of the sleep that threatened to pull her back under, she sat up slowly, looking around. The curtains were drawn shut though from the looks of it, it was now daylight. On the bedside table next to the bed Elena's phone sat blinking from missed calls and texts. Looking around she found that Damon was nowhere in sight. "Damon?" she called out. "Damon?"
Damon let out a small sigh, eyes on her constantly, filled with obvious worry. When Meredith came in he listened and nodded, holding Elena's hand as the wound was stitched and bandage. When he looked at her next, she'd fallen asleep - or passed out, was more accurate. Collecting medicine, new bandages and blood bags from the doctor, the vampire soon picked Elena up gingerly, holding her like she was fragile. Really, that wasn't far from the truth. Yes, she was a vampire now, but in many ways, still a human. He got her in the car and home just before the sun came up, settling her in his large bed.
At the time that Elena awoke, Damon had only just left her side. He had sat with her the rest of the time, but soon felt an aching in his jaw, showing how starving he was. It had been much too long since he'd fed. Although he would prefer it fresh, the vampire just used one of the blood bags downstairs. After, he sat for a while, and soon dozed off - it had been a day and a half since he had slept at all. However, her call awoke him instantly.
Damon blinked, before rushing upstairs. "Elena. You're awake. How do you feel?" he asked, examining her pale skin and frail body. "Shit!" he cursed. "You're supposed to have medication every hour. I fell asleep..." Damon trailed off, before guiding her back under the covers. "You stay there, and let me get you some medication. Meredith said you're on bed rest until you are better. How do you feel? Are you thirsty?" Damon examined her face meaningfully, before touching a hand to her cheek. "You're warm," he murmured, but didn't pull his hand away.
Finally, Damon had come back up in the room. By the looks of it, Elena could tell he must have fed and gotten some sleep because he looked better than he had earlier. "Damon, I'm fine. Really." she said, in answer to all of his questions. His hand still lingered on her cheek, and gingerly she leaned into it. "Oh, the only reason I'm up was because of a dream I had. Fever didn't rise, I'm not in pain. In fact, I'm perfectly fine." she said, more so trying to reassure herself of it though. She hadn't been lying about the dream, it had terrified her. So much, that she had to prevent herself from letting out a yelp of fear when she woke up. Glancing up at Damon now their eyes met.
"I'm hoping you slept? And maybe fed, while I was out cold?" she said, a small grin coming to her lips. She wasn't sure why she was feeling well all of the sudden, but she was and it was a good feeling. Glancing at her phone she sighed, "How many missed calls and texts from Bonnie this time?" she mumbled to herself as she grabbed the phone and opened it up. One text in particular caught her attention.
"Elena! I think I found a cure. As in, it'll make you a complete vampire, like you should. Strength, speed, everything. Just trust me on this, go and talk to Tyler. Elena re-read the text about two times before nodding, "We need to go and find Tyler." she said confidently, looking up at Damon.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Damon asked, gently rubbing his thumb against her cheek. "You still need to take your medication, and get some rest, at least for a while. You're still weak - I can see it." At the mention of her dream, he examined her face. It was obvious whatever she dreamed about had frightened her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here," he whispered guiltily. He had meant to feed, then return. Instead, he'd fallen asleep. "Bad or strange dreams are a side effect of a fever. Meredith told me some things to expect. You're still showing some signs. You might feel better, but you aren't totally."
The vampire gingerly lifted her bad arm, eyes scanning it. "We need to change your bandage too, I think. How is it feeling? Meredith dosed you up on meds a lot, so hopefully you'll not be in too much pain, but she said even pills won't shut it out totally. I just wished I'd..." Damon trailed off. What did he wish? That he had stayed by her constantly, so she couldn't hurt herself? Talked to her, help her emotions out another way? It might not be his fault...but he felt it was, somehow.
At her question, Damon gave a small smile. "I fed and ended up falling asleep. I didn't get much of either, though, but I am fine. It's you we should be worrying about. You want to feed?"
He watched as she began to look through her texts, mind wandering to everyone else. What did Stefan do, after storming out of the hospital? Did everyone else know about Elena? What was Caroline up to, now her Hybrid - the one she actually loved back, unlike the now deceased Klaus -was dead? Talking of...
At Elena's words, Damon arched an eyebrow. She must be confused, he thought. Maybe hallucinating. "One, we're going nowhere right now, until you're a little stronger. And two...well, Elena…" He trailed off, examining her face worriedly.
"Elena, Tyler…he's dead."