Friendship or Love (A Klaroline Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

The sound of beeping from the machines, hurried footsteps and the pounding in his chest were the only things Klaus could hear.

Klaus felt cold. Cold and numb. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why was this happening? Why was an angel currently fighting for her life on a surgery table? The doctor hadn't said anything about her condition, only that she was in theatre, and he had separated himself from his family and friends, not wanting to hear their cries.

He didn't want to think about the possibility of something bad happening to her. Again. He didn't want to be told that she'd lost her fight, that she'd gave up. Caroline was.. is a warrior, she'll be awake soon, smiling and laughing at him for thinking such stupid things.

Images of her body lying on the floor, angled in a weird position and drenched in blood wouldn't leave his head. It had happened so fast that he didn't even realize it was her at first.

She pushed him out of the way.

'It should be me in here. Not her. I shouldn't have led her outside, I could have spoken to her in the club. I should have been facing the direction of the car, I should have protected her!'

He thought to himself bitterly.

Feeling a tear on his cheek, Klaus shot up. Torn between not wanting to leave her but not wanting to stay in the hospital, he quickly went to the disabled toilets to calm himself down. He should not be crying right now. He needs to stay strong for Caroline and his family.

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Once Klaus and the Doctor had left, Stefan broke down. Hard. He knew he needed to call his older brother Damon and tell him about Caroline, but didn't think he had it in him to do it. Opting to do it now, he rose from his seat and muttered "I'm going to go call Damon." He suddenly felt someones hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Elijah.

"I'll do it. You're in no position to talk about this right now, let alone explain it." he said, pity and sadness in his calm tone. Stefan gave him a small grateful smile and Elijah patted his back before walking off down the hall pulling his phone out his pocket.

Stefan went back in Rebekah's arms muffling his sobs in the crook of her neck, while she too was crying silently.

Within the hour, they all fell asleep on each other.

Elena on Elijah. Bonnie on Kol. Stefan on Rebekah.

When Klaus walked by, he smiled a sad smile at his siblings. He hated hospitals, as did Caroline. Taking his siblings lead, he sat down in a chair next to them, getting as comfy as he could and drifted off to sleep. Images of Caroline happy and smiling filled his mind.

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It was one o'clock in the morning when Stefan was gently tapped on the shoulder. He opened his eyes to come face to face with a Doctor. After rounding the corner to talk more openly, the doctor started with..

".. The first surgery went well, but one of the stitches came undone, so she's just getting that done up. She had internal bleeding but we managed to stop it. Two of her ribs on her right side are broken but will heel on its own. Her right wrist had twisted and her left leg was broken too. That's about it really. God bless you sir." And with that the Doctor left, not waiting for Stefan to ask any questions, which he found quite rude.

When he got back, everyone seemed to have awoken but Klaus. He retold them what the Doctor had said and they all shared a hug. They all wanted to talk to Klaus and comfort him, but knowing it wouldn't help him, they thought it would be best to let him sleep.

Bonnie and Kol offered to go down the road to get some decent coffee but everyone declined so they went to get some fresh air instead and Elena and Elijah decided to stretch their legs. Stefan and Rebekah just sat back down in each others arms, awaiting Damon's arrival.