Chapter Ten

Road to Recovery

*Derek

Derek shook his head slightly, "What? No of course not," he said and looked at the sheriff for a moment. "But I think we both know that the thing killing these people isn't human," he said, sighing softly. "He came to me for help and things didn't go well."

Sheriff Stillinski glared at Derek for a moment before letting his gaze soften. "Right," he said and walked over to one of the chairs and sat down with an exhausted huff. He ran his hands through his hair. "Could have just told him to stay out of it," he said.

"Yeah, cause that would have worked," Derek said sarcastically and sat down next to him. "He would have gone after it by himself if I did that." he shook his head slightly. He turned his head and looked over at Mr. Stilinski "He's not going to be involved anymore though. I promise," he said.

Stilinski nodded slightly, knowing that Derek was right. His son would have just went out on his own if Derek turned him away. He wasn't really sure which one would have been a better option though. He looked at Derek when he said his son wouldn't be involved anymore, "Good, I hope you can keep that promise," he said and leaned back in the seat, looking very exhausted.

Derek watched the Sheriff for a moment before turning away with a sigh. He stared at the floor not sure what to say to that. "I will," he said before standing up and walking out of the waiting room. He went outside, needing some fresh air, heneeded to clear his mind. He walked through the parking lot over to the Jeep, because he didn't know where else to go. The nurse asked him to move it when he got out of the bathroom, so that's what he did. He leaned against the driver's side door and looked down at the keys in his hands. He frowned as he noticed they had blood all over them as well, he grumbled under his breath before shoving them into his pockets and walking away from the Jeep. He couldn't stand being near the thing, the stench of Stiles' blood just rolled off of it.

Derek walked around aimlessly before heading back to the waiting room. He walked into the hospital and saw the Sheriff talking to a doctor. He immediately focused his hearing to listen in on what they were saying.

"Don't worry, Mr. Stilinski your son's going to be just fine. He has a minor concussion, some bruised ribs, along with some other bruising and a few lacerations," the doctor said before going a bit more into detail about what was happening. "We stitched him up, and gave him some morphine to dull the pain. He's asleep now, but you can go in and see him."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded slightly, "Thank you, doctor," he said and shook the man's hand before hurrying down the hallway to his son's room.

Derek heard him walked over to the bed and sit down, before he unfocused his hearing. He let out a sigh of relief, a weight seemingly lifted off his shoulders when he heard that Stiles was going to be okay. He slowly walked back over to the waiting room and sat down, didn't really know what he was still doing here, but he couldn't get himself to leave, so he just stayed. Though he really didn't have to since Stiles was probably being released tomorrow anyway.

After a long while of just sitting there, Derek stood up and walked back to Stiles' room. He looked in at the two of them, "Uh…. how's he doing?" he asked the Sheriff.

The Sheriff jumped slightly at the sound of the sudden voice, he looked up to see Derek standing in the doorway. He looked at him for a moment, "You're still here," he said, a little more than surprised by that fact. He didn't take Derek for the caring type.

Derek smiled small and nodded, "Yeah, uh… just thought I'd see how he was doing before I left," he said and walked into the room a little and looked down at Stiles for a moment before peeling his eyes away and looking at the Sheriff again. He could barely stand to look at him, when he looked like that, so bruised and broken.

Stilinski nodded slightly, understanding that, a little. "He's doing good," he said with a smile. "Doctor said he'd be fine and that I could take him home tomorrow," he said, looking a lot better than he had in the waiting room, still exhausted but a lot better.

Derek smiled, "Thats good." he said and nodded slightly before looking at Stiles again. He stared down at him for a while before forcing himself to look away again. "I'll uh... see you around," he said and looked at the Sheriff for a moment before nodding a bit and walking out of the room and down the hallway.

*Stiles

Stiles groaned softly as he shifted on the bed… Wait this isn't my bed… He thought to himself as he slowly came to. As he slowly woke up everything came back to him and he groaned again. He opened his eyes to see his dad standing over him, Oh great He thought, because there was no way he wasn't going to get in trouble for this. "Hey dad," he mumbled.

The Sheriff chuckled softly. "Hey Son," he said and shook his head a bit, just glad that his kid was okay and awake. "How you feeling?" he asked.

Stiles smiled small. "Okay, I guess," he said and groaned softly as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Everything hurts, but I'm okay," he said with a small laugh, but stopped because it kind of hurt his chest. "Where am I?" he asked, though the second the question left his mouth the answer came to him. He was at the hospital, Derek found him and took him to the hospital. He was about to ask about Derek, but stopped himself, his dad probably didn't know anything. "So uh…. when am I allowed to go home?" he asked after a few moments.

"The doctor said he wants you to stay overnight," he said with a smile and sat down on the edge of his chair and looked over his son, he hated seeing him in pain like this.

"It's okay dad, doesn't hurt that bad" Stiles said and smiled small and slowly moved himself so that he was more comfortable and looked at his dad. He hated hospitals, nothing good as ever come from him stepping inside a hospital, seriously nothing. He didn't say anything about it though and just smiled, because he didn't want his dad to feel worse than he already was. "You know where my clothes are?" he asked since he was currently wearing a nightgown and well he'd rather be wearing his own clothes.

The Sheriff chuckled softly, "Your shirt was pretty much garbage and your pants are covered in blood. I haven't had a chance to go home and grab you anything yet. Didn't even really think about it actually."

Stiles sighed softly, "Ummmm I might have something in the jeep." he said, not sure if he actually did or not. "But it's okay dad, I don't need anything until tomorrow, right?" he asked with a smile.

The Sheriff nodded slightly "No, it's okay, I think Derek moved it to the parking lot or something. I'll go check. If not, I'll just run to the house, shouldn't take long," he said and looked over his son for moment before standing up and walking out of the room.

Stiles watch his dad leave and sighed softly. "Great," he mumbled and moved so he was lying down again. He sighed softly and closed his eyes as he tried to relax, but he doubted that was possible. Everything hurt and he just couldn't get comfortable.

"How you feeling?" asked someone from the doorway.

Stiles jumped slightly at the sudden voice, but smiled because he immediately knew who it was. "I feel okay," he said and opened his eyes to look over at Derek.

Derek smiled and walked into the room and over to the bed. "Good," he said and sat down in the chair next to it.

Stiles watched him for a moment before smiling small, "You know this wasn't your fault, right?" he said and eyed Derek, trying to make sure he didn't feel guilty about this. "Which brings me to my next point, which is…... thank you for finding me" he said.

Derek smiled and nodded slightly, "You're welcome, and I don't blame myself, I blame Josie."

"Good," Stiles said and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, it hurt like hell but he managed.

"How much does it hurt?" Derek asked, because he could clearly see how much pain the human was in.

Stiles shrugged slightly, "A lot, but it's manageable," he said and smiled. "And hey, I'm sure once I get out of here, I'm gonna get some of the good stuff," he said and winked, before laughing softly.

"Great, you on drugs, that will be fun," Derek said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, it most definitely will be, Derek," Stiles said with a smile and a small laugh. "You think I'm funny now? Oh you just wait, buddy."

"Except that I don't find you funny so much as just annoying," Derek said jokingly with a smile.

"Well then, I'll be just that much more annoying then" Stiles said and shook his head slightly.

"See? That's what I was thinking," Derek said with a smile. He sighed softly, sobering up a bit. "Though seriously, Stiles, how are you feeling?" he asked, still a little worried about the human.

Stiles smiled small, "I'm fine Derek," he said, and meant it. Other than the pain he was good. "I'm sore all over the place, and my chest and back hurt, but yeah I'm fine," he said with a small nod, wanting Derek to know that he meant it.

Derek nodded slightly, "Okay, that's good," he said and sighed softly. He looked over Stiles for a moment, making sure the human was actually okay. Once he decided that he was, he smiled and nodded again. "I should probably get going," he said and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said and walked out of the room and down the hallway. He would have stayed longer but he heard the sheriff coming back.

Stiles watched Derek leave and sighed softly trying to make himself comfortable, but it just didn't seem possible at the moment.

Sheriff Stilinski walked into the room a few minutes later and went over to the bed. "Sorry this is all I could find," he said and handed the clothes to Stiles. "I didn't have the keys, but Derek left the doors unlocked. I had to dig through the mess in the back to find them," he said.

Stiles smiled and took the clothes from him. "Thanks dad," he said and slowly moved and climbed out of bed. He slowly pushed himself onto his feet, standing hurt more than he thought it would. He had to ignore the pain as he slowly pulled on the sweat pants his dad pulled out of his jeep. There was no telling how dirty they were but he really didn't care about that. Once he finally had the pants on, he carefully pulled gown off and tossed it over to a nearby chair. He paused slightly as he looked down at the bandage on his chest, the memory of how he got it flashing across his mind. He flinched slightly as he felt the things claws slice through him again. He shook his head slightly, forcing the memory away, before he pulled the shirt on over his head, took a little longer than it usually would, but he was okay with that. Once he was dressed he laid back on the bed with a sigh.

"You okay Stiles?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, he could see something was wrong, might not be close with his son, but he knew that much.

Stiles looked up at his dad and nodded slightly "Yeah, I'm okay Dad. Don't worry so much," he said jokingly with a smile.

Stilinski nodded slightly and sat down next to the bed leaning back into it with a sigh. "I'll try," he said, though he wasn't sure he'd ever stop worrying about his son. Especially now, with everything that he seems to get himself into.

Stiles smiled and nodded slightly before laying down a bit farther onto the bed, again trying to make himself more comfortable.

Later that night Stiles was laying in bed, doped up on some pain meds trying to go to sleep. His dad had wanted to stay but he convinced him to go home, because there wasn't anything for him to do here. It was a long argument, but Stiles eventually won, and now he was alone in his room and very bored. There was nothing to do and he couldn't fall asleep,which he's been trying to do for the last hour.

After a while, he just couldn't take it anymore. He slowly pushed himself out of bed and walked around his room a bit. His legs were sore, but not broken, so he managed to walk just fine. He got bored of that really quickly as well, and his mind started to wander. Before he knew it, he was thinking about last night and the attack. His hand slowly raised and felt his chest making the bandage under his shirt crinkle. He just looked down at his chest for a long while before ambling over to the bathroom and turning the light on. He quickly shut and locked the door behind him before standing in front of the mirror. 'I look fucking terrible' he thought to himself as he studied his bruised reflection. He looked down at his chest again before slowly removing the shirt and setting it down on the counter. He flinched slightly when he saw even more bruising, he was practically just a big walking, talking bruise. He fingered the edge of the bandage slightly, itching to see what it looked like, even if he knew he wasn't supposed to be removing the bandages, he couldn't see the one he really wanted to see anyway, and that was the one on his back. He didn't care about that though, so he slowly, and painfully peeled the bandage back. 'Oh well, there goes the little bit of chest hair I had' he thought to himself sarcastically.

Stiles let the bandage hang loosely off his chest as he stared at the slash marks on his chest. The marks weren't deep but they sure were long and nasty looking, and the stitches just made them look even more gnarly. He flinched as everything from last night came flooding into his mind. It was like a dam broke, everything came back at once and he felt the pain all over again, like he was living through it all over again.

Stiles forced himself to look away from the marks on his chest and quickly covered them back up with the bandage. The memories were on replay in his mind and as much as he tried, he couldn't get it to stop. He stumbled back away from the mirror and into the wall behind him, he slowly slid down onto the floor as his breathing became labored. He could feel his heart pounding a million miles a minute in his chest, but even still all his mind was focused on was the replaying of last night's event.

Running as fast as possible, as fast as I could but it wasn't enough, could never be enough. I'm just a human, just a human, what can a human possibly do against the supernatural world? I'm not a hunter I'm just Stiles, just Stiles, and I'm running, running for my life.

Made it to a building but I know it won't matter, I'm in a closet, the same one that Derek kissed me in. Such a good kiss, but now I'm going to die, and Derek's no where. Where is Derek? Why isn't he here?

I didn't even hear it or see it, I was just suddenly flying into a wall and then I was on the floor, being beaten. Each punch was more painful than the last. I can hear myself scream, screaming for him, but he doesn't come, why isn't he coming? I need him!

The punches were bad but it's claws slicing through my chest was worse. Oh god the pain, barely even noticed that my vision became spotty, the pain oh god the pain. My hands are on my chest, when did they get there, there's so much blood, just so much blood. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

Not again, "no please stop" I heard myself yell but there was no reply. I could hear myself screaming again it was his name, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Why isn't he here? Where is Derek? God the pain, nothing but pain. I can feel myself blacking out and I welcome it. I welcome the peace of the darkness.

"Stiles!" a voice yelled from the distance. I could barely hear it, it was so faint. "Snap out of it, Stiles!" it yelled, louder this time. I was being shaken, why am I being shaken? The pain is gone, why is the pain gone? "Stiles, please. You're at the hospital. Your safe." Safe? What do you mean safe? I'm dying, and I'm alone. Suddenly I felt something on my lips? What is that?" I opened my eyes and it's Derek. He's kissing me.

Stiles opened his eyes and looked at Derek as the werewolf pulled away, "Sorry,you weren't uh…. listening and I didn't know what else to do," he said and looked over the human as if he was about to break. He had no idea what had just happened, and it was kind of freaking him out.

Stiles smiled small. "It's fine," he said and let out a soft sigh before looking around his fingers lightly feeling his lips as he did. "It was uh…. uh… panic attack," he said. "I used to get them after my mom died," he said and frowned slightly. "Though they were never quite like this." he chuckled softly, before he slowly pushed himself up onto his feet and looked around again. "What are you doing here?" He asked, kind of confused to why the werewolf was even here. He thought he left a long time ago.

Derek smiled small. "I was uh making sure nothing happened?" he said a bit awkwardly. "I mean, Josie and the Ahzi are still out there, just wanted to make sure you were safe," he said with a smile, though still a bit awkward. "Oh and I forgot to give you these," he said and held out the keys to the jeep. He looked over the human, not sure if he should be standing up already. "You okay?" he asked, worried about the fragile human.

Stiles chuckled softly and pulled his shirt back on before taking the keys. "Thanks, and yeah I think I'm okay" he said and sighed softly. "Not really sure I guess. Never really been this bad before" he said and frowned when he looked at the bathroom door. "Did you really break the lock? Who's going to pay for that Derek?" he asked and stared pointedly at the werewolf. "My dad sure as hell won't be able to afford it," he said with a sigh before laughing softly and pushing the door open the rest of the way and walking into the bedroom. He looked around and saw it was exactly the same as he left it, and he kind of wondered where the nurses were, how had they not heard any of that. "How did you know?" he asked suddenly.

Derek left the light on in the bathroom as he walked out and over to Stiles. "I heard your heartbeat and it sounded like you were in trouble so I came," he said with a small smile and looked around the room, he was also kind of wondering how the nurses hadn't heard anything. Wasn't like this whole thing had been quiet. "Has Melissa been to see you?" he asked, remembering that Scott's mom was a nurse at this hospital.

"Yeah, she came to see me a little while after you left. We visited for a while before she had to get back to work," Stiles said with a small smile. He walked over to the bed and sat down, because he was too exhausted to continue standing at the moment. He looked over at Derek, barely able to see him, even with the glow of the light from the bathroom. "Thanks for looking after me Derek. It means a lot," he said.

Derek chuckled softly and nodded slightly, "That's what friends are for, right?" he said with a smile. "I should probably be letting you get some sleep though. You look terrible," he said.

"Oh wow, gee thanks Derek." Stiles said sarcastically. "You know a good friend would lie and say I look good."

Derek laughed softly. "Yeah, whatever," he said and smiled before saying one last goodbye and walked out of the room. Then he slowly made his way back up to his spot on the roof, because there was no way he was going to leave now. Not after that, he didn't even feel comfortable leaving Stiles alone in the room.

Stiles watched him go before settling into the bed. He snuggled up under the covers and made himself as comfortable as he could before he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. This time his mind was full of thoughts of Derek, and he fell asleep almost instantly.