Fear Part IV

Hello everyone! So so so SORRY for the wait. Don't even get me started on the last few months.

We got to 1.1% for those that reviewed, so it's an increase! I'm thankful for that. My hope is that we can increase it a little bit each chapter!

Thank you to the lovely and amazingly talented klaroline-fantasies for making the cover for this story. It's the first cover I've ever gotten and it is flawless.

"So Nik, since we know next-to-nothing about this girl, tell us about her."

Elijah's eyes left the newspaper in his hands as he observed his younger brothers. Klaus was sitting beside the comatose woman, clutching her hand and observing her for any sign of improvement. Kol had been seated on the opposite side of the bed, a few feet away, rocking his chair back to lean against the wall.

Elijah lowered his eyes back down to the paper, not actually reading about the government shutdown but patiently waiting for his brother's answer. He did not agree with Klaus' decision to keep the girl alive, if that's what you could call it, but he did love his brother, and so he decided to stay by his side.

"What do you mean?" Klaus's voice was quiet from the lack of use. His fingers continued to draw circles on Caroline's hand and his eyes left her form to look at his younger brother. Kol's dark eyes were free from any of its normal, mischievous gleam, and Klaus read the sincerity.

Kol rocked forward on the chair to rest all four legs on the ground. "Well, this pretty little thing must be doing something right, so I want to know who my future sister is going to be. I have to make sure we will get along well."

Klaus smiled a small, loving look at his beloved. "Well, it's Tuesday, so on a normal day she'd have been rushing me home to watch one of her favorite shows…."

Klaus always thought himself to be quite good at dealing with situations that annoyed him. In fact, most urges of violence he could control if he needed to, but Caroline's fire was proving to be stronger than his.

"Love, how many more times must I be subjected to this…"Klaus was cut off with a pillow to his face.

"Shhh! My favorite part is coming on!" Sure enough two seconds after the words had left her mouth, Klaus heard "Meep! Meep!"

Pushing her arm down to remove the throw pillow from his face, he observed Caroline, who was engrossed in watching some brunette with big blue eyes (Zooey Deschanel?) on the screen on the screen. Klaus sighed, not that he really minded watching this comedy (at least that's what Caroline called it) but this was the seventh time he'd had to watch the main character distract the coyote.

The seventh time.

"Meep! Meep!"

"Well, at least she's not into reality television, trust me Nik, my last girlfriend watched-"

"The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Bachelor Pad, Big Brother, Survivor, Top Chef, Master Chef, Chopped, Cupcake Wars, Hell's Kitchen, Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Got Talent, The Voice, America's Next Top Model, or shall we get into the MTV reality realm?" Kol's mouth dropped as he listened to Klaus list show after show after show. Even his ex hadn't been that bad.

"I don't know what's worse, Nik, her watching all of those shows or the fact that you actually remember them all."

Klaus scoffed, "Of course I remember them, Caroline liked them and some of them were even tolerable."

"Let me guess, she even had you calling in to help her favorites win?"

Klaus laughed at Kol's question. "Are you serious, mate? We had seven different accounts to vote for the MVP of Big Brother, and I had to call my secretary and tell her to help me phone in for her favorite to win American Idol. And every night during the summer we had to watch Big Brother After Dark to see who was scheming against Elisha."

"That ridiculous Nik! Why would you do that?" Kol was leaning forward towards Klaus, like he was about to reveal the secret to immortality.

"Because it was worth it to see her get so excited. When she's happy she has this light that just shines from within her. It's addicting-like a drug. And being with her makes it worth it."

Elijah smirked behind his newspaper as Kol coughed "whipped" and Nik threatened to tear out his liver.

It was two in the morning when it happened. A loud beeping awoke Klaus as he rested his head on Caroline's bed. His brothers had left hours prior to check into their hotel, but Klaus of course couldn't move from his vigil.

Jerking awake Klaus watched as the pump giving his beloved life raised one last time then stopped altogether. To its right the screen showing Caroline's heartbeat showed a flat green line.

He jumped up as nurses and doctors bounded into the room. Klaus was pushed back against the wall and then shuffled out of the room. In shocked horror, he allowed the lowly orderly to close the door in his face. Then he was dialing Elijah's cell and yelling something into the speaker before dropping the phone and sliding down the wall, staring at the door as he listened to the commotion inside.

Kol was awakened by the ringing of a cell phone. He rolled over to watch Elijah through tired eyes. He watched as Elijah lazily picked up the phone and then jumped up to answer it. Kol sat up and watched as Elijah's eyes widened and he yelled at Nik to calm down.

"Niklaus, I can't understand you! What happened?"

"She stopped! She's not! Elijah! Someone needs to…her heart."

Elijah's eyes met Kol's as their brother's panicked voice shouted through the speakers.

"Niklaus, don't leave, we're on our way. Just hold on." Elijah was already pulling on his suit pants and grabbing his white collared shirt.

Kol too slid out of bed and rushed to get dressed. As Elijah hung up, he grabbed the car keys and both rushed from the room.

"Kol, call Bekah again, we may need her."

It was dark where Caroline was. Sometimes things would get hazy, and she'd see things. Last time she had seen Alden Ehrenreich's face in a still from the upcoming Beautiful Creatures movie. But every time she saw anything, it was followed by Klaus' voice.

Klaus.

Where was he?

At that moment, a little puppy appeared on the ground in front of her. He sat there looking at her until she bent down the pet him. He allowed her to scratch his head, then stood and trotted away from her, pausing only to look back at her.

Looking into the distance, Caroline watched as the puppy kept walking towards a bright light. Then, a dark figure emerged from the light, and just from his stance Caroline could tell who it was.

"Klaus!"

The figure bent down and picked the puppy up and turned back to head into the light.

"Klaus!" Caroline rushed into the light to follow the man she loved.

As the light enveloped her, she felt peaceful, light. A warmth erupted in her heart and spread outward to encompass her whole body.

Her body felt like it was lifting, rising into the light, and she felt whole, complete.

And then she screamed as the warmth turned to fire and her body convulsed, and she felt her body slam back down onto the ground.

Klaus felt like his world was ending. Sound and meaning left him as his whole world narrowed down to staring at the brown hospital door, and the pain that was throbbing in his chest.

After what felt like hours, people started to pour from the room. At last, a wearied looking doctor emerged, pulling the cloth mask from his face.

Klaus jumped to his feet and stared at the man, waiting for some sign from the man.

"I don't know what happened, Mr. Mikaelson. A wire or some internal mechanical issue occurred and the life support system failed. It caused her heart to stop. I can't explain it."

Klaus felt his heart drop and despair washed through him. Tears welled in his eyes, and just as he was about to lose the strength to stand, the doctor spoke again.

"She asked for you."

Klaus' eyes widened and stared back at the man.

His only response was to tilt his head towards the room.

Klaus lurched forward and barreled into the room. His eyes immediately went to the bed, where he was met with the shining blue eyes he had been missing.

"Love?"

Caroline gave a tired smile from where she lay, propped up in the bed. "Klaus. You're here."

Klaus reached out and grabbed hold of her, arms banding around her small form and clenching her to his chest. His mouth rested on the top of her head, and he breathed in her scent, which she had somehow maintained even in the sterile room. "Is this real?"

Tears once again fell freely from his eyes as he was graced with the sound of her laugh.

"Yes, silly. I'm real."

"Caroline, love, you are my entire world. I missed you so much sweetheart." Caroline tried to move her head from underneath his chin, but his arms tightened around her. So she just continued to hold him for a minute as she tried to recall what had happened.

She couldn't remember anything other than being in her apartment waiting for him to get her.

But Caroline could tell by his actions that something had happened and it had scared him to his very core.

"What happened Klaus? How long have I been here?"

She felt him freeze, and Klaus' eyes slammed shut to keep the pain and memories of the previous weeks from replaying.

"It doesn't matter, sweetheart, it only matters that you're here and awake and God I love you Caroline." Klaus moved his hands to cup her face and leaned back to look her in the eyes. "I love you more than I have ever loved anything else. You are my strength, my light, and I cannot envision my future without you in it. So please, love, let me be by your side forever."

Caroline smiled the smile she reserved only for Klaus and with tears falling down her face asked him the most obvious question in the world.

"Where else would I want you to be?"

Kol and Elijah tore through the hospital, angering several guards and nurses, and rounded the corner to Caroline's room. They didn't see their brother in the hall, and they both stopped breathing at the sight of the life support machine outside the door.

They froze before the door, not yet ready to see what lay inside.

Hundreds of miles away, Rebekah checker her phone to find several text messages and calls from her brothers. They were all confusing and as she headed out her door to make her way to the airport, she tried to figure out why it was so important that a Caroline might be dead.

So there is Part IV. I'm super excited you like this story so much.

Poor Bekah is always left out of the loop. I was going to wait to wake Caroline up, but then this happened and I let it be.

Did anyone think Caroline was dying?

Sorry this was short, but I wanted to do an update in honor of the amazing cover created by klaroline-fantasies. She is amazing and brilliant and everyone go follow her on Tumblr.

Please let me know what you think. And remember, part of why we love The Originals is because they fight and hurt each other, but in the end they truly do love each other. They want to protect each other, they just don't always do it the right way.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

You can also follow me on Tumblr at that-blonde-full-of-light.

Questions for my readers:

How many of you are also Captain Swan fans?

Anybody on here watch New Girl?