Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday, I have a life on Fridays :)
But can I just say, we're almost at 250 reviews which is entirely shocking so thank you all so much! Who thinks this story could get to 300? Now that would be amazing
Bit of a short one I think but at least its something.
Also, just watched that episode and I'm not impressed. Yay for the Klaus and Caroline bits (sort of...they're getting there) but there is no delena. New Elena's a bitch and not even a good one because she's being said bitch to Damon. What I want to happen is for Katherine to give Rebekah the cure and then because she's an original it cures all her blood line, or whichever one everyone's descended from. And then everyone's happy. But of course that's not going to happen because it's called the Vampire Diaries
fml
Read on, I'll shut up now
.
.
.
"Is she ever going to wake up?"
My mother's weary tone echoed out of the silence, reverberating against the distant walls of the darkness.
A defeated sigh sounded in my mind; I was back here again. That one moment of consciousness and I was back in the dark. Why couldn't I just wake up? And stay woken up preferably.
"Damon said she did."
That was my father, his voice a little further away and from another direction. "Yes but how do you know he wasn't just…I don't know...delusional, or something? He's barely left this room since she was brought in-"
"-She woke up Miranda. We just need to give her time. You know how coma's work; she'll come back to us when she's ready and more to the point when her body is ready. It's not a matter of 'if' anymore." He sounded as certain as he ever did; always definite in everything he did or said. I heard his footsteps cross the linoleum floor, quiet shuffling, "You know what she's like…"
"Stubborn. Yeah…" I would have laughed, then acted offended...if I had been awake. And I wasn't that stubborn… "Has Blake texted you yet?"
A short silence when my attention was brought back to their conversation, "No, not yet. But he said he'd be here by three. He was getting Lexi from the airport." Lexi…I recognised that name…oh yeah, his sister. Why was his sister coming here? I better wake up before she leaves again; I want to meet her.
The room fell into silence again; I could almost picture them there, just waiting. I wondered what I looked like right now…I could just about feel the wires and needs stuck in me, tight against my skin. My mother sighed again, "What would we have done without those boys? If they hadn't been there-"
"-Shh, don't think about it."
"But how can I not? I can't sleep at night thinking of what could have happened. If they hadn't gone to the school then we wouldn't have found her and-"
"-Miranda! Stop…we can't think about that. Just think that she's here and she's alive. They're all alive."
Quiet again, "Yeah…all of them-"
"-Mir-"
"-Don't berate me Gray. That…" She stopped, rephrasing and beginning again in a collected voice, "He should have died. He deserved that. I know I shouldn't say it but I can't help it. I wished it'd been him that got hurt, not Elena…never Elena…"
I wished I could open my eyes. I wished I could give them that comfort that I really was alive and I was fine if I could just wake up. I'd forced myself to wake up once before hadn't I? I wanted to hug her, curl up on that big sofa in the living room with my parents nearby and Damon's arms wrapped around me and…
And watch Bring It On.
All or Nothing.
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
The stench of acrid smoke filled my nose, my throat. Sticking to me, blocking my airways, creeping into my lungs…as much as I coughed it would shift, it just got worse; thicker and thicker. The heat…that scorching heat. The flames licking up the walls, across the floor, against my skin. Oh god it hurt, it hurt
And then that pain…that excruciating agony in my stomach, his eyes, leering down at me and that smile…
"No…"
Invisible bounds got in the way as I scrambled up, a tugging on my arm but I ripped whatever it was out of the way, throwing it to the side but I couldn't even feel it, just air. "Ellie no…"
"No, get away." Everything hurt but it didn't matter, I had to get away; but he was following. He was always following me...
"Ellie please…"
His voice was cold, breathing down my ear and against the skin of my neck as I stumbled backwards, the flames in the darkness blinding me. "I won't, I won't do it! Stay away-"The smoke got thicker, stinging my eyes and I whimpered, feeling something, someone grab my stomach, bringing me crashing down to the melting and charred floor, "No…NO!"
And then he was there, kneeling in front of me, that same pained look in his eyes, holding the gun between us, forcing my hands to clasp around it, pushing it against his own stomach, "Shoot me Ellie, do it. Please Ellie, shoot me-"
"No…no, no, no, no I won't. I won't do it…"
"Please Ellie, I love you, please-"
"No, no I'm not a killer. I'm not, Jason, I won't do it." The pain peaked, tearing through my stomach and I could smell the blood, mixing with the smoke, tasting something metallic and warm in the back of my throat. The flames were scorching my back but I couldn't move, burning alive and all I could do was scream and cry, "I won't!"
"Shoot me Ellie, like I shot you. We can die together, we can be together forever. I love you…"
"You don't know the meaning of the word." I'd said it before. He didn't listen. But I had no control over my words, "I don't want to die…I don't want to die Jason I don't."
"Kill me, shoot me."
"NO! I'm not a killer. I'm not you."
"But you're going to die. Let it be the last thing you do. No-one will know. Don't let me burn Ellie, don't let the fire get me-"
There was something wet streaming down my cheeks, my shoulders wracking with sobs, "You want me to save you. But you let it get me. It burns Jason, it hurts me and you don't care. You let it get me and I don't want to die. I don't want to die…I don't want to die…"
"Elena…come back to us Elena, you're not gonna die…come back to me…"
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…
-Damon's POV-
"No, I'm not a killer! I won't do it."
I could have heard her screams a mile off. The gut wrenching screams and the sound of feet hitting the linoleum floor ringing through the hospital floor as doctors and nurses rushing to try and control the distraught girl. Patients peering nosily out of their rooms but they didn't matter. None of them mattered.
I don't think I'd ever run so fast in my life as I did in that moment, getting there just in time to see her collapsing to her knees in the middle of the crowded corridor, blindly pushing away the nurse who tried to help but she didn't know that. Her eyes were open but glazed over, blind and unseeing to what was really around her, instead locked on something else invisible to all of us.
The doctors gave up when they realised that it was hopeless to try and wake her. Maybe she was sleep-walking…reliving what happened in the gym…they just stood, at a complete loss of what to do because if that was the case you can't wake someone up who's sleep-walking. I pushed through them, slowing at the front of the crowd…if your heart could break at a sight I swear to you mine just did. Tears spilling down her face, hitting the floor with a thud and her bony shoulders shaking, hands clasped together as if she was holding something there against her stomach as she cried. Her voice was quiet, hard to understand at times but I knew it was what she'd said to him. To her she was probably back in that gym, surrounded by fire and completely terrified...
"You want me to save you. But you let it get me. It burns Jason! It hurts me and you don't care. You let it get me and I don't want to die. I don't want to die…"
The mantra kept going, over and over, tearing me to pieces and as everyone just stared… completely lost. They should know what to do…they were doctors so why weren't they helping her? Why wasn't anyone doing anything?
"I don't want to die…I don't want to die…I don't want to die…"
Barely thinking, I had enough; I couldn't watch her like this and if I didn't do anything I swear I'd end up screaming at one of these hopeless 'doctors'. So I stepped closer and dropped to my knees beside her. She didn't notice, rocking back and forth, reliving the nightmare and completely oblivious to the real world. Sighing and feeling almost as helpless as those around us, I reached up, tentatively brushing a loose strand of her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. Her mantra dropped to a whisper, tilting her head slightly towards me almost on reflex and I edged forwards slightly, taking it as encouragement.
"Lena…"
"I don't…I don't…I want to live…"
"Come back to us Lena…" I murmured, no idea what I was saying and forgetting about those watching through tear filled eyes; I didn't care about them, "You're not gonna die…" I could feel my own eyes watering, pushing down that anger at what he'd done to her. She didn't deserve any of this. Slowly I felt her lean more into my hand, her breathing slowing down just a little as my other hand rose, cradling her face, brushing away the persistent tears with the pad of my thumb, "Come back to me…"
The mantra slowed, doe eyes blinking and wide, looking up at me as the words became silent though her lips kept forming them as she gave in' Her body went limp and I pulled her close, pressing my lips to the top of her head as her shoulders shook, feeling her tears soak into my shirt as she clung on. "Damon…I'm so sorry-"
Muttering soothing words, stroking her head in that way that always seemed to calm her down. She thought I didn't know about the nightmares she'd been having, just every now and again over the past few months. From somewhere behind me I heard one of the doctors say something about bleeding, looking immediately down to her stomach and feeling my heart sink further. The front of her hospital gown was stained red, the unhealed wound too disturbed by the attack. Pressing another kiss to her head, I shifted slightly, leaning down a little to speak softly by her ear, "Come on Lena," Smoothing my hands across her arms around my waist to where her hands were fisting into my shirt, I tried to gently pry them off, "Let go Lena…you have to let go."
"Don't leave, please Damon, don't leave me."
"Shh, I'm not going anywhere. Just let go for a second. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
It took a little more persuading before she finally managed to loosen her locked fingers, taking the opportunity to shift again, pulling her up slightly and sliding my arms under her, easily picking her up. Her arms moved to lock again around my neck, burying her face there and I didn't mind…she just needed to stop bleeding and I couldn't do that.
A group of the doctors I'd now lost all my trust in followed as I made my way back to her room, setting her carefully down on the bed and again having to convince her to release me so I could let them help, managing to persuade her that I wasn't going anywhere. But the second she let go the doctors pushed me out the way, shouting for a million medical supplies as her eyes turned frantic once more, fear in those gorgeous doe eyes…
But what could I do? How could I help her? I couldn't… They wouldn't let me-
They told me to get out of the room instead. Even I knew that wouldn't help her calm down but what did they didn't care. They didn't care about her, just the injuries and what it would look like on their form. But what power did I have here? I found myself leant against the wall outside, just waiting. The nurses in the station just across the hall kept sending looks my way, a million different expressions but none of them mattered. But then there was one, I'd talked to her earlier this week…Meredith I think. She handed me a coffee, a small smile on her face.
"You did good." Swallowing some of the strong caffeine, I didn't say a word but she wasn't discouraged, "You handled that better than anyone else so well done."
"I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. You lot are doctors, why wasn't anyone doing anything?" It wasn't meant to sound so harsh but I was too tired to correct myself. Again though, it didn't seem to bother her.
"Doesn't change it. It's hard to deal with sleep-walkers, especially with wounds that extensive. But you managed...you're young to be so in love."
I didn't say anything, just looked down at the dark coffee swirling in the Styrofoam cup, feeling her press her palm to my arm in a comforting gesture before turning and walking away. Letting out a heavy sigh, I turned my head to look at through the window of the door opposite, only seeing a wall of doctors, the occasional glimpse of the bed but not her.
Maybe I was young…after all I wasn't even 19 yet. Did it really matter? When it was someone like her…what did age matter?
But then at the same time it did matter if she didn't feel the same...Why would she? She hadn't even wanted a relationship after that fucking ass hole did that to her, the chances of her actually feeling the same way towards me were about one in a million. But that wasn't to say I was going to break up with her. Hell no, I had officially become the archetypal chick-flick reformed 'bad guy'. But it was for her so how could I complain? I think mother dearest would certainly have something to say about it though. The look she gave me when she found out what happened that night from the police, I swear she was about to hug me in public and shower me in appraisal. Outrageous. But it was no secret that she and Elena's mum were plotting. I swear I heard the word 'wedding' the other day.
Did I care? Of course not. Though they could be a little more subtle about it; I don't think her dad was quite there yet…
Obviously I've never been to med school or anything so lets just say that the hospital staff are mostly incompetent :)