"Dad?" said Isabel with a weak voice while lying down at their bed. "Yes, sweetie?" said Damon. "Will I still go to college?" asked Isabel. "Of course! I'll get you to the best school there is-"
"Dad, that's not what I meant." said Isabel with teary eyes. Damon suddenly realized what she meant. "Oh, sweetie. Of course you will! I would do anything. I wouldn't let you go for the world." said Damon, he started to feel teary too. "I'd do anything to keep you alive." whispered Damon, hugging Isabel with all his love. "I love you so much, Isabel." said Damon, tears rolling down. "I love you too, dad." Isabel buried her face down Damon's chest.
Isabel dialed Zac's number as Damon left the room.
"Hi this is Zac. We're out for a family weekend trip. Please leave a message. Thanks!" said the message.
"Hey, uhm Zac? It's Isabel. Listen, I went to the doctor today and, well, they don't know what's wrong with me yet. But from the looks of it, it's really bad. I've been puking blood and having nosebleeds. I just thought you should know." Isabel hit the 'end' button.
Isabel wasn't feeling well at all. She was so tired and drowsy. She fell asleep at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. She woke up at 7 o'clock in the evening. Her vision was very foggy and blurry she could barely see anything.
"Dad?" she called out, scared. "Shhh, I'm right here Isabel." hushed Damon. "I'm scared." cried Isabel. "It's okay, I'm right here, I'm right here." said Damon. "Here, take your medicine, it might help." said Damon, handing Isabel the medicine. "Thanks." Isabel whispered as she took the medicine. Damon lay down beside Isabel as Isabel fell asleep on him.
It was two in the morning when Damon woke up to the sound of Isabel coughing loudly as if someone we're strangling her. Damon turned on the lights. "Oh Isabel-" cried Damon. "Ce-han-Can't-bree-breathe." Isabel coughed. "Oh no." said Damon, caressing Isabel's chest. Isabel stopped coughing after a split second but she still couldn't breathe. Damon quickly took a cup of water from Isabel's bedside table and let Isabel drink it. At first Isabel coughed up the water but then on the next attempt she was able to swallow it. She could breathe.
Isabel was exhausted, she fell asleep instantly, sweating. Damon was awake that whole morning, worried of what might happen to Isabel next. She woke up at 10 o'clock in the morning that day. She just ate porridge in their bedroom since she didn't have an appetite.
"I'll get it!" said Damon as the bell rang in the front door. "Uhm, hi. Is uh, Isabel here?" said Zac, standing in the doorstep with a heavy backpack as Damon opened the door. "Yeah, she's in the bedroom, why?" asked Damon, thinking Zac might be there to invite Isabel out with some friends or whatsoever. "I received her call, she said she was sick? I came to visit her." Zac explained. "Oh, okay. Come in. I'm Damon Salvatore by the way, Isabel's dad." invited Damon. "Nice to meet you Mr. Salvatore, I'm Zac Johnson, Isabel's club mate in MFCC." Zac introduced. "This way." said Damon, leading the way.
"Isabel?" called Zac as he entered the room. "I'm here." said Isabel weakly. "Isabel, how are you feeling? I just got your message this morning, I went here as soon as I can." explained Zac. "Well, deciding from the fact that I almost suffocated this morning and I lost blood yesterday, I don't think I'm doing very well." Isabel tried to laugh at it but it sounded very weak.
"Listen, how can I make you lighten up a bit?" asked Zac, concerned. "I don't think anything can help me right now." complained Isabel. "Do you have a garden or something? Maybe a porch or whatever?" asked Zac. "Yeah, we have a huge garden. It has benches in it and-"
"Perfect! Now, can you walk?"
"Yeah I can, not run though but-"
"Okay then, lead the way!"
"Okay." said Isabel, confused. Isabel lead the way into the garden.
+((By the way, Damon renovated the house a bit to make it look 'not so old'.))+
"Perfect! Sit down." said Zac, he pulled out something from his backpack. It was a CD Player. "What's this?" asked Isabel. "I just thought maybe, a little bit of music will help." said Zac, ruffling his hair. "I really appreciate it, Zac." Isabel blushed a little, it was the first time her face wasn't too pale again.
Zac turned on the CD Player and sat beside Isabel. The song I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders started playing.
"Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Don't be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
'cause I've seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
So if you're mad, get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Well I'm a lot like you
When you're standing at the crossroads
Don't know which path to choose
Let me come along
'Cause even if you're wrong
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you
And when...
When the night falls on you, baby
You're feeling all alone
You won't be on your own
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
and I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you." Zac sang.
Isabel felt so touched by the song. She started to cry. "Zac-"
"Shh. It's okay, Isabel. I promise I'll help you with your dad get through this." Zac said, comforting Isabel. "Thank you, Zac." said Isabel in a shaky voice.
"Shoot." Isabel whispered. "Why? A-" Zac stopped the moment Isabel ran away. Isabel ran to the bathroom. On her way there, Damon saw her running. Damon followed her into the bathroom, so did Zac. Isabel went to the toilet, didn't bother to close the door anymore, blood came pouring out of her mouth as if someone were strangling her so hard. Zac stood at the doorstep while Damon came in to caress Isabel's back, trying to ease the pain. "Dad-" Isabel suddenly fainted.
"Oh no." Damon declared. He carried Isabel, brought her to the car, got the keys, "Zac, you better go home." said Damon in a rush and left for the hospital. Zac was shocked, he went to the garden to get his backpack and the CD Player and went home.
"Hello, Dr- I mean Nicole? Yes it's Damon Salvatore, listen I'm on the way to the hospital now, Isabel passed out." Damon hung up then glanced at Isabel. Poor Isabel. He thought. They arrived at the hospital a while later.
"Damon, what happened?" asked Nicole as she saw Damon carry Isabel into the hospital. "She threw up then passed out. Please hurry, do something." Damon panicked as he placed Isabel on the stretcher. "I'll do my best." said Nicole as she rushed into the O.R. with Isabel and the nurses.
Damon was clueless of what was happening in there. It's almost 7 hours and there was no news yet. He had already fallen asleep and waken up twelve times. Finally, Dr. Jackson came out of the Operating Room. "Is-" Damon said, cut off.
"Isabel's fine. She lost a lot of blood, we're in the process of transferring blood to her right now." said Dr. Jackson. "Thank you." replied Damon with a huge sigh of relief.