31. Torn.

Nicholas held Mimi in his arms and used all his vampire powers to ease her suffering as much as possible. She shook in his arms, moaned and he could feel her broken bones. He was old creature but this thing in his arms made him felt something. He was trying to keep her asleep in a way, to distract her, as the vampires did now on the TV series. It was a little different, and the whole Camille thing had amused Nick; no, Camille was nothing to him. No woman was anything to him.

He was such an old creature, and so was Elias, that they were creatures, not men, and human women don't understand them. Romance, caring it was something that he did not usually bother as he knew how short human life was. Vampire women were not worth of his attention but Mimi is his arms, made him feel such a need to protect and care for her. But he knew himself. He was fickle and unfortunately his sisters, both of them knew how to manipulate him.

The car ride was painful; my heart was circulating aconitum all over my body, and every part of me was on fire. I was nauseous and probably vomiting something on a Nick or something. Nick tried to help, but it wasn't much help. It just made my mind go wild when Nick kept throwing up images of meadows we were walking in, but I felt the pain anyway.

When the car finally stopped, and I felt myself being carried inside, I just tried to hang on. I thought to myself; I wonder if there will be another round of metal pulling out. 

The drive seemed to take forever. Eventually, they arrived at the house where Samuel was waiting. They carefully carried Mimi inside, straight to the medbay.

Nick took Samuel aside and spoke in a low voice. He, too, knew of Mimi's problems with her medication. Nick and Elias had been around several times to help her with her problems here and there, be coaches, teach her things, as what Adam wanted.

"This is nasty; that girl is in terrible shape, and she suffers. She has so many broken bones, she vomits and moans. Can you get her to sleep or even give her some painkillers? I don't think she even notices that much. I know Adam is not here yet but I can try to distract her. She is weak and getting weaker."

Samuel said: " Sure, we will get her to sleep first, and then we will go from there. Painlessness is the most crucial thing; from what I have heard about her condition, she is in shock, and then you have to take it easy. "

Samuel had arrived as soon as he could; he had driven two hours to Charles's plane, and Charles had flown him the rest of the way to Arizona. He hadn't been here a few minutes when the vampires had rolled into the yard. 

Samuel went to the medicine cabinet, took out a locked box, and took a key from his pocket. Then he opened the drawer, took a needle and a syringe from the table, and put four different medicines in the same syringe. He worked fast and efficient, keeping his mind clinical. He was now doctor, not a pack member.

"This should work. There are two painkillers and one antibiotic, a sedative too. I'll give her a good dose, but not too much. She's in a weak condition. This should put her in sleep, deep enough but not too much."

Samuel found one of the cannulas, into which he inserted a needle and pressed the plunger.

I was on bed, Elias was stroking me, trying to throw images still in my mind, I was trying to breathe but it hurt and my breathing was more like gasping and it made me need to breathe more. But I was so damn weak. Samuel approached me, stroked me, and said, "Shhh... just sleep soon, it helps... sleep..."

As I felt the sedative taking effect, I was happy to be anesthetized for the first time in my life.

The men began to unwrap the bandages from Mimi, and Samuel took a sharp intake of breath. Mimi's whole body was covered in wounds, and from the waist down, it looked as if she had no skin. She had no skin. Samuel touched the gloved hand and grunted; a mere muscle, partially damaged; this would be the equivalent of a third-degree burn in a human, and dehydration alone was a big problem—infection another.

Her chest was misshapen as there were series of rib fractures and her breathing was affected by that alone. He knew she would heal once aconitum and rest of the silver would be out of her system but she would probably lose weight and fitness again. He would try to prevent as much as possible.

His team had been developing new antibiotics as he had found different bugs in Mimi's blood. He also had broad-spectrum preparations, and they would probably be needed. Samuel took out one basin where Mimi could fit lying and poured a large bag of white powder into it. He took next few sachets of some grew powder and mixed it into white stuff.

Then, he started pouring water into the basin. The powder solidified, and the water became gelatinous. When the basin was full, the water gel had the consistency of a jelly-like skin gel. Samuel lifted Mimi into the pool and submerged her up to her neck. This was one novelty in medical field what it came to burn victims. Healing jelly, preventing moisture loss and infection. He had put there binder agent for aconitum and silver. 

He would continue to treat Mimi in this way. In 12 hours, the healing jelly would have done its job. The jelly would draw the aconitum out of Mimi's system; it would help the silver and aconitum burns heal and relieve the pain. It would prevent dehydration and infection as well. Still, he would put the antibiotic away as soon as Mimi was a little stronger because the antibiotic attacked her stomach, and Mimi needed to recover now, not have intestinal problems.

Mimi would stay asleep as long as he had removed as much silver and aconitum from her body as possible. Samuel was already wondering how weak Mimi would be, but he was able to keep the jelly warm so Mimi's energy consumption wouldn't rise too much.

He stocked up on nutrient concentrates and wondered if Mimi should take a couple of weeks of incubator leave once she had healed all these terrible damages. It would give her time to rest and moreover be safe as she had now taken incubator as her ultimate safety in so much that they had to move it into locked room so she could not go in there. 

Adam was on his way here, and Samuel knew that Adam felt guilty and inadequate, and then there was the question of Mimi's safety. It could be that Adam would be very close to Mimi now for a long time and watch her himself. Even vampires had left, they had suggested that they could give horde of vampires to keep Mimi safe. Samuel thought that Mimi should have her own bodyguard. Still, the thought of how Mimi might sometimes get quite frustrated when a bodyguard restricted her made Samuel chuckle.

He remembered how firmly Adam had made it clear to Mimi that she would always have security men with her, no matter where she went, but humans were apparently too weak. Samuel was not sure about vampires thought. He was old creature and there had been animosity between werewolves and vampires for centuries and his father had thought him to almost hate vampires.

Twelve hours later, he lifted Mimi out of the jelly for a moment, removed all the extra cannulas and trocars, and flushed her bone marrow as best he could. Her skin was already much calmer. The muscles were still present, and there was no sign yet that she was growing skin, but there was time. She was still in very fragile state and Samuel made sure that she was painless. He had learned that cortisol was very good indicator of her stress so it was one value he would keep an eye.

Adam had arrived a few hours ago, and Samuel didn't let him watch while he tended to Mimi. Adam's eyes had turned yellow when he had seen Mimi in the jelly, and Samuel had sent Adam to eat while he tended to Mimi. Adam hasn't needed to see or smell Mimi's condition yet.

Samuel made another jelly and put Mimi in it. Now, Mimi had a silver binder, an aconitum neutralizer, and a sedative. He also put an antibiotic and a tummy medicine on the drip, if that would do any good. He wanted to make sure that infection would not be added complication. 

Mimi's body would immediately break down the sometimes prescribed medicines into ineffective ones. Meaning that tummy medicine might not be effective if her body would chop it off. It was frustrating beyond words.

Every twelve hours, Samuel would repeat the same thing: pick Mimi up, flush out her cavities, anything he could find that had nothing but silver or aconitum in it, and put in a new jelly. The jelly was always cloudy and greenish as it pulled the aconitum away through Mimi's skin and wounds. Slowly, Mimi's skin grew, hiding the muscles from view.

Adam sat in the medbay next to Mim's pool and waited. He talked to Mimi every time Samuel picked her up, washed her hair, and was close enough for her to smell him, even though she was very deeply asleep. Neither man slept. They ate when they could remember. Samuel continued to drip the antibiotic. Her cortisol was slowly dripping, tests showed she knew she was safe. 

Mimi made new blood slowly, and Samuel hadn't even taken blood cultures yet to see if there was any infection in her blood. Mimi now needed all her own blood. Recovery would take time, and Samuel and Adam knew how Mimi hated being weak these days, how she tried to hide her weaknesses and just try to cope. There would be percussions for this, meaning Adam would be needed as she tended to be clingy before she could get her mind calm down. 

A week later, when Bran came to visit because neither of them had told him anything about her situation, he went and see for himself. He had heard it and he was deeply upset of course. He entered the house. Neither man was to be seen. In the kitchen, there were dirty dishes in the sink, but only a few plates, the remains of a few meals. He checked the fridge; there was no ready food there either; it looked like the men were now living on sandwiches and coffee.

He walked to the medbay when he noticed the bed hadn't been slept in. The medbay was quite a sight. Samuel and Adam were sitting near the pool where Mimi was. Both men were thin, unwashed, and had shadows of beards.

Dark rings under their eyes, tired looks, and Bran heard Adam ask Samuel, "Should we switch to Europe? Spike and Drusilla were a coincidence, but you never know if others will start attacking Mimi."

Samuel replied, "I don't know if it's any safer in Europe, I don't know. It might be best to keep Mimi inside and both of us with her if we go shopping."

Adam said, "I know that Nick and Elias promised horde of vampires to protect her but then again, they failed originally too. We need to keep her safe."

Both men's voices were hoarse, their beards visible, and they were too exhausted. 

Bran knew that a little more snappy action was needed now, and he was thinking about Mimi's safety. He had an idea for that. The perfect bodyguard, protector, and maybe even mate for Mimi. He knew Adam would be a bit of a hindrance, but now the men would have to go to bed, and when they woke up, they would notice the change, and it would be too late.

He coughed and looked once at Samuel and once at Adam and said. "Now, you two, go to bed and eat. I'll take care of Mimi. I'll be all right. And you eat proper food, not just sandwiches and coffee; if you're not in bed in a couple of hours, I'll put you medically to sleep. "

Adam and Samuel got up, walked to the kitchen to eat, and ate as Bran had instructed because he had used the power of Marrok and had to obey.

He gave no room for argument, and Bran sent a text message as the men went to bed. It contained the address of the house.

Bran walked over to see Mimi asleep in the jelly. Samuel had left the supplies and written the care instructions before bed. He had also put the drip bags ready for Bran just to change them. But Bran smiled and knew things would change, and a lot in this little pack. He looked sleeping woman in jelly. She looked so frail and despite all of his fear about her; he wanted to keep her safe, under control and maybe get someone to teach her she was woman. She was not ugly, not at all. Maybe little plain, her features were sharp, and there was distinct impression of her supernatural status in her face. She was not a human. Anyone could see it.

Damon Salvatore was pondering. Ever since he had seen the men packing the woman into the car, Damon couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen, what she had suffered and survived. This was clearly something more than just a werewolf. He had been scientist long enough that to get his attention.

He had never hated werewolves like most other vampires did. He had relished their company, their bodies, their blood. Werewolf blood was so much stronger than human and almost addictive. He'd probably killed thousands of werewolves when he'd drained them, but they were just meals. He'd forgotten about them pretty soon after his men had thrown the carcasses out.

But this woman. Damon couldn't help wondering what a woman so small would feel like under him, so delicate but so strong, and what that delicious blood would taste like. Yes. His vampire side was clearly awakening.

When he returned to his favorite bar that night for another bourbon, his thoughts were suddenly somewhere other than his usual circle of self-pity and self-reproach. He just wondered about the woman, what she actually was.

Damon knew that if his vampire side had been awake, he could have quickly taken Spike and Drusilla out of the game and played with her while she was chained to the table helplessly. But instead, he had been a good samaritan, called for help, and hadn't even introduced himself.

The evening took another turn when a young-looking boy approached him in the bar. The boy looked young but was not. This was some ancient creature and immediately put Damon on his guard. Damon was no stranger to disguises. One glance and he could see immediately that the young man was not what he seemed. He was vampire lord over thousand years in his belt so he knew friends and foes as well.

The young man had awakened his bad side, his Volcano, that made him do some terrible things sometimes, and it was strange because the Volcano had been so weak when he'd been human. But it hadn't always saved Elena when he'd gotten furious, and the Volcano had exploded.

Now, this young man was the one who was putting it all on the line. His voice was polite, young, just fitting this look, but it didn't fool Damon.

"I am Marrok or Bran Cornick. You may not know who or what I am, but let's just say I'm the number one werewolf boss in North America, a werewolf himself. First of all, I want to thank you for what you did today. Mimi is so special, you won't believe it. You saved her when you called for help and could have just left her there. You have potential. I can feel your potential clearly, my boy."

Damon was silent momentarily and then said: " Quite a unique case if you can take the amount of silver and wolfsbane and handling those idiots did today. I am not a boy; I am over a thousand years old. My vampire side is starting to wake up, so I won't be a good samaritan much longer, saving freaks from the clutches of other vampires."

Something about Bran made the Volcano perk up; Damon furrowed his brows as he almost felt the Volcano wanting to introduce itself to Bran, as it would have sensed something similar inside Bran.

Bran said: " As you can see, Mimi can take anything; she can't die, and that's why she's not afraid of anything and gets into these situations. As you noticed, my friend Adam is a security consultant. He, too, is a werewolf, and he had his own people protecting Mimi, but no human, no matter how trained, is a match for two vampires. I'm now looking for a slightly better protector for Mimi. I can make you a wolf, too. I know you're a vampire, but I think a wolf would bring more strength to the game."

Bran stared at Damon; he sensed the potential within him; he had studied the reputation of Salvatore, and there was a powerful man who would put Mimi in check. Stronger than Mimi, this would not go to Mimi's show when Mimi wanted to be a victim to be taken care of. This individual had enough strength to stand up against Mimi, and considering his past issues with women, he wouldn't easily surrender and let Mimi have all the power to make decisions.

Adam would see Mimi almost as a child, nurturing and defending her, not keeping her in line as he should have. Not teaching Mimi her place as a female in the pack but letting Mimi be almost like a child, Salvatore would be the one who would not see Mimi as a child.

Bran knew of Damon's reputation as a seducer, too. It would be good to get Mimi to emerge as a woman, a woman in a pack, and then give Mimi experience of his abilities as an alpha and as a lover, too.

Damon thought momentarily and said: "I'm not a babysitter. I'm not interested."

He didn't want to be a bodyguard, security guard, hired hand, or something. He had money and then some. No need for him to work 

Bran sighed, looked at Damon, and said: "Okay, let's go to the corner table, and I'll tell you all about it."

Bran stood up and ordered them large beers as they went to the corner table.

Bran told them everything he knew about Mimi's history. He knew Damon was also a doctor and a scientist, and he hoped that Mimi's unique origin would get him involved in this job.

He told him what happened on the ship, how they got away, and what he had learned about Mimi and what he had done with her, though he didn't mention the couple of times he had tried to kill Mimi. After hearing the entire story, Damon's expression changed. He had seen the challenge.

The scientist in him wanted to study this creature. The doctor in him wanted to heal and help. The seducer in him wanted to conquer, and he was confident he would succeed in every part of his job.

He said, "Fine, I'm in. I can be the doctor, the researcher, and her bodyguard, but was there any other problem I should know about?"

"Well then, there's one more problem," Bran said.

He knew this was the one to get Damon hooked and hooked well. No man could resist this. Mimi wasn't ugly, not by any means, but when she didn't want to be a woman, she didn't wear make-up; she didn't dress like an adult; she wanted to be Mimi, an almost 12-year-old-looking, skinny little thing who lived with Adam but in her wolf form was one of the biggest wolves Bran had ever seen.

Damon asked, "What's the problem? Tell me everything so I know the extent of my work?"

Bran replied: " I don't know if you're aware of all things werewolf-related, but this is such a secret that I wish you wouldn't share this information. "

This was actually true, and he didn't want to advertise this to people because it would again separate humans and werewolves more.

Bran continued in a low voice, saying one word that caught Damon's attention completely.

"Heat," Bran said.

He continued: "Mimi is a virgin. She's never even kissed anyone, and she's never had a boyfriend. Now, if you don't go along with this, it will probably be up to Adam or even Nicholas to seduce her and help with the lust. Nick is a hybrid, so he's suitable for heat therapy. Nick and Elias are quite close to Mimi and they have been teaching her all things vampire. Her evolution has not stopped and Samuel, well, there has been few indicators that there are vampiric genes in Mimi. What's it means, i am not doctor, and she is unique as possible but Nick and Elias have promised to be there for her if she ever gets more vampiric properties. They have also suggested to give horde of vampires to protect her."

Bran knew about the strained relationship between Damon and the Originals, and this was the final nail in the coffin that got Damon exactly where he needed to be. 

This made the hairs on the back of Damon's neck stand up. He was the seducer, not those two, although Bran had told him about the distant relationship of the originals to Mimi. Vampiric genes, interesting. Somehow, the idea of having this to himself was very intriguing. Even though he didn't know Mimi, he felt a strange attraction to this one.

He said to Bran. "Make me a wolf. Don't bring the Original Brothers into this. I can take care of Mimi's heat when the time comes. I will keep her safe and if she gets more vampiric, I will be there. When do we leave? What will it take, and how hard will it be for me to get into the pack? Hauptmann is the pack leader, and it's his decision."

Bran briefly explained what the change would require and that it would be about a week before they could return to the house.

Bran said, "When you are a wolf, well, your vampire side will wake up, and you will become a hybrid then. Don't worry about Adam; I will ensure you get into the pack, and there is nothing wrong with that, no pressure. I know Adam is worried about Mimi and has work to do occasionally, so you are a godsend to him, Mimi's protector and teacher. A powerful man to keep Mimi in check and look after her well-being."

Damon nodded firmly. The men finished their drinks, and Damon drove to the remote cabin after Bran. Bran always turned werewolves in these cottages when it took his time, and it took skill to get a newly turned werewolf in shape. He hoped it survived the turn. Roughly one in three survived the turn, and even of those, about 55% were alive after two years; that's how hard it was to be a werewolf, and not everyone could do it.

But Bran had published none results on how many people lost their lives trying to be werewolves. He didn't even count. He usually turned twice a year after careful screening, and there were always candidates. But Salvatore survived. He knew it instinctively.

There were cabins like this for Bran all over the place. Damon went into the house and waited. He took off his shirt and went to sit on the ground. The door opened, and the wolf rushed in. This one was small, but it attacked Damon, knocking him on his back and biting him everywhere: arms, legs, stomach. The wolf did no lethal damage and then bit its lip, spilling blood and saliva into the wounds. After six hours, the wolf stopped mauling Damon as the wounds began to heal rapidly. It told Bran that the first stage was over.

Damon stayed in the cottage for a total of five days. He changed his shape without a full moon with Bran's help, much to Bran's surprise. Damon's wolf was night-black, except for one snow-white patch on his left shoulder, and he was as big if not bigger than Mimosa. His patch was located where Mimosa had a night-black patch in the same spot but on her right shoulder. This was a sign that they belonged together.

Damon's wolf's side was dominant, and strong, but obeyed the pack order, and it also had its own personality. Its name was Smoke. Bran was very pleased with this. This was just what Adam's pack needed, and with Damon showing off his accomplishments as a doctor, Bran knew Samuel had just found a colleague or even a challenger. It would only do Samuel good. Samuel, being ancient creature he had his habits of doing things only in his way and not even try to change or try something different. For Samuel it was that old trick was better that bag of new tricks. 

Bran has said nothing about it yet. He left Damon in town to do whatever it was he was doing and said: "I'll send you the address of the house when you get here. I'll see what's going on, as Adam and Samuel aren't keeping me up to date with how badly Mimi's been hurt. Samuel likes to put Mimi to sleep in the incubator for weeks at a time, so I don't know when you're going to get to meet Mimi awake. That girl is addicted almost to that incubator so much so that they had to put in behind locks after something nasty happens to her as she insists sleeping in there, not doing anything else but sleep, and Samuel, usually gives in as it is easy for him to give her IV feeding and keep her resting." 

Damon replied, " Once the itinerary is clear for me to come and see for myself and give my opinion on her care and recovery, we can then discuss with the whole pack how to get Mimi back to health without the ,"princess sleeping in a glass box" game. I am not letting her decide about her recovery." 

Damon's voice was steady, but Bran was very pleased with his attitude. This should be a good job for the pack.