Second Chance at Life -Chapter 38

~A Teen Wolf fan-fiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn~

Teagan wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping, she didn't even know she had fallen asleep until she opened her eyes and noticed she was laying on someone. She slowly raised her head and smiled when she saw Isaac fast asleep.

She bit her bottom lip and watched as he slowly breathed in and out, his mouth opened slightly. She raised up from his chest then leaned her face toward his. She raised a hand, planning to push his hair back from his forehead until she heard a loud sigh coming from the hospital bed.

"Would you just kiss him already?" Avery called out.

"Avery." Teagan gasped in surprise, as she whipped her head to the side, groaning when a sharp pain went through her neck. But when she saw Avery sitting up in the bed smiling, she smiled back then laid her hand down on what she thought was the couch, planning to push herself up to rush to the bed, unfortunately her hand landed in Isaac's lap, causing him to snap awake as he groaned out in pain and placed his hand over his most sensitive areas.

"Oh my God! Isaac! I am so sorry." Teagan called out, as she placed her hands over her mouth and looked at him with wide eyes.

"I-it's ok." Isaac groaned out.

"I know I always say grab life by the balls, but that's not what I had in mind." Avery joked.

"Avery!" Teagan said, as she glanced over at her friend.

"What?" Avery asked innocently.

Teagan rolled her eyes and chuckled at her friend before she turned back to look at Isaac. She laid a hand on his shoulder, then asked softly, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah... I just... I'll be right back." Isaac breathed out, as he stood up and walked over to the private bathroom that was attached to Avery's hospital room.

"Smooth move T." Avery joked, once the two girls were alone.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I just did that." Teagan mumbled, as she stood up from the couch and walked over toward the bed.

"I'm sure once the pain goes away he is going to be thrilled that you touched his junk." Avery pointed out with a small laugh.

"You are so mean." Teagan said, as she chuckled, then added as her eyes began to water, "But I've got to say, I would have missed your witty sense of humor."

"I am pretty witty." Avery agreed, then added, "But you also left out incredibly gorgeous, off the charts smart and the sweetest around."

"You're not that sweet." Teagan joked.

Avery playfully gasped in surprise then said, "I think I need to look for another best friend. I don't think the one I have now really appreciates me."

Teagan shook her head and chuckled, glad to see her joking around. Then when the bathroom door opened, the two girls looked over to see Isaac walking back into the room.

"Isaac would you like to be my new best friend?" Avery asked him, then added, "I just fired Teagan and now I need a new one."

"What?" Isaac asked confused.

"Don't listen to her. She has clearly had to much pain meds and is going crazy." Teagan said with a laugh.

"Going crazy? I always thought she was already crazy." Isaac added, causing Teagan to laugh out loud at the comment.

Avery's mouth dropped open in surprise then said, "I cannot believe you two are ganging up on me. You two are seriously perfect for each other."

Teagan bit her bottom lip as she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She glanced behind her to look at Isaac, who was standing behind her, and saw that his cheeks were red as well.

Teagan turned her head to look back at Avery then said to change the subject, "Isaac brought you something."

"A present?" Avery asked happily, then began to chant, "give me, give me."

"It's stupid and not that big of a deal." Isaac began to say.

"It's not stupid." Teagan argued, then added, "it's clever and funny and she's going to love it."

"What am I going to love? What is it?" Avery asked.

Isaac sighed, starting to second guess himself again, then turned to walk over to the couch to grab the small bag before walking back over toward the bed and handing Avery the bag.

Avery looked at him happily then opened the bag and laughed out loud when she saw the handcuffs. She looked up at Isaac with a wink and said, "Kinky. Didn't know you had it in you, Isaac."

"I know it's stupid but this is my way of telling you that I know you're getting out of here, even if I have to handcuff you to me and drag you around." Isaac said with a smile.

"Thank you, Isaac." Avery said with a genuine smile touched by his words and the meaning behind them. She never would have imagined before that the two would have become good friends but she was glad they did.

"Besides I just broke my other pair and needed some new ones." Avery joked.

"Ew! That is way more about your sex life than I need to know." Teagan said, as she wrinkled up her nose.

"I didn't say I broke it during sex." Avery pointed out with a laugh.

"You didn't have to. I know how kinky you are." Teagan said back.

"True." Avery said smiling. Then she held up the handcuffs as she said, "But if you two want to borrow them let me know. I don't mind sharing."

"Avery!" Teagan said, her face turning red again.

"What? It was a joke." Avery said innocently.

"I think you were right before. I think she has had to much medicine." Isaac joked.

"See, perfect for each other." Avery said, as she pointed to the two of them with a smile.

Avery continued to smile as she watched Teagan and Isaac look at each other with a shy grin upon their faces again. She wished they would just hurry up and date already. She was being honest before, they really would be perfect for each other.

As she continued to watch them, she couldn't help but think of Derek, wishing he was there by her side right now. Looking at her the way Isaac was looking at her best friend.

"Have you seen Derek?" Avery asked. Although she figured he was to busy with all his new alpha responsibilities to hang around a hospital.

"Not yet. But I'm sure he will show up soon." Teagan said, hoping she was right.

"Your dad was here all night." Teagan added, hoping that would cheer her up. Avery might act like she didn't care when her dad ignored her, but Teagan knew deep down all she wanted was a close relationship with her dad.

"Really?" Avery asked surprised with a small smile on her face.

Teagan nodded her head then added, "Then he went into work earlier..."

"Figures." Avery said trying not to feel disappointed, as she interrupted her.

"To put someone else in charge while he took some time off to be with you." Teagan finished.

"Seriously?" Avery asked with a wide smile.

"Yep. He said he just had to sign some paperwork then he would be back." Teagan explained.

"That's cool." Avery said, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal, but they could both see how happy she was about it.

The three talked for a little bit longer until Avery saw Teagan cover her mouth to yawn. She looked over at Isaac as she said, "As much as I am loving having you two here. Isaac will you take her home now?"

"What?" Teagan asked surprised.

"T, you are exhausted and if I had to bet, you have been here all night am I right?" Avery asked.

"Of course I was. I wasn't leaving until I saw you." Teagan pointed out.

"Well now you have so go home and rest." Avery said, then when Teagan shook her head she added, "Please T, for me. Go home and I don't want to see you again until tomorrow."

"But Avery..."

"I'm serious Teagan." She said interrupting her, then added, "If you don't go take care of yourself now, you're going to make yourself sick and end up right beside me."

"She's right. You need to eat and rest." Isaac said agreeing with Avery, as he laid a hand on Teagan's shoulder.

Teagan opened her mouth to argue again until Avery held up the handcuffs then playfully warned, "Don't make me handcuff you two together."
"Ok fine." Teagan said with a sigh. She leaned down to hug Avery then said, "But I will be back first thing in the morning."

"And not a minute before." Avery warned her.

After saying 'bye' to Avery, Isaac lightly grabbed Teagan's hand and pulled her toward the door to leave the room. As the two walked out they almost bumped into Richard, who had just arrived back at the hospital.

He smiled at the teens then asked, "Hey, is she awake?"

"Yep she's awake and acting very Avery-like." Teagan said, smiling.

"That's great to hear." Richard said, smiling back, then added, "I'm glad you were here for her."

"I'll always be here for her." Teagan said, then added with a laugh, "except for right now since she is sending me home for the day."

Richard chuckled then said, "Well don't worry I'll keep an eye on her and call if anything happens."

"Thank you, Mr. Dukate." Teagan said.

"Now go get some rest." Richard said, before opening the door and walking inside.

"Do I really look that bad?" Teagan asked Isaac once they were alone in the hall.

"What?" Isaac asked confused.

"Everyone keeps telling me I need to get some sleep. Do I really look that bad?" Teagan asked with a frown.

Isaac looked over at her as he said honestly, "I think you've never looked more beautiful."

Teagan smiled at his words and felt her heart skip a beat when he reached out to grab her hand again and the two walked down the hallway together to leave the hospital.

~()~

Stiles walked into Avery's hospital room and stared at the empty bed, he started to panic for a minute but then saw the bathroom door was shut and could see light shining under the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief he crossed the room and tied the balloons he got her on the bed rail.

He started to sit down in the chair by her bed, but stopped when he heard her make a noise from the bathroom.

He listened and could hear her mumble, "Seriously, come on. You've still got one good hand."

Stiles accidently bumped the bedside table as he tried to walk closer to the bathroom.

He froze when it made a loud noise and he almost fell.

"Who's out there?" He heard Avery ask.

He smiled to himself, she still sounded weak but he was happy just to hear her voice.

"Uh, it's just me… do you want me to leave?" He asked, not sure what was going on the bathroom.

"It depends. Who's me?" she asked, irritation in her voice.

"Stiles…" He said.

"Do you see a nurse?" Avery asked.

He walked over and poked his head out in the empty hallway.

"No, I think their changing shifts. Are you okay." He asked.

"Not really… I need a nurse, or at least a woman." She responded.

"I'm the only one here here…" He responded again.

"Well, screw it… you're better than no one, I guess. Shut the door to the room." She said.

Shutting the main door to the room he said, "Hey, I…" He started to point out that they were friends now, but his voice trailed off into a barely audible noise and his eyes widened as the bathroom door opened and she stood with her bare back to him.

His eyes traveled from the waist band of her dark purple pajama pants up over the bare skin on her back.

"Stiles?" She asked.

He didn't respond, just continued to stare at her in shock.

"Oh dear god, you didn't pass out did you? It's just my back…" she muttered.

"I… I'm here." He finally managed to say.

"Good, I can't fasten my bra. Can you do it?" She asked.

"Uh, I… yeah, I think so." He said as he walked closer, his breathing growing a little shallow.

She stood with her bra covering her chest, as she held it against her with her good arm.

He stopped a few inches away from her back as he reached forward and slowly pulled the straps up on her shoulders, and then held onto each side of the back as he eyed the metal clasps.

He'd started to fasten it, but his eyes traveled over her lightly tanned skin again.

"Stiles!" She exclaimed frustrated at him.

"Sorry…" He breathed out as it took him a few tries, but after a little while he managed to fasten it.

"Thank you, now my shirt is hanging on the bathroom door." She said.

He looked back down at her mostly bare back, in disbelief at what he'd just done, and that she was standing only half dressed in front of him. That had only ever happened in his dreams before.

"It's on the door." She repeated.

"What?" He stuttered.

"Forget it, I'll get it myself." She said as she turned and faced him.

"Oh… good god…" He breathed out as he looked at her cleavage peeking out from the top of the lightly padded, dark red bra.

The corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile at his reaction.

Putting her hand on the center of his chest, she walked forward and pushed him out of the bathroom and then shut the door in his face.

After a small struggle she managed to pull the shirt on and open the door, to see he was still standing in the same spot.

Looking away from her he said, "Do you want me to leave?"

"Why?" she asked.

"In case you're uncomfortable." He said.

"It's not like I was naked." She reminded him.

"Anyways, thank you for helping me." She said, but he didn't respond.

"Stop thinking about me naked!" She exclaimed as she hit his shoulder with her good hand.

"Sorry, I can't help it…" He began to but his voice trailed off as he saw her face.

"Oh my god." He said as he took her chin in his hand and turned her head, he looked over the dark bruised skin and busted skin over her cheek bone.

"Yeah… she punched me." Avery said quietly, her mind flashing back.

The room was silent before she said, "I… I need to sit down, I'm still weak."

"Yeah." He said nodding as he helped her over to her bed.

"Help me get this sling back on before Scott's mom finds out I took it off again, she threatened to super glue it to me earlier." She said nodding to the cloth elbow sling laying on her bed.

He was silent as he helped her get her injured arm back in it, his eyes stopped on the splint on her fingers.

"What's wrong with your hand?" He asked her as he sat down on the bed and faced her.

"My broken fingers." Avery said, acting like he already knew.

"What?" He gasped.

"What did you think happened to me?" She asked confused.

"That she cut your wrist." Stiles admitted. He hadn't known it but Teagan spared him some of the details.

"Oh…" she said.

"Why'd she break your fingers?" He asked her, a pained look on his face.

"To try to make me tell her who the alpha was." She explained.

"It took 2 fingers for that? I would have told after she broke the first one." He said running a hand over his hair.

"I didn't tell her. Derek told her to get her to stop hurting me." Avery explained.

"You didn't tell?" He asked shocked.

Avery shook her head back and forth.

"Why wouldn't you just tell her?" He asked, his stomach turned at the thought of how much pain she endured.

"Knowing who the alpha was but not telling her was the only leverage we had, if I'd told her… she wouldn't have needed Derek anymore and she would have killed him." Avery said, her eyes filled with tears as she remembered seeing him chained up and being electrocuted.

The pained expression on his face grew at her words, she'd let Kate torture her to keep Derek alive.

"She was right." Stiles said softly.

"Who?" Avery asked growing confused.

"Teagan, she'd said you'd walk through hell to save someone you love… she was right." He repeated.

Avery was silent as she looked at him, not sure what to say.

Now that it was over and she looked back at the prior night, she really had no idea how she'd withstood the pain.

The thought of going through something like that again turned her stomach.

Trying to take her mind off the painful thoughts she said, "Did you have fun raiding my underwear drawer?"

"What?" He asked, startled from his thoughts.

"You're the one who brought me that bag of clothes, right?" She asked.

"Did Teagan tell you?" He asked her.

"She didn't have to, it was process of elimination." She said with a smirk.

"How?" He questioned as his eyes met hers.

"Teagan wouldn't have left the hospital, and if she did she'd grab the first thing she came to not worried about matching them. Jackson wasn't going to leave Teagan's side, and I seriously doubt my dad would have even gone through my dresser." She explained.

After a small pause and another smirk she said, "There was 3 matching bra and underwear sets."

"Oh." Stiles said with a small laugh.

She laughed with him, and the pair talked for close to an hour when he said "The one thing that doesn't make sense to me is why Kate thought she could make it look like a suicide."

"It would have been a smart plan if she hadn't beaten me up first." Avery reasoned.

"How? No one would have believed it." He stated.

"Yeah, they would have." She said her voice barely over a whisper.

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"Because it wouldn't have been my first suicide attempt, one look at my medical records and they'd have bought the story." She said avoiding his eyes as she spoke.

"You… you slit your wrist before?" He asked shocked.

"No, I… I took a whole bottle of sleeping pills." She admitted, it was the first time she'd talked about it since her therapy at the treatment facility.

"When?" He asked, his eyes wide.

"It was a long time ago." She assured him.

"When?" He asked louder, demanding an answer.

"When I turned 14." She explained, looking down to the blanket on the hospital bed.

He was silent as he tried to process what she was saying.

Admiring her from afar for years, it had seemed like she lived a good life.

But it wasn't until he started to get to know her that he was able to see her pain under the surface.

"Stop sitting there and looking like someone killed your puppy. I'm fine, it was a long time ago and I'm doing better." She assured him as she reached forward and put her hand on his arm.

It still took her by surprise how much he cared about her.

"That's why you were gone for a few months from school." He remembered.

"Yeah, I was at an in-patient treatment facility in another town. How'd you know that?" She asked; she didn't even know who he was back then.

"I was sad because I thought you'd moved away with Teagan." He admitted.

"You know, sometimes it's sweet that you know so much about me… and other times it's just kind of creepy." She admitted with raised eyebrows.

"You can't tell anyone. No one knows except for my dad and I. And Derek knows now because of Kate." Avery quickly said.

"I wasn't going to say anything." He said before pausing and looking at her as he said, "You're really okay now?"

"I'm okay." She said nodding.

Changing the subject to more happier topics, they talked for another hour before the nurse came in and gave her another dose of pain medicine and she laid down to sleep.

Stiles waited until she was sound asleep before leaving her room.

A/N- Thank you for reading, I hope you all liked the chapter. ^_^

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