When Wulfe first saw Mimi, he had just arrived at the hospital and entered the right ward. A flood of emotions overwhelmed him, squeezing his heart so tightly that it took his breath away. Mimi was once again lying with her head swathed in thick bandages and a ventilator. She looked as pale as a ghost and was incredibly frail and covered in lines and tubes.
Her limbs were encased in various supports, and a machine beeped with a shrilling rhythm. Wulfe also observed other children in the same room, their conditions mirroring Mimi's. They, too, were connected to ventilators, and at least Sadie, Dash, and Seraphina had their heads wrapped, indicating they had undergone brain surgery. Their small bodies seemed to drown in their hospital beds. Wulfe knew he had to focus, take a few deep breaths, and try to understand the complex feelings he was experiencing in that moment.
Drawing upon Salvatores' teachings about medicine, machines, physiology, and vital signs, he focused intently on the monitors. His pale gaze scanned the readings, and his first observation was that everyone was excessively cold.
Reaching out telepathically to Number Four, he inquired, "I've just arrived. It seems their core temperatures are all around 99°F, no higher. I'm unsure if this is intentional, especially considering Mimi and the three children have had brain surgery, and their heads are bandaged."
He attempted to maintain a clinical detachment, but as he took a step toward Mimi, his heart surged with love, and he longed to hold her close and keep her safe.
Number Four's calm voice responded, "We'll warm them up. According to the navigator, it will take about one hour and twelve minutes. I suspect Number One is already there or on their way back home."
Wulfe restrained himself from rushing to Mimi's side, simultaneously feeling a surge of anger towards Number One and the entire world. His precious unicorn and these children deserved so much better; this situation felt terribly wrong.
Number Four continued, his voice steady, "I have a lot of equipment with me; I can even perform minor surgery in the car, so don't worry. Now, why don't you provide me with their vitals? I'll record them and try to figure out what's happening. Start with Sabrina; read the monitors."
Wulfe gulped and moved to Sabrina's side. Her small body was connected to numerous tubes and lines. He began to recite her vital signs aloud: blood pressure, breathing rate, and oxygen saturation, and then continued to list her intravenous fluids. What little of her skin was exposed was covered in deep purple bruises and gashes. She looked tired, just like Mimi; even she was out cold. Wulfe began to notice more of Mimi's facial features in her face.
Number Four asked specific questions about drip rates and the types of cannulas being used. Wulfe moved from one child to the next, answering his questions, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that this was merely a distraction—Number Four's attempt to keep him grounded and focused on something other than his overwhelming need to hold Mimi.
So many emotions whirled in his mind, from pure red rage to overwhelming love and need to be with them all. He had kind of a nesting instinct going on, but in his instinct, it would welcome others into the nest as well, not Mariella or her kids, but other males, maybe babies, or girls or their pack. It clashed brutally with reality as the sterile, pungent hospital smell seemed to penetrate him, and he could almost taste it in his mouth.
No nurse or doctor had visited, leaving Wulfe unsure if Salvatore had already called. Then, he heard the sharp voice of Number One, realizing Salvatore was still present.
A doctor was speaking: "Mr. Salvatore, your wife is stable. It is perfectly safe for her to be awake, as are your three daughters; their breaks are mending. Your wife is pregnant, yes, but I can assure you that her uterus and fetuses are just fine."
Oh, Mariella was already awake.
Damon seemed to reply, "But her history—surely stress is not good for her; she needs rest."
Someone, either a doctor or nurse, responded, "You see, she is sore and in kind of shock. Sometimes, one can be rather blunt in that state."
Oh, Mariella had an attitude; how funny.
Well, considering everything, Wulfe telepathically told Number Four, "Guess what, Mariella is awake and not impressed. I guess she's given Damon her opinion about him and his fussing over her. He seems to think she really should sleep."
Number Four sounded slightly amused as well. "Well, well, 34 minutes and we will be there. Let's see where we are then. Now, give me Darien's stats so I know to calculate his fluids and reserve them."
He added for a minute. Well, considering the injury mechanism, I would not let Mariella be awake either, but as this hospital is now incredibly busy, she is logged as an immortal, superbeing kind of, so they assume she is fine. But it is not my place to say if she is or not. At least I do know her skeleton is too frail; her bone density was poor even before the accident."
Wulfe continued to focus on the monitors and rattled off numbers, finally reaching Mimi. She was hooked up to an even more sophisticated monitor that seemed to track her intracranial pressure and brain perfusion. He relayed all the numbers to Number Four, though he was no longer sure what they all meant.
He understood she had a brain injury causing pressure and swelling, hindering blood circulation. That was basic anatomy and physiology, but how would it translate to her rage, her self-control, blood lust, and everything else? What he could see was that Mimi would have a long way to recover, and it would take a lot out of all of them.
He hoped love would be the ultimate healer and they would get her soon, a bit better, no longer so critical. Her swollen belly made her look even tinier, more exhausted, and frail, and Wulfe wanted her to be fine, smile, be able to walk, talk, and be herself.
Somehow, Wulfe didn't want Damon, number one there, so he didn't mention that he too was in the hospital with Mimi. Let Number One care for Mariella and her trio; Mimi belonged to him and the other Salvatores.
Damon seemed to keep arguing with the doctors about Mariella's treatment, as, for some reason, he wanted to see her as a victim he could care for. However, the doctors saw no reason for her to be knocked out cold for so long. The voices faded as Damon apparently went to check on Mariella and the kids once more.
Wulfe stood next to Mimi for what seemed like an eternity, stroking her face, desperately wanting her to be fine, until he heard the calm voices of numbers two and four as they entered. Number five was with them, as well as nine and ten.
Number five approached Wulfe and said, "Hey. Why don't we go get a cup of coffee? Number one and the others left, and he knocked out Mariella because she was pretty damn nasty with her mouth. But you need to eat something, and we need to let those grunts check our precious ones and ensure that transportation goes smoothly."
Wulfe sighed, saying, "She is so damn frail again and pregnant. Her recovery will be brutal."
Number five said. "Come on, let me tell you a few things about what we have planned."
He led a distraught Wulfe to the cafeteria to eat something and drink some coffee. Wulfe was pale, shaky, and slightly unpredictable, so it would take some finesse, from number five, to calm him down, despite his desire to be with the baby.
It was new to him too, having to deal with this kind of situation and not just clinging to his jealousy and using it as a reason to push everyone away from the baby. Now he truly was a pack member, selfless, putting the welfare of others before his own, and my god, it felt good. He was starting to understand why Mimi was such a sacrificial lamb.
As number five led Wulfe away, number two steeled himself and walked in; it was hard, but numbers ten and nine were already making necessary arrangements for discharge, and they had their own gurneys.
Number four started to evaluate first Darien, whom he had initially assessed as most stable and easier to move in the car; he used his senses as well as his knowledge, and he hooked him off the ventilator and monitoring devices after giving him a bit of a boost so he would not be in such a deep coma.
Painlessness was important, but not a deep coma because they didn't need ventilators if their lungs were fine and there was no brain injury. Darien's injuries were primarily his badly crushed lower half from Amber's seat rolling on him and crushing his thighs and pelvis.
Internal bruising was evident too, but it would take a few days, maybe a week, to really see if his organs were viable or had they been too damaged, and then it was also monitoring multiplication enzymes, as they had no idea if kids had gotten Damon's normally working version of it or Mimi's supercharged, overgrowing one.
Number four planned to perform minor surgery, including opening up some of his limbs and infusing blood, plasma, and centrifuged bumps to promote faster healing.
Numbers nine and ten moved him onto a gurney as he was able to breathe enough but not be in pain; they hooked him to their own cannulas as well as fluids that had been reserved for him. His skin was mottled with bruises as well, and it was way better for them to sleep until they were fully healed and pain-free.
Being in medical mode was easy; next up was Seraphina, and she too was lightened up as well, made sure she was painless, and was moved into the car. Number four listed in his mind what he found out of everyone, and slowly they began to form a list in his mind, prioritizing and selecting what would be done first. The car was already warm; everything was ready as the gurney now holding this precious little one rolled to it. Where now number ten was waiting. Wulfe and Number Five went to the car after Five had made sure Wulfe had eaten enough and drunk coffee.
Number five again started to teach Wulfe, telling him what, why, what the purpose was, and what might affect what. One by one, toddlers were brought in, and as all five were in the car, number two joined them, and number four would soon bring Mimi. Lepard was one driving the car, and he was ready too. Wulfe was slowly finding his medical mode too, and he used a lot of cleansing spells to make sure no germs would get in and make things worse.
Salvatore was already fixing kids; they had made plans for who would make what, and finally number four carried in his arms Mimi into the car. She was bundled warmly; they had a special gurney reserved for her, and as he got into the car, he lowered her gently there and strapped her in, and the doors were closed.
Number four said, "We are ready; let's go." His voice was controlled, but his body language was tense as he had carried his severely injured wife in his arms, feeling her injuries, maybe her pain too.
Lepard started the car, and the car glided from the parking lot and onto the road without any hitch. Men's voices were calm, as number five or whoever was teaching Wulfe, and someone might ask something from others or ask their opinion about something.
Number Ten was currently fixing Dash's ankle, which was crushed, and he took a bit of Wulfe's blood, as Wulfe was the protector of toddlers, and used it.
"Shit, would you hand me that retractor? These shards are way too small, and I don't want this to ossify wrong."
This prompted Number Two to look up from Sabrina's chest injury, and he peeked in. "Just pluck them out; we can use our tissues later on or make a healer booster. No need to tinker with those kinds of shards; no way they are viable."
Number Ten pondered this for a minute and proceeded to pluck smaller-than-grain-of-rice-sized bone shards out of the wound. There were a lot of them, and tissue loss would be extensive, but they were supernatural, and he would heal just fine.
He packed the now wound and surrounding tissue with centrifuged, extra dry bump, which would act almost like bone cement and help keep the limb stable. After pouring his blood lot into the wound, he used it also to fuse the wound closed and wrapped the limb in tight supportive dressing. More could be done if needed; now this was just time to fix what was most acute or easiest to fix so the operation room would be free for bigger fixes.
Number four was carefully treating Mimi. He had unwrapped her head, and he was currently doing brain surgery for Mimi, trying to make sure her intracranial pressure would not rise, and he was trying to heal as much bruising and injury with his blood as possible.
It was delicate work, but he had time, and he had a few bags of number one's blood, which would be one of the best for this. A warm golden glow emanated from his palm as he also used his healing on her.
He was fixing her brain vessels so there would be no more brain bleeds, while at the same time reducing swelling and promoting brain cells to recover. Wulfe gave him bursts of power from time to time as he focused on certain areas that usually governed her rage, bloodlust, and other less pleasant sides. Though those powers could move around in her brain, every bit that he could fix was one small win for him.
Mimi had a lot of injuries, and her pregnancy meant that the fetuses hijacked her body and made sure they would be fine despite Mimi's state. Meaning she would heal much slower, and she might have to spend some time in an incubator, which in this case was actually good for her.
It was a safe place for her and kept her warm, and as this was one of the fancier ones from Fuengirola, it meant the incubator was not a mere box where the patient slept but could perform different procedures if needed, and of course Salvatores would keep an eye on things. They had time, and pregnancies would take a toll on females in any case, and for some, securing rest, being loved, and being cared for was not bad for Mimi, not at all.
No one even thought about what Number's plans were for Mariella or those three, as they were not important to them. Only their own family, their pack, and their pride were what was important.
There were also quite a lot of different charms as well as stones and carvings attached to the incubator, meant to map out the fetus's powers and control them, maybe even bind them so babies would be born with powers bound and it would not be such a shock.
Soon it would be time for healing, mending, and loving, and then after all this shit, it would once again be time to be family, love, and raise kids and toddlers.
Thought every Salvatore swore that road was going to be renovated as well and made sure no idiot would get in any trucking company, as they were going to raise a proper ruckus about this.
Medical jargon kept flowing in the car, and Wulfe noticed he was learning it; he understood more and more every time, and he did not use his telepathy, but he was learning. He too had a pretend side now being born, and it was wickedly curious and wanted to learn.
Well, medical language was fun to learn. Oh, when he would be able to showcase his knowledge to his unicorn. Then the sun would shine upon them once again, and love would fill the air. He was a hopeless romantic, but then again, he was who he was. He truly, madly, and deeply loved this life and this family, and he could not wait to meet the next four little ones.