Melissa shifted on the hospital bed, trying to move into a more comfortable position without making the pain flare. Usually she wasn't the one in the hospital bed, so she was gaining a new appreciation for how difficult it was to rest in one of these things. It had been about 24 hours since she'd gotten out of surgery, but she was already frustrated by how long it was going to take to recover. She was really envious of her son's healing abilities right about now.

She hadn't even begun to process everything that had happened. How a little bit of fear could turn her neighbors and friends into monsters. They thought they were fighting the monsters, but didn't hesitate to turn to murder themselves. Melissa had been shocked and scared when she first found out about the supernatural, but none of her instincts told her to rally the troops and hunt kids down. Maybe it was easier to digest because it was Scott and she loved him, but these were people in this town who were cared about too. Melissa didn't know if anywhere would be safe anymore.

"You need to learn how to be more careful," a voice said from her bedside. Melissa froze, trying to figure out if she could get away with pretending to be asleep. Surely no one would be coming to kill her in her own hospital, right? "I'm not here to hurt you, Ms. McCall." Suddenly she knew who was sitting next to her. That soft voice saying her name, no matter how many times she'd insisted on him calling her Melissa.

"Isaac," she breathed, turning her head and opening her eyes to see the boy who'd left almost two years ago. He looked the same, yet so different. "Did you get taller?" That got a smile out of him and it made her remember just how much she missed it. He'd only lived with her for a few months, but she'd loved him right away. When he'd left so abruptly, after everything that had happened, it hurt. She understood why he had, but that didn't help take the pain away.

"Are you okay?" Isaac asked, reaching out to take her hand. Melissa could feel the little bits of pain the medicine couldn't quite get rid of leaving her body and she sighed in relief.

"I am now," Melissa said with a soft smile. "How did you-"

"I have my ways," Isaac grinned mysteriously. This definitely wasn't the same boy she'd known. "Things have been kind of crazy all over, so when I heard about what happened here, I knew I had to come."

"You came back to check on me?" she asked, feeling incredibly touched.

"Of course I did. You gave me more of a home than I'd had in years. I will always appreciate that," Isaac said earnestly. Melissa could feel the tears starting to gather. She could always tell what Isaac was feeling by looking in his eyes, but he'd never been one to say anything out loud. To hear him verbalize his emotions hit her deep inside.

"I missed you. The house just hasn't been the same since you left," Melissa admitted. "Where are you staying?"

"Here and there," Isaac shrugged.

"I don't know how safe it is at the moment, but you always have a place in my home," she said, watching the corners of his lips twitch slightly. "Wherever you stay, you need to be careful. Things have changed."

"I'm pretty good at flying under the radar," Isaac smirked, glancing around the hospital room. Melissa didn't even want to imagine all of the injuries Isaac had to cover up as a kid. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

"Scott is going to be so happy to see you," Melissa said with a soft smile. This bit of good news would do him a world of good during this mess.

"Actually, would you mind not saying anything about me to anyone?" Isaac asked hesitantly, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Why? Are you leaving again?" Melissa questioned, the disappointment clear in her voice. She couldn't lose the boy right after getting him back.

"No, I'm staying for now, but the less people know about it, the better," Isaac assured her. He took as much pain from her as he could before he set her hand back down carefully on the bed. "I should get going before the next set of rounds."

"When will I see you again?" Melissa asked somberly. She didn't want to believe that he'd leave again without saying goodbye, but he'd done it before.

"I'm not sure, but it won't be too long," Isaac said, standing up from his seat. He leaned over the bed to press a soft kiss on her forehead and she was almost convinced this had been some crazy anesthesia induced dream. "Take care of yourself." And with that he swept out of the room, as if he'd never been there.

Melissa sighed, going over every moment of the brief visit in her mind. If she acted fast, she could probably get someone here to track down Isaac before he got too far, but she couldn't betray his wishes like that. Isaac had never been the type to ask for anything, so she wasn't going to go against what he wanted when he actually did.

She picked up her phone, checking to see if she'd gotten any new messages since she'd been asleep. The screen she was on wasn't the same as where she'd left it, so Melissa flipped through the recent windows to see what had been changed. The contacts page was there, so she scrolled through for a few seconds before a giant smile split her face. There was a new entry, labeled with a simple "I."