Ten years later...
Y/N POV:
"Bring him in here guys." I gestured towards the empty bed and motioned for the emergency crew to set down the badly injured hybrid. The two guys transferred him from the stretcher to the bed and after giving me a quick update on his vitals, exited the room, called out for yet another emergency. Trying to push down the hurt that filled my heart, quickly hooked him up to the monitors in the room. One to measure his heart, a tube for oxygen, and one to track his pulse. After making sure everything was connected, I studied the hybrid in front of me. He was some type of small mammal and, judging by the small ears and slightly bushy tail, I guessed him to be either a weasel of some type or ferret.
As I waited for the doctor to come in, I took a glance at his wounds, way too many for his small frame. One of his fuzzy ears had been torn almost completely off, his right arm was twisted at an odd angle, and he had a gaping wound on his abdomen. I waited for Sehun, our resident doctor, with a heavy heart, knowing exactly what he was going to say. As I reached out to stroke his hair, a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist.
"Please... please don't... don't leave me here alone. Please... please stay with me." The voice was just as weak as the grip on my wrist and I ran a gentle hand over his head, careful to avoid his injured ear.
"It's alright sweetheart. I'm going to stay right here with you." I continued to talk to him, telling him my name and where he was, but I knew he wasn't really lucid enough to understand. He kept fading in and out of consciousness and the look of absolute pain on his face shattered my soul. I gave him some morphine to take the edge off the pain, but knew I couldn't do too much until Sehun arrived and checked him out.
The doctor in question hurried into the room, eyes filled with worry. He quickly washed his hands, slipped on a pair of gloves then moved over to the hybrid. "Stab wound to lower right abdomen, small intestine almost completely severed. Several bone fragments in large intestine from possible broken ribs." Sehun took a deep breath and turned to me, his expression telling me everything without saying a word.
I ducked my head and took the injured hybrid's' hand, squeezing it tightly to let him know I was there, let him know he wasn't alone. Reaching for the syringe behind me, I gave him another shot of morphine, this one quite a bit stronger than the last. Unfortunately I knew at this point, it was mainly to keep him comfortable since it was clear he wasn't going to make it. I stroked his soft hair, wondering how anyone could hurt such a beautiful person, cause pain to someone so innocent and sweet looking.
Sehun placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently, his long fuzzy tail wrapping around my wrist in silent comfort. "I'll... I'll send Jin in to sit with you." He squeezed me again then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
After a few moments, the door opened and a head of dark brown hair popped in, a sad smile on his full lips. Jin stepped in and closed the door behind him, moving to my side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. "It's okay sweet girl. I'm here. It's going to be okay."
Looking over at Jin, I tried to give him a smile, but it just wouldn't come. I couldn't convince my lips to cooperate, to turn up and reassure the hybrid standing next to me. Letting out a sigh, I turned my attention back to the hybrid in front of me. I continued to stroke his hair, trying to provide any type of comfort I could in the last moments of his life.
After what seemed too short of a time, the hybrid took one last breath then went silent, the monitor beeping once then letting out a steady whine as his heart stopped. Wiping the tear from my cheek, I squeezed his hand one more time then released it, looking at the clock. "Time of death 1:37 PM." Shrugging Jin's arm off my shoulder, I reached over and switched off the monitor, knowing it was no longer capturing anything.
Jin went to speak, but I shook my head, not ready to talk about it yet. I disconnected the monitors then covered the hybrid with a white sheet before going into the hallway to mark the chart and flip it over, a silent sign that the patient in the room had passed away. The kind old man from the attached morgue would arrive soon. Since there was no way of finding out who the hybrid was or who he belonged to, he would be cremated and his ashes would be sent to the local cemetery and buried in the unknown hybrid plot along with hundreds just like him.
The idea of this beautiful person being forgotten so quickly made my heart hurt and I couldn't stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks. Jin reached out for my hand, his tail winding around my wrist. "It's... it's going to be okay. You didn't let him die alone. That's the worst fear of any hybrid, to die alone. And you didn't let that happen to him. You held his hand and made sure he wasn't alone."
Knowing Jin was right, but never wanting this to become routine, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Yeah I know, but right now, I just... I just need to be alone." Jin nodded and I left the room, heading for the one space here that let me forget everything.
Taking the elevator to the top floor then using the stairs, I stepped onto the rooftop patio. Standing by the shoulder high railing, I looked over the city and thought about this life I lived.
When I was eleven years old, my parents surprised with the adoption of Jin, a yellow-throated marten. He became my best friend overnight and there was nothing we didn't do together, nowhere we didn't go. Jin had come from a terrible situation and couldn't believe that he was now being given the best of everything. He attended school, played sports, graduated high school, and even attended medical school. Thinking of the deceased hybrid in the room, I couldn't help but think how easily that could have been Jin. The idea of losing my best friend in such a manner made my heart hurt. In ways, I didn't imagine it could.
When I had graduated nursing school, I had been hired at Cherry Blossom Sanctuary, a rehabilitation center for hybrids. Sehun, the doctor on staff and an Asian Leopard Cat hybrid, had been my mentor during school and recommended me for the position once I passed my nursing exams. The Sanctuary hired Jin three years later and we've been working together ever since. We even share a small flat a short walk away. It does make everything a little more convenient and having my best friend by my side helps to rid some of the pain I feel each time we lose a hybrid, each time the injuries one of these beautiful people sustain is just too much. Each time I think of how it could have been my best friend, the one I had fallen in love with.
Jin POV:
As my mate left the room, I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding as I began filling out the paperwork for the deceased hybrid. It had been ten years since I had discovered Y/N was my mate and I didn't know what to do about it. Although she had had never shown any indication that she would be bothered by it, I still wasn't sure how she would handle it, what she would say. Would she accept me or would she just be disgusted by the fact that she was mated to me, a hybrid? The thought of Y/N rejecting me scared the shit out of me and I didn't know how to handle I.
A hand on my shoulder had me jerking from my daydream and I turned to see Sehun behind me. "Is everything all right?" His eyes were concerned as he studied my face and I knew he could see exactly what was happening to me, sense exactly what was going on. "When are you going to tell Y/N she is your mate?"
I tried to keep my face blank, not wanting to admit to anything, not yet at least. "I'm... I'm not sure what you mean." I directed my attention to the paperwork in front of me, knowing that if he could see my eyes, it would reveal everything. My beautiful mate always did tell me I have the most expressive eyes.
Sehun eyed me strangely then shrugged his shoulders. "Don't play dumb with me. You have a chemical scent to you that I know comes from suppressants. I think sometimes you forget I am a doctor." Sehun looked down at the paperwork in front of me, pulled it over and signed off as the attending doctor. "I'm guessing you take the suppressants since you live with your mate. Does it make it a little easier? I'm sure you still get her scent, but it's probably not as strong as without."
I nodded my head, knowing I had been found out. I didn't know what else to say, how to explain my feelings about the whole thing. "I found out ten years ago. Y/N came home from college with her boyfriend." I couldn't stop spitting the word out, my tone filled with irritation. "Her scent... it filled my nose and at first I didn't know it was her, but then she hugged me... and it surrounded me and I knew."
Sehun gestured for me to continue and I had to think about what I wanted to say, how did I want to explain it to him. How do I tell my boss that I'm the world's biggest coward when it comes to talking about mate? When it comes to telling my mate who she is to me?
"I did okay staying away from her for a while since I was at university. We didn't see each for close to a year and by that time I got... I got my urges under control. Y/N was still with Sebastian and his scent was always all over her so it helped... it helped to keep the longings at bay." I took a deep breath as I let the memories wash over me. "But then... then when I got hired here, she asked me to move in with her. Figured it would work out good for both of us. So I... I started taking the suppressants. It helps, but only so much. If she hugs me or touches me then the scent gets stronger."
Nodding in understanding, Sehun gave me a reassuring smile. "Y/N has been working with me for almost ten years now. That girl loves hybrids and would have no problem with it if she learned you were her mate. She adores you. It's clear every time she looks at you."
"I know she cares for me. I never had any doubt about that, but this... this is different. I love her. I love her so fucking much and I just want to tell her what she is to me, what we are together." Then I want to throw her down on my bed and fuck her until she is cumming all over my cock. I kept that last part to myself, knowing it probably wasn't the right thing to say to my boss.
"I know you do. That's why you need to tell her. This shit is eating you up inside and you need to do something about it before it's too late. You need to tell her exactly what is going on. Y/N broke up with Sebastian, right?"
I could see where Sehun was going with this. "Yeah. She did. He... he didn't like the fact that we lived together. He kept accusing her of sleeping with me, of me being inappropriate with her and just finally had enough."
"Did she say any other reason?" I shook my head at Sehun's question. I really thought she loved him and was ready to settle down but then out of the blue they were broken up. She said it was because of his jealousy, but I always wondered if something else had happened between the two of them. What else could have caused them to end their relationship so quickly? Looking down at his watch, Sehun finished signing the rest of the paperwork then gave the deceased hybrid one last look. "Charlie will be here in a few to take this guy. Wish... wish we knew where he came from."
I looked at the figure covered in a sheet. It was scary how easily I could have been in his shoes, how easily it could have been me lying there, waiting to be sent to a crematorium then buried with a bunch of other forgotten hybrids. Those of us who didn't have homes, families, people we cared about who cared about us. I know there are many hybrids that hate the idea of being owned by a human, but it was the best thing that happened to me.
When I turned 18, CJ and Alexis granted me my freedom. Since I was of legal age, I no longer needed a human to own me. Instead, my sweet mate put me under her protective custody. It was just a legal term to prevent other humans from bothering me. I still had all the rights of a human. I had my driver's license, a bank account, and a job. And my name was on the apartment lease with hers. The protective custody was just to keep me safe from any human, or hybrid for that matter, that would try and harm me. And even though I could live on my own, I would rather be close to my mate. Even if I couldn't have her in the way I wanted to.
A few hours later, I was getting ready to leave with Y/N when the emergency doors open and the crews rushed in with an injured hybrid. As they brought him past me, a delicious scent filled my nose. It was sweet and rich, like the fresh banana milkshakes that CJ and Alex use to make for Y/N and me when we were kids. And even though my mate was standing next to me, I knew in my heart that this hybrid, this injured hybrid was my mate too.