World on Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [4]

E L E V E N

There are no words to describe the way grief can consume a person in a matter of seconds. Josie can lie to everyone around her, pretend she is perfectly fine and optimistic and the perfect little girl everyone expects her to be, but the reality is she can barely keep herself from screaming. She doesn't know who she would scream at—the doctors who won't tell them anything, the nurses who keep looking at her, the gods for failing their job again and letting Stella get hurt—but if she starts, she'll never stop.

It had been a long night. Josie had taken a seat in the waiting room. Lexi had joined her sometime in the night, finding a spot next to the wall. She suspects the blonde is trying to focus on her hearing, listening to whatever is going on in surgery, but the blank look on her face makes Josie falter. If Lexi Mikaelson Hale is nervous, so is she.

Derek arrived in record time. Josie remembers when he burst into the hospital, demanding answers. They took him back to see Stella, but he came back as quiet as Lexi. He simply sat next to his wife and held her hand. Neither has moved much since then, only speaking softly a few times, not that Josie could make out any words. Lexi had made a few other calls, but only Derek has shown up.

Lizzie had come in the early hours of the morning. She sits next to her sister, rambling on and on about what could have happened while Josie simply stares at the linoleum floors.

This has to be a nightmare, right? It can't be real. Stella is too important to fate for this to happen. Whatever did this... If it took down Stella, it could take down Josie, but she doesn't care; she will rip it apart limb from limb, slowly and painfully, until it begs for mercy.

Other students had stopped by. MG offered his vamp hearing and blood, but Stella's parents turned down his second suggestion. Josie had to agree—Stella never wants to be undead. Aaron had also come, but he quickly made himself scarce when the Hales began staring (more like glaring in Derek's case). Even Cleo and Kaleb visited, offering whatever help they could.

Josie forces herself to look at the clock: eight o'clock. Six hours and almost nothing. She can feel the bond humming beneath her skin, the falsehood of Stella's supposed safety ringing in her ear like a mocking bird's song. Running her hand down her face, she leans back in the seat, relishing in the cracking of her spine as if it would punish her.

"She'll be ok," Lizzie whispers as she wraps an arm around Josie and leans her head on her shoulder. "She's Stella. It'll be fine."

Josie barely feels her head dip in a nod before the door to the waiting room flings open, a frantic blonde woman marching in, blue eyes narrowing on the Hales. "Sister," the woman breathes out before she kneels in front of Lexi, hands cupping the woman's face tenderly.

As Josie watches, she realizes she's never seen Lexi appear vulnerable, never seen tears in her eyes before, only resolve. "Sister," Lexi replies, her voice empty.

"Hey, Bex," Derek sighs as he forces himself up from the chair, taking the woman's offered hand. "Glad you're here."

"What happened?" The woman asks.

"We don't know." Derek glances at Lexi. "Doctors are trying to fix her right now."

"And magic?"

"Doing nothing," Lexi says. "I tried. Everything I could think of, I tried." Her eyes meet Josie's before pulling away. "Something is blocking it."

The blonde had caught the look. Her expression hardens as she twists around to see the twins seated together. "Who are they?"

"We can hear you," Lizzie snaps, her grip on Josie's shoulders tightening.

Lexi reaches out, holding the woman's arm. "Leave it, Rebekah."

Derek whispers something. Though Josie can't hear, she can see his lips moving and the way Rebekah's glare falls away. "Oh," Rebekah sighs, turning back to the adults. "So, we don't know what happened. Who was she with before? And where is Hope?"

Lexi's lips purse as Derek says, "Supposedly they were together. Hope's not answering her phone."

"Maybe she is fighting off whatever did this." Rebekah stands back to her full height, even in heels. "We need to find her. I'll go—"

"No." Lexi's hand once again grabs Rebekah's. "No, I'll go with you. I-I can't stay here. Derek..."

As Josie watches Derek kiss his wife's cheek, she could only describe the look in his eye as something from a fairytale: true love. "I'll stay here. Find Hope. Make sure she's safe."

Lexi nods before standing. The two sisters walk out of the waiting room together, Rebekah's arm practically holding Lexi up as they whisper to each other softly. Derek watches them go, his lovesick expression falling away to nothingness as he turns to stare ahead of him.

Time passes strangely in this hospital. The others had chosen to stay in a different waiting room. Eventually, Derek offhandedly states that Stella's out of surgery three seconds before the doctors walk in to say the same thing. Something changes with him when the doctors state that Stella is in a coma.

When Josie finally stands, her bones crack loudly enough for Derek to glance over. She barely acknowledges him as she passes by the only other patron who had been there the whole night, their face covered with a newspaper as they sleep in the chair. Lizzie follows her, but Josie can barely understand her presence as they both make their way to where the others had settled.

Lizzie seems to understand that Josie simply cannot find her voice, so she explains the situation: how Stella is stable but comatose. Silence falls over them all. That is until Cleo's eyes widen.

"Perhaps there is a way to wake Stella and learn what happened to her."

"How?" The word explodes from Josie's lips. Her voice is broken, raspy, but she doesn't care.

"Another vampire power. The same one you used to reach me when I was trapped in Malivore's mind."

"A head dive," Kaleb realizes, a smile spreading across his lips. "She's right. If I can get you in there, and you find Stella then—"

"Then we might be able to bring her back with us," Lizzie says. She looks over at Josie with an arched brow. "What do you think?"

Silence overwhelms her. "It's a good plan," Josie replies. "For all we know it could have been a monster or worse." Her gaze flickers to Aaron. "So, maybe we should split up. Not that I don't trust you, Kaleb, but you did sell us out to Malivore."

Kaleb glances down in shame as Lizzie sighs. "Guess that means it's up to you, MG."

Josie doesn't wait for his nod of consent before she turns on her heel and walks back to the other room, slowing her step as she approaches Derek. He looks up from his hands and purses his lips, nodding slightly. "I'm guessing you heard," she says.

He sighs. "Do what you need to do, Josie. I know myself enough to know I can't do this, and the fact that you're willing to tells me all I need to know about how much you love my daughter. I'll keep the doctors away. Find her."

"Thank you, Mr. Hale."

"Oh, and do me a favor," his lips quirk up. "Call me Derek. You're family, after all."

I really like the way I worked with this episode. It starts a lot of stuff I've been building towards and I hope you guys like it.

Hope you enjoyed!

-L