Chapter 28
The following morning, Damon was up bright and early, preparing some fruit to take up to Ottilie. She was slowly regaining her strength, and he made it his mission to get as much good food into her as he could, even though she had such a small appetite at the moment. Slicing up some pineapple, he thought back to the previous evening, when Stefan and Lexi arrived back from their walk. He could already see that Stefan looked lighter somehow, as if a weight had been lifted from him, and Lexi, stunning as ever with her long blonde hair and twinkling eyes.
He shook his head, forcing a laugh at himself. – what on earth was he doing thinking about Lexi's hair and eyes. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he focused on his culinary tasks, chopping away furiously and arranging the pieces into silly faces in a bid to make his little girl laugh.
Just as he was finishing up, Lexi and Stefan walked into the kitchen, laughing about something he didn't quite catch. "Morning Damon," said Lexi, cheerfully, helping herself to a cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot on the side.
"Morning Lexi, sleep well?" Damon replied, trying to keep his tone light and breezy, staring fixedly at the fruit he was chopping up instead of her shining hair, damp from the shower.
"Yeah good thanks, I'm really looking forward to meeting little Ottilie today. Would it be okay for me to go and see her in her room at some point?"
Damon shrugged. "Sure, you can come with me to give her some breakfast, if you'd like?" he offered, looking at Stefan who nodded at him, smiling.
The three of them ventured up the tall, winding staircase, Damon holding the tray laden with fruit, and the stopped outside of Ottilie's door. "She's still asleep," said Damon, hearing the sounds of steady breathing and heart beats coming from inside the little room. "I'll go and wake her up, can you guys wait here?" The other two nodded and waited in the now open doorway, watching as Damon walked over to the little girl who was bundled up in her duvet.
"Otti, sweetheart," called Damon softly, not wanting to frighten her awake. She stirred, sleepily rubbing her hands over her eyes and smiling up at Damon. "Hey little lady! There's someone here to meet you!" She looked over to the door, only then noticing it was open and Stefan was there with a lady that she didn't know.
"Hello, Ottilie," said the lady, smiling widely at her. She had a good aura, thought Ottilie, as she got closer. It was bright, almost dazzling, and full of warmth and goodness. "My name is Lexi, and I'm a friend of Stefan's. And Damon's!" she added quickly, catching the scowl sent in her direction from Damon.
"Hello," said Ottilie, shyly, "it's nice to meet you." She smiled up at the lady who sat in a chair near to her bed.
"Stefan and Damon have told me so much about you! I feel like I already know you!"
Ottilie giggled and looked a little closer at the beautiful woman sitting in front of her, admiring her long blonde hair and stunning hazel-green eyes that twinkled at her from her good natured face.
"How do you know Damon and Uncle Stefan?" Ottilie asked, summoning up the courage to talk to the stranger.
Damon shoved the plate of fruit at Ottilie, inwardly pleased when he saw her light up at the sight of the fruit faces he'd made, her nose crinkling up in delight as she smiled. "Eat up, please" he ordered, moving towards the back of the room to stand with Stefan.
"Well Stefan and I have been best friends for years, and I suppose Damon is okay too…" she teased, turning her head to pull a face at Damon who rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
"And are you a vampire too?" asked Ottilie, so innocently that Damon almost burst out laughing at the ludicrousy of such a question asked with such acceptance.
Lexi smiled back at her, "yes sweetheart, I'm an even older vampire than Damon and Stefan, so if they get on your nerves and you need them sorting out, you come to me, okay?" she teased, hearing Damon scoff behind her.
Ottilie giggled, and turned to look from Damon. "Can I get up today?" He looked uncertain, worried at the thought of what that might mean for her. "I feel much better today, I promise! Just for a little bit?" she pleaded, her big eyes melting Damon's heart and resolve.
"Fine," he sighed heavily, "But not for long, and you're not walking downstairs – I'll carry you down, okay?" She nodded readily, excited at the thought of leaving her room after so long. Stefan and Lexi left Damon to help Ottilie get ready – he would carry her into the bathroom and wait further down the corridor, far enough to give her privacy, but close enough that he could still hear and monitor her heartrate.
Just as he carried a washed and dressed Ottilie back into her room, Lexi reappeared brandishing a hairbrush. "Would you like me to do your hair?" she asked Ottilie, who smiled delightedly and nodded, clasping her hands together in excitement. No one had ever done her hair before, and as much as Damon and Stefan cared immensely well for her, they weren't exactly able when it came to long hair.
Lexi sat behind her, gently brushing the little girl's curls. "You have such beautiful hair, Otti!" she said kindly, "How would you like me to style it?"
The little girl asked her to do whatever she wanted with it, and Lexi set to work, braiding it loosely to keep it out of Ottilie's face, but leaving some shorter pieces to frame it prettily.
"There we go," she said, finishing the second braid. "You look gorgeous, sweetheart!"
Ottilie beamed at her and thanked her for doing her hair. Damon came back into the room just as Lexi was leaving and she spoke to him in a voice so low that Ottilie wouldn't be able to hear. "She's so cute, Damon, I love her already!" He smiled back at her, completely agreeing. "Did you say she's 12?" she asked.
Damon nodded, "almost 13 actually…" he said, suddenly realising.
"She's just so tiny!" she explained, finding Ottilie's age hard to comprehend with her tiny stature.
"She's perfect!" countered Damon, "Sure she could do with a bit of weight on her, but she's been ill – it's hardly surprising! She's just naturally small for her age."
Lexi held her hands up in defence, "Hey, I didn't say it was a bad thing. I think she's perfect too!"
He smiled, relieved that she hadn't been having a go at him about Ottilie's weight, and felt ashamed that he'd assumed as much.
"Sorry, Lexi," he said, "It's a sore subject." She smiled at him, and left him to it.
Later that morning, Damon went up to fetch Ottilie to carry her downstairs so that she could walk around a little. She was sat up in bed, excited at the prospect of leaving her room after so long.
"Come on then, you" said Damon, picking her up carefully and carrying her out of her room and down the stairs. Setting her gently on her feet in the living room, he steadied her as she swayed a little, still a little weak. He took one of her hands and Stefan took the other, and they slowly walked laps around the room.
"You okay, Otti?" asked Stefan after their third lap, noting that the little girl hadn't spoken for some time.
She nodded, "I'm just concentrating," she said. "This is much more difficult than I remember!"
Damon smiled and ruffled her hair, "well it's been a while, little lady. You need to get your strength back up – all those muscles have wasted away!"
Lexi appeared in the room and clapped her hands, smiling at the little girl. "Yes Otti!" she cried, "look at you go! You'd give Damon here a run for his money at that pace!" Ottilie giggled.
"Time for a break," announced Damon, steering Ottilie towards the sofa before lifting her gently into it. "I don't want you to overexert yourself. We don't know what that new medication really means for you yet, do we?"
The little girl shook her head. "I guess not, but I can feel my heart going so much slower than before!"
Damon frowned a little, wondering if that was supposed to happen, and focused in on the sound of the steady, slower thump of her heart, noticing that Stefan and Lexi were also doing the same. It was certainly a lot slower, he thought, but also more steady, which was surely a good thing? He'd always felt a little concerned by the occasional skips and flutters he'd often heard before.
"I think we just need to be careful that your blood pressure doesn't dip too low," said Stefan, who had been thinking along the same lines as his brothers. "No standing up too quickly, Otti," he instructed, as she shuffled down the seat of the sofa to stand again.
She was quicker this time, able to complete a few laps of the room in half the time she had before. Damon smiled down at her, happy with her excitement and pleasure at walking again. She was talking animatedly about where she'd like to walk next, and Damon and Stefan let go of her hands, enabling her to walk unassisted for a few minutes, which she did happily.
Suddenly, her happy chatter petered out, and Damon looked up sharply to focus on her. Her tiny frame was swaying and he saw her knees start to give way. He sped over to her, narrowly beating Stefan to catch her. "Oopsy daisy," he said gently, steadying her with one hand around her waist and the other cradling her head. "Otti, look at me," he instructed. His daughter stared up at him with closing eyes, trying her very best to keep them open.
Damon looked up at Stefan who was hovering over them, worriedly. "She's fading fast, Stefan," he said, noting her very slow heartbeat. Just then, Ottilie's eyes closed and she fell limp in Damon's arms as he looked at her in horror.
"Lexi, can you go and grab some water and something sweet please?" asked Stefan with some urgency in his voice. His best friend sped out the room. "Damon, lie her down here. We need to get the blood circulating back up to her head." He felt his nieces neck for a pulse, frowning at how slow it was and the pallor of her face. He pulled a chair up to her and lifted her legs to rest over them, trying to encourage the blood flow back to her head.
"I think she's just fainted, Damon," he said, trying to calm his own worries as well as his brother's. "I wonder if those beta blockers are actually slowing her heartrate down so much that she's struggling to keep her blood pressure up.
Damon stared down at his daughters face and sighed. He'd ring the doctor that afternoon to ask their advice, but for now, he stroked the little girl's hand, willing her to wake up and smile up at him.
Just as Lexi arrived back with a glass of water and a chocolate bar, crouching next to Damon by Ottilie's side. "Is she okay?" she asked with genuine concern as she handed Stefan the glass and put the chocolate bar down on the floor.
"Stefan seems to think she's fainted due to low blood pressure," said Damon, going on to explain about her new medication.
Just then, Ottilie began to stir, her eyelids fluttering as she came to. She suddenly tried to sit up but Stefan gently caught her shoulders and eased her back down to the floor, resting her head on a cushion that Lexi had brought over from the sofa. "Easy, Otti," he soothed, "you're okay, you just fainted. You just need to stay down for a few minutes, okay?" His niece nodded at him, her face still ghostly white.
After a few minutes, Stefan instructed Damon to lift Ottilie to a sitting position so that she could lean against him. Damon sat down and settled Ottilie to be sitting between his legs with her back against his chest. From this position, he was able to hold her steady to him, and feel the gentle thud of her heart against his own chest which he found reassuring. Stefan tucked a blanket around her and helped her to sip from the glass of water as her hands were still too shaky to hold it.
Lexi waved the chocolate bar at her, and her face lit up. "Ooh is that for me?" she said, excitedly.
Damon laughed, stroking some of his daughters hair away from his own face where it had been tickling his nose. "Yes little lady, but don't make a habit of fainting just so you get chocolate. I don't think my old heart can take much more of that!"
She turned to look up at him, laughing. "But Damon," she countered, "you're immortal?"
Grabbing the chocolate bar from Lexi and unwrapping it, he broke a bit off to give to her. "Stop being so clever and eat your chocolate," he teased, secretly relieved to see the colour starting to return to her cheeks.