A/N: Quite a lot of this chapter is in 3rd person POV after the beginning in Elijah's. I started writing it and realised that, without a heck of a lot of experience in what Elijah goes through in this chapter, there was no way I was going to be able to write this in 1st.

Also, I am working on another story to post after I finish this, although, how I'm seeing it right now, there will probably also be a sequel to this story to come.

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"You actually think we can do this?" Elena asked, propping her forearm on my bare chest and leaning on her hand so that she could look me in the eye.

"Do what?" I hummed, pecking her on the lips lightly and smiling at her giggle as I ran my fingertips over her bare back absently.

"Raise a kid." Elena said with a light shrug, brushing her hair over the shoulder furthest away from me so that it was no longer dangling on my chest. "Be parents?"

I moved my hands to the sides of her face, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I know we can." I assured her. "We can do anything we put our minds to."

Elena smiled, moving in the bed so that she was straddling me and kissing me lightly. "I love you."

Elijah.

"I love you too." I grinned, kissing her again.

"Apparently you can't bloody be quiet!" Rebekah snapped. "Why don't you put your minds to that? Some of us are trying to sleep you know!"

Elena giggled, kissing me again.

"And I love how you love annoying my siblings." I hummed, grinning at Elena when she leaned down to kiss me again, laughing into the kiss at the sound of Rebekah's frustrated scream, probably muffled by her pillow.

"Elijah!"

Elijah.

"Elijah!" I looked up at the sound of my name and saw Rebekah staring at me with wide eyes. "You need to put Elena down."

Glancing around, I realised that we were in the emergency department of the Mystic Falls hospital, a gurney in front of me.

"Elijah." Kol said firmly, capturing my attention and snapping me out of my reverie. "You have to put her down."

I slowly placed Elena on the gurney, watching as Rebekah and Kol both moved out of the way to let Meredith Fell step forward and take a look at Elena.

"Elena, can you hear me?" The doctor asked lightly, brushing the hair away from Elena's face. "What happened?" She asked then, turning to me, saying my name firmly when I didn't answer.

"I don't-I don't know. We were just led down, we were-she was crying; she was upset and then she-she said that something was wrong; that her stomach hurt and there was blood, I don't know!"

Meredith nodded, turning to bark out orders for an ultrasound and pulling Elena's shirt up slightly as she was handed the machine.

"Placental abruption." Meredith said after a moment, placing the ultrasound aside. "I need an OR now."

"What does that mean?" I asked, grabbing the doctor's arm when she ignored me to continue barking orders at the people around us. "What does that mean?"

"It means that the placenta has come away from the wall of the uterus; your baby is losing its oxygen supply. If we don't deliver the baby now, it will die." She explained carefully, clearly gauging my reaction to her words. "Do you understand?"

I nodded slowly, releasing Meredith's arm and moving my hand to take hold of Elena's along with my other one.

"Elijah," Meredith said after a few moments, "you need to let go of Elena's hand. We have to go now."

"I can't." I denied instantly. "I can't leave her."

"Elijah." Rebekah murmured, gently taking my arm. "You need to let them go and help Elena."

"Rebekah, I…"

"Elijah." Kol said then, gently putting his hands over mine and taking them from Elena. "Let them help her."

Noticing them wheel Elena off, I went to follow them, but Rebekah quickly stood in my way, putting her hands on my chest. "You can't do anything to help with this. Let them do their job."

"Rebekah, I can't just-"

"Elijah. Let them do their job."

"I can't, I…nothing was supposed to go wrong, Bekah, this isn't supposed to be happening."

"That's what you said last time, Kol!" Elena said in a sing-song voice, making Kol roll his eyes.

"Yeah, well I mean it this time. How was I supposed to know that Nik would take it so seriously?"

"Its Klaus." Elena said, like that explained everything, which, to be fair, it kind of did. "What did you expect?"

"Come on, Lijah. Back me up here!" Kol plead, looking to me for support.

I shrugged, taking a seat beside Elena and moving my arm to allow her to nestle into my side. "Sorry, Kol, I agree with Klaus on this one. That brush was custom made for him in the fifteenth century. I daresay he's justifiably angry this time."

"It's not like I meant to break the damn thing!" Kol cried, throwing his hands up. "It isn't even broken! The bristles are just a bit splayed!"

"That's practically the same thing as breaking it." Elena murmured with a shrug when we both looked at her in surprise. "Jer's an art student, remember? You only make the mistake of ruining a brush that way once, believe me."

"I believe what they just said can be loosely translated into 'you're on your own, you bloody idiot'." Rebekah supplied with a sunny grin, falling onto the couch beside me.

Elena scoffed and Kol glared at Rebekah.

"Oh, shove off." He muttered darkly, walking out of the room at Elena's laugh.

"-do you hear me, Elijah?"

I let out a noise of confusion, realising that Rebekah was still talking to me.

"I said this isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself, Elijah."

"How can I not?"

"What happened?" Caroline demanded, striding into the hospital with Niklaus, Bonnie, Jeremy and Alaric. "Where's Elena?"

"Surgery." I muttered, voice as empty as I felt. "She's in surgery."

"What happened?" Caroline asked again, her voice slightly softer that time.

"Doctor Fell said it's something called placental abruption." I recounted. "The baby is losing oxygen; they have to deliver him now." I finished speaking, surprised to find the blonde vampire wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

Carefully, I wrapped my arms around her frame in return, letting my head fall to her shoulder against my better judgement as I returned the embrace.

"She's gonna be okay." Caroline murmured softly, although I wasn't sure who she was trying to convince: me, or herself. "They're both gonna be fine."

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"How's he doing?" Rebekah asked Kol quietly, watching Elijah pace by the doors to the waiting room.

"Look at him." Bonnie muttered, making the two originals look her way. "Does he look remotely okay?"

"Bonnie…" Rebekah sighed, seeing the witch's eyes beginning to water.

"He's not okay. None of this is okay!" She hissed, getting up from her chair and storming out of the waiting room.

"I've got it." Jeremy murmured, following her out before Kol or Caroline could finish rising from their chairs.

"She's right, you know." Caroline murmured, shaking her head slightly. "Asking if he's okay is a pretty goddamn redundant question, Rebekah."

The blonde looked down at the floor for a moment, feeling pretty chastised by the younger vampire, before the sound of doors opening drew her eyes up again.

"Mr Mikaelson?" A young nurse asked, glancing at a clipboard.

"Where's Elena?" Elijah asked immediately, stopping his pacing for the first time since they had all migrated to the waiting room two hours ago. "What's happening?"

"Some…complications have arisen in Miss Gilbert's surgery." The nurse said, almost hesitant when he realised how many people were waiting for him to talk.

"What does that mean?" Elijah pressed, his voice dropping dangerously low. "Where is Elena?"

Noticing the drop in Elijah's tone, Klaus stood up, exchanging a look with Kol, and moved closer to Elijah, prepared to step in if he had to.

"She's still in surgery." The nurse said, looking pretty uncomfortable with the two brothers stood opposite him. "Doctor Fell asked me to tell you that she thinks they may be in there for a few more hours."

"Why?" Elijah demanded. "What is happening?"

The nurse shook his head, at a loss. "I'm sorry, I don't know. I was just asked to tell you it may be a while. I'm sure that someone who is in the surgery will be out to give you a more informative update soon enough."

"Then why are you here?" Elijah near-yelled. "What is the point in you being here?"

Klaus stepped in front of his brother, a hand on his chest to keep him from taking another step closer to the nurse and telling said nurse to 'just leave' without turning around.

"Calm down." Klaus said firmly, giving his brother a soft shove on the chest to emphasise his point.

"Calm down?" Elijah scoffed incredulously. "My pregnant girlfriend is in surgery because our baby can't breathe; the hospital staff are completely incompetent; they could both die and you want me to calm down?" Elijah hissed, brushing his brother's hands from his person.

"Am I missing something?" Alaric asked, speaking up for the first time. "Elena's a vampire. Unless they've started using wood in surgery, it won't kill her."

"She's been eating human food for nearly the entirety of her pregnancy; she stopped drinking blood about two months in. God knows what the actual pregnancy has done to her. For all we know she is susceptible to mortal deaths again!" Elijah hissed, careful to keep his voice quiet despite his anger.

"You don't think…."

"I don't know what to think, Rebekah!" He snapped, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Elijah, giving up won't help anyone." Rebekah edged cautiously.

"You think I'm giving up?" Elijah scoffed, shaking his head incredulously.

"It certainly sounds like it." Rebekah said softly, trying not to anger her brother.

"I-I don't know what you want me to say right now, Rebekah. I-what do you want from me? They could die in there; Elena and my child." Elijah said, the livid anger draining from his voice and becoming more resigned as he spoke, his shoulders slumping. "They could both die and I seem to be the only person who even recognises that possibility." He sighed, turning away from everyone and beginning his pacing again, a clear sign that he was through talking to them. Because, despite the fact that he wanted to get as far away from his family and Elena's (and walking away would definitely ensure they stopped talking to him), there was no way in hell he was risking not being there for Elena and his baby: their baby.

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Shortly after Elijah's outburst, Bonnie and Jeremy had come back and, not long later, they, along with Caroline, had all fallen asleep, sprawled on various hospital chairs.

Kol had gone to talk to Pamela to see if she knew where Elena stood in regards to her humanity, and Rebekah and Klaus had gone to get some blood for themselves and the other vampires in the waiting area. This left Elijah pretty much alone, Alaric the only other one who was still there and awake.

"You okay, man?" Said person asked, making Elijah glance at him for a moment in surprise before going back to his pacing.

"You care about Elena, yes?" Elijah asked a moment later, glancing at Alaric.

The human blinked at the unexpected question, but nodded. "She's like a daughter to me."

Elijah nodded slowly. "Then you shouldn't have to ask."

"Look, I get that we're not exactly friends, what with the me stabbing you and everything…but Elena is my family, and seeing as you guys are…hell I don't even know what to call it, because from what I've heard, just saying you're dating is one hell of an understatement. I mean, she's having your kid, Elijah. That girl loves you more than I've ever since before, and I've hardly seen the two of you together. This is just what I've heard, mainly from Elena, because she doesn't shut up about you." Alaric laughed quietly, shooting a glance at the Original and seeing that he had stopped his pacing.

"I don't even know what the hell I just said." Alaric laughed again, shaking his head. "But I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're Elena's family: you, that baby, your psychotic siblings. And while I could do without the latter, I guess that kind of makes you my family too. So, I'll ask again, are you okay?"

Elijah looked at the seated man in surprise, he hadn't expected something like that to come from the other man's lips.

"I've…been better." He hedged hesitantly after a few long moments of quiet.

"You didn't think that Elena being in surgery earned us a call?" Damon snapped, storming into the waiting room with Stefan.

"No. I didn't." Elijah said flatly. "To be frank, Elena hasn't spoken to the two of you in months. I didn't think it was worth wasting my time in calling you, who I absolutely detest, to have you harass me for a few hours while they're in surgery."

"We're Elena's family!" Damon hissed, glaring at the nonchalant Original. "That wasn't your call to make."

"You're not Elena's family, Damon." Alaric said, standing from his chair. "Not anymore. You lost that right when you turned on her after she got her emotions back."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Damon scoffed. "You too? They got to you too."

"They didn't 'get to me', Damon." Alaric frowned, incredulous. "They are Elena's family. I am Elena's family. You were Elena's friend."

"Ouch, Ric. And here I was thinking the two of us are friends."

"Sure we are, Damon." Alaric nodded. "But Elena's happy with Elijah. I might not like it, but she's happier than I ever saw her stuck in her tug of war with you and Stefan." The latter looked away guiltily, his first significant movement since the two brothers had entered the waiting room. "I'm sure as hell not gonna get in the way of her being happy, no matter how often we drink together."

Damon scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "You've gone insane, Ric." Damon sneered.

"Let's just go, Damon." Stefan finally said, shaking his head slightly. "We're clearly not wanted here." He murmured, turning to leave before turning back to the occupants of the room. "Please, just tell her to call me when she wakes up…I need to talk to her."

Elijah stared at the younger Salvatore for a few moments, his jaw clenched, before nodding stiffly.

Stefan offered up a small smile before turning and leaving, not bothering to see if Damon was going to follow him.

"Damon, go." Alaric implored, making the older man let out a breathy scoff, shaking his head.

"Whatever. This whole situation is screwed anyway." He muttered, storming out of the room.

"Elijah." Meredith Fell said softly, turning the heads of the two men in the room. She was still wearing her surgical scrubs, fiddling with the cap in her hands.

"Where's Elena?"

She opened her mouth to speak before closing it and swallowing, starting again a moment later. "Elijah, something…Elena's dead."