The Beginning Of Our Forever [1]

6. The Worst News

Stefan grabbed a random t-shirt and jeans from Caroline's wardrobe and handed them to Elena. He held his hand out to her and led her out of his bedroom. Elena looked back over her shoulder at Caroline and saw that she was still sat on the edge of the bed, crying.

Elena quickly ran into one of the many bathrooms and tore off the old, faded dress and threw on the clothes that Stefan had given her. She quickly looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed her hair down.

Elena and Stefan walked down the stairs and saw that Damon was still in the living room, this time sat on one of the sofa's with a bottle in hand instead of a glass. As soon as Damon noticed that they had come down the stairs he stood up and placed the bottle on the table next to the sofa. He gave Stefan a confused look and raised an eyebrow. Stefan seemed to understand his confusion and simply said,
"Elena needs to know about Jeremy. I'm going to take your car, we won't be long."

Damon picked up the car keys from the shelf above the fireplace and walked over to the two of them. He wrapped his arm around Elena's waist and gave her a kiss on the side of her forehead. "Stefan is definitely the best person to be talking to you about Jer. Please remember that I love you Elena," he mumbled, his lips still pressed into her skin.

"I love you too," Elena replied, watching as Damon placed his car keys into Stefan's open hand.

Elena pulled away from Damon and followed Stefan's lead out of the house and into Damon's Chevy that was parked just outside.
"Where are we going?" Elena asked, looking across at Stefan as she fastened her seat belt. Stefan looked over at Elena after fastening his own seat belt,

"We're going to the hospital. To see Jeremy."

Elena took a sharp intake of breath and immediately began fiddling with her fingers. Stefan noticed her unease and placed his right hand on top of hers. She looked up at him and managed a small smile, despite ferociously chewing the inside of her bottom lip.

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Stefan and Elena arrived at Mystic Falls Hospital and sat in the car for a few minutes in silence, neither of them sure as to who should make the first move. Eventually it was Stefan who broke the silence,
"Just follow me, I'll take you to Jeremy and then I'll answer any questions you have. Is that okay?" he asked. Elena's head was full of so many questions but at this moment, she couldn't find the right words so just managed a small nod.

As they entered the hospital, Elena was overwhelmed at the astonishing amount of both nurses and patients there were. 'Well even after 72 years, it seems that the people of Mystic Falls just can't keep themselves out of trouble' she thought to herself, smiling slightly. Elena looked around and saw that Stefan wasn't stood next to her anymore. As she whipped her head around quickly to try to spot him, she saw that he had begun walking down a corridor towards a different area of the hospital. Elena jogged over to him to catch up, she hadn't been in this part of the hospital before.

Stefan knew exactly where he was heading: a left turn, then a right, then down some stairs and through the double doors, all until they reached a quiet reception desk, behind which, two nurses were sat. As Stefan and Elena walked past the two nurses they both smiled and one of them called out, 'Good to see you again Mr Salvatore.' Elena was confused. She looked back at the nurse and then looked across to Stefan,

"Again? How often do you come here?" she queried.

"I try to come at least a few times a week, it depends really," he replied, coming to a halt in front of room 354.

Stefan placed his hand on the door handle and then turned to Elena. "Elena, Jeremy turns 93 this year. I just want to you to be aware of that. He's not the same little kid that he was when you went away all those years ago. Jeremy has been here for about 5 years now. The nurses are really great and do a wonderful job looking after him given his... condition."

Elena's ears pricked up at the word 'condition'.
"What condition?" she asked.

"Jeremy has Alzhiemers, Elena. He was diagnosed about 8 years ago this summer. The nurses are impressed that he has managed to keep fighting for this long given the severity of the disease. He has his good and bad days, that's to be expected. When I come to see him I surround him with familiar things and tell stories- important things that should jog his memory. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't," Stefan added the last bit with a sigh.

Elena couldn't believe her ears. She took a deep breath and wiped away the flood of tears that had made their way down her face.

"I need to see him Stefan," Elena insisted, placing her hand on top of Stefan's that was still on the door handle.

"Just please go easy Elena. For both of your sakes," Stefan moved his hand. "I'll be right behind you if you need me," he added.

Elena turned the handle pushed the door open slowly, trying to avoid it creaking. Inside, the room was decorated and filled with beautiful soft furnishings, a TV and various other homely features.

"Hey Jer," Elena called to the old, frail man that was propped up in the bed reading a book.

Jeremy looked over the top of the book and then placed it down into his lap. He readjusted himself and sat up further in the bed. He looked at both Elena and Stefan vacantly. Elena looked over at Stefan with tears in her eyes and forced a small smile. Stefan put his hand on Elena's shoulder and pulled her back towards the door.

"We'll come back a different day Elena, it's okay. He has days like this sometimes," he reassured her.

Just as the two of them were making their way out of the door, Jeremy cleared his throat,
"Elena... can it really be you? Are you really here?" he whispered, his voice dry and raspy.

Elena spun back around and ran towards the bed. Despite the endless tears streaming down her face, she had never been happier than she was at this very moment.