When Adam invited us downstairs for dinner, I knew Damon was old, cruel, killed a lot, and, in his own words, fucked almost as much. He was not like his brother. And Stefan wasn't like a character on a TV show either. He himself is nowhere near the TV character; he is possessive, an anesthetist, could drive a car, play the piano, and has fought in many wars. He had lived in about every country and often spoke of some countries by their old names and then explained roughly where each had been, so I got a geography lecture in the process. But he was an excellent teacher.
Before we went downstairs, I said, "Damon, tonight you're going to give me a sedative without getting all cuddly. I can take it. You don't have to nurture me so hard. I'm a big girl."
Damon looked at me momentarily and said: "Let's see now, baby. I know I'm new in your life, but seriously, I am and will be your security, so you should just try to get it through your head, but I'm not forcing it just yet."
We went to dinner. The table was set again with sandwiches, coffee, croissants, juice, and sodas. I wasn't really that hungry; the duck dinner and cakes had kept me relatively full, and my stomach wasn't screaming as usual. I hadn't been doing anything that much, mostly lying in bed, so my digestion was slow, and I finally got all the medicine out of my system, so I wasn't really hungry.
When usually, I might have wandered around outside for an hour or two on top of my food or even gone to the gym to do some yoga. My body liked to move, which had always helped the food go down quicker, but now I was just lying in bed and talking. However, I grabbed a couple of sandwiches and ate them. Damon watched for a moment and stood up.
Adam was deeper in the kitchen, and Damon asked Adam a question.
"Adam, has Mimi ever had peanut butter and jam sandwiches? They might be pretty good for the lady when she's not hungry now?"
Adam said," No, Mimi hasn't eaten them. We didn't think of it since Samuel hasn't looked into nuts and seeds in Mimi's diet yet,"
Damon grumbled and started making some sandwiches for Mimi.
Then Adam came back to the table. Damon followed after a while with a plate in his hand with four layers of sandwiches, two pieces of bread on top of each other, and something in between. Damon put the sandwiches in front of me.
"Eat them, baby, and they're peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Peanut butter and jam. Let's see how good they are for you."
I tasted the first sandwich, and it was surprisingly tasty. I was pretty skeptical about this combination, but the bread was almost brioche, so it was good for something sweeter like this. I devoured all four sandwiches and poured myself some more coffee. I always had to drink my coffee with sugar and cream. Always all the calories I could get into myself.
After dinner, I went back upstairs.
I said, "I'm going to go read back upstairs now, so you can come back whenever you want and just give me that injection. "
I looked at Damon, who nodded casually. Damon stayed to talk to the men. I went to bed, picked up another book, and read. I wondered in passing what else the future would bring. I thought about everything Damon had told me; in some ways, he had told me even more about himself than I knew about Adam or Samuel.
I realized that, too, but then again, I trusted Adam and Samuel and didn't need to know their biographies. But Damon wanted me to know him. He wasn't just a stranger; he was obviously trying to build a relationship between us, and now I wasn't sure what kind of relationship he was building.
Damon told the men when Mimi had gone upstairs, and he was sure she hadn't heard him, "I'm going to get to know Mimi a little bit, as you saw. She's unsure of herself, and I need to take this slowly. She doesn't trust me nearly enough; she even just said she's taking a risk and doesn't need comforting. We have a job site here."
He looked at both men. He was sitting pretty relaxed, but his voice revealed his inner turmoil.
"The good thing is that we have time. She doesn't smell of heat, not even of sexual maturity. I don't want to traumatize her about sex because it's an essential part of any relationship. She's very withdrawn in her shell, and whatever this Spike and Drusilla thing got up to, she doesn't trust me enough yet to help her. I'm a telepath, but then again, that's tied to my vampire side, which isn't awake enough yet for me to help her with it, to dispel memories and emotions. "
Damon sighed and looked into the distance as if to think things over, clearly irritated at his inability to help Mimi with his telepathy.
He continued: "I keep Mimi safe as best I can, but she has a pretty powerful will hidden away. She's nowhere near showing it all. She is the alpha, as alpha as you can get, and you have probably noticed how subtly she manipulates you and situations to her liking, so there is nothing wrong with that. Still, it does not bring security if she decides everything."
Samuel said. "How do you want to administer the anesthetic? If she doesn't wrap herself around you, then I don't guarantee that the drug will work at all. "
Damon thought for a moment. Bran pulled a bottle from his pocket and said. "This will do without the needles. I've used it a couple of times. Chloral hydrate. Works like a dream. Six drops in the juice, and in five minutes, she's out."
Samuel thought for a moment and looked at Damon. "I'm not sure how it builds confidence. Plus, there's a severe risk of overdose, as you know and remember. And Mimi doesn't need any more medical problems now than she already has."
Damon nodded. " I'm glad it's working, but I want to be as open as possible about this. As said, overdosing is a risk, and it's a painful business, as I read. Now, it would backfire if I secretly drugged her."
Damon continued as he looked at Samuel and said: " Just give me the drug, and we'll see what happens. If it works, I'll be by her side, anyway. If she feels the need to be safe, I'm available."
Samuel got Damon eight pre-loaded syringes. One per night, they should last a little over a week.
Adam said, " And if it feels like Mimi's having nightmares, it's fucking hard to get her to wake up, and then she won't sleep at all."
Damon grunted and said, " Let's hope she doesn't have nightmares and that medicine stops the memories flooding her mind. Like I said, if I had my telepathy, this would be a piece of cake, but it doesn't work."
Damon chatted with the men for a while longer about the general affairs of the pack and the future in general. Then he decided to go upstairs. Mimi usually went to bed at eleven at night, sometimes earlier.
Adam said: "That's your responsibility, Damon. Now, see that Mimi gets enough rest. I've mercilessly put her to bed at six in the afternoon if she's exhausted."
Damon nodded. No pressure, he thought. He headed up the stairs to the top floor. This was going to be interesting. Even halfway up the stairs, he knew this wouldn't work.
He could hear Mimi's heart pounding hard, which meant she was nervous or jittery. Samuel had told her that this was only a very mild dose of sedative, and it wouldn't be long before Mimi would probably be asleep on saline alone. Damon had his own strong suspicions that tonight would not be a peaceful night. But he wasn't about to pressure Mimi into anything else now; he wanted to show that he will compromise and also honor her wishes. He was trying to build trust all the time. Even if he hated compromises.
I read in bed and tried not to think about the future. Then, I began to visualize it if that would help. It didn't. Minutes passed, and my pulse quickened as I heard footsteps on the stairs. I tried to calm down. I'm a big girl now. It's just one injection.
You take it and sleep like a baby. Right, no problem, not even the slightest. Except It was an injection and a sedative, two things I couldn't stand, but I controlled myself.
Damon came into the room. He had a box in his hand. I knew what was in it. Tranquilizer shots. Drugs. My heart was pounding. Damon walked to his side of the bed, put the box in the drawer, and sat on the edge of the bed. He was calm but glanced at me, and now he wasn't this seducer; he was probably a doctor first and foremost. I felt he was a little unsure about this whole thing, too.
"Your heart is pounding like it's the last day. You must be pretty nervous. It's all right; you can wrap yourself around me however you want; I'm not forcing you to do anything." He said calmly.
"Or maybe you just have that effect on me; I don't need to get wrapped up; I'm a big girl; I can take one injection," I said nervously back.
Damon replied; his voice was soothing, even, and yet such that it was almost instinctive to obey. "Well, fine if that's how you feel, but if you want to come close after that, I'm ready. However, you feel. How do you want to do it now?"
I said. "Okay, I'm going to get on my side now, and you're going to quickly just inject it into my arm; it's not an enormous amount, and it's quickly done."
Damon said: " Let's try it that way. Like I said, let's do it your way now, and if there are any problems, I'll help you out. "
I said, "Don't worry, it works fast, and I'll be asleep in no time. Everything will be fine. Besides, Samuel said I won't need the medicine soon."
I got on my side. I pulled the blanket over me and left my upper arm on top of the blanket. My nightgown was short-sleeved, so there were no obstacles. I waited. I kept my eyes closed, tried to keep my arms relaxed, and did not think about it. Maybe this would really work, and slowly, I could leave the whole jab out.
Damon took the syringe in his hand and tried to act quickly. He inserted the needle into her flesh and pressed the plunger into the base. The substance was inside. If only it would work.
Mimi hurriedly pulled her hand inside the blanket. She said nothing, but Damon could still sense the tension and hear the pulse pounding in her chest. But Damon took off his shirt and pants and had no underwear.
He pulled the blanket over his body, turned onto his side, and faced Mimi. Mimi was faced to the wall, and Damon couldn't help but sniff Mimi's hair, which smelled of roses and Mimi's own strawberries. He so wanted to touch Mimi, to pull her into his arms, but he left her alone for now and noticed her pulse was calming down, so maybe the medicine was working. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
I felt the needle pressed into my arm, and the sting of the substance followed immediately. I pulled my hands under the covers and waited for sleep. After ten minutes, a slight snore behind me told me that Salvatore was asleep.
The medicine didn't seem to work, but I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep. I didn't feel any kind of drug anxiety, so the dose was very low, so I didn't need the medicine. It was just an attitude thing. I tried to get my attitude right, to feel safe and secure. I listed everything that kept me safe in my head. Even now, no one would get in here. No one would hurt me. I was perfectly safe and sound.
Damon was beside me, snoring behind my back, and no one would come through the window. Eventually, I fell asleep, and then they started again. Memories surfaced and took me with them. I was tied to the table, stuffed full of silver, Spike talking, Drusilla eating my pain, kicking me in the back, a green spunk dripping into my veins, and helplessness, powerlessness, pain, and weakness. The bullet I jumped in front of to save Adam. Spike wrapping aconitum silver bandages around me—the feeling of being blown up. Or I was drowned. A scorpion walking around my neck and jabbing a stinger straight into my windpipe so I couldn't breathe.
Damon woke up to something. It was dark. Mimi was rolling over in bed, tossing her head from side to side, frowning, hands clutching the covers. Moaning and whimpering, she seemed to be having trouble breathing. Suddenly, she jumped up and opened her eyes, but she wasn't looking anywhere. Mimi's breathing was wheezing, and her lips were already blue.
"Still sleeping, shit! Mimi, come on... try to wake up." Damon was cursing in his mind.
Damon hit Mimi in the face with his open palm, hoping it would make her breathe better, but no. Damon swear some more. He remembered what Adam had said about Mimi not waking up quickly and then not sleeping. No, this had to stop. He couldn't let Mimi suffer for hours. He got out of bed and pulled up his pants.
He moved to the other side of the bed and grabbed a couple of syringes. He sniffed. The syringes were indeed mostly salt water. Damon knew those drugs wouldn't do any good. Calming down and talking wouldn't work. Mimi would have to be sedated into a deeper sleep. He left the room and closed the door.
He quickly strode downstairs to the Medbay and took out a two ml syringe. Then Damon went to the medicine cabinet and used his own key to open the box containing Mimi's strong sedatives. He took a clear solution. It was used to tranquilize large animals, and it was very strong.
Damon took 1.2 ml of the medicine, which would be more than enough, and he would only give Mimi as much as she needed. He took a couple of the thinnest needles he could find. Just in case she would jerk and needle might bent. He would only give her enough so that the nightmare, or the memory, would fade and she could sleep peacefully. Mimi wouldn't have to wake up in the morning fully drugged and knew she'd been sedated during the night.
Then he headed back upstairs. The room was empty, and Mimi was nowhere to be seen. Then Damon looked under the bed. Mimi was shivering there. Her eyes were open but unseeing, her lips still blue, and Damon could still hear her wheezing breath.
He reached under the bed and pulled Mimi out. Mimi didn't resist. She was stuck in some nightmare so badly that she was unable to act. Somehow, the nightmare or memory came to the surface in such a way that Mimi had physical symptoms from it.
Damon lifted Mimi onto the bed and came over to her. He gathered her into his arms and stroked her hair to calm her. He tried to talk, to rub her diaphragm, to ease her breathing. He cursed in his mind when his telepathy didn't work. But where Mimi was at the moment, Damon couldn't get to yet because he wasn't a vampire. He felt kind of helpless, but he had a way to help, anyway.
Damon muttered to himself. "Okay, let's do this the hard way."
He turned Mimi almost crosswise in his arms and took her arm. He took one of the needles and pushed it into her vein. He smelled Mimi's blood and, again, almost a bloodlust, but not yet. Somehow, he just knew that Mimi's blood would be tasty. Mimi didn't even flinch.
He attached the syringe to the needle and pushed the plunger very gently. Slowly, until he noticed that the trembling stopped, Mimi relaxed in his arms and finally sighed and went limp. Her breathing calmed down, her lips were no longer blue but the normal red, and Mimi's breathing was effortless and light.
Damon released his grip on the syringe and plunger. It was at the bottom. Well, it couldn't be helped. He took the needle and syringe and put them on the table. Then he moved the now completely limp woman to the bed and tucked her warmly into the bed. Then Damon undressed again and went back to sleep. The rest of the night passed peacefully.
He woke up in the morning, and to his surprise, Mimi was nowhere to be seen. The covers had been turned aside, so Mimi had already left the bed. He had been sure that the medicine would keep her asleep until noon. It had been a large dose and had been given seven hours ago.
It should have taken effect for about 12 hours. He heard the water running in the bathroom and someone rattling around in there. Mimi was there. Wide awake, apparently.