Right Beside You | Stiles Stilinski | Two

1 - For Good

Several Weeks Later

The line faded softly, dispersing before it could bounce off the stark white hospital walls. Instead, all that remained was the hum of machinery, the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor. People were talking in the hallway, but it was hushed and indistinguishable. It'd been the same soundtrack for weeks, never ending. Only shallow breathing and the occasional full-volume voice of a doctor or a parent coming in to check on the situation. The same monotonous routine ever since formal. And I hated it.

"Come on, Lyd," I urged. "Your turn to come in."

I ran my thumb across the back of her stiff hand. Her bruises had faded slightly, and the color had returned to her skin, but the limb was just as still as it had been through the entire break. No sign of life beyond a pulse and the slight rise and fall of her chest. I'd never gone so long without hearing Lydia Martin's voice, and after sitting by her bedside for so long, its absence was slowly breaking me.

"Lydia, please," I begged, cupping both my hands around hers. "You can't just miss your cue like this. Don't leave me hanging."

Lydia's eyelids twitched slightly, and I held my breath, but it was no use. She remained unresponsive. I sighed, and for the millionth time since we'd checked in, felt my eyes prickle with tears.

"Lydia...you need to wake up. I need you to wake up. And...it's not just me. My mom needs you to wake up. Your mom needs you to wake up. All the kids at school. I mean, who's gonna be Queen Bee if you're not there? Who's gonna be the—the envy of all the girls and the wet dream of every guy, huh?"

I tried to force a chuckle, but the sound came out weak and broken. If anything, the weak attempt made my eyes water even more.

"There's just so much we need to talk about. I mean, you're causing an uproar, as usual. Everyone's worried sick about you. Even Jackson came to visit—not that he came when I was awake, or left anything for you. One of the nurses just said they saw him hanging around. He's still a jackass, but I guess he saved you, so..."

I paused to glance at the heart rate monitor, still beeping steadily. I wanted to say that he'd saved her, but we couldn't be sure of that yet. The doctors said that she was well on her way to healing, that she would wake up soon if everything went according to plan, but the doctors still thought this was a mountain lion attack. I knew better. For now, she was stuck somewhere in between. She wasn't up and talking, but at least she wasn't...

"I have to talk to you about Scott and Allison too," I said, changing the subject that only I had been thinking about. "They're back together now. Or at least, I think they are. They were dancing a lot at formal, and they kissed, so...guess that means they can go back to being giggly and sickeningly adorable together, right?"

Lydia's eyebrow twitched, perfectly conveying an emotion she should not be able to feel while she was unconscious.

"Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that." I glanced at the open door, biting my lip before I sighed. "Truth is, I don't know where Stiles and I are right now. I mean, we danced and he almost kissed me, and then I did kiss him, but...it already feels like forever ago. That's why I need you awake. You...you said that my love life was a hundred and ten percent your business. I mean, I just had my first kiss and I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to say to him or..."

I paused, staring down at the sallow, lifeless face on the bed in front of me, with sunken eyes and chapped lips. Her hair had been carefully arranged around her, but the strawberry blonde curls just looked dull and limp. This was barely a shadow of the real Lydia Martin.

"I...I just need my best friend back. I'm not gonna be able to do anything without you, Lydia. You can't just...you can't be..."

My brain wouldn't let me finish the sentence. That tiny voice of guilt was still screaming in the back of my head, the way it had the very first night: "This is my fault. This is all my fault." Lydia had only been outside because I'd run out of the dance. Lydia had only been attacked because I hadn't let Peter turn me. Lydia had been oblivious to everything going on because I chose to lie to her about everything. If she'd known what was outside, maybe she wouldn't have come. She wouldn't have run after me, unaware and unprotected, if she'd known there was a psychopathic, murdering Alpha werewolf on the loose.