Until This Lie Do Us Part

Chapter 35

"Elena" Damon said, shaking her leg slightly to try and get her to focus. But Elena was already so far into her anxiety attack that she couldn't hear anything except her heart thumping inside of her. Very faintly, Elena could see that Zach had approached and was kneeling beside her with Damon. "She's having some sort of attack" Damon said.

Damon backed up as Zach sat in front of her. "Elena" he said moving his finger in front of her eyes. Her eyes focused on his moving finger. "Feel your fingers" he told her, rubbing his fingers. He repeated it until Elena was making the same movements. "Feel your arms" he continued, moving his own arms for her to see what she needed to be doing. "Feel the floor" he finished with, placing his own hands on the cool tile. Elena did so and noticed how even her breathing had become just by doing this simple exercise. Damon stared on in amazement. Zach had made Elena bring herself back to a moment where she was not anxious or panicking. It was incredible to watch.

Elena took slow breaths until her heart rate returned to somewhat normal. She noticed both Zach and Damon staring at her. "I want to see Stefan" she said quietly as though nothing happened.

Zach nodded. "You can see Stefan, Elena" he told her. "But you have to realize that Stefan is not doing so great right now. He's in a lot of pain and his body is under attack. He looks as bad as he feels" he reminded her. Elena only nodded her acknowledgment of the current information.

Both Damon and Zach helped Elena up and walked slowly with her down the hall. Elena checked in and both offered to walk with her to Stefan's room, but she told them no. She could do this. Though, with every step she took towards his room, her anxiety began to build back up.

His blinds were shut and so was his door. But she had been told to go on in. The nurse had prompted her not to cause him any stress. He would be awake, but very exhausted. When Elena's hand reached for the door, she realized how sweaty she had become. When she finally pushed the door open and saw him lying helpless in the bed, silent tears involuntarily escaped from her eyes.

Stefan's eyes slowly opened at the sound of his door opening. His face showed some surprise, but he was so exhausted that he really couldn't show his emotions fully. Elena smiled, remembering what the nurse had said about not adding to Stefan's stress. But her tears were still present. "Hey" she whispered, shutting the door.

The corners of Stefan's mouth turned up slightly, but they quickly went back into their neutral place as he took a deep breath. Elena noticed that he appeared to be having a moment of severe pain and was trying to not let her know about it. "It's not a library" Stefan said with a small grin. She could tell it had taken a lot of effort to grin like that. "You don't have to whisper." Elena took small steps towards him until she reached his bed. She took a seat in the nearby chair, but didn't touch him. She didn't want to cause him anymore pain. So Stefan slowly and weakly reached over and grabbed her hand. She noticed that his grip was weak as well, but she was willing to bet that if she tried to pull away, he wouldn't have let go. "Don't cry, Elena" he said quietly and she thought he was having another moment of immense pain.

Elena smiled and shook her head as more tears came tumbling down her cheeks. "Allergies" she told him.

"Bullshit" Stefan smiled, closing his eyes for a moment to get a little rest. "Who called you?" he asked, opening his eyes again.

She rubbed his hand with her thumb gently. "I came out here and when I couldn't find you at home, I called Damon to ask where you were" she said, swallowing hard. He wasn't at home because he was here. "He kind of had to tell me where you were" she said, hoping Stefan wouldn't blame his brother.

Stefan studied her in his exhausted and pain-stricken haze. "You're too pretty to cry" he said softly, wishing he could reach over and wipe her tears. But he was just so weak and tired.