TAINTED HEART | D.HALE

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

chapter twenty nine
( weaponized )

"Braeden, stay with me," Sofia whispered to the unconscious girl as she and Derek carried her into the hospital.

"She's been shot!" Derek yelled into Beacon Hills Memorial as they stumbled in the entrance. "I think she's dying."

A moment later, a few nurses came and took Braeden away. Sofia wiped her teary cheeks, leaving a small red stain behind from her bloody hands.

Derek took notice and pulled the girls hand away before she could get any blood in her eyes. Sofia looked around, in hysterics, before meeting Derek's look.

"Let's go get cleaned up, okay?" Derek tried to keep Sofia focused but it was useless.

The slightly older man placed an arm around Sofia's shoulders to guide her to the family restroom. He directed her in before following and locking the door.

As soon as Sofia was in the large restroom, she broke. Sofia held a rough grip on the sink counter and anxiously rocked her head down.

Derek had never been the best at comforting people. The man was unsure of what he could do. He watched as Sofia moved her elbows on the countertop and held her head in place.

Sofia could feel her chest tightening as her mind raced. Her breathing became more erratic by the second. Sofia felt a hand on her shoulder pulling her back.

She whirled around and faced Derek. He placed a hand on either side of the crook of her neck to steady her, "It's gonna be okay. Braeden will be fine."

"You don't know that," Sofia frustratedly said as more tears overflew her eyelids. She fiddled with her fingers.

"She's all I have, Derek," hearing the wavering of her voice is what got to Derek. He gave her one last longing glance before pulling her in completely.

Derek's arms were wrapped around the top of her shoulders as Sofia's flung around his waist. Her head rested on the top of his shoulder as his rested against her.

The two stood like that for a while. Sofia continued sobbing into the man's shoulder while he tightened his hold for comfort. Sofia eventually brought her arms up his back to wrap over his shoulders from behind.

Derek was the one to pull back upon realizing Sofia was still bloodied. The woman lowered her arms but kept them loosely around his lower back, afraid to let go.

Derek bent over and grabbed a paper towel before gently wetting it in the sink. He leaned back and started wiping Sofia's cheek's that were lightly stained with Braeden's blood.

Sofia softly snickered through her sniffles, "I really wanna make fun of you right now but I can't."

Derek shook his head with a small smile. Sofia untangled herself from the man and grabbed the paper towel. She proceeded to wipe off her own hands and any remnants left behind.

After she was done, Sofia looked back to discover that Derek's shirt was wet and slightly stained in the corner. She pointed it out, "You should probably head back home and change, I'm gonna stay here for the night."

Derek swiped the paper towel from her hands and threw it away, "I'm not gonna leave you here alone."

Sofia dried the last of her tears, "I'll be fine, Derek."

"Great, but I'm still staying," Derek moved to the restroom door and held it open. Sofia dramatically sighed before walking out of the room.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

After a long restless night, Derek had convinced Sofia to return home. She made him swear they would drive back immediately after showering and changing.

Quiet sobs filled Sofia's bathroom as she showered. The 24-year-old found herself sliding down the back wall of her shower. She couldn't help the overwhelming cries making their way out.

Derek Hale had felt many things over the course of his life. Helplessness was a rarity for the man. But for some reason, he was overwhelmed with the sense as he overheard Sofia in the shower. Even with his werewolf hearing, Derek struggled to distinguish the drops of water from the tears. He assumed Sofia had been trying to keep it quiet.

A little over an hour later, the two found themselves settled at the bedside of Braeden once again. Sofia had mostly managed to calm down, returning to her silence.

Derek decided it would be best to give the girl a moment alone. He stood from his chair and muttered some excuse about using the restroom. He momentarily placed a hand on Sofia's shoulder as he passed by.

What he hadn't expected was for the girl to place her hand atop his own, keeping him locked in place. The distraught woman let out a sniffle as she rubbed Derek's hand.

After a minute, Sofia finally looked up at the looming man. Her teary eyes connected with his and she squeezed his hand before letting it go.

"Thank you," Sofia's voice came out softer than she meant it to. Derek nodded before exiting the room, leaving Sofia to turn back to the unconscious girl before her.

Sofia reached out to grab Braeden's hand on the bed. She moved their intertwined hands to rest against her forehead as she leaned forward. Without meaning to, the tears started once more.

Sofia pulled back and finally glanced at Braeden's face, "I'm not sure why this is happening or what I did to deserve it, but stop it."

Sofia found her words becoming harder to produce as her eyes overflowed, "Stop this, please. You're not dying Braeden."

The girls head dropped to the bed, "You're not dying."

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haleshoe is typing...

i'm backkkk

i have not updated since february goddamn,
long time no see babes how are u all :)

i had absolutely no motivation and time to pursue this story so i took a little break from writing

BUT HOPEFULLY IM BACK FOR GOOD

so like i kinda hate this chapter cuz it's hard for me to write sappy stuff without it feeling cringey
( yes i did say in the last chapter that i was excited for this chap but that was before i changed it all whoops )

RANDOM CHAT ABOUT MY TIME AWAY, FEEL FREE TO SKIP :)

while i was on my lil hiatus, all the notifs of comments and votes on my story made me want to come back and write cuz i missed my baby sofia and everyone who reads and supports this story

i finally opened wattpad for the first time in like two months the other day and i had over 2k notifications total from ppl who read my story and all the updates i missed from other books

i have yet to go through all my notifs yet cuz i'm so lazy and it's so much to go through lmaoo

anywaysss hope you enjoyed!
thanks for reading <33