The Cracked Mellon
Note: the usual disclaimers apply. Don't own anything. All characters and recognizable contents belong to their respective owners. Not making any money from this.
Not betaed so all the spelling and grammatical mistakes are mine. Let me know if you spot them.
Now on with the story...
Chapter : 4
The sight that greeted Derek when he entered Stiles's room was of Stiles sitting on the edge of his hospital bed, hands covering the side of his face and eyes shut tight as though he was in pain.
Derek's worry skyrocketed at this sight and he was next to Stiles in an instant.
Derek saw Stiles look at him and guilt flooded through him at the pain in Stiles's eyes. Stiles looked pale, his eyes red-rimmed and face glistened with beads of sweat.
Derek hovered over Stiles's sitting form and asked urgently if he was alright. Internally Derek berated himself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he was not alright. He was in the hospital. He himself put him there, Derek thought bitterly.
For all of Derek's worried inquiries, he got no answer. Stiles was still sitting motionless on the bed, taking deep breaths and trying to get the pain under control.
Derek worriedly told Stiles that he was calling the doctor. Stiles looked up at that and tried to stop Derek but he quickly pressed the call button.
Stiles groaned at that and said, "I am fine dude. You didn't have to do that."
Derek scoffed and said sarcastically, "you look fine."
"Why thank you sir, Derek Hale saying I look fine! I might be in heaven." Stiles said mockingly trying to bat his thick eyelashes but stopped and winced as the action immediately reminded him of his headache
Derek rolled his eyes at Stiles's reply, amazed once again at Stiles's ability to make light of the situation. He sobered immediately when he saw pain flash through Stiles's expression.
He was about to go searching and drag the doctor to attend to Stiles when a presence in the room caught his attention. It was the doctor entering the room.
"Finally" Derek muttered to himself.
After Scott left Stiles's room, Stiles took a deep calming breath.
Sometimes calming a werewolf can be a very tiring job especially when you have a pounding headache and the world around you is constantly losing focus. Reassuring Scott that this was an accident and nobody's fault was difficult. Stiles thinks he did a commendable job, given the circumstances. He will talk to them again once he has left the hospital and feeling a little better.
He came out of his musings when he heard Derek's loud voice outside his room.
"...people around me tend to die and I will be damned if I lose somebody else I care about, not when I have the power to prevent it." Derek said outside the room. Stiles could not hear the later part of the conversation between Scott and Derek cause they lowered their voices.
Derek and his burdened shoulders, Stiles thought sadly, carrying the weight of the world, blaming himself for everything that went wrong in his life, for all the deaths surrounding him.
Stiles sat up slowly on the bed. He intended to go talk to Derek and convince him that what happened to him was an accident and not his fault.
He stood up but a wave of vertigo hit him. He lost his balance and half fell/landed on the edge of the bed. He clutched his head trying to starve the dizziness and headache off.
That's the moment that Derek chose to enter Stiles's room.
Stiles's head shot up at the movement in the room and he winced as this sudden movement caused the pain in his head to intensify and nausea to rise in him stomach.
He looked down quickly, closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths.
He was not going to hurl in front of Derek, thank you very much. So he ignored Derek's concerned questions and instead concentrated on getting himself under control. He only looked up when Derek said he was calling the doctor but was too slow in stopping Derek from pressing the call button. Stiles just groaned at that and continued to breath deeply until the feeling of nausea subsided.
He told Derek that he was fine and Derek replied sarcastically that, "he looked fine"
Stiles never one to let the opportunity go, said, "Why thank you sir, Derek Hale saying I look fine! I might be in heaven." and tried to flutter his eyelashes to mock Derek but stopped when his head ached.
Derek must have sensed the pain cause he looked worried again.
Stiles was relieved when the doctor finally made an appearance. At least this would stop Derek's hovering for a while.
Even Derek seemed relieved and muttered a "finally" under his breath.
The doctor entered Stiles's room followed closely by Scott.
He addressed Stiles by his full name, first name and all. Stiles groaned while Derek's ears perked up at the mention of his real name and Scott snickered knowing full well how much Stiles detested the use of his first name.
"Please call me Stiles." Stiles pleaded.
"OK. So STILES, how are you feeling and what are you doing out of bed?" The doctor asked.
"I am fine doctor. I just sat up too quickly and got a little dizzy but I am fine now."
"That can happen" the doctor conceded and continued talking while getting near Stiles and giving him a once over, "You might be dizzy given that you have a concussion. You might also experience confusion, drowsiness, double vision or blurred vision, nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light or noise, some balance problems and also headaches. We expect most of these problems to clear up in the next couple of days. The headaches might continue for a bit longer but you will be just fine. When you were bought in, you were unconscious and bleeding and had minor lacerations on your scalp, neck and back. The one near your scalp required 11 stitches while some on your back and neck required a couple of stitches each. We performed a MRI and CT scan just to be sure but you did not suffer any internal damage to your head."
While the doctor continued to talk about Stiles and prod him, Stiles looked over to Derek who had moved to the side to give the doctor some room to examine Stiles. With every detail the doctor gave, Derek looked more stricken and guilty than Stiles had ever seen him.
When the doctor's hand moved to Stiles's head to examine the bandaged wound, Stiles winced in pain and Derek growled low in his throat.
The doctor took his hands away from Stiles's head and said, "looks like the pain meds have left your system. I will ask the nurse to give some more to help you sleep through the night"
Stiles looked up at that.
"Can't I just go home and sleep it off"
"I would not recommend that. I want you to stay for observation tonight. If you feel alright tomorrow, I will let you go."
"But.." Stiles started and stopped immediately at the twin looks of annoyance from both his friends and instead said, "OK." And added, " but I have to speak to my dad first. You can give me the meds after that."
"That's fine by me. Just buzz the call button after you are done. The nurse will give you the pain meds. You should rest though if you want to go home tomorrow." The doctor said.
Stiles agreed instantly.
The doctor left the room after giving Scott and Derek a meaningful look.
"Hey Scott can you grab my phone?"
"Yeah sure"
Scott rummaged through Stiles's belongings and produced his cell phone.
Stiles dialed his dad's number and wasn't surprised when his dad picked up on the second ring.
"Stiles" his dad said with a worried tone.
"Hey dad."
"How are you kiddo? Tell me the truth." His dad ordered.
"I am fine dad. Really. Nothing happened. I just hit my head. Scott and Derek bought me to the hospital. The doctor checked me out. He says not to worry. I just wanted to talk to you and tell you this myself. You just concentrate on your work and don't worry about me."
"Are you sure Stiles? I can be home by tomorrow morning if I leave now."
"Dad no ... I am fine really. You don't have to come back It's just a couple of days more before you come back anyway. Don't rush because of me. I will be fine. Besides I have Scott and Derek and others here. I won't be alone. You don't have to worry."
"I will always worry kiddo. Especially if go landing yourself in the hospital. I also need to have a talk with Derek." His dad added angrily.
"How did you..."
"Scott told me what happened when he called."
Stiles looked angrily at Scott and he gave an apologetic smile while Derek stood guiltily in the corner.
"Dad it wasn't Derek's fault" Stiles said looking at Derek. Derek gave him a disbelieving look. "Anyway don't rush home. I will see you after the conference in a couple of days and take care of yourself. No junk food." Stiles said seriously.
"OK." His dad conceded."I will talk to you tomorrow."
"Talk to you tomorrow dad. Good night."
"Good night son."
Stiles hung up the phone and looked at Scott who instantly said, " I am sorry. I was worried and angry and not thinking straight. I just told him what happened."
Stiles sighed and said, "now dad will be angry at Derek."
"And he should be. I hurt you." Derek said instantly.
"No you didn't. It was an accident. You didn't mean to hurt me. Besides I made you angry. I made you lose control. I totally deserved it."
"Nobody deserves this Stiles. Nobody. I could have killed you if I had used a little more strength. You could have cracked your skull open, bled out, hell even land in a coma or be brain damaged all because I could not control my anger and because I forgot you were not like us. You are just a human" Derek said angrily.
Scott visibly paled at Derek's descriptions. He was worried that even he could forget and hurt someone...Stiles, his mom or even some innocent human if he lost his control over his temper.
Stiles just smiled at Derek's angry rant.
"What are you smiling about?" Derek asked angrily." Don't you understand the seriousness of the situation? Did the hit on your head cause brain damage after all"
Stiles downright laughed at that but stopped immediately when his head and throat hurt. Great now even his throat hurt he thought to himself, unconsciously rubbing his hand over his throat.
Both Scott and Derek looked at him like he had gone crazy when started started laughing.
"Don't make me laugh, it hurts" Stiles said and they both looked worried again.
"Your throat hurt?"
"A little. Mostly my head"
Derek looked at Stiles's throat. There was already a bruise forming against Stiles's pale skin. A bruise the shape of his hand from where he grabbed Stiles. He moved closer to Stiles, sat at the edge of his bed and touched his throat gently with his fingertips and drew out some of Stiles pain.
"I am so sorry Stiles. I never meant to hurt you. You have got to believe me. I don't want you to hate me or worse fear me. I can't stand that."
"Dude chill. I believe you and don't blame you and certainly don't hate you."
"You should. After what I did to you you should." Derek said despondently.
Stiles just groaned. He had a feeling that this conversation was going to go in circles with Derek blaming himself and Stiles trying to convince him otherwise. So Stiles did the one thing that he knew could help Derek.
"Derek, I forgive you." Stiles said knowing full well that Derek needed to hear that. He can start to forgive himself only if he knew that Stiles forgave him.
"I just want you to try and forgive yourself."
Derek looked at Stiles with an unreadable expression on his face.
"You can't forgive me so easily." Derek said finally, softly.
"Yes I can and I do."
"Why?" Derek asked confused.
"Derek" Stiles said exasperated, "didn't you just say outside to Scott that you won't lose anyone else you care about"
Derek looked surprised and kind of embarrassed that Stiles heard that.
"Yes" he said finally.
Stiles gave a cheeky grin and said, "dude you care about me and we only care about them who we love. "
"What NO. I never said anything about love."
Scott snickered at Derek's expression.
Derek glared at him.
"Yeah yeah whatever." Stiles said dismissively and continued, "my point is don't you consider me as a part of pack?"
"Of course I do Stiles." Derek said immediately.
"And don't you consider your pack to be your family?"
"Yes Stiles. What are you getting at?"
"Don't family have a right to forgive each other. Especially when the mistakes were made by accident and to protect them. You wanted to protect me Derek. Wanted to keep me safe, even by force, if necessary. You just used the strength you normally use with your family or your pack. Didn't you just say that you forgot I was not like you guys, that I was human"
"Yes" Derek said.
"See" Stiles said smiling, "you forgot because you consider me like everyone else in the pack. You treat me like them and I like that. I am not a mosochists or anything but I am glad that you feel comfortable enough not to restrain yourself or your power. This goes for you too Scott. I am glad you guys don't treat me any different and I don't want you to."
"But we might hurt you. Maybe more than this time" Scott said.
"No you won't. I have faith in you. You guys will never hurt your family and your pack. You won't hurt me. Especially you Scott."
Scott seemed to relax at Stiles confidence in him.
Stiles continued, "and Derek, you just have a hard time because you never had to restrain your strength first with your family who mostly consisted of wolves and now with your pack who also have supernatural strength. You will be more careful in the future. I know that. That's why I forgive you. I just want you to forgive yourself for what happened and try not to treat me like a fragile human who needs protection. I can take care of myself, superhuman strength or not. Can you do that Derek? Can you forgive yourself? And can you not brood like a sulky teenager?" Stiles added the last part with a glint in his eyes.
Derek seemed to consider Stiles while he spoke. Well until Stiles basically called him a broody teenager.
"I do not brood or sulk" he said.
"Yes you do" both Scott and Stiles said.
Derek just glared at them both.
Stiles sobered and asked Derek again, " dude you have got to go easy on yourself. Not everything bad that happens in our lifes is your fault. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to your family or for the people we lost in the last couple of years and definitely not for what happened to me. It was an accident. You have to learn to forgive yourself, to ease the burden on your shoulders. You have to let us help you too. We are your family too. Can you do that?"
"Y-yes" Derek said emotionally.
"Good. Now I think I am going to sleep. Can you call the nurse so she can give me the meds. You can go home then. I will see you guys tomorrow."
"What NO!" Both Scott and Derek protested at once.
"We are not going."
"I am fine guys. And anyway I will be sleeping through the night. There is no point for both of you to be uncomfortable. I will see you guys in the morning. Go home and rest. Please."
"OK." They agreed reluctantly
"Good." Stiles said smiling.
"I will get the nurse" Scott said and left the room.
"You should clean up. Your hands are still bloody." Stiles said
"Derek looked at his hands and grimaced. "I will" he agreed.
The nurse came and gave Stiles the meds. Stiles could feel the effects of the meds in a matter of minutes.
"Good night guys" he said drowsily and with a dopey smile on his face.
"Good night buddy. We will see you tomorrow." Scott said.
"Good night Stiles" Derek said.
Stiles smiled and closed his eyes and let the drugs do it's job.
Scott and Derek left the room.
"You are staying" Scott said matter of factly not a question.
"Yes."
"OK. I will see you tomorrow... And Derek, you should listen to Stiles. He's the smartest person I know."
"Yeah!" Derek agreed.
"Good night" Scott said and left for home."call me if you need me."
"Yes." Derek agreed and left for the restroom to clean up quickly so he can be back by Stiles's side.
Stiles was asleep when Derek entered the room.
He sat on a chair next to Stiles and took his hands in his own glad that he had rid himself of Stiles's blood. He started to draw the remnants of Stiles's pain and mulled over what Stiles said to him.
He was glad that Stiles had forgiven him. It was difficult for him to do the same but for Stiles's sake he was willing to try.
"I will do my best to forgive myself" he said looking at Stiles's peaceful sleeping form.
He did not know when he fell asleep, Stiles's hand in his and his head resting near Stiles's hip.
Stiles woke next morning feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep. He was pain free from the combination of meds and the lump next to his hip.
Derek stirred at change in Stiles's breathing.
"Dude are you holding are my hands?" Stiles asked snickering.
"What ? NO!" Derek said immediately letting go of Stiles's hands and moving away.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine" at Derek's disbelieving look he said, "really I feel fine. Almost like myself again. Can we go home now."
"I will go get the doctor." Derek said.
The doctor came and examined Stiles. He found his condition satisfactory and agreed to release Stiles.
"I will discharge you, Mr. Stilinski but you have to take it easy for the next couple of days and return to the hospital if the conditions worsen. You also should not stay alone as you might feel dizzy or lose your balance and fall down." The doctor said looking at Derek and Derek gave a nod of understanding.
The doctor continued, "you will return in a few days to take your stitches off. Also avoid getting the stitches wet. And no driving for a few days."
"What!" By Stiles was muffled by Scott's "he won't" as he came in the room just as the doctor was finishing his examination. He showed off the keys to Stiles's jeep with a smile.
Stiles just grumbled.
They left the hospital after some time wheeling Stiles away.
"I can walk" Stiles sulked.
"Dude hospital policy. Don't blame me." Scott said cheerfully.
Stiles smiled as he saw his jeep and touched her with his fingertips.
"Shotgun" he called and moved slowly to the passenger seat.
Derek grumbled good naturedly but sat in the backseat without any complaints.
Scott drove them home.
Everything was going to be alright. They will all be just fine.
The End.
Note: I am new to this whole writing gig. I just put my jumbled thoughts on paper and publish it before I chicken out. I know I have a long way to go. Also all the medical details in this fic are either made up or googled.
I would really like to know what you think about my writing. Reviews and positive criticism is appreciated.
If you spot any mistakes...let me know :)
Also if you have any prompts for me in any fandom, let me know.
Thank you.