Author's note: Y'all are in luck. I needed a little break from some editing I was doing, so off to fanfiction land I flew. (And I knew that was a cruel cliffhanger, couldn't leave it too long.)
Warnings: Mature rating, adult content, sensitive subject matter, mild language, violence, really cruel cliffhanger
Twenty minutes earlier...
"Claire, if I have to listen to The Holly and the Ivy again, I'm going to scream. Can you change it to something different?" Elena stifled a yawn as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. The weather had turned cool and damp in the past few hours, but she hadn't expected this amount of fog.
Claire tried several stations before settling on her favorite radio station. "Is that better?" She teased her mother as Hannah Montana's cover of Jingle Bell Rock blared from the speakers. Elena hated that song, and Claire mimicked her father's "eye thing" in her mother's direction. When Elena didn't react, Claire looked out the window. She couldn't see the edge of the road. They were completely enclosed by the fog. "Mom?"
Her mom was gripping the wheel too tightly. Her fingers had gone from pink to white to a sickly sort of gray. Five minutes ago, they were trying to each out-sing each other during the sing-along portion of the radio show, and now her mom looked ready to jump through the SUV's sunroof. "Mom, what's wrong?"
"We're fine. Nothing to worry about. We're just getting close to Drowning Creek. The fog's always worse around here."
But her mom was worried. Claire could tell. One minute it was a perfectly clear night illuminated by an almost-full moon, and now they were in fog so thick they could be recreating a horror movie.
Movement caught Claire's eye. A dark shape seemed to be keeping pace with the car. Her mom saw it too. Elena flicked the lock button on the car door.
She blinked. Her eyes had to be playing tricks with her. Nothing could move that fast. It was the fog…playing tricks on her.
The shape sped alongside them - for an instant, it was caught in the edge of the beams from the headlights.
Elena pressed harder on the accelerator. Claire felt the rush of power from the car's engine pressing her into the back of the seat. She looked at the dashboard. Holy crap. She'd never seen numbers that high…or at least not when her mom was driving.
"Mom!" Claire watched as the speedometer crept higher. "Don't go so fast!"
"Claire, I need you to reach into my purse and get my phone." She took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice steady. Elena waited until Claire sat up holding the phone in her hand. "Call your Da-"
Something was in front of the car. It was like a log, but it wasn't a log.
It couldn't be.
It was. Someone was in the road.
'Mom, look out!"
Her mom only had a half-second to react. Not nearly enough time. In a feeble attempt to keep her safe, Elena threw an arm across Claire's chest.
And then they flew.
A crash of glass. A shriek of metal. Sounds that Claire didn't know cars should make…sounds that cars shouldn't make filled her ears.
With her free hand, her mom fought to control the SUV as it pretended to be a crashing airplane, but the wheels had nothing to grip. The car lurched and crashed through the guardrail and rocketed into the ravine below.
"Get down!" She pushed a screaming Claire down in her seat and covered Claire's body with her own. "I'm so sorry, Sweetheart." Elena grabbed hold of her daughter as if both their lives depended on it. The car lurched in midair and rolled down the hill.
"Oh please no. Do whatever you want with me, but please don't hurt her." Her mom spoke in a pleading half-whisper to no one.
Or at least no one Claire could see.
Claire struggled to open her eyes. Her alarm clock was going off, but she was still so tired. She squinted into the darkness at the vaguely familiar song.
She was freezing. Beyond freezing. Who turned the heater off? She couldn't stop shaking. Her muscles hurt. Was she sick? That must be it.
She felt like she had the flu. Mom was going to be ticked off this close to Christmas. "Mom?"
But she wasn't alone. Something was moving. Splashing. Not sounds that should be in her room. And honestly, this didn't feel like her room.
Finally, she succeeded in persuading her eyes to open a crack - not what she was expecting... Why was she sleeping in her mother's car? She strained against her seatbelt.
Her head was pounding. She reached up and brushed her hair away from her eyes and grimaced as her fingers came away sticky. Her heart began to pound in her chest. She remembered.
The fog.
The look of fear on her mother's face.
Elena throwing her down in her seat and shielding her as the car careened off the blind curve into the nothingness of the creekbed below.
"Mom?" Claire spun in her seat and fought back a wave of nausea as she caught sight of her mother slumped against the shattered window. Oh, she shouldn't have done that. Her neck hurt. It burned like fire.
"Mom!" She brushed the broken glass off Elena's shoulder as she tried to shake her mother awake. "Mommy! Come on, wake up!" Claire's words came in frightened sobs.
Elena's phone rang as it danced along the floorboard below Claire. "Daddy." She recognized the distinctive ringtone her mother used for Damon's phone calls. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she ducked under the bent roof of the car as she reached for the phone. Grasping it as if it were a lifeline, she let her unshed tears begin to fall as she answered the call. "Daddy? Momma needs your help."
"Claire, what's wrong? Where are you?"
"Daddy, please!" Claire's words dissolved into a series of unintelligible noises. She couldn't help it. She knew she needed to be brave, but this was asking too much. "Daddy, there was someone in the road…."
"Claire!" Damon fought the panic rising in his chest. Someone in the road.
No.
No. It couldn't be. But even as he tried to convince himself, the look in John's eyes reminded him that this was Mystic Falls.
And Damon knew exactly what had happened.
"Claire, I want to help you. I need you to tell me where you are." He turned his back on John - he still hadn't earned the right to be worried about Elena and Claire. "Claire Bear," he resorted the nickname from years ago, "look around. What do you see?"
Claire sobbed into the phone and it sent a dagger into his heart. "Nothing. Daddy, it's too dark. I don't like the dark."
"Can you give your mom the phone?"
"I tried. She won't wake up. Daddy, I don't think she's breathing. She doesn't sound like she's breathing." His daughter descended into the depths of the same panic trying to consume Damon.
Damon leaned against the porch railing. He'd never felt this trapped before - not even when they were trying to decide how to lift the doppleganger curse from Elena.
And they'd lifted it – at much too high a cost.
No vampire should be coming after her any longer. They didn't need her. She wasn't any use to them.
Elena couldn't be dead. They'd made it through too much for her to die on the way to pick up their son from camp.
She wasn't dead.
She wasn't.
He knew his wife was hurt...unconscious...somewhere. His only link to her was his very panicked daughter who he desperately didn't want to upset any more than she already was. "Claire, I'm going to find you." He turned to look at John. For the first time, he saw a worried father looking back at him.
"What can I do?"
He covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "I need you to stay with them." He nodded to the shrieks of laughter coming from the house. "Call Jenna and Ric. See if Kennedy can come over. She knows how to put them to bed. I'll call you when I know something. Once she's here, you can start looking too." He dug his keys out of his pocket and ran toward his car. "Claire, I'm on my way."
"My head hurts." Her words slurred ever so slightly. After a half-hour of listening to her sobs over the chirping of his low-battery warning, she started talking again. He'd made it all the way to the scout camp without passing their car.
Somehow Elena must have gotten turned around as she headed home, but she'd lived here forever. She wouldn't have just gotten lost.
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart." His tires squealed as he flew down the narrow back road that could scarcely be called a road. "Keep talking to me."
"Daddy. I'm cold. It's freezing. You need to turn on the heater."
"I will. I will, baby, I will. As soon as I find you, I'll turn the heater up to high. We can even turn on the seat heaters."
"Why aren't you here yet, Daddy?"
"I'm trying. Trust me Claire Bear, I'm trying. Are you wearing your jacket?"
"Yeah, but the windows are broken. It's not helping. The wind's blowing so hard. And it's wet. And sticky."
In the background, Damon could hear a faint wail. Despite their now-spotty church attendance, he didn't consider himself to be a praying man. However, tonight wasn't a normal night. As he blew through the stop sign at the end of the street, he began to plead with God to let that siren be headed in Elena and Claire's direction. "Do you hear that?"
Only silence answered.
"Claire!" He shouted into the phone.
"Daddy?" She sounded as if he'd woken her up from an unexpected nap.
"Stay awake, Claire. Do you hear that siren?" The noise was louder in the background. Surely Claire could hear it by now.
"What siren?"
"There's someone coming. I can hear it. Just wait. They're looking for youyou're your mom." Damon had never heard such a beautiful sound. The ambulance couldn't be far from Claire.
Precious moments ticked by. The siren grew louder, then stopped.
"Claire?"
"Claire?"
Please let her answer. "Come on, Claire, stay with me."
"Uncle Matt!" Claire yelled through the phone.
"Claire?" Matt's husky voice was filled with concern.
"Daddy. Uncle Matt's here."
"Can you put him on the phone?"
"Damon?" He'd never been so happy to hear Matt Donovan's voice.
"Matt." In the past, Damon had wondered why Matt decided to bring his family back to Mystic Falls after he left the army. His time here had been filled with so much sadness. Tonight wasn't one of those times. Tonight, Matt's experience as an army medic was the only thing keeping Damon sane. "How are they?"
"I haven't had a chance to check yet." Matt paused.
For too long. That single hesitation told him far more than he needed to know.
"You know I can't tell you anything."
"Matt, please. Is she alive?"
"I can't get to Elena. The driver's side is pinned against a tree. I have to get Claire out first before I know how she is."
Damon could hear the hesitancy in Matt's voice. "Matt, tell me the truth."
"You need to meet us at Mystic Falls General, Damon. There's more blood than I've ever seen." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It doesn't look good." He clicked off the phone and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Ok, Claire, let's get you out of here." Matt threw a heavy blanket over the edge of the window to protect her from the broken glass. Claire turned and stared in her mother's direction. "I promise you, we'll get your mom out. I can't get her door open. We need where you're sitting." He'd done a quick exam of Claire and was comfortable moving her. He'd been alarmed at the amount of blood matting her hair; but after a closer look, he realized the blood was Elena's. "Logan keeps asking me when you're going to come over again. Did he tell you that Ginger had puppies?"
Claire shook her head no.
"I know you've been wanting a dog. Maybe your dad will let you have one of hers."
"No." Claire sniffed as Matt carefully gripped her under her arms. "He just bought Brayden and Emma a puppy. We can't have two."
Matt gave her a twisted grin. "Oh, I'll bet we could persuade him. Okay, I'm going to pull you out. Tell me to stop if anything hurts." Matt nodded to his partner and together they lifted Claire from the precariously leaning SUV. As Claire cleared the opening of the window, the car slid a few inches down the embankment toward Drowning Creek. The copse of young trees couldn't handle the weight of the car much longer. They needed to get Elena out quickly. Matt cradled Claire in his arms as he walked to the waiting ambulance. As much as he wanted to stay with her, he knew he needed to stay with Elena more. "Claire, this is my partner, Elise. She's going to be going with you. Your dad will meet you there."
Damon stepped through the sliding glass door leading into the emergency room. He'd walked through these doors far too many times through the years.
Just four months ago, he'd carried Brayden through this entrance to the emergency room after he'd discovered he couldn't quite span the distance between the bunk beds at Wickery Creek Encampment.
When Nathan was two, he'd rushed a flailing blood-soaked toddler into the building when he'd tripped and hit his head on the corner of Jeremy and Hannah's coffee table. Poor guy still had the scar.
Damon had been so worried then, but nothing came close to what he was experiencing now.
As the doors whispered closed behind him, he immediately flashed back to that day...the day that everything changed. The day they never talked about – not even in the depth of the darkness of the night.
Ten years ago, he'd rushed in here - not knowing if Elena would survive or not. They'd had nine incredible years together.
Matt's words echoed in his memories. "It doesn't look good."
He stopped and reached for the wall, his chest tightened, and the room threatened to spin around him. He had to hold it together. But how? If she was gone…
Fate couldn't take her away from him now. The world wouldn't be that cruel. He knew he'd never paid for all the pain he'd caused before he met Elena, but he couldn't lose her now.
He reached the reception area of the emergency room. He glanced at the clock, almost eleven. He hadn't realized five hours had passed since he left the tree lighting.
The hospital was in night mode. These overnight hours at the hospital were a study in contrasts. Most of the lights were darkened, and the noise from overhead speakers and machines kept to a minimum. However, those that wandered the halls at this time of night had such a sense of purpose. People weren't here now unless they absolutely had to be.
"Can I help you, sir?" A dark-haired, overweight woman looked up from her crossword puzzle.
"My wife and daughter. They were in an accident. I'm supposed to meet them here. Matt told me to come." Damon was amazed at the amount of effort he had to expend just to say those simple words.
"Their names?" She yawned up at him. Clearly she didn't understand the urgency of the situation.
"Elena and Claire Salvatore." He gripped the edge of the desk and willed her fingers to move more quickly over the keyboard.
She shook her head and made a tsking noise. "I'm not showing them here."
"They're here," he insisted. "I talked with the EMT. He said to meet them here."
She frowned and looked back at the computer. Punching in a few more keys, she held her glasses to her face. "Hmm... Still nothing. But if you talked to Matt." She flicked her eyes up to meet his. "Let me go back and check."
He bit back a bitter response. "Please, go do that."
He ignored the footsteps approaching from behind as he dug his buzzing phone from his pocket. Jenna. He shouldn't have expected anyone else.
He read the text message. "How are they?"
It pained him to give the only answer he knew. "I don't know yet."
"Damon?" He turned in response to the familiar voice. "Have you heard anything?" Liz Forbes gently patted his arm.
He fought to mask the emotions welling inside him. "No." He stared at her. "How did you know?"
Liz sighed as she leaned against the support column next to the desk. "I was driving down the road. I saw the damage to the guardrail. I stopped to look and saw the car."
"You're the one who found it?"
She nodded her head. "I'm sorry, Damon. I didn't realize it was Elena's car. I couldn't even tell it was an SUV. It…didn't look like an SUV. I would have called you."
"I know." He gave a jerk of his head.
"Mr. Salvatore?" The receptionist returned. "Your daughter is here. Dr. Hodges would like to speak with you."
"Go. I'll wait." Liz motioned to the waiting area.
"She's a very lucky girl." Dr. Hodges reached out and shook Damon's hand before she continued to speak. The zebra clipped to her stethoscope led him to believe she was the pediatrician on duty for the evening. "Aside from some bumps and bruises and a cut on her neck, I can't find anything wrong with her."
"A cut?"
The a flicker of something crossed the doctor's expression. "There was a lot of glass. She must have gotten cut. A nurse is stitching her up right now."
Damon's blood pounded in his veins. A cut on her neck. Right. And Rudolph would soon be landing at the hospital. For the first time in a very long time, he regretted being human.
"Mr. Salvatore, are you alright?" The doctor looked at him. She was afraid.
"I'm fine. It's just that her words were slurred on the phone."
Dr. Hodges nodded. "Cold...probably mild shock. We think she was unconscious for a while, but the x-rays don't show anything. The EMT I spoke with said it's a miracle she made it out unscathed."
"Matt's here?"
"Matt Donovan? No, he stayed behind with your wife."
Damon struggled to swallow. "Do you have any news on her?"
The doctor shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't really know anything other than the fact they're still trying to extract her from the vehicle. She did an excellent job protecting your daughter, though. Claire told me she held her down and wouldn't let her sit up. Would you like to see your daughter now?"
Damon nodded stiffly as he followed Dr. Hodges through the automated doors. Most of the curtained areas sat empty - only a handful seemed to be in use. They walked to the very last one before Dr. Hodges ducked inside.
"Hello Miss Claire! Somebody's here to see you. Are you ready to go home?" The doctor spoke just a little too brightly. Claire was smart. He knew she'd see through the doctor's attempts to keep her mind off her mother.
Rounding the corner, he forced a smile as his eyes fell on his daughter. Her previously green sweater was stained a deep crimson.
"Most of the blood isn't hers." The doctor provided a detail he didn't need to hear.
"Daddy." She reached out and buried her face in his chest. "I was so scared. How's Mom? They said she isn't here yet."
"I know." He ran his fingers through her tangled hair. "I've got you now." He softly rocked back and forth, choosing to ignore the question he wasn't prepared to answer. He could feel her trembling beneath his hands. "She's shaking. You're sure she's alright?"
Dr. Hodges nodded with certainty. "She'll be as good as new after a solid night's sleep." She turned and looked at the computer sitting on the table at the side of the room. "I'll fill out the forms to release her."
A siren could be heard in the distance. Dr. Hodges stiffened. "There's only one ambulance out tonight."
The tension level in the emergency room could be felt even in Claire's little room. Doctors and nurses filled the previously empty hallways as they prepared for the ambulance's arrival. "Why don't you take her out to the waiting area, and I'll have a nurse bring them out to you."
Damon understood. Dr. Hodges didn't want Claire there when they were working on Elena. Torn with the desire to be two places at once, he reached out and plucked Claire off the gurney. "Sheriff Forbes is here. Let's go see her." Claire clung to his hand as he led her back into the waiting room. "And then we'll see if Uncle John can come pick you up."
"I thought she might like a blanket." The receptionist stepped into the darkened waiting room. She smiled down at Claire who was sound asleep with her head on Damon's lap. "She wouldn't go home?"
He felt the warmth from the blanket seeping into his legs. Maybe the woman wasn't as unfeeling as he'd first believed. She stooped over and tucked the blanket under Claire's chin.
"Nope. She said she had to stay." Damon shook his head as he stroked Claire's hair. He looked up at the clock. Almost two. The waiting room had slowly filled throughout the past hours. Jenna had arrived to drive Claire home, but she'd clung to him so desperately that Damon admitted defeat and let her fall asleep on his lap.
Jenna hadn't left. Now she sat next to Jeremy. At first they'd made an attempt at carrying on a conversation; but as the minutes ticked by, and merged into hours, they just became focused on the clock. Sheriff Forbes sat dozing lightly in the corner next to Matt who'd somehow ended up with the rest of the night off. His blue eyes widened as he saw movement in the hallway. He turned to Damon and nodded just as a doctor stepped through the doorway and hesitated at the size of the group assembled in the small waiting area.
"Mr. Salvatore? Would you like to come with me?" Damon stood and gently eased Claire's head from his lap.
Damon walked through the tiny room well-aware all eyes were on him. He stopped and looked at Jenna.
"I'll watch her." She motioned for Damon to follow the young blond man.
"Let's go this way." He led Damon to a darkened conference room. The light clicked on as the men stepped inside. "I'm Doctor Herrington." He extended his hand in greeting.
Damon couldn't wait any longer. "How is Elena?"
"Why don't you sit down?" Dr. Herrington nodded at the table as he pulled out a chair. "Your wife is stable now." He folded his hands and leaned forward. "That's important." He waited for some sign of comprehension to show on Damon's face. "But she's going to need surgery. She's lost a lot of blood - both from the internal bleeding and the injury to her neck."
"Her neck?" Damon immediately snapped to attention.
"It looks like she must have cut herself leaning against the broken window. She was very lucky. It just missed the jugular vein. But she almost bled out. It was touch and go for a while. We've given her a few units of blood already, and her condition is improving."
He waited to see if Damon was taking in all the information.
"We believe she's still bleeding internally somewhere. We know she punctured her lung. She did a very good job of protecting your daughter, but the gear shift did quite a bit of damage to her. We need to get her into surgery as quickly as possible."
"Well, then, let's go. What are you waiting on?" Damon blinked back at him. If time was of the essence, why were they standing here talking? "Do I need to sign something? If you're worried about the money, I promise we can afford whatever she needs."
"There's a complication. We haven't been able to take any x-rays." Dr. Herrington narrowed his eyes as Damon.
"What else is wrong? Why haven't you done x-rays?" The words threatened to hang in his throat.
"Are you aware your wife is pregnant?"
Damon rubbed his hand over his face. Keeping up with the four kids' schedules left him little time to pay too much attention to the calendar. When he thought back, though, they shouldn't have been able to make love on Thanksgiving. He should have been paying more attention. He'd just been grateful for the opportunity they had. "No. We didn't know."
"I'd say she's about six or seven weeks. Possibly more." The doctor drew in a breath. "She's had a lot of trauma to her abdomen. We're going to do everything we can, but I need your consent to operate."
"Do whatever you need to do." He looked at the doctor's concerned expression. Damon had never been more afraid.
"Would you like to see her first?"
"Can I?"
"Just for a minute. You understand she's not awake."
"I know."
Only one curtained area was in use, and it was filled with activity. He stopped short as he stepped to the side of the bed. If he hadn't been told that was Elena, he wasn't sure he would have recognized her. Her face was bloodied and swollen. A breathing tube was taped to one cheek. He looked at all the tubes and wires and could only find one place safe to touch. He stroked her cheek with two fingertips. "Hey there." He struggled to keep his voice light. "They're going to take really good care of you."
He leaned down and kissed her closed eyelid. "Please don't leave me."
He ran his hand over her arm as he felt someone step to his side.
"We need to go now." An unfamiliar nurse pulled him back from Elena's side.
He stepped back and watched as they wheeled the bed...and his life...down the corridor.