Caroline jerked awake, her eyes scanning the room wildly.
"Breathe, Caroline." Elena held her hand as firmly as she could. "You're okay. Shh, shhh. You're fine."
"What happened?" Caroline focused on Elena for a moment before looking around for something. "Why am I so hungry?"
"You're in transition to becoming a vampire and you're hungry because you need human blood to complete it."
"A vampire?"
"Yes, Caroline."
"Vampires aren't real!" she shrieked.
"Shhh. People can hear you! Yes, they are. Caroline. They're as real as witches. Breathe. Caroline. Breathe. You'll be okay. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere.
"Vampire? How can I be a vampire?" Caroline scrambled back.
"Because you were dying, so I asked a vampire to give you their blood, since vampire blood heals a human, but then you died from an improper injection."
"Vampires are real? You promise?"
"Yes, and pretty soon, you're going to get memories that another vampire compelled away from you. And they're bad, Caroline, but I'm gonna be there for you, all the way, I promise." Elena took a deep breath before continuing. "You've got about twenty-four hours to decide whether to transition or die. I can give you some of my blood right now and you'll be a vampire."
"You're joking, right?" Caroline's panic rose.
"You'll be okay. I promise. You'll be better than okay."
Elena rubbed Caroline's hand, infusing her touch with as much calm as she could. She hated manipulating Caroline like this, but she needed her friend to be able to think around the panic she was currently feeling. She didn't want to make Caroline think thoughts that weren't hers, she just wanted her friend to be able to think through her fear.
"I don't have a choice?" Caroline asked finally as Elena's calming spell took effect. "Turn or die?"
"This isn't a bad thing, Caroline. Elijah's over a thousand years old. He and his siblings are the first vampires and Elijah doesn't abandon baby vampires he's sired, not without a damn good reason. He'll help you find your path, and he'll make sure it's so much better than anything you could have ever dreamed of as a human."
"A vampire?"
"Breathe, Caroline." Holding out her hand, Elena lifted the sheets resting across Caroline's thighs with just the force of her will. "You know I'm a witch, Caroline. All becoming a vampire means is that now, you'll be able to hold your own against almost anyone or anything, with a little training."
"Okay. Okay. I'm okay."
"Do you want my blood now? Or wait until Elijah can get you out of the hospital and you can transition somewhere else?"
"What's it like, to transition?"
"Everything becomes better and worse at the same time, if you're not careful. It might be best to go somewhere quiet so the sounds don't overwhelm you," Elena said, her mind flashing back to her own time as a vampire. Perhaps, with just Caroline as a mentor, she would have accepted being a vampire better, and made a go of it. Oh, well, there was no going back to that. The only way was forward with her own new life.
"I've got a day to decide?"
"Right around twenty-four hours, yes."
"So, I've got until this time tonight to drink blood?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll wait until you guys can convince the doctors to let me out and then I'll transition."
"Are you sure about this?"
Tears formed in Caroline's eyes. "I don't wanna die."
"Then, you won't." Elena gripped Caroline's hand tightly. "I'll give you my blood and you'll be a vampire. Then I'll make you a daylight ring, so you can go out into the sun and be yourself. But there is one thing."
"What?"
"You'll have to break up with Matt."
"What?" Caroline shrieked.
"You'll be a baby vampire and he's human. Until you learn to control your blood lust, you'll be a danger to all humans. Please, believe me, it's so hard at first. Once Elijah thinks you've mastered control enough, then maybe you can try to get back together with him."
"But Matt makes me happy."
"I know, Caroline. I know. He's also just lost his mother, so he can't be in fear of his life too."
"Wait, Kelly's dead?"
Elena nodded.
Caroline lay back and stared at the ceiling, a tear trickling from the corner of her eye. Elena rubbed Caroline's hand, offering whatever comfort she could. There was no way she was going to let Caroline go through what she did last time.
Suddenly, Caroline gasped, nearly spraining Elena's wrist as she moved her hands to grip her head.
"Caroline?" Elena stood up.
"I remember," Caroline whispered, horrified. Tears filled her eyes and her voice came out in a pained whine, "I wanted him to stop. I begged him to stop. And he wouldn't. He wouldn't stop! I wasn't strong enough!"
"I'm so sorry, Caroline. I'm so sorry." Elena wrapped her arms around Caroline's shoulders and rubbed her back.
Guilt ate at her all over again. What had it cost Caroline to be her friend, knowing that Elena had married her abuser? Yes, people can change, but that didn't mean that Caroline should have been forced to allow him back into her life, just to keep her friend.
"I wanted him to stop!" Caroline's shoulders shook now.
"I know, I know. It's not your fault. Damon is a jackass and Elijah tortured him for days for what he did to you."
"Really?" Caroline whispered.
"Sexual assault pisses him off, so he dealt with it."
"How bad did he hurt Damon?"
"You'll have to ask him for details, but I know it was brutal."
"Will you stay with me, until I'm able to get out? I don't feel safe."
Elena nodded and sat back down.
"Will I be okay?" Caroline asked.
"Between Bonnie, Elijah, and me, you'll be fine. You'll be better than fine." Elena rubbed Caroline's back. "You'll be everything you've ever wanted to be and more."
"Promise?"
"I swear it."
Exhaling a shuddering breath, Caroline pulled herself closer to Elena.
Someone knocked on the door and Elena looked up to see Elijah entering the room. Elena caught his eye and smiled at him. God, she wanted him. Damn it. She had to keep her focus on Caroline and not let her teenage hormones run away with her brain.
"She'll be released first thing in the morning. We just need to keep her from completing the transition until she's home."
Elijah came around the bed and ran his hand down Elena's back, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Reaching up, Elena caught the back of his neck, and tipped her head so she could kiss his lips lightly. He pulled back after a moment, brushing the tip of his nose against her forehead as he straightened.
"I'll pack a bag for you and be back in a bit."
"Bring an extra change of clothing. Caroline and I wear close enough to the same size that she can wear some of my things until we get her home."
"Of course."
After kissing her temple, Elijah vanished.
"Why did you get a good vampire who loves you and I got a bad one?"
"Damon forced his way into your life because of me, Caroline. He wanted to get to me and he knew that the best way to do that was to hurt you."
"Why?"
"It's a long story," Elena sighed.
"We've got time until it's time for me to leave the hospital."
Leaning back in her chair, Elena told Caroline the history of the doppelgangers, then went on to explain the tale of Katherine and the Salvatore brothers, and why they were drawn to her face. As she told Caroline the story, her heart broke again over how naive she'd been the first time around. Why had she believed them when they claimed they were no longer in love with Katherine? So much pain had been brought into the lives of the people she loved, all because she wanted to believe.
Finally, she reached the end of her tale and drew a deep breath to try to stabilize her emotions.
"Are you okay?" Caroline asked.
"I'll be fine. Just some things I need to work through." Elena waved off her concern. "This is about you getting the help you need to make it in this life anyway, not whatever's going on with me."
"Elena, don't shut me out, not now, not that I know the truth about everything."
"I lived another life," Elena admitted. "Lived and died."
"What?"
"This is my second time around," Elena confirmed. "After I died, I went to heaven, then the spirits of nature decided I need to fix things, because I did some things I'm not proud of, things I'm now ashamed of, things that hurt to think of now because of all the harm they brought to people I love."
Caroline stared at Elena owlishly.
"I made mistakes that rippled so far across time that the spirits decided they needed me to reset."
"What happened?"
"I trusted the Salvatores, believed them. Fell in love with one, then the other, just like Katherine. I didn't know the full extent of what Damon did to you until this time around and that's why I'm ashamed. I trusted him, instead of taking my best friend at her word, as to what kind of person he could be. And that's why I'm trying so hard to be a better friend, so you don't have to know what it's like to have a friend so selfish she doesn't take what you went through into account." Elena brushed her tears away savagely. "I'm so sorry, Caroline. I'm so sorry."
"Why are you sorry? It didn't happen this time."
"Still, it did happen to you in my other life and I hate myself for it."
"Don't, Elena. Don't hate yourself for the mistakes you're trying to fix now." Caroline caught Elena's hand and wrapped it in both of hers.
"How could I have ever loved my best friend's abuser? Loved and married him?" Elena blinked back tears, fighting for control of her emotions. "And now I'm being selfish by making this about me, all over again."
"Do you feel the same way now?"
"No. Not at all." Elena shook her head, recoiling from her previous life choices. Caroline deserved so much better from her and everyone else.
"Okay. So you're making it right this time around and being the best friend a girl could want, so I forgive you."
"Thank you." A weight lifted off of Elena's shoulders at hearing Caroline say that.
"Does Elijah know about your other life?"
"He's known everything from the beginning. I told him the first day I met him."
"And he still fell in love with you, knowing he was risking heartbreak in case you decided to try to pursue this other path again."
"Yeah." Elena smiled a little.
The most guarded man she'd ever met had let her in, even though he knew at the time that there was a strong possibility that with a single sentence, she could wreck him. She felt even more protective of him and ached to keep him safe from any who might try to manipulate him.
"Did I find a love like that?"
Elena thought back to Klaus. She had to admit it, but the hybrid was good for Caroline and it was a tragedy that they never got to experience a life together.
"Perhaps. If I say anything than that, it could prove a disaster for us to try to force it." It was best to play coy about that since they were both stubborn and Klaus was so paranoid that anyone expressing an interest in him was automatically a suspect in whatever plot he thought people were planning against him.
There was a quick knock on the door and Elijah entered the room. Approaching Elena, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"Did you find out what happened?" Elena asked.
Elijah stepped back and turned so that he was facing both Elena and Caroline as he answered, "Tina Fell was so angry that Caroline won, she used her cousin's ID badge, since Meredith Fell is a doctor here, to swipe some penicillin and inject Caroline with it."
"And Caroline had a penicillin allergy, so it would kill her," Elena snarled.
"She's been caught and charged with attempted murder, since everyone is convinced that Caroline crashed, but they were able to bring her back."
"Was there any compulsion involved?" Elena asked.
"Not that I could see, no."
"Tina Fell tried to kill me?"
"She did kill you," Elena reminded her.
Caroline pulled a face at the reminder.
"I've convinced the sheriff to allow Caroline to come home with you while she sorts this mess out."
"Which could take a while since it is a Founding Family member who did this."
"Exactly."
"And we might be able to talk Liz around to accepting Caroline as a vampire sooner than she did last time."
"Mom doesn't like vampires?"
"Your dad is worse about it."
"My parents will hate me?"
"Only at first. It will take time, but she'll see that she's wrong, that you're still you, and some demon didn't jump into your skull and take over. She was raised to believe that all vampires are evil, but she loves you, so she'll see you. She'll just need time."
"You promise she won't always hate me?" Caroline curled in on herself.
"She won't, Caroline. She's your mother and she'll see that becoming a vampire is the best thing that's ever happened to you." Elena rubbed Caroline's arm.
"Shall I leave now?" Elijah asked after a moment.
"You've got damage control, don't you?" Elena caught his hand, linking their fingers.
"Yes. The sooner we get ahead of this, the better. I've got a new vampire to teach the ropes."
"You'll mentor her?"
"It was my blood that turned her and that makes her my responsibility, especially during her first year." Leaning down, Elijah cupped her cheek and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"I'll see you in the morning," Elena said.
"I'll be here to pick you both up first thing."
Elijah flashed away, leaving the two girls alone, and Elena sat down beside Caroline again.
"So, how does he kiss, for real?"
Elena shook her head and laughed.
"What?"