The Jewel of the New Orleans ⚜ The Originals

Chapter 8: Hallucinations of Family

 "So how is our patient doing?" Colette asked as she came into the hut, her bag heavy with food and supplies. Hayley was sitting on the bed, trying to get Elijah to drink. He lay on the bed, a ghastly pale color and broken out in a cold sweat. As soon as he tried to swallow, he leaned over the side of the bed, coughing it all back onto the floor. Colette set her things on the table. "That bad?"

"Forgive me. Please," he asked Hayley.

Colette took over pulling out a cloth and a small bowl, pouring cool water into it. Hayley moved to her side, shrugging off her cardigan. "It's okay. Remind me to annihilate your brother once you're healthy."

"Yes, remind me to remind you to get in line," he told her. "How did your conversation with Niklaus go, Colette?"

She shrugged, wringing out the cloth before coming to his bedside. She sat down on the edge of it, placing the cool material against his forehead. His hand moved over hers, pressing down on it to get as much of cold fabric against him. "It went better than I anticipated. Mainly because I didn't end up dead or with a snapped neck. I think he and I are getting on marvelously."

"You'd be the first," he told her before coughing once more.

"Hayley, did you make any progress on finding out about your family?" she asked her.

Hayley picked up a Bible sitting on the table, returning to her seat next to the bed. She passed it off to Colette. "Someone left this on the doorstep after you left. I went through the whole thing. It's just a regular Bible. With an entry in a family tree that may or may not be me, but you know I've been a little busy worrying about Elijah. Do you know anything?"

Colette looked through the family tree. She remembered quite a few of the names listed. "As much as I tried to befriend the wolves before they were driven here, they were secretive. I've tried getting into contact when I could, but it was hard. But if you really are a Lebonair like your birthmark suggests, they'll welcome you with open arms. Why don't you worry about that and I'll look after Elijah for a bit? I brought plenty of food for you."

Hayley was hesitant, but she got up and rummaged through Colette's bag before finding something she liked, going outside with it and the Bible. Colette turned her attention back to Elijah. "Alright, now I've got a few things for you to try."

"Colette, please. This fever will make me unstable. And once the hallucinations begin I'll start to see things. You must leave me here. Take Hayley and go," he told her.

She shook her head. "I've taken care of vampires that actually died from a werewolf bite, taken care of patients in asylums and in wars. You're going to have to try a lot harder than a couple of hallucinations to get me to leave, Mr. Mikaelson."

She applied the last of the ointment to the bite on his neck. Elijah seized, groaning in pain as he gripped the bed sheets tightly. Colette moved around the bed, picking up his head as she sat down the pillow, bringing his head back down to rest on her lap. Hayley burst through the door. Colette held up a hand. "It's okay. I got it."

Colette laid the hand back down on his forehead. The fever was getting worse. Elijah had a blank stare as his arms moved back behind his head, rubbing hers up and down. Under her touch, his mind opened to her.

A woman appeared in her mind. She was a stunning black woman, her curls pulled up into a small bun on top of her head as she bathed in a large copper tub. A name came to her, in Elijah's voice. Celeste. A feeling she herself had only known twice, came over her. Love, devotion.

She was brought back out of the memory as quickly as she had entered it. Colette and Elijah let go of each other in shock. "Colette, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."