** i won't hold you. Enjoy **
"Pulse is still low, and breathing is ragged. Multiple fractures possible and internal damage is likely. Tell then the prep a room, we're coming in hot." The paramedic said as I just watched my brother lie on the gurney in the back of the ambulance. The last 30 minutes, playing in my head.
"ISAAC!" I roared but there was nothing.
"Oh God, he can't… no." Allison cried. Lydia tried to sooth her.
"Scott, what do we do?" Stiles asked, walking, assisted by Cora, over to us, Danny right behind him. Jackson stood frozen in the doorway watching.
"Everyone quiet for a minute." I said then placed my ear next to Isaac's chest. His heart rate was low but still beating and his breathing was coming out as a wheeze.
"He's not dead. But we need to get him to the hospital. Someone call for an ambulance now." I ordered as I tried to shift him as gently as possible to lay him down. "Danny move those benches and help me get him flat. He can't really breathe in this position."
I heard the scrape of wood and then Danny was on his other side, together we moved him slowly to a flat position and I tilted his chin so he could get more air, just like mom taught me. I knew CPR wasn't a good idea if he had broken ribs or even a damaged lung.
"Okay, this is what needs to happen. Stiles call your dad, tell him what happened and that we need police over here. Lydia call the hospital and ask for my mom. She needs to know to expect us. I'll ride in the ambulance with Isaac."
"Is he going to be okay?" Allison asked. I looked up at her tear-stained face and nodded, my jaw clenching.
"I'll make sure of it." I told her.
"Jackson, I need you to go wait for the ambulance. Direct them here when they arrive. Can you do that?" I asked, glancing his way. he blinked snapping out of his shock and nodded, vigorously.
"Yeah, yeah. I can do that." he said before he took off for the parking lot. Taking a deep breath, I looked around at all my friends. Then stopped on Danny.
"You're about to get your first lesson in the supernatural. I need you to stay calm and know that I'm doing this to save him, okay?"
"Okay." he said with no hesitation.
"Everyone give me some space and if you cant handle more blood then look away." I told them as I let my eyes switch to red. I turned back to Isaac and ripped the hem of his shirt to get at his shoulder then let my fangs extend. I bit into his shoulder, not even bothered by the blood rushing into my mouth. I held for a few seconds before releasing then ripped his shirt the rest of the way and bit into his side. I hope by getting enough venom into his system it would help but I don't want to overdo it either. Once done I used the torn shirt to wipe the rest of the blood from him.
A bottle of water appeared over my shoulder along with a cup. I looked up to see Stiles the one handing it to me.
"thanks." I said filling my mouth with the water, swishing it around and spitting it back into the cup. I could hear the ambulance in the distance and knew they were seconds away. "Ambulance is almost here. once the police get here meet us at the hospital." I said, everyone nodded.
"Should I call Derek?" Cora asked. I nodded, watching Isaac closely, wanting to see any changes.
"He's turning blue. We need to do a chest tube. How far out are we?" the medic called out. I blinked back into the present and looked around at the various activities happening in the small space. I wanted to ask what that meant but didn't want to interrupt them. I just tried to stay out of the way.
"3 minutes." The driver called. Without further hesitation they worked to cut an opening and insert a tube into Isaac's chest. I curled my hands into fist to not growl or shift. The medic working on him turned to the machine and studied it before nodding.
"Oxygen level's starting to even out. Just in time." he said as we pulled into the ER.
The doors opened and I jumped out first giving them room to maneuver the gurney out. mom came running out and helped guide the gurney inside, I followed behind but stopped when I got to the waiting area. I wouldn't be allowed to go back there. Mom went in with him but was back out almost as quickly. I rushed up to her confused. She shook her head.
"I'm not allowed to help since he's family. Someone will come tell us what's happening. We have one of the best OR doctors with him right now." she told me. when she looked at me she handed me an alcohol rub from the pocket of her scrubs. "You have blood around your mouth." She whispered to me.
I quickly opened the wipe and scrubbed at my face, ignoring the burn of the alcohol. Mom pulled me over to an empty corner and leaned in keeping her voice low.
"You bit him, didn't you?" she asked. I nodded, biting my bottom lip. I could taste chemicals from the wipe and a bit of rust.
"I had too. he… his heartrate was low, and his breathing was ragged. I couldn't leave him like that. I didn't know if we would get-." I choked on the words as they tumbled out of my mouth at mack speed. Mom pulled me into a hug.
"Hey, its okay. you may have just saved his life." She tried to reassure me.
"But what if I didn't? what if I made it worse? He can't die mom; he was finally happy. He can't die now." I couldn't control my emotions at the moment and the tears sprang up and ran without pause.
"You did the right thing. The only thing you could have done in that moment. Let's let the doctors work and not jump to any conclusions until we hear from them, alright?" she asked. I nodded. I could see she was trying to stay level headed right now even though I could smell her distress. I knew she was strong, but how is she doing this? I couldn't even think straight.
"Scott."
I heard Derek call my name and turned to see him rushing into the ER, looking around. I walked towards him, and he met me half way.
"Isaac?" he asked. mom answered before I could.
"He was just taken back there a few minutes ago. He's with one of the doctors. Someone will notify us what's going on after they examine him." she told him calmly. He exhaled loudly and nodded. "Come on, let's all sit in the waiting area. I'm sure the others will be here soon."
Even though we basically claimed a cluster of empty seats in the back of the area, none of us could sit still. Derek took to pacing, arms folded, and the famous Hale glare set on his face. Mom kept looking around the corner to see if there was anyone headed our way. I stood leaning against the wall, waiting, and still slightly panicking.
The ER doors opened and in filed, Stiles, Danny, Cora, Lydia, and Allison with her father. I blinked in surprise that he was here at all. Stiles spotted us first and led everyone over. Allison was clutching her fathers hand tightly, eyes wide. Cora went to Derek's side and hugged him around the waist. It stopped his nervous pacing as he hugged her back, tightly.
"Anything?" he asked, Lydia and Danny right beside him. I shook my head.
"Not yet. They're still looking him over." I said. they nodded and we all stayed standing around waiting.
"Do you think it helped? Biting him?" Lydia asked.
"You bit him?" Derek asked, looking at me.
"I didn't know what else to do." I told him. he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Would it make a difference?" Stiles asked.
"Maybe, I don't know. depends on if it takes or not."
"But he was a wolf in the previous reality." Stiles whispered.
"I know but before his life wasn't on the line. He was healthy, as healthy as he could be in the environment he was in. this is a bit different. it could go either way. I just didn't know what else to do. I had to try." I explained. Stiles gripped my shoulder. Argent stayed quiet and I minutely wondered what he thought about what I did. I had warned him weeks ago that if this were the only way to save him I would. He understood it then but wasn't happy about it. I wonder what he thinks now.
Minutes turned into hours before anyone came to let us know what was going on and I was losing my mind. I had already talked to the deputy who was assigned to get statements. Not that I had much to tell him, I was outside of the locker room when it happened. But I explained what happened when I did get in there. Another nurse came over and pulled mom aside to talk to her. I didn't even pretend not to eves drop and neither did Derek or Cora and we all felt relieved to hear that he was stable now. Cora whispered to the others what was said as both Derek and I sat heavily in chairs, collapsing under the strain of it all. Mom thanked the nurse before coming back over to us looking more at ease.
"Okay, I don't know how much you guys overheard but they got Isaac stabilized. He had a collapsed lung, multiple fractures to his ribs and wrist, and a dislocated shoulder. Also a few internal injuries that they were able to correct. Right now, they are waiting for a few labs before they get him settled in ICU. I'm going to go see what I can do to hurry those along. I'll be back when I know more." she said. everyone nodded.
"Thanks mom." I said, giving her another hug before letting her go do what she needed to do.
"Thank God, he's okay." Lydia said collapsing into a chair of her own. "this mean it took right, he's changing?"
I shrugged.
"I don't know. I want to say yes, but when Jackson was bitten he was fine for like a day or so then he started to reject it, or maybe he didn't since he turned into something else."
"Jackson? He was bit?" Danny asked. I had forgotten he was here.
"Uh, long story. We can talk about it later."
He frowned, his brow creasing but nodded.
"It takes a while for the venom to flood the system. We may not know if it took or not for another day or so. It also depends on how injured the person is. if its mending things internally he could take longer. It doesn't happen overnight, not really." Derek explained. Argent looked very interested in this topic but thankfully didn't ask questions.
Mom came back out 40 minutes later, and we all stood and gathered around.
"Okay, he's in ICU. He's still sedated so he wont be able to talk but you can sit with him for a while, only until visiting hours are over, which is in about an hour. Usually, we only allow 2 people at a time in to visit a patient in that unit, but I got special permission to allow up to four. Choose who you want to see him." She said. I looked around and Derek and Stiles stepped up to be two of the four, I was the third. I walked over and held out my hand.
"Allison."
She looked at her father who nodded to her. giving a wavering smile she took my hand. The others took a seat. Mom led us down the hall and around the corner to the ICU unit, leaving us at the door so she could return to work. Isaac's room was the last in the row. We entered to see a doctor still in there charting something from the machines they had him hooked up too.
Isaac looked wrecked. A tube protruding from his mouth, various IV's hooked up to him. a thick bandage wrapped around his upper chest, one around his left wrist and another around his head. I didn't know what that one was for until I remembered briefly seeing a smear of blood on the locker room wall when Danny and I pulled him away. He was covered with a sheet to his waist and the half of his body still showing, was red and swollen and you could see some bruising all over.
Allison rushed to his side, gripping his hand as she ran her fingers through his curls. The doctor attending to him turned and smiled at us and I blinked.
"Dr. Geyer?" I questioned. His smile faltered and brow creased.
"Yes, have we met?" he asked. I realized my faux pas. Of course he doesn't know me, not yet.
"Uh, no sorry. I just remember seeing your name and picture in one of the hospital newsletter's my mom brings home."
"Oh, who's your mom?"
"Melissa McCall."
"Oh, one of our finest. You must be Scott. She talks about you all the time. Nice to meet you formally."
"You too, sir. How is he?" I asked.
"He's doing as well as can be expected. We got his heart rate back up and we have him on oxygen to help with the breathing. We are going to keep him under for a while until he starts healing. But he's young and he should pull through just fine."
"Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll leave you all to visit." He said before putting the chart back and leaving the room.
I stood next to Derek who looked pained as he stared down at him. I reached for Isaac's hand grabbing it then letting go almost feeling like he burned me.
"He's in so much pain." I whispered, taking his hand again and wincing. I pushed past the discomfort to try to take away some of it. I hissed at how much effort it was taking and how much I was drawing into me.
"Here, let me help." Derek said, taking a hold of his upper arm. I relaxed as the feelings lessened with his help.
"Scott." Stiles called from behind me. he had stopped just a few feet inside the room and hadn't moved from that spot.
"yeah." I answered distracted by what I was doing.
"Uh, I know this isn't exactly the best timing, but I want you to bite me." he said. I jerked, releasing Isaac's hand to face him.
"What?" I asked in surprise. Even Derek and Allison looked over at him.
"I want you to bite me." he repeated, chin raised in defiance almost. I walked over to my best friend needing to know what brought this on.
"What's going on Stiles? What made you want this?" I asked. he scrubbed a hand down his face, looking over at Isaac before coming back to me.
"I know you think this is coming out of left field, especially with what just happened, but its not." He said shuffling on his feet. "I've been thinking about it for a while and had almost decided on doing it after the whole kidnapping thing."
"So, what made you definitely decide to be a wolf?"
"A few things actually. I know that being apart of this, all of it, puts me in danger. And what happened today just really brought that point home. I know this may not be a supernatural related incident but… I know I survived before as a human but like you said there were too many close calls. Today could have been another one. if I had been any closer to Isaac or if it had been me instead of him then that could be me in that bed right now." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just like before I am in this with you, one hundred percent. Now, I want to be a part of this as an equal. I don't want to be on the side lines anymore."
I stayed silent as I studied him.
"I know you said you would if I asked for it and maybe you changed your mind but-."
"No, I didn't change my mind. I meant what I offered you before. if you want it I will give it to you. I just want you to be sure. have you talked to your dad?"
He nodded and shrugged.
"we talked about the option a while ago, but I hadn't come to a decision yet."
I nodded.
"Okay, then if we are going to do this we need to do it the right way. you need to talk to your dad and let him know your decision." I told him and he nodded. "and then I want to talk to Deaton. With your anxiety and ADHD, I want to know what we are in for once I bite you. Just to be prepared. Then we can talk about when to do it, okay?"
"do we have to wait? I mean after I talk to my dad and we talk to Deaton, can't we do it soon?" he asked.
"We could but I would rather wait until at least winter break. I'll be trying to get Isaac settled into his new life and I think that break would be good so your not overwhelmed with school and being a new wolf. I'm not going back on my promise, I will turn you, but I want to make sure I'm not overwhelming either of us."
"Yeah, that makes sense. I'll talk to dad tonight."
"And I'll talk to Deaton about getting together to discuss the rest."
He nodded and we both went back to Isaac's bedside. I went back to helping with pain and we all stayed until it was almost time to go. when we got back out to the waiting area, it was only Lydia and Argent waiting.
"Danny had to go but he said he would check in later to see how he's doing." Lydia explained. I understood that. "How is he?"
"He's okay I think. He still looks bad, and Derek and I were able to take away some of his pain, but the doctors are confident he will be okay. They are keeping him under for a while." I explained. she nodded and Argent smiled, slightly.
"We should get out of here." Derek said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Mom will let me know if anything happens." I said.
"Come on, I'll take you home." Derek offered. I took him up on it. "Cora you ready?"
"I think I'm going to go with Stiles." She said. Derek wanted to say something you could see, but just nodded.
"I'll go pull the jeep around." Stiles said, scurrying out the door and as far from Derek as he could get. I smiled shaking my head.
"I think I'll do the same." Derek said, heading for the doors.
"Derek." Cora warned.
'I'm not going to touch him. I just want to get my car." He sighed, not pausing as he exited.
"we're going to go too but Scott, you call me if you need help. I may be a hunter, but I do know some tricks to calm a wolf that are nonviolent. Just let me know." Argent said.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"I'll see you in school tomorrow?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there." I said, giving her arm a squeeze. She nodded before leaving with her dad. Lydia gave me a hug before she left as well.
"Cora, before you go." I said, pulling her out of the flow of traffic. "Stiles may seem okay, but he doesn't really do well when someone he cares about is hurt. His anxiety tends to ramp up."
"I'll look out for him." she told me, and I thanked her then let her go.
I left a message at the front desk to tell my mom I was leaving and then left, climbing into Derek's car. I let out an audible sigh of exhaustion. I felt raw and the stress that had faded away after the Kate thing was back with a vengeance and all I wanted right now was one thing.
"Instead of taking me home, can you drop me off somewhere?" I asked.
"Sure, where too?"
I rattled off the address before dropping my head back against the rest and closing my eyes for a minute. I let the vibrations of the ride lull me into calming down, but it was all getting to me. he could have died and honestly I am not sure if he still isn't. we won't know for at least a day if that's still a possibility. God I hope I didn't mess up by biting him.
I waved a goodbye to Derek when we pulled up to the house then jogged up to the front porch and knocked, trying to shake off my nerves. I could hear the television inside go mute and then the sound of footsteps heading for the door. It opened and he smiled when he saw me.
"Scott, I didn't know you were coming over today. you were just here yesterday." Mr. Tate said.
"Hi sir. Yeah I didn't plan on it, but I wanted to check in and see how she's doing."
"well come on in. She's in her room." He said opening the door wider.
"Thanks." I said crossing the threshold. I don't know what he saw but he looked me over in worry.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, a friend of mine got hurt at practice today. I'm just worried about him."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he'll be okay." he said, sympathy and concern in his voice.
"Me too." I tried to smile but don't think I quite succeeded.
"Go on back. I'm sure she knows you're here with her bat hearing." He chuckled. I gave a weak laugh before heading back to her room. I knocked once before opening the door. She was sitting on her bed with a book but staring at the door when I came in.
"Hey, I didn't think I would see you today." she greeted with a smile. Every time I saw her it made my heart speed up but this time it calmed me, like a balm, and that smile took my breath away.
"I know, it was kind of a last-minute decision. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay, I guess. Just doing some reading. I tried watching TV but got bored." She shrugged. I chuckled. "What's wrong? You look upset."
"My friend, well I guess he's really my brother, Isaac, got hurt today. I just came from seeing him in the hospital."
"Oh no. will he be okay?"
"I hope so." I sighed.
"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do for you. I know how much you care about him." she said, setting her hand on top of mine. I turned mine over and clasped hers tightly.
"You just being here is enough, trust me." I told her, telling her the complete truth. Just having her near me was enough to make me feel better.
"What about a hug? I read somewhere that people usually give hugs when someone is upset. Would that help?" she asked. I smiled at her.
"That would absolutely help."
She shuffled closer to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I wrapped mine around her waist and pulled her as close as possible, burying my head in her neck. Inhaling her scent and feeling at peace, feeling like I was home.
** (waving white flag) is it safe to come out yet? I Hope so. This is the first chapter in the 2nd story of the series. i hope you enjoyed it. I'll be working on another story for a while so don't get upset if i don't update this one for a little bit. i hope to finish the other story this week and then i will start posting my other stories, including this one. Hope you enjoyed. **