The Newest Salvatore

Chapter 26

Damon looked down at Ottilie as she slept soundly, relieved that she was now resting better than she had been when she first came back from the hospital. Watching her chest rise and fall gently, he remembered her nightmares, the screaming and heart wrenching hyperventilating that accompanied them, the sobs as she clung to him for dear life, begging for reassurance that Elena was indeed out of their lives.

"Do you trust me, little lady?" he'd said gently, smoothing her curls from her clammy forehead after one of her nightmares. She'd nodded, sniffling, "then I promise you, she is gone, and she can never hurt you again." Reassured, she'd fall asleep quickly, exhausted by the nightmares and her recent health scare.

Damon sighed; if only reassuring Stefan was so simple. His brother was wallowing in guilt that he'd let things get so far with Elena, and that he'd trusted her with his little niece, which almost resulted in the worst possible outcome. Like Ottilie, he was having nightmares, but he never told Damon what they were about. Night after night, he relived catching his weightless niece from her fall from the roof, carrying her into the house and having to try and get her breathing again. And it was all his fault. He could barely bring himself to visit the little girl in her room where she had been recuperating for the past week. Damon had been strict on preventing her from overexerting herself, and so he waited on her hand and foot, taking her meals, her schoolwork, books etc to keep her occupied. Stefan had been to see her once before the guilt of her pale face and frail frame became too much and he had to excuse himself, leaving the room almost in tears.

"Damon," asked Ottilie one morning, as they sat in her room reading. "Have I done something to upset Stefan?"

Damon looked up sharply and moved from his seat by the window to perch on the edge of her bed, setting his book down next to hers. "Stefan is very upset about what happened with you and Elena, Otti," he said, choosing his words carefully. "But he is definitely not upset with you, okay?"

The little girl nodded. "Can I see him? If he doesn't want to come and talk to me, maybe I could go and talk to him?"

Damon scrunched his nose up, thinking fast about how to deal with her request. He really didn't want her up and about yet, and the doctor had been adamant about her not walking any further than to the bathroom and back, which she was only just managing.

"I'll talk to Stefan," he said gently, "I'm sure he does want to talk to you! He's just been very...busy... at the moment." Busy beating himself up about her... he thought, wryly.

Later that afternoon, Damon found Stefan in the kitchen, preparing a meal for Damon to take up to Ottilie. "Why don't you take it up?" asked Damon, keeping his tone light. His brother shook his head.

"She won't want to see me, Damon. I'm the reason that she's stuck up there."

Damon scoffed, "You've no idea, brother, do you? She's been asking to see you all week! She's desperate for her uncle. She thinks you're cross with her!"

Stefan looked up from the food prep, shocked. "Why would she think that?"

Damon shrugged, "Well I don't know, Stefan," he said sarcastically, "let's think – she's bed bound, you haven't been to visit, and.... Oh I know – she's 12 and can't think of any other reason why when she's ill, her favourite uncle won't go to see her! I'm going out for the afternoon – take her the food!!" He threw his hands up, exasperated and left the room, leaving Stefan to continue making the food, deep in thought.

Having finished the meal and laid it out on a tray, Stefan took a deep breath before starting to climb the stairs to Ottilie's room. He knocked lightly on the door, and heard a quiet reply, "Damon? I'm really sorry, I..." He opened the door quickly, worried now, and found Ottilie sat on the floor of her room, seemingly unable to get back up again.

Her face lit up on seeing him. "Uncle Stefan!" she cried happily.

Stefan set the tray of food down and hurried over to her. "What are you doing on the floor, baby?" he asked gently, checking to see whether she was hurt.

Ottilie bit her lip and looked guiltily at the floor. "Well, I was trying to practice walking again, as I can't go very far at the moment. And I wanted to walk to find you."

Stefan swallowed stiffly, the guilt resurfacing that she had risked being hurt again for him. "I'm so sorry, Otti," he said sadly, gathering up her gently and carrying her back to bed. "I'm so sorry that you keep getting hurt because of me."

She looked up at him, her little face a picture of confusion as she tried to understand why he thought it was his fault. "Because of you?" she asked.

"I should never have trusted Elena. She treated you so badly, and has ever since she met you. I should have put an end to it earlier and this," he gestured to her sitting in bed, "would never have happened."

"But you love her," replied Ottilie, as if it were the most simple thing in the world, and the reason to do anything.

"Loved her," corrected Stefan. "I could never love her again after what she did to you. You and Damon are the most important people in my life, Otti, please never forget that."

She smiled and threw her arms around him. "And you and Damon are mine!" she whispered happily into his ear.

"Right, let's get you fed!" said Stefan, handing her the tray of food, which she looked at in delight. "You are even tinier than normal – if you're not careful, I won't be able to see you anymore!" He teased her as she took a big bite of her meal, grinning contentedly as she tasted it.

Stefan turned to leave to her to, before a question suddenly sprung to mind. "Otti," he said cautiously, "why did you save Elena? You most of known that stopping her from falling would have caused you to fall?"

Ottilie paused from devouring the delicious food and looked straight at him. "I knew that you couldn't save us both, and I didn't want you to have to choose between us. So I chose for you so you wouldn't have to feel any guilt." She shrugged as if it were the simplest thing in the world, and returned to eating.

Stefan stared at his little niece in shock. How could someone so young understand such a dire situation, and make such a profound, selfless decision? Lost for words, he said the only thing he felt that he could without bursting into tears. "Thank you, Otti. I love you." He said quietly, leaving the room before she could see him cry.

"Love you too, Uncle Stefan!" came her little voice after him.