A/N: Many of you expressed interest in reading this update first, so I decided to post it. It really wasn't fair of me to leave you all wondering about Elena like that : )
"Elena!" Alaric yelled again. He reached his arm through the door as far as it would go, but he was far from reaching her. "Elena? Can you hear me?" he asked. He tried to hold his own breath to keep silent for a moment. He couldn't hear a response. What was worse … he couldn't see her moving at all. She didn't appear to be breathing. "Shit" he cursed, pulling back out of the door and grabbing for his phone. He dialed 911 quickly, cursing silently as his trembling fingers fumbled with the buttons.
No service. "Shit!" he yelled. "Elena, I will be right back. Okay, I will go get help" he said, running back up the stairs and tripping a handful of times. He had to go all the way out of the house to get his reception back. He quickly dialed again. "I need help. There is a woman and … God, she's lying on the floor and I don't know if she's breathing" he spit out, attempting to catch his breath. "Her name is Elena Gilbert. She hasn't had food or water in days, you have to hurry!" he demanded. Alaric proceeded to give his best description of the location before hanging up his phone and running down the driveway. "Stefan! Damon!" he yelled, searching desperately for them.
Stefan was the first to come running out of the house he was searching. Damon wasn't far behind. Stefan stood stalk still as he looked at his friend. All Alaric had to do was nod and Stefan was running full force towards him, passing him in his desperate need to get to Elena. "Where is she?" Stefan demanded as he ran into the house.
"Downstairs" Alaric said, trying to catch up. "Stefan wait!" he said breathlessly, needing to prepare his friend for what he was about to see.
Stefan was already thundering down the stairs. "Elena!" he called out, pushing on the door and realizing the chain was not going to let the door open anymore. He peered into the room and saw her seemingly lifeless form lying on the floor out of his reach. His heart stopped. "Elena?" he choked out. Why wasn't she answering him? Why wasn't she moving?
"Stefan" Alaric said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I called 911. They'll be here soon" he said, trying to console his friend as best as he could. In all honestly, things didn't look good.
"Why isn't she moving?" Stefan asked, breaking down and crying as he sunk to the floor and reached his arm out to her. "Elena baby answer me" he said, bursting into sobs that he couldn't find any control over. His wife, his beautiful wife was 5 feet from him and he couldn't get to her.
Alaric didn't know what to say. He too felt tears run down his face. What if she was dead? What if they were too late?
"Stefan?" Damon asked, coming quickly down the stairs. "Where is she?" Damon demanded.
"She's in there" Stefan sobbed. "She's not moving Damon. She's not f*cking moving!" he yelled out.
Damon grabbed the chain and examined it. "Alaric, help me" Damon said, placing his hands on the door.
"We don't have anything to cut the chain" Alaric reminded him.
"I just want to open it enough for him to get in there" Damon told him. He needed his brother to get in that room with Elena. Because he knew, if it had been Katherine in there, he would have needed to be in there with her.
Alaric nodded. "Okay" he said. They both went to work on running toward the door, slamming into it. Both groaned as they hit the door, but not stopping. Slowly, they got the door to budge just enough for Stefan to slip through.
"Elena?" Stefan asked, squeezing through the door and crawling to her. "Elena?" he said, crying as he hesitated to touch her. He closed his eyes as he touched her neck lightly. A gasp of relief left him instantly. "She's got a pulse" Stefan called out to them. It wasn't very strong, but it was there.
He heard Damon tell Alaric to go and get water. "How are her injuries?" Damon asked, desperate to keep his brother talking and focused.
Stefan lifted some of the hair off of her face and he swore he felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. The air left his lungs so fast.
The left side of her face was bruised on her cheek, her eye was swollen, and there was a cut above her eye. He picked up her shirt and saw the black and blue coloring her sides. "Her face and her ribs" Stefan called back to his brother. "I'm so sorry Elena" Stefan cried softly, leaning over her protectively and holding her gently so as not to hurt her. "I'm here now" he promised her. "Help is on the way. I just need you to hold on a little longer okay" he told her.
"Lily?" a strained whisper came, causing Stefan to shoot up into a sitting position immediately.
Her eyes were still closed, but she had definitely spoken. No words could describe how relieved he felt in that moment. Stefan took her hand in his. "She's happy and safe" he said, crying when he felt Elena squeeze his hand weakly.
"Good" she said softly. "Stefan?" she asked, her eyes still closed as she lay there beside him.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice cracking at the very thought of seeing her so weak and helpless. This wasn't the Elena he knew. She had been a ball of fire when he had met her and even after he had gotten to know her, she was still so strong. This killed him.
"I knew you'd find me" she whispered, feeling her body begin to give in to the unconscious once more.
The guilt hit him like a freight train. Because he hadn't been the one to find her. Alaric had. He had been a couple of houses over. He had been searching the wrong house. "Elena?" he asked, feeling her hand go limp. He touched her cheek and saw that she was still breathing, but she was unconscious once again. Maybe it was better that way, for her to be out of it and not feel the pain. But the selfish part of him wanted her to stay awake and talk to him, to reassure him that she was alive and that she would be okay.
Stefan sat there for a few minutes, holding her hand when he heard Alaric come back down the stairs. "Can she drink?" Damon asked, holding the water bottle through the door. Stefan just shook his head no.
"I heard the sirens before I got back into the house" Alaric said from the other side of the door. "They'll be here any second" he added.
"Did you hear that?" Stefan asked Elena, bending down and kissing her ear softly. "The medics will be here any minute now to take you to a hospital. They'll take care of you there" he whispered softly, wiping away at his tears that fell onto her face. "I just need you to hold on a little longer" he told her.
"They're here" Damon said, hearing them outside. "I'll go get them" he added, standing up and running up the stairs.
The next few minutes were all sort of a blur for everyone. The firefighters had the chain cut off in minutes and the paramedics were surrounding Elena, checking her vitals and deciding on the best course of action to take to get her out of there.
"Careful" Stefan said, doing his best to stand back and let the professionals care for Elena. But it was extremely difficult, especially when he heard her whimper as they placed her on the backboard. His hands were in his hair, nearly pulling it out as he watched. "Please, be careful. She's hurt really bad" he said, pacing behind them and peering over their shoulders whenever he got the chance.
"Does she have any allergies to medications?" one of the medics asked, turning to Stefan.
He shook his head. "Not that I know of" Stefan answered. He racked his brain quickly, but he couldn't remember a time when she had told him anything like that.
"Is she or could she possibly be pregnant?" the medic asked.
"No" Stefan said, his heart sinking as he remembered the one time she had thought she was and how disappointed she had looked when she told him she wasn't.
"We're taking her to Georgia Regional Hospital" the medic informed him as they lifted Elena and began their climb up the stairs.
Stefan followed closely behind. "Can I ride with her?" he asked as he watched them put Elena in the back of the ambulance.
"There's not enough room" the driver said before getting in.
Stefan's shoulders sagged as he watched the doors close. He had just gotten Elena back, only to lose her again. "Come on, we'll follow them" Damon said, resting his hand on Stefan's shoulder." Stefan nodded and both Damon and Alaric could tell he was on the brink of tears again.
"She's in good hands now" Alaric said confidently.
Stefan shrugged off Damon's hand and walked towards the car. He got in the back. Damon and Alaric shared a quick sad glance at one another before hurrying to the car themselves.
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Thirty minutes. That's how long Stefan had been waiting to hear anything about Elena since she had been admitted. He couldn't sit still. He was up and down, pacing and fidgeting. Damon and Alaric sat in their chairs and watched him. Both had taken turns calling family and friends to let them know that they had found Elena.
Stefan had caught parts of their conversations, but he really wasn't worried about anyone else but Elena. "Please please please" he whispered to himself, running his hands through his hair as he paced.
Finally, the doors opened and an older doctor walked out, dressed in scrubs and holding a chart. "Mr. Salvatore?" he asked, searching the room.
"How is she?" Stefan asked, practically running to the doctor frantically.
The doctor clutched his chart to his chest and adjusted his glasses. "Elena has suffered from extreme dehydration. We have her on fluids right now. As far as the physical injuries go, she has a fractured left eye socket, three fractured ribs and we detected internal bleeding" he said, informing Stefan.
Stefan looked as though all of that meant death. His brain was on overdrive and he couldn't slow it down. "Is she … she going to be okay?" he asked, his hands shaking so badly that he had to fist them shut.
"Yes" the doctor answered. "She will need to undergo surgery to stop the bleeding. But she's young, she's healthy. She should recover just fine" he stated. "Now, I will be the surgeon in the room. I need you to sign these for me and we will get started."
Stefan signed anything and everything the doctor gave to him. "Can I, can I see her before she goes into surgery?" Stefan asked.
The doctor, who would normally say no in these types of situations, took pity on him. "Five minutes" he told Stefan and Stefan was happy to take what he had offered. Stefan looked back to his brother and friend and both waved him off. Stefan had to walk quickly to keep up with the doctor.
Stefan entered Elena's room and the air was almost knocked out of him, seeing her lying so still on a bed, covered in ghostly white blankets. Her monitors were beeping rhythmically. It was almost an eerie sound. Slowly, he approached her. In the bright white light of the room, he could see how bruised her face really was. How dry and chapped her lips were from the dehydration. She looked so small in the overly large bed. Almost as small as Lily.
He wasted no more time, grabbing her hand gently in his and sitting down next to her. Elena's eyes opened slightly, though he could tell she was fighting whatever sedation they had given her, just to look at him. "Hi" she whispered, breathing shallowly as she looked at him.
Stefan held back his tears, because the last thing he wanted was for her to see him cry before she went into surgery. "Hi" he whispered back, kissing her hand that he was holding now in both of his.
"They said" she said, closing her eyes and swallowing. "That I have to have surgery" she told him. "I don't want to have surgery" she said, her voice so quiet that he barely heard her.
Stefan smiled sadly at her. "I know you don't" he told her softly. "But you need it. You're going to be okay and when you wake up, I will be right here waiting for you" he told her.
Elena closed her eyes, clearly exhausted. "Promise?" she asked him quietly.
"I promise" he said, kissing her hand again. The nurses cleared their throats at the door, informing Stefan that he had to leave. He squeezed her hand and kissed it again. "I love you, Elena."
She opened her eyes and tears fell from them. He felt like he had died for the millionth time that day, seeing her cry. "I love you" she whispered.
Stefan stood slightly and leaned over her, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "I'll see you soon" he told her, slowly and painfully letting go of her hand. He retreated out of the room, but he did stop and look at her through the window one last time. Her eyes were closed again.
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Elena's surgery had taken two hours. He still couldn't see her, but they had assured him that she wouldn't wake up for a while. Because he had promised he would be there when she woke up. He had broken enough promises to her for a lifetime and he wasn't about to break another one.
"I miss you Daddy" Lily's voice said, coming through Damon's phone. Why he had her on speaker phone, Stefan didn't know. But it was good to hear her voice.
"I miss you too baby" Damon said, rubbing at his eyes. He was tired too.
"When is Elena gonna come home?" Lily asked.
Damon looked at Stefan before answering. "We're not sure Lily. The doctors are making her feel better right now" he answered.
Lily huffed. "I can take care of Elena and make her feel better!" she insisted. She had taken care of Stefan after he had gotten sick, after all.
"I know, but she's already here, so we are going to let the doctors take care of her" he explained.
"I don't like it one bit Daddy" Lily said, and both Damon and Stefan could picture her crossing her arms. "When can Mommy and I come home?" she asked.
"I don't know yet" Damon answered. "You will be the first to know when I figure it out, okay?" he asked her.
"Okay" she sighed. "Can I talk to Uncle Stefan?" she asked.
Damon looked over at Stefan hesitantly. "I don't think right now is such a good time" he told her.
"But Daddy" Lily whined. "I wanna talk to Uncle Stefan" she said.
Damon again looked at Stefan who held his hand out for the phone. "Hi Lil" Stefan said. He was disgusted with himself for how gloomy he sounded.
"You sound sad Uncle Stefan" Lily said. "Don't be sad. Elena's gonna be okay" she told him.
Stefan closed his eyes and forced a smile. "Yeah, she will be okay. I'm just worried about her" he said, being completely honest with his 7-year old niece.
"You should probably go and get her ice cream to make her feel better" Lily told him. "With sprinkles and gummy bears" she added. Because ice cream fixed everything.
Stefan smiled again, but this time it wasn't forced. "I'll see what I can do" he told her. "What are you up to?" he asked, changing the subject on her.
"Umm … Caroline is taking me to see a play" she said. "Oh, hold on Uncle Stefan. She wants to talk to you." Stefan listened to muffled voices until he heard Caroline's voice.
"Hey" she said softly. "Alaric told me everything. How are you?" she asked.
Stefan paused for a moment, looking at the door that a nurse had come through. It wasn't for him though. "She's … she's in a lot of pain but she's gonna be okay" Stefan answered.
Caroline sighed. "No, you, Stefan. How are you?" she asked.
"I'm fine" he answered blankly.
She sighed again and he was sure she was shaking her head. "I've known you far too long Stefan. Don't lie to me" she warned.
Stefan saw Damon looking at him and decided to take the phone off speaker and to also get up and leave. "Honestly Care?" Stefan said as he walked. "I'm not doing so well" he sighed, stopping and leaning against a wall and closing his eyes. "I just want this nightmare to be over. I want her home" he sighed.
"You love her, Stefan. What you're feeling is completely normal" she assured him. "Elena will be home before you know it. But right now, she is in the best place possible. They'll take good care of her there."
"I know" Stefan said. "I just miss her."
"We all do" she told him. "But you need to take care of yourself, you hear?" she told him.
"I'll try" he told her. And that was the best he could do. "Have fun with Lily" he said.
"I will" Caroline replied. "Tell Elena I love her and miss her" she said quietly before hanging up.
Stefan made the short walk back to his brother. He handed his brother back his phone and took a seat. Stefan leaned back and closed his eyes, preparing to continue to wait. And wait. And wait.
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"Mr. Salvatore?" Stefan heard, jolting him awake. He looked disoriented as he tried to locate the voice, only to find that it was a young nurse standing behind him. "You can come back and sit with Elena now if you would like" she said quietly so as not to wake Damon or Alaric. Stefan nodded as he got up and followed her. He looked out the windows and saw that it was dark out. He wondered how long he had been asleep. "She's still asleep, but she should wake up soon" she told him. "If you need anything, there is a call button right here. There's an extra blanket on the chair if you need it" she explained.
"Thank you" Stefan said, shutting the door when she left. He stared at Elena for a moment before walking to her. She looked so pale. When he touched her hand, she felt cool to the touch. He didn't like that much either. Stefan grabbed the extra blanket off of the chair and covered her with it. Then he sat down beside her bed, held her hand, and just waited.
A/N: Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading : )