Damon sits by Ana's bedside. He's been there since the night of the fire, only leaving her side when it was absolutely necessary. Taking over the Phoenix group was time consuming, but most of it he could do there at the hospital. Calum takes care of what he can outside of the hospital, but there are times when he has to deal with the problems. People have learned to not bother him unless it was truly important. He isn't known to be patient at the best of times. He'd been feared even before his father died. Now that he's in charge they are terrified of him.

They don't understand why he spends so much time with the girl that he took in.

"Damon, what are you going to do with her?" Calum is the only one that dares to question Damon about her. Damon has made it clear that she is a topic that is off limits.

"That will depend on her," Damon replies. "I'll be giving her a choice once she wakes up."

"It's been almost a month Damon, the chances are that she won't be waking up," Calum says gently. He doesn't understand the obsession Damon is showing towards this chit of a girl.

"She'll wake up. Then she'll have to make a choice," Damon says looking at the girl with compassion.

"What kind of choice does she have?" Calum demands. She had been given to Damon's father, that makes her Damon's. Add in that Damon saved her life, which Calum still didn't understand.

"To either live with me or go into the foster system."

"You're letting her decide? She's yours, Damon, you get to decide." Calum stares at Damon in disbelief. Slaves don't get to decide whether or not they are slaves. If they did there wouldn't be any slaves.

"She doesn't belong in this life Calum, I won't force her into it. Yes, she gets to choose." Damon looks up from his study of the girl to look at his right hand man. "She isn't a slave, Calum. But she is mine."

Calum is now thoroughly confused. "If she isn't a slave then how is she yours?"

Damon gives a slight smile before returning to the papers Calum had brought to him. "She just is. If she chooses to live with me she will be raised as if she is my sister. There won't be any treating her as a slave." 

Calum shakes his head even as he takes the papers Damon gives back to him. Damon gives him some instructions and some time later Calum leaves to do his friends bidding.

"Ana, you need to wake up now," Damon urges. The doctors were trying to get orders to take her off of life support since she doesn't have any family to fight for her.

Damon repeats himself over and over as he gently caresses her face.

There is a flutter of her eyes that pulls Damon's attention to her eyes. Slowly they open and Damon finds himself staring into the deepest blue eyes he's ever seen.

"Who are you?" Ana asks softly, her voice dry from disuse. 

Damon ignores her question and helps her sit up and gives her a drink of water that he keeps fresh. Ana takes a long drink before returning her attention to the strange man helping her.

"Where am I?" Ana tries a different question.

"You're in the hospital," Damon replies as he settles her back on the bed.

"Why?"

"Don't you remember?" Damon demands.

"I don't remember anything. Who are you?"

"His name is Damon," Calum states staring at the girl. "He saved your life."

The girl tears her eyes from Damon to Calum at his words. "I am Calum, his friend."

"Who are you two? Where are my parents? Why am I in the hospital?" Ana is starting to get upset that her questions are being ignored. Calum goes to answer but at Damon's upraised hand he closes his mouth once more.

"My father brought me and Calum to your house about a month ago. We met briefly before I fought with my father and left the house. Your father had had you dance for us trying to get my father interested in you to pay his debts. Your father gave you to my father and your mother didn't say a word.

"I told my father what to do and he didn't like it much. I and Calum left the house, shortly afterwards I heard a muffled shot and I went back inside. My father had killed your mother. My father forced you to take a knife and slice your father's throat. Then he told you to shower. While you were doing that he started the house on fire and had every intention of burning you alive."

Ana's eyes had widened a bit, but no other emotion passed over her face. Damon hides his smirk, but Calum doesn't hide his reaction at all. He's horrified that the girl doesn't react after learning that she killed her father.

"So why am I alive here then?" Her soft child's voice breaks the silence that has descended on the room after Damon's words.

"I pulled you out of the burning house," Damon replies his voice just as soft as hers.

"So, I belong to you now?" Again her lack of emotion makes Calum shiver, but this time Damon smiles at her.

"In a way. My father threw away his chance when he tried to kill you. You aren't a slave as your father had intended when he gave you to my father."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Damon, I don't understand."

"Just Damon, Ana. I'm giving you a choice. You can go into the foster system and you will never see me again."

"Or? If there is a choice there has to be at least two things to choose from." Ana demands. Damon is delighted. This child is far more mature than her years would indicate.

"Or you live with me. You would be like my sister, and when you age out, you will be able to choose to remain with me or go out on your own." Damon tells her delightedly.

"What's the downside?" Ana demands.

Damon smirks at her insight. "I'm not a good man, Ana. I killed my first man when I was about your age and have killed many others since, my father being the last one." Calum stares at Damon. He admitted to a child that he was a killer, that he killed his own father.

"Why?" Is all Ana says.

"Because of what he did to you. You didn't deserve to die like that."

Ana looks at him in confusion. "My father thought so."

Now it's Damon's turn to look confused. "What do you mean?"

Ana looks down and away before looking Damon in the eye, "He told me many times that he should just kill me because I'm worthless. Then he would have me strip and he'd touch me."

Damon stills and Calum fights the urge to gag.

"How did he touch you little one?" Damon is fighting his desire to kill right now.

Ana takes Damon's hand and places it, "He would take his hand like this after having me strip. Then he'd stick his finger inside me. It hurt, his finger was so big there was almost always blood afterwards."

Damon looks over to Calum and Calum can tell that Damon is furious. He rarely sees the tick in Damon's jaw, but when he does nothing good ever happens. "Get the fucking doctor in here." Calum just nods and all but races out of the door.

Ana shrinks back in her bed at his angry words. Damon fights for control over his emotions even as he tries to reassure the terrified girl. "It's alright, Ana, I'm not angry at you. Is that all that was done to you?"

"No. I had a friend, a neighbor, he taught me how to play soccer. But my father when he saw me having fun with him started talking to him. He started giving him beer and watching movies where the female screams a lot. Then he started touching me in front of my friend and asked my friend if he wanted to do the same. My friend started touching me too. 

"The last thing I remember is him pushing his finger in so hard that something hurt really bad and there was blood. I hurt after that, I could hardly move. Once I was told I could leave I had to crawl out of that room and crawl up the stairs to my room. I don't remember anything after that."

Just as she finishes the doctor comes in. Damon moves out of the way so that the doctor could talk to Ana and check on things.

When Ana tells her that she doesn't remember anything of what happened, "That's not unknown with such severe cases of smoke inhalation. It's possible that your memory will return in time." Ana actually hopes it doesn't if what Damon says is true. She doesn't want to remember her parents selling her into slavery or seeing their deaths, or killing her father.

"She was sexually abused doctor," Damon says breaking into her thoughts.

The doctor looks over at Damon sharply, "Are you sure?"

"She just told me. I didn't know before or I would have mentioned it earlier." Damon says once more angry at what had been done to Ana. He's going to find out who that kid is and he's going to pay for what he did to Ana.

The doctor is now talking to Ana, "I need to do an exam to see how much damage was done to you. The exam is uncomfortable for older females, it's likely to be very uncomfortable, if you wish I'll have a nurse come in to hold your hand. Mr. Phoenix, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Damon moves to leave when Ana's cry stops him. "I don't want him to leave. I want to hold his hand or I won't have the exam."

Damon looks over to the doctor and at her shrug he returns to Ana's side. The doctor leaves to get whatever she needs for the exam.

"I really shouldn't be here, it's rather invasive and private." Damon says in the silence of the room.

"I don't trust anyone else." Ana says flatly.

Damon is amused. "So you trust a killer?"

"You saved my life." Ana doesn't need to say anymore than that.