The Beginning Of Our Forever [1]

14. Panic Stations

Elena pushed open the windows in Jeremy's room and leaned out as far as she could to get a better view of the ground below,

"JEREMY!!!" she screamed, her voice was slowly becoming wobbly as she began to loose her cool. Within moments of screaming, Damon appeared in the doorway, looking almost as frantic as Elena did. He quickly jogged over to Elena and bundled her up into his arms,

"I heard you scream all the way from the car baby. Where's Jeremy? Is he okay?" Damon soothed, keeping his voice calm and level, not wanting to stress Elena out further.

"I don't know Damon," she replied, in between sobs.
"He knows that we were supposed to be picking him up this morning, but then again, he could have easily forgotten and wandered off by himself... He probably doesn't even know where he is, even if he wanted to call someone to help him," Elena was working herself up even more, as her worst fears were finally spoken out loud.

"Hey, don't think like that. I'll go and check with one of the nurses and see if they know what's going on. Don't worry, we'll find him." Damon lead Elena over to the bed and sat her down, kissing her forehead before he left the room. Elena sat in a state of shock, tears rolling down her face, as her bottom lip quivered with fear.

Damon quickly dashed out of the room and found one of the nurses at the reception desk,

"Which one of you looks after Jeremy Gilbert, he's in room 354?" Damon quizzed, his eyes flitting between the small, young blonde woman on the desk and the older, sterner looking nurse. The older nurse stood up from her chair and walked around the desk to Damon,

"That would be me. What can I do for you?" she replied, eyeing Damon up and down.

"Hmmm, let me see... Oh yes, I remember... WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!" Damon replied sarcastically.

"Sir, we are fully aware that Mr Gilbert is missing. We informed the Sheriff as soon as we found that he was gone and he assured us that they have sent out a search party to find him. I'm afraid I can't tell you any more than that, considering you aren't family," the nurse replied, keeping remarkably calm about the situation.

"He might not be, but I am. I'm his sister," Elena's voice from behind made Damon jump and spin around. He hadn't even noticed that she had crept up behind him and had been listening to what the nurse was telling him.

The nurse looked over Damon's shoulder at Elena and rolled her eyes. Her thin lips pursed and she let out a slight 'Pfft' at Elena's comment. Her eyebrows drew closer together in a confused-yet disapproving manner, as she lifted her hands up and placed them on her hips.

"I highly doubt that dear, Mr Gilbert is 93 this year. And you.. you're probably only in your early twenties?" the nurse smirked, seeming very sure of herself.

Damon took a step closer to the nurse and quickly placed his hands on her shoulders before she had a chance to move away. He gazed deep into her murky green eyes and spoke in the softest and most persuasive voice he could muster.

"Now I want you to be honest with us, Tell us everything we need to know. Do you understand?" Damon's pupils dilated and contracted, compelling the nurse to do exactly as he said.

"I understand," the nurse repeated, her voice monotone and her face emotionless and vacant. Damon broke eye contact with the nurse, who immediately began to return to her normal self. Just more compliant.

"Go ahead," Damon gestured towards the nurse and Elena stepped forwards, hesitant but determined to get the answers she wanted.

"I want you to tell me everything that happened this morning regarding Jeremy Gilbert," Elena spoke confidently, choosing her words carefully. Her voice became apprehensive and filled with fear, she had no idea what the nurse would tell her.

She feared the worst.

"I went into Jeremy's room this morning with his breakfast, like I normally do. All of the nurses on the ward were made aware that today is his wife's funeral. Big events like that can have varied effects on patients with Alzheimer's. Despite that, Jeremy seemed to be in good spirits. I think he had forgotten about the funeral so I never wanted to bring it up and bring him down. We chatted for a while and he told me stories about his past, like normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary," the nurse continued. Elena was slightly relieved that Jeremy was in good spirits today, but deeply concerned that since then, he had disappeared.

"But whilst he was talking about his past, he happened to mention an old friend. A man called Matt Donovan I think," the nurse continued. Elena's heart jumped into her mouth and her stomach began to somersault.
"He quickly became distressed after remembering that Matt has passed away, and was adamant that he wanted to be taken to Matt's grave. He only become more upset when we told him we couldn't authorise a trip like that. In the end, we had to sedate him. He was frantically crying, and knowing Jeremy, we had to stop him from taking matters into his own hands. He may be nearly 93, but he is still physically able to move around and walk like your average pensioner."

Elena thought she was going to throw up. She couldn't imagine Jeremy acting like that and it broke her heart to think that she wasn't there to help with the situation. Damon sensed how shocked she was after hearing the nurses information and slid his hand into hers, gently placing his fingers into the spaces between Elena's, admiring at how perfectly they fitted together. In every way.

"Go on," Damon pushed the nurse for more information, knowing that Elena wouldn't be able to speak right now.

"We managed to figure out that his best suit and shoes are the only thing that is missing from his room. That's all I know," the nurse concluded. Damon knew she was telling the truth and compelled her to forget that this conversation ever happened. Both Elena and Damon sat down on two seats in the corridor. Despite Elena's vacant stare, Damon was shocked when she quickly blurted out,

"He must have gone to the cemetery. He was upset about Matt and obviously got it into his head that he needed to go there. We need to get to the cemetery. With any luck, he might be there by now," Elena stood, her mind made up that this was what they were doing. Damon knew there was no point arguing with her on this, he would only loose.

"Okay then," he smiled, standing up to join Elena, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in close, "Let's go."

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Elena and Damon arrived at the entrance to the cemetery with 10 minutes to spare before the funeral was due to begin. Elena scanned her eyes over the crowds of people that were gathered there, most of whom she didn't recognise. She quickly spotted Stefan, Caroline and the twins, and smiled as she noticed that the twins were waving madly in her direction to try and get her attention. Elena quickly waved back in acknowledgement and saw that the twins had saved her and Damon a seat.

"I'm gunna go and fill Stefan and Blondie in on what's going on with Jeremy. I'll get them both to keep an eye out for him as well," Damon whispered to Elena. She nodded back, but was far too distracted with watching the many cars pull up at the cemetery entrance and inspecting the people that were arriving, hoping that one of them was Jeremy.

Damon disappeared into the crowd and that's when Elena saw it.

A large black car arrived with tinted windows, which was mysterious enough in itself. The driver stepped out of the car and walked around to the back door, opening it for the passengers he was chauffeuring.

Jeremy stepped out of the car, aided by the driver. He looked completely at ease and laughed in response to a comment that one of the other passengers had just made. Elena began to run towards him, her face exploding with a huge smile and her arms outstretched. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped in her tracks as the other passengers exited the car after Jeremy.

First emerged Klaus, closely followed by Elijah. Kol was next and then, of course, Rebekah and Hayley. There was, however, another girl with them that Elena didn't recognise.

'No way' she thought to herself, shaking her head.

The Mikaelsons had arrived.