Elena:
"Here we are Mr. Andrews. You can have a seat in here. When Dr. Evans finishes your wife's surgery, he'll come out here to talk to you."
"Thank you Elena. You've really taken great care of Beth."
"You're welcome. I'll see you when they bring her back to her room." As I turn to go back to my floor, I'm stunned when I see Damon and a woman talking. Suddenly, she's kissing him. My eyes widen in shock when he wraps his arms around her and kisses her back. Feeling tears begin to prick at my eyes, I grab onto the back of chair to get my balance. Covering my mouth with my hand, I practically run out of the room and escape into the stair well. Oh dear Lord, I feel like my insides have been splayed wide open. Tears begin to fall freely down my cheeks. My hands grasp the rail so tightly my knuckles are white in an attempt to keep myself upright when I feel my knees weakening.
Is she why he hasn't spoken to me in days? Needing to compose myself so I can go back to work. I go into the staff lounge to wash my face with cold water so I don't look like a complete mess when I go back onto the floor to take care of my patients.
"Are you okay, Elena?" Bonnie asks when I step out of the lounge.
"It's just my allergies acting up but thanks for asking," I tell her before walking down the hall to answer an alarming call light.
Damon:
After a few moments, my brain rights itself allowing me to push Ivy away. "I can't do this Ivy. Not anymore."
"Oh my God, Damon. I'm so sorry. I'm completely in love with my husband. I don't know what got into me? Please forgive me," she says sincerely.
"It can't happen again, okay?"
"It won't. When can I see Finn?"
"When he starts to wake up, PACU will transport him to ICU. You'll be able to see him when he gets to his room. Follow me, ICU has it's own waiting room. His nurse can come to get you when they get him settled into a room."
"Thank you for saving him. And Damon, I really am sorry about the kiss."
"It's over. Come on, I'll take you to the ICU waiting room," I tell her, gesturing for her to follow alongside me.
Elena:
It's been four long days since I saw Damon kissing the woman. We haven't talked except in relationship to a patient's request. I don't know why he's been so cold and distant with me. It's like the way he was when I first met him. I can't deny that it hurts.
"Hello Mr. Mikaelson. I'm Elena, I'll be your nurse today. You had surgery four days ago. How is your pain?"
"I hurt. Whatever they're giving is only bringing my pain level from a 9 to an 8. Is there anything else available?"
"I'll look. I need to look at your incision as well as listen to your belly, your lungs and your heart," I tell him, stepping close enough to pull his covers off and lift his gown so I can look at his dressing. I believe we're supposed to change your dressing every day. After I finish my assessment, I'll go get some supplies so I can put a fresh one on it for you."
"I need something for pain before you change my dressing," he warns.
"I'll go get you something. I'll be back shortly," I tell him, then leave the room.
After medicating him, I leave his room to gather supplies to change his dressing. I've already had to call Dr. Salvatore twice today. Once for a change of pain medication and a stool softener for Mr. Mikaelson. When I go back into his room with my supplies, I nearly drop them when I see the woman that Damon was kissing sitting in the recliner next to Mr. Mikaelson's bed.
"Ivy, this is my nurse, Elena," he tells the woman.
"Elena, this is my wife Ivy."
"It's nice to meet you Elena. Thank you for taking such good care of my husband."
"You're welcome," I utter when I'm able to speak. "I just need to change his dressing. Do you want to step out for a moment?"
"Yes, I'm going to run to the cafeteria and grab something to eat while she's doing that, Finn. I'll be back in about an hour." Leaning over, she presses a kiss to his cheek before grabbing her purse and walking to the door. Before stepping out, she turns to her husband.
"Finn, I'm having lunch with Damon. Is there anything you need from him? I could ask him about it."
I stiffen for a moment as when I hear that she's sharing a meal with Damon. Could she be the woman that Caroline told me about? Shaking it off, I get back to the task at hand.
"No, Ivy. Just hurry back okay?"
"I'll be back before you miss me," she says reassuringly then blows him a kiss before walking away.
Damon:
Walking to the nurse's desk, I see Elena, her nose in the computer as she types away. Resting my elbow on the desk, I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale sharply. She looks at me for a moment before re-engaging in her charting.
"Where is Mr. Mikaelson's chart?" I ask, my voice agitated.
"It's right there, Dr. Salvatore," she says pointing.
Grabbing the chart, I walk down the hall to his room.
"How are you feeling today, Mr. Mikaelson?" I ask then turn to see Ivy look up and smile at me before putting her nose back into her magazine.
"The new pain medicine works better than the other stuff."
"I need to check your incision," I tell him, stepping closer to the bedside. He pulls his covers down and raises his gown, exposing his belly. Carefully, I remove the dressing.
"It looks good. I think we'll leave it open to air now. I'll write an order so you can shower. I'm also going to advance your diet to soft foods. Is there anything you need?"
"No," he says, staring at me.
"My wife told me she kissed you. I wouldn't get any ideas if I were you, Dr.," he warns.
"Understood," I tell him before leaving the room.
Elena:
"This is Dr. Salvatore, I was paged." he says, sounding irate.
"This is Elena. Mr. Mikaelson has some heartburn. He'd like something for that."
"Prilosec 40 mg daily. This is the third time you've called about him today. Don't call again," he answers abruptly then hangs up on me.
Stunned, I just stare at the phone for a few seconds before hanging it up.
Finally my shift is over and I clock out for the day. When I get to my car, I unlock it and drop into the driver's seat. Grasping the steering wheel tightly with my hands, I drop my head onto it just as my tears begin to fall anew, wondering what I did to make Damon hate me.
Damon:
"Damon?" I hear Caroline calling out from behind me as I walk down the hall.
"What is it, sis?"
"I saw you with Ivy today. She was holding your hand. What going on?"
"Nothing is going on. She's married for heaven's sake."
"Yeah, I know she's married. I was working when her husband came through the ED. How's Elena?"
"I wouldn't know," I answer, raising my arm to look at my watch.
"What do you mean you don't know? Did you two have a falling out?"
"I don't know Care. I just needed some space. Things were moving too quickly. She's not my type."
"What is your type? The wham bam thank you mam's of the world?" she says to me, her voice filled with scorn.
"That's not fair. I've never told you how to live your life."
"Could she have seen you with Ivy?"
"And just how would she know about Ivy? I've never mentioned her nor any other woman for that matter," I ask, rounding on Caroline.
"Um, I may have mentioned her," she confesses.
"Fuck...," I utter, throwing my arms in the air. "When are you ever going to learn to keep your mouth shut about my love life?"
"Don't you talk to me that way, Damon Salvatore," she sneers, poking her finger into my sternum.
Grabbing her hand, I squeeze her wrist tightly, releasing it when I see her face screw up as if in pain.
"Caroline, I'm sorry," I whisper when I see her looking at me like she has no idea who I am.
She stares at me for a good long time before turning on her heels and walking away from me.
When I leave the hospital, I jump into my car and start to drive home. Glancing at my watch, it's only a little after eight. I've been nothing short of petulant with Elena. It's been several days since I've spent any alone time with her. Deciding it's time to face the music, I turn around my car to drive over to the house to talk to her face to face.
Exhaling a deep breath, I raise my hand and rap on the door. Soon, I hear her footsteps. Her mouth drops for a moment when she sees who is standing before her.
"Can I come in?" I ask.
Without saying a word, she steps aside so I can walk in. "Is Jeremy asleep?"
She nods then gestures for me to walk into the living room.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I don't know. Things have been pretty frosty between us."
"That might have something to do with the fact that ran out of here like a bat out of hell nearly a week ago. You haven't called. You've been Mr. Hyde at work and to top it off, I saw you kissing Mrs. Mikaelson in the surgical waiting room a few days ago."
"You saw that?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That kiss meant nothing. She was just grateful that I did her husband's surgery."
"That's all ha? If that's how she shows her gratitude for sewing her husband up, I'd like to know what she'd do if you actually had to shock him back to life," she says, her voice full of scorn and sarcasm.
"I gave something very important to you. Then to have treat me with such contempt. How dare you?" she sneers before turning away to reach for a Kleenex.
Taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes, she whispers, "I thought you wanted something with us."
"You knew what my reputation was before we ever went there," I remind her.
Throwing my own words right back at me, "And you asked me if I believe everything I hear."
Grabbing onto her shoulders, I get right into her face. "Now you listen to me. I don't do relationships. And I certainly don't want a ready made family. Do you understand?" I ask, my voice cold and full of malice.
Her eyes widen to the size of saucers then she rips herself out of my arms. "GET OUT," she yells as tears fill her eyes anew.
Raising my hands in surrender, I back away and walk out of the door, wincing when she slams it closed behind me.
After driving around for a couple of hours, I finally go home. I peel my clothes off and jump into the shower. As the hot water pelts against my bare skin, I sink to the shower floor, dropping my face into my hands when tears fill my eyes. My body trembles in agony as I'm completely overcome by the enormity of what I've just done.
Damon now fully understands the gravity of what he's done. We'll see how he goes about trying to earn back Elena's trust. Thank you Eva and thank you, all of you for your reviews and your support for my stories. I really appreciate that so much. Damon & Elena will be kept alive and in our hearts through our stories. I really hope you'll continue to read and review. Please take a look at 'Shatter Me'. I am currently writing 'What if I was Nothing'. That will commence when it's finished. I just posted the final chapter of 'Pieces of Eight'. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Until next time...