6. Anyone of Us.

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.

Then Damon went to a smaller medbay and let Mariella study everything. She was curious and asked a lot of questions while Damon sat by the computer and read Mimi's test results and grunted by himself. Mariella had no medical knowledge, so she did not know were those sexy grunts good or bad things. Then Damon shut the computer, sighed as to collect his thoughts, and tried to come up with some kind of answer to some problem that he had.

Mariella had to ask. "Damon, dear, what's wrong?"

Damon looked at her and said, "Well, those results. They are all over the place. Now Mimi was not in good shape, that I can tell, but there are anomalies in some results that are fully new, and her scans have also changed a bit. I must go now with my instinct when treating her and she is not very keen to see us. I can sense it. "

Mariella said nothing. Damon was a telepath and he could hear Mimi's thoughts. And they weren't anything so pleasant after all. Well, she was sick and all. Mariella tried to see the future, but she didn't have enough power to do so. She watched the energies at the same time, trying to think what evil would come here in the future. Damon directed her out from the smaller medbay and into the lobby, where 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. He was 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? But those energies, those had been bad and Mimi was feeling quite unwell. But surely she would be reasonable.

Damon sighed in his mind. Once upon a time, this would have been easy. He would have just gone to her, taken her in his arms, and let her be safe. But something pressed on, almost like someone would have told him to treat her, see her. She really needed him. No one else. Damon was not sure if this was just a figment or part of protector radar, meddling with his telepathy. 

But he was messed up with all of these memories and feelings. Mariella was the only certain thing in his life right now. Nothing else, and he was just not ready to be on Mimi's safety.

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

Another door leading to the operating theatre was at the back of the hall. 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 my medical information and all the information about Mimi's physiology. It may take you a while to get the information. As you are a savior, so, you might help if needed. I will also give you those weird test results so you might get some idea about those too, as you are the savior."

Mariella nodded and felt Damon pop an enormous pile of information into her mind, which immediately began to form her mind. Mariella knew it wouldn't be long before the information was available to her. Damon took her by the arm and led her on. They whispered. Somehow, this was that kind of space that you should whisper.

Here energies were healing, there was a strong sense of safety, and Mariella realized Mimi saw this ultimate safe place. Mimi was not a werewolf anymore. she had evolved and Mariella knew it wouldn't be long until she and Damon would evolve, too.

She said to Damon, "Mimi is evolved. She is not a werewolf vampire anymore. Her feline side has come out as she is a shifter vampire, thus the results."

Damon grunted. Not a good time to evolve in the middle of severe infection and drugs and whatnot. 

Damon said. "Are you ready?"

Mariella nodded. Damon walked ahead, grabbed the curtain, and pulled it aside.

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 help. However, he's been so distant and cold lately. But then again, he has always loved to treat and study infections and I am full of them. Very good patient to treat and care for. 

I had my phone, and I was ready to call Colin. I soon needed to call him because I could feel my state getting worse. My body just could not deal with these infections. Colin would be safe. He would not leave me. He would take care of me, maybe take me to Ireland. 

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.

I kept my phone near me, so I could call Colin while horseshit Salvatore could not touch me as he was not my doctor. Maybe I should call Charles. The mere thought of getting Charles next to me, taking me into his arms, was overwhelming. I needed that. 

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. I had reserved also three syringes of very strong sugar concentrate from my first aid kit. I had used a few of them, but they did the trick. 

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 also contained my urge to hiss at him. 

I knew that wasn't Damien, but the medications, infection, and fatigue always threw me off balance. I gathered myself again. I'm fine attitude. It helps. Ice queen. Even better. My rage helped with my chaos and willpower, too, though I was pretty wild to control myself, and I was feeling rather blood-hungry, too. 

It took me a minute to find my voice and sound clear-minded, too. "No need you to come here. I am about to call Colin to come and care for me. Go fucking, but not in our or mine upstairs room. Find yourself in your fuck room."

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 repeatedly.

As she spoke, her voice was tired. She had a phone in her hand, and some weird-looking syringes, almost injectors, on the table next to her. Her eyes, were golden, like tiger or jaguar, and her feline side was present. She was suppressing her urge to hiss at them.

Mimi's hands were trembling, and her lips were distinctly bluish. In the tips of her fingers, there were almost feline-like claws. 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 would not be an easy or quick fix. Mimi's body was strained and could no longer to heal. Mariella's rescuer's radar informed her of all of this but did not tell her of any solutions. It also warned her about Mimi. That was now highly volatile and dangerous.

The first thing Damon noticed was Mimi's eyes. Their golden color was not like a wolf. These were feline eyes. They were wildly unpredictable and ranged from calm through wild panic to genuine raw rage. He looked down at the table next to Mimi and saw a stack of cans.

Mimi's voice was strained, and her phone was in her hand. Well, her hands were not steady at all, so it would be quite a miracle that she would manage to call Colin. She had claws in her fingers, or partial claws. Damon thought that for a moment, it would be the fastest and easiest solution. Let her call Colin, let Colin take care of this creature, and he could take Mariella back to somewhere else, like the Azores. 

Onto the table was a stack of cans, and injectors too. 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 sensed Mimi's rage and her new chaos willpower combo, too. He knew that even in that state, Mimi was more than capable of hurting them both, and good.

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

Mariella replied, "No, she is infectious to Colin, and also to Adam and Charles. We have an energy shield and I have put a bit of white power to amp it up so we are fine, but those two, or Colin, are not good. OK, I'll follow your example. When it comes to handling her. "

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. You can't endanger Colin or Adam, Charles. You are infectious to them. You see, Mariella is a savior. She has this radar, and it tells her that. I am your biological half, so I am the best bet to get you well. But I need to restrain you a bit. You are in no state to rampage, you are too weak. "

I looked at Damon, who crept closer and closer like I was some kind of wild animal. Maybe I was. I recognized him and Mariella, too. I just wanted to be alone. To be safe, and somehow, I didn't see Damon as safe. I wanted Charles. He was my safety. I could feel my feline side out in the open, and Damon did not impress me. I knew my eyes weren't normal, but I did not care.

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 notice the decor in the bedroom. What comes to me being infectious, Colin is a doctor, he has expertise in dealing with nasty infections and besides, he might just send me some antibiotics or something. Those cans, they're poisons. For you and Mariella, I'm not all that fine with you two, but I can assure you 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. I put my phone on the table and took one of the injectors. Time to get my sugar up. 

Damon said in his stern voice, his doctor's voice. "You do not inject that into you. Not before I have looked it through. Now, the young lady, you listen to me and good. You're not okay, right? Remember, I still have power over your medical decisions. I decide you don't. I'm going to strap you down in that bed now, and we're going to look you over to see how fine you 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 and restraints. I retreated into a ball on the bed and prepared to defend myself. This is going to take me to the pharmaceutical facility, sell me, put me in a sports bag, just that fidgeting phrase. He looked at me the same way, like I was just a subject. He will torture me. No, he will give me to Damien. 

Flashback: Damon is wearing a lab coat with the name Salvatore on it. He comes over and strokes my hair out of my forehead.

Another flashback: Me into the shed, almost dead, he taking me in his arms. I can smell passionfruit and hear his heartbeat. He shushed me and took the long platinum dagger, sinking it into my heart. Slowly. Killing me... 

I started to get up and get myself moving. I got to sit by the side of the bed and swing my legs down. I am trying to soon stand. I am dizzy and tired. In a full-on panic. Mariella is god. She does not let me on any more rainbow islands, not even temporarily. She sends me to hell or something. 

Damon was 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. She is about to bolt and she is confused, in some sort of hallucination. "

Damon hesitated. Mimi had made them poison. Mimi could do some actual damage. He had seen flashes in Mimi's mind and he had no recollection of him killing her in the shed. "Not hallucinations. Memories. That was not me. That was Damien who could imitate me. His favorite trick. 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 sat by the bed, face white, Like she was about to faint in that spot. 

Mariella tried to speak softly, but gently, and tried to get Mimi out of whatever she was seeing. "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 terrible shape? Damon gave me all the information about you."

Mariella moved cautiously forward. Mimi lifted her head. Her eyes were now dark blue. Almost black. She smelled like a burning candle. 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 fang 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 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 was cold, exhausted, fighting the drugged feeling that my new power was draining my other resources, and then I couldn't control my teeth. I knew on some level that they wouldn't hurt me, but somehow, that thought kept popping into my head. I fought against the programming with all I had, and it was not much. I sat on the bed, my legs dangling over the side. Dizziness was almost overwhelming.

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. "

Damon said, "Yeah baby, don't worry. I get it off once you are sleeping. It is not deep, but you are so exhausted that you have little of anything to fight it."

Mariella came and sat next to me 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 was so hungry that I started tearing. The sweeter blood flooded my mouth, and I gulped. I could feel her supporting me when the dizziness was almost too much. 

Finally, I pulled away and said, "Sorry." My eyes blackened for a second. And I could feel myself falling, almost.

Mariella grabbed Mimi when she more or less fainted. She got her fast on her back and put restraints on her wrists. Mimi was white as a sheet, but soon her eyes started to open again.

I came to and noticed that I was on my back on the bed and in restraints.

I said, "I didn't mean to maul you. I must have scared you. Let that one look at 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, 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 comforting, it was sweet that Damon worried over her, and said, "Look at Mimi. She fainted already once. She's really weak. Here, 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. Mariella came next to my bed and touched my injectors.

I said, "Please, hit one of those in my thigh, they are very strong sugar concentrate, I have a red sleep in me and other sleeps too so my sugars crashes."

Mariella took injectors to Damon, who smelled them and put them on the upper shelf of the drug cabinet, the one I had no key.

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

Damon said in his mind to Mariella, " What the hell happened to her? Those injectors aren't now the answer. I will not use them until we can get some more drugs on board, her to sleep and scan. Those will just burn the rest of her strength away. Giving her a false sense of brightness."

Mariella replied, "I wish she'd tell me."

I was tied to the bed, and a raw panic was about to set in. Damon is going to sell me, I'm sure of it. The easiest way to get rid of me. Let Sark do a little more so I go to hibernation and then they can hide me in some cellar forever. And Mariella takes Adam and Charles too, and they will forget me too fast. 

I said wearily. "I'm not in pain 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 a kind of what they're supposed to do. You did get my paper, that I knew. I did get confirmation of delivery. "

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 would not tell them about the bullets. My alpha side was wide open, and it would not be weak. In front of those two, maybe if Adam and Charles would come, then I could be weak. 

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 awful shape. I will not stress you any more than I have to, so I will not make any kind of examination here. 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. Regarding your medical power of attorney, 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 exhaled 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 gelled me there, too. Fucking jellies, I thought.

I would not 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. Panic's tendrils were deep in my mind still. 

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 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 don't, but I want, no, I need, to do this. Now, just trust me, I'll make it all right. Like always, Baby, it's 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. But Damon hadn't taken care of me in a long time and I was still quite suspicious about this newfound gentleness toward me. No, no, there was something behind this.

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 on 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 need to get those clothes off and check you over. Your straps are weak. I can see that. You've got a nasty infection, and you're in a drug-induced condition. You smell of bullets, so there must be some. And you always eat something sweet, so your blood sugar must not be too high. And you don't trust me right now so much, but that's ok. You are too drugged up and sick. I am not taking it personally. I am going to help you, anyway."

Mariella came over to the other side and said, " We care about you. Hey, we 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's 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 complain.

My voice was now demanding, "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, strutted to the medicine cabinet, and started looking for jars and ampoules. He took at least eight, 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. 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 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 pushed on the plunger.

"Sleepytime, baby," he whispered before I fell asleep.