Bab 241: 40. Lit De Parade.
I woke up, and I was still cold, and I felt really sick. But I wasn't in the med bay; Bran and Damon were obviously in this room because I smelled a wet dog and I heard Bran on the phone.
I opened my eyes, and Damon looked at me like a piece of meat and said, " It's about time you woke up, baby. Bran and I are going to Montana to have a real wild party, so don't think, baby, that I'm going to run at you right now. Now we need to get fucking and drinking with no ties. I'm not in doctor mode, and the thought of you crawling all over the floor disgusts me. Besides, that whole puking-up pus thing was really gross, and I don't want to treat you when you're full of boils and pus."
He came over to me and lifted me by the armpits into a slightly different position, just enough to give me a terrible coughing fit. No bedding had been put on my bed. I was just on a mattress with a sheet over the top. Damon looked at me happily, then came closer and changed my position again, now pressing on my sore breasts.
He said, "Oh, that's the pheromone gland. Go without; it's easier."
His voice was icy, pleasurable, and emotionless. He came closer and whispered in a really creepy voice. "Remember baby, what I promised if you don't respect me, oh listen, this is nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you. Some day, you're going to find out."
Then he straightened his back and walked out. The door was left open. I heard footsteps, and I coughed mucus, pus, and blood.
Bran came to the bedside, and he looked at me coldly and said, " See, vampire potion, get Damon out of doctor mode right away into a much better mode. Now, you get to recover on your own. Samuel has been sent away and is not answering his calls. He won't talk to anyone but me. Medbay's cupboards are locked, so you can't get your meds from there. Adam is coming here at some stage. This is a lesson for him, too; let's see if he is as strict about giving contacts when he finds you in this state. Adam is not a doctor, and Medbay is no help. It may take you a long fucking time to recover. Go with Adam to your base and see if anyone there can treat you, but as you know, you will survive eventually. This is an excellent lesson for both of you."
Bran walked away. After a while, I heard the cars leaving the yard. I coughed as long as I had the strength and felt myself aspirating more rottenness into my lungs. I was sure I would get through this at some point, but I felt my strength was failing pretty fucking badly. Bran had deliberately put a packbonds closed so that I couldn't get direct contact with Adam.
Adam was on his way to the house when Bran suddenly spoke in his head. "Hauptmann, since you weren't cooperating and giving me those contacts, then I asked Mimi. She's in pretty awful shape. Damon and Samuel took care of her, but I'm taking them away now. Damon and I were already on the plane. Charles is flying us to Montana, where we are having a party. The vampire potion helped with that. And then Samuel went to Indonesia, and I won't let him contact anyone but me, so it's up to you to see how you can help Mimi. Mimi is in the worst shape she's ever been in, so you're not a doctor. Medbay is locked down. She's in her own bedroom downstairs, so you'll see what you can do. Go to your fucking fleas and see what they can do then."
Adam stopped the car, sat for a moment, and took a deep, calming breath. He was at the house in less than half an hour. Now, he had to make a plan and a good one. First things first, a doctor was needed, the flea bases had a medic on staff, and Adam wasn't sure who was there.
He called Magnum when he knew he was in Chicago. He had trouble controlling himself.
" Magnum," A voice answered.
"Hauptmann here- Well, in short, Bran tricked me, Damon, and Samuel away, tortured Mimi for two weeks and infected her with a nasty bug. Two days ago, Damon and Samuel got to the house, and they started treating Mimi, but Bran had now gone there, told Samuel to go to Indonesia and only keep in touch with him, and drank Damon a vampire potion. Now, they are on a plane with Charles, flying them to a party in Montana. I'll be at the house in half an hour, and I was wondering who we have in meds. Mimi is in the worst shape ever, and this is a terrible place. "
Magnum was quiet and said, "Colin is here, so are Kevin and Richard, so they might get something done. "
Magnum's voice became more distant as he talked to someone, and then he came back again after a minute.
" Adam, go to the house, go to medbay, and see if you can find Mimi's files. See if you can get them downloaded to a tablet or something. Colin said it's a little easier for him to get started if he knows of any problems, then call, let me know what you find, and Colin will tell you what to do before you get here."
Adam said, " Mimi needs to get to safety. I don't trust Bran to last in Montana when he knows Mimi is weak. I know the bases are safe, but what if he can get Colin out of taking care of Mimi, too? "
Magnum grunted and said, "I'll talk to Colin. Now find that information and send it first so we can be prepared." His voice was not happy either, not at all.
Adam hung up and started the car. It was a good thing Colin was there; he had studied a lot about taking care of Mimi. Adam drove to the house, trying to calm himself down. Panic or fit of rage wouldn't help anyone. He arrived at the house and walked straight downstairs to the medbay.
Now Mimi's closeness turned on their mating bond, and Adam realized that somehow Bran had suppressed that too, but not anymore. Mimi's pain, distress, and helplessness all flooded straight into Adam, and he gritted his teeth, strode into the med bay, opened the computer, and read. His rage flashed, and he swore in his mind.
"fever 49.3. Fever medicine works, but only for an hour. The antibiotic rate is 30%, bandages are changed every four hours or more...., and rot and blood all over... Erysipelas, upper body and back....Pneumonia, lungs 10%... Coughing suppressants don't have an effect. "
Then, there were a lot of drugs and substances that Adam didn't understand. He didn't understand all the medical texts that Damon or Samuel had written. He took his tablet. Plugged it into the computer and copied everything, including a bunch of test results he knew nothing about yet.
Then, he sent the files to Magnum's tablet. He copied hell of lot Mimi's files, old one too. He sat for a while. After five minutes, his phone rang. It was Colin.
Colin said, "Well, I'll give you simple instructions: Mimi has a fever, so don't cover her up too much; that fever is way too high. Wrap her up in some clean sheets but first, change her bandages, take the thickest and biggest bandages from the top cupboard on the left and tape many rolls, now you have to wrap Mimi's whole upper body with these bandages, it will smell, can you do it? "
Adam said, "Yes, I can. I've been in the army, and I've had my share of field medicine,"
Colin said, "Take all the dirty bandages, put them in a triple plastic bag, and then when you get Mimi's bandages in place, you take the bag to the incinerator. This bug is nasty. Anything that's got secretions on it should also be burnt, but I can send a cleaning team in there."
Adam grunted, and Colin continued. Somehow, Colin's natural calmness came through even on the phone, and Adam felt his pulse settle down.
"So when you go to Mimi, try to gently but carefully wipe and wash off as much of the secretion as you can. Not everyone has had the vaccine, and the germs will mutate in Mimi's body. So you go from clean to dirty. First, you put some clean sheets somewhere, and when you get Mimi all wiped down, keep her clean and cover her with a bandage. You can't help her pain now, so if she can, let her rage out so she can take the treatment. Once you have her tied up, wrap her in clean sheets, put lots of sheets in the car first, or get a car that you can then power disinfect."
Adam listened attentively. So far, nothing has been too complicated. He had been Damon's student almost, and a lot of Damon's meticulous cleanliness had rubbed off on him. So he would be very throughout when he would clean her.
Colin continued. His voice was matter-of-fact, but Adam could sense a hint of helplessness in it when Colin wasn't there himself.
"Mimi is coughing; she has pneumonia, and her breathing is terrible; now, I don't know if more oxygen would help if Mimi can tolerate a mask. But put her in the car in a semi-sitting position. Her breasts are inflamed, and she has a massive infection in her subcutaneous tissue so her skin is tender to the touch, but try carrying her into the car, put her on the airway, try to cool her down, and let me know as soon as you drive, then drive straight to the garage, I'll take her from there and I'll keep the spread under control. I've got some pretty powerful drugs in reserve, and I'll take her to Ireland for treatment, but for now, get to work."
Adam hung up the phone, grabbed a large sports bag, and started gathering wound care supplies. He saw bags in one cupboard that said, " Concentrate on Mimi's skin, dilution 1:5" in Damon's handwriting. There was a glass door in the cupboard, so Adam broke it, took the bags with him, and then also took several full bump tanks and centrifuge fluid.
He packed them in his car, got some sheets from his bedroom set, and lined the back seat of the car with them. He put a note in for Magnum about the concentrate, the bump, and the centrifuge fluid. Magnum acknowledged.
I lay in bed shaking, for I don't know how long when I smelled Adam coming into the house. I was so weak, and my throat was so incredibly sore I couldn't even get a sniffle out of it. My fever was running high, I was shaking, and this sheet wasn't helping.
Damon had put me in the worst possible position, and I had thrown up, coughed up the mattress wet, and felt wet, stinky bandages on my body. I was so fucking helpless and I knew sepsis wasn't far away anymore. What would happen next, I didn't know, and who would get me well? Well, I didn't know that either. I couldn't think. I did not feel so invincible right now. Not at all. I felt very weak and helpless.
I could hear Adam moving around the house, even the front door opening, and I didn't know what he was doing. I just felt a soothing love coming through our bond, as if he wanted me to last and be strong. Then, finally, the door opened,
Adam stepped in, and I could see the stench hit his breath. He came up to me and said, " Honey, yes, you are in terrible shape, but there is a Colin at the base in Chicago. He knows the situation. I sent him everything Damon and Samuel wrote about you. He's given me instructions on what to do. Now honey, do you get the rage out? It'll help you cope when I have to hurt you, and there's no medicine now."
I swallowed, started coughing, and threw up blood, mucus, and pus again, finally, as I lay in the puddle they formed. I lay powerless on my side. They were slowly absorbed into the mattress, into my skin. I could feel it coating my eye. I was damn tired, sick and powerless.
Adam said, "Honey, I'm going to put you in another room to dress your wounds properly. This room needs to be disinfected properly. Try to take your rage if you can while I quickly fix up one room. "
I nodded. Concentrating and I was so damn tired, then something strange happened, well strange and strange. Mimosa jumped out of me. She was fine, and I was very pleased.
Mimosa went out of the room to talk to Adam, and I could hear Adam's surprised reaction, too. I finally found my rage and let it come on. Help me bear it, but I knew my strength was so fucking gone I probably couldn't hold it for long.
Adam came into the room and said, "Mimosa is on my mind. Don't be surprised. She came to safety when she's got her own thing, and you're taking time to recover, so she needs to function. Now honey, first I'm gonna wrap you up in a sheet, carry you to the other room, and change those bandages. We'll go to the base after that; I know you've got a fever, and you're cold, but I'm gonna be the nasty guy and put the air conditioning on cold in the car because that fever needs to come down."
I nodded, holding my rage as much as I could, focusing it on Bran. I hated him, I really did. I let my hatred burn in my vein, trying to help me cope. Adam carried me into the other room. He had thick gloves on as he removed the putrid, stinking wet bandages, and he also had a face mask, heavy-duty; he quickly wrapped the bandages in thick sacks, knotting them several times.
Then he took new dry bandages and wrapped me up like that, taping them together so that the tape didn't hit my skin. He wiped me at the same time with an alcoholic disinfectant and then always wrapped me in a clean sheet. The rage helped even though the pain was enormous, but I didn't care about it. I only cared about my rage against Bran. In the end, I was like a mummy.
I felt my strength beginning to run out, and I said, " Now I can't hold the rage any longer."
Adam grunted and said, " You're at the point now where we're about to leave. I'll just take those to the incinerator."
He took the sacks and started pacing down the corridor. I saw the door open; I was exhausted now. The pain was racking me just as hard on every fucking side as before, and I didn't know what I was actually supposed to do. I was not sure if I had power to even cough properly.
Adam then came back and said, "Well honey, here we go, I'll try to drive as fast as I can, and I know it's fucked up when you've got that fever, and I'll put the air conditioning on but you know I have to."
I nodded, my rage had already dripped back down the well and I couldn't bring it up, Adam took me gently in his arms carried me into the car, secured my semi-sitting position with the seatbelts, and got in the driver's seat to drive.
I felt the car move now. The air was blowing straight from the Arctic Ocean, or so it felt. I was colder than I had ever been. Adam's contraption kept me protected, but then again, it also trapped me; time passed slowly, and I did not know where we were going. Adam seemed to curse quietly somewhere in between, always looking in the rearview mirror now and then.
Eventually, the car slowed down and almost stopped completely, then it crawled forward again, and I realized we were going to the garage at the Chicago base. They actually rarely drove there, especially if there was an injury on the ride when Med Bay was close by.
The car stopped, and the door opened. Only pain was thing keeping me awake.
In the dim light of the garage, I saw Colin looking at me, and he said, "Missy, you're quite a challenge. But don't worry, you'll be asleep soon, and I'll take you to Ireland for treatment so Bran can't get at us. I'll fix you up."
His voice was always as reassuring, and I felt Adam open the other door, reach in, and unbuckle the seat belts. He lifted me up on the stretcher. Colin was there and said, " OK, look over there at Adam, and I'll get the cannula in place."
I turned my head, felt a sharp prick in my neck, and then nothing as he pressed the plunger and put me to sleep straight away.
Colin gestured to two men who picked up and carried the stretcher briskly towards the medbay. Colin helped Adam unload the bump tanks and spinning fluids. He took the concentrate made by Damon.
Adam smelled the clover, and Colin's eyes turned clover green. His pupils were shaped like a four-leaf clover, and Adam knew this was Colin's leprechaun.
He muttered to himself, "Yes, well, of course, but the vampire didn't know that, hehe."
After a moment, Colin's eyes changed back to a soft brown, and he said, "My leprechaun can make this even better, but come and get washed and tested. You didn't catch any germs. "
Adam growled. "Samuel vaccinated me."
Colin looked gentle and said in a surprisingly stern voice. "It's not the same anymore; it has mutated, and Samuel's vaccine may not protect as well. I can see you have Mimosa on your mind, so get tested, get cleaned up, and no arguments."
Adam nodded.
Colin said, "I'll stabilize Mimi for a bit, but we'll leave as soon as it's safe to do so. You can't come along. Mimosa has a job for you, and besides, there's nothing more you can do for Mimi, but you can be second in command, take over, and be the leader for now while Mimi recovers; I'll let you know through the dark web, and if Bran tries to come at me through any means, well, my leprechaun would love to give Bran a good curse. "
Adam nodded reluctantly. He said, " Mimi won't stay in bed when she has a fever. Damon always ended up putting her in a medically induced coma, just to say the least."
Colin smiled and said, "Well, then we'll help her up off the floor. I have a private clinic, very empty, and I keep it so that Mimi is the only patient, so there will be help."
Adam smiled and followed Colin into the washroom, where the men in space suits were waiting. All of Adam's clothes were burnt, but he was left with spare clothes. The men sprayed pressurized water and gave him disposable brushes, which wore off as he brushed. Adam had to wear many of them before he could put on the clothes, and he was taken into isolation; very many tubes of blood were taken and examined.
He got a laptop and started writing up kill lists that Mimosa gave him. He was directing gigs, handing out kill lists, and had to be in isolation for a week before he was released. He knew that Colin and Mimi had left after six hours, and Adam just hoped that Mimi would be okay.
But now he had to concentrate on the gigs, the kill lists, and being a leader. He walked into the common room and started watching the gig, totally immersed in the job, and Mimosa was jumping out of his mind, wandering around, talking to everyone and also giving advice.
Adam went to sit in Mimi's office, smelling the faint scent of strawberries there. He smiled to himself when he saw the half-used clothes left on the chair again. What the future held, he didn't know.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone