She couldn't realize how long it had been. A few seconds? A few minutes?

She didn't feel anything. Everything was deaf and gray around her. Just now and then she could distinguish clearly the sound of a siren.

'Hmm… an accident,' she thought, very calm, almost with indifference.

She had a vague impression that she was lying on the street, near the sidewalk, with her head buried in the snow, but she didn't try any move.

A stupid, nonsense question popped in her head. 'What time was it?' She had to get home because she couldn't afford a sleepless night, not these days when she had finals at high school.

She made an effort to hear the tic-tac of her watch, but she couldn't hear it. 'Maybe it's broken.' Then, with great effort she paid attention and listened to herself. She couldn't hear any sound coming from her body; no pulse, no heart, no breathing.

'I died,' she mused. 'Just like my watch.' And then she had the feeling that she was smiling, but she couldn't feel her lips. She couldn't feel any part of her body.

She suddenly remembered the sound of the impact; the screech of the tires sliding on the icy street, the car's impact with the trash cans and the big thud inside her head. Then she also remembered, very clear, the sound of piercing in her flash. She knew that sound very well and she knew what that meant. A part of her body was cut open.

Her leg flinched and suddenly she could feel the sharp sensation of cold and her right knee; it was bare in the snow, as if it was the only part from her body that woke from the anesthesia. But how intense and faraway she felt it! A new shock hit her and she felt pain in her brain, something so intense like she had never felt before. Her brain was about to burst open, she could feel it; and for the first time she felt panic. She knew she couldn't survive without her brain; she knew she was dying. Why wasn't she receiving help? Where was the driver? She felt desperate as she considered that maybe the driver was injured too and that there weren't people on the street at that hour, on that weather. She felt her chest sighing. 'Was that the final breath?' she asked herself, and at that moment something heavy caught her. She was being lifted.

That was Death! She knew it now! Death was her hero now, she decided. She wouldn't feel that pain any longer. A last effort she made to look into her Hero's eyes; that was her final wish. And her hero was… red.

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open. There was light… sun… white curtains… she was alone, she was slowly taking in the surrounding. And then she wasn't alone after all when a gush of air flew over her cheek and she could see two piercing blue eyes watching her closely.

'How…' she wanted to say but her throat, her lips were so dry that she chocked. She felt movement beside her and then something cold in her hand.

"Here, have some water," his voice was soft as he helped her stand up a little and drink from the glass.

"Thanks," she said quietly. She looked up at him again. He was watching her carefully, with curiosity, kindness… fascination… she wasn't sure. She knew she was fascinated with him. He was handsome and she felt her cheeks burn as she realized that. His black hair tousled, the fine curves of his face bones and those eyes… she looked away.

She leaned back on the pillows and looked around her. The room looked old with vintage furniture and paintings. Her bed was huge, so huge that he was lying crosswise in the bed and still looked far distance from her.

"Who are you?" she asked slowly.

He lifted on his elbow, his gaze still on her. "I am Damon," he answered and his lips crooked to one side in a smile.

She smiled too. "Where…"

"This is my house," he answered before she finished the question.

"I…", she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She looked around her again and nothing. She didn't know what to say. She looked into her head and… nothing. She knew nothing about herself.

"How…"

"I found you," he answered again before she could finish her question.

She smiled at him, grateful for making it easy for her. "How…? Where…?" she wasn't sure what to ask.

"I don't know," he answered as he stood up and walked around the bed to come to her side. "I found you unconscious on a street. I brought you here."

"Why not to a hospital?" she asked and suddenly felt ashamed for the reproach in her voice.

He crooked his lips into a smile again. "I thought you were drunk," he shrugged matter-of-factly. His face became serious then. "But you must have hit your head." He watched her closely and asked, "What is it that you remember?"

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to look into her head. There was nothing blank; she didn't have any answer to that question.

She startled when Damon's hand touched hers. She looked down at their hands and noticed his vintage ring. It was a beautiful ring, she noticed, and felt silly for such nonsense, when she had bigger issues to deal with. Who was she? for an instance.

"Don't worry," he said softly, giving a squeeze to her hand. "We'll figure these out. You're safe here now."

She smiled at him and believed him. She felt safe already.

"Katherine. Let's call you Katherine," he suggested.

She looked at him bewildered and out of nowhere she shook her head. "That's not my name."

Damon looked somewhat shocked at her.

"Elena," she said, shrugging questioningly at him.

"That's not your name either," he said carefully.

"I like it better," she shrugged.

At first she thought she saw a change on his face, a bad one, but then he smiled kindly.

"Alright, Kathe… Elena," he sighed as he stood up. "Are you… hungry? Sleepy?" he asked with a smile.

Elena found herself lost in his gaze again. "Sleepy," she answered slowly.

He smiled down at her as he nodded. "Alright then," he said, but he didn't move.

Elena smiled shyly at Damon as she let herself slide under the blanket. His eyes were the last she saw as she closed her eyes, and his eyes were the ones she continued to see as tried to sleep. She couldn't tell if he was still there watching her, but she felt as he was. She didn't mind and smiled to herself at the thought of his presence there. With last effort she tried to look into her mind again, trying to remember anything about herself. She shivered with panic when her head stayed blank, but then she calmed down as those blue eyes kept watching on her. For unknown reasons she wasn't afraid of anything. She knew she was safe there.