The Salvatore Jewel

Chapter 14

The night passed and there was still no sign of Ellie, unfortunately. Damon was slowly beginning to think the worst of his daughter's well being and he could only hope that they could find Ellie before Katherine and her followers got to her first. Now, the worried father was in his car at the cemetery with his daughter's best friend who had fallen asleep in the front passenger seat. The two friends stayed up all night, waiting for some sign of Ellie, but their exhaustion overcame them and fell asleep in the car. Damon was just now waking up and he spotted movement in the cemetery. His eyes widened and he shoved the teenage boy next to him, attempting to wake him up. Jeremy stirred awake and said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "Damon, what's going on?" Damon nudged his head in the direction he was looking at and Jeremy followed his friend's gaze. It looked like the small movement of an animal lying next to a tombstone. Jeremy was the first to act and got out of the car, quietly closing the door behind him. He made his way past through the other tombstones and found Ellie still in her wolf form asleep against her mother's tombstone. Damon came up to next to Jeremy and quietly sighed in relief. His haunch was right about Ellie going to the cemetery to be with her mother's tombstone. Jeremy nudged Damon when he noticed a trickle of blood coming from Ellie's fur. The sound of other cars pulling up the cemetery grabbed Damon and Jeremy's attention and they both turned to see their other friends coming towards them, quickly but quietly. Caroline came out of her mother's police car and raced over to her two friends, stopping when she saw her best friend asleep. Liz came up to her daughter and sighed in relief at the sight of Ellie.

Nothing was said when the three Mikaelson siblings raced over to them, with Klaus ahead of them in his wolf form. Klaus nodded at Damon, who nodded back at him. Klaus gently gripped the fur of Ellie and pulled her onto his back, grunting from the weight. Liz called the hospital to have them get prepared for Ellie's arrival so she could get medical attention for her wound. Klaus walked over to Damon's car and allowed Damon and Stefan to help put Ellie in the back seat where she could be taken to the hospital. After putting Ellie in the car, Damon and Stefan quickly got into the car and Damon drove out of the cemetery and to the hospital. Unknown to the group, Katherine stood in the shadows of the woods with a triumphant smirk. However, Jeremy stayed back and noticed Katherine in the shadows. Jeremy crossed his arms and said to Katherine, turning to face her, "You really think that you won?" Katherine chuckled evilly and replied, "Trust me, young Gilbert, I'll know when I have won and this time I have won. The Salvatore girl will wake up with her wolf side now triggered. That is the first step of my plan." Jeremy stood his ground and said to her, "What is your next step, Katherine?" Katherine smirked and replied, "That is for me to know and you to find out. See you around, little Gilbert." In the blink of an eye, Katherine was gone. Jeremy's phone startled the boy from his distracted state and he pulled his phone to see a worried text from Elena. Elena- Get your butt to the hospital now! It's Ellie!

Back at the hospital, Damon paced outside of his daughter's hospital room while the doctors checked on Ellie who was now back in her human form. He turned to see his girlfriend racing towards him with genuine concern on her face and slightly smiled. Elena wrapped her arms around Damon and said to him, "I came as soon as I heard about Ellie. I sent a text to Jeremy and he's on his way. Have they said anything yet?" Damon shaked his head and replied, "No, they're still checking on her health and other things. Where were you when we were searching for Ellie?" Elena sighed sadly at Damon and said to him, "Katherine held me hostage. I tried to warn you about Katherine but she came and took me before I could say anything. She told me that she was going to trigger Ellie's wolf side to ignite the hybrid part of her." Damon crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. Part of him wanted to believe Elena but another part of him remembered that Elena was Katherine's doppelgänger and she could be Katherine. Elena's eyes begged at Damon for him to believe her and she said, "Please, Damon. You have to believe me. Katherine is planning something big and it's not good for Ellie. Please." Damon didn't faze and replied, "How do I know that you're Elena and not Katherine?" Footsteps came running over to the couple and they turned to see Tyler with Bonnie. Tyler breathed heavily and said to Damon, "You have to trust her, Damon. This is Elena, not Katherine. Bonnie and I just crossed paths with Katherine on the way here and Jeremy told me that Elena was on her way to the hospital." Before Damon could respond, the door to Ellie's hospital room opened and closed as the doctor walked out of the room. The doctor held a clipboard in his hands and said to the group, "Which one of you is Ms. Salvatore's older brother?" Damon turned to the doctor and replied, "That would be me."

Somehow, amongst all the chaos, the two Salvatore's were able to keep Ellie's true relation to them a secret. The doctor nodded to Damon, silently telling him to follow him. Damon followed the doctor into a small corridor of the long hallway where they could talk in private. Damon crossed his arms and said to the doctor, with worry on his face, "Well, how is Ellie, doc?" The doctor sighed and replied, looking at his clipboard, "She's lucky that you and her friends were able to get her here when you all did. The wound we found on her side was close to becoming infected and she was close to losing a lot of blood." Damon said, "So, what was the cause of the wound?" The doctor replied, "From what I can tell, it looked like something was impaled into her side. A piece of wood of some sort." Damon took a deep breath and said, "How long do you think it will take for her to recover?" The doctor cleared his throat and replied, "For the wound, a couple weeks or so. Your little sister went through a lot the past night, Damon. Those type wounds will take more time. She just needs some rest and attention. Now, if you will excuse me, I have another patient to attend to. *He noticed the worried look on Damon's face* Don't worry, Damon. From what I could tell when we were trying to sedate Ellie after she came to it, she's a fighter." The doctor gently patted Damon on his shoulder then walked away, leaving Damon to his thoughts. Damon shaked away from his daze and made his way back to his daughter's hospital room to see that Elena, Tyler, and Bonnie were still there and that Stefan and Jeremy had just arrived. Tyler saw the look on Damon's look and ushered Bonnie, Elena, and Jeremy away from Ellie's hospital room so Damon and Stefan could be alone.

Damon walked into the hospital room to see his daughter laying on the hospital bed, unconscious. His eyes scanned the room as three nurses were gathering some medical equipment. One of the nurses noticed Damon and Stefan come into the room and said to them, "I'm sorry but only family are allowed to visit the patient." Stefan gave the nurse a polite smile and replied, "We're Ellie's older brothers." The nurse was taken back and said, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Oh, I'm sorry. We're just cleaning up then we'll be out of your hair." Stefan nodded at the nurse and turned back to see his brother walking to Ellie's bedside. Damon brushed Ellie's hair away from her face and placed his hand on her forehead. Neither of the two brothers said anything to each other. The only sound that filled the room was the beeping of the heart monitor that was connected to Ellie. Stefan cleared his throat and said to Damon, "None of this is your fault, Damon. Neither was it Ellie's fault." Damon sighed and replied, sarcastically, "You know, you're really not helping, baby bro." Stefan crossed his arms and said, "I'm just doing what I can by being here for you, Damon. Wasn't that what Tori wanted? She wanted us to be there for each other and for Ellie." Damon held back an agitated growl and replied, "I know that is what Tori wanted, Stefan. Do you think that I'm also trying to do my part?!" Stefan looked at his brother with sympathy and said, "All that I'm trying to say is that you need to take a couple steps back and relax. Tori wouldn't want to see you like this." Damon didn't respond to Stefan as he turned his attention back to his daughter who stirred in the hospital bed. The girl continued to stir and the two brothers turned to the monitor which was beeping rapidly. Damon and Stefan's eyes both widened and Stefan left to get a doctor. Damon stayed behind and did what he could to calm Ellie down. Three doctors and two nurses ran into the room, causing Damon to be pulled away by Stefan.