manipulative | deerington contact.

[ when he doubles over, katherine's by his side and very much considering damning his pride and carrying him out to his car. but he rights himself and pushes through the pain, and she can't take that chance to fight for himself and prove that he can do it away from him.

she wants to. she really, really wants to, but all katherine does is open his front door for him when they reach it and slide the flats by the door onto her feet haphazardly. she has no intentions on locking his door—vasilka's here, and she's far worse than any two vampires. ]

You'll probably be fine by the time we get there.

[ she hopes so. all she wants to do is keep talking and have him respond back to her. ]

Probably.

( he stumbles his way down the steps and over to his car, coughing a few times and spitting. when he sees that it's blood, he tries to scuff it with his shoe so she doesn't see before he pulls the back door of his car open and basically falls into it.

he's going to have to get his car cleaned because he's trailing blood all over the place, smearing and staining his upholstery. )

Just — just drive. ( he lays on his side, curled up and trying to will his bleeding to stop. )

[ she's too distracted trying to get him to his car to notice him spitting blood. she can smell it, but she ignores it—she has a task at hand and that task is going to be completed.

that's the next step in her plan: get him into his car. if she breaks it down, it becomes possible rather than glaringly and intimidatingly impossible. get him into his car, drive the car, get to the hospital, and find the one doctor she won't feel compelled to kill to ensure that he's going to survive this.

to stefan's credit, he hauls his ass to his car with whatever little strength he has while fighting dizziness and nausea and tosses himself into his backseat before she can think to do it. with his keys in her hands, katherine glances at him from the driver's seat and feels compelled to sit in the back with him, but without a driver—and with her not trusting any of his pastel-coloured neighbours or betties—she turns the engine on and floors it. ]

This isn't how I pictured driving you around would go, Stef.

Sorry.

( he closes his eyes, suddenly feeling very, very cold. he knows that's a bad sign and he knows that he's going to need to either stop bleeding or have someone give him blood or he's going to cross a line he can't come back from.

he closes his eyes again, wrapping his arms around himself and hoping like hell that katherine drove fast while he just took...a little nap. )

If I was an Original, I would remove that word from your vocabulary.

[ when he'd first said it to her, she'd been so overwhelmingly uncomfortable at being the recipient to such regret that she had wanted to tear it off his tongue. now? she never wants to hear it again. the idiot is bleeding out and he feels the need to apologise to her.

the idiot's bleeding out and he's stopped talking. although she doesn't expect him to give her a rousing speech on driving to the hospital, she expected at least a few words... incoherent, coherent, she doesn't particularly care.

with a glance at him, she can't help but twist slightly in her seat. ] Hey! No naps in the back of this car, Stefan.

( stefan doesn't answer. he hears her, vaguely, like her words are coming through a thick wall but he doesn't answer. he's so cold that his teeth chatter and that he worries that if he does say something, it's not going to make any sense.

he wants to tell her that he's not taking a nap, he's just resting, he's fine, but his mouth doesn't work and his eyes don't open. just let him rest for a few seconds.

he'll talk to you after he feels better, katherine. )

[ when she comes to a set of traffic lights, they turn red as the car in front of her pulls to a stop. she thinks to manoeuvre around the car, but there's nowhere to go but the pedestrian pathway or into oncoming traffic. there are a few cars passing her, but not few enough that she can easily speed off.

she pivots in her seat to find stefan with his eyes closed. unsure of whether he's unconscious or just plain dead, she does the only thing she can think to do.

given she's had no time nor thought to slip her seatbelt into place, she easily bends down and grabs her flat off her left foot and throws it at the seat cushion above him. ]

Those nice eyes need to be open, Stefan.

[ at the very loud honking of a horn behind her by a pastel-coloured car, katherine's turning again to drive as fast as this car can go. they're so close to the hospital. all he needs to do is keep his shit together for just a little longer. ]

I'm fine, I just need — I just wanna rest.

( he says a few mumbled words but he doesn't open his eyes despite the way she throws something at him. he's already in enough pain that a little extra won't really bother him.

but, he's conscious, he just doesn't want to move or open his eyes. he's cold and he hurts and he's tired. he's just tired. )

I'm — ( he mumbles something and then trails off again. )

You're what?

[ even though she wants an answer, she doesn't expect it.

she has no idea how she manages to get them to the hospital so quickly, but perhaps the universe has decided not to try with katherine pierce's wrath. she pulls into the hospital driveway and into one of the many suspiciously empty car spots. to her credit, she does turn off his car and ensure she pockets his keys so that his prized sports car doesn't end up going for a wander.

turning around in her seat to face him, she can't help but sigh when she realises that this isn't going to be easy. if he's already feeling boneless and lightheaded, there's no way he's going to throw himself over the seats so they can get into the hospital. she also doubts he will appreciate her damaging his car if she chooses to rip it apart to get him out. ]

Stefan. [ she leans over the seat as far as she can, reaching over towards him. ] You need to help me get you out of the car.

( he's lost so much blood. he doesn't even know how he gets his limbs moving with how much he knows has poured out of him. but, he hears her voice and it permeates deep. it gets him enough that he's able to pull himself out of the car and onto the hard ground of the parking lot.

he shakes her off when she tries to help him stand and then starts walking on his own, still holding his chest. he sways and trips, seeing double and triple of everything in front of him.

god, he was going to — )

Katherine, I'm gonna pass out.

( he can see the entrance to the hospital but he hits his knees before he makes it and slumps forward. )

[ asking him to haul his ass over that car seat seems to have done the trick of encouraging him to pull from his restores, but it drains him. as much as she doesn't want to let him be stubborn and use up precious energy to try and keep his pride intact, she stays right beside him. she's expecting the worst. she knows it's bound to come.

it's a good thing she does. she catches him by the shoulders before his head can smack against the bitumen. his poor knees take the brunt.

manoeuvring him so that she can hold him in her arms and against her chest again, she heaves him up bridal style and carries him effortlessly to the front of the hospital. she remembers this from when she'd come to see elena, but she doesn't think of her doppelgänger right now. all she wants is to get stefan inside and onto a gurney and looked at. one of these people has to be good at their job.

a few of the staff seem to be facing the walls, chattering to themselves. ] Hey! [ all it takes is one barking order and one of the doctors seems to come to, wandering his way over to her with a concerned furrow of his brow. katherine refuses to put stefan down until she gets him a bed. the staff in the waiting room peer over at stefan with worry marring their features, although not many of them even think to approach her. the doctor's shaking his head and calls over a nurse, who mutters that they don't have enough beds or staff to handle this kind of trauma. thankfully for them both, they lead her down one long and tedious hallway and guide her into a room with four beds. the trauma bay must be full of gunshot victims.

katherine doesn't put stefan down until the nurse pleads with her to do so. it's very carefully that she does so, and she ignores the way she's covered in fresh, thick blood.

turning to the doctor, she crowds his space and looks him directly in the eye. knowing her pupils are dilating, she compels him effortlessly, ] If I have to hear one more time about how understaffed you are and he dies, you are going to perform organ removal surgery on every one of your colleagues without anesthesia before you gouge your own eyeballs out and eat them. Do everything you can and help him.

[ the doctor's demeanour shifts into something far more confident after the compulsion, and he turns on his heel and starts ordering the nurse to fetch two others, blood and an i.v. one of those nurses is for the woman—she realises belatedly she's the woman and she's still covered in his blood from chin to toe.

katherine presses her hand to her temple and tries very hard to fight through the migraine she feels from that bout of compulsion. ]

( the compulsion works. they whisk stefan away, telling katherine that she can join him shortly but they spend the first few minutes hooking him up to blood and machines, cleaning him up and making sure the wounds that she'd taken the bullets out of weren't infected or hadn't torn something important.

all in all, she's away from him for about an hour. stefan's out of it so he can't even begin to think about how that weighs on katherine. eventually though, they do wheel him into a room of his own, hooked up to a an iv full of blood and looking cleaner than he had when they'd come in.

stefan's groggy, barely awake but he's pretty sure his body has started to heal which means something's kicked in and that makes him sigh in relief before he turns his head away from the bright light of the hospital room and tries to relax.

they leave him alone for a few moments, the door shut but ajar and the noise outside a dull hum. )

[ katherine very much wants to stand over every doctor and nurse who comes to peer and prod and poke stefan in the room they wheel him away in. she could—a blaring burst of pain in her temple is worth it to ensure that he's not going to end up dead—but katherine does know, deep down, that if she doesn't let them take him away, he could die. no one knows how deerington has chosen to meddle with his healing tonight and it's not worth the risk in finding out in the worst way possible.

one of the nurses makes a comment about how her face is pretty much covered in blood. although she offers to look her over, all katherine does is steal herself away in one of the bathrooms and wash her face and neck to remove some of it. as vain as she usually is, she's very much distracted from wanting to scrub every single layer of blood from her skin. for all she knows, they may need her. stefan might need her.

pacing in flats (technically one flat) isn't as damaging as heels, but katherine makes do for the fifty minutes she's forced to wait until the doctor she'd compelled comes to find her and relay the news that he is very much alive. she doesn't really let him finish—she's storming her way across the hall to the ajar door.

katherine doesn't smash it open. although her adrenaline rushes through her violently, she steps through calmly and closes the door behind her. this isn't a sight she's used to. the last time she was in a hospital, she draped a pillow over a teenage girl's head to turn her into a pawn for her game of chess. she doesn't know how to feel when she sees stefan lying in that bed like he's some destructible human.

approaching him and looking tense, she walks to the very edge of his bedside and she shoves his shoulder. ] Idiot.

[ she's very, very glad that he's all right. colour's returned to his face and his heartbeat sounds a lot stronger than it was previously.

she's still feeling incredibly scared. ]

Ow.

( he stretches a bit, turning to face her. she looks...well, honestly she looks terrible. he doesn't really remember the last time he's seen katherine looked concerned and scared and panicked. he doesn't know if he's ever seen her act like she just had.

he swallows, trying to wet his throat before he reaches over the bed for one of her hands. )

I'm sorry.

( for putting her through it and making her take care of him and giving her a scare and making her come to a hospital of all places. )

[ she lets him take her blood-stained hand. she hadn't been sure if she should touch him, but she's glad that he reaches out for her. it tempers her brewing anger considerably, even though it's still there, lingering.

as much as she wants to, she can't hurt a ghost. as much as she wants to take it out on the staff here, they did as she had asked (or compelled) and so it would only be her being a true villain if she enacted on that fright. hurting them won't make her feel better, and she doubts stefan would appreciate it, either.

katherine doesn't bother trying to appear aloof. her nerves are far too frayed and she's feeling far more emotional than she has any right to.

gritting her teeth, she still looks unhappy, but her voice lacks any maliciousness or threat. ] If you apologise to me again, I'm going to rip your eyeballs out.

[ despite her threat, she allows herself to grip his hand tightly. ]

Are you all right?

( he keeps her hand in his, resisting the urge to apologize again. he wants to because he knows that he's the cause of her fright and concern and it's such a foreign thing to see on her face and in her body language.

he wets his lips and sighs. )

I think I'm okay now if you want to go back to my house and clean up.

( he doesn't know how close this hospital pays attention but if he is healing, he doesn't plan on being here long. )

[ she sighs exasperatedly. ] I'm fine, Stefan. I didn't get shot by my grudge-wielding father.

[ so, stop worrying about her! it's completely unnecessary. if she has to keep reminding him of what had transpired to him and not her, she will until he wants to shoot himself.

feeling a little more like herself, she tries to come off flippant and in control. ] I doubt these doctors will care if you get up and vacate the bed. [ she does think to go on a tangent about how the doctors and nurses seem far more concerned about their understaffed and lack of bed issues than anything else… and the fact some of them stand in corners facing the wall. but she doesn't want to commit any energy into it.

all she wants is to get back to his car and his house, but only when he's ready. ]

I'd offer to get you a wheelchair but I'm sure I'd have to take a number.

I'll get up in a second.

( he takes the hand he's holding and pulls her closer, reaching to slide it under the sheet they've given up and against the bullet wound. it's still there, but it's significantly smaller now, closing up on its own finally.

there's no blood around the area either anymore. he's finally stopped bleeding and he wants her to feel that for herself so she stops worrying. )

I'm okay.

[ her brows furrow when he tugs her hand towards him with lips pinching into what may look like a sour expression, but it's really katherine putting a wall up she's only gotten used to erecting in pennsylvania with one man and now here with this beautiful idiot. immediately, she knows that his bullet wound has begun to heal. brushing her fingers lightly against his skin, they lack the thick wetness that she'd constantly felt when trying to drag him here.

she feels incredibly better at feeling it. taking his word is difficult given that he postures of being fine all the time when he's falling apart on the inside. the stiffness in her shoulders relents only slightly, letting them drop. ]

It feels better. [ she lets her fingers brush his skin gently, feeling relieved that wound is starting to close up. she approaches everything about him tentatively despite that. ] I guess those doctors do know what they're doing.

Yeah.

( he notices the expression on her face, the very tense way she holds her shoulders (even if they relax slightly) and he let's her hand go so she can continue to touch him or pull her hand back. )

It'll probably be gone by tomorrow.

( he hopes. )

I'm okay, Katherine. Are you?

( don't deflect this time, katherine. he knows you're not. )

[ it's a good thing he's alive so she can kill him.

her hand remains on his chest when he lets her go. she should withdraw it, but katherine doesn't feel like doing so. ]

I'm fine.

[ what was that about deflecting? in truth, she doesn't quite know how she feels. she's just very glad stefan is physically fine. mentally and emotionally... she imagines he's very, very frayed. but she wishes he would stop focusing on everyone else and instead put all that energy onto himself. she imagines his knees may look and feel bruised from when he's collapsed out in the parking lot. she thinks to bring that up, but then it opens the door for him to prove he can deflet, too. ]

I just want to get out of this place.

Take my car and go. I'll meet you there in just a little while.

( he thinks he's fine and he shouldn't need any doctors looking in on him but he's going to give it it a little longer just to make sure he doesn't start bleeding again and ruin whatever's working. )

Okay?

( she already has his keys and she looks like she's ready to step out of her own skin so she should just go. )

I'm okay. I'll be back there in a little while.

[ it takes her just a moment to realise what he's saying.

he wants her to leave. it's not because he doesn't want her here, it's the fact that she's clearly uncomfortable standing by his bedside and seeing him in a hospital bed. katherine can easily push that down... but it's so jarring to see stefan in such a mortal way that she finds herself uncomfortable with the idea of what could have happened tonight.

maybe he needs her gone, too.

she narrows her eyes at him and pulls her hand away from his chest so she can cross her arms against hers. ] You're not seriously going to take a cab home.

No, I can walk.

( it's not that far a drive and if he absolutely needs to, he can catch a cab but he wants her to take his car. )

I'm healing, Katherine, I'm fine.

( he's more concerned about her now. she looks like a volcano that's preparing to blow and he doesn't know if it's going to be at him or not. )

Take the car and I'll be there soon.

[ is suggesting he walk supposed to make her feel better?

she doesn't want to leave, and that comment only has her digging her heels in even harder. she arches her brow incredulously and stares down at him like he's grown a second head. did he forget that he passed out at least three times in the last hour and a half alone?

with her tone sharp and firm, ] You just got shot. You're not walking.

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