"Are you tired? Do you want to go back?" Caroline asked Klaus, pushing the wheelchair by the lake.

"No, love, everything is perfect...well, except for those two old ladies who looked at us strangely, did you see them? They've probably never seen people in wheelchairs before. Or people with hands, as Katherine, Elijah's ex, would say." Klaus joked, despite the fact that he would usually be bothered by how weak other people saw him when he wasn't with his siblings. "It's nice…wait, love, is this a date?!" Klaus asked sarcastically, smiling slyly.

"Klaus." Caroline was smiling. A pure smile. "We'll see."

"Oh, come on, love...admit it, you like me." Klaus smiled in turn. "But did you really have to stay in your nurse's clothes while we were in town?"

But then he stopped. He stared straight ahead, unblinking, his face paler than ever. Seriously, it was almost completely white, and for a second Caroline was afraid he was going to pass out.

"Caroline. Caroline, let's leave. L-Let's leave…" Klaus stammered, his face completely horrified.

"What, why, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm...I-I'm not feeling too good...let's...let's just go home...It's enough for t-today..."

On a billboard was a large picture of Mikael with the words "wanted" next to it.

Caroline entered the mansion, pushing a sleeping Klaus in his wheelchair, when Elijah entered the room dressed in one of his signature suits.

"Hi Elijah, home already? Klaus fell asleep on the way here, he was feeling much better." said the young blonde.

"I'm glad, I was quite alerted when you called to tell me that he said he wasn't feeling well, so I decided to come home early." Elijah replied softly, bending down and picking Klaus up bridal style, wincing at how easy he was. "Just let me put Niklaus to bed and I'll give you your money."

Caroline nodded, aging a little uncomfortably around the room and thinking at the young man she spend the day with, at Klaus. His eyes, his lighting smile...but then his scared look today, his pale face...what had happened? It had something to do with his stepfather, the scars, but...how deep was it really? "A devil with the soul of an angel", the perfect definition for Klaus...he was broken, and she had to pick up the pieces and glue them back together, but now she realizes, not as a nurse, but as a...girlfriend? A lover? Why did she blush every time he smiled? Why did she constantly feel the urge to heal Klaus, to make him feel good, to make him live, even though she knew it was impossible? "Because you love him, obviously," as Bonnie would say...and Caroline had no reason not to agree with her. But first she has to find out the story behind the Mikaelson siblings, why was Klaus so afraid of Mikael? What had he done to him? How far did the abuse go? Did it break him completely?

Caroline was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice when Elijah returned with the money envelope in his hand and another sheet of paper.

"What's that?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Henrik made it after he saw you in the hospital when Niklaus was hospitalized, he liked you, Niklaus wanted me to give it to you."

Elijah handed her the sheet on which, surprisingly for such a young child, was drawn a picture of her, with the words "Caroline" next to it, holding hands with a man labeled "Nik" who had a boy with brown on the shoulders.

"He loved when Niklaus picked him up on his shoulders, he told me he could see everything, but...unfortunately Nik didn't have the strength to pick Henrik up since he got sick..."

Elijah's eyes were sad, Caroline couldn't help but notice when he changed "Niklaus" to "Nik".

"Miss Forbes, I've been meaning to ask you, do you think you could work this Saturday from 2pm to 4pm? Rebekah will be at a friend's house and Kol is out of town. Of course I'll pay you extra for those hours."

"Sure, it's not a problem, I actually like spending time with Klaus, but why, if may I ask?"

"I...I have a date that afternoon, with a colleague, Antoinette."

Elijah's smile was small, but not as excited as you'd think it should be. Niklaus was his life and Caroline realized that, the last few years have been constantly revolving around his brother, taking care of him, helping him where he couldn't, making sure he's okay, but soon Klaus won't be, and what will Elijah do then?

Rebekah walked into the dark room. It sounded strange, but it was like the feeling of death engulfed you from the moment you entered the room, the sound of medical machines stealing your mind. Her older brother was lying on his back in bed, completely still, and if she didn't know better, Rebekah would think he was asleep...but she knew Nik couldn't fall asleep like he used to, not since a few minutes ago , they had learned that Mikael was in New Orleans.

"Hi, Nik, how are you doing?"

"I'm a little dizzy...I-I feel sick, but I'm fine, Bekah...you?" Klaus said in a shaky voice, hiding under the covers.

"I'm fine...listen Nik, I've been wanting to tell you something for a long time...I'm dating Marcel."

"What?!" Klaus said, standing up too suddenly and putting his hand over his mouth, his face turning a little paler. Shake. Suddenly, he quickly bent under the bed and pulled out a large bowl into which he immediately vomited.

"Nik," Rebekah said carefully, leaning over the bed to hold her brother's hair.

"I'm fine." the blond man said smugly, wiping his face. "You're dating Marcellus? Rebekah, he's too old for you! You're in college! He's my doctor! He's not good enough for you! I'm not allowing you date him!"

"We're just three years apart, Nik! I love him, why don't you understand~"

But then Rebekah stopped, looking at her brother's watery eyes and how pale he was, how sick. And she stopped. She didn't scream, she didn't get mad at him for trying to keep her away from the love of her life like she normally would, she just stoped. Marcel had said that Nik only had a few months to live, and she didn't want to spend it like that.

"I started seeing him last year...you were being taken from hospital to hospital, you weren't feeling well at all, and I...I just wanted to feel loved..." she paused, then realized the steady tears falling down Klaus's face. "Sorry Nik, I'll try to ask him to take a break for a few days, I~"

"Seriously?" Klaus laughed with sad, angry eyes. "Why aren't you yelling at me? Why aren't you angry? You stopped so suddenly...you feel sorry for me. Everyone is treating me like I'm a baby."

"I'm going to lose you in a few months, Niky, I just want us to stop fighting in this short time, I don't want you to die hating my decisions. I don't want you to die at all..."

Suddenly, Rebekah bursts into tears and Klaus forget everything.

"Little sister…I'd give anything to live just a few more years, to see you and Kol graduate, to see Henrik grow up…to be by Elijah's side when he finally gets into a long-term relationship..."

Rebekah laughed.

"If you want to be with Marcellus, be with him, he's a good man, but don't think I won't have Kol keep an eye on him after I'm gone, and make his life a living nightmare if he hurts you in any way. And until then, I will personally take care of making Dr. Gerard to understand that if he doesn't treat you the way you should be treated, he won't be able to get a job anywhere, ever."

"Sure, Nik."

Rebekah knew Nik wasn't kidding. But still, looking at the piles of medical equipment in the rooms, the pills on the table, the hospital bed, and her brother's tired, pale face, she knew she couldn't contradict him, it would be too bad after .

~Flashback~

"Make it stop. P-please, make it stop, it hurts!"

Rebekah was pulled from reality by a vague memory of her brother a few years ago. Niklaus had already been hospitalized continuously for about three months, the hospital bed sheets were replaced with his red blankets, the bedside table was filled with drawing pads and books, and several new drawings were carefully pasted on the wall.

When the barely eighteen-year-old girl walked into the hospital room with Elijah's coffee in her hands, she noticed that there was no one in the room, the bathroom door was almost closed, and from inside there were feeling faceless tears and blinding pain. Through the crack in the bathroom door she could see her half-brother, now bent over the toilet in his hospital gown; and her older brother trying to hold and cradle him as vomit with a little blood continued to flow from Niklaus's mouth, leaving him all in a tired and pale mess.

"It hurts...make it stop. 'Lijah"

Nik was already crying and Rebekah could tell immediately how red his neck must be and how bad he must feel. The sound was terrible, Nik's crying combined with him literally spilling his organs into Elijah's arms…Rebekah didn't know if it was from his illness or the side effects of the medication. He had spent the whole night like this, Elijah cleaning him up with tissues to the point where Nik's face was spotless, like he hadn't vomited blood all night, while there was an IV in his arm. The blonde girl put the coffee on the chair, then went into the bathroom and sat on the floor with Klaus, taking him in her arms and rubbing his back as he felt sick again.

"Please, m-make it stooop."

~end of the flashback~

"Sleep, Nik. Did you take your painkillers tonight? Opioids?"

"No…they make me feel weak, sedated, tired…extremely tired, Bekah…"

"I know, but you need to take them, you'll feel a lot worse if you don't, you know that...Nik, please...?"

Rebekah slowly took the pills out of the drawer and Klaus caught them in his hands, looking at the medical bag Caroline had left here. It smelled like her, he missed her, despite the fact that she had only been gone for a few hours. He hoped to dream of her that night, and couldn't wait to see her again the next day. Klaus swallowed the pills.

"Elijah hired me a masseur...I'm meeting him for the first time on Wednesday..." Klaus said softly, stretching and yawning. Rebekah kisses his forehead and looked at him with admiration.

"You're so strong, Nik, you know that, right? You're my hero and I adore you, we all do."

But Nik's eyes were already closed, refusing to listen to her. And the words that Marcel said to her on their last date echoed in Rebeka's head..."palliative surgery".

"Here" Elijah said, handing Klaus a tray of food and offering to help him eat, to which Klaus flatly refused.

Elijah brought him food at his bedside even when they were younger, wanting Klaus to enjoy as much as he could to have someone take care of him, because Mikael's anger never stopped and his brother's back was always full of scars.

"I have to go to work now, but Caroline is already downstairs, try to get some sleep."

Within minutes, Elijah was out of the house, his blue suit perfectly arranged, and Klaus was asleep. Caroline was sitting in the Mikaelson living room digesting some medical reports when the doorbell rang. The young nurse was very close to the door, so she answer it.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Good morning, I was...hmm...hired by Mr. Mikaelson, I am supposed to talk with the tenant of the house about what I will do. I'm the new gardener."

"Oh, Elijah Mikaelson isn't here, but his brother is upstairs, he might know something. Come in," Caroline said, looking closely at the man's face. Did he know him from somewhere?

Mikael entered the house.