Happy Valentines Day! Double update again as my thank you to all you amazing readers enjoying my story. These two are much more emotional than canon DE based on all they have faced in their lives but they are getting stronger, leaning on each other. Happy reading!
Damon lay in the ambulance feeling Elena's head resting on his shoulder from her crouched position on the floor. The paramedic got him an I.V. going, cleaned and dressed the wound, lifting him up, painfully to clean the larger exit wound too before he was laid back down.
He saw the blood all over Belle's baby blanket and the fear in Elena's eyes as she had screamed for him and crawled to where he was lying. Tyler had been pointing Damon's gun at him and he could have gotten a much more dangerous wound when Enzo and Stefan had raced in and shot the him. The bullets had been flying and he had been extremely lucky no ones injuries were worse.
This was exactly what he had been afraid of and begged Mason to tell him where the diamonds were. But maybe if he knew where they were before and handed them over...oh God he didn't even want to think about it. Maybe Tyler would have taken them and killed them both and run. He had no fucking idea. Damon remembered what Mason had said about people being loose ends.
He knew already with everything, that he did not feel they were safe enough at his house anymore. This had gotten too big, too dangerous for everyone involved. He needed to keep Elena's little family away from anyone knowing where they could be. Anyone except the few guarding her, Jenna and the girls.
Damon tilted his head up, pressing a kiss to Elena's forehead as she lay beside him. She wasn't in the way from anything the paramedics had been doing and so they allowed her to stay knelt on the floor by his stretcher. He offered her a weak smile. Her face looked so pale, the bags under her eyes darkening from likely the lack of sleep and now the fear of losing him.
He kissed her again and she smiled back hesitantly. She had been terrified in that monsters arms. He had held a fucking needle of heroine to her neck! Damon had frozen, feeling his blood in his veins like ice the moment he realized the man had drugs that damn needle.
Flashes of Rose strung out and fighting her addiction after losing her daughter flooded his mind in that moment. That woman had strength he had never imagined and he had convinced her to live and fight even when she had felt so devastated and alone. He had not missed a day of seeing her since Hannah died, just to make sure she knew he was there for her. She had to know she mattered to someone. It had been her and Hannah against the world she had said and when she lost her little girl he knew Rose would have felt more alone than ever before.
Shutting his eyes tight he pushed the scary images away, not even wanting to imagine that hell that it could have been for Elena, if Tyler had injected her. Pulling his eyes open, feeling the heaviness of sleep try to claim him, he saw her cuddled up to him, her hand in his, her wide brown eyes full of worry since he had been shot. She had no idea how much worse it could have been if the cavalry had been there even a few seconds later.
Damon then had been at a total loss in how to save her. He had tossed his gun and phone and stood far too far away. All he had done was try to stall, knowing he had no diamonds to offer. Mason had hidden them all along in the lining of the false bottom of her kids diaper bag. Damon almost laughed at how they had carried that bag all over the last 24 hours and no one knew a thing.
Elena was quiet now and he could see her eyes closed, her head resting against his. Was it over? If Mason rolled on all the contacts he had in the business...was that and the diamonds all they needed to convict the bastards? They all just needed to lay low for awhile and wait to see what Elijah did with all the new intel.
The sirens were silent as soon as they pulled into the ambulance bay and Damon's stretcher was wheeled out quickly. Enzo found him and Elena in the trauma room and gave him his gun and his phone back. The phone was cracked from him tossing it on the cement floor but it still worked. They waited to be seen by the emergency doctor on call. Enzo told him he had already called Ric and explained what happened and that they should meet them there.
Damon saw Elena nodding rapidly to that and shift uncomfortably in her chair beside him, adjusting her bra. "Elena, hey." He waited till she was focused on him. "You need to nurse soon right? We need to keep the kids with us or at least Belle for sure overnight right?"
"Yes Damon. It's very much time to feed her. Who knows if she is screaming in her car seat at being woken up again from her nap without me there."
He hoped they would get here soon then and turned to Enzo again. They arranged to tell Ric to take Gracie and Jenna to Damon's family's cabin. It was secluded and well off the main roads, with only one long road in or out. It was a good size and had plenty of privacy and enough bedrooms for his guests. He did not feel comfortable in a safe house the police had cleared. No fucking way. There was still a damn mole in the department working against them and so Damon trusted only the select few he had known the longest.
Enzo looked alert and refreshed and Damon was so glad for that. He hoped he himself might actually get a few hours of sleep tonight. Enzo promised him he was fine and they were in this together till those damn drug lords were caught. Damon smiled at his partner and Enzo nodded to him in his typical manly way before his friend was out the door to wait for Ric to drop Belle off. They told him they should be there in 5 or 10 minutes, depending on traffic.
The doctor came in a moment later and examined him, checking the dressing and even checking out the cut on his head. He was an older man with graying hair and large glasses, his white coat swished between his legs as he walked. The doctor said he would need surgery to clean out the wounds and debride it to heal properly. He would need antibiotics too, to combat any risk on infection. Damon would be free to leave shortly after he woke up but was welcome to stay just for the night.
Damon looked back at Elena watching her face as the doctor explained what the plan was. She looked worried. He cleared his throat, reaching for her hand to lace their fingers together. "Elena, I'll be fine I promise you. I'll be back holding you before you know it." She was nodding slowly, biting her bottom lip. She was scared there was no doubt there. He wished he knew what else he could do to reassure her.
"Do you want us to stay the night?" Damon asked her. "We can leave right after but I am fine staying here if you want Elena. Gracie is safe with Ric and Jenna for the night." He looked back at the doc and the older man nodded to him saying he could stay if he wanted.
Elena squeezed his hand and looked up at him with teary eyes. "Yes, I am good with us staying tonight. Belle really needs to sleep and not be moved around any more tonight."
Damon nodded and smiled at the doctor saying that they would stay. The doctor told them Damon would be admitted and wheeled up his room and then to surgery shortly. Elena could wait in his room till he was moved into recovery. The surgery was very routine and should not take more than an hour.
The doctors here were not strangers to the cops working cases and coming in with various injuries he knew. There was rarely much they could do to talk them out of anything if they needed to leave sooner than medically advised but after everything they had already been through Damon was glad to stay put for a night. He was exhausted and Elena looked like she could fall asleep any minute too. They would head to the cabin first thing tomorrow.
Loud crying was echoing from the hallway and Damon watched Elena sit up fast, clutching her chest. There was slightly damp circles by her breasts and she grabbed a thin blanket from her bag and held it over her chest.
"That's Belle and she sounds pissed," Elena told him. "Although any baby crying will cause my milk to be let down." She stood up, and stroked her hand down his face tenderly. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to find a quiet room to nurse."
Before he said anything she put a finger to his lips. "Don't worry Damon. I'll take Enzo with me."
He let out a deep breath of relief. She did understand the danger of everything going on and he was about to insist she make sure she had protection anywhere they went. Elena bent still closer to his head and captured his lips in hungry kiss. He pulled her closer, a moan slipping from his lips as she tugged on his dark locks.
She pulled back and Damon did not want to stop kissing her and leaned forward more from the bed. His hand with the I.V. tubes went up, his fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her lips back to his. "Mmm, don't stop..." he groaned.
Elena opened more to him, her need for his kisses just as strong before pulling back again, her brown eyes deeply focused on him. "Just in case you get taken up to surgery while I'm looking after Belle. There is more when you wake up Salvatore. Just come back to me, please."
Damon nodded, pulling her back to his lips one last time. He mumbled between kisses, already not wanting to leave her. "I'll always come back to you, baby." He nodded to her still teary expression. "I promise Elena. I'm yours. All yours."
That seemed to help and he watched the corners of her lips curl up in a shaky smile. "I'm yours too Damon. I need you so much."
Damon smiled softly at her, stroking his hand through her hair. It felt like they just told the other 'I love you' in a way. "I need you too Elena. So much." She sniffled and smiled at him before pulling back and wiping the tears from her eyes.
The crying had gotten louder as seconds later Enzo rushed back into the room and brought the car seat right to Elena's feet. She unbuckled the angry baby, the still newborn sounding cry loud in their ears. Picking her up and holding her to her face, Elena cooed and rocked her, talking happily as she grabbed up the diaper bag.
Damon filled Enzo in on what the doc had told him and arranged for them to meet him up in the room he would be given or in recovery, depending on when Elena was done nursing.
"Take care of her for me," Damon said firmly, cringing more from the wound that seems to hurt more each time he breathed. He realized it hadn't hurt nearly as much when they were kissing.
"I will not leave her side Damon. You have my word." Enzo assured him and Damon smiled, nearly crying out while trying to move to lay more on his side. "I'll confirm what room you are moved to when we get back."
In a few seconds they were gone and the room was quiet. Damon lay back in the pillows and tried to barely move his injured shoulder to get comfortable enough to rest a bit. Enzo had been told to watch him, Elena and little Belle and Ric was already moving Jenna and Gracie to the cabin. He had gotten a text from Elijah saying he was sending extra guys over to the hospital to guard the floor they were on too. They were not taking any chances with him and Elena's protection, especially after finding the diamonds.
Damon pulled himself up and leaned over to grasp his gun in his hand, holding it loosely under the blanket. He had just closed his eyes when an orderly and a nurse came in to check his vitals and then said they were moving him up to the obstetrics ward. His partner had arranged for a few of the nurses to help watch the baby at night so him and Elena could get some sleep. So this way Damon's room needed to be right in that ward.
He was impressed at Enzo's quick thinking to keep them all protected at once and leaned back as the orderly wheeled him out of the trauma room. He was taken up in an elevator and Damon kept his good hand on his gun the whole way, his eyes watching, scanning the people around them for any possible threats. He saw a couple more officers follow after him, watching and protecting him just as Elijah said.
Down the hall and around the corner he could already hear the soft sounds of babies crying before they closed his door. The room was plunged into silence and he found himself awake and eager for Elena to return. Maybe he could see her yet before his surgery.
His mind drifted to Rose, knowing she was in this hospital too. He had brought her in earlier the previous evening before he and Enzo had answered Elena's sisters 911 call. Rose had been unconscious when he found her, laying in her bathtub, barely breathing at all and the doctors had pumped her stomach of the pills she took. He was told he saved her life. It had been a close call. If she had been found any later she might not be alive. There was nothing more physically wrong with her but she still had not woken up. It would be up to her if she wanted to fight and live.
Damon swung his legs over the side of the bed and tested their strength. He had been shot in the soft tissue part of his shoulder so he should be okay moving around. He was on floor 3 and knew she had been here too in a room in the back of the surgical ward. The area of the hospital she should have been in was overflowing last night and so they gave her whatever bed they could.
He opened the door and cringed at the cooler air of the hallway rushing between his legs and over his back from the paper thin hospital gown. He saw a robe hanging in the little closet and moved to slip it on, tucking his gun in the pocket. Pulling the I.V. pole along with him he informed one of the nurses on the ward that he was due for surgery soon and was just stepping out of his room for a few minutes.
Damon nodded to the two officers standing nearby and they nodded back, following behind him. Her room was just down the hall, past the maternity area and Damon walked slowly, making sure to keep his shoulder as still as possible. He sent a quick text to Enzo explaining where he was and he would be right back to his room after seeing how Rose was doing. Slipping the phone in the other pocket, he held his gun ready, still concealed in the pocket too as he turned the last corner to her room.
Enzo's heart had gone out to him in all that he had been through with that sweet woman and her little girl. He knew better too than to try to talk Damon out of going to see her, protection or not. Peeking in the door he saw the curtain drawn, so he could not see if she was awake or not. He opened the door and stepped in, closing it carefully behind him till he heard the click.
Making his way around the curtain he saw her laying there so still. Rose looked strangely peaceful, her chest rising and falling with the ventilator breathing for her. Damon could hear the tell tale bleep of the heart monitor too. She needed to wake up and breathe on her own. He was there for her and he hoped she knew that. He would continue to be there as long as it took for her to be strong again.
Damon sat down beside her and pulled her hand up to hold it in his. He knelt down closer to her face, pressing a kiss to her head and felt tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Rose. I'm sorry I didn't see this coming. I thought you were past wanting to take your own life. You were talking about helping at a shelter or animal hospital to do something more than stay home and become more depressed about Hannah. You knew she wouldn't want you to die too. She was always such a bright and happy girl and she would want you to be happy again."
He looked over her, all tucked in the blankets, her arms laying at her sides as he rubbed his thumb over her hand, careful to avoid the I.V. tubing. Damon saw that her neck was bare and he remembered her clutching so tight to the necklace he had given her when she was facing her withdrawal.
Damon had been holding her as she sweat, cried and trembled in his arms from the heroine withdrawal just days after the drug bust and Hannah's death. He had held out the necklace that his own sister had clung to when she was facing her own drug addiction and coming clean. It was a beautiful heart shaped pendant with wide spread angel wings along both sides of the heart. And the inscription on the back was 'You will fly again, soaring to new heights.'
Rose had loved it and Katherine had been more than willing to give it to her to help her through her own battle. It had been a joint gift from Stefan and Damon. Stefan paid his half and Damon had picked it out and given the pendant to their sister in her own darkest hour. He had been there for her just like he had been for Rose and did not let them go through withdrawal alone.
But it seemed strange that she was not wearing it now and Damon stood up, rummaging though the drawers of her bedside table. He paused after moving a book aside and saw it laying there, glinting up at the light shining from shelf behind the bed. He pulled it out by the chain and held it in his palm, cradling the small heart in his hand.
Damon unclasped the chain and moved to slip it back around her neck, gently laying the heart down at the hollow of her throat. He bent his head, cringing again at any movement hurting his shoulder, kissed her hand and ran his fingers through her soft hair. "Wake up soon Rose. You are not alone. You have so much more you can become. Just don't give up."
He turned and bit his lip to not cry and made his way back out of the room. It had been a hell of a day, and on top of being shot and getting knocked out, he had such a horrible dream of Belle being taken by the drug dealers in exchange for the diamonds. He had not even mentioned that to Elena at all yet when he knew she saw how very shaken up he had been earlier.
Damon got back to his room just as the surgical resident arrived to prep him and take him in. Elena was not back yet and Damon was watching and waiting, hoping to see her. The doctors assured him he would be back in no time and he nodded, laying back letting them wheel him back out the door.
He woke up, groggy and slightly dizzy not sure how much time had passed. The room looked darker, as his eyes slowly opened, blinking at his surroundings. Damon could feel a warm hand in his, each finger laced with his. She was here. He forced his eyes open, fighting the sleepiness to see her.
"Hey sleepyhead," her soft beautiful voice was like music in his ears. Slowly his vision cleared and he took in her relieved expression, her eyes wide and locked to his.
"Elena," he groaned and felt her one hand in his hair, stroking the locks back from his forehead. "I missed you," he breathed out.
She smiled and he melted inside at the sight. "I missed you too." Bending down he moaned at the taste of her kiss as she molded her lips to his. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, wishing he had the strength to pull her with him onto the bed. God, he could not get enough.
Elena lifted her head, gazing in his eyes. "The doctors said you did great Damon. No complications and everything should heal nicely."
He smiled proudly at her and so happy to see the relief on her face. His vitals were checked and his I.V. he was told was giving him antibiotics and pain meds. He was moved back to his room and told a nurse would help him to the bathroom shortly if he needed help. Damon nodded and Elena held his hand as he was wheeled back. Enzo followed them too from where he met them just outside the door to the recovery room.
Damon passed a group of nurses oohing over a bundle in one of their arms and walking closer he saw it was Belle. Elena smiled and gave her baby a little wave and a nurse lifted up Belle's hand to pretend wave back at her mom.
"They love her," Elena commented, still not leaving his side as they went through the door to his room. "It was a great idea to have the nurses watch Belle so we can rest." Damon glanced at Enzo who smiled at him staying just outside the door, keeping watch of the baby at the nurses station as well as Damon's room just a few steps away. He saw the other officers standing at attention by the nurses desk and by the door to the elevator as well. They were well protected.
He smiled weakly at his partner and Enzo leaned down, squeezing his good shoulder. "Night, buddy. Get some rest. We are good out here." Enzo assured him.
"Thanks Enz, for everything," Damon sat up more in the bed and patted him on the shoulder. "If I hadn't called you to come to the station..."
Enzo shook his head. "No, its over Damon. Don't go there. Promise me you will at least try to rest tonight?" He glanced up at Elena who nodded and looked like that sounded like a great idea.
Damon offered him a weak half smile and nodded. He would try, despite his mind racing about so many things. The orderly pushed him back through the doorway, closing it behind them, sealing them off from the outside noise in the dimly lit room.
A nurse came in almost right away asking how he was feeling and he was helped up, walking shakily holding her hand as she brought Damon to the bathroom. The lady told him to pull the help cord if he needed any assistance and Damon thanked her telling her he would be fine.
Opening the door after, Damon saw Elena sitting in the chair beside the bed silently, watching him make his way toward her, holding the pole for his I.V. tight to steady himself he smiled softly at her. She was wearing doctors scrubs, dark navy top and pants. His head had been so out of it a few minutes ago he had not even noticed how she had changed from before his surgery. Her hair was up in a loose bun, with tendrils falling down by her face. She looked exhausted and yet still so beautiful.
"Nice scrubs," he said softly, with a teasing raise of one brow. Her top had been wet from the milk before so he was happy she found a change of clothes.
Elena smiled, her eyes glassy. "Nice dress," she teased right back, eying his hospital gown.
Damon smiled back at her teasing tone but paused and saw her looking like she was seconds away from crying. They were alone now in the dark room and the closer he got back to the bed the more he could see Elena nearly breaking down from everything. Taking in her sad or scared expression, he reached out for her. He wasn't at all sure what she was feeling. All he knew was he wanted to fix everything.
He walked slowly up to the chair and before he knelt down at her level she was already up, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer, her head buried against his neck. Her weight on him was too much for his weak body and he sunk down to the bed behind them, sitting on the edge, but still pulling her in closer. Elena looked curiously at him and he nodded before she voiced anything she was thinking and moved to straddle his lap. Not a word was spoken, as she lay in his arms, her whole body pressed flush to his.
Damon sighed, his good hand running through her hair, cradling her head against his shoulder. They avoided the side of his body that had the sling now on it, supporting his weak shoulder. Her head rested on him, her one hand tracing over the dips and grooves of his muscles beneath the far from manly hospital gown.
Tilting his head down, he studied her. He was sure she had sighed as well, her lips pursed in a thin line as he felt her chest rise and fall in beat with his. She looked a million miles away right then and yet so soothed to be in his arms. He wasn't sure if he should say anything...ask her what she was thinking or just stay quiet.
Despite just being shot, his body was totally on board with this very intimate position they were in and he felt himself getting more aroused by the minute. He could hardly feel any pain from the wound as she lay his lap. Elena shifted her hips just slightly, unintentionally rubbing herself against his very obvious hardness. He could feel her body shaking as she had again buried her head in the crook of his neck.
"Baby, are you crying?" Damon nudged her gently.
Elena lifted her head and he saw tears were running silently down her cheeks. Damon cursed his body for even thinking of anything sexual after what they had just lived through. He didn't say anything else and just opened his arms more to her, cringing at moving the arm near his wound at all.
Her head sunk down against his neck again and he could feel the tears slipping down his skin to be soaked up by the thin gown. He rocked her like that, for a few minutes in the silent room before he could not take it any more and he needed to know what else he could do.
Lifting her head with his hands, his eyes focused on hers. "Elena, baby. Please look at me," he whispered. He felt so helpless, feeling her silent sobs wrack her body. "Please Elena. What can I do? Anything?"
He waited, watched her tears slip to her lips and sneak her tongue out to catch the drops. Slowly her brown eyes came up and locked to his and she sniffled shaking her head back and forth. He moved in closer and kissed the tears away, one by one. His lips tasting the saltiness of them, his own tongue darting out to lick her skin.
Elena's gaze was magnetic, pulling him in to get lost in her glassy chocolate eyes. "I just need you, Damon. I need you to be okay. I have never needed anyone like this. Watching you fall, hearing that bullet and then seeing your blood..."
Damon smiled softly at her. "I am okay. I am better than okay Elena. I promise you." He knew they had lots more they could talk about but he could hardly keep his eyes open and he saw hers falling closed too.
"Just hold me Damon. Please don't let me go," Elena whispered. She was still nestled in, straddling his lap and he decided to turn and lay back, pulling her in to snuggle in on his chest.
Elena's legs were still tangled with his and he shifted things around to tuck them both in and pull the blanket up more. Her hand was tucked in by her chin, her breaths growing shallow. Her head was resting in the crook of his good arm and he fought the sharp stabs of pain when he stroked her hair back from her face with the hand that was supposed to stay still at his side.
Elena nuzzled in, closing her eyes, her tears subsiding. Damon let out a deep breath. Seeing her relax was all he wanted in the world right now. He knew Belle could be hungry soon again and Enzo was watching the precious baby as the nurses took turns holding her.
Enzo and the other officers were watching them too to make sure no one tried to come in his room. Damon was determined to take this tiny window of peace and quiet and have Elena sleep in his arms. She looked truly at ease after so much had gone on and he did not dare want to mess with that.
Shifting around just slightly, he nuzzled his head against hers, digging his nose into her hair. He breathed her in, allowing the sensations to relax him. He needed to trust Enzo to stay alert and watch after all three of them. Ric would be at the cabin by now too, getting them settled in and as soon as it was morning, they would be on the way there too.
Damon felt his eyes fighting to stay open. He needed to just take this and trust it. They would be safe and wake up in a few hours she would have to be up to feed Belle. They needed to take this time and sleep. He glanced over to the door seeing movement as someone rushed by. His senses were still on alert when his body was ready to crash. The busyness of the hospital was mostly muffled by the door with the exception of the intercom every so often.
He closed his eyes, seeing hers closed already, her face relaxed in sleep. Damon felt things fading as he tried not to move at all and disturb her. He could feel her breaths against his face and the scent of her was all around him. It wrapped him in such a soothing feeling, a kind of peace he had never felt before. In minutes he was asleep.
Please review...I would love to know what you thought of the chapter. Next one has Elena taking precious care of Damon as he recovers and they continue to get closer.