A/N: I'm not really all that happy with how this turned out but my head is somewhere else and this is the best I can make it do. After this we'll see some of the other characters come into play and find out what might be going on in Beacon Hills.

Chapter Five

Nightmares and Dreams

The darkness still followed him in his drug induced sleep, though the dream was hazy and less terrifying than usual, like his drug addled brain couldn't connect the dots fast enough to be afraid. He awoke when his body began to ache enough to cause him discomfort, the pain pulling him from his nightmare only to face a new one.

For a moment he felt a slight bit of panic at realizing he wasn't in his own bed at home. Remembering he was at the hospital did nothing to dispel the slowly growing panic in his chest. He blinked again to make his eyes adjust to the afternoon sunlight spilling into his room and was startled when he found the round worried eyes of Lydia Martin were starring back at him.

"Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you tell me you were hurt when I asked you last night Stiles?" She demanded with her hand on her hip as she geared up for one of her tirades. She stalled when she spotted Sheriff Stilinski propped up in the corner chair sound asleep.

"I didn't call anyone Lydia; I don't even have my phone." Stiles answered groggily as he sat up a little. "How did you even find out I was here?" He asked rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Scott. He wanted us all in one place. Apparently these disappearances may be the work of something supernatural; I don't know for sure they wouldn't tell me anything. Anyway they're worried and with Derek out of town and Peter missing that they don't have enough wolves to protect all of us defenseless humans." She said the last few words with spite and crossed her arms in front of her protectively, a sure sign she was angry.

"Wait, what?" Stiles said as he sat up further more alert than he had been just a moment ago.

"I'm supposed to stay here with you, your dad and Scott's mom and they've got a patrol around the hospital just in case." Lydia said quietly as she took in Stiles's form on the bed. "So how bad is it?" She asked him just as he opened his mouth to ask her if there was anything else she wasn't telling him.

"I'm not really sure yet, they took a bunch of scans and then gave me something to sleep while they looked them over. I'm not sure if the doctor came back yet or not. So Scott knew I was here then?" Stiles asked her.

She nodded but her attention was on the doctor and Melissa who were walking through the door having a hushed conversation. Stiles wanted nothing more than to shrink into the bed and disappear or better yet to hop up out of the bed and do something more useful than lying in bed like an invalid.

Melissa gave Stiles and Lydia a small smile before rousing his father from his slumber. Without realizing it Stiles had grasped Lydia's hand in his upon their entrance fearing their verdict. She squeezed his hand back and gave him a sad smile. She tugged her hand as she made to pull away to give him some privacy but he tugged her back to the bedside and gave her a look that said he clearly wanted her to stay.

He wasn't sure why but Lydia offered him a small measure of comfort much in the way Melissa did. Maybe it was that she had already seen him at his worst and not judged him for it. Instead she had guided him through it and helped him in the only way she knew how. He still hadn't managed to thank her for help that day, he didn't know how to. Not to mention he couldn't get that kiss, that God forsaken kiss out of his head no matter what he did. Just the thought of it left him tongue tied.

The doctor turned on the x-ray board and threw up a couple of his scans and then turned to his bed with a caring smile. "Alright Stiles we've had a chance to review your scans." He began and Stiles gripped Lydia's hand even tighter in his own, it had to hurt but she never made a sound, instead she brought her other hand to rest comfortingly on his shoulder near the base of his neck. "First, your shoulder looks like it's a clean dislocation, treatment for that is fairly straightforward and the sooner we get that back in place the better. It's already been dislocated a fair amount of time and there is some swelling but I still think this can be addressed with a non-operative procedure." Stiles relaxed a little at the non-operative part but then his brain kicked in at what that meant, he'd be awake. He shuddered in apprehension and Lydia began to rub small soothing circles on the back of his neck and he gave her a grateful smile in return.

Sheriff Stilinski was working out the kinks in his own neck as he listened in. "So that means you are just going to put it back in place while he's awake?" He asked clearly alarmed at the idea.

The doctor gave him a small nod. "We will give it a few tries and if it doesn't work we'll look into putting him under. Now there is also the matter of your ribs. You have two hair-line fractures, here and here." The doctor said as he moved to his x-ray and pointed with the tip of his pen. "Now there really isn't anything to do for those other than to let them heal on their own and to avoid further disruption of the injury. Your hip bone doesn't appear to be fractured just badly bruised and a small chip on the outer edge, but there really isn't any treatment for that other than rest either." The doctor again pointed to the next x-ray before turning back to address the group. "Your neck appears to have no skeletal injuries but you may have suffered some whiplash, and finally your scans revealed a mild concussion."

Stiles took in the diagnosis. It didn't seem as bad as he had imagined until his father brought up what he had missed. "What about his back?" Stiles's heart sunk, of course, the one causing him the most grief and he'd written it out if his mind.

"We have brought in a neurosurgeon to consult on the case. After we get his shoulder in place I've scheduled an MRI." The doctor said and Stiles nearly moaned at how that sounded. Lydia leaned in and pressed her face to his and gave him a kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Are you okay?" She kept her forehead leaned against the side of his head with one hand in his the other still gently rubbing his neck. He merely gave a small imperceptible nod of the head as he swallowed thickly.

When they broke apart the adults were staring at them, waiting for them to have their moment. Stiles put on his face of false bravado and let out a slow breath, "When do we get this show on the road?"

"Well I'm prepared to attempt the shoulder alignment now with Melissa's help if you're ready. The sooner we take care of that the sooner you'll feel better and we can get you in that MRI to get a better look at your back and get you taken care of." The doctor stepped away to give them a moment to talk it over.

"Melissa, are you sure this is the best thing? I mean to do this while he's awake? I mean shouldn't they knock him out?" Stiles eyed his father as he shifted nervously looking from Stiles to Melissa as he waited for her answer.

"Well it will be the quickest way to fix the problem. If we can manipulate the shoulder back in place we can get the swelling and pain under control a lot faster. I think it's worth a shot. I know Stiles wanted to get out of here sooner rather than later." Melissa answered as she laid a hand on his leg.

"Let's just try it." Stiles answered. "With everything going on we don't need to stand over me all day and play nurse maid. We can get this over with and then figure out what is going on with these disappearances." Stiles answered.

"Stiles you don't need to worry about that. You need to worry about getting better and leave the rest to me." Sheriff Stilinski stated. Stiles shot him a look that clearly disagreed.

Lydia wiggled her fingers in Stiles's hand and he relaxed his grip. "I can wait outside if..." She said as the Doctor reappeared.

"Please stay Lydia." Stiles asked shakily and the look of terror that surly showed on his face made her stop in her tracks. "Just don't judge me if I cry like a baby or something." He tried to sound humorous but it came out flat.

She shakily pushed her hair behind her ear and nodded. Melissa stepped into action and removed another vial of medication from her newly changed scrubs. "This is a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory it should help a little. You still have morphine in your system. I can't give you more of that for a few more hours." She told him as she pushed the plunger on the syringe into his IV.

"That's okay, as nice as it was I'd rather not lie here all defenseless." He told her with a knowing look and she nodded. The effects were more subtle than the morphine. It made him only slightly groggy and a little more fluid in his joints.

The Sheriff had taken up standing at the foot of the bed checking messages on his phone and trying heavily to avoid watching the unfolding procedure, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. Lydia was still holding Stiles's hand next to the IV pole as the Melissa and the Doctor discussed the procedure.

"Dad," Stiles said causing his father to look up hastily. "Dad why don't you go on out and get something to eat or call the station and check on things."

"That's okay that can wait I'm…" he started to mumble.

"Dad, please. I'd rather you not be here for this. I'm in good hands, okay?" Stiles asked his father, his eyes pleading with him to understand. If he had to see his father's expression during this it might be his undoing. His father had never handled his mother's treatments well and avoided them if he could, something he knew he beat himself up over. The look on his face told him that his father was reliving that all over again with his son and Stiles couldn't bear to put him through that. It would hurt him just as much to see his father that way again.

His father must have understood and gave him a nod. He stepped forward and gingerly hugged him and pressed a kiss on his forehead and brushed his sweaty hair back in an affectionate gesture. "I love you kid." His voice trembling a bit as he stood back up to leave.

"Love you too dad." Stiles told him as he watched his father leave with his head bowed clearly very emotional.

"Alright Stiles we are going to give this just a few tries and if it doesn't work I'll have no choice but to schedule you to be sedated. If you try to manipulate an injury like this too much you can do more harm than good." The Doctor informed him as Melissa untied his hospital gown and slid it down his shoulders and slid what looked like a towel under his armpit and brought it around to his good shoulder. "Now we are going to try this method first which involves counter-traction. Melissa will give gentle pressure that way while I give gentle pressure this way. I'm going to lower the bed because you'll need to lay flat for this procedure and we'll wheel the bed forward a bit to give us a bit more maneuvering room." Melissa had stepped next to Lydia to lower the bed and Stiles gripped on to Lydia's hand desperately as the tears started to form in his eyes and his breathing accelerated.

"Stiles," Lydia's soft voice called to him and he looked over to her. "Take deep breaths with me okay?" She took his hand and placed it on her chest, "Breathe with me okay just slow down, feel my breathing and breathe when I do, just keep your eyes on me okay?" He nodded shakily and tried to focus on breathing with her, how she had known he was about to fall over the edge to a full-fledged panic attack he didn't know but he was glad she was there.

He felt them unlock the bed and wheel it forward a few feet and then lock the wheels again. He closed his eyes in anticipation and the first tear managed to make its way down his cheek. Lydia leaned forward with her other hand and gently wiped it away. Stiles tried to focus on that soft touch, on how much he truly cared for the petite girl that was here caring for him instead of what was happening around him. It did seem to help some.

He felt the pull of Melissa pulling on his body at the end of the towel and took a deep breath as he braced for the agony he knew was about to come. The Doctor pulled evenly on his injured shoulder and it was like a white hot poker had been shoved through his shoulder causing him to cry out before he managed to clamp down on his lower lip. The pain seemed to go on forever as they continued to apply the counter pressure before the Doctor attempted to move his shoulder. He pulled up and twisted in a quick movement and Stiles lifted off the bed his back arched in agony. A second later there was a loud pop as the Doctor and Melissa let go of him and Stiles sagged back on to the bed in relief. It felt like an immense pressure had been taken off him, the white hot pain quickly ebbing to something more tolerable. After a time his fuzzy hearing had begun to clear, their voices asking him if he was okay. He could hear Lydia's voice over them all, her voice tinged with an edge of panic asking him to say something to her.

He blinked his eyes open and squinted into the overhead lighting and realized that his face was wet with tears or sweat he wasn't sure which and his chest was still heaving as if he'd run a marathon. His eyes met Lydia's and her face too was wet as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She still had his hand clasped in hers but her other was trying to free his lip from his teeth. Stiles could taste the blood and knew he must have bit through his lip, but he didn't care, it was over. He released his lip and swallowed trying to slow down his breathing and take control of himself. Melissa handed Lydia a moist washcloth and she released his hand and leaned closer as she dabbed his lip gingerly cleaning it as best she could. Without thinking Stiles took his hand and cupped her cheek softly and brushed her tears with the pad of his finger. She leaned into his touch and gave him a smile. "You okay?" She asked him.

"Never better." He answered her.

"We'll need to get a second x-ray to be sure but it looks like we got it." The Doctor said. "Can you move your fingers? Any numbness or tingling?" Stiles wiggled his fingers and shook his head. "Good, now we'll get you in a sling and give you a few minutes to recover and then we'll take you for another X-ray and that MRI."

Stiles simply nodded as the Doctor headed out and Melissa adjusted his bed before she slid his arm into a sling and adjusted it around his neck. After Lydia had cleaned his lip she broke contact to clean herself up. Sheriff Stilinski reappeared his eyes were red rimmed though he appeared a bit better off than he had.

"Stiles." He said gruffly as made his way to the bed and took the hand that Lydia had just left.

"I'm fine dad it's over." Stiles said.

His father gave him a small smile as he looked him over and took in his son's appearance; he gave him a pat on the cheek before asking Melissa for a moment outside. Lydia returned to his side and took a warm washcloth to his face before drying him off. She sighed a little sounding exhausted. He tugged her hand and pulled her down on the bed next to him. She laid her head back carefully and he wrapped his arm around her tightly. He kissed the crown of her head and whispered to her his voice thick with emotion, "Thank you."

She brought her hand over his heart and rested it there. "I'm only returning the favor. How many times have you taken care of me?" She sounded sad and he squeezed her tighter. "I should let you rest before they take you off again."

He held her tightly to him. "Please just stay here with me, like this, maybe it will help me sleep." She relaxed back into him and the last thought Stiles had before he drifted off to sleep was that Lydia was sleeping on him… it gave him a small smile of contentment, if he hadn't of been in so much pain he'd of thought he was dreaming.