Chapter 17
The rest of the pack, except Derek, Braeden, and Argent, rushed in sometime later to find the Sheriff, Scott, Malia, and Lydia sitting tiredly in chairs.
“What’s happening?” Kira asked, going to sit next to Scott and taking his hand. The movement sent a sudden pang of longing through Malia.
“He’s in surgery” The Sheriff answered, his voice thick with unshed tears. Malia knew it was taking all that he had not to fall apart. She was feeling the same way, but a quote from a book she just read kept coming back to her,
"It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart."
Suzanne Collins really knew what she was talking about. Malia knew that if she let herself go, if she gave into the hysteria that wanted to spill over, she might be totally consumed. She needed to stay strong for Stiles and for her friends. They needed to devote all of their focus on him, not on her mental breakdown.
“Is he going to be okay?” Liam asked, his eyes wide and filled with fear. Malia knew she was only a few years older than him, but at times like this he just looked so young and vulnerable.
“We don’t know...they won’t tell us much” Lydia responded. Liam came and sat next to Malia, leaning his head on her shoulder. The others settled themselves in chairs or on the floor. No one talked for a long time as they waited for any news.
Finally, what seemed like hours later, Melissa finally came into the waiting area. They were all on their feet immediately, each one asking about Stiles.
“We patching him up as best we could, we had to reset his leg. He had several broken ribs and internal bleeding as well as many cuts that needed to be sewn up. The bullet in his shoulder was removed without too much difficulty, it only caused damage in the muscle it was embedded in. He was dehydrated and hypothermic and lost a lot of blood. He’s not out of the woods yet but in time if there are no other complications, which there very well could be, he should heal from these injuries...” Melissa said this all very slowly as if there was something more horrible she wasn’t telling them. Malia couldn’t imagine what could be worse than what she had just heard. The others seemed to sense that something was not right as well as they were all silently staring at Melissa, waiting for her to continue.
“Heal from these injuries? Does he have some other injury?” Malia finally asked, not being able to bear the suspense anymore.
“He sustained a substantial amount of injury to his head. We are keeping him in an induced coma until the swelling in his brain goes down, we will not be able to tell the amount of damage until he wakes up.” Malia didn’t know much about medical terms, but the phrase induced coma did not sound friendly and based on the tension and fear she felt from everyone else she knew that this was a very serious matter.
“When will he be taken out of the coma? When will he wake up?” Scott asked, his voice shaking. Mrs. McCall went over to her son and embraced him.
“It’s hard to say, it all depends on how long it takes the swelling to go down. I’m sorry, I wish I could give you a more concrete answer.” Scott’s arms tightened around his mother’s and he buried his head into his shoulder.
“When can we see him?” Isaac asked, Malia could tell he was trying to act braver than he felt. The lanky boy was playing with his scarf and not looking at anyone, Malia suspected that if he had looked up she would see tears in his blue eyes.
“Soon, the Doctors are just finishing getting him settled in his room. I’m going to warn you guys, it will look a little scary. He’s very beat up and he will be connected to a lot of machines and tubes and wires.”
“Is it true that he might be able to hear us?” Lydia asked. This got Malia’s attention, she had figured out based on the questions asked that a coma meant that Stiles was going to remain unconscious, so how could he hear them?
“There have been cases where the patient claimed they could hear everything while in a coma, although I think it is normally associated with those who are in a coma for natural reasons, not a medically induced one, but it doesn’t hurt to try right?” Melissa gave a sad smile and Malia realized how exhausted she looked. “I’ll go check on how it’s going” Melissa pulled away from Scott and disappeared.
*****
The Sheriff stared at his son, or rather the ghost of his son that lay on the bed. The pale, motionless boy that lay there was nothing like his hyperactive son. But he was his son, it was Stiles who was in that bed hooked up to machines that were keeping him alive. The cold, limp hand that he was grasping was the same one that he had held so many times when Stiles was younger.
The Sheriff couldn’t focus on the injuries covering his son’s body, they just made him angry and want to go reshoot every single one of those hunters. So instead he focused on the fact that Stiles was alive and safe. He was surrounded by his family and friends that loved him. The Sheriff felt an arm link with his and he looked to see Melissa leaning her head on his shoulder. Melissa, the woman who had become Stiles’ female role model after Claudia had died. The woman who had taken on the role of surrogate mother without question. She had always been there to lend a helping hand and provide support, both to him and his son. The Sheriff only hoped he has helped Melissa out with Scott and her divorce half as much as she has helped him.
The Sheriff looked over to see Malia and Lydia standing on the other side of the bed. The girl his son had loved for so long and the girl he had finally found love with. Malia gently kissed his forehead and held his hand where it lay across his stomach. His arm was in a sling to prevent any irritation of the muscles of his shoulders. Lydia wrapped her arm around Malia’s waist and smoothed down the blanket around Stiles. Both girls had tears falling from their eyes as they looked at Stiles. The Sheriff saw in their eyes a look that mirrored his own, a combination of not wanting to look at him because the injuries were just a reminder of how much pain he had been through and not being able to look away because they finally had him back and they never wanted to lose him again. The Sheriff wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to let Stiles out of his sight ever again.
The Sheriff looked around at the group of kids gathered around his son. They were all looking at Stiles with mixed expressions of care and concern, anger, sadness, and mostly fear. The Sheriff could tell that they all loved his son so much and he was glad for their presence there. It made him feel comforted to know that he was not alone and that so many people would be supporting him through this.
*****
“Can you explain the induced coma thing to me?” Malia asked Scott once they were alone. The Sheriff and Melissa had finally convinced everyone else to go home. Melissa promised them all that she would let them know before Stiles was woken up. The pack had finally agreed, they were all exhausted and they knew they couldn’t do anything for Stiles anyways. So with promises to visit first thing in the morning, they had left. The adults had not argued when Malia and Scott had stayed put, they knew it was no use to try to get the two of them to leave. They now sat in the waiting area, giving the Sheriff some alone time with his son. Malia finally got the chance to ask more about Stiles’ condition that everyone else seemed to know about.
“Do you know what swelling is?”
“Yes, it’s when a human hurts themselves and fluid builds up in the area causing the swelling. I’ve looked up a lot of information about how humans normally heal because...well in case…”
“In case Stiles ever got hurt?” Scott prompted and Malia nodded her head.
“Stiles has swelling his his brain?”
“Yes and it can be extremely dangerous. What would be the first thing you would do if Stiles sprained his ankle and it started swelling?”
“Well, you use P.R.I.C.E, so first I would Protect it from further damage and Rest the ankle.”
“Right, so that’s what they are doing to his brain. If he were awake he would be using his brain and that could cause further damage. So they put him into a coma where his brain activity level will be low and his brain, can hopefully, heal.”
“So once the swelling goes down they will bring him out of the coma and he’ll be alright?”
“Best case scenario, yes. They problem is that swelling in the brain can sometimes cut off oxygen supply to certain parts of the brain and when cells don’t have oxygen they die, my mom says we won’t be able to tell the amount of damage until he wakes up.”
“Oh god…” Malia now fully understood why everyone was so horrified at the idea of brain swelling. It was absolutely terrifying to think about.
“He’ll be okay Malia, he’s a fighter,” Scott said and pulled her into his arms. She buried her face into his neck and held onto him tightly. Wrapped in his embrace she finally let herself go a bit as she started to cry. Not the silent tears that she had been experiencing since she walked into the hospital, but big sobs that escaped her before she was able to stop them. Scott held her tighter and she felt his body shaking as well. They held each other and cried until neither of them had a tear left to shed.
- N x
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