Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 33

Her life seemed to flash before her eyes.

Honestly, she thought it was just a silly saying. That people simply reflected on their past intentionally when staring death in the face.

She'd been hurt many times before. Nearly perished in several instances. But it had never been this close. This brutal. At the hand of the last person she ever expected to hurt her.

The memories came suddenly, rapidly, striking her hard without warning. They were memories she didn't often think about. Memories she sometimes forgot even existed.

Holding Stefan for the first time after she was born. Toppling off of a tree and onto Damon's shoulders. Learning to sew while her mother praised her patience and excitement. The singular time her father had been kind to her and held her hand while he walked her to a store to buy her a special dress for her birthday.

She recalled when Damon broke Stefan's nose when he was teaching both Stefan and Maddy to throw a right hook. And the time she stabbed Damon's leg with a needle because he broke one of her dolls.

She even remembered the day that she'd convinced her brothers to try on her mother's dresses so that they could have a tea party. They'd been adamant that they didn't want to do it, but seeing the way their sister's face lit up at the prospect of having 'friends' at her party was enough to sway them to do it, just for a little while when Giuseppe wasn't home.

But not all the memories were pleasant. She remembered being beat black and blue. How Giuseppe had nearly broken her arm once when he yanked her out of the carriage, having forced her to attend an event she had no interest in.

"Mother," she had said, the first day her mother had started coughing before it was revealed that she had consumption. "Would you like me to fetch you some tonic and stew?"

"No, darling," said Lily, taking her daughter's hand. "It's just a little cough, it will go away soon. Why don't you run along and spend the day with your brothers?"

"I would rather stay with you, Mother." She helped her sit up. "You always remain by our side when we're sick. You say it helps us get better soon."

Lily smiled weakly. "Yes, for the most part, company does indeed help."

Maddy had remained by her side for two and a half weeks. By some miracle she didn't grow ill. At that point, they realized that Lily didn't have a regular cold. Giuseppe had forced his daughter to stay in her room while the doctor came to do his examination. Not long after, Lily was sent away. Maddy had never gotten to say goodbye.

"Madeleine." Giuseppe beckoned her to the front of the church, when they realized that Damon was not there, and would not be performing the eulogy. "Go on."

Holding her skirt, Maddy went to stand by the coffin, refusing to look at it. "Good afternoon," she said, her voice wavering as she acknowledged those who had come to the funeral. "Thank you for your presence today. I'm sure my mother would have appreciated it."

She wrung her hands together, glancing at Stefan, who was holding Giuseppe's hand and whimpering. "There are no words that can describe what my siblings and I feel today. As many of you know, my mother was a wonderful woman. She..." biting her lip hard, trying to figure out what else to say.

This wasn't planned. She wasn't supposed to be the one up here, speaking to people she didn't even know, who might not have actually known Lily.

Damon should have been there.

Giuseppe began to make his way forward, thinking Maddy was going to falter. Quickly, she continued to speak, not wanting her tribute to her mother marred by her father, who had made her miserable since they married.