Almost done! One more chapter after this! Hope this doesn't disappoint! Thanks for the reviews and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chapter 15

Derek entered the hospital a little over an hour later, quickly spotting Stiles and Scott sitting in the waiting room. Scott looked up as he headed their way. Stiles glanced his way before turning back to stare in the direction of the ER.

"She's dying," Stiles declared flatly by way of greeting.

"What?" Derek hadn't wanted to believe she was that bad off. He'd almost convinced himself that she'd be waiting there demanding to be discharged when he arrived. "This is a hospital, can't they do anything for her?"

Stiles continued to stare at the ER doors without a word and Scott shook his head. "I heard the doctor talking to Rowan. They can't operate, her heart's too weak." Scott met the Alpha's gaze. "They said all they can do is keep her comfortable."

"You need to bite her," Stiles declared, pushing up from his seat and standing toe-to-toe with Derek. "You can't just let her die."

Derek leaned in closer, glaring down at the teen. "The bite isn't some magical cure-all, Stiles. It could kill her." He turned away from them and moved to the ER door.

"She's already dying," Stiles muttered, knowing the Alpha could hear.

He moved through the ER, following Becca's scent. He stopped at the door to her room. He could hear Becca and Rowan speaking over the beeping of the heart monitor.

"I don't want to die here," Becca breathed, her voice pleading. "If I only have a few days..." Her voice rose with emotion. "I just…I can't die here, Rowan." She sounded almost panicked at the thought of spending her last moments in the hospital.

"Let me make a few calls," Rowan conceded, sounding disheartened. "I can't just take you home, there are things you'll need," he added. "Rest, Sunshine, I'll wake you once the arrangements are made."

Rowan glanced down the hall as he exited the room, before turning to Derek. "Do you know how many people who have failed to do something I've asked and who are dead?" He leaned in, his eyes flashing menacing green. "You should leave – leave and never come back," he snarled, pushing roughly away from Derek and walking away.

Derek entered Becca's room, moving quietly to her bedside. He stared at the heart monitor, the electronic beep sounding in time with the blips on the screen and her weary heartbeat. He turned to Becca. Her pale face looked gaunt and he felt like he was watching the life seeping from her with every shallow breath. Her hand felt like ice as he took it and whispered her name.

"That was quick," she breathed, her eyes fluttering open. "Derek." A smile tugged at her lips. "This isn't your fault, you know."

Derek didn't reply. He just studied her, wondering how she could smile. She was dying and yet she was lying there smiling up at him and trying to reassure him that he hadn't utterly failed to keep her safe. "I – I can help you," his voice caught in his throat as she squeezed his hand. "Maybe – I just – I need you to say yes." Her brows pulled together, but he continued before she could speak. "I need to know you want this," he added, allowing his face to shift as he looked down at her.

Her heartbeat gave a little jump, but she didn't seem surprised by his reveal. She laughed softly. "I knew it," she murmured drowsily, her eyes drifting closed.

"Becca?" he whispered, trying to rouse her, needing her answer. But she didn't stir and he worried about trying anything more abrupt to wake her. He knew there wasn't much time. Even if he hadn't heard her say days, he'd have known. He could sense her fading away. What if she was too far gone? What if the bite killed her? Stiles' words echoed in his mind. She was already dying. If he didn't bite her she'd be gone in a few days. What difference did it make if he bit her and she still died?

The true question wasn't if he bit her and she still died. It was if he bit her and she lived. Would she hate him for it? Would she see it as a gift or a curse? He thought of her words that first morning, wondering if she truly believed them. Those moments when she was killing Dufour had given him pause and led him to believe she was like Kate. And like the Argents she would consider the bite a curse. But then he considered her reaction when he shifted and showed her his wolf. She'd smiled.

He knew what he had to do. He moved to the door, quietly closing it and returning to her bedside. He considered where to bite her that might go unnoticed by the hospital staff. The neck and the wrist, where he usually bit, would hardly go unnoticed. He remembered the wounds in her side from that night in the woods. It had only been a few days, he doubted they were fully healed and they may have even bandaged them again.

He carefully pulled aside the blanket draped over her and lifted the edge of her shirt. As he'd expected a bandage was secured to her side with surgical tape. He peeled it back and stared at the claw marks. He leaned in. Feeling his canines elongate and taking a deep breath, he bit into her side. Her heartbeat jumped for a moment, but she didn't stir. It left him feeling a strange mix of worry and relief.

After replacing the bandage and blankets he took her hand again, praying the bite work. That it healed her. That she wasn't too far gone. But mostly, he hoped she would see what he'd done as a gift and not a curse.

Derek snapped awake at the click of the door. Looking up he saw Stiles standing in the room. He followed the teens gaze to Becca's bed beside him. It had been two days since she'd killed Dufour. Two days since Rowan had managed to set up a hospital room in his house with only a couple of calls. Two days since he'd bitten Becca.

"Shouldn't she be awake by now?" Stiles asked, motioning to the oxygen tube in Becca's nose and the heart monitor keeping time with her still labored heartbeat. "Or be showing some kind of improvement?"

"I don't know." Derek couldn't meet the youth's gaze, couldn't see the same accusations he saw in Rowan's eyes every time he looked at him. He knew they both blamed him for Becca's state. That they both felt he should have done it sooner. The truth was, he'd never heard of anyone being saved from death by a wolf bite. Most wolves chose strong humans to turn for their packs, humans that could be enhanced by the bite. "I've never turned anyone that close to death – I don't know how long it'll take for her to heal or if…" his voice trailed off leaving the worry that it wasn't working unvoiced.

A gentle sigh caught Derek's attention first. With his eyes still closed listened for Becca's heartbeat. A frown tugged at his brow. It was gone. He could hear two heartbeats other than his own in the room. One he knew was Rowan's, thrumming from across the room. But the other came from next to him where Becca should be. Yet this heartbeat strong and steady, it couldn't be hers.

"And where do you think you're going?" He heard Rowan chastise, the relief clear in his voice.

"The bathroom," Becca replied simply and Derek watched through veiled lashes as Rowan scooped her out of bed. ""I'm pretty sure I can make it there on my own," Becca affirmed, but Rowan didn't put her down.

"Do you remember the time you had the flu?" He asked, smiling down at the redhead. "Your feet never touched the ground for three days."

"Rowan, I'm not sick." Becca laughed soft and breathy, sounding healthier than Derek had ever heard her. "Really, I feel fine."

"All the same, sunshine, your feet are not touching the ground 'til morning," Rowan declared, carrying her out the door.

Derek smiled, feeling himself sink deeper into the chair where he slept. His body relaxed for the first time in days, relief washing over him at the realization that the bite had worked.