Chapitre 70: 30. Invisible Touch.
Samuel went through the portal to Boston and had texted Mariella earlier that he had a few samples. Mariella was in the kitchen where salvatores were making many dishes. Samuel could see that the food was for Mimi, but when she would be well enough actually to eat, Samuel didn't know. He kept his expression neutral and professional even though worry threatened to crush his heart.
Mariella turned around and said, "Oh, you came. Good, you can eat before you go. You're so damn skinny again, aren't you eating at all?"
Samuel said firmly, " Troublesome cases, I don't get to eat. Here are these samples. I can gobble something, but I'll have to go then."
Mariella took the tubes, and Samuel gave her the equipment to program the formula. Mariella first took Mimi's sample, sniffed, and sneezed. She set it aside and reviewed the other samples, writing the formula but not Mimi's.
Mariella asked, " This sample, what kind of creature is this? Yes, I can smell that there are metals here, but what fucking form of mercury?" Her voice was puzzled.
Samuel replied, " Diethylmercury. Can you get anything for it?"
Damon walked over to Mariella and sniffed the sample, and Mariella saw Damon's eyes almost darken. His mouth was the tight line, raw pain was in his gaze.
Damon said quietly, "Mimi, right?"
Samuel nodded. He did not say anything yet.
Damon thought for a moment and said, " Fine. At least so far, all my teeth offer is velvet, an extraordinary velvet. But did I smell Beryllium right? Is it still the same effect?"
Samuel nodded again. His voice was strained as he explained, "It's been two weeks, and she's quite closed now, but diethyl mercury should get rid of it. Neither Colin nor I have been able to help. Dresden can't summon it with a spell, and Mimi can't tolerate it; she should get chelation."
Mariella frowned and said, "I can't even summon beryllium from that sample. It's in the wrong form. What do you mean Mimi can't tolerate it?"
Samuel was silent and said, " Her straps, they won't tolerate it. "
Charles came over and said, "Mariella, then see that Mimi comes to my mind when it's time."
Mariella did not reply. She was shocked as well. The entire pack had betrayed Mimi. She was in an awful situation because of them, and she knew Damon blamed himself hard.
Damon swallowed and turned pale. The situation was not good.
He said, " Perhaps we should have a look through Miss. We could work out a way."
Samuel took a breath and was silent. He looked at the floor, unsure if he should warn them.
The two looked at Samuel and said, " What aren't you telling me now? Start telling Cornick."
Samuel swallowed and said, " Diethyl mercury makes Mimi convulse violently at the slightest stimulus so hard she breaks her bones. She weighs 19 kilos and is only slightly conscious now but can feel. She's currently in an incubator, and even that blood tube was enough to cause an 8-minute convulsion. It's like tetanus but a thousand times worse. Every seizure hits Mimi's straps; they've always recovered a bit, but that's why you can't pull the metals out of her. Those convulsions are painful, and she is conscious the whole time. "
Damon thought for a moment.
He said, "Mimi needs to be isolated from the sensations. She must be submerged in a numbing jelly. Then she will tolerate the metal removal, but that mercury won't come out through it, and my teeth won't say anything about it. It's got to be done the hard way, then, which is to make Mimi drink human blood, keep her in numbing jelly, sedated, and let it push through her skin. It will take time and be a very hard experience for the lady. I don't know the duration."
Samuel looked for a moment and said, "That's pretty extreme, but I see nothing else either. First, the numbing jelly. Then all the metal is off, and then the cleaning with human blood." At least he had a solution right now.
Mariella nodded. She did not know what it would be like for Mimi. There was no other choice.
Samuel said, " Well thanks, now I know what I'm going to do. Can I eat before I go?"
Mariella carried lots of food in front of him, which Samuel ate eagerly. He was always busy, and he forgot his own needs when he was working and healing.
Mariella said, " Why aren't you in the pack? Why are you always running away?"
Samuel sneered and said," Why should I? You are here in the shelter, living your insignificant life, and there are those who need me out there. I am a healer. I always have been. That's my thing. I have no role in this pack. You are all doctors, so there is no need for me here."
Mariella looked for a moment and said, " Yeah, but don't forget about us; you're quite a beast in bed, too."
Samuel raised an eyebrow and smirked. He finished his food and then left. Mariella watched his tall form striding away, going to help Mimi and they, living here their insignificant life, were not able to help her. And she could feel that Damon would not go near Mimi because he blamed himself too much.
Damon sat still and picked his food, Looking at the empty seat at the end of the table, regretting his outburst every fucking minute and yet knowing that he had done too much, they were no longer there, at least to the extent that they could have been, and Damon knew that this was going to be something he would regret all the time.
Mariella said, " Honey, come on, let's go unload a little. I know it doesn't help as such, but it will take your mind off things for a while. You never know about the future."
She tried to let Damon see she was still here, and that it was not a bad thing if Mimi was not with him. She was jealous too, and she tried to take Damon all by herself now. She saw this as an opportunity, a chance.
Damon went with Mariella to the bedroom, feeling some part of him so damn hollow, so damn incomplete, and realizing that was where Mimi's love for him was. And he had thrown it away himself. Thrown away, burned the most wonderful love letter in the world, the most important letter he'd ever received.
He didn't deserve her love; he didn't because he hadn't changed. Even though he thought he had, he hadn't. He went from zero to 100, always coming to the wrong conclusion and the result was that Mimi's heart and soul were crushed, her body in a terrible state too. What a tough treatment she would have to go through, all alone. He knew her aversion to medical treatment, sedation, and being submerged in jelly, not feeling her body at all but feeling everything pushing through. His fault.
He put all his feelings for Mimi away, but let the guilt be, let this racking pain rage through his soul so that he would learn, and learn well. So that he would know how to trust Mimi. He deserved this pain, this agony.
Samuel went back to Mimi and Colin, explained what they had to do, and they did it. They let Mimi stay in the numbing jelly for a week, and then Dresden, Constantine, and Wulfe could pull the beryllium and other metals out. Mimi would wake up a bit more, and then they could explain what would happen. She reacted a little as they poured jelly all over her, numbing her fully.
Samuel had already prepared the sedatives so the Mercury would come out slowly and surely so that Mimi's body could handle it. They had a test that measured the amount of mercury, and when it was at zero, then the numbing jelly could be taken out. Only then would the real recovery begin. It would be slow going, but it would work.
Mimi was lying in the jelly, now completely numb, and Dresden and the wizards were on his third day of pulling metals out of it. Every day, wizards worked on her, pulling as much as they could. They tried to do it quickly, but not too roughly. Samuel didn't know what Mimi would feel, if anything, about the condition, but Beryllium was now completely gone, as were 30 other metal compounds, except for the mercury.
Dresden and even Wulfe had tried different spells, but it just had to be taken out with human blood. This would not be fun for anyone, and Mimi had been in jelly for a total of two weeks. He had been giving her strong sedatives, keeping her as dazed as possible, almost out cold, so this would not be so hard for her.
When they started pouring human blood on me and explaining the whole thing, I thought, oh fuck, what a wonderful life. Soon, Samuel realized that the sedative couldn't be given while I was sweating it out. I just had to endure this. Human blood cleansed me, I had a feeding tube in my stomach, and human blood poured there all the time.
But yes, there was shit in me that came out. And for a long time. I felt nothing on the outside but felt something on the inside, and it didn't trigger the convulsions. I was a skeleton in jelly because my nutrition was minimal. By the time all the junk came out, my body had decided that most of the nutrient solution was junk, too.
I had no body, not really, and it was so surreal but I had these sensations inside me, so I had something, I felt this strain in me, this exhaustion, this loneliness, and Wulfe was busy, he had been resting and then missions had called him away too.
I had no sense of timing. I was asleep or in some kind of slumber part of the time. Samuel, now and then, drugged me, but no amount of medicine would last. I saw nightmares. If I slept, I was not deep enough, and he had no way to know that I saw nightmares.
My rage grew steadily, as did my willpower. So many colors of rage and all of those energies and magics that I had siphoned. I was loaded with them. I would be pretty damn strong in parts after this, and one thing was for sure. I wanted to be on my own. I would put myself in shape when I was so tired of being patient and weak. I would not be patient, be on feeding, be a good girl. Not at all.
It took six months. For six months, I lay in jelly all alone, completely helpless, and let my rage build up then when all that shit was out of me. Plagued by nightmares, by my mind, my weakness. When I got my movement, even a bit back, I was ready to go. I teleported elsewhere.
I just told Samuel and Colin. "I have to go; now I need to be alone; now I'm not a patient. I appreciate it. It wasn't easy for you either, not at all. "
Samuel said, "You weigh 15 kilos. Only 15 kilos, you're extremely weak, and sleep wouldn't hurt a bit. You are prone to infections and whatnot."
I replied, "I'm too furious. With this rage, I can't sleep, not at all, but I'll be fine. It's all uphill from here. I have the motivation to put myself back in shape. No need to worry about me. "
Samuel shrugged. His expression was neutral. He saw clearly my rage and said, "You have suffered enough, so I am not forcing you here. It is your choice. But you know where I am if you need me."
Colin spoke, his voice soft, now his pupils as four leaved gloves. His leprechaun was on the surface, making his voice softer and his accent thicker. "Young lady, take it easy and call us if anything changes. Be careful, you are extremely frail and weak. It won't take much for you to get an infection."
I nodded and then teleported away. I went to my Bhutanese house, where I'd be safe and I could get myself in shape. But I'll get better. I felt my rage burning all the exhaustion out of me, all the pain, tiredness and it gave me a boost to be able to move, and act. It would take time, but I would get myself in shape. I was the best person to help myself, as it had been always. Some things never change.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone