Thank you Deidre for betaing this chapter.

Someone like you

Chapter 7

'Save what we once were'

"It's my fault."

"No, baby. Don't you ever think that."

She cradled her son tighter against her chest, letting him sob into her shirt. Her eyes wandered around the waiting room of the hospital as she pressed kisses against his chestnut hair in an attempt to calm him down. Her father sat beside her, his eyes staring blankly at the white wall in front of them, his hands clutching the armrests in a tight grip.

"But I was with her." His tiny fists clawed on her jacket. "It's my fault."

"Stop saying that, Liam." She rocked him in her embrace. "This is no one's fault."

"But I was going to fix her." His big blue teary eyes looked up at her. "I want to fix her."

"The doctors are doing everything they can, okay?" She stroked his cheek, her own voice shaky. "We just have to hope for the best."

"I don't want granny to die."

Her heart broke the same second his cries echoed through the empty waiting room. The tears she had been trying to hold back started rolling down her cheeks now her son was laying broken in her arms. Her breathing was shaky as she clutched the boy tighter and tighter against her chest, trying to shield him from the cruel world they were in, trying to hide him from all the pain they were throwing at him.

"Auntie Bonnie is picking you up." She pressed her lips against his forehead. "You're going to spend the night with her."

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here." His fingers grabbed her blouse. "I want to fix granny."

"You can't fix her, Liam." She cupped his tear-stained face between her palms. "You have to be a strong boy for mommy and go stay with auntie Bonnie for the night, okay?"

"Can't I stay with auntie Caroline and uncle Ty?" A loud gasp left his throat as he started getting trouble breathing through the sobs. "I want to stay with auntie Care."

"Auntie Care and your daddy are coming here and Tyler had to work." She shook her head. "You have to stay with auntie Bonnie for one night, can you do that for mommy?"

"But mommy..." His lip trembled, his blue eyes clouded with the tears. "I want to stay with you."

"You can't stay here." She whispered, stroking his hair back. "The doctors will need a lot of time to fix your grandmother so I want you to go with auntie Bonnie and spend the night there."

"Elena?" Stefan came running into the waiting room, spotting his family on the dark brown couch. "How is she doing?"

"We don't know." She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "They won't tell us anything."

"They're probably still examining her." He crouched down in front of her knees. "She'll be fine."

"You don't know that." She shook her head. "She needs a new heart but it's not that easy to get one, there are people who are on a list for years and never get one."

"But she still has some time left without a new heart." He rubbed her knee. "Maybe this was just a warning."

"She can die from that warning, Stefan." Her eyes widened, staring into his. "You weren't there when we found her, she didn't breath, she didn't have a heartbeat, we thought she was dead until the paramedics arrived."

"It's my fault, daddy." Liam's blue eyes focused on Stefan. "I fell asleep next to her."

"No. No, Liam." Stefan wiped the tears from under the boy's eyes. "This is not your fault."

"I should have stayed awake." He reached for Stefan, wrapping his tiny arms around his neck. "I don't want granny to die."

"She will be fine." He picked the boy up and stroked his back. "It's not your fault."

"Stefan." Elena looked up at him, seeing her son bury his face against Stefan's neck. "Where is Caroline?"

"She had to be somewhere first." He shrugged, trying to soothe the boy in his arms. "She said she would be here in fifteen minutes."

"Okay." She whispered, looking at her father beside her.

"I'm going to take Liam for a walk." He rocked the five-year-old in his arms. "Some fresh air will do him good."

She could only nod as Liam continued sobbing against Stefan's neck. Her eyes followed them when Stefan grabbed Liam's coat from the chair and started walking to the exit, whispering soothing words in the boy's ear. A small sigh escaped her once they left the waiting room and she looked beside her, seeing her father still in the same position he had been a few minutes ago.

"Daddy?" She placed her hand above his on the armrest. "Are you okay?"

"I can't lose her." He focused on her, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I won't know what to do without her."

A loud sob left her throat as she saw her father cry for the first time in her young life. The pieces of her heart that were already broken, broke further when more tears left his eyes, rolling down his cheeks to his jaw where they gathered and fell like raindrops on his shirt. Her arms wrapped around him like they had been wrapped around her son since the moment they found her mother's lifeless body on the bed.

"She'll be okay." She let her head rest on his shoulder. "We're not going to lose her."

"Let's hope so." He patted the arm that was wrapped around his chest. "Let's hope so."

"Gilbert?"

Their eyes both searched for the doctor that stood in the waiting room, his eyes finding their bodies on the couch. He started walking towards them, wearing his poker face, the white lab coat he was wearing fluttering against his legs.

"How is she?" Grayson stood up abruptly.

Elena got up too, placing her hand on her father's shoulder. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm sorry but.." The doctor turned his head over his shoulder as his name was called by a nurse. "Excuse me for a second."

"What?" Grayson's eyes went wide. "Tell me what's wrong with my wife!"

"Daddy." Elena placed her hand on his chest. "Maybe it's about mom, he'll come back and tell us everything."

"These young doctors." He shook his head. "They think because their parents payed thousands of dollars for their education that they can permit themselves everything."

"Calm down." She patted his chest. "He'll tell us everything in a minute."

Her eyes traveled back to the doctor that was now talking to the nurse. The expression on his face changed from disinterested to shock to disbelief. He shook his head at the nurse who was explaining everything by using her hands, his eyebrows knitted together as he seemed to understand what she was saying. She felt her father stiffen beside her when the doctor turned away from the nurse and approached them again. This time his eyes were sparkling, his body was tensed but filled with determination instead of despondent like a few minutes before.

"We're going to operate, sir." His young voice sounded excited. "I'll sent someone to explain it all to you."

"What kind of operation?" Grayson threw his arms up. "Is there a new heart?"

"I don't have any details, sir." The brown-haired man looked over his shoulder. "The doctors will find you when they're done operating."

"But those operations take hours." Grayson grabbed his arm when he was about to turn around. "Are we just supposed to sit here and wait without knowing what's going on?"

"I'm really sorry, sir." The doctor pulled his arm free and ran through the door of the emergency room.

"We'll have to wait for hours." Grayson sat down again, his face buried in his palms. "Those operations take hours."

"But it's a good thing they're operating on her, right?" She sat down beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "That means there's still hope?"

"I guess so." He looked up, his arms resting in his lap. "It depends on what kind of operation they're doing."

"You think she's getting a new heart?"

"They would need a heart that's suitable for your mother's blood type, there would have to be a transplant surgeon present, a dozen nurses." He shook his head tiredly. "I don't know if they can do something like that in a small hospital like this."

"Can't a cardiac surgeon do it?" She whispered, looking down in her lap. "Someone like Damon?"

"There would have to be one present." Grayson nodded. "But a transplant surgeon would perform the operation with a team of doctors and nurses."

"So you don't think she's getting a new heart?"

"Elena, don't get your hopes up." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I know what you're thinking but Damon is a big fish, they don't call him for something like this, he gets the big operations with a lot of show."

"But who is operating on her?" Her eyes teared up again. "Can we trust him?"

"His name is Dr. Miller, I've met him a few times when I was still a doctor." He rubbed her shoulder. "He's a good surgeon and he'll do everything he can to save your mother."

"But not as good as Damon?"

"There are few who are as good as Damon." He turned his head away from her, focusing on the wall. "But Dr. Miller will do everything he can."

She nodded, looking anywhere but his face. "I need coffee, do you want some?"

"No. Thank you."

"I thought I'd find you here."

"I thought I'd find you here."

"It's my house." Giuseppe turned his head over his shoulder, mocking her. "Of course you find me here."

"The guests are leaving, they're asking for you." She placed her hands on the white fabric of the dress. "They'd like to say goodbye."

"So suddenly the guests are also my concern?" He scoffed, his green eyes narrowing. "They weren't a few hours ago."

"There are more of your business associates here than people I know." She threw her arms up. "Of course they want to say goodbye to you, you were the one who invited them."

"This is not my wedding, remember?"

"No." She clenched her teeth together. "But you're the one who's paying for it."

She lifted the skirt of her dress up and started walking to the door, feeling the anger boil inside her chest. Her lips pressed into a hard line as she heard him grumble behind her, sipping his bourbon in front of the fire.

"Don't you forget that." His voice made her pause in her step. "I made sure that you could have your dream wedding."

"This is not my dream wedding." She shook her head, keeping her back to him. "It's yours, because you wanted to make a big event out of it. You wanted us to invite every person we knew."

"Not every person." He rolled his eyes. "I didn't expect you to invite trash."

"Why not?" She turned around, her hands on her hips, her brown eyes boring into his green ones. "Because he's your son?"

She jumped as he stood up abruptly, the glass he had been holding shattered into a million pieces against the wall, his green eyes wide open, boring into hers. His chest was panting, his face hardened, his muscles stiff, his teeth clenching together.

"How do you know?"

"Admit it, Giuseppe." She cocked her head to the side. "I'm better at my job than you give me credit for."

"What do you know?"

"I know that nine months before Damon was born, Stefan's mother filed for divorce." She put her hands on her hips. "I know that your name is on Damon's birth certificate."

"So now you think you know it all." He let out a hard laugh, throwing his hands in the air. "Congratulations, Elena."

"No. I don't." She shook her head at him, her eyes softening. "I don't know why Stefan's mother didn't go through with the divorce or why you even bothered to put your name on Damon's birth certificate if you went back to your wife before he was born."

"If you want to hear the whole story, you better get me another glass."

He smirked, but this time it wasn't cold like she was used to. It was a mask he put up, a mask he wore when he didn't want people to see the hurt that was hidden underneath it, when his reality became to painful and he wanted to crawl away from it.

"Here you go." She handed him the glass and sat down in front of him, the white dress draped around her.

"I met Lauren the year after I married Helen." He sat down in front of her, his body sinking into the leather couch. "Lauren is Damon's mother."

"I know." She nodded. "I talked to her on the phone earlier today."

"You're calling Damon's mother?" His eyebrow arched.

"She called Damon and I was there." She shrugged, a smile coming across her lips. "They were pretty amusing."

"Lauren was always like that." He smiled softly, remembering. "She could make the grumpiest person in the bar roll over the floor. I think that's what I liked so much about her."

"How did you meet her?" She let her hands rest in her lap, her voice soft.

"Helen's father owned the company before me. I was his best salesman so he sent me to all parts of the country to promote his company and expand it." He locked his green eyes with hers. "One day he gave me an assignment in Chicago, that's where I met Lauren."

"And you fell in love with her?" She whispered, her eyes looking for his.

"I wouldn't call it love." He leaned back in his seat. "It was physical. She was so beautiful, with those blue eyes and a smile that made you melt. She could have any man she wanted."

"But she chose you." She smiled softly.

"For some reason she did." He let out a hard chuckle. "We started sleeping together but it didn't mean anything to me. I was young and I didn't know how much I was hurting my wife."

"Did Helen find out?" She looked up at him. "About the affair?"

"I told her everything once I got home." He buried his face in his hands. "I felt so guilty but Lauren she just pulled me in and made me forget about the fact that I was married."

"That's when Helen wanted to divorce you." She whispered. "You told her."

"She was so mad that she filed for divorce the day after I told her." He shook his head and sighed. "But who could blame her? Her husband cheated on her."

"But she never went through with it." Her eyebrows knitted together. "Because you were still married when she died."

"We worked it out. I told her that it meant nothing to me, because it didn't mean anything to me." He shrugged. "She forgave me and we moved on until three months later Lauren called me and told me she was pregnant."

"What did Helen say?"

"I was raised in a family where they always told you that you had to take responsibility for your actions and Helen understood that." His green eyes darkened. "So the day after Damon was born I traveled to Chicago and signed the birth certificate."

"But why doesn't Damon know you?" She shook her head. "If you were there when he was born.."

"When I asked if I could see my son.." He swallowed back the lump in his throat. "Lauren told me she would only let me see him if I chose her and left my wife."

"You chose your wife." Her voice was soft. "You left your son."

"Of course I did. I loved my wife." He smiled softly. "Helen thought that she would get a child, we had been trying for months to get pregnant but it just didn't work out... so when she heard about Lauren's pregnancy, she thought that maybe she could be a mom a few times a year when Lauren's son came to visit his father. But we both know that's not how it worked out."

"Lauren forbid you to see him?"

"She did." He nodded. "And I think some part of Helen was relieved about that. She wouldn't have to think about the fact that I had a child with another woman. But we asked Lauren if she wanted money or baby clothes or whatever she wanted for the baby but she didn't want anything. She wanted me to disappear out of her life and raise him on her own."

"Damon thinks you don't want him." She leaned forward, locking their eyes. "He thinks you never wanted him."

"And he's right." Giuseppe stood up. "Getting involved with Lauren was a mistake, cheating on my wife was a mistake and signing that birth certificate was the biggest mistake of them all."

"It was not." She got up too, grabbing his arm. "He's your son and he deserves to know."

"Damon will never know, you got that?" His green eyes bored into hers. "I walked out on him thirty years ago and I'm not going to walk in his life now."

"But if you would just meet him and get to know him.."

"NO." His eyes went wide, his fists grabbing her upper arms. "I didn't want him thirty years ago and I still don't want him. Stefan will never know that I cheated on his mother and that he has a stepbrother somewhere because I couldn't keep it in my pants."

"But you have to think about Damon." Her eyes were begging him. "He deserves to know who his father is."

"I think Damon manages just fine without a father." He let out a hard laugh. "I think he knows better how to stand up for himself than Stefan does."

"And still you call him trash." She shook her head at him. "He's not trash, he's amazing."

"It doesn't matter what he is, I want nothing to do with him."

"You don't deserve him." She pulled her arm free out of his grip. "He's too good for you."

His face hardened as she spat the words in his face, his whole body going stiff in front of her. She turned away from him and started walking to the door, her hands balled into fists next to her.

"Are you going back the the party?"

"Where else?"

"Where else?" She sighed and turned to Caroline. "I needed coffee."

"One of the two things Damon taught you." Caroline shook her head in amusement. "Coffee is the answer to everything."

"What is the other thing he taught me?" She arched her eyebrow at her friend.

"Sarcasm."

"Thank you for coming." She wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. "I told my son he had to stay with Bonnie because I wanted you for myself."

"I know." Caroline hugged her tightly. "I saw Stefan and Bonnie with Liam on the parking lot. He wasn't so happy to see Bonnie."

"He doesn't like staying with Bonnie." She straightened her shoulders and pressed the button on the coffee machine. "But I just couldn't deal with Bonnie right now."

"So you made sure she had to watch Liam and couldn't come her."

"I learned tact from you." She punched Caroline's shoulder.

"How's your mom?" Caroline's tone softened. "I tried to come here as soon as I heard."

"We don't know anything." She lifted her shoulders, tearing up. "We know they're operating on her but we don't know what they're doing or what's happening in there."

"What happened?" Caroline shook her head. "Did she have a heart attack or something?"

"We don't know. Liam found her..." She shook her head, searching for words. "Suddenly he was standing in the kitchen, crying and screaming that mom didn't want to wake up."

"How is he doing?" Caroline rubbed her shoulder. "It's must have been hard on him to see that."

"He thinks it's his fault, he's blaming himself." More tears welled up in her eyes. "I wish he would have never had to see that. If he hadn't, god knows how long it would have taken before we found her but that look on his face when he ran into the kitchen...I'll never forget that look again."

"Children forget things like that quickly." Caroline smiled softly. "It's a drama today and a distant memory tomorrow."

"Let's hope so." She whispered. "Because I can't stand the idea of him blaming himself."

"Bonnie picked Liam up." Stefan walked into the small room.

"Good." Elena nodded and smiled. "He needs his rest."

"I don't think he'll sleep much."

"None of us will."

Her eyes were focused on the white wall in front of her, hearing the seconds tick away in her head, the hours passing slower than ever. Stefan's fingers ran through her long brown locks as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her thumb was gently stroking her father's hand that lay between their bodies on the couch. The silence in the room was every few minutes broken when Caroline turned a page from the magazine she was reading. The sobs had faded away a long time ago when her body became to tired to produce any new tears and just settled for being comforted in her husband's embrace.

"It's been eight hours." Her voice broke the long silence. "Shouldn't we have heard something by now?"

"No news is good news." Caroline smiled at her and grabbed another magazine from the table.

"It means she's still alive."

All their heads snapped to the side as her father spoke the words, his voice lower and softer than she had ever heard it, more broken than she had ever imagined hearing it. She moved her body so she could lean against him and give him the same comfort she needed. He pressed a kiss against her forehead and squeezed her arm, letting his cheek rest against her crown.

"Grayson Gilbert?"

Her eyes traveled over the man in the door, wearing the green fabric she had seen Damon countless time in. Her heart started beating faster in her chest as she noticed his tired gaze, dark circles under his eyes.

"Dr. Miller." Her father stood up, walking in the man's direction. "How's my wife?"

"We were able to repair the damage." The man nodded.

"Thank god." Grayson threw his arms around him, patting his shoulder. "Thank you so much."

Tears started rolling down her cheeks again as she saw the picture in front of her, the doctor slightly uncomfortable by her father's embrace but smiling nonetheless. A smile appeared on her face as she turned her head around and was met with Caroline's blond curls and bright white teeth.

"She's going to be okay." The blonde squeezed her tightly. "I knew she would be."

"I was so scared." She wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "I thought I was going to lose her."

"She's a fighter." Caroline ruffled her hair. "Just like her daughter."

"They're both strong women." Grayson stood behind her, kissing his daughter's cheek. "I couldn't be more proud of them."

"Can we see her?" Elena looked up at her father, locking their eyes. "I want to see her."

"No." He shook his head. "The doctor said it will take a few hours before we can see her."

"But she's going to be okay, right?"

"She'll be okay." He hugged her tightly against his chest. "She doesn't have a new heart but they were able to fix whatever was wrong."

"You don't sound like a very good doctor right now, dad." She rolled her eyes, chuckling at the bright smile on his face.

"I'm too happy to be a doctor right now." He rubbed her arms and let out a sigh of relief. "I can really use that coffee right now."

"I can use one too." She took a deep breath, turning over her shoulder to Caroline and Stefan. "Anyone else?"

"Me." Caroline got up, stretching. "I really want to stretch my legs for a bit."

"I'm going to give Bonnie a call to check up on Liam." Stefan got up and pecked her cheek.

She nodded and linked her arm with her father's. They walked to the coffee machine with a huge smile on both their faces with Caroline on their trail, humming a song. Voices came out of the small room as they approached it, the men it belonged to, leaning against the back wall of the room.

"The Gilbert woman, I thought she was dead."

Grayson pulled his daughter behind him as he heard the words echo through the small room. Her breath hitched as she pressed herself against the wall and focused on the voices in the room. Caroline did the same and stood beside her, squeezing her hand.

"So did I." The strong male voice snorted. "I was ready to tell the family that she was a lost cause and suddenly a nurse calls me back and tells me Damon Salvatore walked in and wants to operate on her."

"The guy's crazy." The other man sighed. "We thought there was no way to save that woman."

"Crazy or not." The man let out a hard laugh. "They say he's one of the best cardiac surgeons in the country."

Her heart started beating faster again as she processed the words in her mind, her father's body stiffened next to her, his hands clenching into fists on his side. A sob left her as she thought about how they were going to give up on her mother.

"You called him, didn't you?" She turned her head around, focusing her brown teary eyes on Caroline's blue ones. "You called him."

"You can thank me later." Caroline gave her the typical Caroline-smile.

"He saved her." Her father's voice made her head snap to the other side. "They were going to give up on her."

"I..." She stammered, shaking her head. "I..."

"Go." Grayson whispered. "Go to him."

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