Eska ~ The Forgotten Gilbert

25. Exhaustion

Damon's POV

I'd never seen anything like it; the strong wind from nowhere died down all of a sudden, and Eska's hand fell from Stefan's arm, falling limply to her side. I had my hands on her shoulders, and I quickly moved to hold her upper arms as her body went slack against mine, her eyes rolling back. 

"Eska!" My brother called out for her as he watched her lose consciousness.

"Shit," I pulled her tightly against me so that she wouldn't hit the floor, feeling the frail bones beneath her running gear under my fingers. She was out like a light, and I lowered her slowly to the ground, being careful to support her head. 

As soon as she was safely on the floor, I began my checks, a routine well versed through my training and years of practice. 

"Check her pulse again, Stefan." I said quietly, remembering how he'd been monitoring her heartbeat whilst she'd been healing him, and decided that my focus would be on listening to her breathing, which was shallow and barely there. I tipped her head back in a bid to open her airways a little better, and took out my phone, turning on the torch and testing the response of each of her eyes in turn.

"Her pulse is feeling stronger, Damon." My brother was next to me, fingers pressed against Eska's throat.

"Hmm, that's good." 

"Is she ok?" I looked up at Elena who was standing nervously at Eska's feet.

"I think she'll be alright. I think she's exhausted herself after... well whatever the hell that was. Something similar happened the night that she helped get us out of that tomb, though that took much longer to come on. Either this just took a lot more magic, or she's not as strong as she was. Could you guys go and get her something to eat and some water? I'll stay with her."

"Yeah, course." Stefan got to his feet, and taking Elena's hand, disappeared from the room.

"You're feeling better?" I heard Elena ask, and my brother murmured the affirmative. I looked back down at the frail girl on the ground, wondering how on earth someone so fragile could be so strong.

"Eska, can you hear me?" Keeping my voice low, I tapped her cheek softly, not wanting to startle her. "Come on, sweetheart. Come back to me now." 

She wasn't coming round as quickly as I had hoped, and I frowned worriedly. Deciding that it would be sensible to raise her legs and try and get some of the blood back up to her brain, I grabbed a nearby chair rested her legs gently on it. 

It seemed to do the trick as only a few seconds later, her eyelids started to flutter open. 

"There you are," I smiled down at her, my hand enclosing hers as she gazed up at me. "Do you know where you are?"

"Your place," she said, her voice quiet. 

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Was trying to help Stefan." She sounded exhausted, and she had closed her eyes again.

"Can you keep your eyes open for me, Es? Are you feeling faint?"

She did her best, forcing her eyes open and looking up at me. 

"Sorry. No I'm alright, just tired."

"Alright. I need you to tell me if you feel faint again, ok?"

"Mm." 

"Are you in pain?"

"Just a headache."

"Right ok. No no, stay down." She tried to sit up, but I gently guided her back to be lying down. "Just give yourself a few minutes, Eska. When did you last eat anything?"

"You gave me some food earlier."

"And you didn't eat it. Don't try and mess with me, Eska." My voice came out more harshly than I had anticipated, and I bit my lip as her eyes widened with fear. I realised that I hated the idea of her being frightened of me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I mess everything up, I'm sorry."

Before I could ask what she meant, Elena and Stefan arrived back in the room.

"Oh thank God." Stefan rushed to us, a plate holding some toast in his hand. "Are you ok, Essie?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling slightly at him. "Did it work? How do you feel?"

"The hunger has gone," Stefan knelt next to her. "You did it. I don't know how to thank you."

Eska shrugged, smiling shyly. "It was nothing."

"The toast is going cold." Elena said, putting the glass of water she was carrying next to the plate that Stefan had set on the floor next to Eska.

"Let's get you up," I said, wanting to get some food into her as soon as possible, remembering suddenly how I'd intercepted her running on my way home. I moved to be sitting against the wall, and pulled Eska up so that she was sitting between my legs, her back against my chest. 

"A-ah, come on now." I felt her start to go, her head lolling forwards as she started to lose consciousness again. "Stay with me, Es." I tucked her head under my chin, and beckoned for the glass of water that Elena passed to me. "Ok, sip this. There you go. Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." She still sounded a bit out of it, and I noticed Elena shuffle forward, plate of toast in hand. 

"Here, Essie, have some of this. It'll make you feel better, I promise." She spoke softly to her sister, and I realised that this was the first time I'd heard her speak kindly to Eska. She was truly worried about her, and/or grateful for bringing her Stefan back.

I watched Eska carefully whilst she slowly made her way through the toast, noting with some relief how the colour was starting to come back into her cheeks. I ran my hands up and down her upper arms, trying to get some warmth into her as I remembered she was still only wearing her thin running gear. Stefan handed me a jumper and I wrapped it around her, the fabric easily enclosing her slim body twofold. 

"You're both going to stay for some dinner." Stefan said, his tone of voice not inviting any discussion, and Elena nodded quickly. 

"I'll let Jenna know," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "You just relax, Essie, ok?"

Eska nodded. "Ok," she whispered, finishing her toast. 

"Right then." I noticed Eska starting to shiver. "You're cold, aren't you? You're still in your running kit. I'm going to find you a towel, and you need to take a hot shower to get your body temp up. Elena, can you stay with her in case she feels faint again?"

"I don't have any other clothes," Eska said to me, her cheeks reddening.

"Oh I'm sure Elena has something stored away?" I teased Elena, who flushed deeply. 

"I have some spare clothes here," she admitted. "of course you can borrow them."

Eska nodded her agreement, and Stefan moved forwards to lift Eska carefully to her feet, supporting her body when she wobbled a little. I got up behind her and lead her slowly to the nearest bathroom.

"Now, are you feeling up to this?"

"Yes, thanks Damon."

"Right. I'll leave you to it. The clean towels are in that cupboard. Elena, call me if there any issues at all, alright?"

Elena nodded at me, and put her arm around her sister.

I chuckled to myself as I headed downstairs to help Stefan with dinner. Maybe Eska's magic to heal Stefan wasn't the only magic that had happened that night. Maybe she'd spelled her sister to be nice to her too...