Book One: Panacea (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Diana wakes in her hospital bed with a start, and instantly regrets it, the pain that spread from her wound shakes her and she groans and pulls her legs up slightly under the blankets, trying to curl around herself but unable to as it causes more pain.

"Hey" A voice whispers from her bedside, she opens her eyes and looks at them. Derek sits there watching her.

"Derek?" She asks, he gives her a small smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Heard what happened" he offers as he leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Came to check on you" she lets out a sigh and he knows her well enough to know what that sigh means. "Diana, we may have broken up but that doesn't mean I don't still care about you" he assures her. "We were friends for a lot longer than we were dating...." he takes her hand and smiles at her. "How do you feel?" he asks her.

"Like I was stabbed" she comments shooting him a look, he snorts a laugh and nods.

"Well, can't be too bad if you are being sarcastic" he mumbles with a shrug. She yawns and covers her mouth with her free hand. "You need to rest," he tells her. "Plus I said I'd stop in on Tyler" he offers as he stands from the seat. "I'll see you later?" he asks her, she hums a little and nods. He stands and heads out of the room.

.............

Derek glances at Alaric as he passes him in the hall, Alaric's eyes watching him walk away. He then frowns and heads into Diana's room.

"What did Derek want?" Alaric states, a sliver...or more of jealousy in his tone, now he knows that that man was Derek, of course, he's jealous. That man is....young, fit, attractive. Diana looks at him standing in the doorway of her room.

"He was just checking on me" She answers.

"How did he even know you were here?" he counters.

"His mom probably told him" She mumbles. "She always seems to have her nose in everything" Alaric takes the seat at the side of the bed and pulls it and himself closer.

"You okay?" he whispers, she shrugs and gives him a sad smile.

"It was X, wasn't it?" she asks him, he nods.

"Yeah" he answers. "They made me watch" she lets out a breath and sets her head back on the pillow, her hand coming up to press into her eyes. They both know that this marks a change in their relationship with X, they acted this time, they made good on their threat. Hurt her.

"So tired, Alaric" she whispers, he reaches over and touches her cheek. She leans into his hand as he looks at her sadly. This is all his fault. He shifts his hand slightly to brush her hair back. He stands, gives her a small smile and kisses her head.

"I won't be far" he assures her as he pulls back. The two of them sharing a look, he nods and then leaves her to sleep. He closes the door behind her and she waits until it clicks before she lets herself cry over this whole thing.

.........

Diana presses her hand to the wall as she attempts to walk away from her hospital room, everything is dark and quiet, and she just wants to go home, to recover in her own room. She curls an arm around her middle and takes a few steps. Behind her, Alaric stands from the chair he'd basically been camping in, not really wanting to leave her, not without talking to her first. He raises an eyebrow.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" Alaric asks, Diana groans, caught out, and looks over her shoulder at him. He looks exhausted. He looks how she feels.

"I hate hospitals" She mumbles. "Plus they get kind of suspicious when I heal fast" he moves to her and takes her arm.

"You heal fast?" he asks.

"Mmm," she nods. "Not vampire fast" she mumbles. "But fast enough to be noticed...." his arm slips around her waist and pulls her closer to walk with her. "Broke my arm once....was fine three days later" she shrugs a little and then looks at him, her eyes turning sad. "I got another text" she whispers, he glances at her.

"How bad?" He asks, knowing that the text in response to this event isn't exactly going to be sunshine and rainbows. She pulls her phone from her pocket and shows him the text she got from X. 'Dirty bitches get stitches. – X'. Alaric shakes his head and closes his eyes. He opens them and looks at her. "We have to stop, don't we?" he asks her. They share a look. She was stabbed because of their relationship. Their secret. The next time it will be worse, he knows it, he feels it, this was just a warning.

"No matter how careful we are...they know" She points out. He nods.

"We have to stop" he whispers, she nods this time. She leans against the wall and takes a deep breath. Alaric reaches up and brushes a tear from her cheek. His hands lingering slightly. "I never wanted you to get hurt because of me," he tells her. "And it could have been so much worse" He steps closer to her. "They'll keep trying" he adds, she nods a little and looks up at him. "So we stop, now.." she lets out a breath. She doesn't want it to end, far from it. But she was stabbed for being with him. She can't keep doing this, because she knows next time will be worse. This stab was the last warning. That's why it missed anything important. And she doesn't want to die. She knows it takes a lot but she also knows that she can die too. She's not immortal. He nudges her nose and then kisses her, his hands holding her face to his as they basically say goodbye. "I'll drive you home" He whispers against her lips before he pulls back from her.

..........

Diana lets out a breath when Alaric's car stops outside of the Gilbert house. Both of them quiet. Neither of them wanting to move. Alaric glances at her as she fiddles with the bottom of her jacket.

"Be careful" he asks of her, she glances at him and nods. The two of them share a look. "It's for the best, Diana" he whisper.

"Yeah" she breaths and turns away from him. "I know you're just trying to protect..."

"You" he stops her. "I'm trying to protect you" she touches her side and nods. She understands that. It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt to walk away from him, from what they have, because she knows that it's something special. She lets out a breath and then climbs out of his car, closing the door behind her. She can't look back at him as she walks away. So she doesn't.