31.

Adam sighed. It had been a terrible time. Mimosa's minute-by-minute reports of Mimi's damage had made Damon almost go crazy at times. Samuel couldn't bear to listen. He tried to drink so he wouldn't hear. Adam listened and took his punishment.

It had taken him four weeks to rehabilitate after those German fight clubs, and then the party just kind of hit him, and he didn't even think it was just the beginning of the gig. Then, when they'd finally finished, all the women had left, and the house had been in a terrible state. They'd discovered that 12 weeks had passed.

The torment had started from there. All those fight clubs, the destruction of the three mafias, the jungles. Adam was going to go and help as soon as he found out where all of Mimi's house was. Monaco isn't a big place, but it protects its inhabitants surprisingly well, and with Mimi's network of fleas already respectably extensive, Mimi had a way of staying hidden.

Even though he was Mimi's second in command of the fleas, no one would tell him where she was when she refused to tell him. As soon as Mimosa was told the job was over, Adam felt the need to act.

He went into his own study to work out a plan of action. First, he had to find Mimi, and he knew she had a wide range of aliases at her disposal, and Monaco was protecting his people. So it wouldn't be easy.

Then Adam spent hours studying all the animals of the three jungles and all the poisonous creatures, their venom antibodies, and their symptoms. He waded through reading long into the night very many books on medical science and tried to find something for himself that would help. He didn't even think about asking other men when he felt the need to help his mate.

 Bran hadn't commented on the whole European thing at all. He hadn't even believed in it at first, but that was pretty much put to rest when one morning, Bran came to breakfast seriously and asked, " Has mimosa ever sent you a dream? Poor Mimi. I was in Mimi's body at night, or so Mimosa made it seem. German One Fight Club. It was tight. But we must not interfere. That's why we're going to celebrate. You're kidding. Mimi needs to do this on her own. "

Adam hadn't thought about it at the time but had later realized that Bran had decided that it would be good for Mimi to finish the job on her own so that Mimi would be more independent. Today, Bran didn't even remember the whole incident or his statement. He had appealed to Adam, and it hadn't been his intention to make Mimi suffer for months, but then it had been too late to do anything about it. Bran had then left months ago to go back to Montana and be Marrok as if Mimi's suffering at the gig was nothing.

Adam didn't know why Bran had actually done it, but now he realized how many times the party was always Bran's idea and it always happened to be at the wrong time. Oh fuck, if he'd realized that, he wouldn't have gone to the party. He had betrayed Mimi once again. And badly. But now he was going to help in any way he could.

Adam started looking for where Mimi's house might be. Mimosa wouldn't tell him. This was part of the punishment. He was studying medicine at the same time, trying to get or find some procedure he could do for Mimi. He went through several unvisited houses, searching medicine cabinets and gathering supplies for sports bags, anything he thought might be needed.

Those things could be anything from disinfectants to antibiotic ointments, and he didn't even think to ask anyone else when he wanted to act. He took blood tubes, needles, and drip bags full of his bump centrifugation fluid, and he had also brought 30 tanks of clean bumps so he could still centrifuge them and get supplies from them, too.

He was out of the house; they were now in New York, often while he was getting supplies, and then part of the time, he was trying to find Mimi's house. He had just brought the bump tanks to medbay and was about to go spin them when Damon stepped in and looked.

Adam was standing in the middle of the medbay, putting what appeared to be a very large bump tank into the centrifuge. There were several sports bags full of stuff on the bed, and a couple of open bags were also there.

Damon walked over to look in the bags, finding them full of all sorts of supplies. Some he hadn't actually known were there. He took a quick look at the shelves in the medbay and found they weren't from here. He went over to Adam. He was pretty good at hiding his thoughts, and Damon didn't want to pry just yet. He thought he'd ask first.

 Damon came up to Adam and asked him, "What are you doing? You retreated here a week ago. What's with the bags?"

Adam said, "I'm acting now. When I can. Mimi bought a house in Monaco, as you heard. I'll see if I can find it, and then I'll go help because Mimi hasn't quite gotten there yet. I'll help where I can. I'm not a doctor, but at least I can help Mimi eat and rest. I can treat some wounds and injuries. I'm collecting supplies now and have tried to study different things so that I can at least help with something. I have been collecting these supplies from other houses where no one has been. I am trying to gather as much stuff to take with me as I can. I have a computer looking for Mimi's house, but with Monaco protecting his own and no one from the fleas telling me anything, neither is Mimosa. She's been quiet for several days now."

It had been almost a week since Mimosa had told him the job was over.

Adam said "I've tried to examine every poisonous creature in the three jungles and see what I can do to help with those things, I've got some wound care supplies, I can stitch up wounds if need be, I've got some disinfectants, bandages and some antivenom. I'm now putting my bump that I've been making for fucking months into a centrifuge, and then I'll at least get some nutrition for my Mimi. I'm ready to go as soon as I find her."

Damon furrowed his brow; yes, Mimosa mentioned that Mimi had bought a Mansion in Monaco. Interesting.

He said to Adam, " Let me know if you find her, and here's a doctor to take with you. But let me go through these supplies now and see what we need then. For poisons, we have mostly my teeth, but you are right that she needs nutrition. Now, if the house is not set up, then we need to pack enough stuff to get a medbay done, and there should be almost a surgery option. Don't put it in the centrifuge yet while I get a sample, so I know a little bit what it's going to be like, and I can process it what it needs."

Adam nodded.

Damon saw this one needed action, and he said, "Try to find some operating room equipment where we can get it quickest. I don't suppose you have any operating tables in stock."

Adam said hesitantly after he had thought for a moment, "I don't, but I know where we can get some. That would be from the fleas' warehouse. That's where they come from when they're making the busts to the medical facilities, and they've pulled machines and equipment from there, too. That's where we get quite a lot, probably some equipment. I know nothing about installation." 

Damon grunted in satisfaction. He had taken a sample of the Bump, and it was now ready for analysis. He grabbed a paper and a pen, jotted a list of what was absolutely necessary, and then everything that would be good to have but would be fine without.

He handed the list to Adam and said, " Start getting these. Try to find the address of Mimi's house as I know her well enough that she can't get there yet as there's nothing there until the orders come in properly, so we've still got a few days. Now we have to find the house first."

Adam said, " That's difficult as these don't really tell you who bought which house, and there are quite a few houses bought in Monaco. There's a fucking boom going on. I've tried to look for some electrical contracts or something like that, but nothing under the name Salvatore."

Adam sighed and opened his laptop. He continued his search.

Damon then remembered painfully clearly that he wasn't married to Mimi anymore and said, "Remember, she's a Springcove now."

Adam fumbled for a moment and said, "Found it. Here's the address. Start packing, Salvatore. What do you think it'll take to get more ordered? Let's get that new van of mine. It holds quite a lot."

Samuel came to the door and said, "I'm coming too. I'm taking my van, and I'm loading up already. "

Damon said, "You two are going to the Flea Warehouse to get those supplies. I'll go through these. Do you have any other bags, Adam? "

Adam said, "There's quite a few in the truck already."

Damon grunted and got out.

He lifted the bags out of the car and said, "I'll go through these. You see what you can get from that list so the lady doesn't find out. We do this without asking, and then the surprise attack is the way to go. "

Adam was pleased. She wouldn't know anything that hit her. He went with Samuel to the Flea Warehouse to see what was missing. Samuel looked at Damon's list and wandered around the warehouse. There were a couple of guys there and Adam had told them what had happened and why Mimi shouldn't know.

These guys knew Mimi and understood Penn, Harrison and Pamela were very trustworthy and even though they were Mimi's trust buddies, they had sense and understood the importance of helping Mimi even against her will. 

Penn was barely 20 years old, a tall, thin man who spoke with a Southern accent and always seemed to be lazy, but when he went into action, that's when it happened. Penn was plain-looking, his nose a little large and his mouth small and thin-lipped, but he had a steady, calm gaze, dark brown, shaggy hair, a well-groomed goatee, and yet good skin.

Penn had come along after Mimi had rescued his cousin and his father from an institution. His father had been turned into a werewolf by Bran, and Penn wasn't convinced that had been the best thing to do, but he had helped his father learn to be a werewolf, so he knew how to behave with an angry werewolf.

Penn was one of the few who didn't mind Mimi's rage. If Mimi came home from a gig with rage on display, he didn't flinch but tried to help and knew that there was a reason for the rage, usually in Mimi's case it had been pain, and once he got the wound treated or whatever was bothering Mimi, the rage went into hiding. So he knew how to get her rage under control a little bit, even though she was unique. He was a real rage whisperer.

Harrison was a 35-year-old blond man. His green eyes peered appraisingly from under his bushy eyebrows. Harrison is a navy seal, but he had left that career to be with his family. He had a wife and two children. He had come to the Flea for his brother.

Mimi had contacted him after rescuing his brother from one of the medical facilities, and because of that, his brother was now in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Mimi had saved his brother's life, and Harrison had then found out about the whole medical facility thing and helped Mimi where he could. He was driven by a thirst for revenge, and he was a competent man to do the job. Mimi gave him quite a few gigs.

Pamela was a brown-haired, normal-sized woman whom a person would probably associate with either a teacher or a bank teller. Pamela was a world karate champion; she'd lost her husband to the medical institution, and Mimi herself told her this. She then got to know Mimi. Her ideology, the supernatural, and, as usual, the thirst for revenge or the need for justice led Pamela to join the fleas. Because she was a natural leader, she pulled off the jobs effortlessly herself. Pamela had worked as an army instructor; she had fought in a couple of wars, even though she was only 28 years old. 

Together, they quickly found everything on Damon's list, including what wasn't needed, and when Samuel got to exploring the machines and equipment, quite a few went along. Installing them wasn't difficult, and when Adam found sturdy patient beds with shackles, the men took them along. Adam called Damon and told him where to go.

The latter was very pleased; he had gone through the bags Adam had packed, taken something out, and added something. Damon was very particular about hygiene with wound care, and when Adam's bags had sterile-packed bandages that had gone out of date, Damon took them out. He wanted no more infection than the lady had.

He then went to the fridge and started eating the strangest foods again, and when Adam and Samuel told him they'd be awhile, Damon went to the convenience store, bought more of whatever his instinct told him to get, and ate. He stocked up on blood and was already biting in his arm one of his dental substances to make extra blood as he knew Mimi had been very low on blood for a long time, and when she got the bloodlust, it would be good to be ready.

Then, when Adam and Samuel arrived with a fully packed van, they had a plane already booked, and Damon packed Adam's van, full to the brim, and then they were ready to go and fix her up. Damon knew he had to be calm but firm again and not really give her any choice in the matter. The lessons had now been learned, and they had permission to act so that they would act.