Time.
A concept analyzed over and over again by philosophers, scientists and even religion, each coming up with their own explanation meant for the masses of people to simply accept. An explanation meant to soothe our minds and not allow us to feel lost in our own lives. Meant to give us the illusion of control when, in fact, time was merciless, taking and taking until we had nothing left to give.
Future.
Widely thought to lie in front of us, with the world as an oyster for us to conquer, yet an ancient civilization, Aymara, had once dared to venture against the tide and claim that the future was behind us. After all, we could never see it, never guess what it has in store for us, while we can always delve deeper into the crevices of our minds and lose ourselves in the past. Unfortunately, sometimes we do not come back to the surface of reality. After all, when there is nothing waiting for us what would be a good enough reason to abandon the safety of our minds? Why would we want to wake up to the gloom future?
That is precisely how Klaus felt as more and more minutes went by. As Caroline's breathing grew fainter and fainter with each passing second. As he realized just how helpless he truly was. As he pleaded to the sky and to a God he had never believed in.
In the end, the seconds melded together into a blood loss induced haze as the man found it harder and harder to keep focus, but his pressure on the blonde's wound never yielded. He could not let go. If it was up to him, he would never let go of Caroline. Although, now that he thought about it, perhaps he really should. After all, the only things he'd brought into her life had been hurt, pain and suffering. He ruined the people that stayed by his side and he knew that confessing his feelings had been selfish, but he had needed to.
For once in his wretched life, he'd needed to feel human again, to feel like more than just Mikael's perfectly honed killing machine. Like more than simply an emotionless monster who wasn't worthy of anything pure and good in the world.
And Caroline was so much more than that.
The kindest, most brimming with light person he'd ever met, whose smile could melt away all the icy walls that had surrounded his heart. And also the person who was slowly dying in his arms, while he powerlessly tried to stem the continuous flow of blood that refused to let up.
Where in the bloody hell was Elijah?
He had no idea how much time had passed, but it sure felt like an eternity.
A weak cough shook the woman's body, the thin crimson line marring her chin growing thicker and thicker to his utmost horror. She was choking on her own blood and all of his efforts to keep her alive appeared to be in vain as he could feel her life force slipping through his fingertips.
"Please, stay with me, Caroline," he begged once more although he knew his words fell on deaf ears. "Please, keep fighting, don't let go."
Shocked, he realized that his blurry vision was not only due to his injuries, as he'd wrongly assumed, but also a result of the tears clogged up in his eyes.
Funny how merely hours ago he would have died before crying, let alone cry in front of another person, yet now he couldn't care less about such shallow things.
Not when his world was about to come to a dizzying finale.
If Caroline died, there was no doubt in his mind regarding his next course of action- he would find Mikael and kill him without any hesitation. And then… then he would make a decision whether or not it was worth it to keep existing.
So far he could see virtually no reason for that other than his siblings, but he had no intention of continuing to ruin people. Everyone was better off without him. The best thing that he could do was walk away from everyone he loved and allow them a chance at a better life. A happier life without him to wreck everything as he always did.
And still, where in the god damned world was Elijah? Had he not grasped the gravity of the situation?
While he was contemplating manners in which to murder his brother he heard it. The sharp snapping of a twig followed by a multitude of voices, all blending together, united by a stronger, more authoritative one that was loudly yelling. As the hustle drew nearer, Klaus could discern the concern laced within the screams and the sound of his own name managed to tear through the fog engulfing him.
He knew that voice. He would know it anywhere even after all these years.
"Elijah," he tried to respond just as loudly, but his all his throat could manage was a weak, throaty croak. Apparently, that was enough as the footsteps immediately corrected their course, coming closer and closer.
Not more than 10 seconds had gone by when, from the dense foliage, almost running, emerged the tall silhouette of Elijah Mikaelson. Panting, with his usual crisp black suit now a wrinkled mess, covered in mud and leaves, frantic eyes relaxing just a bit upon falling on his brother, Elijah took a few moments to analyze the situation before him.
From the sprawled body of Finn Mikaelson to the horrifically beaten body of his younger brother and lastly, to the bleeding figure that Klaus was desperately clinging to. The blonde woman he now knew to be Caroline Forbes and who was paler than a sheet, her ragged breaths carrying all the way to him as his brother applied as much pressure on her wound as possible. His younger brother, whose body looked as if a butcher had mistaken him for a discarded piece of meat only worthy of helping him improve his knife skills.
Knowing Finn, that was probably not that far-fetched from the truth.
The medical team he had brought with him appeared just as shocked as he'd initially felt, taking in the scene lying in front of them, their gasps loud enough to reach Elijah. Why in the world were they not doing the job he'd paid them for?
"Well, what are you all staring at? Help them!"
His words were enough to pull the doctors out of their stupor and send them into action. Immediately a couple of large, red bags were dropped to the ground, medical supplies coming out at swift speed: first a stretcher, then some IV bags and other pieces of equipment he did not know.
What was probably the bravest person of the medical team, a red-haired woman with piercing green eyes hesitantly made her way towards his brother and Caroline Forbes, the other doctors closely behind.
"Sir," Elijah could hear the tremor in her voice. "Sir, could you please step aside and let us do our job?"
Not even the twitch of a muscle followed her request. It was like Klaus had not even acknowledged the doctors behind him, his eyes never darting away from the blonde woman in his arms.
"Sir, please, we have to tend to her before it's too late," and the brazen woman's hand moved to rest on Klaus 'shoulder.
Big mistake, Elijah knew before Klaus could viciously swat her hand away, his focus returning to Caroline. The older Mikaelson did not miss the looks shared between the doctors as they fearfully took a minute step back, clearly afraid of the blooded man whose crazed eyes screamed of the war he would wage against anyone who dared attempt to take Caroline Forbes away from him.
Elijah knew he would have to intervene before another tragedy occurred.
Taking a deep breath, he rushed to his brother's side, motioning that everybody else remain behind him as he handled Klaus.
"Brother," Elijah did not miss the slight shudder his word elicited. "Brother, please, you have to let go."
A brokenness he'd never seen before in those red-rimmed pools of blue sharply met him.
"I can't," Klaus barely audibly whispered. "Don't ask me to let her go too. I can't."
All air was knocked out of Elijah's lungs at that throaty plea and the pure anguish rasping through to him. He could feel the warm prickle of tears and he tried to push it away, not let it show just how much it tore at his heart to see his brother in this much pain. Just thinking about all his brother had seen in his life, all he'd sacrificed for the persons he loved, himself included, and all of the losses he'd had to endure. All of the people who'd slipped past his fingertips as he viciously tried to hang on to them, only to be forced to let them all go.
"I'm not," Elijah declared with as much strength as he could muster. "But you need to step aside and let the doctors take care of her. You have to let them work or she'll die, brother. Please, don't let her die." I know you'll die with her and I can't lose another sibling. "Please," he said instead.
Elijah had been on the verge of physically subduing Klaus when the bleeding Mikaelson turned around and collapsed into his open arms, tremors coursing through his body. Maintaining his composure enough to gesture to the medics to do their jobs, Elijah felt his knees buckling as he allowed himself to crumble to the ground, clutching at his little brother. His little brother who had dissolved into sobs, his naked torso bleeding profusely although the pain did not even appear to register in Klaus' mind. But Elijah saw it and it made him sick.
Just what had Finn done to him?
Mikael's favorite puppet had truly been a monster and the proof lay before his eyes. It lay in the dozens of crimson slashes marring white skin. It lay in the gaping hole sucking the life out of Caroline Forbes. It lay in the sobs wrecking the pained form of his brother. It lay in all of the death and destruction that had always followed the Mikaelson family. It lay in the vice-like self-imposed loneliness of them all. And last, but definitely not least, it lay in the broken echo of a promise: Always and forever.
He hadn't been able to keep it so far, but hell would freeze over before he allowed another family member to suffer again. He would not let his father continue to hurt Niklaus. Swearing that to himself, Elijah shrugged out of his jacket and gently placed it over his brother's shoulders before drawing him back into his arms, trying to shoulder some of the weight with him, trying to protect him like he always should have.
After all, it should be the older brother who was the protector and not the other way around, yet Niklaus had never learned how to let himself be nurtured and cared for. All he'd ever known as a child were the unjust beatings his father bestowed upon him. And that ended now.
"We have to take her to the hospital," the redheaded doctor approached them, her team having already loaded Caroline on a stretcher. "There's no time to waste."
Nodding in their direction to go ahead while he took care of Klaus who appeared in no condition to move, Elijah could not hide his surprise upon feeling his brother inhale deeply a couple of times as if to compose himself before pulling away from the warm embrace and staring the medic straight in the face.
"We're coming with you."
Although his voice was croaky and crackly it preserved that familiar level of authority that allowed no room for debate.
One last meaningful look in Elijah's direction and the doctor started to lead the way towards the awaiting ambulance. Stumbling over his own feet, Klaus almost collapsed back onto the ground, his broken body protesting against the strain it was being subjected to. Immediately, Elijah moved to help.
"I'm fine," Klaus swatted his brother's extended arm as he clenched his jaw and took an unsteady step forward.
However, Elijah would not be budged. Not anymore. He was done pretending that everything was fine while his brother continued to drown under the tsunamis Mikael kept hurling at him.
"No, you're not, brother. No one would be after all that has happened and I'm sorry I wasn't here before, but please let me help you now," he continued before Klaus could counter that he didn't need anyone's help. "I know you don't need my help, but I'm begging you to take it. You don't have to keep being alone. Mikael can't keep winning by continuing to divide us."
"Elijah, I…" the words couldn't get past the lump in his throat upon seeing the raw honesty and love brimming in his elder brother's warm brown orbs. He was right, deep inside Klaus knew it, but he could not bring himself to allow somebody else inside his heart while Mikael was still out there hunting everybody he cared about. After he was done with his stepfather he would finally tell his siblings how much they meant to him, but only then. Not one second before. "I can't do this right now, I'm sorry."
With that, Klaus turned around, clenching his fists as he forced himself not to waver in his steps, hurrying after the medics and not looking behind.
If he had, he would have seen the heartbreak marring his brother's features. He would have seen the tears Elijah had fought off and he would have seen the steely determination lacing his eyes as he caught up to his younger brother, lingering one step behind just in case Klaus faltered.
He didn't.
Pushing the pain to the back of his head, Klaus reached the ambulance merely seconds behind the doctors, stopping at the back door as they were loading Caroline into the vehicle.
"Can I come with you in the ambulance?"
He sounded so small that not even the bold red haired doctor could refuse him. Instead, she shot a warning look at Elijah, the message crystal clear: Make sure he doesn't get in our way again.
"Okay," she agreed after Elijah had subtly nodded in her direction.
Wasting no more time, the driver swiftly got them onto the main road, sirens blaring as they sped towards the hospital. Inside, Klaus watched the physicians work on the woman he loved, hooking her up to another IV, placing an oxygen mask over her face to attempt to help her breathe better and hooking her up to a few machines monitoring her stats.
Once the doctors had pulled away, nothing else that they could do, Klaus reached over and gently grabbed a hold of her hand, almost pulling away upon feeling the unnatural coldness touching his skin. To think that merely hours ago she'd been happily laughing as he'd agreed to go watch that silly Disney movie. To think that merely hours ago she'd been giddily grabbing hold of his hand as she led them through the cinema. To think that merely hours ago she'd been passionately kissing him, her warmth and light invading all of his senses.
And now she was paler than a ghost, her shallow breaths making his blood run colder than ever before. She was here because of him. She was dying because of him.
Forgetting about the relentless pairs of eyes focused on him, forgetting all about his vow not to show feelings ever again, he softly lowered his lips to her palm, mindful of not pulling out the IV.
"I don't know if you can hear me," he quietly whispered. "But if you can, I need you to keep fighting, like I know you can. God, Caroline, I love you and I swear I'll make them pay for what they did to you. Just…just stay with me, please."
A lone tear rolled down his cheek and he swiftly moved to wipe it away, but of course he could not hide it from Elijah's watchful eyes, the elder Mikaelson reassuringly squeezing his shoulder.
"We'll make them pay, brother," he promised and Klaus knew just how much value Elijah's given word held. Not trusting his voice any further, Klaus limited himself to resting his fingers atop his brother's lightly squeezing back.
The rest of the trip was spent with Klaus continuing to clutch at the blonde's limp hand, not uttering another word. After all, what else could he have said? There were not enough words in the world to express what his raging heart was screaming and he'd never been any good at big emotional speeches anyway. Instead he just continued to hold on to her, hoping she could feel him. Hoping she could feel that he would never let her go if only she wouldn't fade away from him.
They had just entered the streets of Mystic Falls and were cutting a red light when the unthinkable happened. One of the machines started to furiously beep, disturbing the deceiving sense of relief that had started to course through the Mikaelson siblings' veins.
"What's happening?" Klaus turned towards the woman who'd until then appeared to be in charge of the team of doctors. "What does that sound mean?" he asked although deep inside he knew the answer. You didn't live in the dark world he'd lived in without gleaming some sort of medical knowledge.
The doctor avoided his gaze, focusing on the screaming machine and on the flat line that had appeared on the screen. For a brief moment she looked just as scared as Klaus felt, hazel eyes widening and lips parting. She was frozen in place, heart racing while she couldn't avert her eyes from the dying patient.
"Don't just stand there and stare! Do something!" Klaus yelled at the top of his lungs, unable to let another second pass by.
The man's anguished scream seemed to do the trick, the woman quickly snapping into action, rushing to the stretcher, stopping a few inches away from Klaus.
"Sir, I need you to step to the side."
In stark contrast to nearly half an hour ago, Klaus immediately moved, standing next to Elijah, soundlessly watching as the doctors started CPR. Startled, the man realized that Caroline looked more like a lifeless, broken doll than a human being as the red-haired woman continued to push down on her chest, artificially pumping oxygen into her body. Breathing life into a body that appeared to be incapable of doing it on its own.
That continued for at least a couple of minutes, the medics unsuccessfully fighting to get the woman back. Perhaps Caroline was just too tired to keep fighting alongside them. Perhaps the pain had simply gotten to be too much and she'd just let go.
That thought sent more pain through his system than any injury Finn or Mikael could have ever inflicted upon him.
"She's not responding," the woman frantically screamed. "I need 1 mg of epinephrine now!"
While one of her colleagues added to the IV line the epinephrine, the doctor resumed her chest compressions with a renewed sense of purpose. However, there appeared to be no change. There wasn't even the slightest twitch to reveal an ounce of life was left in the blonde's body.
"Come on, damn it! Fight for me!" the doctor yelled after 5 more minutes had gone by and Caroline's heart still refused to beat on its own. "Give me 1 more mg of epinephrine!"
Klaus did not miss the looks shared by the other two doctors and the subtle shakes of their heads. "Laurel, I think she's gone," one of them finally mustered up the courage to say.
With that one look Klaus felt the entire world collapsing on him.
She's gone.
The words kept ringing inside his head.
Caroline was gone.
Mikael had succeeded in taking away another person he loved.
Wordlessly, Elijah's hand grasped at his shoulder, offering up as much comfort as he knew Klaus would be willing to accept. What the older sibling had not been expecting was to see his little brother's tear filled blue eyes desperately turn towards him. Just as he'd done after the first cruel beating his father had bestowed upon him as a young kid. And he felt just as powerless as he'd felt back then.
Surprisingly, Elijah was not the only one who appeared incapable of tearing their eyes away from Klaus, the young doctor's sorrowful hazel orbs seeking out pained, pale blue ones. When they finally clashed, Elijah could see the understanding and the pain passing between them.
Elijah knew in that instant that the woman had been in this position before. Maybe even in Klaus' shoes. He knew that she had probably seen death countless times and he knew, he'd seen just how hard she'd fought for Caroline. Klaus knew that too, that's why he wasn't raging hell against the doctors, instead being statue still, while Elijah could feel his body shaking like a twig caught up in a merciless hurricane.
He knew what her death would do to his brother. He knew that it would be the final proverbial nail in Klaus' coffin. He knew there would be no coming back from it. It was clear even by looking at his defeated stance, his lowered gaze and by his barely audible whimper.
Everyone in the ambulance could see it and they all turned their heads, shying away from the pain radiating from every pore of the young Mikaelson brother. Everyone but Laurel who was still gazing at him, even though his eyes had moved back towards Caroline's still form. A broken doll for who the miracle of life had ended way too soon.
"No," the red-haired woman surprised everyone inside the ambulance. "I am not giving up yet. Give me 1 more mg of epinephrine, now!"
Shaking his head, the doctor who had previously spoken out seemed ready to protest the futility of the action, but upon meeting the steel in the hazel eyes, he finally did as Laurel asked, although it was obvious by his resigned stance that he believed it to be in vain. However, the woman did not as she clenched her jaw and resumed administering CPR.
Minutes felt like hours as a panting Laurel kept trying to get Caroline to come back to them. They were 2 streets away from the hospital and it was becoming clearer with every second passing by that the woman wouldn't be able to keep up the rhythm much longer as the rest of her team gazed at her with pitiful eyes.
Klaus had not been able to look again at the breathless, motionless body on the stretcher, burying his head in Elijah's chest in an attempt block out the frenzied sounds of the machines announcing him that Caroline's heart refused to beat again.
She was gone.
And he could not bear to see a corpse lying in the place of what should have been a smiling, happy, carefree woman whose only mistake in life had been to fall in love with him.
He could not bear to see the results of him not leaving her when he should have.
He could not bear to see her dead.
He would rather it was him than Caroline and it killed him that he could not trade places with her.
Images flashed before his eyes of their first kiss, of her accepting even the darkest side of him, of her worrying about him in spite of Finn's abuse, of her trusting him even though he'd told her she shouldn't. Why had she? Why hadn't she been a normal young woman who'd run for the hills after seeing the darkness inside him? Why had she stayed so he could ruin her? Why had she stayed, made him fall in love with her, only to die in front of him? Why did he have to watch her die? Why did the Universe insist on him watching the people he loved die?
"1 more mg of epinephrine," Laurel breathlessly demanded of her colleague, who obeyed, this time without any protests.
Still, the machine's infernal sound did not yield. It announced what Klaus already knew deep down.
She was gone. Because of him Caroline Forbes was dead.
Burying his head even deeper into Elijah's chest, Klaus desperately attempted to block out everything that was happening in the ambulance. He couldn't hear the doctor's ragged breaths. He couldn't hear the merciless beeping and he most certainly couldn't stand not to hear even the smallest proof that life still resided in the blonde's body.
He couldn't stand to look at Caroline Forbes' dead body. It was simply too much.
"We have a heartbeat," a heaving voice declared just as the ambulance was pulling up in front of the ER.
For a moment, Klaus didn't dare believe. He didn't dare allow hope to blossom. He knew it was always just a fickle illusion. He wasn't destined to be happy in this world.
"We have to get her into an operating room as fast as possible," the same voice said as the doors were slammed open, revealing two more doctors. "Jane Doe, gunshot wound to the chest, pneumothorax, multiple shallow wounds on her abdomen, severe blood loss, went into cardiac arrest on the way here. I administered 4mg of epinephrine and just managed to get her back, but she wasn't breathing on her own for at least 20 minutes."
Managed to get her back.
Could it be that he hadn't imagined it?
Unable to live with the doubt any longer, Klaus pulled away from the safety his older brother provided. The first thing he noticed was that the frenzied beeping of the machine had been replaced by a much softer, steady one. Then, he saw that Laurel was no longer administering CPR, but rather briefing the new physicians on the state of the patient.
Jane Doe, she'd called her.
"It's not Jane Doe," Klaus' throaty voice mumbled. "It's Caroline Forbes."
A gasp escaped the lips of the two doctors who had clearly heard of, if not even knew Caroline. That last piece of information was more than enough to snap them all into action, lowering the stretcher to the ground, Klaus jumping down from the vehicle hot on their trail, rushing to grab a hold of the woman's hand, desperate to feel her heartbeat. To make sure that this was real and not a cruel game his mind had conjured up.
And he most definitely felt it. A soft drumming against his fingertips. Shallow, but easily the most beautiful thing he'd felt in his entire life.
He had been so lost that he hadn't even noticed that they'd stopped moving and that somebody was talking to him.
"…can't go any further…O.R…let go of her hand…"
Sure, Klaus only caught fragments, but he understood enough to piece together the message. He had to once again let go of Caroline's hand. Didn't they get what they were asking of him? Couldn't they see that letting go was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do?
"Please, sir, there's no time to lose," Laurel's gentle voice was the one that finally did the trick. He'd seen how hard she'd fought for Caroline and he trusted her. She was the one who'd gotten her back when everybody else had given up.
So he once again let go.
Without wasting another second, they rushed towards the operating room, past a door where he couldn't follow. And that small damned window didn't allow him to see a thing. He was completely in the dark and that was the worst feeling in the world.
Out of the blue, a hesitant hand rested on his shoulder. Fully expecting it to be Elijah, he didn't acknowledge it, unable to tear his eyes away from the window in the hopes that he might catch a glimpse of what was going on.
Then, he realized that it couldn't be Elijah. The hand was too small and the touch was way too gentle, even for his brother. Senses still on overdrive, he immediately turned around, ready to attack if need be, only to come across the small figure of Laurel.
"She's in the best of hands and she's a fighter. If anyone can pull through this, it's her."
"I…"Klaus' tongue appeared to have lost the ability to form coherent sentences, but there was one thing he knew couldn't be left unsaid. "Thank you for what you did in the ambulance. You brought her back."
Laurel shook her head. "She's the one who clawed her way back to us, back to you, I suppose."
She shouldn't come back to me after all this, he wanted to say, but his tongue got all tied up so he just shook his head.
"I'm going to go and help them back there, but you also need to see a doctor. Some of those wounds look really deep," she pointedly gazed at the cuts marring his torso.
"I'm fine," he waved off her concern, not in the least bit concerned with his own health at the moment. It could wait.
"You're not," Laurel dared disagree with him, having grasped that he posed no threat to her safety. He was just a broken man who'd nearly witnessed the woman he loved die in his arms.
Even if he wouldn't ever know, she'd been in his shoes. Her husband had been injured while she was answering a call at a collapsed building. By the time she'd reached the hospital he was beyond saving and all she could do was hold his hand and wait for the pain that had made him delirious to be over. He had been so far gone that she hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye.
"I'm not moving from here until I know she's going to make it."
"That could take between six and eight hours and that's in the lucky case that there are no complications."
"Then I guess I'll see you in six or eight hours." Klaus declared stubbornly before leaning on the wall for support, crossing his legs to emphasize that he was not going anywhere.
Elijah was watching the scene from afar, admiring the young doctor for daring to actually contradict Klaus Mikaelson on something. Few people possessed the necessary courage to even attempt it. And even fewer managed to escape scot free afterwards.
"In six or eight hours all I am going to be seeing is an inanimate body due to extreme blood loss," Laurel fiercely stood her ground and Elijah had to admit she was probably right. Those wounds looked really bad and regardless of how tough his brother was, every human body had its limits and Elijah would bet all he owned that Klaus was close to reaching his, even though he was desperately trying to hide it.
"Brother, please, just do as she says," Elijah finally decided to step in. "I will remain here and I promise to let you know immediately, should anything change."
For just one brief moment, the pure determination in Klaus' mercurial orbs faltered, something resembling a shudder running through his battered body, but he had yet to move an inch away from the door.
"Do you really think Caroline would want you to bleed out in front of the Operating Room? If she loves you half as much as I've seen you love her, I would bet my life that the answer is no. So if you don't care about yourself, fine, but do it for her. She'll need you to be strong when she wakes up. Don't let her down."
With that, Elijah knew that the doctor had won. Although Klaus had yet to utter a sound, Elijah knew him. Appealing to the side of him that needed to protect others had been a smart play. Probably the only play that would end with Klaus giving in and accepting the medical treatment he so badly needed.
"No anesthesia and most certainly no checking me in as a patient, I will not stand for it," he finally conceded.
"No one asked you to," Laurel bit her lip to keep the corners of her mouth from victoriously lifting. "I'll page a friend who's already up to speed on the case and ask her to tend to your wounds, but now I have to go into the O.R. in case they need my help."
"Please don't let her die," he softly whispered as she turned her back to him, slender fingers frozen on the door as images flashed before her eyes.
Caroline Forbes' unresponsive body as she pressed down on her chest time and time again.
Caroline Forbes' heart almost giving in, probably desperate for a respite from the overwhelming pain.
Caroline Forbes almost dying in her arms.
No, in fact, she'd been dead for at least 10 minutes and only pure resilience and most likely a miracle had brought her back to the realm of the living.
And now Klaus, the man who'd looked like the epitome of broken when he'd thought the woman was dead, had decided to beg her once more for the blonde's life.
If only she could make that promise.
If only she could confidently state that Caroline Forbes would undoubtedly be ok, that is, if she made it through the surgery in the first place. Which was a pretty big 'if' at the present moment.
Truthfully, even if that happened, she couldn't promise that when Caroline woke up she would be the same. That amount of time spent without oxygen could yield serious damage to the brain. She could wake up a vegetable or, worse, lacking crucial body primary functions, starting from moving to even speaking or seeing.
She could end up a shell of the woman Klaus loved so deeply. Just a shadow of the person that Klaus was pleading her to save.
So, despite wanting nothing more, she couldn't offer any reassurance or guarantees.
"I'll let you know if something changes," she said instead, before swiftly turning her back and venturing into the O.R without glancing back.
The last thing she needed was to see Klaus' broken and anguished eyes. Once had been enough. Laurel wasn't sure she would ever be able to forget that pair of sorrowful blue eyes that had gazed straight into her heart in the ambulance. They would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Pure pain greeted every single time she closed her eyes, but there was no time to dwell on it now.
A woman's life rested on her shoulders and she'd be damned if she didn't fight with all she had for Caroline Forbes.
"Are you done?" Klaus asked for the third time in what must have been 30 minutes.
Sighing heavily, the tall brunette shook her head at the man's stubbornness. His wounds had been quite deep, almost all of them requiring stitches- she'd lost count at 127- and he'd been adamant that he didn't need any anesthesia. To his credit, the most he'd shown in regards to pain had been a small wince as she'd taken care of a gash running from his shoulder blades all the way down to his lower back.
"Almost," she cut the last bandage. "But I really think you should be checked in and monitored. You've experienced heavy blood loss and the possibility of infection is very high with your type of wounds."
"I'm fine," he dismissed her as he'd had from the very start, gaze never straying away from her hands, even while the needle weaved its way through his pale skin.
Tired of sounding like a broken record, the doctor decided to bite her tongue and just shake her head as she stepped away from the patient. He wasn't fine and they both knew it, but there was nothing more within her powers to help him.
Without wasting another second, Klaus grabbed the suit jacket that he'd been wearing, seemingly blind to the blood caked all over it and put it on, eyebrows furrowing as the sudden movement pulled at his stitches.
He was almost out of the door when a soft voice called after him. "I'm well aware that you probably won't use it, but here's a prescription for some antibiotics. Just in case the wounds do get infected, after all."
A hesitant hand extended to grab the small piece of paper, the disbelief in his features clear. Just who was this guy that even the smallest caring gesture left him confused and gaping. "Thank you," he offered a hint of a smile and the doctor knew she'd finally gotten the chance to see an inch behind the curtain masquerading Klaus Mikaelson.
However, she still couldn't truly gauge the person hiding behind the bravado. All she could tell was that there was darkness lurking backstage and judging by the state both him and his girlfriend had been brought in, the medic knew it was probably best that she know close to nothing.
As she watched his figure retreating down the hall, there was only one thing she knew for sure- if Caroline Forbes didn't pull through, there would be more people dying today.
The heavy, dark glint in those blue eyes had vowed it.
"Brother," Elijah tried for the 14th time in the last hour. "Come with me to the waiting room. This can't be healthy with your injuries."
"I told you I'm fine, Elijah." Klaus spoke without raising his gaze from where he was sat, on the floor right outside the entrance to the Operating Room where Caroline had been taken about 5 hours ago. His hands were resting on his knees, skin still translucently pale, most of his wounds visible through the only garment he was currently wearing: Elijah's soiled, blood-soaked suit jacket.
There, hunched on the hospital floor, tremors occasionally coursing through his body, Klaus Mikaelson looked smaller than Elijah had ever imagined possible for the man who'd grown to practically become a legend in the dark world. However, in that instant, he didn't look anything like the feared hitman whose mere mention could spark fear in even the toughest of men. Instead, he resembled the small child that Mikael had cruelly abused and who'd sleept on the ground, next to Elijah's bed, yearning for a safe place, but not wanting his father to know for fear of possible retaliation against his older brother. That had been Klaus, always protecting those he loved, even at dire costs for his own wellbeing.
Time might have changed him, made him harder, more ruthless and dangerous, but Elijah knew that deep down, that child was still in there- the last vestiges of innocence that not even Mikael had been capable of destroying. And that child was still longing to feel safe and protected and although in the past he had failed as an older brother, perhaps he could still, somehow make it right for that little boy. The little boy that was still hidden somewhere behind all of Klaus' bravado and tough words meant to push people away.
So he lowered down on the ground next to Klaus, wrapping his arms around his frozen frame, trying to convey some kind of comfort, show him that he was not alone in this. Show him that, this time, he had his back.
Always and forever.
For the longest of time, Klaus was like a statue in his arms, completely still, lost inside the dark crevices of his own mind, in a place too far away for Elijah to reach. It appeared like nothing would be able to pull him out of the shadows, when the unthinkable happened. Brimming pools of ocean water sharply clashed with Elijah's brown orbs and the pure desolation found there shook the older Mikaelson to the core. Never had he imagined to see his sibling so devastated, so close to the absolute edge and to think it was the man they'd both called father that had driven him to this point.
It took all of Elijah's willpower not to turn away, shield himself against the heartbreaking pain and desperation.
"It's all my fault," Klaus finally spoke. "I knew from the beginning how this would end and I still couldn't bring myself to walk away," he continued before Elijah could interrupt him with his meaningless consolation. "Now the woman I love is paying the price for my weakness."
Right then and there Elijah felt the remaining pieces of his heart completely shatter. Klaus Mikaelson was a good man, in spite of all he'd been forced to do throughout his life. He didn't deserve this. In fact, no human being deserved this, no one, not even the scum of the Earth. Words of consolation lingered on his tongue, words that would argue his brother's blame in all this, words that would attempt to alleviate the bone-crushing guilt, but he knew they would fall on deaf ears.
So he kept them to himself, opting for something else.
"We'll make Mikael pay, Niklaus. That I promise you."
"This isn't your fight, Elijah. You should go, I don't want another person I love to be collateral damage in this war," and he attempted to pull away only to be met with his older brother's unrelenting hold.
"That's my choice to make, brother. Besides, this has always been my war, even though I tried to bury my head in the sand for some time and act like it wasn't. You've always tried to protect us, even when we didn't know we were in danger. Let me help you just this one time shoulder the burden."
"He's your father, Elijah."
"And you're my little brother," Elijah tried to speak past the lump in his throat. "I love you, Niklaus. Remember, always and forever. "
"Always and forever," Klaus whispered back, going soft in his brother's arms as he finally accepted that maybe, he didn't have to do it all on his own. That maybe, just this one time he could let someone else in.
When Laurel came out, she found them in the exact same position, huddled on the floor, but clutching on to each other. Brought back together and united by tragedy. God really had a crazy way of putting things back in their rightful spot.
"Hi," she gently spoke as to not startle them.
Her efforts proved to be in vain when both men sharply turned to look at her, Klaus frantically rushing to a standing position upon laying eyes on her.
"How is she?" he breathlessly asked before Laurel could get another word in, his eyes searching the doctor's face for an answer.
"She made it through the surgery," Laurel stated quickly, not wanting to prolong his misery. Hope bloomed across his features, erasing some of the deep lines marred on his face, the hint of a smile starting to form. And she hated the fact that she would be the person to squander it. "However, she's not out of the woods yet. She flat lined twice and although Dr. Price managed to bring her back, the issue regarding the amount of time she spent without any oxygen reaching her brain remains."
"What are you telling me?" Klaus demanded to know, denial etched in his voice.
"We won't know anything for certain until she wakes up. If she wakes up," Laurel hated herself for the last sentence, but her medical training didn't allow her to be anything but honest and refrain from providing any kind of false hope. "For now she's slipped into a coma."
"That…"Klaus' voice broke. "No, you're wrong. You have to be wrong!" he started to shout, attracting all eyes on him and causing the young medic to involuntarily take a step back.
"I'm really sorry. I wish I had better news to tell you," genuine sadness laced Laurel's voice as she watched the man in front of her crumble as hope morphed into pure anguish and sorrow. "She'll be transferred to room 277 within the hour and you'll be able to see her then."
Only Klaus didn't answer anymore. He didn't even acknowledge the woman's words, too lost inside his own pain. With just a couple of sentences, his entire world had crumbled and he could feel himself falling. Falling back into that pitch black abyss where he'd spent his last years and from where Caroline had managed to pull him out. Falling back only this time there was no one to drag him to the surface.
"I'm truly sorry," Laurel offered one last time, this time her gaze straying towards Elijah before taking her leave.
"Niklaus, I…" Elijah began, but words refused to cooperate with him. What was there left to say to the man who'd already lost so much? What was there to say when no words could even hope to make it better?
"Don't," Klaus cut him off. "I just need to see her right now." See that she's breathing. See that she's alive.
A soft nod was all Elijah had to offer as the familiar feeling of helplessness seeped back into his bones. Why was it that he was always helpless to alleviate his younger brother's suffering? Why was it always Niklaus the one that got hurt? Why wouldn't God simply allow them to switch places?
Of course he never got an answer to those questions and he was left to helplessly watch pain devour his younger brother as they lingered in the corridor, waiting for the nurse to notify them that Caroline had effectively been transferred.
When she came, Klaus didn't even let her finish the sentence that he was already gone, rushing through the small crowd of people in the waiting room, oblivious to the shocked stares that he was attracting, and also entirely unaware of the gash across his stomach that had ripped open and was leaving behind a trail of blood in his wake.
This was too much for him to handle on his own, especially as Elijah could feel his own strength and determination start to abandon him while his brother slipped more and more through his fingertips. It was as if the hardest he tried to hold on, the more he was losing. The hurricane Mikael had thrown their way had managed to leave a trail of blood, tears and destruction in its wake and Elijah knew he wasn't enough to help rebuild it all. Yet he also knew that Niklaus had barely accepted his help and that bringing someone else into this madness with his father on the prowl might result in more innocent casualties. He couldn't afford that. His conscience couldn't afford that and Niklaus surely couldn't deal with that.
So he would have to do, for now.
Arming himself with all of the strength left in his body, Elijah went after his brother, ready to be all he hadn't throughout the years.
Always and Forever started now and nothing would ever come between him keeping that promise from now on.
A/N: Hello to anybody still reading this story. I want to begin by apologizing for the big delay in my update but I have gone on a student exchange program in a different University where I have met professors, from Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard that are completely crazy and I have had to study for hours and hours without break just for me to pass. My GPA is going down like crazy with each exam passing by and I am trying to keep a breakdown at bay, but it is harder than I thought. However, I will try to update sooner as this story is reaching its end and I do not want to keep you guys waiting for so long again for another chapter. I hope you liked it, I am sorry if it disappointed you in any way and once more, I apologize for the delay. Thank you for still reading this and sticking by this story from the very beginning, you guys are the only motivation that I have to keep writing. If you have the time, let me know what you though of it.
Oh, also, Happy Easter, everybody!
