this chapter takes place several hours from where the last one left off. in this chapter you'll find out that josie's injury was more severe than they thought, and you'll get a little bit more information on our new villain.
Hope paced the floor, the soles of her shoes wearing down. Lizzie had started to wonder if Hope's shoes would form a hole if she kept it up.
Hope sat down, bouncing her knee rapidly, causing her foot to continuously hit the floor.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Hope jumped back up, unable to handle the noise but also unable to sit still. She went back to pacing, earning a look of pity laced with concern from Lizzie, who sat across from her.
"It was her shoulder, Lizzie. I don't understand how that got us here. It was deep, sure, but I didn't think it was that deep," Hope said, bringing her nails to her mouth, a nasty habit she'd picked up over the past few hours.
"Hope," she said, her voice low and defeated. "We've talked about this, hell even the doctor explained it to you."
"I know, I know. I just- god, Lizzie, I don't fucking understand," Hope said, bringing her hands up to her hair.
Lizzie brought her hand to her mouth, trying not to cry, her eyes still burned and her throat was still raw from the previous hours. She hated this, she hated that she couldn't help her sister, and she hated that Hope wouldn't stop pacing the goddamn floor.
"Hope, please," she said, her eyes practically begging the auburnette to breathe and sit still, even for a moment. "Calm down, okay? She wouldn't want you to burn holes into your shoes over her."
Hope rolled her eyes and gave Lizzie a small smile, knowing that she was dead serious. And right, she thought.
Hope decided she should listen to the blonde, she liked those shoes anyway and sat down across from her. Hope's mind was racing with thoughts, with fears, with confessions she still hasn't made.
Her eyes filled with tears as the thought crossed her mind, that she may never get to tell Josie how she feels. Fuck. She needs to hear it again.
"I need you to explain it one more time, please."
"Fine," Lizzie groaned, but secretly, explaining it to Hope over and over helped her stay grounded. It helped to keep her mind from wandering to those dark places in her mind that she's so familiar with.
"The knife cut her shoulder, which is obvious, and it cut her cephalic vein. Which made her lose a lot of blood," Lizzie paused, remembering as she watched helplessly as a puddle of blood formed beneath her sister.
She remembered the way her sister would twitch occasionally, causing more blood to flow. She remembered her father yelling for the nurse, she remembered watching as Hope ran out and how everyone started whispering after.
"Lizzie?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "And she lost so much blood that she went into a coma."
Lizzie looked up to the sky, silently begging whatever gods exist to help her sister. She wasn't sure they heard her, so she made a mental note to find a spell that'd make sure they did.
"Now, we're waiting while they do a blood transfusion."
Hope chuckled dryly, which she'd done every time she'd had it explained. She couldn't help it, she was just angry.
"I could heal her."
"I know."
"I could save her life, and there'd be no doubt about whether or not she'd survive this."
"I know."
"Then why won't he let me?" She asked, her voice cracking as her tears began to spill out.
"I don't know." Lizzie was angry too. If there was something that could heal her sister, she'd do it in a heartbeat, but her father would never allow them to use Hope's blood. Or any vampire's blood, honestly. She hated her father for this, her sister was in unnecessary pain and they could stop it. With a single little drop of Hope's blood, Josie would start to heal.
But he wouldn't allow it.
-
Hope shifted uncomfortably in her chair, it was too small to sleep in, but she was determined to try anyway. She knew Lizzie had given up on sleep hours ago, but the tribrid needed something to keep her mind focused on.
She thought back to the night before, how she ran back to the woods only to find a note. A goddamn note.
'I will be back. Don't miss me too much, see you soon, Hopey.' It read.
Hope remembered screaming. Out of frustration, for whoever it was to come and face her, out of fear, and out of being angry with her father.
But mostly, she screamed out of disgust. Nobody had called her Hopey, not since she was a child. Not since the person who worked at her favorite gift shop called her that. She remembered the way she always asked oddly specific questions about her family, about her power. She always wondered how she knew about them, but she always assumed it was just another part of being a Mikaelson in New Orleans; everyone knows who you are. She also always secretly hoped it was because she wanted to know more about her.
She remembered the day she disappeared, ironically it was around the time her family was separated. She scratched her brain to remember the name. She couldn't remember.
But what she could remember was seeing MG a few feet away, tears streaming down his face. She remembered asking him what was wrong, and all he could say was 'it's Josie'. Everything blurred together after that. All she knew was that she somehow went from the forest to the school to the hospital. She wasn't sure how or when.
When she got to the hospital, she begged Alaric to take her blood, to give it to Josie. All he did was look at her with a blank expression and say no. Lizzie even screamed at him a little, which surprised everyone in the room.
And now, here they are. In the waiting room, waiting. Waiting for something, anything to show she'll be okay.
Hope now found herself trying to form a plan, one that would get her blood to Josie. One that would save her. She would wait until Dr. Saltzman left to make a phone call to the school, he always has to walk outside to do so because the signal sucks. Then, she'd use her vamp speed to sneak into the brunette's room and give her the blood.
Lizzie must've suddenly gained the ability to read minds, because she looked right into Hope's eyes and said, "I'll help."
Hope looked at her with a confused look, wondering how the hell she became a psychic and when. "What?"
"I know what you're thinking, you're rubbing your wrist and you keep looking at the door. You want to sneak in. I'll help you."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want Josie to die." She said, her voice cracking around the edges.
Hope nodded, and they started to form an airtight plan. Lizzie would be the lookout, and she'd go with Hope to help make sure everything goes well and see her sister. Her father wouldn't let her, for whatever reason.
They went back to sitting in silence as they waited for Alaric to come out. Hope's mind began wandering again. Her mind flashed with images of the pale and bleeding Josie in her arms as she ran to the Salvatore school.
She tried to think of something else, anything else. She didn't want to hear it again. But she did, her mind thought back to the sound Josie let out.
It was like a scream, but louder. It was like a cry of pain, but more broken. It sounded like glass shattering, like an explosion of pain. Hell, one could even compare the sound that of a bomb.
Hope didn't know what to compare it to, all she knew was that it flooded her ears and mind. It made her ears ring and her heartbreak. It was a sound that could, and would, haunt dreams. It was a sound Hope would never forget, a sound she would always fight to make sure Josie never had to let it out again.
Finally, Alaric walked into the waiting room, headed for the door, which brought Hope out of her thoughts. Which she was incredibly grateful for.
They waited until he was out of sight and ran, both of them thankful that Hope was now part vampire, they nearly bumped into a couple of nurses but thankfully they managed to avoid them at the last second.
They stopped directly in front of Josie's room, both of them afraid to open the door, afraid to see her like that.
Lizzie gave Hope a small, anxious smile as she put her hand on the knob, pushing it open. Right in the middle of the room laid a very pale and sick-looking Josie Saltzman. Lizzie's hand flew to her mouth and tears welled up in Hope's eyes, neither of them was prepared to see the brunette this ill.
Josie just didn't look like Josie.
"Okay, I have to do this now. Keep watch," said Hope, who was now walking towards the comatose girl, her hands shaking.
She brought her hand to Josie's face, caressing her cheek. "I'll fix you, my angel," she whispered so that Lizzie couldn't hear.
She bit into her wrist, drawing blood, and positioned herself beside Josie. She lifted the brunette's head with her clean arm and pulled the pillow from underneath her. As she sat her head back down, she brought the blood to her lips, making sure enough dropped into her mouth.
After a few minutes, she could already see the color returning to her face, and the wound on her shoulder began to heal. Hope nearly squealed in excitement, and motioned for Lizzie to come over.
Lizzie took one look at her sister and let out a sob, a loud one. She was so glad it was working, she'd never felt such relief.
They sat at the girl's bedside, waiting for her to awaken, which was taking a bit longer than they thought. In fact, it was taking so long Alaric was already walking towards the door. Hope heard him first and immediately alerted the blonde witch in front of her, both of them panicked, unsure of whether or not they should hide. They decided to stay put, the damage was already done. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?
He opened the door, and his eyes flew back and forth between the trio, finally landing on his unconscious daughter's lips, which were stained red with blood. He balled his fists in anger, ready to scream at the auburnette, who could sense his anger and was ready to justify her actions.
Before anyone could say or do anything, they heard a small whimper. Everyone's eyes shot to the brunette, whose eyes were still closed. At first, they thought she was still in a coma, and it was just an involuntary reaction.
That was until they heard her voice, it was quiet and nearly impossible for anyone in the room to hear, but the tribrid did.
"Hope?" she whispered.
Hope's eyes shot up to the blonde who was sitting across from her, a grin spreading into her face. She looked back down at the brunette, "I'm here, Josette. I'm right here."
A tiny smile appeared on the girl's lips as she gave the tribrid's hand a small squeeze. Josie's mind tried to decipher what happened, though her memories were surfacing in fragments, and all she could think of was the fact Hope called her Josette again.
She was confused, to say the least, and afraid. She wasn't sure if she was going to be okay, she wasn't even sure of what happened, all she remembered was sitting with Hope and then a knife poking out of Hope's stomach.
Oh god, Hope was hurt, she thought, her body filling with panic as she remembered the situation. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt too heavy, she let out a groan of frustration.
Hope looked at her hands, making sure she didn't accidentally touch Josie's injury.
"What is it? Are you okay?"
Josie tried to nod her head, but decided that was way too much work and hummed mhmm instead.
Hope relaxed at the reassurance.
Josie's mind kept thinking, of the person with the knife and the fact she couldn't hear at the time. She was suddenly grateful for the sound of her heart monitor and the automatic blood pressure cuff that beeped every time it cut back on. She still didn't know for sure what the hell happened, but she knew that she didn't want to lose her hearing again; even if it was temporary.
It was getting harder to stay awake, and though she felt like she was getting better with every passing minute, she was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. So she gave Hope's hand another squeeze and drifted off into her dreamland.
-
"You had no right!" Alaric whisper-yelled. They weren't sure why he was so upset, Josie was getting better. Hell, she even woke up for a few minutes. They saved her life.
He didn't see it that way, though.
"Don't be mad at me for saving your daughter's life. I wasn't going to just sit by and watch you risk her dying," Hope retorted.
"I was letting the doctors do their jobs!" He said a bit too loudly, causing some curious eyes to look their way.
"That wasn't good enough and you know it. She was dying, dad," Lizzie said, crossing her arms uncomfortably.
He gave Lizzie a sad look, Hope could tell he knew he was wrong, but he would never admit it.
"She wasn't dying, Elizabeth. She was hurt, and ill, but she wasn't dying."
"Whatever, dad. What we did saved her life, Hope saved her life. You're just too scared and pathetic to admit it," Lizzie said before she turned and walked back into her sister's room.
Alaric's eyes returned to Hope, his face settling into a stone-cold expression. His eyes were shooting daggers into her soul and she felt small, though she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing it. She straightened her posture and stayed put.
"Don't forget, you're the reason she's in this hospital in the first place. You're a Mikaelson, all you do is cause pain and chaos." He said, his voice laced with venom as he said her last name.
Anger bubbled up inside of her and she fought the urge to sink her teeth into his neck. How dare he, she thought. He knows nothing about her family, he's just a bigot. "Don't you dare," she began, stepping towards him. "You're the one who put every student at the school in danger, the one who got your own daughter shot. Another situation in which I saved her, not you. Me."
He could feel sweat beads appearing on his forehead and a lump form in his throat. Nobody had told him he was in the wrong for a very long time. He knew he was, but everyone always told him it was justified. He was shocked, to say the least.
"Oh, and didn't you lock kids up in a prison world when they didn't do exactly as you, a human, told them to? What did you expect, Alaric? A bunch of supernatural children to bend at your will? You're more pathetic than you realize," she said, looking him up and down.
She'd stepped so close to him she could feel his disgusting hot breath on her forehead, his face contorted in fear. She fought the urge to smile, the sight of a terrified Dr. Saltzman brought her a great amount of joy.
He continued to stare at her, utterly speechless. His expression had morphed into one of anger, but Hope wasn't intimidated in the slightest. She scoffed, coming to the conclusion he had nothing else to say, and returned to Josie's bedside.
Alaric silently scolded himself for his inability to respond to Hope, he knew she was right but he also knew he could've said a lot more. Part of him wanted to inject her with one part vervain, one part wolfsbane, and lock her up somewhere. He didn't want her anywhere near his children, especially Josie considering she'd taken a special interest in her. Just like her father had taken a special interest in Caroline.
He decided that was a battle for another day, besides, he'd need her to defeat whoever attacked Josie. He may not like or agree with Hope, but he knew she'd do anything to protect his daughter. And for the time being, that was good enough for him. Probably.
-
"Hope, can I see you for a second?" MG asked.
Hope glanced at Josie, who was still sleeping, then back at MG, nodding her head. She followed him out into the hallway and down to an empty room.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Where is what?"
"The note. I saw it, in the woods. What did it say?"
Hope's fists tightened into a ball at the reminder of the note, her body filling with anger. She didn't even have to pull the note out, she knew exactly what it said.
"I will be back. Don't miss me too much, see you soon, Hopey," she recited. She watched as confusion flashed over the boy's face.
"What does it mean?"
Hope sighed, "It means one of my father's enemies is here. And they want me to suffer, in some way. They want revenge."
"How do you know?"
She thought back to her childhood, the woman who asked too many questions and disappeared, only to reappear after her father died. Ophelia Rosario. And when the fire-haired woman showed up again, she was there only to cause pain.
"Because I had a crush on her."