They went back downstairs. Damon always briefly recounted some memory. How he or Damien had broken Lady's front leg outside to get Mimi, or how they had lounged on the couch so many nights, how he had first taught Mimi to be cuddled and taught Mimi intimacy.

Mariella said nothing. She watched the energies at the same time, trying to think what evil would come here in the future. They reached the stairs leading downstairs and began to descend.

Soon they came to a long white corridor with double doors at one end like an operating theatre. Damon began to walk towards them. Clearly steeling himself. Mariella followed, curious. What could be so extraordinary about a pharmaceutical feeling? Mariella was once again confused. Mimi would be medicated, what could be so bad about it?

I heard voices. The doors opened. Great now someone will come here and find me. Fine just need some reassurance that I'm okay. I wonder if it's Samuel. He might be able to help. Although he's been so distant and cold lately.

No shit, it's that fucking Salvatore over there with his wife. Yeah, I wonder if Damon saw the decor in our bedroom. I wonder if he liked it. Now we gotta get some steel. I hurriedly stripped myself of two sweaters and two of Adam's sweatshirts. I dropped them on the floor and stuffed them under the bed.

The cold crept up on me and at the same time, I felt my sugars dipping again. I grabbed another couple of sugar cubes from my sleeve and chewed them. Then I took one more sugar pill to melt in my mouth. The steps were getting closer.

Muffled speech. Then someone pulled aside the curtain. I calmly looked Damon straight in the eye and tried to contain my rage and the equally sudden urge to crawl into a hiding place for safety.

I knew that wasn't Damien, but the medications, infection, and fatigue always threw me off balance. I gathered myself again. I'm in fine attitude. It helps. Ice queen. Even better.

They went through the doors and into the medbay. There were machines and equipment and to the left were incubators in rows of three. On the right side of the hall was a curtain, behind it were patient beds.

At the back of the hall was another door leading to the operating theatre. Mariella walked around for a moment, stopping in front of the blood analyzer and touching the blood tubes, they were fascinating.

Damon came up to her and said. "I'm going to give you all the medical information I have and all the information about Mimi's physiology. It may take you a while to get the information."

Mariella nodded and felt Damon pop a big pile of information into her head, which immediately began to form in her head. Mariella knew it wouldn't be long before the information was available to her.

Damon said. "Are you ready.?" Mariella nodded. Damon walked ahead and grabbed the curtain and pulled it aside.

There were three beds and two of the beds were empty The creature Mariella assumed was Mimi, was in the third bed. Mimi was ferocious looking. She was wearing so many clothes that her arms were almost sticking out to her sides, and her hair, short and blonde, was up to her head as if it had been wet and then dried over and over again.

Mimi's hands were trembling and her lips were distinctly bluish. Mariella could see that Mimi's straps had weakened, they were broken and what was left was not as strong as they should be. Mimi smelled of infection, several drugs, and bullets.

This was not going to be an easy or quick fix. Mimi's body was strained and could no longer heal. Mariella's rescuer's radar informed her of all of this but did not yet tell her any of the solutions.

The first thing Damon noticed was Mimi's eyes. They were wildly unpredictable and ranged from seeming calm, through wild panic, to genuine raw rage. He looked down at the table next to Mimi and saw a stack of cans.

Each jar was filled to the brim and there were dozens of them. Mimi didn't seem to be in terribly good shape. Damon knew he had to take it easy now.

He said to Mariella through his head "Now watch out. Mimi's in a drugged state and could pop out of there at any moment and do some real damage. Don't even doubt it. Don't make any sudden moves, and don't do anything that she might interpret as an attack. She claims to know us, but even now she has doubts as to whether I work for the medical establishment. "

Mariella replied, " Ok, I'll follow your example."

Damon approached Mimi slowly. "Baby, Baby girl, you must be feeling pretty wild. Would you please let me strap you to the bed for a moment so Mariella will have the courage to approach? Please, for me? What have you made so many jars of, baby? I can assure you, I don't need anything. "

I looked at Damon who crept closer and closer like I was some kind of wild animal, maybe I was.

I said, almost amused, "I'm fine. Go home. I told you, Damon, you can go. Go fuck, Mariella. I've got work to do. You see, I recognize you. I'm not even in my medicated panic state. Now, there might be a little rage left over, unless you noticed the decor in the bedroom. Those cans, they're poisons. For you and Mariella, I'm obviously not all that fine with you two, but I can assure you that I will no longer make poison."

I decided at that moment that I didn't look weak. I steeled myself and hid my hands under the covers, supposedly lazily, to cover their trembling. Oh, I was cold. The lights were quite yellow, so I knew it was fever time again. This is like fucking malaria, I thought wearily.

Damon said in his true voice, his doctor's voice. "Now the young lady is good and listening. You're not Mimi, okay, remember, I still have power over your medical decisions. I decide you don't. I'm going to put you strapped down in that bed now and we're going to look you over to see how fine you actually are. As for those poisons. It doesn't matter, you're on fever and meds. Now calm down. No fidgeting"

He came closer with determination. Too fast. Flashes of the shed began to flood in, jellies, restraints, I retreated into a ball on the bed and prepared to defend myself. This is going to take me to the pharmaceutical plant, sell me, put me in a sports bag, just that ranting phrase.

Damon was obviously nervous about the toxins. And this one doesn't have the power of decision, damn it. I took that out. It's just Adam and Charles now.

Mariella said "Damon, let it be, you scared her. Will you let me try? Okay. "

Damon hesitated. Mimi had actually made them poison. Mimi could do some real damage. "Fine, but then be careful."

Mariella approached the bed. She could painfully distinctly smell the infection, the drugs, the bullets. Her rescue radar was screaming. "Mimi, may I come closer, what on earth has happened to you, I'm just curious I won't touch you, don't be afraid. I'm confused. How did they get you in such bad shape? Damon gave me all the information about you." Mariella moved cautiously forward.

Mimi's nose twitched and Mariella could see the tips of Mimi's fangs peeking out from under her upper lip. She stabbed her finger into her own teeth so that a drop of blood came to her fingertip.

"You have a bloodlust, don't you? Do you want to eat me? When was the last time you even had blood? I don't think you remember when you actually drank from me, a long time ago, in an alley. " Mariella had already walked slowly and calmly towards Mimi. She was already beside the bed.

Nothing had smelled as sweet as Mariella's neck, and that drop of blood, for a long time. I could see her neck vein throbbing on the side of her neck and I couldn't help it when my teeth dropped. I suddenly remembered. It had been Mariella. That time in the alley.

I was cold, I was exhausted, fighting the drugged feeling with my new power was draining my other resources, and then I couldn't seem to control my teeth. I knew on some level that they weren't going to hurt me but somehow that thought just kept popping into my head.

I said "I guess I'm programmed on some level to harm you, that if you don't come anywhere near it because I can't guarantee what I'll do. "

Mariella came and sat on the edge of the bed. She said " Come and have a bite, it's all right. You know what I was. You can't kill me. I bet you couldn't even kill a human being, you're finished Mimi, just come and eat a bit and it'll make it easier, let's take things slowly, what will you let us do next."

I reached out to her gently and grabbed Mariella by the neck. I tried to be gentle, but I was so hungry that I started tearing. The sweeter blood flooded my mouth and I drank greedily. Finally, I pulled away and said "Sorry." I collapsed into bed and enjoyed myself, not even noticing that Mariella wasn't taking her time, but snapping the restraints shut.

I said "I didn't mean to maul you. I must have scared you. Well let that one look me over and you can get out of here, I didn't mean to come between you all the time."

Mariella touched my hand and said, "Look I'm fine now, no harm done."

Damon came closer for a moment and took Mariella's hand and pulled her with him away from the bed.

He said "You were a bit too reckless, Mimi could have done a number on you. "

Mariella smiled and said " Look at Mimi, she's really weak, here now you get the ability to see the straps, look, they keep falling off Mimi. She won't last much longer. She's quite harmless, those restraints are just a precaution."

Damon nodded "First things first, Mariella do you want to taste Mimi's blood?" Damon asked. Damon was already rummaging through medicine cabinets as if to see what was in them.

"Not just yet" Mariella replied, "Once we see where we're going."" she continued.

Damon said in his head to Mariella, " What the hell happened to her?" Mariella replied, "I wish she'd tell me."

I was tied to the bed and a good panic was about to set in. Damon is going to sell me, I'm sure of it, I said wearily.

"I'm not hurting at the moment, so you can go and eat too. I just need a good course of antibiotics and then I'll be fine. And an antipyretic. Besides, Damon, you're not responsible for me anymore. Adam and Charles are. So this is kind of what they're supposed to do."

I decided I wasn't weak. I'd let myself be put down and I could take a good dose of antibiotics but that was all. I certainly wasn't going to tell them about the bullets.

I was a fucking trauma surgeon myself and when my hands stopped shaking, I'd get the bullets out myself." Remember, no weakness" I reminded myself.

Damon turned around and came to my bedside. He sat on my bed and said. "Baby, you're in bad shape, you know I'm not lying, remember I always tell the truth, and you need to sleep. All those drugs will go away with sleep, as you know. But right now sleep is the first thing you need. Now I will get you to sleep, in a way that won't affect your straps too much but you have to sleep, your body can't take it otherwise. As far as your medical power of attorney is concerned we'll look at that when you're well. But I am your protector and this is my job."

I said "I need to get this infection out a little bit and then I'll go to the incubator to sleep. "

Damon furrowed his brow, " Why would you go to the incubator and how do you put yourself to sleep?"

I sighed deeply and looked pleadingly at both of them. " Look at me being a little bit of a dumb idiot..." and I told them everything, but not quite everything. I just told them that Damien took me to some warehouse and made me jelly there too. Fucking jellies, I thought.

I wasn't going to tell them yet Damien had told me. About the shells and the stuff. I would try to find a solution myself. I tried to keep my wits about me, not to show how completely drugged up I still was. I found myself occasionally measuring the distance to the door.

I said, " I've made it this far, I've even improved a bit".

"Mimi" Damon sighed, "I don't know how long you've been on your own. I know you don't want to be at anyone's mercy, especially mine. And you've got as bad a medical condition as you could possibly have, don't you? I know with painful clarity how much I hurt you. I don't know what's going to become of us, I really don't, but I want, no, I need to be able to do this. Now just trust me I'll make it all right. Like always, Baby, it's always been my job. Everything gonna be just fine"

I was confused because Damon was really worried about me and wanted to take care of me. Why? I thought in my mind. Suspicion began to rear its head again as my carefully constructed plans and intentions didn't come to fruition.

That's just plain talk. An attempt to make me lower my guard and trust. What if Damon also gels or sells me to the medical establishment, or gives me another lesson when it wasn't Damien, it was Damon then? Damon could be at the pharma company list too. What if it wasn't Damien who works there? If it is Damon? I slowly began to test the strength of the restraints.

Damon saw something in my expression when he came to my bedside and touched both restraints as if he had applied an electric current to them. He looked at me and said, a little wearily,

" You can't get out of those, I'm an energy being and all that." He patted my hand, which was cold, and then he felt my forehead.

" You are burning up, now you do have a fever and a lot of it. We really need to get those clothes off and check you over. Your straps are weak, I can see that. You've got a bad infection and you're in a drug-induced condition, you smell of bullets, so there must be some. And you eat something sweet all the time, so your blood sugar must not be too high."

Mariella came over to the other side and said " We care about you, hey, we really do. Damon honey here will still love you very much and get you well and I'll help. Let's get that germ out and get you off some horseshit medicine which I think is going to make for a pretty nasty panic. You'll be fine."

Mariella came to feel my forehead and whistled. "48 degrees at least," She said to Damon who nodded wearily. This was going to be another long fight. That bug, the bugs that were in Mimi, were pesky and while Damon wasn't afraid for himself, he didn't want to expose Mariella any more than he had to.

I said "Damon wants to take care, there's no love there. If anyone has ever loved me, it's Charles. I think I want to sleep in Charles' arms soon, it helps the most. I don't want to be alone. I want someone to love me too. Not just because somebody has to. "

Mariela was silent for a moment and swallowed. The truth hurts, doesn't it? Yes, I recognized Damon well enough to know that this was just Doctor Mode and nothing more. The Damon I knew. I don't think there is one. Because the real Damon is a darling guy.

Damon came and sat on my bed. "Poor baby, whatever you've been through, don't blame yourself, if Damien's been watching you so closely he must have had an idea to catch you wherever he could. You can't have Charles yet, you're too sick, then when you're a bit better we'll see where we all go. It must not have been fun to get caught by Damien right off the bat. "

He stroked my hair from his forehead and when I winced, he pulled his hand away and said " Forgive me for not thinking. I'll fix you up. I won't hurt you." I tried to reason with Damon and tried to show him I was okay. I tried to be strong. I took another piece of sugar and tried to put it in my mouth. Then I remembered I was in restraints.

I said stubbornly "But I don't want to sleep, I have less than a hundred straps, I can't sleep yet, I'm not okay. Only when I'm fit can I sleep" The feeling of being in a medical condition hit me with a vengeance and I started to struggle and complained

"I want to be awake, I have to get to safety, it's no good, let me go. Let me be with Charles. He'll help. I need Charles."

Damon got up from my bed and walked stiffly to the medicine cabinet and started looking for jars and ampoules. He took at least 8 if not 10 different jars, a couple of IV bags, and syringes and needles. He took a central line cannula from the cabinet and put it on the table.

Then he started drawing different amounts of each jar or vial into the syringe, into one syringe. Every now and then he would mix it up. Eventually, the 5 ml syringe was full. He made three more syringes like that and then put more of the same substances in the IV bags, but in larger quantities.

He came to me holding one syringe and a Central Line cannula. "Mimi, Baby now I'm going to cannulate you and give you a cocktail like this. This has many different substances in it and this will keep you safely pain-free and in a deep sleep so you can recover. You know my cocktail No drugged state, no sleep. Just rest. When you wake up, everything will be better. I promise."

He cannulated my central line quickly and efficiently, waited for the cannula to grow into my skin, attached the syringe to the cannula, and began to push on the plunger. "Sleepytime Baby" he whispered before I fell asleep.