Jeremy sat beside Bella's bed, feeling overwhelmed with guilt. He had persuaded Bella to go to a dangerous place to impress Vicky, and now she was fighting for her life. He blamed himself for her injury and thought that it was his fault that she was lying unconscious.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Matt and Vicky standing behind him. Matt asked, "Jeremy, how is she doing?"
Jeremy replied, wiping his tears, "She hasn't regained consciousness yet."
Vicky said, "I heard that she died a couple of times."
Jeremy nodded and added, "Yes, once in the ambulance and a few times on the operating table."
"Bella is tough, Jer," Vicky pointed out. "If anyone can win against this, it's her."
"When we met in class, I couldn't remember anything about her, but now I can remember her getting lost while playing at the park as kids. I remember being scared that I was going to see her again."
Just like mom and dad, he thought.
Oh god, he was never going to see them again.
He started crying; he couldn't help it.
He never even got to say goodbye.
"Jeremy, Bella is going to wake up."
"Do you want me to call Elena?"
That was the last person he wanted near right now.
"No. I'm fine."
After the children left, two dark-haired women went to the room. "Excuse me," said the shorter of the two, grabbing a passing nurse.
"Hey, you can't be here, visiting hours are-"
"Where is the girl attacked a few days ago?" asked the taller one.
"Just up the hall."
"Is she going to die?"
"The doctors don't know; they're not even sure how she made it this far."
"Go away."
The nurse walked away, and the taller one turned to the other.
She was an extraordinarily beautiful and seductive young woman: a heart-shaped face with delicate bone structure, a wealth of brown curly hair, and almond-shaped, deep brown eyes with thick dark lashes. She wore dark, super-skinny jeans to show off her fit figure, a black tank top, a cropped black leather jacket, and high-heeled boots.
She turned to the shorter woman; she had long, dark hair, green eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She wore everything black: coat, pants, shirt, and shoes.
"We can't let the doppelganger die before she meets Klaus."
"I know."
"It was foolish of Damon to attack her."
The shorter woman peered into the room. "She is not the doppelganger."
"What?!" said the taller one as the shorter woman entered the room. "Isobel!"
"Her scent..." she stood over the unconscious girl.
The tall one crept inside as the shorter one, Isobel, stared. "She does smell delicious, but she's not our concern." She took the chart from the foot of the bed and looked at the chart. "Isabella Swan, I bet she's a special little-"
"Bella?"
Isobel reached out and tentatively removed the girl's dark mane from her face and reeled back in shock as the taller woman looked between them.
"Isobel, who is this girl?" she breathed. "How do you know her?"
"I gave birth to her."
"You what?!"
"Isabella."