Trapped in Hospital

Paetyn's stomach dropped and she fell to her knees next to Ivaylo. She placed her ear on his back to hear if he was still breathing. Only a faint wheezing came out of his chest. She panicked and quickly dialed the emergency number. A sense of Deja vú...

The rush of adrenaline gave her more strength and she turned gently the unconscious Ivaylo on his back and looked into his mouth to make sure, his airways were free. She held him in her arms, shanking out of fear. What happened to him? Did Kay's punch have something to do with it?

Slowly, Ivaylo opened his eyes. He couldn't catch his breath and a stinging pain was bothering him on his left side. Paetyn despite being nervous, managed to hide her mental distress from Ivaylo and instead tried to calm him down. She stroked his face and gestured to him, how to breathe together with her.

Ivaylo felt like he was dying. He didn't want to have any regrets. "K... Ki... Kiss... me..." Confused Paetyn with tears in her eyes... "What?" Ivaylo pleaded with his eyes. She obliged but in her own way. She kissed his forehead, both of his cheeks, each of his eyes, and then a light kiss on his lips.

The hospital was within walking distance, so the paramedics came right on time. She backed off, with her hands over her mouth. She stopped breathing same as Ivaylo. The doctors quickly diagnosed the injured Beastman with a pneumothorax, caused by a broken rib, that punctured his lung and air leaking into the pleural space. In time, with the necessary aid, they managed to let the air out and he could take a breath.

After the danger was averted, the paramedics gave Paetyn some judgmental accusatory glances. Ivaylo despite his dire state noticed it and with his hand shaking reached out to Paetyn. She jumped immediately to him and he grabbed her by the wrist and didn't want to let her go.

That didn't help her. The Beastmen thought he wanted to keep the perpetrator from escaping. They had to take her into the ambulance together with them since he didn't loosen his grip on her. Paetyn didn't notice their glares. She was fully focused on now resting Ivaylo on the stretcher.

In the hospital, Ivaylo underwent surgery to correct the position of his rib and fix it into place. Paetyn was impatiently sitting in the waiting area. Sometimes, she just stood up and walked up and down the hall.

In the recovery room, she pulled the chair and sat down next to his bed. As Ivaylo woke up, he saw her face and felt relieved, reaching out for her hand once more. He held her tiny hand in his, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand.

With the oxygen mask over his face, he couldn't speak. Just giving her some loving gazes with his eyes. Paetyn finally could be sure, he would be fine. Still, wanted to wait, till she informed the boys, about what had transpired after they split up.

The door on Ivaylo's room flew open and as first stood there Rose. Paetyn swallowed hard. Ivaylo could just slowly turn his head towards the other side of the room. Following behind Rose, he spotted the rest of his family.

His parents were taken aback by the sight of a human female, meanwhile, both sets of his grandparents were appalled. Paetyn remembered, what Ivaylo said about them, but now the confrontation from their side was unavoidable.

"What that human filth is doing here?" The grandfather on his father's side shouted. To Rose's credit, she explained the "relationship" of Ivaylo and Paetyn. "That is Ivaylos human maid..." The Beastman family turned in unison to Rose.

Ivaylo wanted to correct her but Paetyn squeezed his index finger and with a very slight shake of her head pleaded not to reveal, who she was. For now, he left it at that. Paetyn wished for it, but he was certain to explain it in the near future.

"My dear boyfriend wanted to get used to the human stench since he had to work with them at the headquarters, so he rented that tiny hole of an apartment and hired that thing." Rose pointed her finger at Paetyn.

She frowned as soon, as she noticed Paetyn holding hands with Ivaylo. She stumped over and ripped them apart. Rose was about to do something but got disrupted by a police Beastman showing up in between the door frame, asking for the human woman.

Paetyn had no other option than just to follow him to the station. Ivaylo was reaching out to her with his shaking arm. She just gently smiled at him before disappearing into the hospital hall. Ivaylo was worried and upset about it.

Rose sat down at Paetyn's seat and was all over Ivaylo, who was annoyed by it. His family cut him some slack for the human maid and instead tried to take care of him.

The next day a police Beastman appeared again. He was questioning his injuries. Paetyn was a suspect but a tiny female human couldn't cause such damage. Beastmen are born with thicker and stronger bones, so she was out of the woods in that case.

Ivaylo pulled down his oxygen mask and told the officer, that he hadn't seen the attacker since he got hit on the back and just walked home. But he was sure it was a Beastman. "So, your maid found you?" Ivaylo swallowed his anger and said just a blunt yes.



For almost a week, Ivaylo was trapped in the hospital. His suspicions began to grow. Ever since that day, Paetyn didn't call or visit him. In contrast, Rose was there every... single... day, from the early morning to the late evening.

Physically, he was almost healed but it was eating on his mental state. He needed Paetyn to calm down his intrusive thoughts. He thought that she abandoned him and rather switched to Kay instead. Ivaylo felt like a huge liability and a Beastman troublemaker.

His claws had already grown back and he was observing them...