"Now, just a damn minute!" Klaus said as Jonathan, Savannah, Marcel, and Susanna brought Jonathan's ailing, convulsing, screaming mother into his house and set her down on the sofa. "Who is that and what the hell is wrong with her?"
"What's all the noise out here?" Amy asked, and then gasped. "Mrs. Putnam!" She said, running to the woman's side. "Jonathan, what's happened to her?"
"She was turned into a vampire," Jonathan told her, looking worried. "And Father was gonna kill her if we didn't get her away from him."
"Help, me," the poor woman gasped and grabbed at Amy's sleeve. "Amy, kill me, please. I want to die."
"No," Amy replied, looking at Jonathan's troubled face. "What's happened to you...it's not so bad!"
"Yeah!" Savannah added. "With a little help, you'll live a relatively normal life."
"But my husband will hate me!" she wailed.
"I'm sure if I talked to him, he'd listen to reason," Jonathan told her. "Don't lose hope."
His mother gave him a small smile and put her hand on his cheek. "I know you want me to stay," she said. "And don't think that I just want to abandon you, but...I don't know how I can live like this."
"The only thing that's stopping you is thinking that it's horrible," Jonathan replied, grabbing her wrist. "Mother, do you really want to die, or are you saying you do because you think it's your only option?"
"Well, it is my only option!" His mother replied. "If I turn, then your father will hate me, and I can't live without your father."
"And I know he feels the same way about you," Jonathan replied. "If we talked to him, I'm sure he'd see reason."
"And what if he doesn't?" His mother asked. "Then what will I do?"
"You'll go find someone who appreciates you for the person you are!" Savannah replied. "Don't you think you deserve that?"
His mother thought a moment. "Yes," she said. "I do. And honestly, I'm not ready to die just yet."
"Good," Susanna replied. "Now we have to go find someone for you to feed off of so you can finish your transition."
"You mean, I have to do more?" Jonathan's mother asked, looking frightened now.
"Not too much more," Marcel assured her. "You're almost done."
"I'll go get a blood bag for you," Susanna offered. "Then you won't have to drink from a person."
"That's good thinking," Amy said, finally allowing herself to speak. Klaus had departed some time before, and she assumed he was now hiding out in his and Amy's room.
When Susanna returned with the blood bag and then sat down by Marcel, Amy and Savannah each took one of Mrs. Putnam's hands while Jonathan held the blood bag steady and muttered encouragement. It took awhile, but Mrs. Putnam finally got some of the blood in her system, her transition completed.
"Oh, my god!" She cried. "That feels...that feels wonderful. I feel better than I have in years." She eyed her son. "Now do you promise you won't do any more horrible things that will get you thrown in jail?"
"Well, I won't do anything intentionally, anyway," Jonathan promised. "If Father has his way, he'll probably have me jailed for going against his ideals."
"Well, that won't be your fault," his mother replied. "I won't hold it against you."
"So, what do you want to do now, Mrs. Putnam?" Amy asked. "Do you want to stay here with us, or do you want to go home with Jonathan?"
"I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, dear," Mrs. Putnam told her. "But you're sweet to offer."
She then peered at her son. "Would you take me in?" She asked. "Considering that at this point, I have no place with Anne or your father. He probably doesn't even know I'm missing."
She was wrong on that account. Doctor Putnam had just finished a surgery when one of the orderlies came running in the room as he was washing his hands. "I have bad news, sir," the woman said breathlessly. "Your wife has been discharged."
Doctor Putnam whipped around. "And just who would be stupid enough to discharge her?" He asked.
"Your son, I believe," the attendant replied quietly.
"Jonathan, damn!" Doctor Putnam muttered under his breath. "I should have known. Is my schedule clear enough that I can go after them?"
"Yes!" The attendant backed away as Doctor Putnam disappeared from the operating room, then moved the patient to recovery.
Since he knew that it was Jonathan who had taken his mother away, there wasn't many places she could be. Jonathan's house was the first place he looked. "Where's your mother?" He demanded of Jonathan. Luckily, Susanna and Marcel were gone, and Savannah had gone to another room. "Why did you take her out of the hospital? One of the attendants saw you do it. Why couldn't you just let your mother die in peace, you selfish boy?"
"Because I don't want to die, Augustus!" His wife replied sharply, coming into the living room. "You should be proud of your son. He saved me!"
"Oh, Mary," Doctor Putnam replied, coming toward her. "How-how can you want to live like this?"
"Because my choice was between living like this and not living at all," Mary replied. "And I made my choice. Do what you will with it."
"All right," Doctor Putnam replied. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, Mary."
"So you would rather it have ended with her dying because you're too foolish to realize that you've been given a gift?" Jonathan demanded of his father.
"Yes," Doctor Putnam replied. "I have an image to protect! I can't have people knowing that my wife is a-"
"Monster?" Jonathan finished. "That is what you were going to say, isn't it, Father?"
"Well, it's the truth!" Doctor Putnam replied and then left.
Once he was gone, Savannah came out of hiding. "It seems the coast is clear," she said. Then she saw that Jonathan's mother's body was shaking. "Hey," she said. "Are you all right?"
When Mrs. Putnam looked up, Savannah saw that tears were streaming down her face. Jonathan moved forward to put his arms around her, but Savannah beat him to it.
"It's all right," she said and held the distraught woman. "You just go ahead and cry." Jonathan watched in amazement as Savannah comforted his mother, not even caring that his mother's tears were soaking her fancy shirt.
When his mother was finally able to sit up, she sniffled and gave Savannah a smile. "You're a very compassionate young lady," she said. "Thank you."
Savannah shrugged. "You're welcome," she replied. "It was nothing, really."
"Why don't I show you your room so you can get some rest?" Jonathan suggested.
"All right," his mother replied. "I think that's a good idea."
Jonathan took his mother to her room while Savannah stayed in the living room, and then, when his mother was all tucked in and asleep, Jonathan went back to Savannah. "Thank you for what you did," he told her. "My mother needed compassion and I appreciate you showing it to her."
"Oh, it's not a problem," Savannah replied. "What did you expect me to do? Just sit there and watch her cry because your jackass father dumped her for reasons that aren't her fault?"
"Well, it's not what I expected you to do," Jonathan replied. "But I thought it's what you would do."
"Look," Savannah sighed. "I know I might seem a little nutty. I know I come across as overly sexy, and harsh and violent, and completely lacking any humanity, but-" She wasn't able to finish her sentence because Jonathan grabbed her and kissed her deeply before easing her back on the sofa. "Do you...do you take pills?" He asked after pulling away.
"What kind of pills?" She replied.
"Pills that stop...you know, things from happening when two people feel passionately about each other," Jonathan replied. "Has your mother gotten you those pills?"
"No!" Savannah shook her head. "I was only eleven before, remember."
Jonathan growled in frustration and led her to his room, motioning for her to get on the bed while he retrieved a condom from the box on the toilet tank in his bathroom. As he came back into the room, Savannah was pulling off her shirt and undoing her bra, and throwing it on the bedroom floor.
"Beautiful," Jonathan replied, getting on the bed beside her. She helped him off with his shirt and ran her fingers lightly over his chest. He let in a quick intake of breath and Savannah looked up at him and smiled, slowly reaching out to unzip his pants and help him put the condom on. "Are you okay?" She asked. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Jonathan replied, his eyes flashing. "Oh, yes! Do you?"
"Yes," Savannah nodded.
"All right," Jonathan replied. He took her hand, kissed that, then kissed up her arm, her neck, her cheeks, and then finally, her lips, as he reached down and helped her wriggle out of her pants and panties, gently rubbing her, smiling as she shut her eyes and said his name over and over again. Finally, she sat up and put her arms around him, kissing him. "Come inside me," she begged. "Please."
Jonathan paused. "How do you know to say all this?" He asked. "Does your mother know that you've probably been reading up on sex?"
Savannah groaned. "Oh, come on, Jonathan!" She cried. "Don't spoil the mood by asking me stupid questions like that!"
"You're right," Jonathan replied, leaning down to kiss her as his hands threaded through her red hair and he gently slipped into her. "Never mind."
"What's happened to Mrs. Putnam?" Margot asked, looking shocked.
"She's a vampire!" Amy yelled at her sister even though they were sitting across from each other. "Can you believe it? The poor woman is a vampire!"
"How is that possible, though?" Margot asked. "No vampires would be allowed in a magical hospital!" Her eyes widened. "Except..." As Kol sauntered into the kitchen, she turned on him. "Did you turn a woman at the magic hospital into a vampire? Is that how you and Regina got your stupid vengeance? I told you not to!"
"No," Kol shook his head. "Astrid told us she didn't need anyone to go to the hospital to deal with Doctor Putnam cause someone else had taken care of things for her. And you know me. I would want better prey than someone lying sick in a hospital bed anyway."
"It wasn't him," Amy told Margot. "There was only one person who could have done it, and he looks nothing like Kol."
Hearing this, Kol came back and leaned over Margot's shoulder to whisper in her ear. "I think someone owes me an apology."
"You're right, Kol," she replied. "I'm sorry."
"You better be," Kol replied. "It wounds me when you make accusations like that."
"Well, I wouldn't make accusations without a logical reason behind them would I?" Margot asked. "Even if what I accused you of wasn't true, you have to admit it makes sense why I would think you had something to do with Mrs. Putnam becoming a vampire."
"Yes, the insinuation was a logical one," Kol replied. "But for this one time, I'm innocent!" He then called for his daughter. "Regina, did I turn anyone into a vampire at the magic hospital? Your mother thinks I did!"
"No," Regina replied, coming to face her mother with an earnest expression. "Don't be mad at him! He's innocent! We didn't even go to the magical hospital because Astrid said not to!"
"Good girl," Kol replied, patting her head.
"Ugh, gag me," Margot replied, rolling her eyes.
"You can go back to doing whatever it was that you were doing," Kol told Regina. "Thank you for your help."
"It's all right," Regina told Kol and took his hand. "But you have to come with me!"
"Oh, all right," Kol replied as Regina tried to drag him off to her room.
"Do you...do you think I should go to Jonathan's and help his mother adjust?" Margot asked Amy. "Or at least give some words of encouragement?"
"She'll probably need all the encouragement she can get," Amy replied, her mouth twisting. "Did you know that Doctor Putnam left her?"
"It doesn't surprise me, what with that stupid crusade he's going on," Margot replied. "I hope she can find someone better."
"Me too," Amy replied.
"We could help!" Margot exclaimed. "But we'll have to look beyond Kol and Klaus' friends. I don't think she'd like any of them."
"And then there's the fact that Kol and Klaus don't have many friends," Amy replied. "It would be a very small pool of candidates."
"So, you want to call Mrs. Putnam tonight and see if she's ready for visitors, and if she says 'Yes', you can come and pick me up?" Margot asked.
"Yeah," Amy nodded. "That sounds fine. In fact, I'll ask Jonathan when he brings Savannah home. She offered to help with his mother as well. Awfully sweet of her to do something without getting something in return, don't you think?"
"Yes," Margot replied. "Maybe there's some of you in her after all."