Hey guys! Here's another chapter. I'm grateful for the reviews, favoriting, and following. Thank you!

Now enjoy.

Chapter 18

Melanie didn't wake them yet. She ran her fingers through her hair and watched them with surprise. She figured Derek and Cora would be here, but she didn't expect this. Isaac sat in a chair next to her bed, his head lying on her bedside. He rested on his arms; the most peaceful look on his face. She almost ran her fingers through his curls, but stopped herself. The urge was nail biting, but she didn't have the right so she just grabbed a handful of the blanket at her side.

Stiles sat on the ground with his back against the wall. Her messenger bag sat beside him. His head laid on Danny, who sat on his other side. Danny's head leaned back against the wall. Lydia was across the room in a chair. Her head was on Allison's shoulder. Allison looked so proper as she slept, leaning back with her head dropped forward. Her hands sat clasped together in her lap.

"Usually, this is every girl's dream," she mumbled. Not seeing Derek among the several faces that surrounded her, her heart dropped. He was probably pissed off that she would try such a stunt.

She propped herself up on her elbows, relieving the pressure on her back, and pulled herself up so that she sat up fully. She wrinkled her nose from itchiness and pulled the oxygen tube from her nostrils. Isaac opened his eyes, inhaling deep.

"You're awake," he breathed, his eyes wide like a child's.

Melanie rubbed her eyes, yawning. The IV tube coming from her arm swung as she did.

Stiles shot forward with extreme vigilance. His head swooped around the room, stopping at Melanie. He jumped up and was at her bedside with her messenger bag in the blink of an eye, standing across from Isaac. He blinked, his head bobbing with each one as if he had something stuck in his eyes. He wanted to hug her and punch her. Could that be done at the same time? That would be something he could test out later. If he hit her now, Isaac would deck him hard enough that it would leave a scar. Danny outstretched his arms and yawned.

Allison and Lydia jumped awake from the obnoxious sound he made while doing so. Lydia looked around the room with doe eyes.

"How long have I been out?" Melanie asked as she reached for her arm.

Isaac stopped her from pulling her IV tube from her arm. The touch sent an electrified jolt through her. She huffed, thinking nothing of it. It was uncomfortable being hooked up to all of that machinery. Hospitals were creepy and ridiculously cold. The shorter her stay the better. There were dead people here. A whole room full below them. That thought always made her shiver with the creeps.

"You've been in a coma for nearly a week," he replied.

"Don't worry, I made sure to brush your hair so it didn't get that real dulled look," Lydia piped. "I don't think it helped much though."

Melanie wanted to say something back, but she just laughed silently. That's why my hair was so soft, she thought. Knowing that Lydia had actually done anything was funny. At least Melanie's hair was taken care of.

"How do you feel?" Stiles asked.

Melanie's eyes squinted. She wasn't sure. Her stomach growled, answering the question. Never mind.

"Hungry. I could really go for a bacon burger that's been completely doused in bacon grease." She smacked her lips together, swallowing the drool back and smiled at him expectantly.

"Fine," he sighed, hanging his head. He didn't want go right after her waking up. "But no dying."

He punched her in the arm. Her eyes bulged from her head, surprised by the attack. She gaped at him, holding her arm. It throbbed for a short minute.

Hitting her was the only thing Stiles could get close enough to do. If stupid Isaac wasn't in the way, he would've hugged her too. The disturbed look of shock on her face left him content.

"Stiles!" Allison and Danny yelled in unison.

"You know why," Stiles said to Melanie, trying to use a dark, ominous tone, but falling short. He mustered a serious look that made her giggle. There's only one person he could've gotten that from. Derek.

"I'm going to go get the nurse," Danny said, avoiding looking at her.

Melanie opened her mouth to stop him, but he rushed out too quickly. There was so much she had to explain. She bit her lower lip, wishing he hadn't found out all of the weird supernatural stuff the way he did. He was the one person who wasn't judgy when she first came here. She didn't want to lose him. She needed him. From deep within, she let out a long breath.

"Has anyone tried talking to him?" she asked.

"He didn't want to talk to us. He yelled a lot at Scott, Stiles and Isaac, but he wouldn't listen to them. He wanted to wait and talk to you," Allison said.

She hadn't gotten up from her seat like the others. She just shifted uncomfortably. However, she did seem pleasantly happy that she'd awoken from the brightness of her eyes.

"We'll go get the sheriff. He's been at the station working overtime," Allison said.

Both girls left the room quickly. Allison gave a fleeting glance with hopelessness. Melanie's face pinched together, confused. She was in such a hurry to get out of here. Melanie looked over at Isaac, wondering what she was missing out of this disturbance from Allison.

"Is she okay?"

"We've all been worried about you. We thought you were dead," Isaac said.

"I thought I was dead. Remind me to never go jumping off cliffs again. I am never saving people again," she said, waving her hands like an umpire striking out a baseball player.

"Good, be selfish. The world needs more selfish people," Isaac said with a chuckle. He met her gaze as he said it.

He touched her hand, his fingers lightly grasping it. Her pulse jumped at the touch though she appeared perfectly alright and unfazed. Melanie stared down at it. It was surreal to touch him. His fingers were longer than her small, slender ones and his palm covered the top of her hand easily. The hold wasn't friendly. It was more than that. It was gentle with a light squeeze, caring.

"You scared the living hell out of us…out of me," he said low, fighting the tremble in his voice.

There it was. Everything Melanie thought she was imagining, the spark, the looks, gestures, thoughts, they were all real. It wasn't all him though. A warm, chilling sensation crawled up her arm and down to her toes at the small squeeze he gave her hand. At least I'm not paralyzed, she thought.

"You can't get rid of your roommate that easily and there's no way you're getting my TV," she said.

She tried to ignore that look and how it lingered, trying to catch her eye. His looks were getting bolder, and so were her feelings towards him. What were those feelings anyway? She wasn't sure, except that he had her heading spinning half the time, smiling inwardly other times and making her feel as if butterflies were stabbing her in the stomach all the time. It sucked. He made her feel these things and she struggled to keep them from going further, but now, looking at him from right here, she wanted to think those thoughts, let them roam free.

He wasn't like Seth. In the back of her heart, she could feel it. He couldn't hurt her and he wouldn't. She was so sure.

Melanie squeezed his hand, tempted to pull him into the bed and lay there with him. More than anything, she wanted to kiss him. She'd wanted that since day one. But, she kept telling herself that what she felt didn't mean anything. That it was just her need to get laid. She could go see Drake for that. Maybe she would sometime. He was such a good guy.

"Yeah, because that's exactly what I want," Isaac retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let me help." His voice was soft with the request, his eyes drawn to the multiple areas of injury.

Her eyebrows furrowed, confused by the request. The pain scoured over the flesh of her back lessened as did the slight throb in the corner of her head. This was much better than the morphine drip. She looked away from him and at the cheap art hanging on the walls. The pastel painting was on the wall of every room probably. The connection Isaac was making by taking her pain away wasn't just a friendly gesture. She wasn't an idiot to think otherwise. So, she continued to look around the room and not at him. Succumbing to her thoughts didn't mean she'd act on them. And, though it would've been the right thing to do, she didn't pull her hand from his right away.

"She's awake," Melissa said happily, walking into the room.

Melanie snatched her hand out of Isaac's grasp. Melissa looked up from her clipboard in her usual blue and white nursing scrubs and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" she asked coming up on Melanie's other side. She took her stethoscope from around her neck and pressed it to the teen's chest. Melanie hunched forward, grunting quietly. Isaac looked away as she did.

"Like death," Melanie answered blandly. "Can I leave?"

"I don't think so. We need to take another look at your back. You'll be here for another night for observation just to be safe," Melissa said.

Melanie stared at her flatly as if no words made it to her brain. She straightened her back, stretching the stiff yet tender muscles, biting back a groan while doing so. Though agonizing pain shot up and down her spine, it also felt relieving. She hunched back over again and let out and a long breath.

"I can either sneak out of the hospital or you can just sign me out. I'd really like to get some sleep in my own bed," Melanie said.

Melissa sighed. Melanie ignored the look of disagreement, determined to get out of here. The place reeked of disease and death.

"You're just like them. Don't listen to anybody." Melissa motioned to Isaac. "You find a way not to make no an acceptable answer. Give me a few minutes."

Melissa took out the IV tubes in her arms and the heart rate monitor attached to her finger.

"Go ahead and get dressed. I'll meet you at the front counter, and we'll take care of a few things."

Melanie nodded. Melissa exited and Stiles came in.

"Out," she ordered. He opened his mouth to protest. "Go, both of you. I need to get dressed."

"But I got—" Stiles tried.

"Go," she drawled, rolling her eyes. Leaving this place took first place and put food in second place instantly. She flung back the covers and gasped as another stinging sensation shot up her back. Isaac stopped halfway out the door, looking back at her with a sudden surge of concern.

Her legs were polka dotted in bruises of various colors and sizes. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and winced as she set her feet on the floor. It was cold against the pads of her feet. There were dull aches everywhere, making the work Isaac had done seem pointless. Her whole body felt like one huge hangover.

Taking a step, the aches turned sharp and her knees gave out. Prepared to hit the floor, she was shocked when she didn't. Isaac caught her around the waist, and held her one arm, the muscle of it tense and hard. Her hair brushed the floor. He set her on her feet with caution and tucked her bangs behind her ear.

"Careful," he said. "We wouldn't want you to fall back into a coma."

He placed her hand on the bed then exited, closing the door behind him. Melanie caught her breath then opened her messenger bag that sat at the end of the bed. Inside there was a change of clothing and her car keys. There were no shoes though. She smirked. Stiles didn't forget the shoes. He knew better than that. She wouldn't have put them on if he did bring them. All a part of her hatred for the confining apparel.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for her to get dressed. Pulling her t-shirt over her head was the difficult part. Every movement made stinging sensation or a sharp one that caused her eyes to tear up.

Melanie heaved heavy breaths.

"Hey, everything alright?" Melissa peeked in.

Melanie stood with her back to the door, shirtless. The air tickled, making the large gashes itch. She closed her eyes. Tears trickled down her cheeks. God, it fucking hurt.

"Here, let me help," Melissa said, taking the shirt from her hands.

Melanie wiped her eyes and nodded.

"I'm going to put on some cream that will lessen the chance of scarring. We tried to do stitches, but the wounds are too wide. They kept ripping," she explained as she began to rub the cream on her back.

Melanie jumped at the cold touch of her hands. After spreading it across her mutilated skin, gauze was put on.

"You need to change this four times a day," she told Melanie.

"Okay," Melanie breathed. Slowly, the pain rating was going down.

"Raise your arms the best you can."

Melanie did so. The best she could muster was a loose version of the letter U.

"Also, I have some pain medication. Be careful, it's strong. Take them when you need them. I know how tough you can be, but you will need them."

"Okay," Melanie said again.

"Alright. The papers have been signed and you are free to go. Try to get some rest."

Melanie smiled. Melissa wasn't like anybody she'd ever met. She was so calm. Then again, she had a kid who was a werewolf. So, Melanie must've been a piece of cake compared to him. Did anything frighten her?

Melanie came out of the hospital room, her keys dangling on her finger and her messenger bag on her shoulder. She tried to keep the strap from rubbing her shoulder blade.

"Allison texted me. She took Lydia home after stopping by the station," Stiles said.

"You're driving," Melanie said, tossing the keys at Isaac. "Go home and sleep Stiles."

Melanie took the back of fast food from him and nudged him in the arm; her way of saying thank you. He really could be quite cool when his sarcastic stupidity didn't get in the way.

"You going to be alright?" he asked as she tried not to limp past him towards the sliding entrance doors.

"Yep. I took some fun pills. I'm going to be great. We can kill the alphas tomorrow," she said.

"Derek got them to leave though," Isaac piped up. His hands twitched nervously, afraid that she would fall again.

"Dogs don't always do what they're told. Look at Scott and Peter. Peter thought he could come back from the dead and Scott does the exact opposite of whatever Derek suggests," she said, pulling out the burger in the grease-spotted bag. "Did you seriously eat my fries?"

She eyed the empty fry container at the bottom of the brown bag with disdain then looked at Stiles in disbelief.

"I was hungry," Stiles mumbled. "Isaac ate some too."

"Dude!" Isaac exclaimed then punched him in the arm from behind Melanie.

Stiles roared, stumbling sideways into the wall then hissed, holding his bicep to his chest.

"I can't feel my arm now," he grumbled. He glared at the werewolf.

Review for me?