Warning: Character(s) Death
Hello, my lovely readers. This chapter will place several characters on a new path… On with the show…
Ch. 11 Yesterday...
"Did you hear what happened on Wickery Bridge?" A question that echoed through the quiet town of Mystic Falls. It began as a whisper, becoming a low buzz and ending as a low howl.
In small towns, gossip travels faster than the mail,although it might be carried in by the mail carrier. This was the case on what should have been a quiet, Saturday morning. Damon and Stefan Salvatore had stopped by the Mystic Grill, with Damon intent on buying breakfast and coming to the Lockwood's place to visit me. That's when they heard the news as the mailman discussed the events of the night before with all those who would listen-which included everyone there that morning. When his story ended, no one knew: a new one was beginning...
Fourteen Hour Ago:
My fingers drifted over a piece of paper. A piece of charcoal was clutched between my digits. My eyes darted over the image coming to life before me. Her soft curls being shaped as my hand went down the page. The curve of her cheek. Her eyes lit up with laughter. Caroline.
This was not my first attempt to sketch my love, but my fifth. Her birthday would be upon us, soon enough, and I wanted to create the perfect present. Jewelry, though something she enjoyed, did not feel personal enough. This was to be her Sweet Sixteen, and I felt she must have something to cherish for a lifetime.
The phone to my right began to ring. My first instinct was to ignore it. This present was more important. And if it was important, my caller would try, again. As if they heard my thoughts, the ringing ceased. With a sigh, I returned to my work. However, the phone began to ring once more the second I had my focus back. Feeling irritable, I reached put and snatched it up. "Hello?" I snapped onto the receiver.
"Nik..." Caroline.
"Caroline, sweetheart..." A soft whimper came down the other end of the line. "Caroline, what is the matter, love?" All thoughts connected to her present evaporated as she let out a quiet sob. "Caroline, where are you?"
"My mom..." Caroline gulped and she did not speak, making my head ache. But I had to be patient.
"Yes..."
"My m-mom... She had an officer come to pick me up... I'm at the hospital."
"Are you alright?"
"No...no...Elijah's..." She broke into sobs. "Nik..."
"I'm coming." I replaced the receiver with a shaking hand. Getting to my feet, the sketch drifted to the floor along with the sketchpad. The piece of coal dropped atop my covers, rolling along the indention where I had sat. I did not worry over the mess. My feet moved over the sketchbook which had fallen open, a drawing of my siblings' faces showed up as I hurried to the door.
Leaving the guest room, I did not make it down the hall without someone trying to stop me. "Hey, Klaus. I got this new game. Thought you'd want to play a round."
"Perhaps a different time." I moved past Tyler.
"Well, I hate to invoke it this way," Tyler began in a light tone, "but I dar-"
"I said: Not now, Tyler!" I growled out.
"Sorry..." I heard a door open and shut.
Shaking my head, I hurried sown the stairs and out the front door. I did not have time for games. All I had time for was reaching my brother.
~0~
With a deep inhalation, I stopped outside my own front door. I knew my face would not be a welcome sight to my father after our latest argument. However, whatever had happened with Elijah must take precedence. My hand went inside my pocket and I fished out my key, shoving it in the lock, I found that not only Father had not changed the lock, someone had, foolishly, left it open. I pushed the door open, withdrawing my key.
Inside the house, I found not a soul in the living room. Music could be heard from the kitchen. Striding in that direction, I found my sister and a group of her little friends. They were listening to music and gossiping about a boy who could be someone in town or a movie star. I couldn't care less which one it was.
"Rebekah!" I called, over the sound of the band-of-the-week.
My sister paid me no mind. She continued to chat with her little friends. "Oh, really?" She was saying, curling her hair around her finger.
"Re-bek-ah!" I tried, one again, to gain my bratty sister's attention. She had a remarkable ability to lose all capacity for hearing when the mood suited. Letting out a growl, I stomped over and ripped the cord out of the outlet. "Get out!" I bellowed at the other girls.
"Rude!" One of them cried with an eye roll.
"Rude...but hot," another said with a grin before they left the room.
"Nik, you're ruining my fun!" Rebekah complained, hand on her hip.
Letting out another growl, I took hold of her by the elbow and dragged her from the room. "Nik! Nik! Ow! That hurts! Let go! I'll tell Father!" She cried as I hauled her up the stairs.
Turning Rebekah to face me, she stopped complaining at the sight of my expression. "Get Henrik! Now!" Without further comment, I went down the hall and hammered on Kol's door before shoving it open. Kol sat on his bed, headphone on, a magazine in his lap. Looking around, I found an action figure of some ridiculous super villain and tossed it at him. "Get up! We have to go to the hospital!" I shouted. Kol looked confused, possibly because I missed his head by a fraction.
Continuing down the hall, I knocked on Father's office door. Some part of me expected him to be at the school. Pushing the door open, I found him at his desk. He did not look at me. Before I could speak, his phone rang, and he picked it up. Brows knitting together, Father fell back in his seat. His eyes connected with mine as my siblings appeared behind me.
"Why are we going to the hospital?" Rebekah demanded.
"Nik!"
"Niklaus, go and get Finn." Father ordered me, getting to his feet, and walking around his desk. "The rest of you, go to the car." He did not add anything else to me or touch me as he exited his office.
~0~
The drive to the hospital was deadly silent. I had driven to Finn's and Sage's little apartment, across town, and Finn had not seemed sure of what to make of my news. He had not spoken a word since I had said the word "hospital." They sat in the back of my car, Finn gloomy, staring out the window. Perhaps we all feared losing another family member.
Once I pulled in, Finn leapt out of the car and made for the front door. Sage was behind him. I had to take a moment to pull out my keys and lock the doors. Striding toward the sliding doors, my heart was pounding in my chest. Inside the hospital, I found the rest of my family. Father stood by the desk, talking to a nurse with Finn by his side. Sage stood with our younger siblings. My arms crossed and I waited for news.
"I'm sorry, sir. All it says is that he was treated and released. I can page the doctor who examined him..."
As the nurse spoke, Liz Forbes came down the hall. She wore her uniform and was paler than usual. She saw my Father at the desk and started toward him when I darted forward, intercepting her, "Elijah, where is he?" I felt she must know something.
"Klaus..." Liz placed a hand on my shoulder and I felt my heart stop. Please, no!
"Elijah is upstairs. In the ICU lobby, with Caroline-" I did not let her continue before I shot toward the stairs and shoved the door open. My feet pounded the cement as I made my way up to the ICU.
I pushed the door open and entered the mostly abandoned lobby. Caroline sat in one of their chairs, my dripping wet brother say beside her. "Nik!" she cried when she saw me in the doorway. Without a second's thought, I ran to her and threw my arms around her. Caroline began to sob, burying her face in my shoulder as I stared at my brother.
For his part, Elijah did not even seem to be aware of my presence. His eyes were fixed on a spot on the linoleum tile. The elevator doors pinged open and my family exited it. "Elijah!" Rebekah ran over to throw her arms around Elijah. "Why are you wet? Father, he's soaked through. What kind of hospital is this that they did not give him clothes?"
Caroline pulled back from me. "They did," she said, wiping her cheeks and sniffling, "but he's...he can't seem to hear us..." She looked at me and I looked at Elijah.
Father came over to stand in front of Elijah. "Elijah? Son? Cam you hear me?" Elijah did not even blink.
"Elijah," Finn moved to Father's side. "We're all here."
Again, Elijah stared into space.
"I should get you something to drink." Caroline smiled brightly at my family. Leaning closer to me, she added, "They tried to get Elijah to eat or drink something. He wouldn't. Maybe you can get him to." Not waiting for my response, she clapped her hands together. "Bekah. Kol. Henrick. Can you play my helpers?" She held out her hands and only Henrik took one. However, Rebekah and Kol joined her.
Father stood up and ran a hand through his hair. He looked to me and then out the window. The door to the ICU buzzed open and a doctor came towards us. "Hello. You must be Elijah's family-"
"I'm Elijah's father," Father announced, holding out an arm, directing the doctor away from our little group.
"I think I'm going to go help Caroline." Sage patted Elijah knee before taking off.
Finn and I looked at each other before Finn went to join father and the doctor. The elevator opened, emitting Liz who joined the group discussing Elijah like he was not sitting ten feet away.
"Elijah." I took a seat beside my brother. He did not respond. I took his hand and watched as the adults broke down what had happened. I caught snippets. "Near drowning." "Heroic." "Therapy." Father shook his head at that last word. "No," he said this firmly.
"Mikael," Liz began until Father glared her into silence.
"It did little to help my wife." Father looked away. His eyes went to the window and the darkened sky outside.
"Scrubs," was said by the doctor as Caroline came back with drinks in her hands. Sage had snacks in her arms. Rebekah and Kol carried more drinks. As they approached, Liz took the scrubs and headed towards me and Elijah. "These are for Elijah. He needs to change."
Caroline sat down the drinks and took the scrubs. "Klaus?"
I nodded and took the light blue material in hand. "Elijah, come with me." I pulled at him as gently as I could. Without a word, Elijah got to his feet and we made our way to the men's room. Thankfully, no one else was inside. No shock there. No one else had been in the lobby.
I led my brother towards a stall, and found that he could only stand in front of it. With a sigh, I led him over to a sink. When we were younger, Elijah would help me dress. I supposed this is where I got to reciprocate. Taking hold of my brother's Mystic Grill shirt, I began to pull it up when our eyes connected.
"Niklaus, what are you doing?" Elijah's voice sounded hoarse and he seemed confused.
"Your clothing. It's soaked. You need to change. Or I'll have to do it for you..."
Elijah looked down at his clothes as if he did not remember how they got that way. Then his gaze turned inward. "Yes. Thank you." He held out his hands for the scrubs and I handed them over.
Leaning against the sink behind me, I watched Elijah make his way inside one of the stalls. The latch clicked into place. I could see his shoes and socks coming off and my eyes went to the ceiling. I really wished someone would tell me what happened tonight.
A couple of minutes later, the latch clicked open and Elijah's fingers pulled the door open from the top. He exited the stall and stood, wet clothes in his hands. We really did need to find him a bag for those things.
"Elijah, can you tell me what happened...tonight?" I watched as Elijah came to lean against the sink next to me.
One of his hands went up and through his hair as Elijah stared at the floor. I thought I was losing him to shock, again. "Tonight?"
"Yes. Tonight."
Elijah held his clothes a little tighter, spraying a fine bit of water on the floor. His eyes went wide as they found the water droplets. "I got off work. It had begun to rain." I recalled the rain, from earlier in the day. "No one predicted it. The storm. It came out of nowhere. I shouldn't have driven home in it. But it wasn't terrible. Not at first. But the wind sprang up. Then sheets of rain. It was blinding. I had intended on taking Wickery Bridge. Stupid and dangerous as it was..."
My eyes were on my brother as his eyes darted back and forth, as if desperate to find something. "I was almost at the bridge when I saw a car lose control. It swerved," his hand went up indicate the car motion, "and then it was gone."
Elijah's eyes met mine. My hand went to his shoulder. "It was not your fault."
Elijah nodded. "I got out of my car. The rain and the wind were pushing me and drenching me. Still, I made my way over to the bridge. Leaning over, I could see the car being submerged and the water pulled it down. So, I took my jacket off and dove in. The water felt so cold it was painful. But I ignored it. I could not just stand by while these people drowning. Diving down, I swam towards the car. There were three people inside. And I could not leave her there... I just couldn't. And they will not let me see her, Niklaus. They won't let me see her..." His hand went into his hair and he began to cry.
A knock on the door alerted us to someone being there. It opened and Father stood there. His eyes went to Elijah. "Good. You're dressed. They're closing the lobby to visitors for the night." He beckoned for us to leave and Elijah shook his head.
Going to the door, I stood, and said, "Father, Elijah needs to see the girl. To know that she is okay."
Father's blue eyes studied me. "He can wait until tomorrow."
"Father, please, listen to me. This is important to Elijah-"
"And it is important to the hospital that their patients get an adequate amount of sleep. Come!" Father waved for Elijah to join us.
Turning my head, I could see that Elijah had turned to look at the mirror. He was shaking his head. This was not working and I did not want Father to try to force Elijah to leave the building before Elijah was ready. Whoever this girl was it was important enough for Elijah to lose his senses. This meant I would have to work through a way for him to see her.
"Give me a moment," I pleaded.
Father gave me a dark look. "Get him to leave. Or I will have the doctor return to sedate him." He backed up and allowed the door to close behind him.
With a sigh, I went back to Elijah's side. "Do you trust me, brother?" I asked.
Glancing at me, Elijah nodded.
"Good. Then. I am working through a plan. But we must leave this room before Father does something Father like..." Elijah nodded and we left the room. In the lobby, it was clear that everyone was ready to go. All their eyes fell on Elijah and I as we went over to join Caroline.
Father led us to an elevator and he pushed a button, waiting for it to come up. Once it had, he stepped inside. Finn followed him. Sage was behind them. Father waited and I moved to step inside the elevator and then paused. "I forgot something in the bathroom. Don't worry. We'll catch the next one." I hopped back off the elevator, watching as the doors slid closed on my father's narrowed eyed gaze.
Turning to the others, I reached out and punched the button, to make a show of leaving for anyone downstairs. "Bekah. Kol. Henrik. I dare all of you to demand Father takes you somewhere for real food. Can you do that?"
"I'm always hungry!" Kol agreed.
"Good. Now, go!" I waved them onto the elevator. "Just make sure to keep him distracted until we join you."
"Be careful, brother." Rebekah eyed me as the doors closed.
Inhaling, I turned to Elijah and Caroline. "We need to find a supply closet with scrubs." Caroline nodded. Elijah was already dressed for the part, so he would be fine. "We also need a wheelchair. Shouldn't be too hard."
~0~
It did not take too long for us to find another set of scrubs for Caroline to change into. We found a wheelchair a patient was not using and a blanket to throw over me. I allowed my head to fall forward.
Now, we just had to wait outside of the ICU doors. It did not take long before a patient's family member came out the door. They were kind enough to hold it open. The nurse on duty at the desk barely glanced up as Elijah passed by and Caroline pushed me along. We pushed the chair into another patient's room and then began to peer through windows until Elijah stopped.
I watched my brother as he stared inside the window of the room. Caroline came up behind me, burying her face in my shoulder. Then I heard the soft click as Elijah pushed the room door open. I did not know whether to follow him in, but Caroline slid around me and entered. Peering around, I went inside the room and pushed the door shut. A curtain was only partly closed. I could see the girl's hand on top of the blanket that covered her. Moving closer, I drew the curtain and looked up. My breath caught in my throat.
Lying on the bed, mass of dark curls amassed over the white pillow case was the one and only, Katherine Gilbert. She looked more fragile than I had ever seen her. An IV line was leading from her right hand to the drip above her. A small piece of plastic led to a machine to record her heart rhythm. Her eyelids were shut, fluttering every so often.
Elijah moved to stand beside her. His fingers went down to stroke her cheek. His eyes swept over her face as she slept. "When I went into the water, I did not have a clue that it was the Gilberts..." Caroline pressed her nose into my neck and I could feel that she was crying as Elijah continued his tale.
"I did not know it was Katherine. When I went into the water, I imagined strangers, trapped, afraid, and alone. The water's temperature caused my instinct to preserve my own life to kick in. But I needed to try to help these people. These strangers." He stopped talking and drew in a deep breath. "I fought all of my instincts, diving towards the car until I could see who was inside. Grayson Gilbert was at the wheel. Miranda in the passenger seat. And Katherine, when I swam to the back of the car... There she was. She'd been knocked unconscious. Grayson was trying to open the driver's side door, but it would not budge. I wanted to say something to him, but my lungs were burning. I had to go back up."
Eyes on the ceiling as if he could see the sky; Elijah said, "My eyes went to the bridge. It was well-traveled. Surely someone else had stopped by now. But there was no one. I went back down and tried to open the back door. And, again, I failed. I had to go back up. Soon, I would drown as well. I needed to try to get out and find help. But they were down there. Then I remembered that when enough pressure is placed on an object, a reaction will occur and the doors can be opened. I just needed to wait. But not too long."
"Going back for a third time, I had no idea what would happen. But when I pulled the door, it opened. Unhooking Katherine's seat belt, I wrapped my arms around her and swam with what little strength I had left. Making it to land, I pulled her onto the grass. She was cold. Her chest was not moving. I placed my ear to her chest and found she was not breathing. Applying CPR, I lost track of how long we were out there when she began to cough up water. I pulled her to me, rocking back and forth as she sobbed." Tears ran down Elijah's cheeks. "I was going to go back after her parents. But I could not leave her. Someone called to us from the bridge. Not long after, help arrived." He shook his head. "It was too late. It was too late for them..."
A soft whimper came from the bed. Our eyes went down to find Katherine's face was wet. Her lower lip trembled and she let out a low moan, beating the covers with her fists. The moan rose, becoming a wail as Katherine beat the hospital bed, her legs curling upward.
The door flew open and the curtain was ripped back. "What in the-you can't be in here!" she cried, looking at us. "Who let you in?"
"Um. We did. Sorry! She's our friend! And we-we're sorry." Caroline pressed her face into my chest and cried.
The nurse shook her head and waved for Elijah to move back. He did and she rounded the bed to spin a plastic wheel attached to the IV. "Go to sleep," she murmured to Katherine before rounding on Elijah. "You the boyfriend?" She did not wait for a reply. "Heard what you did," she said. Turning back to her patient, and smoothing the covers. "Brave. And stupid." She gave Elijah a rather long look. "You want your girl to heal? You let her rest. Time. And rest. The rest is in His hands. Now, you three. Go home. Rest your bones. You're no good without rest."
"Yes ma'am." I nodded and looked to Elijah.
Elijah nodded, too. "I needed to see her."
"Well, ya did that. Now, go heal yourself." She shooed us out.
"Elijah..." Katherine called and then her head fell to the side.
Pausing, Elijah said, "I will be back."
"During visiting hours!" The nurse called back.
We left the room, the floor and rode the elevator down to the lobby. "Shelia Bennett will be dropping by this evening," Father announced. "Do behave." He did not ask us where we had been.
~0~
I spent the night at my own house. Elena and Jeremy Gilbert slept on the floor of our living room. The rest of us hauled blankets and pillows down. In the morning, my Father and Shelia worked on breakfast while I snuck out of the house. I had decided to collect my sketchbook from the Lockwood's while Caroline was at my house, keeping Elena from having a breakdown.
Going into the room, I found nothing had been touched, yet. I picked up my sketchbook and flipped the pages backwards, looking for a specific page. Finding it, I felt hot tears prick the back of my lids at the sight of Katherine, Elena and Jeremy making faces while their parents stood behind them, smiling. They had stood for me for over an hour in the same poses. They would never pose for another portrait again...
Closing the book, I could hear the faint strains of John Lennon's Yesterday. Miranda Gilbert loved that song. Placing the pad under my arm, I carried it out the door, humming the tune, and thinking about how yesterday seemed so far away...
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing…
Be safe,
-J