ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [4]

XVIII • ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

eighteen. one way or another

Arkansas Hospital

Stefan/Marty is now in a driven ambulance outside of the nearest hospital, where he has an oxygen mask over his face and is fading in and out of consciousness while the paramedics are keeping a close eye on him. After a moment, his eyes flutter closed, and he is transported into a flashback.

Philippines, Two Years Ago (2015)

Stefan, looking a little glum, is sitting alone at a small table for two inside the tropical-themed bar, clicking a blue-ink pen in his right hand while consumed in his deep thoughts. After a moment, the young male Filipino bartender starts to speak to him, "Where's your girl tonight?"

The much older young man looks up at him, puzzled, "My girl?"

"Valerie? Tall, pretty, likes the drinks with the little pink umbrellas? Or do you have more than one?" The young man smiles suggestively at that.

"Oh! No, no, no. Just...just one." Stefan chuckles.

The young bartender, who seems to be in his early thirties, notices the pen in his right hand and the written paper in front of him on the table and gets a curious look on his face, "Need any help? What are you trying to write?"

The light green-eyed vampire sighs tiredly, "An apology."

The bartender looks down at the letter and read it aloud, "'I wish that things were different, but it's safer this way. Never meant to hurt you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world'. Well, sounds good to me." He shrugs.

"She returns all of them unopened. Maybe this is the one she'll read."

The younger man nods a little, "Right. Good luck to you."

Stefan/Marty has just awakened once again, and the paramedics look at him with undeniable concern when he pulls the oxygen tank away from his face.

"Everything okay, buddy?"

No. "Do you have a piece of paper and a pen? I need to write a letter...in case I don't make it out of this." I need to apologize. Stefan/Marty takes a deep breath, desperately, and puts the oxygen mask back over his face.

****

Memphis Road, Tennessee

Rayna, who is weak and visibly overwhelmed by the voices of all of her vampire targets and the flashes of visions of their locations and past torture, is riding in the backseat of a car while her Uber driver, a young man with a shaved head, is babbling to her. His voice and appearance is distorted by just how much sensory overload she's experiencing due to the broken Phoenix stone, "I majored in poli-sci, but like, obviously, what do you do with a poli-sci degree? That is why I'm doing this. Uh, only for now."

A horn blares loudly as a speeding car passes them in the opposite lane, which only makes Rayna look even sicker, which her friendly driver finally notices, "Hey, you, uh...you okay back there?" The young woman tries to take deep breaths and closes her big eyes, which only seems to worry him more, "You know, if you puke in my car, I got to ding you with zero stars..."