Everybody worries about Stiles. Derek can't really do anything. He feels left out and tries to cope. Scott worries, but Allison distracts him.
Derek was pushed down on sort of a jump seat in the back of the ambulance as the paramedics focused on Stiles. He could see that they had already put a neck brace on him, and he suspected that it was done before the guy was even on the gurney. Derek didn't know. He'd been too scared and upset to pay any attention to what these guys were doing when they came.
He was more focused now. Knowing that Stiles was under professional care helped a lot on his state of mind. The two guys in there didn't exchange many words. They obviously knew exactly what to do and although everything seemed rushed and stressful, they never lost their cool.
Stiles received an oxygen mask, covering most of his face, and then a venous catheter was attached to his hand. The tears from the claws weren't bleeding so much anymore, but they'd covered them up with some gauze.
It felt like a lifetime waiting for the ambulance to reach the hospital, but Derek knew that it was only minutes ago that they left the dirt road leading to the shack. One of the guys stepped back. "Okay we're good. He's stable." He came over and squatted down next to Derek. "I need some info. What happened?"
Derek didn't know what to say. He tried to come up with a plausible explanation when the guy cocked his head and gave him a smile. "I understand that you're worried, but we need to ask." He threw a quick peek at Stiles. "It looks like an animal attack, but some of the injuries don't fit."
A bump in the road startled Derek a bit, and he clenched to the seat. "Yeah, it was, but, but he fell. I don't know. He shouldn't have been there. I tried to..." There was no way he was going to be able to explain this. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
The EMT patted Derek's shoulder. "Okay, it's okay. What's his name?" If the first question threw him off, this one was even more disturbing. "Uh, Stiles? Stilinski?" Embarrassed by the fact that he didn't even know Stiles' first name, Derek sighed in relief when the ambulance slowed down and came to a halt. "Stilinski? Sheriff Stilinski's son?" The EMT was obviously a little thrown back from the discovery. "Did anyone alert him?"
As the back doors of the ambulance opened, Derek confirmed that Stiles' dad was informed. He hoped that Scott had done what he was told, but had to assume at the moment.
A few seconds later they were on their way through the doors of the emergency entrance of the hospital. The two guys from the ambulance shouted out information to the attending physician and the nurses. Derek held on to the gurney and had to run to keep up with their pace.
Nobody seemed to pay attention to him, but as they continued on through another door, one of the nurses grabbed his shoulder. "You have to wait here. What's your name?" Derek stopped short and watched as the doors closed in front of him. "Uh, I, I'm Derek Hale. What are they going to do? Where are they taking him?"
The nurse – it was probably a nurse – led him towards a small couch. "Don't worry. He's in good hands. Are you related?" She forced Derek down on the seat and looked at him curiously. He sighed heavily. "No, no we're not related. I'm, I, he's my friend."
The nurse patted his shoulder and was obviously about to say something when the sound of a familiar voice reached his ear. "I'll take it from here. I know him." Melissa McCall sat down on the seat next to him. She sounded distressed, but kept her cool. The other nurse just nodded and walked away.
"Tell me! Did you do this?" Worry and concern was painted on her face. Derek shook his head. "No, but I'm partially responsible. I should have... He shouldn't have been there. I should have made sure he stayed away."
Derek covered his face with his hands and tried to avoid crying. Melissa shook him forcefully. "I was there when they took him to the OR. He was attacked by a werewolf, right?" She bent over a bit as to try to catch Derek's eyes. "If you didn't, then who?" She asked with a strict voice. Derek couldn't respond. He wasn't sure if he could speak without his voice cracking.
Suddenly she got up and Derek lifted his head slightly to see Scott and Allison coming through the door. Allison had managed to clean up somewhat. A few cuts were still visible on her face, but there were no blood and no smeared out eye makeup. The tears in her shirt were covered up by Scott's jacket. She looked almost presentable.
As soon as he saw his mom, Scott's eyes widened for a second, but then he grabbed her and pulled her over to a corner. Derek could hear him give her a brief recap of what had happened, and her facial expression changed several times as she listened.
Allison slumped down next to Derek and grabbed his hand. "How is he doing? Stiles? Is he...?" Derek was trying to pay attention to the conversation between Scott and his mom but when Allison nudged him, he turned to her. "He's in the OR, I don't know."
Seconds later, it seemed like everything quieted down. Sheriff Stilinski was standing in the middle of the room and everyone stared at him. Hurried footsteps from somewhere down the hall and a faint hum from the air-conditioning was the only sounds that broke the silence.
The first one to react was nurse McCall. She ran over to the man and gave him a hug. "Your son is in the OR. I'll find out how he's doing. Sit. Please." She grabbed his elbow and led him to a chair. The sheriff let her do it. He looked scared.
Allison turned to Derek briefly. "Let me do the talking. We came up with a story," she whispered as she got up from her seat. She walked over to Mr Stilinski and Derek could see that his face lit up for a moment when he recognized her. "They found you? Good." He gave her a ghost of a smile as she squatted next to him.
-o-o-o-o-
The light was too sharp. The sounds were too loud. Stiles didn't know where he was. He wanted to ask, but something was restricting his throat. He was on his back and he couldn't move. He could hear voices, but the words were imperceptible for him. An excruciating pain in his shoulder bothered him, but he was unable to express it.
"He's awake!" A soft voice near his ear made him want to turn, but he was somehow stuck. Someone grabbed his hand and a blurred image of an unfamiliar face appeared. "We're gonna fix you up, hang in there, boy." Shortly after the pain was gone and then the lights went out.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
He wondered if he was dying. He'd heard people say that when you were on the threshold of death, your life would flash before your eyes. A scene from when he and Scott played in the sandbox outside his house appeared. Then, it was replaced with an image of his mom's face when she was leaning over to kiss him goodnight.
Happy childhood memories were soon replaced by scary pictures of bloodied corpses. He tried to will them away but in his mind, they transformed into werewolves charging towards him. He wanted to scream but no sound came out. Suddenly, one of the wolves turned into Derek and as he mouthed his name he could feel arms around him. A sharp light hit his eyes and Stiles was pretty sure that this was it. He was taking his last breath.
Surprised by the fact that he could feel the throbbing pain in his shoulder even in this moment, he suddenly recognized his dad's voice. "Thank God. He's waking up."
Utterly confused, he tried to focus on the face in front of him, but then he had to close his eyes. The bright light gave him a headache and it felt like he had the worst hangover ever invented. "He's probably in pain, relax, he'll be fine." Stiles wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized the voice of Scott's mom.
Shortly after he fell into a dreamless sleep.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Derek was pacing back and forth outside the hospital. He wasn't allowed to visit Stiles. After Melissa had confirmed that Stiles had made it through surgery, sheriff Stilinski was the only one who could go and see him.
Scott and Allison was still inside waiting for news. They'd cooked together a story about Allison being attacked by wolves, and that Stiles had tried to rescue her by dragging her into the abandoned building. Inside, he had been injured by one of the wolves and trided to escape through the window when he fell down. The story was far from waterproof, but Mrs McCall had supported it and helped them perfect it.
The police had organized a search party to hunt down the pack, and Chris – being a skilled hunter – was helping them track it. Derek was pretty sure that Allison's dad would lead the posse astray. The two surviving werewolves were probably long gone and wouldn't be back for a while.
Allison had her injuries tended to, and except for one cut that required a couple of stitches, they weren't so bad.
For a moment Derek wished that he could just walk away from it all. Not that he wanted to, but he felt that he was the odd one out. That Scott was there was understandable, but how could Derek explain his own involvement? According to the story that Scott and Allison had cooked together, Derek had just been there at the right time to help get Stiles to the hospital.
Thinking about it, that part of the story was the honest truth. Derek hadn't been able to do anything to prevent Stiles from being injured. He'd been incapable of defending him. He really had just been a bystander to the whole thing.
-o-o-o-o-
Scott saw his mom come towards them, carrying a clipboard. She sat down and smiled tentatively. "He will survive, but he's in bad shape." She shook her head. "I'm not sure if I want to know, but..." She looked at Scott. "Am I going to regret supporting your story? Is this something that will come back to haunt me?" She leaned back in her seat little and clenched the clipboard to her chest.
"Dr. Johnson didn't believe me. Or more correct, he was not convinced, but he didn't question it any further." There was a resignation in her voice. "I want the whole truth."
Scott nodded slowly. "I'm not sure that you'll appreciate the truth, but if you insist, I'll tell you at home." He grabbed her hands. "But how's Stiles? Is he awake?"
For Scott, it looked like his mom was happy to go back to the role as a nurse. She cleared her throat and sat up straight. "He was awake for a brief moment, but he's heavily medicated." She looked at the clipboard and sighed. "Dislocated shoulder, fractured ribs. A serious concussion. A collapsed lung. And that's just from what you explained as a fall." She looked up and shifted her gaze from Scott to Allison and back. "He also has multiple cuts and scars around his neck. Some really deep. It's just pure luck that whoever did this didn't hit a major artery. He could have bled out."
She got up and wiped a tear from her eye. "He'd also sprained his ankle and there are some superficial scratches here and there." With a heavy sigh she took a few steps back. "I have to go back. I'll be home in a couple of hours. Be there." It was her last words before she turned and walked away not giving Scott a chance to ask anymore.
Allison eased her hand in between Scott's. He squeezed it gently. He wasn't sure if her action was due to the worries or if it was her way of telling him that the two of them weren't over. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I missed you." she said as her other hand crawled around his waist.
Scott squeezed her hand again. "I missed you too." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the fingertips. At the moment he couldn't remember why they broke up in the first place. "I love you. I've been miserable without you."
He felt her lips on his cheek and suddenly they clung together. Embarrassed by the fact that he got instantly aroused, Scott pulled back a little. Through the glass doors, he could see Derek pacing on the outside. He cupped Allison's cheeks and gave her a quick kiss. "We have to inform Derek. He's waiting outside."
Allison tried to pull him back into the embrace. "Sure, but why the rush. He can wait another couple of minutes." She gave him a wink. Scott sighed. He didn't know if he should tell her that Stiles and Derek had a thing, that they were together sort of. "Let's get out of here anyway." He kissed her again. "We can't see Stiles yet. Let's go to my place and wait until his well enough to receive visitors."
Allison just nodded in response, and the blush on her face told him that they were definitely on the same page. He grabbed her hand and together they walked out of there.
Derek stopped pacing when they approached him. He looked like shit. Scott wasn't sure, but it seemed like the Alpha had been crying. Allison looked at him before she turned her gaze to Scott. "What's the matter with him. Why is he..." She didn't finish the sentence. Derek stared at the both of them. "Is he? How is he?"
Scott repeated the information that his mom just gave them, and watched as Derek's face softened. A little smile tugged his lip. "I'm probably not allowed in there. Will you keep me informed about his progress?" He looked down for a second before he met Scott's eyes again. "I couldn't help him, I told him not to come." For a second it looked like he was about to cry, but he collected himself quickly and with a shrug he looked at the hospital doors before he started to walk away.
Scott let go of Allison's hand and followed him. "I'll call you. I'm sure you can visit eventually. I'll call you." He gave Derek a pat on his back. "It wasn't your fault. We tried to keep him away too, but he just didn't listen."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
They had to walk to Scott's house and for a long time Allison was suspiciously quiet. After ten minutes, she suddenly stopped and turned to Scott. "What's up with Derek? Why does he think that he's to blame?" She gave him a scrutinizing stare. "What did he do?"
Scott shrugged and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "He did nothing. He did his best to keep Stiles out of it, but he didn't count on Stiles' determination." With a sigh, Scott decided to fill Allison in on the disturbing truth of it all. "The two of them are together, sort of. I don't know how serious it is, but Stiles claims he's in love."
In any other situation the expression on Allison's face would have been hilarious, but Scott had no urge to laugh. "I know. It's, it's... weird. I don't know." He swallowed hard and tried to find words. "I thought it was one-sided, but now... I think Derek is more invested than I gave him credit for."
He grabbed Allison's hand and started to walk on. He had to pull a little to make her follow, and she willingly did. "But how? They are like... together? Like boyfriends?" She almost had to run to keep up with Scott's pace. "Slow down. This is... How can this be?"
Scott didn't want to talk about it. He himself was unable to wrap his mind around this and didn't know how to explain. "I really don't know much. Also, it's a secret. You can't tell anyone." Allison nodded. "Okay, I understand that, but how did they... I mean, how did they get together in the first place?"
Stiles and Derek hadn't revealed how it all started, so Scott couldn't answer Allison's question. "You'd have to ask them, I don't know. It's a puzzle." They had now reached Scott's house, and he let go of Allison's hand to pull out the key. "This is new to me too, and I intend to find out, but for now, can we just... just, forget about them?"
They did. For a whole hour they only focused on each other. They barely managed to get dressed again before they heard the sound of Melissa's voice from downstairs. "You home? Scott? I got news."