(Damon's POV)

"I see sinus rhythm. "

" Blood pressure is coming up. "

"She's coming back."

Elena was alive. She was going to be fine. She wasn't dead.

I rushed to her as soon as the doctors gave me the go ahead and kissed her forehead. I put my hand on her chest right where her heart was and felt it beating. She was going to be fine. We were all going to be fine. I don't know how long I stood there with my hand on her heart, kissing her. Imprinting on my mind that she was fine, she was alive.

Jeremy and Bonnie were the first ones to return. I could infer from their faces that the doctor had told them what happened because Bonnie whom I only remembered as the Ice Queen, the founder of the 'Damon Salvatore Sucks' Club, the one who was always filling Elena's head with flashbacks of my fuck ups and my spontaneous decisions that hadn't turned out so well, the Judgy witch had an extremely sad expression on her face which changed into relief when she saw Elena and comfort when she saw me. Jeremy, on the other hand looked like he would burst out into tears any minute.

He moved to the other side of the bed, took Elena's other hand into his and said, his voice breaking on some words, "Don't you dare leave me all alone. Got it? You stubborn woman, you get this inside that thick skull and into that tiny pea sized brain of yours that you are the only family I have left so you better not go anywhere. Okay Lena? You're not going anywhere."

Bonnie handed over a sandwich and some home made coffee that she had brought, and said in a stern voice, "That better be gone in ten minutes or I'm telling Elena."

"Yes, mother." I replied and went to the chair in the corner; following up the orders I had been given.

Caroline and Stefan rushed in a while later, Caroline went straight to Elena's bed and started crying. Stefan walked up to me and hugged me, telling me in his own language 'She's going to be fine. I'm here for you brother.'

According to the doctor, Elena would wake up any minute now, we just had to wait. Only then could they determine the damage done by the coding and recoding. I retook to my previous position, right next to Elena, Caroline sat on the other side of the bed and the rest of the gang sat on the couch.

Caroline broke the silence, "You might want to wash up a little. You look awful."

"Thanks Blondie." I said sarcastically.

"You'll call me if anything happens. Anything at all, right?"

"Yes Damon. I will."

I left the room to wash my face and change into the clothes Stefan had brought for me. It must've been only a couple of minutes when I started moving back to Elena's room and found Caroline and Stefan standing outside, telling me with their eyes to be prepared.

The doctor was taking out the tube she had put in her chest for breathing but Elena's eyes were still shut. I moved to my seat and waited.

Five minutes. Come on Elena. Just wake up once so I know that I haven't lost you. Please.

I sensed movement in my hand and felt Elena move her fingers.

"Damon?" She croaked.

"I'm here, Lena."

She coughed a little and before I could move, Jeremy was at her side holding out a glass of water with a straw. I smiled at him for the gesture.

"Damon?"

"Elena baby, I'm here. Just open your eyes. I'm here" I wanted to sound affirming, for her sake but couldn't manage anything more than a whisper.

"Damon?" She opened her eyes, finally looking at me. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and smiled. A stray tear fell down my cheek.

She smiled. "I don't like fighting with you. Let's not do it anymore, okay?"

"Whatever you want. As long as you take some driving lessons."

She laughed and then groaned in pain.

"Don't make me laugh, you ass. You need to practice, you're the one who crashed into my car you dumbass."

What? And then it dawned on me. She was talking about our first accident. But before I could tell her or ask her about anything else, the doctor walked in with her chart. She started questioning Elena about how she was feeling and noting down her temperature, the bandages and her pressure.

Elena was fine, a little rehab and physiotherapy, a lot of rest required, she remembered the last few years that she had forgotten but she didn't remember anything about the last few months after the accident. She had reverted back to the first injury.

"Everything looks good. Looks like you are a fighter Elena. But you need to rest now. The impact wasn't too harmful but you do have some injuries that won't heal with your will power. If you'll come with me Damon, there is some paperwork that needs to be filled up and then you can take her home."

"Yeah, sure."

I looked back to Elena, hugged her and kissed the top of her head, whispered "I'll be right back sweetheart." and promptly followed the doctor outside.

The doctor looked cautious but she took a breath and started, "Elena seems to think that this is still October 2012 when you had your first accident. She doesn't remember anything after that." She waited, gauging my reaction but by now I had digested this information well into my system to have reacted harshly.

"So, I can't take her home. Hmm."

"Don't worry. We can take a few roads down here, we can either wait for her to remember, by then you'll have settled back into your routine so it won't affect her as badly. Or you can tell her right now, she seems fine plus she's a fighter so it may 99% go down well. Although she may notice the date change and all"

"So, it's okay that she doesn't remember the last few months. Not critical or anything, right? That's what you're trying to say, right?"

"Yes. As I told you, with the brain you never know. Which leads us to the next topic in the list of topics to be discussed-"

"What caused the accident. Yes."

"Elena's reports came back. It seems like she has an abnormal bleed in her brain. It was very very minute up till now and so we couldn't catch it on any of the previous scans. It's acting up now and needs to be operated on as soon as we can."

Before I could tell her to absolutely go ahead with the surgery so that I could finally take her back home, she interrupted me, "Damon, with a surgery like this, there are a few extra precautions that we need to take. It's an aneurysm. Elena, needs to be absolutely okay and in the right state of mind before we take her into surgery. Given the accident and her already healing body… I would want her to be operated right away, but given the current circumstances, it isn't advised."

"So you're telling me that my wife's brain is slowly bleeding and killing her but you can't operate on her till her body heals which from what I've seen, may take months and by then she may be dead."

"Not months. Just a few days. Take her home, get her settled. Just so that she's mentally stable and most importantly calm for the surgery."

"Calm. Huh. Calm for you to cut open her brain. That'll be easy."

"Damon, I know it'll be hard but I can't give the go ahead for the surgery unless I'm absolutely certain of Elena."

"Can the surgery kill her?"

"Damon…"

"Just tell me doc. Can it? Even if there is a 0.0001 percent chance."

"Yes. Quite a big chance. And that's why we need her to be completely okay otherwise."

I walked back into the room, taking it all in. I saw Elena who was no longer lying down but was in a more laying back position chatting animatedly with Caroline and Bonnie. Stefan and Jeremy just stood two steps away laughing at their girls bitching about a certain Amy from their college.

"Umm.. we'll give you two some privacy." The four shuffled out of the room awkwardly, making Elena giggle. As soon as they were out, I raced up to her bed and took her into my arms, and she melted back in mine. Ignoring all the pain that I was sure the movement was causing to her injuries but we didn't care in that moment. We were together and we were fine.

"Oh Damon, thank God you're here. I was so scared. I'm so sorry about earlier today. I was being stubborn. I love you so much. I'm sorry, so so sorry."

"It's okay baby. The only thing that matters is that you're fine. I'm here baby. I'm here."

"I love you. I love you so much Damon. I'm never going to fight with you. I promise. I'll try and be less stubborn. I love you."

"I love you too, Lena. Don't ever leave me again, okay?"

"I'm here now."

I kissed her and she kissed me back. In a heartbeat, everything was fine. But only for a heartbeat.