Liaison [Sequel to Captured Hearts]

Infinite: Part One [VIII]

         
  “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.”

― Isaac Asimov

  

Bonnie woke with a retching gulp of air. She could taste something metallic in her mouth, and as she sat up in the hard bed, she coughed up wet, and sticky fluid. Her head ached, and she felt queasy in her stomach.
  “Bon?” It was Matt that had said it, and Bonnie felt a sudden surge of panic as his hand brushed over his. She blinked, once, and then twice, but she couldn’t see a thing. Everything was one crazy blur. “Elena, Care – she’s awake!”
  “Matt?” Bonnie asked, and her voice came out rough and low. She hardly even recognized the sound of her own voice. “What’s happening?”
  “You’re all right, Bonnie. You’re in hospital.”
  “Hospital?” Bonnie repeated, and she stared at Matt’s shirt until the Mystic Grill logo started to come into focus. “Matt, what’s happening?” 
  “Bonnie?” Caroline practically stumbled into the room, and a look of utter relief spread across her face when she found the girl sitting up safely in the bed. Bonnie couldn’t see why. The last time she had seen Caroline, the vampire looked as if she wanted nothing to do with Bonnie. Elena was standing just outside the door with her back to Bonnie. It looked like she was talking to someone, and Bonnie could only assume that it was Jeremy. “Oh my God. Are you alright?”
  “I don’t know,” Bonnie shook her head, and she suddenly felt dizzy. She paused for a few moments and clung onto Matt’s hand as she waited for her senses to return to her. “I feel sick.” 
There was a horrible silence for a few beats too long, and Bonnie’s grip around Matt’s hand tightened. She heard a popping sound, and Matt winced, but he didn’t remove his hand from Bonnie’s.
  “Bonnie, there’s something that we need to tell you,” Matt said, finally breaking the unsettling silence. Bonnie felt cold, and sick, and she hadn’t realised how painfully hard she was gripping onto Matt’s hand. Matt’s lips formed words, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. His face faded away, and was replaced with the images. They flashed in front of her eyes, changing rapidly over and over again. New Orleans flew into her mind, and saw the bright golden lights, and the dirty back streets. Bonnie saw the look on Kol Mikaelson’s furious face, and she heard the scream escape from her own lips just as she was about to take his life. The memories were gone, and she was left staring into Matt’s blue eyes.
  “Is it Kol?” Bonnie blurted, and she tried to sit up. Her body ached, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to get her legs to co-operate. “Is he alright?”
  “Kol was the one that called Rebekah,” Matt explained, and his voice was too sympathetic. As Bonnie’s stomach churned, she realised that something was very wrong. “Rebekah called me.”
  “I’m so sorry, Bonnie,” Bonnie hadn’t even realised that Caroline had joined her at her side, and when she looked back up, she found Elena standing at the end of the hospital bed.
  “What?” Bonnie breathed out croakily, and she felt her eyes water. Her throat felt like it was tightening around her windpipe as she desperately tried to hold back the tears that threatened to leak. 
  “I don’t think he meant to do it,” Caroline said, and she looked down at the floor. It was almost as if she were too ashamed to look into Bonnie’s eyes. “Despite all the horrible things that he has done, I really think that Kol cares about you.”
  “Can someone please just tell me what’s going on?” Bonnie demanded. 
Matt took over, deciding that the two vampires weren’t doing a well enough job. He squeezed Bonnie’s hand, but she was shaking too much to squeeze back. 
  “He hit you pretty hard, Bon,” Matt said. “When Rebekah and Kol brought you back to Mystic Falls, you were unconscious still. You’ve – The doctors found a tumour in your brain.”
Bonnie couldn’t find words to say, and even when she did, the sound wouldn’t escape from her lips. She shook her head frantically, already plummeting into denial. 
  “No.” 
  “The doctors said that you already had stage two brain tumour before you’d arrive to the hospital,” Matt choked on his words, and Bonnie could see the tears welling in his own eyes. “You were already dying, Bonnie.”
 Bonnie looked down, trying to think of something to say. She knew that there was something that she had to remember, but she could grasp what it was. 
  Bonnie looked up then, and she glanced across at Elena and Caroline. Their eyes were wet and bloodshot, but it looked like they refused to cry. 
  “I was dying ever since the witches brought me back, wasn’t I?” Bonnie asked, though she knew that she was right, and she bit down painfully hard on her tongue. 
  “We can help, Bonnie,” Elena almost whispered.  “All you need is a little blood, and everything –”
  “No,” Bonnie said abruptly, and she sat up. “I’m not drinking vampire blood.”
  “They might not be able to cure the cancer, Bonnie!”
  “Do you know what happens when people in Mystic Falls feed off vampire blood? They turn. I don’t want to turn, Elena. Not like this -”
  “How are you feeling Bonnie?” Meredith Fell knocked on the door before entering, but it didn't ease her interruption at all, and she held a clipboard in her arms. 
  “Fine,” Bonnie answered shortly. 
  “That’s, good,” Meredith said, and she glanced down at the clipboard in her hands. Her face was blank, and there was no telling what she was thinking. “I have some good news, and some bad news for you. What do you want first?” 
  “Bad news."
  “Bad news is that visiting times are over. Good news is that the tumour in your head is slimming.”
  Bonnie was quiet for a few moments, and when the doctor finally sensed the silence; she looked up from her clipboard. There was a tight scowl on Bonnie’s lips, and she pulled her hand as far away from Matt’s as she could.
  “You fed me vampire blood?”
  “What?” Meredith frowned, and she shook her head. “No, of course I didn’t.”
  “Then it was one of you,” Bonnie said, and she looked across at Elena and Caroline. The blonde vampire looked stricken, as if she couldn’t believe she had just been accused of the crime.
  “Bonnie, they haven’t given you anything,” Matt said suddenly. “I swear. I've been with you this all time.”
  “You’re lucky, Bonnie,” Meredith’s voice was low as she scribbled something on the piece of paper on her clipboard, and she held it to her chest to hide it. “You must have some type of angel watching over you.”
  And then, like a bullet to the heart, Bonnie finally remembered Sheila, and everything that she had been told.