ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH | TVD [2]

XXIII • GROWING PAINS

twenty-three. growing pains

Gilbert Residence

A blinding bright white light is seen and the sounds of church bells ringing, loud sirens, and yard work going on can be heard. Suddenly, Elena Gilbert gasps heavily for air and wakes up in the morning. Rosie is sitting on the end of the big bed, watching her, who seems genuinely perplexed about what is going on around her now that she's sitting up in her own bed in her bedroom, considering both Stefan and Damon are also present around her.

"Minerva?" The perplexed eighteen-year-old girl mistook the doppelgänger.

"Rosie." The hybrid corrected her with a warm smile of understanding.

"Oh." The chestnut brunette manages to conceal her slight disappointment.

"Hey. I'm right here. You've been in and out for hours." Rosie informed her.

"Wh-what happened?" The Gilbert girl asked with a truly perplexed frown.

"You were in an accident." The caramel brunette reported as she mentally recalls how Rebekah led Matt and Elena to drive his truck off of the road and into the river below the Wickery Bridge for her to drown for selfish reasons.

Elena's life was tied to Alaric's, therefore once she died, so did he.

A truly shocked gasp escapes the poor victim, "Oh my God. Matt, is he--"

Damon cuts in; he is sitting on the window seat next to the big bed, "Alive?" The two girls and Stefan all look over at him, "Ask Stefan. The hero."

Once again, much like what happened to her and her parents-- Grayson and Miranda Gilbert's major accident at the exact traumatizing bridge, Stefan Salvatore remains to be her hero to dive into the river to rescue someone.

Elena looks at her ex-boyfriend, who simply informed her, "He's fine." Since he rescued him instead, leaving her to drown at the bottom of the river.

A shaky sigh of relief leaves her at the thought of her current boyfriend's well-being at the moment, "Thank you. I thought that I – how did you...?"

"Save you? He didn't, and neither did Rosie." Damon recalled, "Surprise."

"When Jeremy brought you to the hospital before all this happened, your injuries were worse than anyone knew. Meredith Fell made a choice, she used Damon's blood to heal you." The hybrid doppelgänger explained, referring to the raw truth that Elena died with vampire blood in her system; therefore, she came back to life, as fact, as a vampire in transition now.

"And when Rebekah ran Matt's truck off the road, you had vampire blood in your system, Elena." The oldest vampire rescuer in the bedroom finished.