Summary: Elijah Mikaelson to take care of his younger brother with a terminal illness, Klaus, she didn't expect to fall in love with the charismatic blonde.
A: I don't own TVDU or any character. Excuse me, my english isn't good. I'm so sorry if I portrayed anything wrong.
Rebekah was sitting next to her blond brother's hospital bed, while Elijah slept in a rumpled suit holding Klaus' hand who had a bunch of wires shoved into his body, like the young lawyer did every night since then. It had been almost two weeks, and induced comas usually last between two days and two weeks, so everyone was extremely worried. Niklaus wore an infusion pump that administered precisely measured drugs such as pentobarbital.
Henrik had not been left in Nik's hospital room due to the increased risk of infection, which was heartbreaking for everyone. The little boy missed Nik so much, knowing that he had to sleep, that he was happy and that every time he painted, it was as if Nik was next to him...but it wasn't the same, and he knew that soon Nik would have to go fly with the angels, but he was afraid that he wouldn't get to see him one more time before then.
There was a soft knock on the door and Caroline entered. Even though she didn't have to take care of Nik anymore, you could find her here just as much as Rebekah or Kol. The young nurse watched over Klaus when Elijah couldn't, relayed inside medical information about his brother's condition, and, Marcel noted, even though it might seem like it, Klaus's condition improved a little when Caroline was talking to him. The other woman entered the room and sat down next to Rebekah.
"How are your brothers?" Caroline asked. "Sorry, Elijah looks just as bad as Klaus." Caroline added, looking with worried and sad eyes at both men with their heads on the bed: one consumed by illness, the other by love for his brother. "I hate to see them like this, including Elijah...ever since I've known you, I've come to see Elijah as a big brother, and..." she said, pointing to the huge dark circles under the dark-haired man's eyes. "With each day that Klaus is in a coma, a part of Elijah breaks a little more. And the tangling of the hair, the wrinkling of the suit, every day, Elijah abandons himself a little more so that he can keep an eye on Klaus."
Caroline took a small piece of paper from the side of the bed and moistened it with water, then gently dabbed Klaus' lips with it. He had a propofol IV-drip as well as a ventilator and other life support machines...it was a reminder of their greatest fear. Caroline kisses Klaus on the only spot on his forehead exposed by the devices.
"I understand how Elijah feels..."
There were tear marks on Rebekah's cheeks, they had been constant since her brother had been put into a coma.
"You know...Nik was in my year when he passed out." the young girl said and Caroline looked at her with sad and concerned eyes.
"It was my anniversary when we were officially told that the treatment wasn't working. Elijah called Kol and Finn came to pick us up and take us to the hospital…they wouldn't let us see him I thought that we have lost him forever. However, we are going to do that very soon. Maybe a little sooner than we expected."
Until now, Rebekah's face had a melancholy, almost dead cast that made you want to cry just looking at it.
"It was the beginning of a new era that day...a new era of pain."
"There was nothing you could have done to change this, Bekah, it's the disease, not you. It's not your fault." Caroline said, hugging the one who was now like a sister to her. Elijah soon joined their embrace, woken up by the slightest sound.
And there the three of them sat, in a tight embrace in a dark hospital room, with the most special person in the world to them fighting for life and death in a hospital bed next to them. And he was fighting, fighting all the time, trying to come back, to wake up, to be with them again...but that all changed when Elijah returned to Niklaus' hospital room after one of his very brief washing breaks which he used to take, in tracksuits. Normally it would have been nothing, normally it would have probably just been a different choice of clothes but…but there was Elijah, Elijah Mikaelson, their older brother and their friend…and he had just given up.
"Elijah?"
Caroline got up from her chair and ran over to the man who had just walked in the door. Elijah was dressed in an all gray tracksuit, his hair was messy, flying all over the place...he was pale, and the dark circles under his eyes were bigger than ever.
"Are you ok?"
"Y-yes, Caroline...why?" Elijah walked lightly, his hands shaking as he sat back down on his own couch in the hospital room.
Klaus was still asleep, and showed no sign of wanting to wake up...and with every moment he was in a coma, Caroline's concern grew. Klaus was put in a coma to induce the protection and control of the pressure dynamics of the brain. High pressure caused by brain swelling can starve some areas of the brain of oxygen, or swollen brain tissue can also be injured by pushing against the inside of the skull. By reducing the electrical activity in the brain and slowing down the brain's metabolism, an induced coma can minimize the swelling and inflammation of the brain. But, of course, there were many chances that Klaus would never wake up. Caroline looked lost at Elijah, and then exploded:
"Because you're not! You're wearing a tracksuit, you haven't left Klaus' side for days and you've given up everything and anything!"
A glimmer of realization appeared in Elijah's eyes, then he dropped his gaze to Klaus' almost dead body and said:
"I know, but...what if he wakes up and I'm not here? Or...or what if he doesn't wake up at all? I failed him, Miss Firbes, just as I failed him when we were young. I agreed to the operation, and this was the very one that led to having to put Niklaus in a coma, but it only made things worse, a thousand times harder... I was supposed to protect them...and Kol doesn't even know that Niklaus was put into a medically induced coma due to the risks of brain damage. Miss Forbes, I can't let him find out, I know I shouldn't feel that from him, but he was away when Niklaus...you know...and he had a really wonderful time with Niklaus right before that..." a tear rolled down Elijah's cheek. "The surgery was supposed to make his life better...but it just made us start grieving even more ."
Caroline approached Elijah with comforting but still tearful and worried eyes. She said, trying to make Elijah not feel guilty:
"You know, I walked with Klaus around the garden a few times, he taught me how to make paint from dying flowers and how many shades I didn't even know existed in the sky... But he told me something else...he told me that no matter what, he will go out in style, he will not let this disease consume him until the last moment, and if he will die in this coma..." Caroline's voice had weakened, she was speaking about her worst nightmare. "If he will die in this coma...he will have waked out in style, knowing that you all will be happy, at peace with the people around you...at least he made sure to leave him alone, that you won't break up with his death." Caroline took a deep breath, then continued: "Elijah, I have to tell you something, and I understand if you he had a different opinion of me after that...before the operation Klaus and I were together... I understand if you want to fire me or report me, but I also want you to know that I love your brother more than anything."
"Caroline..."
But Elijah's voice was cut off by Marcel rushing into the room, followed by a host of other doctors and nurses.
"Sorry to interrupt, but the results of Klaus' tests and x-rays are in, and we think he's probably fit to come off the sedation...he'll be coming out of his coma soon." Dr. Gerard said with a pleasant smile on his face.
And so, the moment Klaus' eyes opened, Elijah's world took on color again. He collapsed to his knees by his baby brother's bed, their entire family around them. Klaus was disoriented, and apparently, like every time he'd been unconscious before, Keelin noticed, he kept calling Caroline's name, despite the fact that she was right next to him. His eyes were on Caroline and only Caroline...he was taken to the recovery ward quickly, being watched constantly...he was disoriented, weak, he didn't know what had happened...it took a while for him to regain partial mobility, until he was able to breathe completely well on his own .
"Elijah?" Rebekah said walking into her blond brother's new hospital room only to see Elijah in a perfectly tailored blue suit standing next to the bed where Nik was sleeping peacefully, able to wake up at the sound of a noise. Some elegant bracelets that Klaus had made for him when they were children without Mikael knowing were placed on his hands. And he smiled...a pure, caring, soothing smile. Caroline was arranging the "Good morning, Nikky!" cartoons that Henrik told them to give to Klaus.
"Yes, little sister?" the young lawyer replied, the smile never leaving his face.
"Marcel spoke with me, he said he wanted me to know before anyone else, but he'll discuss to Nik about it after he wakes up...he's having trouble swallowing, Elijah, serious trouble, and the doctors have recommended that he wear a feeding tube...until the end of his life. They indicated percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a quite simple surgery to insert the tube into his stomach."
"Feeding tube? Oh, Klaus…" Caroline bit her lip. Her heart ached for her lover, but she knew the tube would help him get proper nutrition and improve his condition.
Elijah's eyes immediately darkened. They weren't as sad as they had been while Klaus had been in the coma, but quite a bit.
"Another surgery? What if~" but Elijah couldn't finish his sentence, it was too painful, too real...if he said it, he would be back in the present where, in a little while, the inevitable would actually happen. "I can't allow it, he just woke up."
Elijah took a deep breath, then looked at Caroline, now holding hands with Klaus. He was thinking about pros, cons, the end, and the past. It took some time for the girls to convince him not to oppose the operation, but they did. He thought about what to do, but still, if Niklaus didn't get the tube, he might become malnourished. The young man just nodded.
"It's Niklaus' decision, and his health is the most important thing. He survived this surgery, he will survive the next one too...he is strong, stronger that I ever was, that I ever could be..." Elijah paused, then addressed to Caroline: "Miss Forbes, I've been thinking about what you told me before Niklaus woke up...and as long as you don't hurt him, I agree wuth your relationship. You love my brother, and his happiness is most important in his final months.
Caroline smiled at him.
"He's our world. Our all's." she said.
/
And so, in less than three hours, Klaus' eyes opened only to see his entire family above him. A feeding tube was sticking out of his nose.
He was a little bit disoriented, because he had been given a sedative and a painkiller before the surgery, these medicines were given through a vein (IV line) in his arm, an arm that now had a lot of needle scars. A numbing medicine was sprayed into Klaus' mouth to prevent the urge to cough or gag when the endoscope is inserted and a mouth guard was inserted to protect his teeth and the endoscope. He felt no pain.
"Hey Nik." Freya said, smiling at him. "You did great, they managed to infiltrate the tube in without any problem."
Klaus blinked a few times, then began to cough, as Elijah's caring hands held him in place.
"Bless you, Nik."
"Forgive me, I probably look like a phantom." the dying man said.
"No way, you're still very handsome. And that color catches you." Caroline said, pointing to the green patch that held the tube.
"So, how are you feeling, Nik? Tube-astic?" Kol joked, but Rebekah hit him in the shoulder. Klaus just smiled.
"I'm fine. It's weird, but I don't feel so bad anymore, since I woke up from the coma after the palluative surgery, I just feel...tired, but I'm not in pain."
"So it worked?" Caroline kissed him on the check.
"Yes, love, it worked."
And it really worked, Klaus felt less sick, his headaches were almost all gone, his chest was no longer tight, and when he was finally discharged he couldn't have been happier. He was given a special bag full of equipment, IV fluids, and Elijah began to inquire about the necessary formulas. Caroline was in charge of changing the morning and daytime formulas, and Keelin, who had volunteered to help her brother-in-law, was in charge of the evening ones.
Freya and Keelin took time off, and since Henrik was on vacation, they were able to stay with the rest of the family for a while longer. Klaus taught Henrim a new painting technique every time he was able, and it was useful to have a doctor in the house 24/7, especially if it was your sister-in-law. Keelin cared about Kkaus as much as Freya cared about him, which is why they decided to name their future baby boy Niklaus.
The moon quickly settled over the city, and it was time for the next round of tube feedings. Kol came hopping and hobbling a bit into the room, even though all he was trying to do was make Klaus laugh, followed by Keelin and Elijah with all the supplies.
"Dinner time, Nik!" Kol said, joking.
"Are you okay, Klaus? How are you feeling?" Keelin asked.
"I'm fine, thanks."
Keelin washed her hands, then took the room temperature formula, cleaned the lid of the box and dried it with a towel Elijah prepared, shaked the containers, then putted the eight hours of formula in the special bag. She opened the lid of Klaus's feeding tube and inserted it with a syringe, introducing warm water, then removing the syringe and putting the tubing from the pump into the feeding tube, starting the pump at the prescribed rate.
"Easy, Nik." Elijah said gently, holding Klaus' head up as the substances did their work. "You did great, I'm so proud of you." he said after they rinsed the tube again after the complete feeding.
Unexpectedly, Kol's phone received a notification, and what appeared on his screen made him freeze... It was an old number, one he didn't think he would ever see again…
A: What do you think? I will post a new chapter soon. I thought about doing a drabble with Klaus as a hospice patient, what do you think? Or him going to a hospice in this fanfic, but returning to his family and Caroline quickly?