You didn't tell him.

You didn't tell him who had bitten you. You didn't tell him when it had happened. You didn't even mention how long you had been trying to hide it. You only called him when the trembling in your hands made it impossible to hold the phone any longer, and your vision began to blur from the fever and the first hallucinations.

Klaus didn't ask questions over the phone.

He simply found you.

You only remembered him lifting you off the ground without the slightest effort and carrying you back to his compound. Only then did you finally allow him to take care of you.

Too late.

The venom had already spread through your body. Your breathing had become shallow, your skin burned with fever, and the cold compress on your forehead brought relief for only a few seconds at a time. Time itself had lost all meaning. Moments blurred together with hallucinations until you could no longer tell what was real and what existed only inside your own mind.

Klaus remained beside you.

On the table next to the bed lay a bloodstained cloth, several bowls of cold water, and untouched bandages. Without a word, he sliced open the skin of his own wrist with a fingernail. Dark blood slowly ran down his hand.

He held it out toward you.

"Enough of this stubbornness. You have perhaps thirty minutes before the venom takes complete control of your body. I will not sit here and watch you die simply because you've decided to be impossible. Drink. Now."

You turned your head away.

Your lips stayed tightly closed, refusing to let your fangs emerge, even though instinct urged you otherwise. Your hands trembled harder with every passing minute, your breathing growing more uneven.

Klaus let out a slow, weary sigh.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Instead, he picked up the cold compress and carefully adjusted it on your forehead. His hand lingered there for a few seconds longer, cool and steady.

Only then did he speak again, his voice much quieter.

"You don't have to prove your strength to me. I already know exactly who you are. But for once... let me do what I should have done before you allowed yourself to end up like this. Let me help you... just this once."