Sorry, i know i've been gone a while! I also know that the ending of that last chapter was crappy, but i needed to make it happen because i couldn't let Alaric just.. die.
Another suprise appearence at the end of this one, but the story is finally going somewhere now. Got it all figured out. So i hope you enjoy this one more than the last.
All reviews appreciated.
Diclaimer : As always, i own nothing TVD related in this story.
Damon just stared. He didn't move, not an inch. Instead he just stood, still as only a vampire could, and watched as Alaric's mouth opened and closed in an attempt to put into words how he was feeling about the scene in front of him. How could he not remember? No, scratch that, how was he even alive? It felt like everything was spiralling out of control, falling apart. Nothing at all was making sense right now.
Elena let out a small whimper of pain and that alone dragged Damon out of his own mind. He pulled his eyes from Alaric and dropped once again to his knee's beside that broken, fragile girl. Alaric crossed the room towards them and dropped to his knee's beside Damon, gasping as he took in the full extent of Elena's injuries.
'Damon, what the hell happened? Why haven't you healed her?' Choked out Alaric, tears forming in his eyes and he watched Elena whimper and try not to squirm with the pain.
'Klaus, Bonnie, Elena. How can you not remember this Ric? You saved her, you died for her. In fact, you should still be dead, he cut your ring finger off. How the hell..? And I've tried, both Katherine and I have tried. All the blood cured was her most life threatening injuries. Nothing else is healing.' Confusion swirled through Damon's brain once again as to why it wouldn't work. Why, when his blood had healed thousands before, had healed Elena before, wasn't it working now when he most needed it?
'Katherine..' Alaric looked shocked, but then shook it off, in the entire time Damon had spoken, that had been the least important thing to notice, 'Yeah, okay not important. So I died, came back. We can deal with it later. Damon, we need to get her to the hospital!'
'Can't, sorry Ric, but if we can't heal her, how are we meant to explain it when she never heals in a hospital? We're going to set up a little one here for now, figure it out.' The door opened then, he heard Caroline's lithe vampire steps and Matt's heavier, human stomps echoing through the house and they carried the equipment in.
'Damon, where do you want this stuff?' Matt's voice echoed through the house.
'My room for now, second floor, fourth door on the left.' Damon replied without even lifting his head. He stroked soothing hands across the lesser damaged parts of Elena's face. Soothing. It took five minutes for them to set up the equipment in Damon's room, but it felt like a lifetime. Caroline and Matt came back down the stairs, heading towards them. They stopped In the same doorway Alaric had entered through only minutes ago, and gasped.
'Damon, what the hell?' Caroline practically screamed, dashing over towards them with Matt hot on her heels. Damon glanced a look at Alaric, conveying to him with his eyes to explain to the others what he had just explained to him, and then stood. Gently, he gathered Elena up from where she lay, trying not to move her around to much. Yet still, every movement released a new, pained cry from her. New tears spilled over and made cleaner tracks down along her blood stained cheeks.
Elena felt the soft down of Damon's bed beneath her body, but it didn't sooth her, it didn't take the pain away. It burned through her, every movement felt like she was being torn to pieces. Damon was being careful, she could feel the extreme control he was using, trying not to move her, but it wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough. It just hurt. She felt cool, sticking pads being laid over her body until a machine registered them and began beeping, her clothes were being removed with tears of Damon's hand, but she didn't care. She knew he'd cover her over after. He wasn't moving her much, but the pain was still excruciating. A sharp scratch in the vein in the less broken arm, a small push, and she felt liquid seeping into her veins. Oh, that feels strange. She thought to herself, she wanted to say it out-loud, but every time she opened her mouth another whimper or cry escaped. Then the liquid changed into something different, it was still cold, but it didn't feel strange anymore. It was soothing, the pain was starting to dim a little, and Elena began to drift. Oh, this feels strange too. She once again thought to herself, before a drug induced darkness came over her.
The darkness faded, but she didn't want it too. It was nice there, it didn't hurt so much. Elena came round to the sound of hushed voices arguing a little away from her, it sounded like Damon and.. Alaric, maybe. She opened her eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the dim lighting in the room, they were still as puffy and sore as they had been when the drugs had taken hold of her. This wasn't the first time she'd come round, but they just kept filling up the IV drip up again with what she thought was morphine, and she went back to sleep.
'Damon..' She manage to choke out, before tearing, searing pains ripped their way up her bruised, damaged throat and all she could do was whimper. She felt Damon's cool hand against her cheek and opened her eyes again, although she couldn't remember closing them. He looked tired, and haunted, and sad. Elena let her eyes roam around the room, not daring to try and move any other part of her body. Jeremy sat watching vigilantly from a chair beside the bed, Damon and Alaric hovered over her, Matt was asleep on what looked like a makeshift cot in the side of the room. She turned her eyes back to Damon and Alaric, and tried again to speak.
'Arguing..' Elena gasped as the pain tore through her again, but soldiered on, 'Why?'
Damon shot an angry look at Alaric and then went back to staring sadly at Elena, he didn't speak.
'I want to give you my blood, just a transfusion, see if it works. If I can come back from the dead without my ring..' Elena looked confused at that, of course she didn't remember that happening. 'Yeah, we'll explain later ok? What I was saying is that if I could do that then maybe it's something in my blood. Maybe it could help you out.' Alaric shot a returning angry glance at Damon, who took no notice.
'And I'm just saying, Ric, that you're not compatible with her. Your blood will kill her before it saves her. Not risking it.' Damon replied, keeping his eyes constantly on Elena.
'Mix it with mine, we have the same blood type. Hoping for the best is better than having no hope at all, Damon.' Jeremy spoke quietly, tiredly, from his seat beside her bed. Her heart ached for him, poor Jeremy, willing to do anything to save her. As usual, just like everyone else. When she was better, if she was better, she'd have to find some way to repay them all.
Damon looked at Jeremy, considering it, and then gave one curt nod of his head.
'Caroline,' He called out lightly, 'Bring up two sets of blood donation packs, the ones you brought over from the hospital. We're taking some from Ric and Jeremy.'
Elena heard some kind of reply from downstairs, noises like someone opening cupboards and taking things from shelves, and then Caroline was there, taking instructions from Damon and slipping needles into their arms. Damon stayed where he was, stroking small, soothing lines across her face.
'Do you want more pain relief? You don't need to be awake, we can help you without you having to feel it.' Damon whispered to her, his own eyes clouding with tears. Elena just shook her head, she was done with hiding from this. What pain relief she had going into her now was enough, she could last, and if this didn't work, she couldn't spend god knows how long waiting in the darkness until they find a way to help her. Damon just closed his eyes for a while and sighed sadly, looking back down at her again with those haunted, tired eyes.
Elena must have fallen into some kind of sleep, because the next thing she knew, Damon's hands weren't on her face anymore, but where probing her hand. He slipped in another needle, somehow finding another vein, and pushed in an Iv dripping with thick, red liquid. The blood started to seep into her arm, working it's way through her body. At least it's not cold this time. Elena thought to herself as she watched that thick, dark liquid travelling through the tube and finding its way into her body. Damon watched it too, he looked hungry, but he wasn't leaving her side. Not for a second, not even when Caroline went herself to get some blood. Instead, she brought him up one of his famous crystal tumblers filled with some the same colour of that winding its way around Elena's veins.
When an entire 24 hours passed and nothing had changed, Damon let out a terrifying growl. Frustration, anger, pain at her pain. It all escaped him as once again he changed the empty blood bag for a full one as Elena watched him with pain clouding her eyes, contorting her perfect features. Not even her bruises were going down, if anything, it was all getting worse. There was only him in the room now, he'd sent every out, away, promising to call if anything changed, for better or worse. Damon was distracted, tired as he pulled out the empty blood bag, they'd taken enough from both Jeremy and Alaric to give them 9 in total, this was the last one, and just as he slipped it into position, he heard foot steps outside of the door. Damon sighed.
'I thought I told you all to go home.' He murmured to whoever it was behind him, hoping they wouldn't argue with him and just leave. He slipped the bag up onto the pole beside Elena's bed and collapsed into the chair beside it, closing his eyes for a moment.
'That blood isn't going to work.' The voice came from closer behind him, but it was no one he expected, or he thought to himself guiltily, he had even thought about since he got Elena out of that cave. Damon jerked up out of the chair, putting himself between Elena and this new-comer.
'It won't work, Damon. She's spelled.'
'What the hell?' Damon growled. 'Spelled? What on earth could do this? And how are you even here?' He was angry at the person in front of him, but also kind of relieved. Finally, maybe some answers.
'I did this, he made me Damon. I couldn't help it. Once I did, he let me go with a message for you. That nothing but one thing will work to help her.'
Damon sped, at vampire speed, across the room, pinning her to the wall behind them near the door.
'At what is that thing?' Damon growled, their faces close together.
'Only one vampires blood can save her Damon. And it won't be easy to get. Damon, she'll stay like this forever if you can't get it.'
Damon backed off a little, staring angrily at this bearer of bad news, arms crossed tightly across his chest. Waiting for her to continue.
'Damon… Only Stefan's blood can save her.' Whispered Bonnie, unharmed, perfectly fine Bonnie. Eyes down, destroying the last hope Damon had of saving the girl he loved.