There's a bright light, and church bells rang in the distance. Overlapping the bells were blaring sirens until it all fell hush. Elena gasped awake. The sun was high in the sky, peering only slightly into her bedroom. Stefan sat at the end of her bed. "Stefan?" Her forehead creased in confusion. "Hey. I'm right here. You've been in and out for hours," he spoke softly. Elena was still gasping for breath. She couldn't believe she was there. "Oh, my God. Matt, is he—" Damon interrupted Elena with a frown, "Alive?" He was sitting in the window, bent forward. His elbows rested on his knees. His electric blue eyes were dull and rimmed with red. "Ask Stefan. The hero." The word rolled off his tongue with distaste.
Elena tore her eyes away from Damon. Stefan released a breath. "He's fine." His voice remained gentle as he talked to Elena. The brunette sighed. "Thank you..." Her breath was still shaky as she tried to wrap her mind around the situation at hand. "I thought that I – how did you...?" Damon scoffed. "Save you? He didn't." His voice was haunting. The glare that penetrated through his gaze was deadly. Elena had no idea why Damon was being so angry. She stared at the eldest, her eyebrows furrowed. "When Jeremy and Carter brought you to the hospital before all this happened, your injuries were worse than anyone knew. Meredith Fell made a choice, she used Damon's blood to heal you," Stefan explained. Damon visibly winced at the mention of Carter's name.
"And when Rebekah ran Matt's truck off the road, you had vampire blood in your system, Elena." Elena drew in a sharp breath. Her whole body ran cold. "Oh, my God." Tears began to glisten within her brown eyes. "Does - does that mean that I – am I dead?" she questioned. Damon looked back to the window. A lump was beginning to swell within his throat. Stefan was quiet. "No, no, no, no! That wasn't supposed to happen!" she exclaimed painfully. "Maybe it doesn't have to. I talked to Bonnie, she says she's stronger than ever, there might be something that she can do to help you." Stefan was trying to calm her when Damon replied, "No, the only thing that's going to help is for you to feed and complete the transition." Stefan was confused. He turned to face Damon, his eyebrows furrowed. "We have all day before she has to feed, Damon. That's a day to exhaust every possible way out of this."
