A/N - Thank you to you lovely reviewers who took the time to drop me a little note. They're like gin to my Friday nights :) They just make it better :) Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter but it felt like the best place to stop before chapter five moves things up a notch. Hope you enjoy xxx
Chapter 4
"Stefan."
"Hey Elena." He was holding a bunch of vivid gerberas and looking a little sheepish. "I saw Caroline and she said you had a break coming up?" His voice was hopeful and Elena couldn't help but smile as he looked at her like a shy little boy would look at a girl he liked in the playground.
She checked her watch. "Five minutes and then I'm free. To the left of the main entrance, there's a bench. Wait for me there?"
Stefan nodded with a small smile and handed her the gerberas. They weren't her favourite, but she still admired the bold colours and strikingly uniform petals. "I'll pop them in some water and be down soon."
"Do you have Damon Salvatore's paperwork?" The nurse behind the main desk asked Elena. "Dr Mikaelson wanted to compare something."
"I'll go grab it."
She knocked lightly on the door, and upon seeing that Damon was awake, entered his room.
"I just need to get your paperwork." She told him, removing the top sheet from its place attached to the clipboard.
"So that was Stefan?"
Elena knew it was a question, though it sounded more like a statement. She wasn't sure what Damon's tone implied. "I like his hair."
Now she knew he was being sarcastic.
"What does he use to get it to stand up like that? Baby oil? Grease? The sweat from his workout sessions?"
"American Crew."
"Figures." Damon smirked as Elena made her way back towards the door, paperwork in her left hand. "What did he do wrong?"
"Excuse me?"
"He brought you flowers," Damon said. "So what did he do wrong?"
"Maybe he didn't do anything wrong. Maybe he's the kind of guy who brings flowers to his girlfriend at work, just because."
Damon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm a guy. I've bought apology flowers. I know a sorry-I-fucked-up gesture when I see one."
"You're wrong." Elena lied, opening the door. She'd had quite enough of this conversation.
"I also know you don't like gerberas."
She closed the door a little abruptly behind her, leaving Damon to ponder her reaction to her boyfriend's appearance, and his own reaction for taking a strangely vested interest in their exchange.
X
"Elena, I'm so sorry." Stefan gulped, taking her hands in his before she'd even really sat down on the bench. "I had no right to speak to you like I did and-"
He stopped abruptly, noticing the deep purple marks in her wrist. "I did that." He whispered, appalled. "I'm a monster."
There were tears in his eyes and Elena felt a lump in her throat making it hard to swallow. Or breathe.
"You're not a monster Stefan." She tilted his chin towards her to force him to look at her. "You were angry and I was drunk."
"I don't know what was wrong with me. I'm so, so sorry Elena."
"I know." She was whispering now, tears in her own eyes.
"It won't happen again."
"I know."
Elena offered a soft kiss against Stefan's lips and he returned it anxiously, desperately trying to show her something, she figured. She just wasn't sure what. They spent the rest of her break making dinner plans for that evening at the restaurant she'd wanted to go to since they'd first moved to New York, but they'd both always deemed it too expensive. Stefan assured her they could afford it; he had some savings they hadn't touched and it was only one night right? She deserved it.
Elena returned to the third floor feeling significantly lighter than she'd felt all day. At least she knew Stefan's outburst last night was a one-off and that he was sorry. They'd simply forget about it and move on.
X
"Dr Gilbert, Caroline." Klaus drawled in greeting as he saw the two ladies taking a well-deserved rest in the break room later that afternoon. Their department had been even busier than normal and beds were needed pretty urgently. The two ladies had done all they could to manage the situation, but there were patients being forced to stay in other departments simply because there wasn't space on their floor. Neither Elena nor Caroline had the power to discharge anyone without the say-so of their supervisor, who now happened to be Klaus.
"I'm discharging Damon Salvatore this evening." He said. "One of you prepare the paperwork and I'll sign it."
"Why can't you prepare the paperwork?" Caroline asked.
"Because I'm busy being more important than you, love." He returned. Caroline was outraged and slammed down her coffee cup.
"I wish Jo was still here."
"Well she's not and I am. And I say, prepare Damon Salvatore's paperwork."
"Are you sure we should be discharging him?" Elena asked. "He pretty much ruined the healing of his wound last night and he's still having violent nightmares."
Klaus shrugged. "We'll give him a batch of Alprazolam and he can come here for redressing if he needs it."
"He won't take Alprazolam. I already tried."
"Then he'll continue to have violent nightmares."
"Dr Mikaelson, he was shot and we haven't found out why."
"Has he asked to make a statement?"
Elena shook her head. "No."
"Has he had any suspicious visitors?"
"No, but-"
"He's not going to die from that wound. He's also not going to die from his nightmares."
"But-"
"We need the bed Dr Gilbert, it's as simple as that."
"Okay." She answered, somewhat reluctantly. "I'll prepare his paperwork."
"And what about you?" Klaus asked Caroline.
"Oh, I'll just be fetching you tea or shining your shoes, master." She retorted. "Or do you have anything else subordinate for me to do?"
"See love, now you're just being petty."
Caroline huffed and stormed out of the break room, slamming the door so hard behind her that it bounced back open again. Klaus smirked. "Remind me to give her some etiquette lessons. A little respect never hurt anyone."
Elena, unsure of how to respond, excused herself and made the relatively short walk along the main corridor towards Damon's room.
She knocked before entering and saw him smile at her through the open blinds. Wow, he really did have a beautiful smile, and those eyes...she'd never seen any that colour before. Elena shook her head. She wasn't sure why those thoughts had just popped into there.
"Twice in one day," he smiled again. It really was pretty breathtaking. "Either I've been a good boy, or I really messed up my stitches last night."
"None of the above." Elena replied, taking the chart from its place at the end of Damon's bed. "I'm just here to prepare your paperwork. Good news: you're being discharged tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Your stats are good, vitals are good. You did make a bit of a mess of your stitches last night, but nothing a daily dressing won't fix."
"Oh…"
It was the first time Elena had known him seemingly lost for words. "I'll check your wound before you leave and make sure you have a clean dressing for tonight and then after that, you're free to go."
"Uh, thanks."
It kind of sounded like more of a question than a statement, and Elena felt pretty guilty. Still, they needed the bed, Klaus was her boss and he was right really; Damon wasn't going to die from his wound or his nightmares.
"Is there anyone I can call to come pick you up?" Elena asked.
"No."
"Nobody?"
"I can hail a cab. It's Manhattan after all." Damon returned. His face was arranged into an expression Elena couldn't quite work out. It certainly wasn't a natural one. He'd put it there purposefully.
"You sure?"
"Are you questioning my cab-hailing skills?"
She feigned shock, drawing her hand towards her heart. "Me? Of course not." With the movement, her white coat sleeve had slid upwards along her arm, revealing the purple marks on her wrist. She hadn't noticed, but Damon had.
"Must have been a pretty long way you were going to fall."
"Excuse me?"
"Your wrist." He replied. "Those are some pretty deep marks. He must've grabbed you pretty hard."
"Yeah well, what can I say? I'm a klutz."
"Really? I haven't noticed you drop anything since I've been here - other than that one time."
"I guess alcohol just brings it out in me." She wasn't even sure why she was carrying this conversation on. Or feeling guilty towards him for lying.
"Doesn't it for us all?"
"Well if you're sure I can't call anybody, I'll just get Dr Mikaelson to sign this paperwork, then I'll change your dressing and you're free to go."
"You make it sound as though I've been imprisoned."
Elena offered a soft chuckle but it sounded as forced as it was. "I guess some people think of being here in that way."
Damon shrugged. "It wasn't all bad. At least I got to meet a pretty hot doctor."
She began to roll her eyes but thought better of it, instead simply leaving his room with the door closed softly behind her. Why did she feel sad all of a sudden? And why did she dread going home? Elena tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she handed Klaus the papers on her way to the supply closet.
X
Two hours had passed before Damon was officially allowed to leave. A backlog of paperwork and a very overrun team of receptionists meant that the electronic filing system had not been updated, and until it was, nobody could leave. Caroline had been the one to change Damon's dressing for the final time as Elena had gotten stuck with a young patient who was having trouble settling in.
As she was making her way towards the nurse's station, she saw pretty much the entire female workforce (and patients) staring at the back of a man clad only in black with a shock of raven hair.
"So gorgeous." She heard from one nurse.
"Can't believe anyone could shoot someone so pretty." Came another.
"Best looking gunshot victim I ever saw."
Just as Elena turned her gaze towards the back of the man in question, he turned back towards them, his blue eyes locking with her own brown ones. His torso seemed to be coated in black cotton that hugged every single muscle he had. The sleeves cut off on his biceps, enhancing their shape: strong, but not huge. The perfect size for wrapping around someone, she thought. Woah! Where had that come from?! His black jeans were held in place with a leather belt and on his feet were black boots - probably far too hot for the heavy summer heat. It seemed that she'd been staring forever as he raised a hand at her, signalling his goodbye. The hem of his t-shirt rode up ever-so-slightly to reveal a path of white skin so pale it was almost porcelain in colour. Elena wondered why she'd never noticed that before.
"Dr Gilbert." Klaus' voice snapped her back into the busy department where her gaze was no longer fixed with Damon's and the sounds of the setting filtered back to her ears. She looked at Klaus, mumbling "sorry," and when she looked back towards where Damon had been, he was gone. "There's a new patient in 308. Needs a dressing on her arm."
"I'll be right there."
A/N - So Damon's been discharged huh? What now for our lovely duo? And what about Stefan? And Katherine? Well...I have a few ideas up my sleeve... Want to hit that review button and predict? Or shout? Or tell me what you enjoyed? Thanks ;) x
