Claimed by the Alien: A Scifi Alien Romance (Fated Mates of the Titan Empire Book 6)

lifted me off the cart and carried me into a building with paint peeling from the walls.
“We have a live one here!” someone shouted.
“Place him on the bed over here.”
The speaker’s voice was female. She was direct and firm.
I felt the bed’s soft mattress as they put me down. Then the helpers backed away and let the little woman through. She wore a nurse uniform that looked a little baggy on her small frame.
Her skin was the color of fresh cream and she wore an apron splattered with blood.
“Give me your coat,” she said, reaching across to one of the Titans that’d carried me in.
He immediately shrugged it off and handed it to her.
The nurse rolled it into a pillow and placed it under my head.
“Everybody stand back,” she said, “and get out if you don’t need to be here.”
Most of them filed out. Immediately on their heels, another body was carried in. He was placed on the bed beside mine. With my body shaking and my eyes opening and shutting sporadically, I couldn’t get a good look at him.
The nurse picked up a syringe from a side table, flicked it, and squeezed the plunger. She approached me and prepared to insert it into me.
“Hazel,” one of the other nurses said. “This Titan isn’t going to survive. We only have one shot of adrenaline left. Maybe it’s best to give it to the other patient. He’s more likely to survive.”
She was referring to the second patient that’d just been brought in.
The nurse called Hazel looked between me and the other patient. She considered her next course of action. Finally, she shook her head.
“No one will die today,” she said.
She bent down to inject me in the arm.
I raised a hand to stop her. I opened my mouth to speak but the words were clipped by my snapping jaw. I wanted to tell her to give the adrenaline shot to the other patient. He was in better condition than me. He could still survive. I was more likely to die and it wasn’t worth wasting the medicine.
Hazel met my eyes. I turned my head to peer over at the other patient.
Give it to him, I was telling her.
She understood and stepped back.
“Prepare this patient for surgery,” she said.
Surgery?
Hazel slipped the needle into the other patient’s arm and administered the adrenaline.
The patient’s entire body tensed up, every muscle and fiber reacting to the sudden boost in activity. Then his body relaxed as the initial kick passed.
The one called Hazel dropped the syringe. She grabbed my bed and pulled on it, leading me down the corridor and into another room. This one smelled of death.
They knocked me out as the surgeon bent over me.
I might be doomed to die, but even a dead man can feel fear.
Nurse Hazel flashed a light in my eyes.
I waved my arms to push her away but I was too weak to even do that.
“Back in the land of the living, I see,” she said with a smile.
“What… What happened to me?” I said.
“You suffered a fit,” Hazel said. “Have you had them before?”
“Never.”
I blinked my eyes. Purple strobe lights followed wherever I looked, thanks to her flashing that light in my eyes.
“With any luck, you shouldn’t suffer from another fit in the future,” Hazel said.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t thank me. Thank the surgeon.”
“Thank you anyway, Hazel.”
She smiled and cocked her head to one side.
“You have me at a disadvantage,” she said. “You know my name but I don’t know yours.”
“My name is—”
How should I respond? With one of my many titles? With my actual name?
Every Titan would recognize it immediately. And I couldn’t face them right now. Not with how weak and frail I was.
“Fiath,” I said. “My name is Fiath.”
Fiath was the nickname I had as a child. It meant, “Curious One” in the Titan language. Few people knew I had that name. Certainly nobody here.
“Well, Fiath, you had a lucky escape,” Hazel said, jotting my name on a document. “If you took just a little longer to reach us, I’m not sure you would still be alive.”
Join the club. Nobody thinks I’m alive. Everyone believes the emperor is dead.
“Your name is Hazel?” I said.
“It is.”
It was as beautiful as she was.
“Where are you from?” I said.
“A little out of the way planet called Earth,” she said.
Earth. The name rang a bell but I couldn’t place it. Must have been one of the outer quadrant planets.
“How is the patient in the next bed?” I said.
“Better,” Hazel said. “Thanks to you. Without that adrenaline shot, he would probably still be unconscious.”
“I didn’t do anything. You saved him.”
“It was your sacrifice that saved him.”
It was the first time I’d ever done something good for a Titan citizen. Oh, I’d signed decrees and made laws, helped them live a little easier, but I’d never helped a Titan directly like that before.
It felt good.
That familiar streak of pain bolted up my back.
“Will I ever fully recover?” I said.
Hazel looked uncomfortable and clutched her clipboard close to her chest. She looked me over head to foot. What surprised me was she didn’t flinch. I was not a pretty picture.
“Back on my home planet?” she said. “I would have said no. Even with all the surgeries in the world, you would never look the same again. But we’re not on my home planet. And you’re not human. You’re a Titan. You have an ability to heal that I’ve never seen before. So, can you return to the way you once were? It’s possible. But could you also be left with scars? Yes. That’s also possible. I’ve sent for some special ointment Titans use that will be applied to your wounds frequently. It should help with healing.”
What she was referring to was a common herb called Healer’s Touch. It was as old as Titans themselves.
“Is there any news about the Changelings?” I said.
My throat had turned hoarse and dry.
Hazel handed me a glass of water.
“Yes, some,” she said. “According to the news, they