10. Strong Enough.

Now, it was time to treat myself again. I had been secretly taking painkillers or stockpiling metal binders now and then and was then ready to give myself chelation therapy when everyone would leave. The men had now been on their feet for three days, and I had been slowly gathering supplies for myself and familiarising myself with everyone's schedules. I was still living in the Chicago house and Bran now graciously let me stay, even though I was not part of the pack.

 It was evening, and I was in my downstairs bedroom preparing for another pretty damn nasty ordeal. Namely, a shower. It hurt, and it hurt good. But now I would go to the medbay at night, while everyone was doing whatever they were doing.

I'd been upstairs just getting clothes or something, and I'd been staying in the downstairs bedroom now, not knowing if Damon would take Tanya and want her in the upstairs bedroom anyway, and besides, I was so fucking tired I couldn't climb the stairs.

So I was covered in bandages and sores, I had bruises everywhere, and no idea what all the dozens of dental products Damon had put on me had been. Our molecular stock was pretty empty. Mirella had gone to sleep in a coffin, so potentizing the dentifrices hadn't been easy. I let Mimosa decide for herself what she wanted to do, and she was separated from me, trying to help where she could.

This was going to hurt and hurt badly. The job was to remove all the dirty bandages and then go to the shower and rinse every wound for as long as I could stand it. I had done this every day, and I had a ritual for it.

I hadn't gone to medbay yet; Charles had already left, so he wouldn't be watching. Then, after the shower, I would just put protective dressings on the wounds before I could get myself to function and dress the wounds properly.

Because the pain and agony that racked me every time I rinsed those wounds was so debilitating that I couldn't function right away. But something was driving me to cover up my condition, especially from Damon. He had been very cruel, and the stronger he had gotten, the more cruel. 

I had to take the fact into consideration that some of these men, or all of them, blamed me for those eight years. Suppose that demon came after me because of what the fleas had done? I had no way of knowing. My instinct was just to cover up my condition as best I could. 

It was like there was whole new part in me, one who did not see Bran as Alpha, I had few times weird feeling like he was a different species than I was. Technically, he was but still. Damon was threat, I did not want him to see me at all.

I went into my bathroom downstairs and took off a lot of my clothes. I knew that once I got myself a little better and saw what these men were doing, then maybe I could call Colin or Hugh and let them help.

Then I started taking my bandages off. I gritted my teeth as I kept ripping the bandages off the wounds even though I had done God knows what to keep the bandages from getting stuck, but when they did. Most of the wounds were rotting; some smelled like metals, and I was just happy if the metals were literally leaking out of my wounds.

Once I got all the bandages off, I stepped into the shower room. I had some peculiar aids here. Rubber dog toy. I had gotten when the wolves had been ripped off the men, toys for them, and then I had left toys for whenever Mimosa wanted to play. I had them all over the house but they were durable, well one toy was now in use. It was a hard rubber one, and I took it close. I needed it.

I adjusted the water to the right temperature, and then I took the toy; it was shaped like a bone, and I put it in my mouth. I had installed a couple of strong handles on the wall, and I put the shower in a holder.

Then I stepped under the shower. I grabbed the handles and bit down on the fucking toy as the water hit the open wounds. I squeezed the handles and clenched my teeth tightly on the toy, letting it muffle any screaming I might have done. I couldn't even wash my hair as I was now rinsing my wounds.

Then, when the pain became so much that my eyes blacked out, I turned off the water, held on to the handles for a while longer, and took the toy out of my mouth. It already had several of my deep teeth marks on it.

Damon had thrown Tanya out. He knew other men had thrown such fucking women out of their lives and even Bran. Damon sighed and knew he had to apologize to Mimi for his behavior. He had watched the security camera footage when Samuel had been ashamed of his own behavior, and so had Adam. But they'd also seen how tired Mimi had been, and Damon realized how damn much she'd been making the four of them her dental substances.

Well, the day before Bran and Samuel had left, they had some crisis in Montana, and Adam had retired to his study. Now Damon didn't know what was going to come of this, but when it had come out that the demon had lied outright, they hadn't been there eight years but only eight months, and it had been a simple life. Their damage had come when they'd been overconfident and proud in recent fights.

But now he was all right. He also wanted to check that Mimi was okay. Eight weeks of fight clubs. Well, that would probably have been pretty rough. But Mimi only had to fight for six hours a day. The demon had told him what Mimi would have to go through. He went into Mimi's downstairs bedroom when she wasn't upstairs.

Damon walked into the room. He heard the water running. She was in the shower; well, that's good, so they could talk then. Damon knew how cruel he'd been to Mimi. Even though he felt like just going and wrapping himself around her, he should make sure she was ok about it. He hadn't scared Mimi too much. Damon sat on the bed and sighed, too. They hadn't sanctified yet. 

Once I got the pain down enough to stand without support. I reached over and took some light protective bandages and put them on the bleeding wounds. They wouldn't last long, but I would then medbay my wounds a little better now and start treating myself.

I couldn't take the scan, as it had to be turned on by the computer so that it wouldn't work. Well, then, at some stage, I could go to the base and have someone scan me there. Once I had my wounds covered so I wasn't bleeding and leaking, God knows what, all the time, I grabbed my robe and wrapped myself in it.

I then sat down for a while and dried my hair before putting on my reserved clothes—several layers. I hung up my bathrobe. It was stained, but I would put it in the wash at some point. I was exhausted, but I had to keep going. I let my rage come out again. That it would give me the strength to keep going, and I went out of the bathroom. Damon was sitting on my bed, looking at me. I took a few steps, and suddenly, everything went black, and I fainted.

Damon had been lost in his thoughts, the sound of water droplets echoing in the tiled bathroom as he anxiously waited for Mimi to emerge from her long shower. Time seemed to stretch, but Damon hadn't bothered to ponder the reason behind her extended absence. 

The creaking door finally broke his reverie, and his eyes darted towards Mimi's figure, now clothed and stepping out—a crease formed on Damon's forehead, sensing that something was amiss. 

In an instant, before Damon could utter a single word, a pallor washed over Mimi's face. Her eyes rolled back into her skull, and her body swayed, on the verge of collapse. Reacting with the speed of a vampire, Damon lunged forward, his hands swiftly catching Mimi's fragile frame, preventing her descent to the unforgiving floor. 

As he held her, Damon couldn't help but notice how alarmingly light she felt, the weight of her clothing contrasting with the frailty of her form. Time seemed to hang in the air, but a flicker of movement beneath her eyelids signaled her return to consciousness.

I came to in Damon's arms. He was looking at me with concern, and it was hard. There was a part of me that didn't want to go anywhere. That part just wanted to be in Damon's powerful arms and let him take care of me. But my mind remembered that Damon has Tanya now. He's not mine anymore, and I need to let go.

I have to fend for myself. So I pulled myself together and stood up.

I said, " My blood sugar dipped, as you remember, I'm not experiencing hunger and I don't remember to eat."

Damon furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me hard.

He said, " Bullshit baby, don't lie. You're skinny as hell. What on earth happened to you? Start telling me."

Fine, this calls for a tighter touch. I knew, or my vampire sensed, Damon wasn't quite right yet, but I have a brutally strong vampire side, so I turned to Damon, looked him hard in the eye, and said, "I'm perfectly fine. You can go. There's nothing wrong with me. Go eat."

I felt my compulsion work, and Damon turned around, opened the door, and walked away. Well, now I could have some peace of mind. Mimosa was asleep in my mind, and after a few minutes, I left my room, went down the hall and down the stairs, and went to the basement to take care of myself.

Damon stepped into the kitchen, the scent of freshly brewed coffee filling the air. He could hear the faint hum of the refrigerator as he pried himself out of Mimi's compulsion. Cursing softly, he couldn't help but wonder what she was hiding. Determined to find answers, he turned on his heels and made his way back to Mimi's room.

As he entered the room, Damon's eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the soft glow of the bedside lamp and the neatly made bed. His gaze landed on the closed bathroom door, and he illuminated the room with a flick of the switch. The sudden brightness made his eyes twitch.

A pungent smell assaulted his nostrils, causing his teeth to react with a sharp, uncomfortable sensation. Stepping cautiously, Damon ventured further into the bathroom. His eyes widened as he took in the sight before him - blood stains adorned the tiled floor, accompanied by an unsettling rotting odor. Splatters of the gruesome substance marred the pristine walls.

Mimi's pink bathrobe, now tainted with bloodstains, was dangling from a nail. But the smell enveloped the room, making Damon's brows furrow in concern. His gaze fell upon a lidded trash can, beckoning him closer. With a mixture of trepidation and determination, he lifted the lid, revealing a collection of bloody, putrid bandages. The metallic scent of drugs, pain, metals, and suffering wafted through the air, assaulting his senses.

Carefully, Damon tied the bag and disposed of it down the trash chute. His eyes then caught sight of the handles on the shower wall, and his attention was drawn to a dog toy resting on the shelf. Picking it up, he noticed deep, fine teeth marks etched upon it. Realization dawned on him - Mimi had bitten it, a desperate attempt to stifle her pain and anguish while in the shower.

Damon visualized Mimi clutching the handles, enduring her wounds silently. He now understood why she had fainted; it wasn't because of low blood sugar but the shock of excruciating pain. Determination flooded his being as he realized the severity of her condition. He had to help her. But where had she gone?

Stepping out of the bathroom, Damon quickly informed Adam of the situation. Adam stood silently at the door, his face etched with concern. Without a word, he entered the room and switched on the lights, witnessing the distressing scene for himself. A low growl escaped his lips as he decided.

"Fine, I'll get the cleaners in here," Adam grumbled, "and let me know where we're going."

Damon nodded, his mind already racing. He activated the tracking app on his phone, confirming that Mimi was on the move, heading towards the basement medbay. With a determined stride, Damon began following her, ready to provide the treatment she so desperately needed.

I made it to the medbay. I closed the doors carefully and knew no one was coming downstairs. I started gathering supplies and thought to myself, well; you learn how to drip and cannulate and everything when you don't give yourself a choice.

I took a lot of different dressings and Damon's blood because it still worked for me. The metals and shit in my blood hindered the healing, but I would always try. The drip trays where I had reserved the chelation therapy bags for metal bonding. For The metals they had at this medbay.

I had quite a few earth metals in me and hadn't had them before, so there was no help for them, but if I could at least get something done, then maybe Colin or even Hugh could find some solution. There was a strong antibiotic in there, and a painkiller was in there, too. I didn't reserve a sedative, and the painkiller was the kind that didn't affect my mind.

 Now I started undressing myself. I only took my upper body bare at first, or two outer shirts. I was still wearing a Merino wool long-sleeved shirt when my temperature was only 36.2 degrees Celsius, so I didn't heal that well either.

I would only expose one wound at a time. First, I would treat my wounds, and then I would cannulate myself, and only then would I take the painkiller. It didn't last very long, and I didn't want to overdose, so I was very careful with it.

My intention was to drain the dirty blood out of myself first, so here was a blood donation machine; about two-thirds of my blood would be taken out, then antibiotics, fluids, chelation, rest, and then blood tests so I would see if this worked. I had taken one test on myself. They were on the machine, but no one was in doctor mode now. I suspected the men would put on a party at some point, so by the time someone would look at the results, I would be in better shape.

I sat on the edge of the patient's bed and lifted the hem of my shirt. The first wound I would dress was from the right side of my ribs to my belly button, from top to bottom. It was deep as hell and needed to be taped up pretty carefully. I hadn't stitched it up when it was so fucking infected.

I was about to take some dressings soaked in cleaning fluid when I heard a bump and looked up. Damon was standing in the doorway. I quickly lowered my hem, just put the bandage back in place, and took a deep breath. 

I looked at Damon, composed myself, and said, " Looks worse than it is. Just be with Tanya. I'll agree to a divorce if that's what you want."

 I tried to be brave because I didn't want to show how weak I actually still was, especially to Damon, who had been cruel for 18 days. I'd put up with everything, and now I didn't want him to see how good a victim I was.

Damon walked over and spoke softly, "I don't want a divorce. I heard what a bitch Tanya was. I was weak. I couldn't stand to be alone. I hope you can at least one day have mercy on me. "

I looked at Damon tiredly and said, " Eight years is a long time to be alone. There is no pardon. I understand. You've already had a long time to be with her."

Damon frowned and shook his head. "Didn't Charles tell you? No, no, baby, the demon lied. It was only eight months, not eight years. And I haven't been with Tanya on that side for six weeks. Bran didn't hesitate to take a little pussy for himself, but the three of us, we, held our own almost completely." 

I was quite suspicious. I was more or less running on fumes so my mind was not at its sharpest. I had quite a collection instinct in play as well. I looked at Damon and thought he was just trying to make nice and get to me. He probably wants my blood and sees that I'm a weak victim.

Damon came closer again and said, "You, my baby, are in pretty damn awful shape. Why in the world are you still taking care of us? You should have been the fifth patient, apparently. I can't hear your heartbeat, and you're not breathing. You've been in that condition all the bloody time, missy, and now your compulsion is no longer working. I guess it's my turn to take care of you. "

Damon's voice was soft. He took a few steps closer. I was tense and ready to defend myself.

I straightened my back, got more strength in my voice, and said, "Really, I'll be fine soon. These just look bad. You drank from me, so you know I was ok."

 Damon's eyes widened as he observed the cruel, deep gash, its sight making his teeth throb with pain. The absence of Mimi's heartbeat or any sound filled the air, leaving a haunting silence.

His keen eyes detected chelating agents in the drip tray, while thick bandages lay meticulously arranged on tables nearby. The room carried a faint scent of medicine, as if a few jars had been carefully used in small doses along with mild painkillers.

As Damon approached, he could hear the alertness in Mimi's voice, causing her to tense up, ready to flee at any moment. Despite his primal instincts urging him to grab her and sink his teeth into her neck, Damon forced himself to remain calm, moving slowly and cautiously, trying to appear harmless.

Gradually, he reached her side, extending his hand to touch her gently. The first sensation that struck him was the unbearable coldness emanating from Mimi's body. Even though her merino wool shirt partially concealed it, Damon could immediately discern that his wife had once again transformed into a walking skeleton.

Damon sighed. He approached cautiously and spoke in a low, soothing, voice, seeing my nervousness. Soon, he was beside me. He felt my forehead and stroked the hair from my forehead.

"Mimi, believe me, I mean you no harm. That I drank your blood, well, the metals that I can smell now. They don't get into your capillaries or even into your hands. I drank from your wrist and a little bit. I was sick, and I wouldn't have noticed anything immediately. Now you, my young lady, need some care and attention, but I'll get you well. It may take some time because you're about to collapse."

Mimosa jumped out, looked at Damon and said, " Well yeah, when every day for eight weeks we had to fight for 18 hours a day and then we were tortured, or prepped for five hours and one hour of 'rest', that's when you get into bad shape."

Damon frowned and cursed. He said, "The fucking demon lied. He told us you fight for six hours and get to rest and eat to ensure the betting goes well. Fine, my lady. Now it's time for you to be patient." 

Damon's voice tightened, and I reacted. I was so exhausted that I reacted much more quickly now and stood up; I tried to move, but I had to fend for myself. Damon took hold of me, and I stiffened as pain struck through my whole body again.

On the ship, I had been fitted with wonderful implants, electrical implants that struck randomly, and they hurt and hurt badly. Now I had the implants on again, and I was completely still and completely controlled myself. This had already happened once in the shower, and I suspected that my fainting was a reaction to that.

I told Damon when the pain stopped. "Really. I don't have more than a few cuts."

Damon sat me down and said, " Then why were you in so much pain just now that I couldn't speak your mind? Now, Mimi, it is not the time to be brave. Now is the time to be a good patient and start telling me everything. Why does my head feel like it's cracking? I know my teeth are filled with as black velvet as can be. Start talking."

I didn't have time to say a word when Mimosa looked at Damon.

Damon frowned and said, " Fine, Mimosa will tell me."

After a moment, Damon sighed and said, "Oh, that bad, huh? We had it really easy compared to that. We were heroes. We were cheered, and we got good accommodation and food. We were in terrible shape because we were too confident and too in control of our reputation. Yes, I can see from your thoughts Mimi, you don't really want to be weak now, but guess what baby, you don't have a choice. Now I'll get the pain relief sorted out before I do anything else. Now I'm going to give you a good dose of velvet, and then I'm going to help you."

I had no time to do anything when Damon came and put his teeth into my neck. I felt them take root, and the velvet started flowing. The last thing I knew, Damon was holding on to me as my strength faded under the influence of the velvet.