章節 390: 29. Rhythm Of My Heart.
Colin went ahead as Charles carried the now unconscious and limp woman inside. Colin was enraged. Once again, Mimi's pack had betrayed this, and her husband tortured her. While Colin believed in Damien's existence, he also knew that Damon was reckless. If he knew how Damien gets to the surface by hurting Mimi and because his insecurities cause him to doubt himself, why in God's name would he do something that could set Damien free?
Sure, Damien could manipulate him to do so, but if that was true, Damon was weak-natured. Love was supposed to be the strongest force in the universe. That should have been enough for Damon to believe in Mimi, to help her, not attack her. Colin focused once again on being the one who helped Mimi, no matter what.
He could not think of a time when he would hurt her. He idolized Mimi, and he and his leprechaun had learned to love her in their own way over the years. His leprechaun was not asking for anything, only a chance to help and save Mimi. That was very rare since leprechauns are notoriously demanding and greedy, but he could feel his leprechaun's true love for Mimi.
His Leprechaun was not after romance but something deeper. To him, it was an honor that he, a mere leprechaun, could help this goddess before them. He set Mimi down on the examination table on which Colin had earlier stocked supplies while Charles tried to describe the damage to Mimi he had seen in the cage. Mimi had less than 50 straps, and they had taken a hell of a beating, too. Colin worked quickly and efficiently, but as gently as possible.
He kept his expression focused as he sensed Charles's rage too. No need to make him explode and properly too.
A bright light showed the whole situation. Mimi's arms and legs were covered in bone fragments, some of which were partially ossified, as was her back. The rib bones could not be felt, and the deformity of the chest indicated it had been crushed in some way. She had been crushed, pressed, and beaten to a pulp many times. Colin worked silently. Charles stood near him, asking him if he asked of anything but tried not to be in the way.
Her skin was peeled in places, and metallic paint was still clearly visible in some places. It had ripped off when Colin had gotten the last of those awful moldy blankets out of around her. Colin knew that sometimes that kind of brushed metal was used in interrogations, but usually, an area the size of a credit card ensured the victim would start talking. And the whole of Mimi was painted with it. It was clear Damon worked as an interrogator for the government, as that was only given by the government.
Colin said to Charles, "She has less than 50 straps, and those are very stressed too, so this is not an easy fix. My leprechaun has a plan of his own, and let's see how much we can strengthen her straps. She weighs less than 25 kilos and hasn't eaten in months, so I am not sure about her internal organs. I think they are all goner. First, let's try to get as much of this metallic paint out of her as possible, using cooking oil and warm water. I will prepare a solution that we will use to soothe and protect the skin so that we can get clean. Her heart is beating, but where does her blood go? I do not know because she is so mangled up. How much she has veins and arteries left in her body."
Colin knew about metals, and they were his number one priority. First, they washed all the metal off Mimi's skin. They use cooking oil, warm water, and a solution that Colin had prepared to minimize the loss of any more skin. Some of it slouched off still. Colin cannulated Mimi's heart and put fluids and painkillers in there because he was not a telepath, so he tried to keep Mimi in as deep a painless state as possible.
Colin applied a thick herbal ointment and bound those places where there was no skin left, only muscle mass, as much as he could before the surgery. Washing and cleaning took a day. At the same time, Colin got Mimi in a little more stable condition, too. He strengthened her straps and added 15 more straps for her. That told him that Mimi was in deep enough so she could rest, recover, and be fully pain-free, too. Painless state where Salvatore could not reach was now best for her while he would fix her body.
The next day, Magnum came to see Mimi's condition and was very upset. Colin and Charles told him what had happened. Colin had made a make-shift operation room in one of Charles's rooms, and it was time to operate. Mimi had a severe infection, but Colin tried to protect himself and Charles as well as Magnum too when he enlisted both of them to help him in the operation.
During the operation, he opened up Mimi from chest to pelvis and began to scoop out the mass of metal and visceral debris from inside Mimi. Magnum got to be medic as well, and he was so damn angry about the pack and Salvatore.
Colin was leading this operation. He had a suction machine. He suctioned as Charles and Magnum scooped the mass out of Mimi. He had made a solution to flush out Mimi's body cavity, so men poured it inside her, and Colin used it as he suctioned and cleaned her up. They eventually got all the thick mass out of Mimi, but the flashes of metal here and there on the abdominal cavity walls told them that not all the metal was anywhere near gone. But that would help.
The smell had been awful, and after all the thick mass had been scooped out, Magnum took the container of that smelly mass, went outside, and burned it while Colin and Charles still worked on Mimi. Colin had made jelly full of leprechaun stuff, nutrition, and anesthetic that he filled Mimi's abdominal cavity with. He stitched and glued the wound close. He put a thick bandage on that. Next was the second stage of the operation.
He kept very strict hygiene and also state of Mimi so not to stress her very fragile body too much. She needed rest, time and care. Love too. Colin's leprechaun told him that Mimi was creature of love, when Damon was creature of blood and lust. Mimi needed someone to love her. They had also put collectors to her fangs, and there had been quite collection of poisons that Colin took safekeeping, his leprechaun as was even more impressed by his goddess.
First, the men ate, showered, and rested for a few hours. Cleaning and tending to Mimi had taken three days, so they needed to rest a bit before continuing, and Mimi's straps needed time, too. The operation had taken a lot out of her, and this gave Colin's jelly time to work its magic inside Mimi, too.
After eight hours of rest and recovery, men continued their work. Colin was going to take blood tests to determine what metal was still in Mimi. But that's when he'd get the most damage repaired. He had noticed that there were little organs growing inside her; his jelly worked, and that was good. Now, it was time to mend the bone crush that was most of Mimi's bones. He had taken her ribs and sternum out when they had operated on her earlier, and she had external support on her chest. She was taken again to the operating room; first, they turned Mimi on her stomach and started to put her spine back together as best they could.
Colin, Charles, and Magnum worked around the clock. Colin cleared most of the too-small pieces out. His leprechaun had once again made thick paste, a kind of cement that was used to put most of the bigger pieces back together. It was long and slow, like a living puzzle, and it took concentration and stamina. Magnum and Charles noticed quite soon that Colin was not tolerating any mishaps; his voice snapped, irritated if either didn't perform as he had told them to.
After grueling another three-day operation, men rested again. Colin had put Mimi on various chelation therapies that she could handle in her very fragile state. Yet, Charles made a very sarcastic phone call to his stepbrother, Samuel, describing Mimi's condition. Now she would sleep. For a long time, too.
Colin had gotten chelating agents for the metals. And several strong antibiotics, too, as it had been apparent that several nasty germs were causing multiple infections in Mimi. They might cause her internal organ failure, but the good thing was Mimi was slowly but surely increasing her bones. Colin's leprechaun did his work daily, and Colin always used his knowledge of Mimi's unique physiology when working together.
Charles also said that now he didn't think any Dresden potion would suddenly return Damon to normal, and even if it did, he wouldn't let Mimi anywhere near anyone. He suspected Damien had retreated already, Damon had been manipulated into partying, and it had been Damon who had gone to the cellar to kick and drug her and send her fear, terror, and nightmares.
Samuel sighed. It wasn't supposed to go like this again. He was very upset. Firstly, that was not the plan, not at all. Then Damien was frighteningly strong if he could manipulate Damon to the extent that he beat, kicked Mimi, drugged her, and did not care for her. He knew that punishment had been for nothing and once again; he saw the influence of Bran in this nightmare, too.
These lessons or punishments to Mimi would get out of hand every time. Now, she lay bruised, metalized, unconscious from a shed session in Charles and Colin's care. Mimi was in very serious condition, and it was all their fault. First, they fall under the spell of black witches, and the Original Brothers of Satan rescue Mimi. Then there's the European job and then this punishment. Samuel blamed himself, too. He was too weak to see behind his father's not-so-innocent claim Mimi had to be punished, and for what, doing her work?
Oh fuck. Then again, you just know Mimi's not going to be around the house much when the lady starts doing the missions and being the leader of her organization, immersing herself in work again and keeping to herself. So much for good pack time and seeing Mimi laughing and having fun. It was probably time for Ice Queen to come out again.
Samuel stopped drinking and went to help take care of Mimi. He had brought some metal binders Damon had made, but Mimi was having a bad allergic reaction. Of course. The lady has such a fucking powerful will, and now she's so pissed at Damon that none of his stuff works. Samuel also brought a centrifugated bump and Damon's blood, but the same reaction. That was not good, not good at all. He had just to give them nutrition concentrates that his team had developed, and those weren't best for Mimi. He gave Colin a recipe for viscera mush if he wanted to feed Mimi with that.
Samuel decided to let Mimi stay here for now because if he moved Mimi into the house and no matter how much Damon regretted it, it's possible that even Damon's touch would cause Mimi to have an allergic reaction. There was little for him to do. Colin, Magnum, and Charles were protective of Mimi, so Samuel returned to the clinics to continue helping those he could at the moment.
When Dresden found out what had been done to Mimi, he went and captured Damon, gave him another potion, and tried to make a few spells to probe Damien. Is that a whole different being, or part of Damon? He was not yet fully sure. He had tried to study and find some old spells, some examples of which were that two could live in the same body and that it was not demonic possession, but so far, he had had no luck.
When Damon had sobered up and started to remember how he, himself, had gone into the cellar and kicked Mimi, he was crushed. But then came a phase that Dresden couldn't bear to endure. Remorse, self-loathing, and general wallowing in self-pity. He sent Damon away. Damon had heard about Mimi's allergic reaction; again, he'd gone overboard.
His actions, not Damien's, had led to that allergic reaction, that he had kicked her, drugged her. Damon tried to remember why he had done it, but his memory was a blur; he got glimpses of that shed session, too, and it was almost too much for him to bear. Was there some evil creature inside him, but how come he could then remember and feel this pleasure that had been apparent when Mimi was beaten, sick, barely alive?
The idea had been that when he could get the fear reaction to sink in Mimi so that he could use his telepathy to find it, he would stop and then take her to the Azores as a reward and compensation. But no, he had another episode of weakness, allowing Damien to come forth, and that had done the worst shed session to date, taking Mimi to the cage. He had been the one who hid her and kicked her and sent fear and terror all the way. Oh fuck. And they were quite recently married and hadn't even had a proper honeymoon yet. What would their marriage have left if this would continue?
Even if Damien was a real separate being, he was too strong and manipulative, turning him into a monster. How could he swear to Mimi that he loved and kept her safe if the evil inside him was too strong? Would it be better to let Mimi have her distance until he could find and control Damien, the volcano, or whatever he had in his mind? If as powerful a wizard as Dresden was, he could not find irrefutable evidence that Damien was real, how could he be sure? So many ugly questions and weak answers that Damon took a bottle of bourbon and continued to drink. Not fuck, but just drink.
Colin and Charles, Magnum continued to care for Mimi. Colin was adamant that the young lady would sleep. He remembered all too well how incredibly hard patient this had been when awake. Her condition was improving, but slowly. Charles sat by her, sometimes talked to her, touched her and Colin watched as this old werewolf let himself start to feel something else than the bitterness and regret that had burned Charles's soul so badly. Maybe there was hope for Charles still.
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