Summary: When nurse Caroline Forbes is hired by Elijah Mikaelson to take care of his younger brother with a terminal illness, Klaus, she didn't expect to fall in love with the charismatic blonde.

A: I don't own TVDU or any character. Sorry, my english isn't good.

Elijah felt like he couldn't breathe in moment he walked through the hospital doors. The reason he was there screamed wildly in his head and blamed him at every step: Niklaus had passed out and was hospitalized again. By the time Elijah reached Niklaus' room, Kol and Rebekah were already there. Their eyes were watery.

"He died?" It was a simple question, instead of "Are you okay?" or "How does he feel?". For some, it might seem strange, too sudden, but in their context it was expected, there was no more "If", there was just "When".

"No, they managed to wake him up, but we can't see him. The nurses are constantly sedating him, but they kicked us out of the room. They let Caroline in and she will let us know if anything changes." Rebekah said, kind of angry, but concerned.

"Elijah? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Marcel asked, Elijah noticing him for the first time that evening, too worried about his brother's condition to pay attention to anything else.

"Sure, excuse me."

Elijah followed Marcel to a safer part of the hospital.

"Elijah, I'm going to lay the cards on my face: Klaus is stable, but I am extremely concerned about what's coming next...he doesn't have more than 4-5 months left without treatment. Elijah...if we do the operation, we do it now, we save the pain at the end. I already talked with your brother and he told us to do it, despite knowing all too well the risks... As you know them too."

"Niklaus always threw himself headfirst into the fire, even though the water was right next to him." Elijah said with a sad smile. "It's Nik's decision, not mine. Whatever he chooses, I'm here for him. Marcel…can we see him? My siblings said the nurses wouldn't let them in the hospital room."

"He needs to rest now, but as soon as he recovers, you will be able to stay with him until we prepare the operation."

Within hours, Niklaus was awake, and after much complaining from Rebekah, Kol, and finally Elijah, the nurses had let them in for no more than thirty minutes. When Elijah entered the room, he immediately saw Rebekah holding Klaus' head in her lap and gently stroking his hair.

"Freya says they couldn't wake Henrik and put him on the plane in the middle of the night, but most likely all three will be here by morning."

"Four, with the little unborn Nik." Rebekah said, to which Kol added sarcastically:

"I still don't understand why they named him Nik, I think Kol would have been a much better choice." he laughed. "And Nik, how amazing was it to be sequestered by those wonderful nurses?"

"I wouldn't have known, I was in dreamland the whole time."

"Niklaus, are you going to eat that?" Elijah asked, motioning to the barely touched tray of food by Klaus' bed.

"Oh, Nik, are you feeling sick again?"

"No, I'm just...I feel full... I tried to drink some water, but I...I was about to choke on it. I'll try again later."

"The early stage of death." Caroline said, convinced by her words, but then, seeing the worried and scared faces of the Mikaelsons, she continued, "That's...kind of a good thing...it could be worse... I'm glad you're not in the middle stage yet, Klaus. It's alright...we'll take every step slowly, and we're here, we love you... In this stage, your body is conserving energy and does not need as much nourishment as it did in the past. Although it may be troubling to witness, it does not cause you any pain or suffering, Klaus. This is a...natural process where the body shuts down hunger, and artificial feeding at this time does not prevent death and can even lead to physical distress. The family is important in this state, that's why you will have to be by his side every step of the way."

"We will be."

Elijah said, looking at Niklaus. His brother looked so small in the hospital bed, so innocent, he reminded him so much of the little boy with blond curls and scars that he had told so many times that everything would be okay, that he would always be by his side, always and forever.

Marcellus' words echoed in his head, "He doesn't have more than 4-5 months left...", he was going to die soon, his little brother, his best friend. He couldn't imagine his life without Niklaus, there was a big void in his heart.

"How do you feel about the surgery, Nik?" Rebekah asked with a proud smile. She was proud of him.

"I'm not scared, I don't want to be. What will be, will be, that's it."

"It will be okay. They will just...clean your muscular system, or what?" Kol asked.

"Not even close." Elijah said without expression, then continued: "It is the insertion of a self-expanding vascular stent for the alleviation of spinal cord compression and superior vena cava obstruction. But it will be fine, Niklaus, they will insert it, they will sew it, then you will wake up. And we'll be here when you do."

The door slowly opened and Katherine walked through in the hospital room, immediately sitting down by Klaus' side and asking him how he was feeling.

"I'm fine Kath, at least I expected you not to treat me like I'm made of glass."

"Katerina...?" Elijah asked, obviously surprised by the brunette's presence here. "I'm glad you're here, but for what purpose?"

"I'm here to make sure my best friend is okay, why are you here?"

"Are you mad about something?"

"It's not about us now, Elijah." Katherine said, trying to calm down.

"You're pissed about the date." Nik said, grinning, but still a little surprised.

"No, I'm pissed that he was late, you almost died, Klaus. And Elijah was dancing at a date with a woman who didn't even care about your family."

Katherine was interrupted by several nurses entering the room.

"Ok, the time is over, he needs to rest. Out" said one harshly, but with soft eyes for Klaus, Genevieve flipping her hair over her shoulders.

"Who do you think you~"

"It's alright, Bekah, I'll see you in the morning." Nik said, in no mood to give in to an argument. "And, Kath, Elijah, you're in love with each other, admit it. You didn't get over that summer, life is too short to make excuses like these."

Elijah and Katherine looked at each other, Klaus was right and they knew it. They were soulmates, but they weren't together.

"Out!" another nurse screamed, preparing a sedative and gently inserting it into Klaus' IV.

"Good night…" Klaus said dazedly, before closing his eyes, letting the sedative do its job.

"Marcellus?" Klaus said, putting his oxygen mask aside for a moment.

It was the afternoon after, they were almost in the operating room, and to his surprise, Klaus was emotionless. He had accepted his death until now, hadn't he? Yes...he had...but he couldn't help but think about the only reason he could think of for wanting to live another few months: Caroline. Caroline, who had revived his smile, his zest for life, who had shown him how to live and given him a reason to do it. He wanted to be with her for every second of his short life.

"Klaus, you need to keep the mask on." Marcel said.

"Soon. Look at me, Marcellus." Klaus took a deep breath, then continued: "You and Rebekah have known each other since you were eight. So...I'm still not totally alright with your relationship, but you love her, and if I will die today, you have my approval to marry my sister, when she will be ready for it."

"Thank you." that was all Marcel said, another words couldn't express the release and gratitude for what his friend had said.

In the hallway, hearts were beating wildly, and Elijah's worried footsteps echoed through the corridors. He was pacing back and forth, without any peace.

"Lijah, calm down, he's Nik, he will be fine. He needs do be, don't he?" Kol asked.

"He will be fine, Kol, he will get through it, he's strong, don't worry." Freya said lovely, trying to calm down the college student, while holding a sleeping Henrik in her arms.

Keelin went to get them something to eat, Henrik's pencils now sitting untouched on Freya's wife's chair. The youngest boy had continuously drawn Klaus make-better cards, being excited to see him again.

"Yeah, and we're talking about a man who looks hot in a hospital gown. In Caroline's opinion, at least." Katherine said, in such a way that Elijah couldn't hear.

"You know...?"

"Please, I'm Katherine Pierce, I know everything."

"It's been a long time, how long should it be?" Elijah asked Caroline, her face tight with worry, but his suit still immaculate and his hair perfectly styled.

"Marcel is here." Rebekah suddenly said, jumping off her chair and running towards Marcel as her family did, they all were excited and very worried.

"How is he?"

"Is he alive?"

"Did he wake up?"

"How did the surgery go?"

"He's fine?"

"Slow down. He's alive, the surgery itself got very well." Marcel said with focused eyes. "But..."

"B-but...?"

"Elijah, Freya, would you rather prefer me to speak to you two about this separately, or can I tell all of you in the same time?"

"Whatever you have to say to us, you can say in front of everyone. Be honest, how is he?" Freya asked, hugging Henrik at her chest.

"The surgery was hard on his body...we needed to sedate him, so he fell into a kind of artificial coma. The odds are not exactly on his side, but there is still hope."

A: Poor Nik... What do you think? What would you like to see in the next chapter?