CHAPTER 42: PRAYER FOR THE DYING
Whitmore Medical Center
There had been called in an emergency meeting at Whitmore, and Natalie had to go through the torture that was the two-hour drive. She missed going to high school, where all she had to do was take her car for five minutes before she had met up with everyone, usually at the boarding house.
But this time, all she heard about was some guy named Colin that had cancer. Supposedly, Caroline had fed him her blood in hope of finding out if vampire blood could heal cancer. But then they found out that he had died afterwards.
And so, Stefan, Damon, Elena, Jo and Natalie were standing in a room, watching some brains scans that Jo had gotten from Duke, where he supposedly was before. The scan had a small red dot, that was probably supposed to show the cancer.
"I had Duke over Colin's medical records. This head scan is from earlier this week," Jo then grabbed another one, this one having more red than not on his brain. "This one was taken right here, ten minutes ago. See all that red?"
Natalie grimaced, feeling sorry for the guy. She didn't know how it would have to feel for him, but she knew that it had to hurt. "I know I am not my wonder-child, future doctor twin sister, but even I can see that he's screwed."
Stefan sent her a look, to which she responded with one that basically said she was uncomfortable so she didn't know what else to say. He shook his head with a sigh. "So the blood didn't heal him, it sped up his cancer and killed him."
Natalie leaned her head on his shoulder, and he just put his on top of hers again. Stefan was watching the scans nervously, because he knew that he wasn't the only cancer patient who had been fed vampire blod.
Jo nodded, telling Stefan that he was correct. "So now, I have a stage 10 cancer patient. Which, by the way, doesn't exist. Who is beyond terminally ill and a vampire, meaning all of his emotions are heightened and he can't die."
While it was interesting to see the effects of vampire blood on cancer patients, Damon was wondering why they needed to be there. "Hey, no offense, but could someone tell me why I was called down here to listen to the story of Colin the Cancer Vamp?"
Liz walked into the room, finally not having to wear her hospital gown. Her daughter walked up right next to her, looking like she was on the verge of crying. "Because Caroline fed me her blood last night. So the same thing is gonna happen to me."
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Stefan had tried to get some more information from Jo as Natalie tried to get the both of them coffee, only to discover that the coffee machine was broken. She thought it was stupid, because there were few people who needed coffee more than the people stuck at Whitmore Medical Center.
"When I asked for coffee, you could've just gotten some from the hospital," he smiled at her as he walked outside, where Natalie was now standing with two coffees from a hipster coffee shop at campus.
"The coffee machine was broken," she shrugged, handing him the coffee, just how he liked it. She knew his coffee order by heart. She then glanced at the sign, signalizing that they were now outside of the hospital. "So, are there any news?"
His smile dropped at the reminder of why they were actually there. He tapped his fingers against his jean pocket nervously, because he knew that he could've stopped it. He could have stopped Caroline from giving Liz her blood. "No, not yet. It's a little outside of Jo's expertise."
The tall girl nodded, gnawing on the inside lip as she had an internal debate over whether or not to ask him about the thing that she had on her mind she since she found out. "Did you know? Did you know that Caroline was going to give Liz her blood?"
He wasn't sure where she was going with it. She could've decided that she would pissed at him if he told he truth, because he could've waited, seen what would happen before he would let Caroline do it. But, he decided that he had to tell the truth anyway. "Yeah, I was there when it healed Colin."
Natalie nodded, not knowing how to respond to it. "Why didn't you wait? Did you even see the effects of the blood on him before she fed her the blood or did you just think that it was okay because he didn't die immediately?"
"It looked like it was healing him," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest at how she seemed to be blaming him for what happened. "You didn't see the hope in her eyes when she thought that maybe her mother didn't have to die. And I didn't wanna be the one to take that away from her."
Natalie's eyes widened a bit at his hostility, and realized that he had taken her words. She didn't blame him at all, but she understood how he could have taken it that way. "I know. I just don't want her to get hurt. She's my best friend."
"She's mine too," he reminded her. He saw her look down, as if she was feeling guilty for acting a bit like a bitch. He reached out, pulling strands of hair away from her face and behind her ear with a soft smile. "Hey, we'll figure this out. And if we can't... well, we have to be there for her. For both of them."
As Stefan's hand was still on her cheek, she put her hand on top of it, grabbing it and swinging them between them. "I know, I'm trying. But I don't think she wants to feel better. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I think she wants to feel guilty so she doesn't have to feel the pain from her mother dying."
"That's what friends are for. Even when you're at your worst, pushing people away, they are there. They help you no matter what. You can do that for her," he advised, not being able to hide his smile as he studied her face. He would never get tired of her smile, her eyes, her face. And still, he wasn't used to her, because she always found new ways to make him fall in love all over again.
She bit down on her lip, knowing that smiling while they were talking about what they were talking about would be a bit inappropriate. But he always managed to make her weak in her knees, her lips always fighting to keep tugging up until they become a smile. "I will. But I don't know if she'll be able to get through this. She's strong, and she's been through so much. But losing her mom, I don't know."
Caroline cleared her throat, announcing her presence to her two best friends. They turned to her, looking like they sorry for her hearing their conversation. She didn't reveal anything about hearing what they had been saying, even if she had. "Uhm, Jo has an idea."
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Jo's idea consisted of replacing Liz's blood, hoping that it would mean that the vampire blood would be out of her system, unable to do any damage. They hadn't gotten any answers on whether or not it would work, but Damon had been sitting outside in the waiting room nervously, anticipating news.
He noticed Natalie walking up to him and straightened himself up, trying to seem like he was staying strong, like someone who was his friend dying wasn't a big deal. "Hey. the blood transfusions are stopping the cancer from eating her alive? Or hey, is there a sheriff-sized space available in the family crypt?"
"Not sure yet," she shrugged, sitting down next to him. Caroline had gone to a vending machine or something and she was planning to meet her there soon, but she needed to speak a bit with her other best friend first. "Jo's still running some tests, with her assistant, future Doctor Gilbert. They should be out in a minute."
"I don't know if you remember this, but Liz and I are pretty close," he reminded her. He saw her smile a bit with a nod, and realized that he was sounding a bit too sappy for being Damon Salvatore. "I mean, as far as humans go, she's... tolerable."
Natalie knew that pointing out how much he cared about Liz would only make him deny it even more, and she was really hoping to talk to Caroline as soon as possible. "We're going to try, Damon. If there's anything we can, anything at all, we're going to do it."
"Yeah," he breathed, nodding a bit as she smiled in a way to say goodbye. She walked away to find her blonde best friend, knowing that she was most likely freaking out.
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Natalie found Caroline at the exact vending machine she had left her at. She knew she had a bit time when talking to Damon before she had to find her, because she was about to find out that the coffee machine was broken.
The blonde turned to her with a polite smile in greeting. "Hey. The coffee machine's broken. Seriously, what kind of hospital is this? If you can't fix a coffee machine, then how are you supposed to be able to fix people?"
"My thoughts exactly," she responded, smiling widely. Even if she was being worried about Caroline still acting like nothing was happening, like everything was okay, she was still happy to see her smile. "You know, being in a hospital, I think we can easily get some of your favorite food. B positive, right?"
Her smile slowly faded as she saw that the smile her best friend had one her face was a fake one, trying to stay strong for her. She sighed, leaning her head against the vending machine. "I screwed up. Big time. Why did I feed her that blood?"
"You were just trying to help," she was trying to comfort her. She wasn't going to say that it was fine, that it was okay. Because it wasn't, she made a mistake, but her intentions were good and she tried.
The forever-seventeen-year-old chuckled bitterly, still not moving her head away from the vending machine. "No, I was trying to fix something that I had no business trying to fix. It's like textbook definition of control freak from hell."
"Hey, come here," she coaxed the other girl into getting in her arms. But Caroline only turned around, shaking her head as if to say she didn't deserve that affection, the love Natalie was offering. "You tried. You were being my wonderfully optimistic best friend. And Liz needed some optimism. She still does."
Sounds of pain, groaning and whimpering, interrupted their conversation. The two of them quickly used their heightened senses to figure out where it was coming from in a quick moment. Caroline's eyes widened as she realized where. "That's Colin's room."
They exchanged worried looks, rushing to open the door and making sure to close it behind them. Once they came in, they saw Colin holding a metal bar before shoving it in his chest harshly.
"I can't die," he whimpered, almost looking like he was about to cry. He pulled the bar out of his chest, dropping it on the floor as he looked at the two vampires in desperate questioning. "Why can't I die?"
Natalie walked up to him slowly. She felt sorry for him. He was in pain, and they knew that. He was in enough pain to want to try to kill himself. Natalie had once tried the same, and even if it wasn't physical pain for her, she still knew how much it took to get to that. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's okay, it's okay."
"It's not okay. I'm in agony. I can hear my tumors growing!" he cried out in pain, grabbing her head as if it would stop the sounds. He could hear it, and t was torture. He didn't even know why he had to be in such pain, but he was praying that it would stop.
Caroline looked like she wanted to cry, herself. She caused him that pain, she made sure that he couldn't go in peace, end his days quietly in a hospital bed. She made sure that his last days would feel like pure torture and agony. "Okay, we'll try to help, but just please stop hurting yourself."
He used his newfound vampire speed to rush to his sire, looking at her desperately. Tears were now in his eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to end his misery. "You wanna help me? Help me die."
Out of nowhere, Colin fell right in front of Caroline. The blonde gasped, taking a step back to keep herself from being fell on by the dead vampire. Behind him, Damon had appeared from wherever and in his hands, he held his heart.
Damon didn't really seem to care about what he'd done, letting the heart fall to the floor freely. Caroline, on the other hand, wasn't sure how he was able to do that, and then act so casual about it. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"He made a wish, I granted it," he shrugged. Caroline took a deep breath, putting her hand up to her forehead as she tried to calm herself. But she didn't notice the look Damon was giving her that would tell her that he wasn't happy with her. "The blood transfusion didn't work. So you didn't just kill him, Blondie-"
Natalie cut him off, giving him a warning look. She loved both of them very much, and she knew that what he was about to say would only lead Caroline to hate herself even more. "Damon, don't."
Caroline closed her eyes, sighing sadly. Natalie looked over at her worriedly as she shook her head. "No, it's fine. You know, he's just saying what everyone else is thinking. I killed my mom." And with that, she turned around and left the room. And the hospital for that matter.
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A Flower Shop
Natalie had taken a while, trying to track down Caroline. She had been a vampire for a while, but tracking people had never been a strong suit for her, but she did her best. And after a good 45 minutes, she found her blonde best friend in a flower shop, looking at sunflowers.
She quickly noticed when the brunette vampire walked in and only smiled as if nothing had happened. "Good, you're here. I actually need a second opinion. I kind of like this because sunflowers are her favorite flower, but at the same time, I was also thinking maybe they're a little too over-the-top cheerful for a memorial service."
She then walked a few meters away seeing a whole lot of pink roses in front of her, but she was especially interested in one bouquet. " So this was the second option, um, because roses are classic, right? I mean, especially in this shade of pink. Obviously, I would change out the vase, but-"
Caroline looked over at her best friend, trying to see how she was reacting. She only found him looking at her thoughtfully. She stopped thinking about flowers for a moment as she knew that all she was going to try to do was comfort her. "If you're thinking of saying something to make me feel better, don't. I don't deserve to feel better."
"I'm not," Natalie responded, crossing her arm over her chest as she studied Caroline and her reactions. She looked like she was in a bit of denial, but at the same time not. She was knew what she had done, and the consequences. She just didn't seem like she wanted to face them.
"Good," she sighed in relief.
Natalie walked over to stand right next to her, her fingers brushing over the flower petals of a rose. "I'm just thinking that maybe you shouldn't plan a funeral for someone who isn't dead. It's depressing."
"Yeah, but all of this still needs to be done, right? She's not gonna want to live out the rest of her life as a vampire in excruciating pain. So I should do something that I'm good at, instead of making everything worse," she scolded herself before turning to her friend. "Which arrangement?"
Natalie put her hand on her upper arm carefully, trying to be comforting even if she was about to be a bit harsh. "Caroline, you took a risk. Yeah, maybe it didn't work out. Yeah, maybe you made it worse. But going around looking at flowers for a funeral for someone who isn't dead isn't helping anyone. She wants you to be there, not here."
Caroline closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she finally opened them and met Natalie's worried gaze, she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I don't- I don't know what to say to her."
The reincarnation was glad she was finally facing her emotions, which she had been trying to avoid but her job was far from over. "Then don't say anything. Just be there, sit there and hold her hand."
"I can't. I can't even face her," the blonde vampire's voice was breaking. If she hadn't been trying her best not to break down in a flower shop, she would have started crying, falling into Natalie's arms with sobs rocking her chest.
The brunette sighed, knowing that some more tough love was needed. "You're not perfect, Caroline. I know, you've tried to be. But you make mistakes. Even when you're a vampire, there's still a part of you that's human, who can't do everything right. You made a mistake, but that doesn't mean you can't be there for her. If you're going to go around feeling so damn guilty, then you know that you owe her that."
Caroline agreed with her, but she didn't want to admit it. She felt like she owed her mother the world, but she wasn't sure if she wanted anything from her anymore. "What if she can't forgive me?"
"She already has," she assured her. Natalie held out her hand, offering to take her with her to the hospital, to give her the help she needed when it came to facing her mom. "So, are you going to stand here and feel sorry for yourself or are you going to be there with your mother?"
Caroline hesitated, and she even if she didn't say it, she was grateful for Natalie's tough love. It was just what she needed. And now, as she was offering her hand, she was getting ready to offer a bit nicer kind. In the end, Caroline did take her hand. And the two of them left the flower shop hand-in-hand.
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Whitmore Medical Center
When they saw people and doctors running to Liz's room desperately, they knew something was wrong. But they tried not to believe that it was the worst case scenario, that Liz was leaving without saying goodbye to her daughter.
But when they reached the room, they had no choice but to face reality. A doctor was leaving the room as if he was compelled and Elena was standing with shock pads in her hands as Damon held his hand on her back.
"No, no! Mom, mom!" Caroline cried out, running to her mother who's heart was no longer beating. She started shaking her, trying to get her to wake up. "Mom, mommy! No, mom, no. Don't leave me, please. Please, no. Please don't leave me, mom."
Natalie wanted to go up and comfort her, but she knew that she wanted her moment alone to cry with her mother's body. She looked over at Damon, who took his hand off Elena's back when he saw her sad look.
She walked over to him quickly, burying her head in his shoulder. She wasn't crying, but she just couldn't bear to look at Caroline in so much pain. Elena was watching her sympathetically, but Natalie just couldn't. All she could do was have Damon rub circles with his thumb on her back in an attempt to comfort her.
Then, suddenly, Liz's heart monitor started beeping again. Her eyes fluttered open, even if everyone who had come by had been trying to save her had said she was gone. Caroline's eyes widened, but her tears still didn't stop running down her cheeks. "Mom?"
"It's okay, baby, I'm right here," the Mystic Falls sheriff comforted her daughter, making the younger blonde bury her head in her mother's chest as she cried. "Oh, it's okay. I'm right here. I'm right here, baby. It's okay, it's okay."
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Natalie had decided that the Whitmore Medical Center's coffee machine had been broken for long enough. There were some perks with being a vampire, and compulsion was definitely one of them. Being charming was much easier when she could mind-control people, and charming people in to fixing the coffee machine was easy.
Natalie only had one cup of coffee as she entered Liz's hospital room, where she and her daughter were in a tight embrace. Liz wasn't allowed to drink anything caffeinated, so she didn't want to risk anything.
Caroline pulled away from her mother as she smelt the coffee. Knowing that the coffee machine was broken, she had no idea where that would suddenly come from. "Hey, where'd you get that?"
Natalie shrugged with a cheeky smile. She had once hated being a vampire, but she had to admit it had its perks. "It's amazing how many people are up for fixing the coffee machine when you compel them."
Natalie handed her best friend the coffee, getting a grateful smile in return. Liz looked up at her daughter's best friend nervously, wanting to talk to her alone for a moment. And so she turned to the other Forbes. "That smells amazing. I would give you a million dollars for a decaf latte. What do you say? Would you mind getting one for your poor, sick mom?"
Caroline nodded, wanting to do anything she could to make her mother feel better, because she still felt infinitely guilty for what she had done. But, supposedly Kai had siphoned the vampire blood out of her or something. Natalie found that weird, because she thought they had him somewhere. "I can do that. I'll be right back."
Liz made sure her daughter had left the room before she turned to the other female in the room, who was watching her curiously, wondering why she seemed to want to talk to her. "So, looks like we can cross miracle cure off the list."
Natalie knew that there wasn't anything more for them to do, but she didn't want to say that to Liz. She wanted her to live too, she just didn't know how to achieve it. "There's gotta be something we can do."
"I need you promise me something," the short-haired blonde looked at Natalie, waiting for a nod or something. She got or something, as Natalie walked up next to her bed, kneeling on her side. Liz looked like she was about to cry when she started talking. "When I'm gone, Caroline is gonna need you. Even if she doesn't know it. She's gonna need someone to help her move on with her life. Someone to just make her smile. Promise me that you will do that, Natalie."
The brunette sniffled, grabbing the older woman's hand. She knew that she would have been there for her either way, but she was going to do her best, even better than she thought she could because she wanted to fulfill a dying woman's wishes. "I will. I swear to God, I will."
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The Door Room
After a long day, Natalie knew she was going to have her old dorm room to herself. Elena was working a night shift at the hospital, where Caroline was determined to stay for the night. And seeing as Bonnie was stuck in a prison world, Natalie decided that it was safe to invite Stefan over.
They hadn't done anything nasty, they just sat on her bed silently. They just sat there with their fingers intertwined. They had spoken a bit, but not much and Stefan could see something was weighing down on her.
"You okay?" he asked, studying her as she frowned at the question. She wasn't really going through something herself, for once in two thousand years, but she wasn't sure how to be there for someone who was.
She decided not to lie, to make him drop the subject. She knew she could talk to him about anything, to just sit there as he gave her advice. "Yeah, I just don't know what to say to her. I think I did it right today, but one day, my luck will run out."
He used his free hand to rub arm comfortingly, smiling softly at her. He thought she was the best friend anyone could have ever asked for, and seeing her doubt herself was a bit weird, it didn't make sense. "Hey, you know what to say. Because, if anyone knows what it's like to lose a parent, it's you."
But Natalie didn't want to sit there and feel sorry for the family she had lost when she wasn't the one about to lose her mother now. "I've only lost three of them, and one of them came back. Or, wait. I lost my mom twice. Does that count as four times then?"
He snorted. "Let's go with that."
"You've lost both your parents too," she reminded him. She ignored the fact that he was the one to kill his own father, who supposedly was a huge asshole to both him and Damon (but more so the latter).
"But that was a long time ago, Natalie. 150 years," he retorted, and he didn't know why they were competing about having lost the least. "And we both know that you've had more than three parents, even if you can't remember them. Perks of reincarnating every thousand years, huh?"
She furrowed her brows as she realized that he just that she had parents she couldn't remember. She had her fair share of parents over the years, but there were none she couldn't remember. "Wait, I never told you that I got my memories back?"
Stefan's eyes widened. Never, since she had come back had she mentioned anything about her whole story of being a reincarnation from both two thousand years ago and a thousand years ago. "Uh, no."
She smiled awkwardly, because she was so sure she had said something. Maybe she had just told Damon and Bonnie. "Oops. I remember my other lives. It happened when I was stuck on the other side. So, actually, that's seven parents that I've had."
While he was still a bit surprised at how she had all her memories back (meaning she could remember her relationship with Silas and the will-they-won't-they relationship he supposed she once had with Kol), but he just decided to win the argument. "See? You win the dead parents contest."
"Go me!" she fist-bumped the air sarcastically before giggling. She felt her head getting heavier, and decided to lean her head on his shoulder. But she still decided that she wanted to look at his handsome face and smiled at him a bit. "I love you."
"I love you too," he responded without any hesitation. He would never get used to saying that without expecting disastrous consequences, the kind they always expected when the two of them first fell in love. He leaned down a bit as he kissed her forehead affectionately, throwing his arms around her shoulders. Everything was so different from how it once was, and he thanked his lucky stars for it.
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A/N: In case you're wondering, Steroline isn't happening. They're BFFs, but I'm still going to take away a fair share of their scenes, especially in the next chapter, so Caroline and Natalie can be best friend goals.
Votes and comments are greatly appreciated.