Chapter 29

"So she won't be on any medication at all?" asked Damon, talking quietly into the phone, unable to mask the concern laced into his voice.

"Well she was already on the lowest dose that we could give her and that was too much as you know. Unfortunately, she's too small to cope with the amount of medication required to deal with the severity of her heart condition" replied the doctor, knowing full well that this was not the answer Damon wanted to hear.

"So what do we do now?" asked Damon, dreading the reply.

"We have a couple of options," said the doctor, carefully. "I'm going to refer her to a colleague of mine, Dr Josette Laughlin, as I'm going to be leaving this hospital soon and I think she'll be able to help you monitor Ottilie. Option one is to just let things be – the risk of attacks is as high as it ever was, but with careful consideration, they can be avoided. The only other option we have right now is surgery, but I'm loath to put her through something so traumatic after her recent trauma."

Damon swallowed, dread seeping through him as he considered the options laid out before him. "I'll talk to Ottilie," he said quietly.

"Of course," replied the doctor kindly. "I'm going to get Dr Laughlin to give you a ring to introduce herself."

Damon thanked the doctor, and ending the call, ran his fingers through his hair, sighing.

"Damon?" came a little voice. Ottilie walked into the room, looking at him in concern and noting his strained features. She's been off the beta blockers for a few days now, and was already feeling much stronger, and was relishing not passing out every time she stood up.

"What are you doing up, little lady?" asked Damon, quickly masking his face with a bright smile, yet knowing somehow that she'd see straight through it.

"I heard you on the phone, Damon," she said seriously. "I heard you talking to the doctor. What did he say? Please tell me the truth, I'll know if you don't." She gave him a warning look.

Damon sighed; sometimes he wished that Ottilie's powers weren't so attuned. She could tell just by the aura she saw around someone whether they were telling the truth or not. "He said that we could either go back to where we were before - avoiding stress etc, or you can have surgery."

His daughter's shoulders sagged a little, and leaned over to her to pick her up, holding her to him. "I don't want surgery, Damon," she said quietly. "I've only just started feeling better."

Damon's own heart broke for his little girl, who already at the tender age of 12 had gone through so much. "Sweetheart, the decision is yours, and I'll support you whatever you decide, but we need to know all the facts before that, okay? The doctor is getting a new doctor to call us, and we will ask her lots of questions, then you can make an informed decision, alright?"

She nodded, burying her head into his shirt.

Stroking her hair tenderly, Damon tried to think of a way to distract her. "Shall we go out for the day?" he asked, pleased as her head pulled away from his chest and she smiled up at him.

"Ooh okay!" she replied, excitedly.

"Why don't we go to Hampstead?" he asked, thinking of the quaint little town, not so far from Mystic Falls but that would provide Ottilie with a change of scenery. His daughter agreed and went upstairs to get ready for the day, arriving back in record time dressed in jeans and a jumper. They got into Damon's Camero and set off for Hampstead.

When they arrived, Damon helped Ottilie out of the car and taking her by the hand, they walked into the town centre. Damon knew there was a market on and thought that Ottilie might want to have a look around it, knowing how she loved looking at trinkets and antiques.

They passed the morning sipping hot chocolate bought from one of the stalls, and Ottilie dragged Damon to look at every single stand in the market, determined not to miss a single one out. Damon happily obliged, simply pleased to see his daughter more herself.

They were sat on a bench on the outskirts of the market, watching the busy movements of the shoppers and vendors. Damon was telling Ottilie about the markets he'd seen in France over 100 years ago, and was lost in his memories that he almost missed Ottilie tensing suddenly next to him. Looking down at the frozen little figure sat next to him, he followed her fixed gaze to a woman stood under the canopy of one of the stalls.

"Otti?" he asked with concern, suddenly noticing the quickening pace of her heartbeat, "Otti, what's wrong?" He got down from the bench, crouching in front of her and taking her face in his hands, breaking her gaze from the woman. "Take some deep breaths for me, sweetheart," he said gently, but some urgency underlying in his voice. "Come on, copy me," he exaggerated his breathing and was slightly relieved to see Ottilie attempting to follow him.

Tears started to pour down her face, and she looked at him with terror in her eyes. "Damon, I can't breathe…. Damon…." She was gasping now, shoulders heaving with the effort to get air in and her eyes kept flitting back to focus on the woman.

Damon grabbed her chin gently and turned her face towards him, "Otti, you're okay, you just need to take a deep breath." She obliged, sucking in a shaky, shallow breath. "That's is sweetheart, and another one please." Again, she tried her hardest and found this breath to be a little easier.

"You're doing so well, sweetheart, just keep breathing for me. You're safe, okay? Nothing and nobody can hurt you here." She nodded, tears still streaming down her face as she took in more breaths, each one slightly easier than before as the panic began to subside.

"What's wrong, little Otter?" he asked gently, "Can you tell me what's scared you?"

She looked dead into his eyes and with her bottom lip trembling, she whispered so quietly that even he barely heard her. "It's her, it's the lady I used to live with"

Damon felt his stomach flip and he turned to look at the woman, still by the stall, arguing with the vendor. Turning back to his daughter, he held her protectively in his arms. "Ottilie Salvatore, I promise you this. That woman will, never, ever hurt you again. Not as long as I am alive."

She giggled tearfully, and he was thankful that she got his little joke regarding his immortality. He listened in to focus on her heartbeat, and was visibly relieved to hear it slowing. "Well done, sweetheart," he said softly, "your heart sounds much better, you clever girl." She was holding tightly onto him, her hands gripping his jacket for dear life, and he felt a sudden wave of protective anger wash over him. What had this woman done to his little girl that had scarred her so much, not just physically but emotionally. He saw the physical scars on her little body all too often, but the emotional scars were rarely seen, so happy she was now with her new life.

He got up to move, needing suddenly to go and confront this woman, and hurt her in some way like she had hurt his daughter. "Where are you going?" cried Ottilie in alarm, sensing his movements as he gently detangled himself from her clutches.

"I need to have a word or two with this horrible lady," he replied grimly, standing and turning away from her.

"No, please!" He turned back, hearing her forlorn little cry. "Please don't leave me, Daddy," she cried, her voice barely audible as sobs wracked her tiny body.

Damon stopped, stunned into silence, before racing back over to her and holding her so tightly that part of him worried he might hurt her. "I'm sorry, Otti, I'll never leave you. Let's go home, hey?" He lifted her and carried her back to the car, careful to avoid the woman who hadn't noticed any of the goings on near her.

Arriving back at the mansion, he looked across at her from the driver's seat to see that Ottilie had fallen fast asleep, her face still red from her tears, but looking more peaceful than she had earlier. He carried her into the house, shaking his head at the alarmed looks on Stefan and Lexi's faces, trying to ward off their questions.

Tucking her into bed, he kissed her gently on the forehead. "I love you, little Otter," he whispered, before leaving her to rest.

"What's happened, Damon?" demanded Stefan, who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, standing next to Lexi who had her arms crossed over her chest and a look of concern on her face.

"We went to the market at Hampstead and she spotted the lady who took her from the orphanage. She had a panic attack but she managed to avoid having one of her attacks, you know…" he indicated briefly to his heart. Stefan nodded.

"Are you okay, Damon?" asked Lexi, gently laying a delicate hand on his shoulder, "That must have been really hard for you too."

Damon nodded stiffly, not trusting himself to speak as Stefan handed him a much-needed glass of bourbon and led him to one of the sofas.

Taking a sip of the strong drink, he looked at the two concerned faces in front of him. "She called me 'Daddy'", he said, suddenly unable to contain the smile that spread across his face as he finally allowed himself to consider what that meant to him.

Lexi's hands flew to her face in shocked delight, and Stefan grinned at him, tears of joy threatening to fall. "That's amazing, brother," said Stefan generously, "She really loves you, you know."

Damon nodded, still unable to voice his happiness. Stefan and Lexi moved to sit either side of him on the sofa, and the three of them chatted happily until Stefan stood to go to bed.

"I'm going to stay up a little longer," said Lexi, "fancy a film, Damon?" she asked, missing the raised eyebrows of surprise that Stefan was now sporting. He knew there wasn't much love lost between his brother and Lexi, and was surprised that she seemed to be willingly offering to spend more time with him than absolutely necessary.

Damon shrugged, "sure," he replied. "You pick, I'll go and make us some popcorn." Stefan's eyes followed his brother from the room as he watched in shock, before he shrugged and made his way to bed.

The following morning, Stefan came downstairs to head out to hunt in the early hours before too many humans were awake. Walking through the living room, he spotted Damon lying fast asleep on the sofa, with Lexi laying peacefully on top of him, his arm around her waist and her head tucked under his chin. What on earth is going on, he thought, before deciding that it was none of his business, and if it meant that Damon and Lexi were getting on, that was surely good news. They'd better not still be asleep when I get back, he thought, laughing to himself.