Chapter 14

He heard a toilet flush. Oh no! He was back at the men's room at the airport. He kept his eyes closed as he listened to voices not far away. They were women talking, but not in the men's room, of course. One of them mentioned a doctor. He moved his left hand and felt fabric under his hand and he suddenly realized that he was lying down. He wasn't in any bathroom; he was in bed! Did that mean he had been wounded again and was in the hospital again or was this actually morning? Was it just hours ago that Katherine had been with him?

He opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the wall and then at his window. Dawn.

Dawn of the day after his being wounded. He wiggled his body to be sure he had no other wounds. No, just the right shoulder where he had been shot.

"Good morning, Mr. Mikaelson," said a young lady as she entered his room. "I'm Janet, your Patient Care Tech today." She went to a whiteboard that was on the wall below the clock. There she erased the names of the night people – Joe and Lillian, the nurse – and replaced them with Janet and Roberta, his day nurse.

"How are you feeling today?" the young woman asked with a smile.

"Tired, even though I had some sleep. I need to use the bathroom."

"Sit on the edge of the bed first, to be sure you don't feel dizzy," Janet said, coming to the side of his bed. She helped him sit up.

In a moment he said, "I feel steady." He noticed that his IV had been disconnected again, although he recalled that it had been connected after he had returned from his walk with Joe. He still felt alright as he stood up and headed for the small bathroom in the corner of his room. Janet had hold of his arm and he hoped she was not going to stay beside him while he emptied his bladder. He was relieved when she asked if he needed her to stay and she left when he said no.

After doing what he needed to do, he stared into the mirror. He looked a bit pale. His hair was standing up in a mess. He thought he wanted to shave the dark stubble. His teeth felt fuzzy. Although he had not brought any personal toiletries, the hospital provided a tooth brush, comb, a bar of soap and a disposable razon. He had seen them in the drawer of his bedside table.

"You are looking so very handsome today, Elijah," he muttered sarcastically and turned away from the mirror. As he headed for his bed, he found that Janet had straightened his bed sheets and fluffed his pillow. A clean towel and wash cloth hung from a rack at the side of the bedside table. He would be able to clean up.

"Good morning, Elijah," came a second female cheery voice.

He turned to see that it was Dr. Elena Gilbert. Was she looking at his bare backside? No, he had on the two gowns, one frontwards and one backwards. He felt his left hand move to go to a pants pocket, as it so often did, but he had no pants pocket. No pants, in fact.

"Elena, good to see you," he said, always pleased to see her. Unlike her look-alike Katherine, Elena had an open, honest face. Katherine's eyes often showed a sly look and her smile was likely to be fake or amused from unkind thoughts.

Sitting on the edge of his bed reminded himself that he was wearing the hospital gown, which was not unlike a dress or skirt or kilt. He brought his legs together to be sure he was not "flashing" Elena. Katherine would have looked and grinned. Elena would be a lady and show no sign of what she glimpsed.

When Janet had left the room, Elijah said, "Do not be surprised of you get some odd looks this morning."

"Why?"

Lowering his voice so no one else could hear, he answered, "Katherine was here last night."

"Katherine? How?"

"Like me. She had no idea how she got here, but she enjoyed the visit. Let us say that she was caught being intimate with me. I am not complaining, but she took me by surprise." He was sure his face was red with embarrassment.

"Now, that sounds like Katherine." Elena had no love for her double and had been glad when Katherine, and her adult daughter, had really died. Gone for good. Or apparently, not. "What did the staff member do?"

"It was Joe and he went to get the nurse. By the time they came back, she was gone. Disappeared. They think it was you, although Joe did not get a really good look at her. He said your name, which is why you might receive some looks."

"Katherine, of all people. So, do you think she is lurking somewhere?"

"Probably, but I do not think she is in control of where or when she will appear again. She and I discussed it, and we believe it may be a witch with a crystal ball tuned in to our whereabouts."

"Like that time someone did the same thing to your brother Klaus?"

"Yes, like that. Bonnie Bennett was able to disable that situation, but I do not know who to turn to for this. Is Miss Bennett still around?"

"No. But the school is full of people with powers. I wouldn't be surprise if Hope or one of Ric's daughters could do such a thing as Bonnie did."

"I suspect you are right. Surely Hope is not behind this. Who else here knows me?"

"Quite a few people, I would think. You lived in Mystic Falls for several years, even if it was some time ago."

"I meant who would know me and have the power."

"Assuming it's not Hope, we'll have to do some investigating," Elena said. She knew people who might help. She glanced at the clock and then back at Elijah.

He was gone!

A/N Sorry this is a rather short chapter. I've been working on getting my book published and also reading a couple of library books. The reference to crystal balls comes from my fan fiction story Weakness. Thanks for reading and following me.