After about an hour of waiting, Scott heard his mother's unusually quick heartbeat approaching the doors to the waiting room. Suddenly terrified, he told the others she was coming and they all jumped up to meet her.

Scott could hear his heart beating in his ears and his palms were slick with sweat, but his fears were erased when his mother came into view grinning from ear to ear. She ran to him and scooped him into her arms.

"He's a miracle!" Melissa cried, kissing Scott's cheeks before embracing the Sheriff. "There should have been no brain activity. He was without oxygen for far too long for him to still be in there, but he is!" Scott smiled at that. Truly smiled. He always knew Stiles was special.

The whole pack was talking excitedly to each other. "Is he awake?" Lydia asked.

Melissa shook her head. "His body has been through a lot. There is no way of knowing when he will wake up. His breathing is still not strong enough to come off the ventilator."

"But he will wake up, right?" Malia questioned.

"We have strong reasons to believe that he will."

"So you may very well have just given everyone false hope." Derek had arrived back at the hospital during the commotion.

Melissa smile slipped only slightly. "Look, this is the best news we've gotten since Stiles came in. There is a lot still unknown about his condition but for now I believe that we have reason to celebrate. His brain has activity! That never should have happened!" She wasn't about to let the sourwolf ruin her moment of happiness. She deserved it after the last few days.

"Can we see him?" Scott couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice, regardless of the revelation that he still might not wake up.

"Of course, Stiles could use his friends right now."

The pack all crowded into the small room and everyone reacted differently when they saw Stiles. Scott and the Sheriff went in first because they already knew what to expect and stood guard next to the bed. Lydia came in next. Scott could sense her shock and sadness at seeing Stiles like that, but she always felt like she had to be the strong one in the pack, so she set her mouth in a straight line and refused to show those emotions. Malia found herself unable to look at the broken body of the boy that she had grown to love, so she ended up sitting in a chair at the back of the room.

Derek and Kira came in last. Kira immediately went to comfort Scott while Derek was drawn to Stiles. He felt protective of the boy and couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for this happening to him. As a former alpha it was still his job to look after his pack, even if they were technically Scott's pack now. In his mind, pack is family, and family is forever.

Each person in the room struggled in their own way with coming to terms with what happened to Stiles and over the next week they all fell into a sort of routine. Kira's mother made her return to school after 2 days and she managed to convince Malia to go with her, as the werecoyote was having troubles of her own being around that much sickness and death. They both still came by everyday after school, though, to check on Stiles.

Lydia, Scott, and the Sheriff only went home when Melissa forced them to. She would remind them that Stiles would not want a bunch of unshowered, exhausted, and irritable people sharing his living space. It took a lot to get Scott to leave, however, because he was determined to be there when Stiles finally opened his eyes, and when Scott was determined to do something, there was no convincing him otherwise.

Derek took on the role of the protective mother. He was constantly bringing food and drinks to the room, making sure everyone had enough blankets and pillows when they slept over, and giving snappy remarks to any doctor or nurse who tried to kick the pack out of the room. He would leave often to patrol the woods and make sure Adorjan or his pack didn't come back, and he generally preferred to sleep in his own bed, but for the most part he stayed near Stiles. He wouldn't let anything else happen to him.

It had been 2 weeks since Stiles went into a coma and Derek had just left for the night. Scott had fallen asleep, Melissa was with another patient, and Stilinski was in the cafeteria getting some coffee. That created a rare moment where Lydia was all alone with Stiles.

She moved over to sit on the edge of his bed and grabbed his hand.

"Hey Stiles." She smiled at him as if he was looking at her. "Scott told me the other day that you still have feelings for me." She searched his face for any signs of recognition. "If that's true, then show me. Wake up, Stiles. If you really love me, please open your eyes. You once told me that I looked beautiful when I cried. If you wake up now, you could see it." And that was true. She couldn't help but shed tears while talking to him.

Lydia sighed. "After Allison died, I was rightfully devastated. She was my best friend. I didn't think I was going to make it through her funeral. Do you remember that? You were still in so much pain after the possession but you came to the funeral anyway. You didn't have to, and we would've all understood if you didn't, but you wanted to be there. This was back when you were blaming yourself for what happened and you could hardly look at anybody, especially not Scott or Mr. Argent. I remember you looking so lost that day, but regardless of the pain and the guilt that was eating away at you, you sat down right next to me and took my hand. That's all. You just grabbed my hand and didn't let go. It was the worst day of my life and you told me that you were so sorry and you simply held me as I cried. I never told you, but that was the moment that I knew I was going to be okay. I knew that I could survive Allison's death if you were by my side. You became my best friend that day, Stiles, and I can't lose another best friend. Nobody will be able to save me from that." Tears were silently dripping down her face and clouding her vision, so she didn't notice that Scott was awake and looking at her with sympathetic eyes.

He reached across the bed and grabbed one of her hands. Lydia jumped at the sudden contact and glanced up at Scott, wiping her eyes with her free hand.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I know you don't like talking about Allison."

Scott shook his head. "Don't be sorry. We should talk about her. I never knew how much you were hurting that day, Lydia. I was so caught up in my own grief I didn't really stop to think about other people." He looked away from Lydia in shame and his eyes fell on his best friend. "I'm really glad Stiles was there for you at least. He's always been better than me with those things. It's one of the reasons that we need him back."

Lydia nodded. She could agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

Hey guys! There is only going to be one more chapter left of this story! Thank you for those who have read, favorited, followed, or reviewed the story. I appreciate each one of you!