TITLE: In The Blink Of An Eye

By: Ellie!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Wolf or it's characters. With the way I update stories...I think it's wrong to even fantasize about it.


CHAPTER:3

Sheriff Stilinski was tired. He was tired of the uncertainty he felt in his heart every time Stiles left for school. He was the cop, it was suppose to be the other way around. He was frustrated too, thanks to the supernatural crap that had infiltrated every aspect of his son's life. But above all, he was scared. Terrified actually, terrified of losing his only family.

Stiles got involved in practically everything that goes bump in the night, so yeah, despite being a cop, the Sheriff was certain- he wasn't paranoid. This couldn't be paranoia, not when supernatural, psychotic, murderous, monsters were lingering around his human son.

Stiles did it for his friends, this is what the Sheriff told himself from time to time whenever his son came back home sore and beaten, sometimes so exhausted and sleep-deprived that he would simply snooze off on the sofa with his shoes still on.

But such instances, he had to agree, also made his heart bloom with pride. He was proud of his son- the lanky, frail boy who ran along with were-wolves, ignorant to the dangers that lurked around him just because he was human. The teenager who risked his life just to save his friends. Friends who happened to have supernatural strength, speed and not to mention, healing powers. Also they never got tired. Not really.

The sheriff turned the page of the case file he was boring a hole through just by staring and sighed. He didn't like to think so much, not when his thoughts always tended to take a pessimistic turn, reminding him of the tragic loss of his wife and making him wish- beg- to whoever listening for his son to not share the same fate. He couldn't 'not' worry, knowing that his son never complained about the bizarre stuff that happened in his life. Sometimes he wondered where Stiles got all the courage from; the courage to save the world and everything.

"Sheriff, your phone's ringing."

One of the officers pointed out, interrupting his thoughts. He jumped up in surprise and a frown appeared on his forehead for just a second. Damn! Stiles was going to make more of his grey hairs sprout at this rate. Answering the call with a tired sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sheriff Stilinski." He stated firmly.

He heard a sniffle from the other side of the line and his chest tightened. He pulled back the phone and glanced at the screen to know who he was talking to. "Melissa?" He asked once he had verified, not liking the way his voice wavered with escalating and 'unnecessary' panic. At least that's what he thought it was; unnecessary.

There was a long pause before another sniffle made its way to his head. Melissa sounded like she was on the verge of tears, failing miserably to hold it in together and, much to Stilinski's horror, he couldn't think of a time that had happened before. Melissa was always a strong woman, except when Scott had tumbled down the stairs a couple of years back, the time Mr. McCall had left them; that was the first time he had ever seen her waver.

He took another long breath and prepared himself for the worst.

What he heard next though, was something he could never really prepare for.

"Sheriff...sheriff, Stiles has been in an accident." Melissa finished calmly. Her voice cracked as she mumbled. "...He was brought here a few hours ago. He's still in surgery, I don't know how he's doing...but I think you should get here. I mean...He'll want to see you when he wakes up."

Stilinski knew the last bit was added to calm him down, it was clear from the way Melissa spoke, quick and uncertain.

He inhaled shakily, running a hand through his hair. It was as if he was glued to the chair, paralyzed by shock and...No...he had to pull himself together. He had to do it.

With a quick nod, he shuffled around in his seat before bolting upright and pocketing his car keys. "Okay...Okay..I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Sheriff, be careful." The firmness had returned in Melissa's tone and he could almost feel her glaring at him.

He didn't reply and rushed out of his office, all the while silently praying for his son to be alright.


Derek hated waiting. He wasn't really used to it. And now, much to his discomfort, panic was settling in the pit of his stomach, increasing as more and more restless seconds passed by with no news on Stiles. And if that wasn't enough, he even found himself missing the boy- his snarky comments and clumsiness managing to tug his lips into a small, almost unnoticeable smile- the kind that appeared only momentarily before being quickly replaced by a storm of negative, negative thoughts.

He shook his head and glanced at Scott, his unreadable expression quickly dissolving into a concerned frown as he stared intently at the boy sitting in front of him. Scott's blank eyes were glued to the wall, one of his hands cradling his elbow.

Derek's glance shifted to Scott's shirt torn at the shoulder, just above where his fingers were, and he noticed the freckles of dark- black- blood there. Was there a wound he had failed to notice? Was Scott still not fully healed? Questions flooded his mind and he quickly straightened, walking towards the teen.

"Hey...let me see that." His hands lingered in front of Scott's shoulder, brows furrowed in concentration. As suspected, there was a long, nasty looking gash peeking from beneath the wolf's shirt. He stretched the cloth so he could see the wound clearly, peering over his own shoulder as a precautionary measure. He had to make sure nobody was watching, the sight of black blood wasn't exactly normal. Pulling his attention back to Scott, he leaned in closer to get a good look. Not too deep, he noted with a loud sigh of relief.

Scott blankly looked at the wound then back into Derek's eyes, forcing a tight nod, "I'm okay Derek." He assured- the first thing he had said after nearly 2 hours of waiting. A lie, obviously. The wound wouldn't be leaking black blood if there was even an ounce of truth in his words. Apparently, Derek had made the same observations.

"Scott, it's Stiles. He'll...he'll get through it. Like he always does." The words just slipped out of his mouth. With a grim nod, he awkwardly shuffled back to where he was standing before, trying to ignore the look Scott was giving him- the look that showed the respect and trust the younger boy had in him. The look he'd just prefer to stay oblivious to. He was Derek Hale, wasn't he?

"Scott!" A third voice interrupted the moment and, as if on instinct, Scott rose on his feet, nearly stumbling towards the source of the sound.

"Sheriff!" He yelled. "I'm so sorry. I know I should have done something." His hands flailed restlessly in front of him. "I tried, the truck just came in front of the jeep and I tried, I tried to warn Stiles but it was..."

The sheriff placed a quick and comforting hand on Scott's neck, patting gently. "I know. I know." He interrupted, nodding to somehow make the kid feel a little less miserable, though he knew nothing was going to make Scott feel any better, other than the sight of his best friend of course.

The sheriff shared a quick nod with Derek and went to stand against the wall, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Scott looked at the two older men before sinking back into his own chair, too distraught to strike a conversation.


It was only after two more nerve-wracking hours- of Scott drowning in guilt, the Sheriff worrying himself to sleep and Derek...just pondering over how a certain hyper-active teenager and his best friend had managed to crumble down the wall he had formed around his heart after countless years of work to stop feeling emotions- a tired doctor, closely followed by Melissa, walked towards the trio.

Scott jumped up the chair and pleadingly stared at his mother to make it quick before he lost his cool. The sheriff who was now wide awake, quickly followed suit and placed a hand on the younger wolf's shoulder.

"How is my son?" He asked, eyes darting nervously between the doctor and Melissa.

Scott frowned beside him, noticing how fast the man's heartbeat was, contrary to how calm he actually sounded. Derek was on his other side and he seemed to be thinking about the same thing, glancing over his shoulder to look at the Sheriff 'almost' concernedly.

Doctor Chris shared a quick glance with the nurse. "Well...he made it through the surgery." He flashed a comforting smile when the three men let out collective sighs of relief, Scott almost sinking to the ground while running a shaky hand through his hair. "He's on pretty heavy medication so it's going to be a while before he wakes up." He paused, letting the men take their time to process the information. "Stiles, if I am pronouncing his name right..." The man added with a smile, "...is a pretty tough kid. You'll just have to be patient and..." He looked at Scott, "...relax, okay?" He emphasized, nodding once at Melissa before disappearing from sight.

Melissa looked back at the Sheriff and pulled him into a gentle hug, doing the same to her son but keeping the hold for a little longer, running smooth circles on his back. She planted a quick kiss on Scott's cheek and pulled away, her hands still on his forearms, squeezing gently, "You okay?" She asked, nodding encouragingly when Scott gave no reaction.

"Yeah...yeah" He blinked his eyes and snapped back into reality. "Mom, can I see him?" He asked desperately, his expression dissolving into one of disappointment when he realized a second later that the sheriff would probably be the first one to visit. But he just needed to see Stiles. Make sure he's alive and breathing. Not that he didn't trust the professionals with it.

Melissa hesitated, then shook her head sadly, "No...not now, honey. You're going to have to wait."

Scott sighed loudly and rubbed at his forehead with his palm, the adrenaline finally seeping out of his veins. His mother, sensing the distress and exhaustion, took hold of his upper arm and looked at Derek as she spoke, "C'mon, let's go."

"Where are we going?" The older wolf questioned, meeting the Sheriff's confused gaze.

"We're going to get some coffee first. Then you're all going back to your houses to rest." The trio looked like they were about to protest but the woman gave them no other alternative, cutting them off quickly, "You'll be no good to Stiles half-dead." She emphasized, tightening her grip around Scott's arm and pulling him along with her.


He was falling...floating, really. His memories and thoughts were all jumbled up in his head, tugging at him from too many different directions. The urge to open his eye-lids and look around to know whether he was still on the verge of death was strong, but the desire to float in nothingness and distract himself from the flaring pain on his side was simply overpowering. He could still feel his toes and fingers tingling with the after-shock and to make matters worse, the memory of the accident kept replaying itself in his head, each time more enhanced than the one before.

A little more of the panic crept in on him. The clarity with which his mind fabricated those haunting images was almost painful.

Still struggling with his options to pry his eyes open or hope for the best, he let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down as his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest, pounding more mercilessly as time passed by. Scott! Where the hell was Scott?

Panic was scattered across his pale face as he scrunched his eyes tighter. In the end anyways, curiosity and the stabbing concern for Scott forced him to tiredly peel his eyes open. His head lolled from one side to another on the pillow as he continuously blinked to bring back the world into focus.

The first thing he recognized was the unmistakable smell. Then the sight of white walls and ceiling made him more aware of his surroundings. He was at a hospital, he noted with a shaky sigh of relief. A little of the fear seeped out of him; he was alive.

He was glad at least that was out of the way. Now, he could worry about Scott trying to commit suicide by leaching away too much human pain.

An unintentional moan- of pain or frustration, he really wasn't sure- escaped his lips and his face scrunched up, the light stabbing him in the eyes. He wanted to drift back into unconsciousness- where it was more peaceful, calm...

"Stiles?" A soft, familiar voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he groaned, hand slowing reaching out to touch his head. His fingers brushed his forehead when he let out a pained wince, the movement having pulled at his wound.

"Hey, try not to move." A comforting hand was placed on top of his', slowly and carefully guiding it back to rest on top of his chest.

He pried his eyes open but squinted when the light shone right into his pupils, too bright and almost blinding. He groaned again, trying to get his point across.

"Just give me a second." Gentle fingers caressed his forehead and he relished into the touch, breathing deeply. He heard a familiar click and breathed a sigh. "Try and open your eyes now."

It took a lot of his willpower to comply but he finally managed. His vision stayed blurry for a while before slowly merging to form actual images and relief washed over him when he glanced at the person hovering worriedly over him. "Melis..."

"Hey kiddo!" The nurse beamed, a wide genuine smile spread across her face. Her hand unconsciously straightened his messy hair strands, making sure to avoid the small bump on his head. "How are you feeling?" She whispered soothingly. A frown appeared on Stiles' forehead and he grunted , sarcasm lining his tone. "Stupid question, huh?!" She broke out into a half-hearted laugh, tears glistening in her eyes.

Stiles smiled before it quickly dissolved into deeper frown, "Sco..?" He asked- at least he tried to. His senses were still not co-operating with him, exhaustion slowly creeping in. Really, he had barely spoken.

Melissa's smile softened and she shook her head, tentatively gripping Stiles' hand in her own, "Scott's fine." She emphasized, wanting to add that it was Stiles on the hospital bed and not the other way around. "He'll be here to see you tomorrow morning. For sure. It'll be the first thing he'll do."

"Is my da..." Stiles had not even realized that his eyes were beginning to shut, Melissa's soft voice all but lulling him to sleep. He came to with a start and jerked his head, already struggling to stay awake. "My dad, is he..." His voice slurred, eyes closing again.

The nurse seemed to have noticed his war against unconsciousness and bend down to run her fingers through his hair, whispering into his ear, "Stiles, honey everyone's okay. Just go to sleep. You need to rest."

Stiles didn't need to be told twice and he groggily nodded, head slumping deeper into the pillow with a content sigh. The last thing he felt was a sheet being tucked under his chin, after that he simply welcomed the comforting cloud of darkness.


Well, what do you think? Was it worth the wait? Obviously not. Like what the hell? The two didn't even meet each other. I know that's what you're thinking. Sorry :/ It will happen in the next chapter...surely! I'm glad you're still reading this story though! Thank you for not leaving it just yet!

-Ellie!