The Bourbon Diaries ✢ The Vampire Diaries FanFiction ✢ TVD FanFic ✢ TVDU FanFic

Chapter Ten - Stefanie Salvatore

Three and a half years ago

Mystic Falls, VA

New Year's Eve, 11.40pm

Stef woke in the hospital with a hunger unlike anything she had experienced before. She had slept for barely twenty minutes before the sickness had her jolting awake, her insides knotting in pain. She felt different, disorientated, her eyes stung, the noises surrounding her seeming so much louder. The clock ticking. A trolley outside rattling. Her bedsheets rustling. Too many voices. Where were all the voices coming from? Why was everything so loud? Why were the lights so bright? She sat upright in the bed, closing her eyes, bringing her knees to her stomach, and placing her hands over her ears.

A palm was placed gently on her back. "Honey, it's okay, everything's okay," came the distorted voice of her father. His hand started stroking gently along her spine, even that feeling too sensitive.

She urged herself to open her eyes again, her environment slowly coming into focus through pinched eyelids. The tap over the sink in her room released a drip that sounded as loud as cymbals. Were the walls white? No, they were beige. How could beige walls look so bright? "Can you turn down the lights, please?" she asked.

Damon stood, switching on an overhead lamp, swivelling it away from her, and then turning off the ceiling lights. He sat back down next to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like death," she replied. Probably the wrong choice of words. Did she need to eat? The thought of food made her feel nauseated. When was the last time she ate? Why was her mind racing? She needed more rest, she finally decided.

 "Your mother has checked your scan already," he said. "Your rib isn't broken, so that's good news."

Stef ran her hand along her ribs, pressing to check for tenderness. There was none. That was odd, she expected there to be at least bruising.

Damon added gently, "Phoenix is alive."

Stef's head whipped towards him, her gasp turning into a startled smile. "Really?"

"Really," he smiled back. "They revived him in the ambulance. The paddles, I guess. Who knew that guy had a heart to restart? I guess if it had been his brain, he wouldn't have stood a chance." He chuckled, taking her hand and stroking it, his expression then turning serious. "I'm still mad at him, Stef. I kept a spare key in the cellar, you could have gotten out sooner. You should have gotten out sooner."

"I'm safe now, Dad, that's all that matters."

He patted her hand a final time and then leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, well, he's going to wish he'd stayed dead once I'm finished with him."

"Dad!"

He waved his hand at her dismissively. "It can wait, don't worry."

Stef sighed. "Is Mom here?"

"She's still seeing to Phoenix," he said. "She's been in, but she didn't want to wake you."

"Can I see them?"

Damon pinched his bottom lip between his teeth, glancing at the door, his fingers interlocking as he tried not to let his nerves show. "That's probably not a good idea yet, sweetheart. He's still being monitored and you need more rest."

She couldn't argue with that. Her head was pounding and her eyes felt incredibly heavy.

He stood up and stroked from her hair to underneath her chin. He tilted her head towards him. "I promise I won't kill him until you've seen him."

Stef batted his arm away playfully. "You won't kill him at all," she smiled.

"For you, maybe I won't," he conceded, smirking at her. "Now get some rest." He switched off the lamp and headed towards the door, stepping outside with a final glance at her, then closed the door behind him.

Stef sighed and rested back down onto the pillow. She closed her eyes, but there was a hissing sound coming from outside, distracting her. No, not a hissing, a mumbling? Whispering? Two voices, one low and one high. She couldn't hear whispering, could she? How was that possible? She turned her head towards the door, shadows lingering beyond the long, frosted window panels. She focused her hearing, the sound suddenly coming through unnaturally clear.

"We need to get him out of the hospital." It was her mother's voice.

"Fine, I'll lock him up in our basement and let him starve." Her father's voice now.

"Damon, you can't let him die," Elena said. "Do you have any idea what that would do to Stefanie after already losing him once?"

"Do you think I want a vampire around our daughter?"

"Damon, please," Elena urged. "I can get him a blood bag. Give him the choice whether to complete the transition, but do not force him to die. Promise me."

"Fine, I promise!" Damon relented. "But don't think the moment he's turned that I'm not going to snap that boy's neck." Her mother must have given him a stern look because he added, "What? Technically that's not killing him," as they both walked away.

A vampire? Why were they talking about vampires? They couldn't be talking about Phoenix, could they? He was alive. But she'd seen him dead. He'd been revived in the ambulance. He was in transition. He would need vampire blood in order to turn. The blood around his mouth. Where did it come from? Caroline. All the answers were there. No, he couldn't be going through this. This was not how he was going to be saved. There must be another way. There had to be. He's not part of this, he doesn't know about these things. She needed to explain it to him, she needed to be there for him. She needed to see him, right now.

Stef threw the covers back, stepping barefoot onto the cold floor. A wave of nausea instantly hit her and she doubled over, crouching to the ground. Her hands slapped against the floor tiles. She was going to vomit if she didn't eat. But she knew she would also vomit if she did eat. There must be something that she would hold down. She tried to visualise different types of food; tried to imagine the smell and taste. The closest food that tempted her was red meat, rare red meat, but she hadn't had that in years: she was a vegetarian now. Was she low on protein? She tried to visualise eggs, but only heaved at the thought.

Suddenly she could smell something that made her nausea subside. It was coming from outside. She crawled across the floor towards the door, reaching up for the handle, not daring to stand up in case the pain came back. Inching the door open, she peeked out, scanning the area outside. There were cupcakes on the desk at the nurses' station. It wasn't that. Coffee? There was a lot of coffee. No.

Then an elderly man came into view. He looked frail, moving slowly using a walking stick. He stopped at the nurses' station, asking for directions to the restroom. He must have been brought in due to a fall at home; he was covered in bruises and a dressing patched up the area around his temple from where he'd likely hit his head. The nurse gave him the directions he needed, but then stopped him, quickly requesting to check underneath the dressing. She peeled back the white, square patch and inspected the wound, still fresh with blood.

Stef's heart hammered and she slammed the door closed, shuffling in front of it, terrified of anyone coming in. No, no, no, no, no! Her canine teeth were forming into points. The smell of the blood wouldn't leave her head. She brought her thighs up to her chest, her arms gripping them tightly, her forehead resting on her knees. It was both of them: her and Phoenix. This was happening to both of them. She must have had Caroline's blood. Why didn't her father tell her? Why was she being left to go through this alone?

She scrambled back towards her bed, trying to find her clothes. She had to get out of here. She couldn't be around this smell. She opened a plastic bag beside her bed, expecting to find the dirty clothes she'd arrived in. Instead she found her mother's clothes, the same ones she had left for work in earlier that day. She must have left them for her, deciding to return home in her scrubs. She brought the top up to her face, the smell of blood now replaced with the comforting smell of her mother. Did she know? Had Caroline told her? She wouldn't believe it, she wouldn't be alone now if she had. Caroline probably assumed she'd healed.

Stef whipped off her hospital gown, and quickly changed into the jeans and long-sleeved jersey top. She couldn't be here. She couldn't be around people. She was dangerous. She had to get out. She had to get out. She had to get out...

There was a knock at the door.

"Stef? It's me, Raid. I'm here with Adam. I'm coming in."