Hello, my lovely readers. The hospital is experiencing a rollercoaster ride's worth of emotions. On with the show…

Chapter 5: A World Where Everyone Is Safe and Happy

Elijah

Ice melted into small pools along the concrete around Elijah Mikaelson's feet. He watched people walk toward the front door of the hospital. Sunlight lit a bit of the still frozen but thawing grass. And death's claws retracted a fraction. For now. With a slow inhale, Elijah attempted to picture a world in which people did not get sick, they did not have accidents. Everyone felt at peace with themselves and the world them. And for the single moment, Elijah felt alright. Then the door opened somewhere behind him and he knew the real world wanted him back. Could he ask for a rain check?

"Elijah." Hayley. He heard her voice and a small smile appeared at the corners of his face. "I thought I'd find you up here." Her hand slipped into Elijah's. She turned sideways and pressed her nose into his shoulder. "Hi."

"Hello," Elijah inclined his head and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "I needed a quiet place to think."

"Our place," Hayley replied, squeezing his hand.

Elijah nodded, resting his head on top of hers. "The sight of our first date. Shall we get married up here?" He pulled back to look her in the eye.

Hayley lifted her head and she flashed him an amused grin. "You want to have the wedding up here? What happens when a helicopter needs to land and beheads one of the guests?"

"Preferably one of the more annoying interns," Elijah retorted, wrapping his arms around Hayley's waist as she laughed at his joke. Yes. He would choose to wait for a more peaceful world even if it meant he would have to give up tiny moments with this woman.

"Lucien?" Hayley retorted, a gleam in her eyes. "Hey, Tyler's thinking about transferring. Maybe he can take Lucien with him."

"Tyler's planning on leaving?" Elijah frowned. "Then who will Niklaus have to torment daily?" He stroked a curl behind Hayley's cheek as he spoke.

"Oh, I don't know. Klaus is pretty good at finding people to drive nuts," Hayley replied. "Speaking of your family, I have news." She sobered before adding, "Kol's awake."

"He is?" Elijah felt his heart speed up. "Why didn't you tell me when you first arrived?"

"Well, you looked so at peace. And I know how not-at-peace your family can make you. I wanted to let you have a moment before the chaos ensued." Hayley smirked up at Elijah who could not help but laugh.

"That is true," Elijah sighed. "However, I do feel obligated to put in an appearance. Then I might just leave Kol to our family's unrelenting presence while we find an on-call room to celebrate in." His eyes glowed as he spoke and Hayley leaned upward to press a kiss to his lips.

Together, Hayley and Elijah headed for the door. Hayley opened it and Elijah followed her down the stairs. It did not take them long before they arrived at Kol's room. There was a small line of would-be visitors.

"Hey!" Caroline cried. She stood outside the door with Josh and Tyler. "Klaus and Rebekah are already inside. And your parents," she added the last part like it was a secret, her eyes on Elijah.

"Thank you, Caroline." Elijah inhaled before looking inside the room. He saw Niklaus sitting in a chair. He had a smile on his face. Rebekah sat on the end of the bed. Their mother stood opposite Klaus, cupping the side of Kol's head as if he were still a small boy. Their father stood beside his wife, a small frown on his face.

Elijah looked to Hayley. She gave a tip of her head and kissed his cheek. "Go," she said quietly.

Elijah stepped away from his fiancée and moved inside the room. "Kol," he said.

"Elijah. Wondered what was taking you so long, brother," Kol quipped. He tried to sit up and failed. "Well then. Looks as if I'm still not back to my old self," Kol said quietly. His words were light but Elijah could see the frustration there.

"Oh, Kol, you've just woken up," Rebekah groaned. "Stop being such a fool and allow someone to help you." She leaned over and picked up the control to the bed. "See. It's rather easy. You push this button. And up you go." She pushed the button and Kol's bed began to move upward.

"Thank you, Rebekah," Kol snapped. "I know how to use the bloody thing—Hey, where is the 'Stop' button!" he cried as the bed kept coming upward.

Rebekah snickered before she punched the button and Kol glowered at her. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."

"Don't play with the equipment. It cost too much," Mikael warned Rebekah who rolled her eyes.

"Truly, Father. When else will I be able to control Kol's movements?" Rebekah inquired.

Klaus grinned. "Let me see that." He held out a hand for the control.

Elijah stepped over and snatched the control from Rebekah. "He is not a toy, children," he told his brother and sister.

Their mother gave Elijah an approving look. "Mama's boy," Klaus and Kol muttered before shooting each other devious looks.

Elijah's finger slipped over the "Up" button on the bed. "Shit! Not again!" Kol cried, moving forward. "Damn thing has a mind of its own."

Elijah clicked the button again. "Terribly sorry. My fingers slipped."

Kol's eyes rounded as he looked at his older brother. "You bloody git!" he cried but he had begun to laugh. Elijah felt afraid he'd never hear his brother's laugh again. Now that Kol seemed to be recovering, they would all need to take turns playing little jokes on him just to keep him from falling into a heap of self-pity about his recovery. It was the Mikaelson way: Poke and prod your loved ones to make sure they knew you cared.

"Kol, there are balloons coming your way!" Caroline called from the doorway.

"In the shape of circus animals? Or Bekah's old boyfriends?" Kol inquired with a wide grin.

"Condoms?" Klaus added. "He won't be needing those for the next month. Heard his doc say: 'No strenuous activity for the next four weeks."

"What? Who the hell is my doctor? Joshua? I'll murder him!" Kol snarled.

"No." Klaus shook his head, grinning at Kol. "I believe it's…who was Kol's current doctor at last check?" He looked at the others.

"No idea," Rebekah shrugged.

A tap on the doorframe alerted them to a new presence. "Ah, there he is. How is my patient?" Lucien came into the room and Klaus grinned widely at the intern. "I see you have a host of visitors. Chief Mikaelson," the intern still had no idea what was going on around him.

Lucien made the mistake of getting too close to Kol who snagged a fistful of the intern's scrub top. "Look, you infant, how dare you tell me that I can't have sex for the next four weeks. Wait until I am OR-ready. I will make sure you will never be having sex again!" Letting go of a frightening-looking Lucien, Kol fell back on his bed and glared. "Baby doctors. Get me a real physician!" He shouted.

Elijah shook his head. Yes. Kol would be just fine.

Lucien

After the last five hours of work, all Lucien Castle wanted to do was go home and hide in his apartment. However, there was one little problem: Lucien could no longer afford his apartment. He'd made the mistake of betting on the wrong sports team the last week and lost the money that should go to the rent.

Going into an on-call room, Lucien shut the door and let out a sigh of relief. A little shut eye and everything would be much better. The sound of a low moan made it clear to Lucien he was not alone in the room. A little smirk formed on his lips. He wondered which love birds of the hospital he'd walked in on. Edging his way closer to the upper bunk, he peered upward and then wished he hadn't.

"Lucien!" Hayley Marshall shouted. She did not have a top on and Lucien might be pleased with seeing more of the resident than he would ordinarily but then her right fist connected with his eye.

"Ow!" Lucien shouted, falling on his ass. He slammed his hand over his wounded eye. Now, he'd lost his home. Vincent broke his nose. Hayley had no doubt given him a black eye. Lucien wondered what other types of horror this week could bestow upon him. Perhaps Kol Mikaelson really would perform an amputation of Lucien's favorite appendage.

"What is wrong with you?" Hayley demanded. She hopped off the side of the bunk bed while Elijah Mikaelson grabbed his shirt and began to button it.

"I thought you might be someone more interesting," Lucien muttered. He stared at Hayley through his one good eye.

Hayley's eyes narrowed and she jerked his hand down. "Follow my finger," she ordered him.

"Leave me be," Lucien retorted. He freed his hand and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm sure you have patients to make sorry you're their doctor. As for me, I have other places to be." Hurrying out of the on-call room with the last of his dignity, Lucien went in search of the closest men's room.

Once he'd found himself inside the bathroom, Lucien leaned against the sink and forced himself not to cry. He felt terrible. Terrible for speaking of Freya in the manner he did when she'd done nothing to him. Terrible for walking in on Elijah when his brother just woke up and the man probably needed a reprieve from the stress. Terrible for pissing off Hayley when she had ten ways of making his life a little bit more of a hell than it already was. Terrible because he had no friends. And no girl. He might even be kicked out of the program; if he failed his resident's exam.

Everything seemed to be completely out of Lucien's control. And all he really wanted to do was find a bloody bed and get some sleep before Klaus tracked him down and made him watch over a baby with a thousand tubes attached to it.

Just as Lucien though of Klaus, his phone beeped and he found Klaus' name on the screen. Come to the NICU, Klaus' text read. Wonderful, Lucien thought. He felt his eyes well. Turning to face his own reflection, Lucien forced his usual cocked smile onto his face. "You're fine, mate," he addressed his reflection before pocketing his phone and leaving the bathroom. Just bloody fine.

~0~

Another ten hours later, Lucien felt himself becoming giddy with sleep deprivation. "Going to check on Kol and then off to the bar," he told no one in particular at lunch.

No one even looked up. Vincent, as usual had his nose in a bloody textbook and Oliver was chatting with some girl who'd come in to check on her granny. "Right then." Lucien got to his feet. Picking up his tray, he avoided eye contact as he passed by the table where Hayley and Elijah were kissing like teens.

Lucien left the cafeteria, made for the elevators and hopped on. His eyes ticked to the left where Freya Mikaelson stood. She did not even look at Lucien. "Freya, I would like to say –"

"Save it for someone who cares what you think," Freya snapped. She stepped out the doors the moment they opened and took a sharp left.

Sighing, Lucien waited for the doors to close. He got off on the floor for the recovery wing and made his way down the hall. Popping his head in, he saw Davina Claire sitting by Kol's side. She was holding his hand and had a smile on her face that made Lucien feel his heart clench. She'd never looked at him like that.

"Hello there, Davina. Kol. Sorry to interrupt. Just came in to check on my favorite patient," Lucien managed a wide grin as he came in.

"He's fine," Davina said.

"Thanks to my favorite intern," Kol said. He lifted Davina's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Davina giggled and Lucien resisted the urge to snap at them both. "Good. Well, I'm taking off. Let a nurse know if you need my service," Lucien said, moving to leave the room.

"We won't," Kol replied.

Lucien felt his teeth clench. "Right."

~0~

Deciding to skip the bar, Lucien went to the basement and found no one there. He felt his luck turning around. With a yawn, he laid down and relaxed.

"Lucien, that's what on-call rooms are for," Vincent said drily.

Lucien decided he was trapped inside a nightmare. "I know. But I would prefer not to get punched by another resident shagging her boss, again." He rolled his eyes and attempted to go to sleep.

"Then go home. Didn't your shift end already?" Vincent added.

Seeing as Vincent was not going to let up, Lucien rolled over and glared at his fellow intern. "I don't have a home to go to. Now, please, bugger off."

There was a pause. "You have an apartment."

"Not anymore," Lucien said. "I lost it. Made a bad bet. And now I am homeless. Are you terribly happy?"

"No." Vincent took a moment. "I could use a roommate."

"You what?" Lucien rolled over and sat up.

"I said: I need a roommate," Vincent said.

"You hate me," Lucien replied.

Vincent nodded. "I do. But you need a room. Just make sure you don't gamble your rent away, again." He sat down on the gurney and opened his textbook. "And if we're living together, you'd better study for your exams."

Lucien leaned over and hugged Vincent. "Thank you."

"Don't hug me. Ever. Again," Vincent retorted.

Lucien grinned. "Right." He felt like his luck might be turning around after all.

Caroline

Falling asleep and dreaming that her husband turned into a giant marshmallow left Caroline Mikaelson amused. Waking up to find that her husband was somewhat drunk and climbing into her bed and the o-clock in the morning did not leave Caroline amused. "Where have you been!" she demanded.

"Celebrating, Mikaelson-style!" Klaus replied, sliding the comforter aside and pressing kisses up the inside of his new wife's thigh.

"Klaus Mikaelson, if you think you're going to make me less pissed by… By… Oh!" Caroline groaned as Klaus mouth moved and her back arched. "You're in… So much… Oh… Trouble…!" she cried out, taking hold of his curls and letting out a loud cry of delight. It was so nice to not have to worry about one her roommates walking in on them. They could be as frisky as they felt like.

"Niklaus, where is the ice cream!" A voice called out and Caroline screamed, sitting up and Klaus let out groan when his knee connected with his cheekbone.

"There's a woman in our house!" Caroline shouted, slapping Klaus' chest. "Why is there a woman in our house!"

"Just me!" Sage popped her head in and then grinned. "Sorry, Caroline. Didn't know you two were… Well, anyway, your next mammogram is scheduled for next month." Sage still seemed amused as she backed out the door.

"Oh, my God!" Caroline grabbed a pillow and smacked Klaus over the head with it. "Why is Sage here!" she demanded.

"She parties the hardest," Klaus explained, undoing his pants and then trying to crawl on top of Caroline who wiggled away from him. "Would you prefer to be on top, love?"

"How drunk are you!" Caroline snapped, smacking him with the pillow, again.

Klaus simply stared at her.

Shaking her head, Caroline pushed herself off the side of the bed. "You're unbelievable.

"Finn was alright with going home to deal with the babes in their tiny mangers. Sage wanted a night off. So, I said she could sleep off her ailment here. Thought you wouldn't mind. You and Sage get along. Don't you?" Klaus fell on his back and stared at the ceiling. "We're all so blasted worried about Kol. Needed to… needed to… Bloody hell…" Then Klaus let out a snore, his mouth hanging open and Caroline shook her head at her husband.

With a sigh, Caroline lifted the cover and wrapped it around him. "I'm going into the hospital," she whispered, sure he wouldn't hear her. Leaving the room, Caroline went into the living room to find Sage examining the DVD collection. "You can use our Netflix account," Caroline told Sage who nodded.

"Cool. Thanks. Sorry bout ruining your night," Sage said.

"It's not a problem. Klaus would have passed out on top of me and then I would be frustrated and he'd end up on the floor. This way, I can go to work and he can sleep it off." Caroline made her way over to the coat closet. "There are fresh linens in the guest room. If you get tired."

Sage nodded. "Trust me—with three babies at home—I'm always tired."

Caroline nodded and left the house. She felt sure she could find something to do at the hospital.

~0~

"Sorry, Caroline, this place is dead to the world tonight," Bonnie said with a shrug. "Unless you want to join Rebekah. She's happily doing SCUT. No idea why that girl is here right now…"

Caroline could think of one or two reasons that Rebekah might be here. "SCUT it is," she replied cheerily.

Bonnie gave Caroline a long look. "Good luck. I'm going home."

"Bye," Caroline called before she went to the elevator and pushed the down button.

Upon arrival, Caroline found a variety of things that made her feel like saying: "Ick," a hundred and twenty-five times an hour. By now, she felt used to whatever kind of gross a patient could shove in her face.

"Bekah Mikaelson, funny finding you down here. And of your own accord," Caroline quipped as she pulled on a pair of gloves and then grabbed the chart for the patient sitting beside Rebekah's.

"You're sounding more and more like Nik with each passing day," Rebekah retorted with a smirk.

Caroline rolled her eyes before turning to her patient and their infected foot. "That's looks painful. Let's see how we might remedy that, shall we?" she asked the patient who just stared at her.

~0~

Hours later, Caroline rolled her neck. She'd been puked on twice, her shoes were covered in something that might be purple who-knew-what and she really wanted to go back to bed.

"Shift starts in two hours," Rebekah told Caroline who groaned. "I'm feeling like a trip to the snack machine."

Nodding, Caroline followed her sister-in-law up to the snack machines when Rebekah inhaled and placed her hand on the side of her head. "Well, that is annoying…"

"Bekah?" Caroline watched Rebekah's eyes roll up in her head and then Rebekah pitched forward. Caroline caught Rebekah but Rebekah's weight pushed Caroline to her knees. "Help!" Caroline shouted. "I need help over here!" Eyes on Rebekah, Caroline felt her own heart banging in her chest. "Rebekah?" she cried, patting Rebekah's cheek. "Bekah? Wake up! Someone page the Mikaelsons, STAT!" she shouted. "Bekah?"

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Peace,

-J