Hi, guys! I know I left you with a cliffy. Sorry!

For those of you waiting for the next chapter of AMOLAD, I'm still working on it. So much happened in the mid-season finale that I want to make sure everything fits in my story. As it is, the finale might be split into two chapters.

Enjoy this chapter, please!

Chapter 10

Damon's fingers tapped against the steering wheel of the Camaro relentlessly. In reality, it had only been about ten minutes since he left the Boarding House, but it felt like hours. Knowing Elena was alone out there in the cold was enough to set him on edge.

Turning onto the service road, he thought he saw tire tracks, but quickly brushed it away. The snow was coming down so steadily now and it had begun to stick hours ago; Elena's car tracks would be buried by now. Damon's heart picked up erratically when he saw something laying in the middle of the road. Praying it was an animal, he threw his car in park before getting out and jogging over.

What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life. Elena was lying on her side, blood matted into her hair and bruises blooming across her cheek. Blood was soaking through his thin t-shirt she was wearing and her skin was pale with a blue tint to it.

"Fuck! Elena!" Damon collapsed next to her, flipping her onto her back and trying to assess her injuries. He ripped off his jacket and wrapped it around her, trying to warm her up.

He held his phone to his ear as he dialed 9-1-1, cursing when he found he didn't have service. He knew that he shouldn't move her, but he didn't have a choice. Picking her up as carefully as he could, he rushed her to the backseat of the Camaro, laying her inside gently. He turned on the heat full blast as he made a u-turn and drove as fast as he could to the hospital.

"Hold on, baby," he said, more for himself than the unconscious girl in the backseat, "We'll be there soon."

"Where is she? Have you heard anything?" Jeremy rattled off questions as he found Damon sitting with his head in his hands in the waiting room of the hospital, "I came as soon as Stefan called me. Him and Bonnie are staying with Claire for now."

Damon looked up and sighed, "She's in surgery. They wouldn't really tell me anything because I'm not family-"

"Bullshit-"

"So, they only told me that she had internal bleeding and couldn't wait any longer," the raven-haired man finished, his eyes downcast, "If I would've just been a little faster…"

Jeremy shook his head, putting his hand on Damon's shoulder, "It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything differently; it's a miracle that you found her at all. Do they know what happened?"

"I called Sheriff Forbes," he said brokenly, "I told her where I found Elena and she was going to go check it out. She thinks it was a hit and run."

"Elena Gilbert?" A doctor called as she walked out of the operating room.

Damon was instantly on his feet, dragging Jeremy with him.

"I'm her brother," Jeremy said, regarding the doctor coolly.

She nodded, flipping a paper over her chart, "My name is Dr. Fell. I've been overseeing Miss Gilbert's surgery. When she was brought in she had multiple lacerations, contusions, and abrasions. She also had hypothermia and we've been working to regulate her body temperature."

"Then why did she need surgery? That sounds pretty basic," Jeremy asked nervously.

"She had a few fractured ribs as well," Dr. Fell stated, pursing her lips, "One of them punctured her lung and it collapsed. Blood was filling it and we had to move fast if she had any hope of coming out of this alive."

Damon's heart sank, "Is she going to be okay?"

"As of right now, yes. She's on track to making a full recovery as long as everything goes to plan-"

"Can we see her?" Jeremy interrupted her, his own hands shaking.

Dr. Fell nodded, "Of course, just don't be too loud. She needs all the rest she can get."

Jeremy and Damon followed the doctor to her room, stopping outside of it as they thanked her for what she'd done.

"Did you call your parents?" Damon asked quietly as they slipped into the room.

The younger man shook his head, "They left for Richmond this morning. I figured that she'd be okay and I didn't want them to get into an accident on their way home. My dad's heart can only take so much with the new pacemaker they put in."

Damon nodded and mumbled, "Understandable."

They both stared at the young woman occupying the hospital bed. She was hooked up to too many machines to count and her breathing looked shallow and painful. The dark marks on her olive skin had only intensified since Damon last seen her and the thought of someone doing this to such a delicate creature made his veins pulse with anger.

"She looks awful," Jeremy whispered, staring in shock at Elena.

"She was just hit by a car, you idiot," Damon hissed back, smacking the youngest Gilbert upside the head, "What did you expect? A Victoria's Secret model?"

Jeremy pursed his lips, "Shut up."

"Could you two please not argue? I'm trying to sleep here," Elena's croaky voice came from the bed, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Forgetting the other man in the room, Damon rushed to her side and took her hand that wasn't covered in wires. He stared into her eyes and sighed in relief, "I thought I lost you."

She laughed before flinching at the pain in her throat, "It'd take a lot more than a car to get rid of me."

"Do you remember anything about the car?" Jeremy asked hesitantly, "Like a color or something?"

Her brow furrowed as she thought about it, "I thought it was Damon at first. But the driver was going too fast. I tried to tell him to stop…and that's the last thing I remember. I was just really cold and really disoriented."

"That was probably the hypothermia," Damon supplied, squeezing her hand lightly, "You're never allowed out of the house without proper weather clothes again."

She smiled weakly, squeezing his hand back, "Where's Claire? I really don't want her coming to the hospital."

"Stefan and Bonnie are staying with her."

Elena nodded, "What about…Nik?"

The raven-haired man shrugged, "I haven't seen him since he left after you did. I tried calling, but it went right over to voicemail. And I didn't think you wanted me calling Esther or Mikael-"

"God no," she sighed, "I'm sure he's fine."

"Maybe you should try to get some more sleep," Damon suggested softly, seeing the toll that talking was taking on her, "You're supposed to be healing, okay, kitten?"

She smiled sleepily, "Sorry, guys. I just feel like I was hit by a car."

"Hardy-har, Miss Funny-Pants," he rolled his eyes, looking at Jeremy, "Go to sleep and we'll talk more when you wake up."

Not even a second later her eyes closed and her breathing seemed to even out. Damon sighed and kissed the back of her hand softly before letting it go. He looked up at Jeremy, "You should probably get home to Bonnie. I'm sure her and Stef want an update on Elena."

"Are you going to stay here?"

"I figured I would," Damon shrugged, "That way if Nik shows up I can try to keep him away from her. I don't think stress would be a good idea while she tries to heal."

Jeremy smiled, "Just kick his ass if you have to."

"Oh, I plan on it."

"Hey, man, what's up?" Stefan asked as he opened the door to the Boarding House.

Kol smiled, "I was actually wondering if Elena was home. Nik told me she wanted to talk to me earlier and I know it's late-"

"You haven't heard?" Stefan asked quietly before glancing at Bonnie and Claire behind him and slipping out the door, closing it behind him. He took a deep breath, "There was an accident earlier."

"What?" Kol was instantly alarmed, "What happened?"

"She was waiting on the service road, I guess she had some car trouble. Her phone wasn't getting any service so she walked towards town and told Damon to come and get her," Stefan shook his head sadly, "But when he got there, she was laying in the middle of the road. Someone hit her and just left her there."

Kol's mind couldn't cope with the guilt. She had been coming to see him and ended up hurt in the process. He could hear a whooshing sound filling his ears as he focused on not having a panic attack.

"Kol? Are you okay?" Stefan asked worriedly, watching his friend have some sort of inner dilemma.

"I need to get to the hospital," he heard himself mutter before he spun from the house and practically hurtled down the driveway. Throwing his car in drive, he drove as quickly as the speed limits would allow as his mind went rampant.

He hadn't been there for Elena when she was pregnant with Claire. He hadn't been there every time she was scared or upset. He hadn't been there for her for six years. He couldn't fail her again, he just couldn't.

The tires of his car screeched loudly as he came to a halt in the parking lot. Rushing from the car, he hurried inside, walking swiftly to the nurse station.

"Elena Gilbert? I-I'm here to see Elena Gilbert," he panted, his heart beating erratically.

The nurse looked up at him, slightly bewildered before she checked over her charts, "She's in room 213, third floor."

He muttered his thanks and tore off towards the elevators, his feet tapping impatiently as he waited. Finally, he decided to take the stairs, taking two at a time until he reached the third floor.

Kol had never been this scared in his entire life. Knowing that the woman he loved was hurt was the worst thing he had ever experienced. When Elena was gone, it was easy to pretend that she was happy somewhere. That she was getting everything she ever wanted.

But since she had returned and he learned the truth about Claire, it was completely different.

Coming up on the room, he peered inside slowly, his eyes resting on Damon sitting in the corner, right next to her. He knocked gingerly, causing the raven-haired man's head to snap up. It would've been comical if the woman that held his heart wasn't currently lying lifeless in a hospital bed.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, trying to keep the ice out of his voice.

"Stefan told me," he said softly, walking slowly into the room with his eyes on Elena, "I…I had to know that she was okay."

Damon nodded, "The Doc sad that she'd make a full recovery. She went into surgery as soon as I got her here; one of her ribs punctured her lung."

"Is that the worst of it?" Kol asked, dreading the answer.

"For the most part."

The younger man swallowed harshly, "Stefan said that she was hit by a car. Do…Do the police have any leads?"

"Sheriff Forbes stopped by after Jeremy left. She said that because of the snow, it ruined any evidence they would've had," Damon growled slightly, "The bastard that did this better consider himself lucky. If I knew who it was, I would tear them limb from limb."

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~Grace