They had been in the rubble for almost 24 hours, and Adam hadn't been able to get Damon to let go of Mimi. Adam understood now. There had been many more incubi than Mimi had told Damon, she had been poisoned by the demon and sacrificed herself for them. Adam had been listening to Magnum's voice for 5 hours and knew this would not be an easy discovery for anyone. Somehow, what made it worse was the Mimosa sitting next to Damon, which somehow made it all more real. Mimi was dead. The immortal was dead and the last words Adam had said had been screaming and yelling. Damon blamed himself because he had programmed the song and Mimi had been caught and hadn't been able to fight back.
Eventually, Magnum got the boulders out and saw the situation, but he controlled himself and said to Damon. " You have to give Mimi up now. Just give her to me. Let's see if we can do anything." Damon didn't give up. Magnum was forced to hit Damon with a strong anesthetic and they took Mimi's body on a stretcher and took Damon to the car. Magnum said to Adam " The fae that Mimi saved want to help, but I don't know what it will help. But let's try." The first energy fae came and went inside Mimi and then the next one. And the next until all the rescued had gone inside Mimi. Mimi's chest moved and she coughed. Adam couldn't believe his eyes. He could hear Mimi's pulse and breathing even though they were weak and labored. Magnum called Samuel to the scene. Samuel's eyes were still wet and he couldn't believe his ears either. Then he got himself together and started to see what he could do to help Mimi first. Mimi was barely alive and they went to the nearest house where she could get the best treatment. That would be Chicago, a three-hour drive.
When Damon started to wake up, he didn't want to be awake because Mimi was gone. The void of no longer feeling Mimi's soul was something he didn't want to feel. Adam had to explain three times before Damon realized that Mimi was barely alive. They were on their way to Chicago. They would soon arrive Samuel and Mimi were in a different car than Damon and Adam. Damon had never felt so relieved. Such joy. He knew Mimi's condition wasn't good, but it was better than dead. So fucking much better.
They arrived in Chicago and Samuel had already taken Mimi to medbay. Damon rushed there with Adam. Mimi was threadbare, and Samuel estimated 22 kilos. The incubus had literally eaten her alive. Samuel was dripping fluids and food, the incubator was warming up. A large gash running from shoulder to hip was deep and inflamed, poisoned. Samuel was worried about whether Mimi had enough strength. That they wouldn't run out again. Now it was time to watch and wait again. A day and Mimi weakened. Damon couldn't take it anymore. Samuel said Mimi might get worse before she got better, but Damon knew what he had to do. There was an old vampire way that vampires used to save their mates. Energy transfer. Heart to heart. When Samuel went to eat, Damon went to the medbay and lifted Mimi into bed from the incubator. He stripped naked and got next to Mimi so that their hearts were facing each other. Then Damon concentrated and felt the first strap form between their hearts, then the second. soon they had an energy cord and Damon fell asleep holding Mimi.
I woke up in a hospital bed in someone's arms. Damon. This is weird. I could still feel the demon wound burning and I was really weak, but not as weak as I had been since the incubus attack. Damon was sleeping next to me, holding me pretty tight. I tried to move and the grip around me tightened, Damon muttered in my ear," No you're not taking her, Mimi is mine, I'm not putting her down. " Oh well I guess I was dead then, sort of, but I'm not now. I got my hands free and started stroking Damon and talking to him. " Shh, I'm not running away, Damon I'm right here. Do you feel me? It's ok. " Damon started to calm down, coughed and opened his eyes, and looked at me like he hadn't seen me in centuries. He held onto me as if to make sure I wasn't lost somewhere. Then he said "Mimi, my love, don't you ever fucking do that again. You were dead for 24 hours. I didn't feel you anymore. Now I'm not going to let you go anywhere for a while. Like a century. " I smiled and said "I'm not going. I don't think I'm quite up to it yet. How did that demon sword cut go so deep?" Damon just held on to me and then I heard it again. He started purring, and loudly. So loud that I fell asleep.
Samuel came to check on the situation and found that Mimi was stable, but weak and in desperate need of food and warmth. Well there she was in Damon's arms and he was purring all the time, keeping Mimi asleep with his purring. Bran came over to Samuel and watched for a moment. He asked "What is Mimi's condition? What should we do next?" Samuel sighed and said "Mimi could take nourishment and that wound should be looked at, but as you can see, the Salvatore will not let go. Growls if you get too close and causes mental stress. " Bran sighed and said " Fine, do what you have to do, then put Damon to sleep. Take care of Mimi." Bran walked away. When Samuel had come upstairs the day before in frustration it had taken Bran almost a day to get Samuel to tell him what the problem was. Well, at least now it would be sorted and not cause any problems.
Samuel loaded a strong anesthetic into a syringe and managed to get it into Damon's shoulder without him even noticing. When the purring stopped after fifteen minutes, Bran came and took Damon away with Charles. Samuel didn't even ask where. He lifted the sleepy Mimi into the incubator and put some food on her IV. He also first put a strong anesthetic drip on her and waited until she was properly unconscious. He began to clean up the wound made by the demon and it was a long and slow process. He also stitched up the internal organs because Mimi was asleep and was still extremely weak, although she was no longer in danger. He didn't want Mimi to waste energy growing new organs. Once he had repaired all the internal damage and stitched up the wound, he put Mimi back in the incubator because she was not yet able to control her body temperature. Bran and Charles delivered Damon to Australia where they had seen the one incubus, the king, who had survived. Damon went after it and Bran was pleased. Samuel called Bran when he started getting requests to deal with the epidemic. Now Mimi would need a nurse.
A week had passed and Mimi had spiked a fever and could no longer be kept in the incubator. Bran came and Samuel showed him what to do. Bran moved Mimi to Montana while he was busy. The house was pretty empty and Mimi would sleep anyway. No problem. Samuel had shown and given all the meds and dosages to go with it. Bran would work and he'd put Mimi in one of the bedrooms, and he could hide the drip tray. Now, if she happened to wake up in the middle of the night. Bran wasn't expecting any trouble and he had his hands full anyway working with moron alphas who didn't know how to handle boundary disputes.
I woke up in a strange place by myself. In bed. After a while of sniffing and listening, I decided I was in Bran's Montana house. But why. I felt cold and uneasy and restless. I started to move. I couldn't stand on my feet and started crawling across the floor to find the bathroom. Finally, I found one and I got to the toilet to pee. I thought I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere and I fell asleep. I woke up to someone waking me up. Bran. Bran asked me a question and it took a while for the question to sink in. he asked " Are you done yet, do you need a wipe?" Yeah, I said, "Yeah I'm ready, I don't think I need to, I just piss." Bran took the paper and wiped and muttered that I hadn't just pissed. Oh no, I didn't think I had shat. Bran helped me up and tried to carry me to bed, but when my legs ran out of strength he had to carry me. He put the drip down my back and explained how Samuel had slipped the drip under my skin so that I couldn't reach it. Stupid. Bran put it in place and walked away. I lay in bed without a blanket, even though I was really cold. Bran didn't give me a blanket because I had a fever and it would help cool things down before the fever medicine in the drip would kick in. And it did.
I was sweaty and dirty. Wet. Bran came in at one point and unhooked the drip again. and walked away. Then the fever started to rise again and I was lying in my now damp bedding. I got out of bed and started dragging all the wet ones on the floor. Fine then let's take care of ourselves. I climbed into the bathroom and got one hand towel dampened so I could at least wipe myself a little. I stayed on the toilet floor when I ran out of strength. I found Bran pulling me up and trying to get me back to the bed, where, miraculously, my clean bedclothes had arrived. No, after another drip. I lay in bed, always powerless, and I didn't feel any better. Not a drop. I slept in a half-slumber now and then and always went on the move. The bed was wet, the wound was sore, and Samuel had glued the bandage on so I couldn't get the stitches out but it ached. The fever made me feel super cold and I was trying to get away from it. I was cold. Then I saw a bathtub with a plug in it. I got the water really hot and got in the tub. It was wonderful. Every time the water got cold I'd put the water out and put new water in, then I'd get tired and fall asleep.
Bran thought this is not going to work. He had a lot of work, phone calls and everything, Mimi was impossible. Couldn't stay in bed at all, and after a week of Bran taking care of her, well, he started to get a better handle on things. Then Mimi had found a bath and thank goodness she hadn't cooled down, still running a really bad fever of 49.8. Bran carried Mimi to bed and left her naked to cool down while he got rid of the plugs. He then put a nightgown and sheet on Mimi. luckily the temperature had dropped to 46.5. He put the fever strip and anesthetic drip back on. Mimi wouldn't wake up right away. There were other ways he could give himself a moment's peace. When Mimi started to move, he went to help and snapped her neck. Mimi's recovery was slow, so this stunt guaranteed almost half a day of unhindered working time. Bran hoped Samuel would be back soon.
I woke up to someone talking to me. I was back on the floor. Damon, he was talking in my head. "'Baby, are you okay? Where are you anyway?" I thought back " Bran's in Montana, I'm not feeling well, my wound hurts, fever, my neck hurts, Bran probably snaps my neck once a day or something. I'm laying on the floor now and waiting to see if he comes to pick me up again sometime or if it's neck snapping time again." Damon was quiet and said softly " Baby, I'm coming. I want to fool Bran in the act itself. So that Samuel can get the real evidence. He would have let me handle you, but no. Well, now you see. I'm sorry, baby, that you're in a really bad way, but just hang in there a little while longer." I thought back "I can take it. I'm an expert at crawling on floors, remember."
The feeling of Damon disappeared from my head and I rested or slept. Bran came back to lift me up on the bed and gave me some juice. My mouth was so dry that I drank it all quickly and then the double vision started. Oh fuck. Chloral hydrate. I couldn't help it. I woke up somewhere in between, I didn't feel sick, I just felt medicated. I was restless again and went to the floor, I was also sweaty and wet because I had obviously been given a fever medicine. I tried to go to the toilet and the door was shut, miraculously I managed to pull myself upright to get the door open. I went into the shower and managed to get the water running.
I got myself at least somewhat wet and it gave the illusion of cleanliness. I crawled on the bathroom floor and managed to pull the towel down. I sat on the cold hard tile floor and dried myself powerlessly. I heard voices. Damon and Bran, and Samuel. They were quite agitated. Damon came into the room and I heard him talking to Bran with extreme silkiness although I couldn't hear the words. Someone opened the bathroom door and Bran came over to me and said " Again, come back to bed. Oh my god, you are impossible. Bran didn't seem to notice at all that Damon was fucking mad, and Samuel too. He pulled me to my feet and started dragging me toward the wet bed. Damon leaned against the door with a deceptively calm demeanor, and I could tell by the movement of his fingers that he was keeping himself firmly under control.
Bran dragged me to the dirty wet bed and without even giving me a sheet, he put the drip back on and turned to face the men. "Now missy's back in bed, now we could go, even to dinner," Bran said. Damon straightened up and said " That bed is wet, sweaty, dirty. Mimi hasn't been washed, that wound hasn't been looked at, and that bandage has been wet more than once. Mim hurts, she's not feeling well. Just because a lady has a fever doesn't give you the right not to give her a blanket, or not to wash her. Now I took Mimi elsewhere for treatment right away. Samuel, you might want to think twice next time about who you trust to look after Mimi." Damon came to me and removed the drip. He said "Poor baby. I'm taking you to California now and I'll fix you up there. It'll take a while to drive, but I'll see if I can make you feel any better. " Damon lifted me up and put me in Samuel's arms and said dangerously. "How many kilos has Mimi lost this week, Samuel? Don't be fucking lazy and go off to investigate some fun epidemic if one of the pack is sick. Bran is apparently not the nursing type at all. as I said. Maybe next time you'll think twice before you separate us. Follow me and I'll make Mimi at least a little more comfortable. And don't worry if she shakes, it's nothing but a fever!" Damon was really mad. What I found strange was that Mimosa could still be detached from me and walk, close to Damon.
Damon led Samuel into another room and said "That'll do for a minute, now baby, the first thing is a bath, the water will feel cool because your fever is so damn high, but it will clean you up when I wash you. Then I'm going to look at your wound and give you quite a lot of dental treatment because I've got a pretty damn hard pressure on my head already. Okay?" I nodded. And my neck hurt, I winced, and Damon asked. "Where does it hurt?" I said, " My neck is really sore." Samuel came over to me and put his hand on my neck and felt. He looked at Damon and he came over to feel it too. He was extremely gentle and yet I winced when he seemed to find the tender spots. He looked at me and said " Your neck has been broken several times and it hasn't ossified properly. Now your neck is weak and can break if you make the wrong move. You just have to take this into account. Don't panic. Samuel will get you one of our neck braces to let us take care of you a little." Damon held my head still long enough for Samuel to get one of the neck supports and slip it around my neck. It wasn't comfortable, but it kept my neck from breaking all by itself.
Damon went to lower the bath and then carried me in. The water was freezing cold. Or at least it felt that way. But then you got used to it. Damon washed me a couple of times, grew my hair really long, and cut off all the dirt. He picked me up out of the bath and put me on a towel on the bed. Samuel had brought jars into which Damon apparently poured black velvet, and lots of it and thick. Then he said " Now baby, let's have a look at this wound, I'll give you a good dose of velvet first, then I can't promise where you'll wake up. " He took off my neck brace and sank his teeth into my neck. I felt the velvet start to flow and sleep took over. Finally, I could rest.