Alone Together in the Darkness

(This is an entry for the Halloween Story Contest 2023. It's a bit unusual, but I love to hear from my readers. Please rate and comment. Note I am NOT a medical professional, nor have a complete idea of how the USA's medical system works. I'd prefer not to hear how medically wrong I am from persnickety people online. Thank you)

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Jax hurried down the icy interstate in the dark October night to the next town---if there was a next town. Jax knew Wyoming had vast unpopulated distances. It could be hundreds of kilometres to the next town--which was true. But, right now, Jax couldn't think about distance. He had to think about warmth and safety—the two things he needed most on this harsh and foggy autumn night.

Fucking stupid long-haul trucker kicked him out of the cab as soon as Jax had finished giving him a blowjob in the freezing weather. The trucker had been disgusting, too---Bloated and bilious. Ancient and hairy. Still, it was what Jax had to do to survive. Jax had never done well in school; He'd aged out of Foster Care. There were no opportunities for him in Tampa, Florida. Quite frankly, his life in Florida sucked.

Jax clutched his cheap and thin coat around him tighter, in an effort to get warm, not that it made much difference in this cold weather. Now, Jax was making his way to sunny California. He was fairly sure he could find work there and hopefully happiness for the first time in his life. Jax had no money, so he was getting to California by hitchhiking.

The rides he hitched on weren't happy families going to Disneyland. They were mostly long-haul truckers away from their wives who expected "something." Jax would just have to remember that in the future---he should arrive at the destination before the blowjob. Now, where the hell was he? It was so dark, foggy and icy.

Flashing lights, screeching brakes, and ambulance sirens were the last things Jax heard. Jax didn't remember the penitent driver explaining to the cops in a panic that Jax had "come out of nowhere." Jax didn't remember being lifted into the ambulance and transported to a small rural hospital.

Jax woke to a searing pain in his leg, darkness and the jarring sounds of medical equipment. Something was wrong. He couldn't see! He couldn't see! He couldn't see! He couldn't find the page button to call for a nurse. Still, his sixth sense told him there was someone nearby.

"Hello, is anyone there?" he called into the darkness, hoping for an answer.

"Oh good... you're finally awake. You've been out for nearly fourteen hours---I was just bringing you some water. I'll call the doctor." said the soft but caring voice.

"Doctor? What happened? Where am I? Why can't I see? Why can't I see? Why can't I see?" questioned Jax in a panic. He had a million questions, but the voice had left him alone in the darkness.

Dr. Stills was on the route to becoming the chief surgeon of the small rural hospital. A doctor didn't get to be a chief surgeon by helping people...especially a woman doctor. A female doctor couldn't be seen as having a kind heart or being motherly. She got there by making the most money for the hospital at the lowest cost. They had a bottom line to stick to. Dr. Stills wanted nothing more than to be the chief surgeon!

Dr. Stills had known, upon looking at Jax, that he was a penniless drifter. He wouldn't be able to pay his massive medical debt. Seeking profit, Dr. Stills wanted Jax treated as quickly and cheaply as possible. Then Jax could be kicked out the door. It was only practical, after all. The hospital needed to make a profit. Dr. Stills needed to be a chief surgeon one day!

Dr. Stills wasn't going to see Jax in Room 308. Not when she had paying patients to attend to! She could let the nurses deal with him. The nurse working tonight was fairly good. He could manage.

"Doctor, the patient in Room 308...the one who was in the terrible car accident, is up. He says he can't see," stated Ryan.

"Nurse, the man is just suffering from temporary blindness, a broken leg, blood loss and a concussion. The temporary blindness will probably go away in a few days, and the leg will heal. The hospital is almost at maximum capacity. I'm dealing with more serious patients. I recommend rest, pain medicine and blood transfusions. That will be all." said Dr. Stills. She abruptly dismissed the nurse and gave no more thought to the patient in Room 308.

The nurse returned to Room 308 with what the doctor had prescribed and set it up. He wished he could do more----but that would be against doctors' orders. After all, was only a nurse. He had to follow a doctor's orders, even when he thought the patient needed further care.

"Hello--- who's there? Are you the doctor? What's happening? I can't see you, but I can hear you!" said Jax, who was growing more panicky. Where was he? What had happened to him? Why couldn't he see? He was frightened and had nothing but questions.

"I'm setting up the equipment to get you better. The doctor says you have temporary blindness. It should subside in a few days. I've treated your arms and wounds---the doctor wants you to leave tomorrow. What's your name?" questioned the nurse.

"Jackson Nash...but everyone calls me Jax. What's your name?" asked Jax. Leave tomorrow? He was in terrible pain. He still couldn't see! Why did his life always turn out like this? Jax wondered what he was going to do. He had nothing and no one in this world. He was an island to himself, without a penny to his name!

"Nice to meet you, Jax. I'm Ryan. I'm your nurse," said Ryan. He was glad that his shift was almost over. If he had to be around Dr. Stills any longer. He would lose control of his wolf---he would snarl at her or punch her! That would really fuck things up for him and his pack, to say the least.

Ryan knew he was already pushing things by working here at the hospital. His Alpha had talked to him several times about pack security, responsibility and yadda yadda yadda. Ryan had thought his Alpha had gotten too comfortable in his position. He'd forgotten werewolves were supposed to be a part of the world---not aloof and alone.

"Only women become nurses; what are you, a girl?" had been the first thing his Alpha told him when Ryan started pursuing his nursing degree. Still, Ryan knew he had to get out in the world. He had to be a part of it and live life. He didn't reveal the pack, of course. Ryan loved them. He just moved to a bigger town where he could be free. He had to leave the stiff, draconic ways. So Ryan left his pack and only "checked in" with his Alpha once a month.

Now Ryan was tending to Jax, his latest patient, in Room 308. Jax was alone in his misery--sobbing his heart out. Jax was blind and in extreme pain. He had no money and a precarious future. There were a million reasons for him to cry. Jax's tragic life was crashing over him like a tidal wave.

Ryan filled a cup with water and a straw and got some pain medication. Ryan gently urged Jax to sip the water. Jax was worn out and did so without protest or struggle. Jax was barely able to swallow from the swelling in his face.

"You'll get better soon. Just wait and see..." said Ryan. So he was lying...a bit. He couldn't let Jax despair. Jax was a fellow creature of the earth. When the EMTs had first brought Jax in, Ryan never imagined he'd be so battered. Jax's entire body was covered with bruises and dried blood. Humankind's brutality did not surprise him anymore, and he felt himself aching with empathy for this man...who was barely more than a boy.

Ryan gently cleansed Jax's wounds and washed away the dirt and dried blood. The water ran brown with Jax's caked-on blood for a while, but at long last, Ryan was satisfied. Ryan dried him off with one of the towels, wrapping his long, cinnamon hair to keep it from dripping. Then he wrapped Jax in a blanket and laid him on the bed. Then Dr. Stills had briefly taken over, setting the broken leg.. (She didn't want to spend time or resources on an itinerant patient.)

That had been hours ago. Jax was still despondent and crying. Ryan took Jax in his arms and drew him close, holding him close despite the fact that Jax was under casts and bandages; it felt like Ryan had a lithe, delicate body. Jax sobbed as he told Ryan of his many months on the road, the trauma he'd endured there and in foster care and his dream of California, where he could hopefully find a better life.

Jax told Ryan about being hit by the truck on the road and having nowhere to go and no money. Jax also cried because he hadn't seen Ryan. He just wanted to see this person who was taking care of him. This nurse was so kind and comforting. He smelled slightly of the woods and rain. There was something wild about this nurse. When Jax was with Ryan, everything seemed to be alright.

Ryan knew he needed to get Jax better treatment, for his life hung in the balance.

Ryan rang his fingers through Jax's long, tangled cinnamon hair, petting him comfortingly.

"It'll get better. You'll see," Ryan said when Jax had finally settled a little. Ryan didn't know how, though. Dr. Stills had plans to kick Jax out of the hospital. Jax was "taking up a bed unnecessarily." Wealthy patrons deserved that bed.

Ryan knew Dr. Stills would be true to her word. Kindhearted Ryan couldn't let Jax be adrift. So he did something forbidden. Ryan transferred some of his own blood into Jax. His wolf magic would heal Jax and let him see again. Blood typing didn't matter. Ryan's blood only healed.

Jax drifted off to sleep. He was feeling better but assumed it was the pain medicine. Being treated by a renegade werewolf's blood was the last thing on his mind.

It had been a beyond terrible shift. Ryan needed to cool off. He morphed into his wolf form and ran back to his dingy apartment. It had been wrong and against wolf laws to do the transfusion. Ryan knew it had been wrong even as he did it. Still, Ryan felt he had an ethical responsibility both as a nurse and wolf. Jax was a creature of the world. Ryan had a duty of care. Didn't he?

Ryan arrived at the hospital the next day. He wasn't that surprised to find Jax sitting up in bed and able to see. But Ryan's wolf blood was a salve, not a cure. Jax still had a broken femur, broken ribs and bruises. Fortunately, his vision had returned. This was enough for Dr. Stills. She kicked Jax out of the hospital despite the severity of his injuries.

Jax had no money. He was taking up a bed for paying patients. His leg would eventually heal. It wasn't Dr. Stills's problem what happened to Jax. She was just doing what was best economically for the hospital and advancing her career.

It took all of Ryan's control to still his wolf and not to rip Dr. Stills's throat out. Ryan was going to bring Jax to his apartment. Later, Ryan would admit he'd known he was going to do that before Dr. Stills kicked Jax out. Ryan knew he and Jax were cosmically intertwined.

So Ryan brought him to his small apartment. It wasn't set up for two, but Ryan figured he could rough it on the Lay-z Boy till Jax got better. Ryan had a duty of care, after all.

"I can't tell you how much this means to me...I have nowhere to go. Thank you for taking me in." said Jax as tears came to his eyes. He hoped Ryan didn't expect "something" for this, but Ryan radiated kindness. Jax didn't think he was that kind of man. There had to be some kind people in the world! After some hot cocoa, Jax went to sleep. After Jax was finally down for the night, he drifted off to sleep as Ryan took the Lay-Z boy.

That night Jax screamed and tried to wriggle away as a cock ripped into him, tearing his flesh brutally. He struggled and flailed against the bigger stranger, trying to escape the ripping pain, but the stranger slugged him in the side with his muscular fist, knocking the breath out of him. Jax lay gasping even as he pounded into him viciously. Jax begged he pleaded for mercy, but as his shrieks grew more desperate, the stranger grew more violent. The stranger seemed to be getting off on this. He started chuckling darkly.

"That's it, you little bitch!" he snarled as he slammed into him. "Squeal like the little whore you are. You know you love it. You know you wanted it all along."

Jax could feel the blood as it dripped down his legs. He sobbed brokenly. "No, please," he begged. "Please..." he repeated it over and over again, choking and trembling.

The stranger pulled out of him and grabbed Jax, turning him roughly to face him. He stuck his fingers in Jax's long cinnamon hair and twisted it around his fist to pull Jax's head into his lap. Jax stared in horror at his turgid cock.

"If I feel your teeth," he cackled malevolently, "I'll knock them out."

Jax choked as the stranger thrust into his mouth. He tasted pre-cum, and he gagged as the stranger pushed into the back of his throat. Jax began to convulse as he pushed deeper into him.

He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe!

Jax struggled madly to get away, flailing wildly, uncontrollably. But the stranger restrained him. He was SO much bigger...

Jax struggled towards consciousness.

Jax's eyes flew open only to be in darkness. Someone was restraining him--a man. A man who smelled of the wild and woods. Instead of the usual sour beer and cigarettes of the truckers. This man had pinned his arms to Jax's sides, and Jax could feel his legs wrapped around him to keep him from kicking.

Still, Jax shrieked and pulled with all his might, trying to flail wildly, but the man's grip was like iron, crushing Jax's limbs against his body, rendering them immobile.

"No!" Jax wailed. "No, please! Please!" He was just a man who'd never harmed anyone. How much more of this could he take?

"Easy, easy, Jax...wake up. Everything is alright. It's only a bad dream, Nothing more. You're safe here. You have my word. My word is my bond...I promise you that." said a smooth, sensual voice. "Easy," Ryan breathed, holding Jax tight as Jax awoke from his terrible nightmare. Ryan felt a deep sense of empathy for Jax. Ryan knew he could never imagine the horrors that Jax had suffered in an attempt to make his life better.

Jax stilled in Ryan's comforting embrace. Ryan's words felt warm and soft, and they flowed over Jax like a tender caress, calming him, soothing him. It was almost like the light brush of a lover's fingertips across his sensitive flesh, and Jax felt his body tingling and trembling.

Jax's struggles subsided as he let the strange, sensual warmth of Ryan's words slide over his body and his mind. Jax's heart and his breathing slowed as he came off the adrenaline high from his struggle, and he breathed heavily once again.

"Ryan?" Jax whispered at last. Jax had all the trauma from the past days and months built up. The dam had finally broken with his nightmare.

"Yes," Ryan replied softly. So he had used his werewolf powers to calm Jax down; after all that Jax had endured and the PTSD, Jax was suffering from he needed some relief.

"Oh God," Jax choked as the nightmare of his dream overshadowed the warmth once again. He'd just been through so much over the past month; sometimes, it was hard to quantify it.

Jax continued to sob brokenly, but Ryan held him close, soothing him, stroking his fingers through Jax's long cinnamon hair. He consumed him as one would a startled horse.

Finally, Jax quieted.

"I don't want to die...I want to get better." Jax said to Ryan after a long while. "I want to go home...but I don't have a home." Bitter tears ran down Jax's eyes. What was he going to do? Where could he go?

Ryan suddenly had a vision: a man on his knees, his head in his hands, sobbing in despair. Jax only wanted to belong somewhere, to have a home and family. It was such a powerful vision that Ryan felt his heart scream along with him, an unearthly wail of unfathomable loss. It was the kind of loss that Ryan, who'd always belonged to a pack more or less, could never comprehend. Ryan wanted to be the one who provided Jax with a safe future and a home.

Ryan kissed Jax on the temple.

"Okay," Ryan said. He leaned over her neck, his hot breath against Jax's skin. "We'll do what we can."

His horrific nightmare gone, Jax drifted off to sleep. Ryan looked down at the sleeping Jax. He was excited to have Jax in his apartment. Jax entranced and perplexed him. Jax called to him in a way that only true mates called to each other.

Ryan had known he was gay for a long time. It was forbidden in his pack. He could be killed for it. Ryan's homosexuality was only one of the reasons he'd left his pack in Antelope Hill. Ryan had never expected to find a true mate before, especially a mortal one. But, here Jax was. Now he just had to explain everything to him. How on earth could he even begin?

Ryan returned to the Lay-Z Boy and also drifted off to sleep. Morning came. Ryan woke up and made coffee and cornflakes for himself and Jax. Ryan wanted Jax to stay, but he only had questions.

"Now you have no job and no place to live?" questioned Ryan. He looked at his friend. People like Dr. Stills would say it was foolish of Jax to leave Tampa and head for California without money or a solid plan. But what choice did Jax have?

"Yeah...but I'm a hard worker, willing to do anything," Jax said. Ryan knew Jax was putting on a brave front. Jax still had a broken femur and several ribs.

"I'm not trying to give you the bum's rush or anything like that. You're more than welcome to stay here as long as you like, but I was looking online last night, and I found out that the hospital's cafeteria is hiring. You can work nights when there's no one to bother you. The hospital's cafeteria isn't a Michelin-star restaurant. You basically have to make bad coffee and microwave frozen food. I have the application pulled up on my computer. You just have to fill out the personal information and all of that." said Ryan, wondering what Jax's next move would be.

He hoped Jax would stay. Ryan liked Jax. Jax was strong-willed and kind. But Ryan wouldn't force Jax to stay. Jax had endured enough sexual and emotional trauma.

"Okay, that sounds good to me. I don't want to be an astronaut...a job's a job as long as I don't have to work with that asshole doctor," said Jax as he filled out all the personal information. To no one's surprise, Jax was hired for the night shift at the hospital cafeteria. No one was keen on being a night-time hospital cafeteria worker. Night--time in hospitals could be a bit creepy.

It had been several weeks now. Jax made money; it was minimum wage and not enough to live on his own. So Jax stayed with Ryan and got faster and better than expected due to Ryan's blood transfusions and wolf magic. Jax and Ryan became fast friends. Ryan wanted to be more than friends. But, there was so much he had to tell Jax...and his Alpha.

"Wine...you look like you need it," said Ryan as he pulled an ½ empty bottle of red wine from the fridge. Jax nodded and joined Ryan on the small balcony. The couple ate dinner together. The couple talked about all of life's inane things as the last of autumn leaves blew off the willow trees.

Ryan knew Jax was getting better and decided to test limits. One night, while Jax was doing the dishes, Ryan came up behind him and placed his hands over Jax's hands as Jax washed.

"You wash, I'll dry...maybe someday, we'll get a better apartment...one with a dishwasher," he said, running his arms up Jax's arms. Ryan gently kissed Jax on the cheek and then the temple.

"I'd like that. I like spending time with you," said Jax as he eased into Ryan's embrace. Jax liked Ryan's scent. It smelled of the woods and wild. Jax turned around and kissed Ryan square on the lips. Jax had suffered a lot of abuse and knew he was gay, but he'd never had a love before. That was what he wanted in Ryan. Love!