I am so sorry for the wait on this. My internet got cut off a while back and I can only update when I find a secure internet connection. I am currently stealing from taco time lol. That's how desperate I was. I hope you enjoy this, the next one is ready to go next time I find a connection. Thank you for being so patient.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Where am I?" She asked when she woke up in the unfamiliar room. Everything ached and initially she couldn't remember what happened.
"Baby, you're awake." Her mom said standing up and hugging her carefully. Every second she was awake more came back to her. She remembered sitting in the car on the way home from work with Damon, she remembered arguing. She remembered the car in the wrong lane and Damon swerving so the driver didn't hit her directly. She remembered the SUV hitting a light post, but then it was dark.
"I hurt." She told her mom and she let her rest back into the bed.. She tested everything out and she could move all of her legs and she didn't have any abdominal pain.
"I'll grab your father." Miranda said. When she left she looked up at the ceiling until her mom and dad returned with an ultrasound technician behind them.
"Baby you're awake. I'm so happy to see your beautiful brown eyes." He said kissing her forehead.
"What happened to me? What about the baby?" She asked.
"As far as I can tell the baby is fine. You just suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm. You're going to be fine. You got so lucky sweetheart." He said as the tech rolled up the hospital gown ensuring that the blanket was covering the rest of her. She squirted some jelly onto her stomach and Elena winced but she needed to hear the sound of her baby's heartbeat. The tech put the transducer on her belly and moved it around until the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room.
"Strong and healthy." The tech told her and Elena teared up.
"Thank God." She sighed. The tech nodded and wiped the jelly off of her belly since Elena's one arm was unable to move and the other had needles in it.
"I'm so happy the baby is okay." Miranda whispered.
"Damon was in the car with me. Where is he?" Elena asked suddenly. Madalyn's safety and her confusion was at the forefront of her brain, but now that she knew Madalyn was okay she was focused solely on Damon.
"Elena, maybe you should get some rest." Grayson suggested and Elena's eyes widened.
"No, I need to know. Is he... is he dead?" She asked her eyes welling up.
"Elena... you need to calm down." Grayson insisted.
"I can't calm down. We were fighting when we were in the accident. We were fighting and what if I didn't get to tell him how much I love him?" She asked through her sobs.
"Sweetheart, he's not dead. But it's not good either." Grayson said trying to get through to his daughter.
"Tell me what's wrong with him." She insisted, worry covering her face.
"Honey, I think you should rest. You need sleep sweetheart." Grayson said hopefully.
"I need to see him. I need to know if he's going to be okay. I... I can't do this without him." She begged cradling her baby bump.
"Okay, but first before we do that. You have to talk to Deputy Williams. He's trying to figure out what happened with the accident. He needs your side of the story." Grayson said apologetically.
"I can't talk to him right now. Daddy please don't make me talk to a police officer." She begged and he sighed apologetically.
"I have no choice. I was told to inform him the moment you woke up. He'll be here right away." Grayson said and Elena sighed. Her shoulder was aching and she wasn't able to take pain medication for it because of Madalyn. Pain medication wasn't recommended during pregnancy.
A few minutes later a police officer walked through the door with a contrite look on his face.
"I'm sorry for bothering you right now Miss Gilbert, but I just need to ask you a few questions. I promise I'll get out of your hair shortly. I know you have other things on your mind right now." He said as he took the seat to her left. She sighed and nodded her head in response, already aware that she really had no choice but to answer his questions. Her mom sat at her right side holding her hand, knowing that her daughter would need her support once she recalled specific details about the accident.
"Just please don't take too long, Officer. My daughter needs her rest, it's been a long night for everyone." Miranda insisted and the doctor.
"I'll be as quick as I can Ma'am. I understand it's been a rough night." He promised.
"Alright, I hope you don't mind that I stay. I can't bear the idea of leaving my daughters side for this." She said.
"It's fine. You can stay, I don't want this to be more uncomfortable than it needs to be." He said before turning to Elena. "I just need you to do your best to answer my questions. I understand if parts of the accident are still fuzzy, just do your best."
"I'll try." She promised and the officer smiled encouragingly.
"Alright, first question was Mr. Salvatore drinking as he drove?" He asked seriously.
"No, he came to the Grill to pick me up after work. He had a glass of water while he was waiting for me to finish up." She told him. The officer nodded his head and wrote what she said down.
"Miss Gilbert, you are the only one involved in the accident that is awake right now. I need you to explain to me the events of the accident as clearly and thoroughly as you possibly can." He told her and she breathed deep.
"Damon and I left the Grill and were driving home. We were arguing about something stupid now that I think back. We turned the corner and the other car was driving in the wrong lane. Damon swerved and the car hit his side of the vehicle, sending us into the light post. I don't know what happened with the other vehicle." She told him.
"Why would Mr. Salvatore swerve the vehicle?" The officer asked curiously.
"If he hadn't we would have hit head on. He's always protecting me and our unborn daughter." She told him.
"If I may, why were you and Mr. Salvatore arguing about? It's always best to get a complete story so if there is any sort of case about this then we're covered in every way." He asked.
"He was worried about me. He didn't think I should be working and going to school full time." I confessed.
"Thank you Miss. Gilbert, if I have any more questions I'll be sure to reach you." He said and I nodded.
"You're welcome." She said before laying her head back and staring up at the ceiling. When the officer left her dad came back in.
"I just talked to Damon's father who just talked to his doctor." He said coming in and sitting down.
"What's wrong? Can I see him?" She asked hopefully. She needed to see that he was alive with her own eyes.
"He's in a coma Elena. They don't know when or if he's going to wake up. His injuries are substantial and they're unsure of what kind of damage occurred to his brain. He has broken ribs, his left leg is broken. His left arm up to his elbow. A punctured lung. The list goes on and on, he's stable but he's not doing well." He confessed.
"No." Elena said her eyes filling up with tears again. She was completely silent for a moment, in shock that the love of her life was hurt so bad.
"Elena, there's nothing you can do. You just need to get some rest. You need to sleep on it and tomorrow we'll take you home. Then you can consider seeing Damon." Grayson inssited.
"I need to see him now. I have to tell him how much I love him regardless of whether he can ever say it back." She insisted.
"Just get some rest sweetheart. You'll feel better in the morning." He almost pleaded with his daughter.
"Dad, what is something happens to him tonight? What if I don't get a chance to tell him? I can't lose him." She pleaded, the tears flowing freely down her face.
"Alright. Let me help you up." He said giving in. Grayson helped her out of the bed and she tied the robe around her body. Her left arm and shoulder were in a sling with her injuries and when she walked past a mirror, she saw she had a black eye.
"What happened to my face?" She asked touching the bruise which she noted hurt though she never felt it before that moment.
"You were in a car accident and you got lucky." He told her squeezing her good shoulder. They slowly made their way to the intensive care unit while Miranda went to go grab a coffee. She had absolutely no intention of leaving the hospital until it was Elena leaving with her.
Giuseppe was standing outside the room when Grayson and Elena rounded the corner. He was talking to a doctor and he looked stressed.
"Elena." He said leaving the doctor and coming to see his sons girlfriend.
"Can I see him?" She asked tearfully.
"Yes only one person at a time." He said.
"Okay." She said.
"How are you? Are you doing okay?" He asked hopefully.
"I'm fine. My shoulder and arm are banged up, but I'll be fine physically." She said.
"And the baby?" He asked.
"She's fine. I got really lucky. Damon wasn't so lucky." She said.
"You should go on in there. If anyone can get him to wake up it's you." He said helping her to the room not that she needed the help. She could walk just fine, but if it made everyone else feel better then she would let them help her. Once she was inside she sat down beside him and took his hand in her good one.
"Hey baby it's me. I just wanted to tell you that I'm fine and so is Maddie. We just need you to wake up so you can be with us again. You always look out for me and I don't know what I'm going to do without you. So baby please just open your beautiful blue eyes." She pleaded. She bent down and kissed his hand.
"I'm sorry baby. If I hadn't gone to work tonight like you asked we wouldn't be here. You would be awake and you wouldn't be broken like this. I wouldn't be like this either. Everything would be better if I hadn't gone to work. This is all my fault." She sobbed. She bent down and lay her head on their joined hands and cried.
"I love you so much." She sobbed.
"Sweetheart, it's time to go." Her dad said. She wiped her tears and stood up, vowing that once she got out of the hospital he wasn't going to spend a moment alone until he woke up.
"Okay." She said with a sniffle. "Wake up soon my love." She whispered before pressing a soft kiss on his lips, hoping like with the fairy tales, true loves kiss would work. But it didn't. She stifled another sob and let her dad take her back to her room.
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After a fitful nights sleep in which she probably only slept two or three hours, nightmares kept her up all night along with the discomfort of sleeping with a cast on her arm, her parents walked in with an overnight bag.
"Get dressed, we're taking you home." They said and she smiled briefly. She couldn't think of anything that would make her smile right now. Well she could think of one thing, but that hadn't happened yet.
"I want to stay here. I need to be with Damon." She whispered.
"You need to come home and get some sleep. You look like you haven't slept a wink." He said.
"I haven't, mainly because I'm worried about Damon. I can't raise a baby by myself." She said but she did as her dad said and took her bag into the bathroom to change. It was hard to get dressed with her shoulder newly relocated and it hurt to take her arm out of the sling for even a moment to slip the tank top on. She was relieved that her parents brought her a tank top because it was much easier to work with than a t-shirt. She put her sling back on and put her sweater on over top. She was wearing black sweatpants along with that and all in all she looked horrible.
"I'm ready, but I need to see Damon before we go." She said. Her parents nodded and together they left the room.
When they got to Damon's room Giuseppe was still there falling asleep on a chair. She saw Stefan sitting by Damon's bedside holding his hand. It looked like he was talking low and Elena kind of wanted to know what he was saying.
"Mr. Salvatore, you should get some rest." Elena said sitting down beside him.
"I can't. I'm not leaving until my son wakes up." He said wiping the sleep from his eyes. Elena knew how he felt, she didn't
want to leave but she knew she didn't have a choice.
"I just thought I'd come by and see him before my parents take me home. They're making me sleep before I can come back. But Stefan's in there. I don't want to interrupt." She said.
"Stefan's taking this hard. The boys may fight but deep down theyre still brothers." Giuseppe said peering through the window at his two sons. Stefan stood up and came out, surprising Elena with a hug.
"I'm so sorry you're going through this. My brother doesn't deserve this and neither do you." He said. She awkwardly hugged him back with one arm.
"He's Damon. He'll get through this." She whispered before he pulled back.
"I'm sorry for hugging you. I probably shouldn't have." He said.
"It's okay." She said before stepping around him and going into Damon's room. Once she was in there the tears came back and the realization that it was entirely her fault. "Please wake up." She begged kissing him again. When he didn't move she cried harder.
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"Do you want anything to eat?" Miranda asked when they got home. Elena shook her head and walked into the house and immediately up the stairs to her room.
"I'm so happy you're okay." Jeremy said hugging her tight, but not too tight to hurt her shoulder.
"I just need Damon to be okay." She whispered before pulling back and going to her room. She immediately got into bed
and turned off the light, lying there awake.
"You should eat a sandwich." Her mom said.
"I'm not hungry." She said hoarsely.
"You need to eat sweetheart. Keep your strength up." Miranda insisted.
"I'm not hungry." She repeated.
"It's here if you need it." Miranda said putting the sandwich on the bedside table and leaving the room. Once she was gone, Elena let the tears fall. Her entire life was falling apart, she was home and her boyfriend was in the hospital. Life really couldn't get much worse.