Over the Edge

Chapter 4

Minho's POV

"She's in a drop?"

Felix spoke up from his spot on the bed, concern creasing his brow.

All attention was on the doctor, making it clear no one even noticed she had dropped. To be fair though, they had only known her the last hour or so at best.

"Again, I won't know specifics until I've done a full evaluation, but yes, she shows clear signs of having dropped. The brief moment she was conscious, her eyes shifted to her original color before returning to the pale blue of her omega. I'll start on that full work up though and see what we are dealing with. Do you want her brought back in here when we finish?"

"Yes." His own gaze remained on the doctor while he felt his pack mates eyes on him for having agreed so quickly. Minho refused to meet their confused expressions, watching as the older man simply nodded before hurrying off out the door.

Seungmin rose a brow at his lack of hesitation, the look on his face clearly asking why. After all, the younger alpha had been there during his more aggressive moments with the omega in question.

With a sigh, he leaned his back against the wall, clasping his hands together in front of him. He knew perfectly well they'd all be wanting an explanation for his shift in attitude towards the omega.

"Look, I won't apologize for how I acted earlier. Based on the information we had at the time, she appeared to be a threat to the pack, to Lix." His began to fidget with his fingers, still not wanting to look up just yet. "Even with the little bits of information we've been given, it's obvious she's going to need some sort of help and support."

Minho chewed at his bottom lip a moment before speaking again. "With her already dropped and me behaving aggressively, I'm sure it only made things worse for her. So while I won't apologize, I'll at least do better for however long she's with us." His gaze lifted to meet Chan's brown orbs, knowing his own dark eyes were rimmed with red as his alpha scratched at the surface of control. "She isn't pack though. We either send her back or find somewhere else for her after this. We are already a bonded pack, we do not need an omega, certainly not one so heavily broken. We are gone far too often for comeback, tours, and schedules to be able to give her the attention she clearly will need."

He wasn't going to budge on that. Chan had a big heart and would likely want to keep her and help, as would at least a few of the others. It wasn't something they could realistically do though. They didn't even have any experience with regular omegas, let alone one severely traumatized and abused.

They'd only end up doing her more harm than good.

Changbin POV

A couple hours had already passed by the time Y/N was wheeled back in, lying unconscious on the hospital bed. She had an IV in her arm, a clip attached to her finger that was likely monitoring her pulse, and there was a tube that wrapped around her ears and sat against her nose to provide oxygen.

He honestly wished he had one too because the moment she was brought in, this foul odor filled the room. He couldn't suppress the gag that bubbled up, threatening to bring dinner back up.

"What-" a forceful gag cut himself off. "The hell is that smell?!"

His hand wrapped around the lower half of his face, trying to block the smell from reaching him. Most of the others seemed to have done the same.

"I'll see if there is anything I can do about that, but unfortunately she will have to keep her neck uncovered for the time being. The collar left fairly severe burns that we have treated but do need to left uncovered at the moment to heal properly."

They all looked between the doctor and the omega on the bed until Chan spoke up. "Her burns are so bad they smell like that? That smell can't just be burns." His voice was muffled as he held his hand over his nose.

"You're right, it's not."

Changbin had figured as much, even without the doctors confirmation. Whatever it was, smelled like something died, there was no way that was just her burns.

Moving closer to her bedside, he could see the inflamed, burst blisters circling her neck, a thick red line across her throat where it was clear the collar had been cutting into her. Bruises varying between shades of deep purple and black to greens and yellows were scattered across her legs and arms now that they were actually visible in the hospital gown. It was clear some bruises were older than others and the more he noticed, the more his anger grew.

"The smell you're referring to is her current scent."

All eyes not already on the doctor, quickly snapped up to focus on him at those words.

"What?" Felix's mouth hung open in shock that an omega's scent could be so intensely off putting.

"It's another sign of her drop and it also tells me she's been like this for a very long time. The first clear sign of a drop is the shift in their scent, it starts to smell off as if they are sick. If left in a drop, it worsens." The older man paused in his words, looking down at the girl with a sigh. "If forced to remain in the drop long enough, they smell like death. The smell is meant to repel whatever it was that caused the drop."

Changbin glanced down at her neck, barely even able to tell where her scent gland was under the bubbly, blistered skin. "She'll get better now though, right?" He could see the sheen of whatever gel they had put on her neck, likely some kind of burn ointment.

When the doctor didn't answer with yes right away, he brought his gaze back up to the man standing on the other side of the bed.

"I'll be honest, I'm surprised she's even still alive. There aren't any records of someone surviving after being in a drop for so long."

The tension in the room was palpable. After a moment of silence, the doctor turned towards the door to leave as Changbin let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Wha-what exactly are you saying?"

With his hand on the doorframe and without turning back to look at any of the boys, he spoke in a low tone. "I'm saying make her comfortable, don't get your hopes up."

"If she doesn't come out of that drop, she could be gone by the end of the month. Possibly sooner."