deercountry | ( the dog days are over )

[ with the keys to his porsche in her hand, she keeps them tucked between her fingers as she scurries over towards him on the floor. grunting as she picks him up.

carrying him again, aleksander remains quiet at the end of the couch. she doesn't even need to tell him to stay; he simply knows. katherine quickly walks to the door and peels it open, kicking it shut to dissuade the dog from following. she carries stefan to the driveway and to the red porsche, and deposits him into the passenger seat. ]

I'd really appreciate it if you didn't try to die on the way to the hospital.

I'm already dead.

( vampire and all. he thinks. maybe there's something strange going on here and that's why he can't seem to heal or get a breath or whatever's happening. he sucks in a breath when his lungs feel like they can get it and closes his eyes.

he wants to be able to walk but she's carrying him and she doesn't feel like she's going to be argued with. he just doesn't want to die either. )

Drive fast.

[ katherine does her best not to fumble with the keys in the ignition, but it's not her smoothest work. as the engine roars, she takes just a very brief moment to look over the steering wheel, rest her hands against it, and breathe. she's no use to him if she's not at her best.

although she's hardly settled, she pulls the car out of the driveway and fangs it down the street. ]

Good thing you have an obnoxious sports car.

[ she glances at him before she nudges his arm. ]

Keep making horrible jokes.

I don't know how many I've got left in me.

( that one had come out of some deep well of resiliency. his breathing is labored now and it sounds like he's really struggling to get deep breaths but his eyes are still open the barest amount. )

Where are you taking me?

( he should know this but he can't make his brain work that way just yet. he can't think. everything just feels hot and painful. )

The hospital.

[ if he hears derision in her voice, it's because it's there. she hates the hospital. after not needing it for over five hundred years, she's finding that she's becoming a featured poster on the wall.

granted, they've never been to the trench's hospital... perhaps it was a good thing she had scoped out the lay of the land and ensured that she knew where to get a backup of blood in case either of them needed it. ]

Hopefully, this one isn't staffed with weirdos.

( stefan can't even get up the energy to protest because...well, he knows there's something wrong. he leans forward, trying to get his back off the front of the seats because it still burns. his breath comes shallowly and he moans a bit. )

Everyone's a weirdo to you.

( even him. )

You're the biggest one.

[ it's like she doesn't miss a beat.

pulling the car to an abrupt stop, katherine leans forward and glares at the red traffic lights. her hands grip the steering wheel so tightly the leather almost crackles. ]

Who invented these stupid things!?

Surprised you're not running them.

( he curls forward, pain rocketing through him. he holds his sides even if it's back that's hurting because the pain burns. it burns and he can't stop it. he can feel tears pricking his eyes again and he shakes his head. )

Just run them, Katherine. You have to run them. I can't...I can't deal with this anymore.

( she needs to hurry. )

[ although she's certain that she can survive a car crash, she's beginning to doubt stefan can. she ignores him, finding he's not helping. him suddenly not being able to heal isn't helping. leave it to stefan to get bitten by a snake and then not be able to heal.

katherine waits for a car to travel through the lights before she does floor it. luckily for them both, another car isn't heading towards the intersection at that moment. ]

What were you doing near a snake?

[ she needs him to talk while she speeds. ]

I didn't go seeking it out, Katherine. It was just there while I was on the way back.

( he coughs a few times, pained and slow, before he sucks in a few sharp breaths. his lungs hurt, his body hurts, everything hurts. )

It was huge and it was just there and I couldn't move fast enough. Why couldn't I move fast enough all the sudden?

[ katherine turns into a street. the hospital looms up ahead. she prays that this one isn't as strange and off-putting as deerington's had been. there needs to be good staff on site. there needs to be someone who doesn't unsettle katherine by a mere quiet look.

she's hesitant to voice what she suspects. ]

Are you human again?

[ the lumanerium appears too elegant to be a hospital. ]

What? No, how could I — how would I be a human? Nothing's happened to me that would make me a human. I'm not a human!

( he might be a human. he sucks in a breath and holds it before he let's it go, panting a bit as he does. he should be able to hold his breath longer than that. )

How would I be a human? I didn't take the cure!

( not that other things haven't made him human in the last few years. )

In this place, you don't need the cure, Stef.

[ sometimes, it helps to point out what they're both thinking. she sighs quietly and stops the car abruptly in front of the hospital. turning the engine off, she's quick to get out of the driver's side and zoom over to the passenger's. opening the door, she's careful in sliding her arms beneath his thighs and back. ]

C'mon, big boy.

I don't want you to carry me.

( never mind that he can't walk. he can barely breathe. he knows he's wheezing and he knows his back and shoulder are probably mottled and eaten away but he doesn't want her to carry him into the hospital.

he doesn't want to look...weak. but he can't really make his legs move. he can't make them do a goddamn thing. )

Tell me when I can pass out. I want to pass out.

You can't pass out and walk, Stefan. You can't have them both.

[ she hardly cares about his image right now. she walks through the doors and shoves by anyone who happens to be in the way. what she's looking for is a trusting face... and she's going to ensure to commandeer a room before anyone thinks to touch stefan. she's had enough of trailing behind while he's on a gurney or handed over to other people. ]

Not you. [ nope, that moustache does not make them look trustworthy. ] Not you, either.

( fine, he's not going to walk so he's going to pass out at least for the moment. the pain just envelopes him, making his entire body feel like it's on fire from the inside out. every breath, every movement, every blink of his eyes hurts. he feels like he's going to be turned inside out if something isn't done.

his teeth chatter and his body stiffens before he passes out, head lax against her chest. )

[ and he's out like a lightbulb. that, truthfully, makes this a lot easier.

after katherine checks that he's still breathing—thank god—she gets to work in commandeering a room and gently depositing him on an empty bed. she recruits a doctor and nurse—or blood ministers, whatever—who look trustworthy and who only shrink slightly at her snappish tone. she considers compulsion, but as they explain to her what they think is wrong, she begrudgingly allows herself to trust them.

she ignores the drying blood on her mouth as they get to work pilfering a cupboard and strapping stefan to wires and gadgets she remembers waking up to in the hospital in deerington. she stands by his bed and refuses to move, and dutifully watches over him like the very intense wife that she is.

they administer something—an antidote that katherine keeps the bottle of—and she has to wait for stefan to wake up. his vitals appear better, but he's so painstakingly human. the doctor pokes him at one point and he doesn't heal.

katherine's definitely not leaving, not even if a pack of werewolves barrelled in and began to nip at her heels. sitting by his bedside with her chair pulled right up to the bed so her knees hit against the frame, she waits. she needs to be able to be here the moment he wakes up so she can kill him. ]

( when he passes out, he does wonder if he's going to wake up. he doesn't know what's going on with his body but he wonders if it's too much for whatever he's become.

but somehow, he opens his eyes and he's awake. he knows where he is immediately by the sound of the machines and the wires on his chest. his mouth is dry and his eyes burn and his back and shoulder still feel like fire but he's...awake. and the pain isn't as bad.

he licks his lips and glances over, not turning his head because that still hurts. )

Katherine?

Stef.

[ she smiles at him, though it's not entirely mirthful. she's grateful that he's awake—more than grateful, really. she's already holding his hand in hers; she sits forward in her chair so he doesn't have to twist or tilt his head too much to see her.

the hospital room had been too quiet for the long period of time he had been out. katherine hasn't moved from his side, not trusting the blood ministers with him for even a minute alone. she hasn't stopped scrutinising them, even when they're not in the room. ]

Do you know where you are?

Fuck.

( that's in answer to figuring out where he is. he croaks the word out and tries to sit up while also trying to pull some of the wires off his body. but he's weak so it doesn't work well. )

Am I at home?

( he knows he's not. )

[ katherine leans over and gently smacks his hands away. while he exudes a human-like air to him, he doesn't get to tug any wires off of his body. ]

No.

[ but she imagines he already knows that. their bed is more comfortable and katherine is often curled up around him. the pillow beneath his head, despite her trying to fish for the best, is soft and too thin. ]

You're at the hospital in the Trench. You were bitten by a snake. The idiots here saved you.

Ow.

( it hadn't hurt but still. he doesn't want to be here. he drops his hands back down to his sides and blinks up at the ceiling. )

I feel terrible.

I'd be worried if you didn't.

[ even as a vampire, she'd expect him to feel horrible in some sense of the word.

she remains leaning forward and gently brushes her fingers against his forehead. ]

Can you smell anything? Hear anything far away?

No.

( he tries not to panic about that but he doesn't know how long it's been. has he been stuck like this for days? weeks? but he doesn't think it's been that long since katherine's still dressed in the same clothes he remembers her in when she'd found him. )

No, I can't. I can't smell anything but this hospital room. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Then you're not going anywhere until we get the all-clear from one of the doctor Blood Minister people.

[ she waves her hand dismissively. it honestly doesn't matter what their title is. all that matters to her is that she gets told stefan is okay, venom-free, and she can take him home.

does she like it? absolutely not. but she's not going to risk him. ]

Your body is human.

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