Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries. I wish I owned Damon, he's just so HAWT! Or at least Paul Wesley. I do, however, own this story and all the original characters that will appear in it as the story goes on. Thank you.
Chapter 10: Best Laid Plans
Dani had nodded off on the couch while Damon and Stephen had stepped outside to talk. Seeing her asleep, Damon's smile went soft. 'She must have been so worn out,' he thought. 'She had been tired when she left for home and with what happened afterward, I'm surprised that she lasted this long.'
He made his way to her side and slipped his arms around her shoulders and under her knees. Lifting her into his arms, he carefully made his way to the staircase with Stephen grinning like an idiot behind him.
Narrowly missing Stephen's legs with a swipe of his foot, Damon climbed the stairs to the second floor. He made his way to Dani's room, pushing the door open with his foot. He quickly laid Dani down on her bed, bending down to remove her shoes.
Pulling the sheets around her, Damon turned to leave when he felt a hand on his wrist. He looked over his shoulder to see a sleepy eyed Dani looking up at him.
"Damon… Stay…"
Surprised at the request, Damon debated with himself on whether or no he should stay. The look she gave him though sealed the deal. It was like she was five and she wanted her mother after having a bad dream, only her mother wasn't there, and she had to settle for him. So, unable to say no, Damon slipped his shoes off and crawled onto the other side of the bed, above the sheets.
Dani turned to him and put a hand on his shirt, fisting the fabric lightly in her hand. Damon put his hand over hers, rubbing the back lightly with his thumb. The woman beside him sighed contently, closing her eyes and whispering a quiet, "Thank you." She fell asleep a few minutes later.
Damon watched Dani sleep for a bit before his eyes started to droop. The steady beat of Dani's heart lulled him into a deep sense of peacefulness that he hadn't experienced in a very long time, maybe ever. He tucked Dani's head under his chin and drifted off into a deep slumber.
Dani sighed as she stepped through the front entrance of Mystic Falls' only apartment building, the Mystic Manor. She had learned from Damon that Jenna and her family had recently taken residence on the second floor since the police had their house under investigation. After a light breakfast, Dani had decided to visit them, wanting to see of everyone was all right.
She told the desk clerk that she was there to visit Jenna, and was told to take the stairs to the second floor, since the elevator was broken. Dani thanked her and made for the stairwell. She climbed the two flights and entered the second floor hall. From when she had called Jenna just 20 minutes prior, she knew that she was at the end of the hall in apartment 5B.
She walked down the hall, her footsteps silent on the dirty gray carpet. She knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, she was greeted by a worn looking Jenna. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was in disarray.
"Hey Jenna, how are you feeling?" Dani asked as she stepped inside.
Jenna gave a have laugh, half sob as a response. "Jeez, I can't even begin to answer that question Dani. My whole body hasn't stopped humming with worry and fear since last night. Worry over Jeremy and Elena, and fear over what happened to Jon. I just can't seem to think straight."
Dani patted her back comfortingly. She took Jenna by the arm, and led her to the stained canary yellow couch that sprawled under a window. She sat Jenna down on it, and reached over to the dark blue side table to grab the Kleenex box. She handed the box to Jenna, watching as Jenna blew her nose.
"I'm gonna see if I can anything from the kitchen for you ok?" Dani moved to the tiny kitchenette, opening the cupboards, looking for something that might give Jenna some calm. She found an old tin behind a box of Captain Crunch. Opening it, she found a few tea bags inside. She put the tin on top of the counter, and rummaged around some more, until she found a kettle.
Smiling, she filled the kettle with water and turned on the stove. She glanced over her shoulder at Jenna, who was still sniffling on the couch. 'Poor Jenna', she thought. 'She must have been exhausted'. Leaving the kettle on the stove, she moved over to Jenna. Pulling a ratty looking comforter from the back of the couch, she wrapped Jenna in and pushed her gently onto her back, so that she was reclined comfortably.
Hearing the whistle of the kettle, telling her that the water was heated enough, she went back to the stove and turned it off. Grabbing a mug from a cupboard, she poured the hot water into it. She then grabbed a tea bag from the tin and dipped into the steaming liquid until the steam carried the aroma of Earl Grey.
Careful not to spill any of the tea, Dani carried it over to Jenna. She urged Jenna to take a few sips from the mug. After a few minutes, her body tired and heated with tea, Jenna sighed quietly as she slipped off to dream land. Smiling, Dani watched as Jenna dozed on the couch. She knew that Jenna probably hadn't gotten any sleep considering that her brother in-law had just been murdered in her house, and her nephew had tried to commit suicide in the same night.
Getting up, Dani drew the curtains over the window so that room became darker. She put the mug on the counter, and turned off all the lights, leaving Jenna to sleep. Before Jenna had fallen asleep, she had said that Elena was at the hospital, looking after Jeremy. Dani decided to go there next, to see how the Gilbert siblings were doing. She took the spare key to the apartment and locked the door behind her, hoping that Jenna would get some rest. Gods knew that she would need it.
Dani wrinkled her nose as she stepped through the automatic doors of the Mystic Falls Memorial Hospital. It smelled of sanitizer and disinfectant, which she supposed was to cover the scent of the sick people that were in the building. She didn't know why, but she had never liked hospitals. Doctor's office's she had no problem with, but she just didn't sit right whenever she was in a hospital.
She asked the nurse at the reception desk what room Jeremy Gilbert was in. The nurse directed her to the end of the hall, and then said that she should take a right. Jeremy would be in room 121. Dani thanked her, and made her way down the hall.
Quietly walking into the room, she found Jeremy asleep, an IV running into his arm and breathing tubes connected to his nose. Elena was slumped in a rather uncomfortable looking chair, her hair hiding her face as her chin touched her chest.
Dani went over to her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. Elena started awake, looking up at Dani with bleary eyes. "Dani? What are you doing here?"
Dani smiled, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm here to give you a break. Your aunt told me that you were here, and seeing how tired you are, I can tell that you've been here for a while. Why don't you go, get something to eat, get some sleep, and I'll stay here with Jeremy for a bit?"
Elena started to argue, but Dani shushed her quickly. "Elena, you're tired. Now, I just left your Aunt Jenna asleep on that hideous couch in your apartment, and I want you to go out and get some fresh air." She dug her hand into her pocket and took out the spare key for the apartment, handing it to Elena. "Get some stuff together and go take a nap. When you feel refreshed, come back and stay as long as you want, but you need to get out of this hospital, at least for a little while."
Seeing that Dani was not going to bend on this, Elena nodded in defeat. She got up from the chair, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Before leaving, she gave Dani her cell phone number, just in case Jeremy woke up while she was gone. Dani promised that she would call Elena if Jeremy were to wake up while she was gone.
Dani watched as Elena left the room, then sat down. She was glad that she had this time to think. She had been too drained last night to really do any thinking, but today was a different story. Now she had all the time in the world to think over the last couple of days.
First, she had to think about the fact that Damon and Stephen were vampires. Damon had told her that Elena knew about what they were, and so did Elena's brother, and Elena's friend Bonnie.
When Dani had heard that Jeremy had tried to commit suicide, Damon had said Jeremy had done it to become a vampire. He explained briefly that if a living person dies with vampire blood in their system, that person would come back to life as a vampire. That meant that if Dani were to drop dead that very instant, the next time she woke up, she would be a vampire since she had taken Damon's blood.
When she asked Damon about it, he assured her that within a week or two, she would have nothing to worry about. His blood would fade from her system and she wouldn't have to worry about a thing, but because she had lost some blood and had taken his to replenish it, it would take longer for his blood to disappear from her system. Her body would need to replace her own blood before his would be forced out. Until then, she would have to be very careful not to get into trouble.
Looking at the young man laying on the bed, she wondered what could have driven him to do such a foolish thing. Damon had said that Jeremy's girlfriend, a vampire named Anna, had been killed by Jeremy's uncle. Putting that together with what Jenna had told her when they had first met, she knew that Jeremy's life for the past year hadn't been the easiest. That still didn't give him the right to try to take his own life. No matter how bad life got, she believed that it never got that bad.
As she stewed in her thoughts, in the bed, Jeremy stirred. He opened his eyes slowly, roving over the grey room until his eyes landed on Dani. Confused, Jeremy sat up slowly, his head fuzzy. "Ms. Court, what are you doing here?"
Shaken out of her thoughts by Jeremy's voice, Dani turned her head to look at the poor teenager in front of her. He looked a little worse for wear, with pale skin and dull eyes.
Not waiting for Dani to answer him, Jeremy went on, "Where am I? What happened after I-"
"After you tried to kill yourself?"
Jeremy looked up at Dani with surprise. Tried?
"Elena found you just in time. You were rushed to the hospital and had your stomach pumped of the drugs. Any longer, and you would have died Jeremy."
Jeremy looked down. His hands clenched the bed sheets on either side of his legs. He was furious. Denied what he wanted once again by the person who refused to leave him alone. Why did Elena always have to butt into his business? Why? Why? WHY!
"You know, your sister and aunt are really worried about you Jeremy."
He snorted. "Yeah, they're really worried. Maybe they should worry less and get their own lives for once."
"Maybe you should give them a reason."
"Give them a reason? Look lady, I don't know where you get off telling me about this! You don't know anything! All they've ever done is make my life worse! They don't understand that I can take care of myself! None of you do! So just shut up and get out!"
Dani sighed and stood up. Her eyes were hard as she looked at Jeremy. "Your right, I don't really have any right talking to you about things that I don't really understand. But I'll tell you what I do know. I know that you were a smart kid Jeremy. I know that you used to have friends, and you used to do well in school. I know that after your parents died, you went down a slippery slope of drugs and substance abuse. I also know that your aunt and sister love you, and you can't see how much you're hurting them."
She took a breath before continuing, "I know that you're a selfish little prick that doesn't care about anyone but himself! I just came back from helping your Aunt Jenna, who by the way looked like warmed shit run over by a semi truck. She just had to endure the death of her brother-in-law and the near death of her nephew, and you're bitching about how they should just butt out of your life and get their own! You want them to stay out of your life and not treat you like a child Jeremy? Then give them a reason to! So far your rap sheet hasn't been the greatest, considering that you fell into drugs and alcohol when your parents died, then your girlfriend dies and you decide to commit suicide! I'm surprised that they haven't gotten a leash for you. You should be thankful that you have such loving family member willing to do anything for you Jeremy, but you spit on them and give them your contempt when you should give them your thanks."
Huffing, Dani paused while Jeremy sat on the bed in stunned silence.
"Sorry, but I'm under a lot of stress right now and I apologize for taking some of it out on you. I just need to go for a bit to cool off, and then I'll be back. That way, both of us can be civil when I come back here, ok? Ok." Dani grabbed her purse up from the floor. "I'll be back in a bit." She walked out of the room, not letting Jeremy get a word in.
She walked down the quiet hospital corridor and went for the exit. When she stepped outside, she took a deep breath of fresh air, trying desperately to calm down. She really hadn't meant to go off on Jeremy, but after learning that vampires existed, falling in love with one, and having a mad man try to kill you all in the same night; it took out a cost on your sanity.
The sound of footsteps coming her way had Dani turning to see who it was. Her eyes widened when she saw Elena walking up to her. "Elena? I thought I told you to get some rest. I can look after Jeremy for a few hours, really."
Elena smiled at her. "Oh, I'm not here for Jeremy. I'm here for you Ms. Court."
Confused, Dani opened her mouth when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and nearly fainted, but her body was so frozen with fear, she would be think later on that she had been lucky that she had still been able to think straight.
David Zenna stood before her, a smile on his unnaturally pale lips.
"But…How…You…"
"It's very nice to see you too Dani, but I'm afraid we're going to have resume this conversation elsewhere. Goodnight Ms. Court."
Then everything went black.
