Stay with Me (Stalia)

Chapter 33

Everything was black. Stiles felt heavy as he tried to fight his way into consciousness. He felt as if he were weighed down at the bottom of a dark lake. He slowly began fighting his way to the surface. He couldn't remember how he had ended up there, all he knew was that he needed to get out.

Very slowly the shimmering surface began to get closer. With one final push, Stiles emerged out into the sunlight.

*****

The first thing that Stiles was aware of was pain. The pain seemed to be radiating through every inch of his body. It almost made him wish that he was still stuck inside of his head. Almost. He stayed as still as he possibly could because he knew that the second he moved, the pain would be unbearable.

Once he had adjusted to the pain slightly, the second thing he noticed was a warmth spreading from his hand. He knew immediately that it was Malia's hand. Just as he had known it was Malia's hand that he had felt squeezing his when he was trapped inside his coma. The feel of her hand in his gave him the strength to open up his eyes.

His eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. With a great amount of effort he managed to pry them open. At first the light blinded him and his vision was blurry. After a few moments of blinking his vision cleared enough for him to make out the white ceiling of the hospital. He moved his head slightly to try to get a glimpse of the others in the room and just barely managed to keep from crying out as his head throbbed. But he had managed to tilt his head enough so he could see better. What he saw brought tears to his eyes, it was all of the people he loved gathered together. No one had noticed that he was awake yet because they were all asleep or staring off into space. Stiles had no idea how long he had been in a coma, so he had no idea how long his friends had been staked out inside of his hospital room.

Bracing for another wave of pain, Stiles turned his head slightly to the right so that he could focus in on Malia.

The sight of her brought another huge wave of emotions. He head was propped up on her arms and he eyes were closed. Her hair was all tangled and she had dark circles under her eyes. But she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The Malia in his dream was nothing compared to the real one. Nothing could ever really capture her essence. The fierceness and strength and protectiveness and beauty were things that were completely unique to her.

Seeing her took away some of the sting of losing his mom. Stiles squeezed her hand and watched as she jumped awake. She stared at their clasped hands for a few seconds as if she didn't really believe that he had just moved. Then slowly, she brought her eyes up until they found his.

He watched in fascination as dozens of emotions flickered across her widened eyes. Then she gave him a dazzling smile and squeezed his hand back.

"Stiles! You're awake! He's awake guys!" she practically shouted. Her raised voice sent a shock of pain through his head but he didn't care. He focused his attention on all of his friends and family.

His father had tears streaming down his face. He smiled through them and kissed Stiles on the forehead. He looked like he wanted to say something but was too overcome with emotion.

Scott also had wet eyes, he stood next to Stiles father. When Stiles met his eyes, Scott smiled and gave him a nod. No words needed to be exchanged between the two of them. They had been through too much together, one look could say it all.

Lydia and Derek had dry eyes, but Stiles could tell how emotional they were.

Isaac and Liam were crying and holding onto each other and Stiles.

Melissa was holding his other hand with Kira next to her. Both women were smiling so hard that it looked like it hurt.

Deaton, Kyle, Dawson, Olivia, and Remy were all standing a little bit back, allowing those who were closest with Stiles to surround him first. They were all watching the scene with smiles on their faces.