Chapter 10

What they found was that no one was in the room except Larry's body. The window still stood open and they heard a car drive away. At the window they looked out, hoping to see the vehicle, but trees blocked the view. They didn't know if Aaron and Elena were in that car or not, but at the moment neither of them was in shape to pursue it at vampire speed.

"What do you want to do?" Damon asked the Original. He thought Elijah looked a little pale, either from blood loss or pain or both.

"Let us go down to the lab and see if you can remove the bullet from my shoulder. The healing is very slow and therefore very painful," Elijah said, flipping on the light switch. His vampire body was doing its best to pull the bone pieces back together to form the shoulder joint, but it was hampered by the bullet and by the vervain on the bullet. As for the bullet in his abdomen, there was nothing he planned to do about it. Locating it would be too difficult since it could be loose in his belly or stuck somewhere in his intestines. In time, his body would push it out as a "foreign body." He was mainly bothered by the vervain that was on the projectile, so that he had quite a belly ache.

"I hate to give up the chase," Damon muttered.

"I do as well," Elijah agreed as they made their way down the hall and the stairs. "This is only a delay. We repair the damage and reassess the situation."

Once down in the basement, Damon went to the outside door. He closed the bulkhead doors and then the regular door. No sense in showing the law where to enter, should they arrive. Back in the lab again, Damon quickly helped Elijah take off the bloodied suit coat, the soiled tie and the once-white shirt that was stuck to his skin by congealed blood. The Original then held his injured arm against his body with the other arm. A shudder ran though him as he looked at the bloody clothes.

"Lie down on the operating table. It's more comfortable," Damon said, indicating the table next to the autopsy one. The former could be lowered and was easier for Elijah to get onto.

Elijah sat on the padded table and then lay down. On the one hand, it felt good not to be standing up. On the other, he felt vulnerable, his strength impaired and half his body naked. He had to trust Damon to help him and also trust that Aaron would not suddenly appear, gun in hand.

Damon raised the table back up to a convenient height. Besides noting that Elijah had well-developed chest and arm muscles, Damon eyed the wounded shoulder that was swollen and discolored. The bullet hole was obvious. He had no idea where the bullet was, but assumed it was in the midst of the bone pieces. There was no exit wound. "I'll have to poke around and see if I can feel it," he told Elijah.

"I probed around in your back. You may probe around in my shoulder." He still had a grip on his right arm, trying to hold it still. He gritted his teeth as Damon stuck a finger into the hole in his skin and prodded about. Although he gasped and grunted at the pain, he didn't cry out.

Damon could feel the edges of broken bone and displaced cartilage. He had to force his finger into the damage and he knew he was hurting the Original as much as when the man had poked around in his back, maybe even more.

"Alright. I feel it," he finally said. "I'll use those forceps you used on me to get it out." He picked up the instrument Elijah had previously use and guided it into the wound. Ignoring the grinding sound of the man's teeth, he forced the forceps open and got the tips onto the end of the bullet. He had to twist it to work the deformed bullet out of the joint and noted that Elijah squeezed his eyes shut, grimaced and gasped. Unlike Dr. Maxwell, Damon did not get pleasure from tormenting his patient. There had been times in the past when he might have enjoyed tormenting Klaus a bit, however.

"It's out. Your body can repair the damage now. Of course, it will hurt like hell during the process," he said with a smirk.

Elijah opened his eyes and gave his helper a look. "I would prefer to believe that you did not enjoy doing that."

"Not really. You're an okay guy, for a Mikaelson."

Elijah closed his eyes again and made no comment about the dubious compliment. He needed to lie there for a few minutes to get past the worst of the healing pain as the bone fragments moved into alignment. He also was aware that they needed to leave this place before they were discovered.

Damon stepped back and went to the kitchen area. He knew there was a small bathroom there and he wanted to wash both his bloody hands and his blood-streaked face. He looked into the mirror over the sink. His image was a bit pale and tired. Pain and blood loss did that to a person, even a vampire. The wound on the side of his head had healed. The bullet had gone under his scalp, but had not penetrated his skull, and then had made an exit wound. Damon's healing powers let both wounds heal and he had lost no hair. Using a dampened cloth towel, he scrubbed the drying blood from his skin.

He then lifted his sticky shirt and eyed the wound in his right chest. It had closed. Again, his healing ability would take care of expanding his collapsed lung. The bullet was still somewhere in his chest. He suspected that it was resting down on his diaphragm in the lower part of his chest cavity, because there was a soreness there probably caused by whatever vervain remained on the bullet. He was sure it would continue to cause pain just because of the movement of breathing. Eventually, the thing would actually work its way out through muscle and skin.

While he was there, he tried to use the toilet, knowing his bladder was getting somewhat full. The tingling nerve sensation was annoying and vaguely sexual, but more importantly, he was unable to urinate. He knew it had to be the damage to the nerves. His back needed more time to heal. He also eyed his privates to see if there was any wound or mark. Everything looked normal, except for the smears of blood from where his various wounds had bled down into his jeans.

He returned to find Elijah still lying on the table.

"How are you doing?"

"Better," Elijah said with a grimace. "Another couple of minutes, if you do not mind."

"We have time. I think. I don't know where to look for Aaron now," Damon said and he reached for his phone. "Damn, I gave Bonnie my phone. You have yours?"

"Coat pocket," Elijah said.

Damon picked up the bloodied coat made of fine material and fished in the pockets until he found the cell phone. He called his own phone.

"Elijah?" Bonnie answered. "What's going on?"

"It's me," Damon said. "I'm using Elijah's phone. Did you reach Stefan?"

"Yes and I told him what was going on. As much as I knew. What's going on now? You've been quite a while."

"Elijah and I are regrouping. I got the bullet out of his shoulder. Aaron has eluded us again and taken Elena who-knows-where. We think he's in a car we heard drive away out front. We don't know if that's another helper of his or someone he car-jacked."

"Hold on, Damon, there's a call coming in from Stefan."

In a minute, Bonnie came back to Damon. "Stefan was driving here and a convertible passed him going the other way. He made out two men, but couldn't really see them. Too dark. However, the backwash from the car carried the scent of Aaron and Elena, so Stefan turned around and is following them. I told him Aaron has an automatic weapon."

"Good! Now we know they aren't here at the college. As soon as we can, we'll head back to Mystic Falls. Great, Bonnie!"

Elijah had listened to the conversation and he decided to sit up. "We need to get going. I believe …"

To Damon's surprise, Elijah slumped, falling toward him. He reached out and caught him and eased him down to the floor. "Sat up too fast, buddy," he told the Original who blinked and took a couple of deep breaths.

Lying flat, Elijah recovered his senses quickly. "Damn! I should have known better," he muttered, embarrassed. "I thought I had my strength back."

"I think both of us could use a few swallows of good, fresh blood," Damon said.

"I don't suppose Miss Bennett would oblige us." With more care, the Original sat up. He didn't use his right arm and when he was upright, he held onto the arm again to reduce the healing pain.

"I'm sure she would not," Damon agreed. "But there must be a student or two around here somewhere. Like in that dorm room. The girl did mentally invite us in."

Elijah reached his left hand up and Damon took it, helping him to stand. Once on his feet, Elijah pressed the good hand against his abdomen. "My intestines are not happy about this situation. I think I will use the loo before we leave."

"It's right there off the kitchen," Damon pointed out. "You need help?"

"For this? I certainly hope not. I believe I can wipe my own derriere," Elijah said with a snort and slowly made his way toward the small kitchen.

"I meant if you still felt unsteady," Damon said with a touch of amusement. He was worried about the law descending on the house. However, he was also a little concerned about Stefan going after Aaron and his thoughts turned in that direction. The Whitmore vampire was proving to be tricky and dangerous. With nothing else to do, Damon picked up Elijah's soiled coat, tie and shirt and laid them on the padded table. Then he stood looking around at the room that brought back hated and fearful memories. He wanted to leave.

It was a few minutes before Elijah emerged from the bathroom. "The other bullet is no longer in my body." Somehow he had managed to pull up his pants and buckle his belt with one good hand and a weak other one.

"Passed it, did you?" Damon asked, somewhat surprised that Elijah would even mention it. He could be so proper. Now he watched the Original walk to the table and study the two garments that Damon had laid there. It was obvious that Elijah did not want to wear either one.

"Choose one. They are both grungy. Or you can always just go bare-chested, you know." He was sure Elijah would reject that idea. He was not the type to go shirtless while out and about. He had a good body and it seemed unlikely that he was afraid to show it, but he was very old-fashioned. Surely he undressed when in bed with a lady.

"I shall wear the coat," the Original said. He managed to put it on, despite its disgusting condition and despite his still-sore shoulder. He then took the time to remove the silver cufflinks from the shirt sleeves and then threw the shirt and tie into a waste bin. "My phone, please."

Damon handed him the phone. "Let's get out of here. The place gives me the creeps." He and Elijah left through the cell area and went up the stairs. Once outside, they closed the bulkhead doors again. At the vehicle, they found Bonnie waiting somewhat impatiently. She handed Damon back his phone. Elijah let Damon drive and soon they were on the road toward Mystic Falls. They passed a sheriff's vehicle that went by them with lights ablaze.

Once back in town, they went to the Salvatore house. The two men were eager to get washed up and into clean clothes. Bonnie ran to the downstairs powder room, desperate to empty her bladder. They found Alaric sound asleep on the sofa in the study, a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. They didn't wake him. They all tried to be quiet because they knew Mrs. Flowers was also sleeping. As for Stefan, he was not home. Nor was Caroline and they assumed the two were together, following wherever Aaron had gone. Had Aaron stopped in Mystic Falls or gone on to Charlottesville?

Damon texted his brother, asking where he was and what was happening. It was Caroline who used Stefan's phone to call back. "We were heading toward Charlottesville, but then Aaron changed his mind, I guess, 'cause he made a U-turn and is headed back toward Mystic Falls. There's some guy with him that I don't know. For a minute we thought Elena wasn't with them in the car, but then we saw part of her dress lifted by the wind, so she's there, probably on the floor of the back seat. Stefan and I think he knows we're following him. I've got no idea where he's headed."

"Be careful. He's very tricky and dangerous," Damon said in a hushed voice as he followed Elijah up to the second floor. "Elijah and I are at home until we can get cleaned up. Bonnie is with us and she's okay. Keep us updated."

"Okay," Caroline said and ended the call.

"Use that room," Damon said to Elijah and he pointed toward a door across from the one Elena often used. "It's Jeremy's, but he's in Arizona. I told Mrs. Flowers to let you use it if you wanted to. See if your bags are in there."

Elijah nodded, tried the doorknob, found it unlocked and he went inside, turning on the light switch. The room was not large. None of them were, except Damon's, but there were small bathrooms attached to all but two bedrooms. Elijah stood for a moment after he had closed the door and looked around. His garment bag was lying on the bed and his smaller bag was on the floor. There was a bed, dresser, armoire, desk with a chair and a bedside table. A small bookcase held assorted books. There was nothing to indicate that a teenaged young man had slept there.

He walked to the one window, pulled down the shade and closed the café curtains. He felt paranoid and could imagine Aaron, armed, perched on a tree limb and looking in the window. He hoped Damon had the sense to pull his drapes.

The small bathroom had the usual toilet, sink, bathtub and shower curtain for the bathtub shower. Fresh towels and washcloths hung on racks. There was a wrapped bar of bath soap, a small bottle of shampoo, a small tube of tooth paste and a toothbrush in a plastic wrapper. It was like being in a hotel room, he thought.

He put his bag on the bed and chose clean underwear, a tie and a white shirt. From the garment bag, he chose a clean suit and laid everything on the bed. Then he went into the bathroom and carefully undressed, trying not to smear blood around from his nasty clothes. Because of the abdominal wound and because he had carried a wounded Damon, there was cold, clotted blood on his trousers and underwear. His suit coat was as bad. The shoes had spatters of blood. Only his socks were normal.

He took a wonderful, hot shower, washing his hair and scrubbing his body as best he could. The injured shoulder had finally brought all the fractured pieces and torn ligaments back together so that the joint functioned properly, but it was sore and a bruise remained. The hole in his abdomen had healed, although his insides were a bit tender. When he stepped out of the tub, he dried himself and went into the bedroom where he put on the clean clothes, including a tie. He even washed the cuff links and put them in his clean shirt cuffs. A quick scrub cleaned his shoes. After combing his hair, he looked in the mirror over the dresser and approved of his appearance. He felt both physically and mentally better when clean and properly dressed.

Down the hall in the front bedroom, Damon had shed his clothes. In the bathroom, he tried again to empty his bladder, but nothing happened. That was annoying. He stepped into the shower stall. The hot water poured onto his head and blood-tinged water ran down his body and swirled around the drain. He washed his hair, being careful of the tender side where the wound had been. He scrubbed his chest with a wash cloth until the caked-on blood was gone. The bullet wound was just a red spot, and as far as he could tell, his right lung had fully expanded.

His back he scrubbed with a bath brush. The wounded area was healed, but like the other healed areas, it was sore to pressure. He knew he was lucky that he had been with Elijah, who could probe around in his back and remove the bullet. Had he been alone, he would have had to call for help and lie there on the ground until help came. If Aaron and Larry had found him alone, their wooden stake would have been used to kill him.

He was still annoyed by the nerve tingle in his legs and groin. Even his buttocks tingled. He wondered if his ability to perform sexually had changed. He hoped his organ was not permanently damaged in some way. He tried stimulating it and got a small response, which indicated to him that function was still there. But despite the hot running water, his bladder refused to release his urine. In a minute, he stepped out of the shower stall, dried off and found clean clothes in his room.

What should we do next? he wondered.

A/N That's it for this week. New chapter in about another five or six days.