Chapter 2: Of Death and a Memory

Heavy knocking awoke him from his slumber.

Rolling over on to his side, he put a pillow over his head and mumbled, "Elena, go get the door.."

Elena.

He quickly sprung up from bed, sleep forgotten.

That's right. Elena wasn't here.

Damon sighed and grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels from his nightstand, walking towards the door which was still being knocked on.

"I'm coming!" He yelled, but quickly regretted it when he briefly lost his sight due to the pounding in his head.

The knocking continued, and he decided it was time for a drink. Bringing the bottle to his lips, he downed the rest of the scotch and opened the door to reveal a distraught, racoon-eyed Caroline.

"Damon!" she managed to choke out between sobs, "He's dead! Alex is dead!"

Damon looked once at his wife's weeping friend, and quickly closed the door on her. Turning his back to the entrance, he made his way back to bed.

It's way too early for this shit.

"Damon!" The yelling began again, but this time the sound came directly from behind him.

Damn, did I forget to lock the door?

He was attacked from behind, small arms wrapping around his waist as Caroline attached herself to him, her face pressed to his back as her sobs continued.

Yep, I did.

"Oh Damon, isn't it awful? Alex is dead! Dead! Murdered in back of some night club! Right after he cheated on me too! I-I can't… believe… this…"

Damon was silent as the grave as he let her rant on.

"I ju-just c-can't believe he's de-dead!"

They both stood there in the middle of his small living room until her sobs quieted down. When she finally stopped her crying, he untangled the tight hold she had on him and turned around to face her.

"Camille.." He started, but was quickly interrupted by a suddenly angry Caroline.

"It's Caroline!"

"Whatever," He shrugged and continued, "Caroline, Alex was an asshole. Everyone knew that. You constantly had to bail him out of prison and caught him once or twice with another woman in his bed—"

"But that was when—"

"Shut up!" Damon covered her mouth with his hand, "Let me finish. No more excuses, you know it's true. Elena always told you to break it off with him, but did you listen to her? No. We all knew Alex was likely to end up dead in a ditch somewhere anyways- he sold drugs, he fucked whores, and maybe even killed a few men. As for his death, although unfortunate, I can't say I'll cry about it. I have my own shit to deal with. Now, are we going to go visit Elena or not?"

Slowly, she nodded.

"Good, then. Wait here while I get dressed."

Damon quickly dressed, and they both left the apartment and made their way to Caroline's car, as Damon's was still in pieces. The whole drive to the hospital, both parties were silent.

At the hospital, Damon and Caroline waited impatiently for news on Elena's condition. The nurses had confided that she was safely out of the operation room, to which they had both sighed in relief of. Now, they sat with ten or more people in the ICU waiting room, monitoring the doors for any sign of Elena's doctor.

"Salvatore?" a nurse dressed in pink puppy scrubs asked from the door of the ICU.

Damon piped up immediately, answering her eagerly, "Yes?"

The nurse looked over at him, signaling with her hand that he could go in. As he stood, so did Caroline, but the nurse shook her head and said, "Only one at a time."

A disappointed Caroline huffed and sat back down, "You better hurry up, because I want to see my best friend."

Damon followed the nurse to Elena's room, and his heart dropped at the sight of his unconscious wife.

Most of Elena's face was covered in bandages. Anything that wasn't bandaged, was bruised. A white sheet covered her body, but her arms were exposed. Both of her broken arms were covered in casts, and on her head was a tightly wrapped bandage. She was connected to many tubes, including an IV, a heart monitor and a respirator machine. The room was large and silent, except for the beeping of the EKG*.

He slowly approached the bedside where Elena laid. She was so broken and.. it was all his fault! If only he hadn't—

Damon looked down at his feet, unable to look at her anymore.

Elena, how could you love me, after what I've done to you?

A snowball hit him right in the face.

"Gotcha!" Elena laughed, and ran as fast as she could with ten layers of clothing on her back.

"Oh no you don't!" Damon grinned as he bent down to collect snow in his palm, using his hands to pat the ice into a ball as he looked around for his fiancee. "I'm going to get you either way! Surrender now and I'll give you mercy!"

"Never!" She yelled from her post behind a large tree and threw another snowball at him, which unfortunately missed.

"Aha! I've got you now!"

"No!" She ran off again and he was hot on her heels. Suddenly, the snowball he created was thrown, and Elena found herself off balanced by the snowball that had hit her ankle. She fell over and landed in a thick pile of snow, but before she could stand up, Damon covered her body with his and pinned her down to the ground. Elena turned her head to yell at him, but he pressed his lips to hers instead.

"Now I've got you."

She pouted, "You were supposed to let me win! That's what gentlemen do!"

"Too bad, so sad." He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"You're.. a jerk." Elena stuck her tongue out at him.

Damon smirked, "But you still love me anyways, right?"

And she smiled. "Always."

Damon sat on a chair in the far corner of the room, with his elbows on his knees and his head hung. It wasn't a comfortable position, but it went unnoticed to him. Elena's doctor had come in a few minutes ago, briefing Damon on his wife's current condition. She would still be in the hospital for two more weeks, to allow her body time to repair itself in a safe, sterile environment with professionals monitoring her progress daily. The injuries to her head were what most worried the doctor, and he reluctantly admitted that Elena could have lost some of her memory. This made Damon nervous. What if she forgot about him? And what if she never remembered? All their memories together? He stood up and walked over to her bed, kneeling as he took her hand in his, careful of the tubes she was connected to.

"Elena, Please wake up. I need to hear you say you love me.."

Getting no response, he sighed and kissed her palm. Standing up, he figured it was time he got home and drowned his worry with a nice bottle of his favorite whiskey, Bourbon.

End Notes

* - an EKG or ECG is a heart monitor that beeps to the heartbeat of the person it's connected to.

I swear this is the last time I'm doing this. Chapter III will not be upload until tomorrow, I swear!

I enjoyed writing this chapter very much. I particularly enjoyed writing the Damon and Caroline scene, they're just so funny together. Some comical relief is good for such an angst filled story like this... Trust me, it's going to get worse.

So far, no reviews, which is disappointing. Come on, people! Do I have to beg? Because I will. You can review even if you're not logged in, because I accept anons. Constructive criticism is very welcome, but I don't appreciate flamers. REVIEW.

Until tomorrow,

Carrie