A/N: And I am writing this to apologize for the fact that I left the last chapter on a major cliffhanger and Kelly said she might have to strangle me if I didn't write more.

Hazel's POV

Jeremy was lighter than he looked, and it scared me. I wondered if he'd been eating at all, or drinking enough water. I wondered how on earth he could have been sick without me noticing.

I carried him all the way to the hospital, until we reached the doors—a hundred pound girl carrying a boy that had to weigh at least two hundred pounds would raise suspicion, and there was already enough of that in Mystic Falls—so I managed to get him on his feet and half-carried him in.

"What's wrong?" a nurse asked me right away as he slumped over in one of the chairs in the waiting room.

"He's really hot, like he's burning a fever, and I don't know when he last ate." I said in one breathe. "Or drank anything. I think he's really sick you have to help him—"

"Of course, just calm down." She said in that icy, uncaring tone some nurses acquired over the years. I remembered hearing it when I was sick and dying, and I hated it.

"You will help him now, damn it, or I will do something drastic." I growled, watching as her pupils contracted and she fell under my compulsion. She jerkily walked over, lifted him up by the arm, and called to another nurse and a doctor.

I was tempted to compel my way to wherever he was, but I was too scared to. There was no way I would stand next to him if he was going to die. I would lose it, or distract the nurses with my pacing.

I was swinging my legs restlessly when I noticed that Caroline, Stella, and Elena were only a few feet away. When had they gotten here?

"It was awful!" I heard Stella saying to Elena. Caroline was too distraught to say anything. "We were just sitting outside, listening to Tyler scream, when there was this smell of blood everywhere all at once and then Tyler went streaking by us."

I stiffened. Of course there was a werewolf loose; why shouldn't everything in my life go to hell all at once?

"Oh my God." Elena breathed. I had seen that in her before, that genuine concern for everyone but herself. I admired her for it because I knew I was terrible at being that way. Here I was, upset because my life was falling to pieces while it was Jeremy who had his life on the line.

"Will he be okay?" Elena was asking. Caroline shook her head, tears tracking down her face and leaving mascara stains. Elena pulled her into a hug. With my enhanced senses I could hear her whisper, "It'll be okay, Caroline, I promise. It'll be okay."

I sighed and pulled my legs up onto the chair so I was in a fetal position. I felt so alone and unprotected. I knew I should have called Stella over, but Caroline obviously needed her more than I did, and I already felt bad enough without her telling me I should have never let Jeremy stay at our old house.

I didn't know how long I was there, but I was starting to get sleepy when I looked up and saw a familiar face topped with gold-blond hair. "Klaus."

"Hazel." He said, sitting down next to me. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I tried to keep my voice from shaking but failed.

He shrugged. "Just seeing what Caroline was up to."

"Oh." I felt very small. "Well, she's here because her dad got hurt. You should go talk to her." I had no idea what I was saying. Why would I suggest that he go talk to Caroline when it would only terrify her?

He nodded and then sat in silence next to me. After a while the tight knots in my stomach started to come undone, and I tried to ignore him while reaching out with my hearing and trying to find the room Jeremy was in. I wasn't exactly sure if I had it right, but I thought I heard soft, easy breathing wherever they had take him. That, and lots of doctor-talk that I couldn't understand.

I looked back at Klaus, who was regarding me with what seemed to be fatherly affection. I shuddered. "Keep your eyes to yourself, will you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you." he replied, cool as ice. "I should be leaving anyway."

I thought Yes, you should. but kept it to myself. I knew I shouldn't get on Klaus's bad side, not if I could help it.

When he was out of sight I looked for Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie, but they had gone. I listened until I heard them somewhere in a different part of the hospital. From what they were saying they were in Caroline's dad's room, and he was going to be okay.

Finally, finally, a nurse came out and gestured for me to come over. It took all my willpower not to use vamp speed to get to her.

"Yes?" I asked eagerly.

"He's fine." The nurse said. "He contracted a rare flu virus that used to be around in the 1800s, though I don't know how. It's hard to cure but since you brought him to us before a week or so passed, he'll be fine."

"Good." Of course, it was that stupid virus that had nearly killed me. How could I be so stupid? "Can I see him?"

"Yes, of course you can. Do you know his name?"

I nodded, saying, "Jeremy Gilbert." I was too anxious to see him, so I didn't care why she wanted his name.

Jeremy was propped up on the bed with pillows, tubes coming from his arms and mouth. I gulped, nervously entering and sitting down in one of the dirty plastic chairs. "Umm… hey."

"Hi." He slurred, clearly on medication. "You're still here, huh?"

"I am." I said. "Sorry that my germs from nearly a two hundred years ago almost killed you."

"S'okay."

"Good." I settled back, crossing my arms over my chest for comfort. "Any plans for a new place to stay? I'm not letting you go back to my old house. I guess that means you can't have any of the clothes you left their either."

"Oh, darn. I really liked those old, torn rags." Jeremy teased. His eyes had barely opened when I came in, and now they were shutting.

I smiled. "I bet you did."

There was a small sound at the doorway, and I looked up. Elena stood there, hands placed over her mouth. I froze.

"Your brother came down with a very rare type of flu, from the 18oos," the nurse was saying, "and he's luck to be alive. It's thanks to this young lady, who brought him in."

Elena barely nodded, but there was recognition in her eyes when she saw me. She knew that I had helped Jeremy stay in Mystic Falls. Even if she didn't know it wouldn't take a genius to figure it out.

She came next to his bed and took one of his hands. "Jeremy?"

He stirred. When his eyes re-opened they widened. "Elena?"

"Why aren't you with relatives, far away from here?" she asked, glaring at me as she said it. "I thought you decided it was for the best, to go there and become a normal teenager."

"No, you decided that, and Damon compelled me." Jeremy corrected her.

Elena's big, innocent eyes widened, and her head spun in my direction. "You… you knew, didn't you?"

"Yeah… yes." I murmured, scowling. "But it was wrong."

"Wrong?" Elena scoffed, the usual caring glimmer in her eyes replaced with something fierce; something wild and instinctual, a mother's instinct. "Who are you to say whether it's wrong or not? I'm sure you've done much worse things with compulsion before."

I opened my mouth to say something in retort, and then snapped it shut. I had done some bad things, but they had all been to protect Stella. "They were never meant selfishly."

"Sure they weren't." said Elena, sarcastically.

"They weren't." I insisted. "And what you did was wrong. You took away Jeremy's will, and you'd already done it before. You should have let him decide."

Something flashed in Jeremy's eyes, like he was surprised I was defending him so completely. I ignored Elena's continuing rant and just smiled at him.

"Hazel!" Elena shrilled, catching my attention. "Stop that! You're just using my brother for what you want, and that's not okay with me. I don't know why you think you like him, but stay away."

I snarled at her, animalistic. "You aren't the judge of me. You can't tell me what to do."

I think she saw something dangerous in the way I was suddenly towering over her, or the way sparks flew from my eyes. I had seen the same look in Damon's eyes before. The difference was that Elena wouldn't be able to melt me and force me into submission with those chocolaty brown orbs. I was going to win.

"I…" she stammered. "It's none of your business, Jeremy's not your family."

"I'm better family to him than you." I hissed. "What kind of family uses compulsion to get what they want?"

Elena paused, and guilt washed over me as her lower lip trembled and she stormed out as tears started to stream down her face. I glanced at Jeremy. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Harsh, but okay." He acknowledged after a moment. I grinned. "So, are you going to stay here? You should really get home."

"Because of Damon, yeah." I said. Damon would be furious; I had already lied to him about where I had been when I was checking up on Jeremy, and now I'd been missing for nearly an entire day. Of course, Elena was probably tattling to him right now. The very thought made me want to break something. "Will you be okay, Jeremy?"

"I will. I promise." I reached out and grasped my hand quickly, squeezing my fingers. The warmth from the fever was nearly gone.

"Goodbye." I said, turning to leave. Before I could chicken out I doubled back at vampire speed and kissed his head.

Then I ran out of the room and made sure to put as much distance from the hospital and myself as possible. I still had the eerie feeling that Klaus was hanging around there.

When I reached the boardinghouse and went inside the first thing I saw was Elena crying hysterically while Damon stood a few feet away, glaring at his glass of whiskey like it was the problem and not me.

When he saw me I was very suddenly pinned against the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He growled, crushing my windpipe.

"I… Damon… stop!" I gasped out. "Please stop!"

"Fine." He let me go. "What on earth is wrong with you, Haze?"

"I didn't think it was right to send him away." I pouted. With Damon I had no chance of winning an argument. "It's a violation of someone's free choice."

"Since when has that mattered to you?" Damon asked. "You've compelled people before…. Right?"

"Only to keep Stella safe." I said. "And only when I absolutely had to. It's not right to force people to do whatever you want, you know. Jeremy's old enough to do whatever he wants. If he wants to stay and fight, that's his choice."

Elena approached me slowly, like a wounded animal taking another strike at its attacker. "I don't want him to die. He can't, not after Jenna."

"He won't." I stated. It wasn't speculation or a promise, it was a fact. "I won't let him die."

She sniffed, trying her best to look dejected and hurt. Damon's head focused in on her within seconds, and I saw that softness. I had seen it in Stefan, long ago, when he used to look at Stella. "Why? Why do you care?"

"That's not really the point." Damon said. "Are we going to compel him again, after he gets better?"

"Of course we are!" exclaimed Elena.

I shook my head. "No. I want him to stay, because I care about him and because I know if you compel him again and he finds out, he'll hate you more than the last time."

I saw realization dawning in Elena's face, though she tried to deny it. "We have to make him leave."

"No!" I yelled. "You can't."

It was like that for a while: we screamed at each other, I made Elena cry at least five times, and in the end I wore her down until she agreed, then went to the hospital to visit Caroline, Caroline's Dad, and Jeremy. Damon confined me to the boardinghouse with the threat that if I left this time he would take away my bracelet so I'd be stuck there for as long as he wanted me to be stuck.

"It's the same either way, you know." I sulked, curling up on the couch with yet another book. My phone buzzed:

Tell Damon to get to the hospital, he isn't answering his phone. Caroline's dad was murdered by the same person that has been killing everyone with stakes. He had vampire blood in his system… ~Elena

I looked up to see Damon reading over my shoulder. "You going?" He was already gone by time I finished speaking, and I sighed.

It was another slow day. All I knew was that Caroline's dad decided to die, so Elena stayed with Caroline. Caroline didn't answer any of my texts, and quite frankly, I wouldn't have known what to say. Sorry your dad is going to die? Sorry that Alaric's crazy girlfriend ruined this for you? Sorry that your life sucks because you got caught in the middle? I cried thinking about it. It had killed me inside when I had seen Father's and Mother's graves for the first time. As vampires Stella and I had known we couldn't just go back and act like everything was okay, so we stayed away from home so long we forgot about it until it was too late. It reminded me of Tuck Everlasting, when the people who "kidnapped" Winnie come back to her town to find that she's dead.

Later that night I also found out that Alaric had been attacked, and Elena had to kill him because she was supernatural.

"It's all so familiar." Damon was complaining. "I've seen this before."

"Because you're really old." I teased.

"Shut up." Was his halfhearted reply. "Say, have you seen Stella anywhere? Ever since Caroline's breakdown at the hospital when her dad was admitted she just vanished."

Stella's POV

I watched carefully from the rock doorway as Bonnie and her Mom chanted. Caroline had been so spooked by the attack on her dad, plus his death, so she made me promise to watch Bonnie and her Mom. Honestly, I couldn't blame her. I just didn't understand why everything awful kept happening to her when she wasn't hurting anyone.

The coffin was glowing, and sweat beaded both witches' foreheads. "Guys?" I ventured cautiously.

There was no reply. Instead, a bright, blindingly white flooded the room. It was so pure, so much stronger than sunlight, that I fell to the floor screaming as it burned into my skin like acid. When I opened my eyes I caught the image of a tall, serene woman in white.

Then I slid into the welcoming darkness.

A/N: Not spellchecked, sorry.