Ella heard the doctors talking, but didn't register any of the things they said. They were talking so much that she couldn't possibly remember it all, not even if she had been in a better condition. So instead of listening, the little girl closed her eyes, and did what she always did when things were bad: trying to think of happy things and forget about the bad things. She was getting help, and didn't get hurt when she told Poitr that she was a shapeshifter, so that was a good thing. Still, there were far more bad things than good ones to think of, so it didn't work very well.

Ella wasn't sure how long it had taken them, but eventually they arrived at the hospital, and Ella was brought inside on the cart. She still had no idea of what to do, as it was all new to her. She had never been in a hospital before during her life, at her tribe they had healers who just used the things nature provided for them, and of course, prayer. But this place was nothing like that, nor did any other part of the city seem to have anything in common with her tribe.

Soon enough, she was injected with something that made it harder for her to stay awake, so she simply decided to not fight against it, slipping into unconsciousness.

Poitr walked into the hospital after the detective. He tried to tag along, but was directed to sit in the waiting room. He did overhear the gnome receptionist telling the detective that Ella would be in surgery for a while. The detective left the waiting room, either heading towards the hospital cafeteria or wherever Ella was undergoing surgery.

Poitr took the chance to catch up on his missed calls and texts. To his relief there were none from his wife. He decided to dial her before doing anything else.

She answered on the second ring. "Hi." Even in that one word Poitr could hear the heaviness and strain in her voice. Poitr paused a moment before responding. "I love you, Lindsey." "I- ] love you too." The phone was silent for another few seconds. Lindsey broke the silence. "When will you be home?" Poitr sighed, "I'm not sure. Some crazy stuff has happened today." "Poitr, are you alright?" "Yea. I'll tell you about it when I'm back. I'm still worried about you, how are you feeling?" "Awful. Try to get home soon?" "I'll try. Love you." "Love you too."

Poitr hung up, and realized he got blood on his phone. He headed to the restroom to wash his hands, do his business, then wash his hands again. He decided to check out the hospital cafeteria. Following the signs, he noticed a familiar white robe through a door. He wasn't sure which church leader this was, but if it was one he worked with, he might be able to call in a favor and see Ella. He opened the door and rushed down the corridor to catch up with the person.

"Excuse me!" he called out. The robed figure turned around. The older woman had dark braided hair and grey-blue eyes. She was incredibly small. Poitr recognized her as one of the bishop's assistants. "Why hello Poitr." Her eyes lit up and she bowed towards Poitr. Poitr bowed back. What's her name? The woman sensed Poitr's hesitation"Sister Lazenby. We met at a church fundraiser hosted by the Bishop some months ago. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Poitr explained how he found Ella, leaving out that she was a shapeshifter "I want to know how she's doing, but I'm not family." "I see. Follow me, I'll see what I can do." Poitr thanked the Sister as he followed her towards the OR.

Ella had no clue as to how long she had been unsconscious, but did notice the bandage and stitches. The bleeding had stopped, although she was still hurting, even if not as much as before. At least she was still alive, and she had Poitr to thank for that. She wondered if they would let her see him again. There was someone in the room with her who introduceemd himself as a detective of the church police, asking if he could ask her some questions. Yes, she was human and her attackers were shapeshifters. Yes, the necklace was from of her attackers. Yes, the pendant was hers. No, she couldn't remember what her attackers looked like. No, she had no family they could contact. Her parents were dead and other family members lived too far away. All of it was lied, like Poitr had told her to, except for the last past. She really had no family.

When she had answered all of his questions, the man left, and she was glad he did. She didn't feel safe with him around. When Poitr got back, her eyes lit up and she couldn't help but smile. She wanted to jump out of the bed to hug and thank him, but the doctor had told her to stay calm. Still, when he got close enough, she hugged him tightly, as if she was afraid that he would leave again once she let go of him. "Thank you." She said softly.

Ella's embrace was unexpected, but welcomed. Poitr hugged her back lightly. He was scared of hurting her, and surprised she wasn't hurting herself. Even now that he had protected this child, he felt conflicted. He could push back the fact that she was a shapeshifter, but that was it. The fact lingered over him. He wanted not to care. It seemed silly that shapeshifters be demonized when they had lives and families and felt pain and sorrow and happiness just like humans. He would talk about this with Ella, it felt wrong to hide anything from her when she had been through so much, but not now.

The Sister helped herself into the room. "How sweet." Poitr felt very awkward, and Ella slinked out of the hug. Sister Lazenby was the reason he got past the nurse station without any questions, and the reason they found Ella's room. She also dedicated her life to the reason why Ella was almost killed.

The Sister continued. "It's so good that you're alright, Poitr was very worried about you. Shall we all pray? Poitr leaned over and whispered in Ella's ear "Just a bit longer." He then said "Ella, this is Sister Lazenby. She helped me find what room you were in. She volunteers at the hospital to spend time with the children who are sick. The Sister sat on the bed next to Ella took her hand and Poitr's, and began to pray out loud.

<^.^>

When the woman got inside and commented on the hug, Ella let go of Poitr, looking at her. Poort did give her an explanation about who the woman was, apperently some church member volunteering at the hospital, helping the children. That meant that if Ella had to stay in the hospital, she would be seeing the woman some more times. That didn't sound like something Ella was going to like. The woman suggested to pray, something Ella didn't want at all. But Poitr said it would just be a little longer, and it wasn't like she had a choice.

Still, that didn't stop it from feeling wrong. Everything about that moment was wrong. Praying to a god she didn't worship felt bad, especially as she kept thinking about her own gods the entire prayer long. It was no fair to her gods, nor to the god Poitr and the woman believed in. It felt like betraying her gods, only to lie to another god. That was no good and she would have to make sure no to forget to say sorry when she had time to pray alone again.

So when the woman stopped praying, Ella was glad that she did. She really wanted to stop pretending. She looked at the woman, but made sure to stay close to Poitr, not trusting her.

Poitr could feel the anxiety radiating off of Ella. "Thank you, Sister, for taking the time to help us." "It was my pleasure Poitr. It's good to see you helping others. I'm sure God will reward you, and punish those foul shapeshifters. And Ella, it's good to see you so strong. You're such a brave girl." Poitr noticed a chair at the edge of the room. and brought it close to Ella's bed.

"I had some words with the detective-" So that's why Sister Lazenby entered later. How long was I hugging Ella?. He had seen the detective leaving on the way in. "-he says you don't have any family. The foster system is all church-run. I can make sure you have a good, churchgoing mommy and daddy."

Poitr highly doubted Ella wanted that. She kept moving closer to him as the Sister talked. Poitr moved his chair so he was barely touching the bed, hoping that would be enough to comfort the child.

"Poitr, could I talk to you alone?" Poitr was slightly confused. He got up to follow the Sister out of the room. He looked back at Ella, trying to say 'sorry for leaving' with his eyes.

"I know it's none of my business, but you and your wife have been trying to have a child for a while now, yes?" Poitr nodded. He thought he knew where the sister was going with this. "Well, maybe this is God's way of giving you one?"

Poitr was conflicted. He knew that it would be best for the girl. Anywhere else she went, she would be worried about being discovered. Didn't she have a home? Maybe she lied about her family to the detective.

"This is really sudden. Let me talk to her? " "Sure. I'll do my rounds and check back here. Do you want my number?" They exchanged numbers and Poitr returned to the room. He sat down in the chair. It had been a few hours since he left the bar. The wait for Ella to get out of surgery and the detective to question allowed him to catch up on his work texts and emails, but it hadn't done much to sober him up. He did not want to be drunk right now, but there was nothing he could do about that. He allowed himself to rest his head in his hands and take a few deep breaths before turning to Ella.

"Do you need anything? Water, food?" He planned to just talk with Ella, and at some point ask her where she lived.

Ella looked at the sister, wanting to tell sister Lazenby that she didn't want to participate in any foster care project of the church. She couldn't keep living with people and be secretly scared of them viering her for her whole life! She already hated this short moment of pretending, let alone even longer. She couldn't live like that, it would be awful and she didn't want it.

What sister Lazenby said was true, she had no family who could take care of her. But even then, being all alone still had to be better living in a church family? She lived in the forest now and there was not really somebody in the tribe who could take care of her, even if there was a really nice werewolf every time it was full moon, but she had no choice, she couldn't be living in a family and be scared every moment she was with them.

Poitr and sister Lazenby left for a moment, but he was back soon again. She once more cuddled up against him as close as she possibly could. Being around him she felt safe, he knew what had really happened. She didn't have to lie to him and he had saved her. She hadn't felt like this since her mother had died, actually. There was always someone who could take care of her, but this still felt different.

They finally had some time to themselves. Poitr could tell Ella was much calmer and more comfortable. He felt the same way. Poitr decided to talk. He told Ella about his life: his wife, his upbringing, his job.

Poitr had met his wife, Lindsey, a few years before through a mutual friend. They were both at a party they didn't want to be at and had connected. Poitr told Ella that she had the same beautiful hair as Lindsey.

Poitr had grown up well-off, raised by a single dad. His dad at first dabbled in drugs and alcohol. Poitr knew he used, but never saw him high. He wasn't abusive, but he wasn't there for Poitr either. Poitr went to school for business and English. When Poitr was twenty his dad overdosed, and he inherited a failing restaurant. He dropped out of university and quickly turned around the restaurant, and soon bought another.

After years of being a small business owner, Poitr saved up enough, sold all but one of his restaurants, took out a loan, and bought a local newspaper, called "The City."

A nurse came in to check on Ella, interrupting Poitr. She asked Ella some questions, checked her vitals, and left.

Ella listened to Poitr's story. He had a lot to tell and to her, it was very interesting to hear, but maybe that was just because his life was so different from the lives of all the other people she knew. When he was done talking, she told him about her own life in return, even though she felt like she didn't have that much to tell.

She grew up knowing both of her parents. Her father could change into a tiger and her mother into a deer. She spent a lot of time with her mother, as her father was one of the shapeshifters who protected the tribe, and because of that he was often busy with his job. Her mother, like most women in their tribe, didn't have such a position, so had a lot of time to take care of Ella instead.

Her father died once while he was on a mission to protect the tribe when Ella was almost three, but Ella never got to know what exactly had happened to him. Soon after that, her mother died when the tribe was attacked by human hunters, which was when Ella learned that humans hated them so much, even though she still didn't know why.

During that attack, she had also become friends with who had to be the only friend she had in her life so far. While the tribe was attacked, Ella was told to hide, and when she got into a hollow tree, she found that there was already a boy in there, two years older than she was. He let her stay, and they hid there together until it was safe again. He told her that his name was Silas and that he could change into a crow. The boy had lost his mother too during the attack, but still had his father to take care of him.

She also told Poitr about the werewolf that would show up every full moon. A lot of werewolves hid in the forest when it was full moon, but there was one in particular who would always visit her and make sure that she was still okay. Every time, he would stay with her once he had found her and protected her all night long. His fur was like a soft, warm blanket.

That was really all she could think of to tell to Poitr. She was much younger than he was, so she didn't have as much to tell, neither. At least, that's how it seemed to the little girl.

The nurse came in again. She checked Ella's vitals, and asked her some standard questions, but this time she didn't leave immediately. "Are you signed in on the visitor list? I checked and didn't see anyone here for Ella." "Uh, no. Sister Lazenby brought me here." "Okay. It's not a problem. Just before you leave sign in at the nurse's station up front. Are you her father?" Poitr was tempted to lie, but he figured it would create more problems than it solved. "No. I'm the one who found her."

From the initial face the nurse made, Poitr thought he would be asked to leave. "We're only supposed to let relatives visit for minors, and there hasn't been enough time for you to be okayed by her parents-" "She has no parents, no legal guardian." "I see. Let me get Sister Lazenby."

Poitr was surprised the nurse went for the Sister and not a head nurse. It wasn't long before the nurse and Sister returned. "Hello Poitr, have you given any more consideration to what we talked about in the hallway?" "I have to talk with Lindsey." "That's not a problem, but there is a time limit. I can't put off the foster care process for very long. Can you be back here in the morning?"

It took Poitr a moment to realize the Sister was politely asking him to leave. The nurse was holding the visitor's log out for Poitr. He took it and scribbled down his information.

He turned to Ella. "We'll have breakfast tomorrow morning, okay? Stay strong, you're doing great."l

Ella looked up to Poitr and nodded. She didn't want him to leave. If he left, she would be all alone in a hospital filled with humans who were supposed to hate her, and only helped her because they didn't know that she was actually a shapeshifter. That was no nice thought at all, especially not considering the fact that when Poitr left, the only person in this place willing to protect her despite her species, would leave. Before he left, Ella gave Poitr a quick hug.

Once he had left, Ella hardly said anything. She answered any questions the nurse and the sister still had for her, but that was all she willingly said to them. It wouldn't been too hard to tell that the girl was scared, or at least timid towards them. She had to try her best to not cower away under the blanket of the hospital bed every time someone got into the room. She knew that may seem odd, but she couldn't help it. She was just too terrified.

Poitr took a cab home. He had a lot to catch up on for work. And he had to have a serious conversation with Lindsey. He scripted out a few lines of dialogue with Lindsey in his head, but he had no idea how to bring Ella up or how Lindsey would react. They had talked about adoption before but decided against it. That had been after the second miscarriage.

He decided that worrying over the conversation wouldn't help anything now. He took out his phone and began responding to the six unread texts and more than fifty unread emails for work, but not before sending a text to Lindsey letting her know he'd be home soon.

---

The following morning, Poitr pulled up to the hospital in his car, alone. Lindsey had told him - sincerely - to do what he thought was best. She hadn't wanted to miss another day of work. There was a big merger going on, and she couldn't afford to miss more meetings while still being an integral part of the merger. Poitr had secretly hoped that Lindsey would decide about Ella one way or the other - it would take a burden off of his conscious. He still hadn't told her that Ella was a shapeshifter.

He met Sister Lazenby in the visitor's area as planned. After a brief greeting, they went to meet Ella for breakfast. Sister Lazenby didn't push Poitr about the decision yet.

Wanting to be able to know what was going om around her now that she was in a place surrounded by humans Ella had been trying to stay awake the whole night long, which resulted in the little girl calling asleep much later than usual and still being asleep when Poitr got back to the hospital the next morning.

By then, she was pretty sure most of the staff had figured out that she was scared and timid, though maybe they'd mistake it for her just being shy. She hoped they did, but it wouldn't make much difference. They still didn't know that she was a shapeshifter, so everything was still good. She just hoped that she would be allowed to leave. Then she could finally stop pretending. To the little girl, that would be a huge relief.

Seeing Ella asleep, Poitr went to the cafeteria to get her breakfast. He had no idea what she would like. What did Shapeshifters eat? What did Ella change into? He got two plates of an array of veggies, fruits, eggs, bacon, sausage, and homefries. Whatever Ella didn't eat, he would. The fruit and veggies weren't quite fresh, and all the food wasn't great quality. Poitr worried about Ella not liking it. He should have thought to stop at a diner.

Poitr returned to Ella's room. Sister Lazenby was nowhere to be found. He thinks the Sister might still be getting breakfast. He didn't want to wake Ella, but he had to worry about time and the breakfast getting cold.

Poitr brushed some hair out of Ella's face and tucked it behind her ear, then shook her by the shoulder lightly. "Good morning Ella."

Hearing Poitr's voice the girl woke up slowly, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning Poitr." She responded sleepily, not exactly fully awake just yet. She did notice that Poitr had came over, like he promised, and that there was nobody else in the room just yet. To her, that was perfectly good.

She liked being around him. With Poitr, she didn't have to pretend about who she was, in order to stay alive, and not to mention, he actually had saved her life. There was nobody she'd be safer with than with him, and she knew that. She just quietly hoped that he could stay for at least a while. The hospital was less scary place when he was with her. Smiling, the little girl hugged him again.

"Where do you want to go once you leave here?" Poitr wanted to ask her before Sister Lazenby showed up. "Do you want to try to go back to the forest?" Poitr thought that, if needed, he could smuggle her out. Or if he had to, adopt her then have her run away... that would be hard to explain to Lindsey, though. "If you wanted, you could come live with me in my house."

More than anything else, Poitr was anxious. He had no idea what to expect now that he put the offer out there. He cared for this girl, there was no doubt about that. He knew that he wanted to protect her. Would that be enough? Would Ella fit in? Would Poitr and Lindsey be what Ella needed? He promised himself that, if she said yes, he would do his best to be a great father. He wouldn't ignore her, like his own father did. He would put Ella in front of work if the need be, even if it meant hiring someone else to pick up his responsibilities.

Ella had to say that she had been worried about where to go next. Everyone she knew lived in the forest, but she had nobody there to take care of her. They were unable to do so, already having their own offspring to take care of, if not they had other things in their life to deal with. But if she'd stay here, she would get adopted by people she had to be scared of her entire life... Going back to the forest would be the best option.

That was, until he offered her to live with him and his wife. When she heard that, she looked at him with her eyes widened. "Do you want to take care of me?" She asked, as if that was such an unbelievable thing. If she lived with him, she didn't have to be scared of anything anymore and she would have a family again, too. But she wouldn't be able to see her friend anymore... "If I live with you, can I still go see my friend?" She asked.

Poitr smiled. "Yes, I do want to take care of you. And Lauren does too. She doesn't know that you're a shapeshifter yet, but I'm positive she will understand."

Poitr thought carefully about Ella's request. "The werewolf or the boy?" The thought of seeing a werewolf, or even just Ella seeing a werewolf, made Poitr uncomfortable. "I can promise to try. People here might notice if we try to go into the forest, especially if it's every full moon." The boy on the other hand didn't make Poitr feel uneasy. What did was going deep into the forest. "I'm just worried. We don't want anyone catching on."

Poitr realized his paranoia might not be the best thing for Ella right now. "When we're at my house - our house - you won't have to be worried. You can be yourself." The idea that she was a shapeshifter still made Poitr slightly uneasy, but the idea that Ella could actually become part of his family grew on him more and more.

"The boy, Silas. He's a shapeshifter." Ella clarified for Poitr, also reminding him that her friend was a shapeshifter, even though that may not have been something necessary to say. She had already told him, after all, and it wasn't something one would forget that fast.

His question did remind her about the werewolf, however. She hadn't thought of him before. She didn't see him as much as Silas, but every full loon was still a lot, and what if he would want to visit her but couldn't find her in the forest? He wouldn't know, and he'd be worried for sure. Maybe she should visit to tell him that she was alright, if she could find out where he lived.

He also mentioned that his wife didn't know that she was a shapeshifter and even though he said that she'd understand, it made Ella worried. What if she didn't understand? Would she get mad, like the other people? "But what if she doesn't? Will Lindsey still want to take care of me if she knows I'm a shapeshifter?" She asked seriously, obviously uncertain and scared, not knowing what to expect.