I Guess We're Lucky

Not the End

    The doors to the ER bay swung open and the lobby burst into action. They pushed Stiles along at a near sprint with the sheriff and pack following right behind. The pack was stopped when Stiles was taken behind a curtain. Melissa walked over and guided them to the waiting area. The sheriff didn't budge with the rest of them, instead he stood and listened to what was happening behind the curtain.

     "Prepare the defibrillators!"

     "Charge to 50."

     "In position... clear!" With that the sheriff couldn't stand there anymore and jerked the curtain open then disappeared and stepped inside. He wasn't going to let his son go through this alone. After closing the curtain he watched carefully. 

     "No pulse."

     "Charge to 100."

     "Ready... clear!" The sheriff watched as Stiles body jerked up with the paddles, as if they were attached to him, and he remembered the way his body jerked after being electrocuted.

     "We have a pulse!" The small curtained off area burst into clapter and relieved sighs. 

     "Let's prep for surgery." With that a table was wheeled in, and they counted to three and gently raised Stiles up onto the table. They attached his IV to a pole on it and wheeled him out again. 

     "Sheriff, you can't go this time", Melissa told him with a gentle voice. "I need you to fill out some paperwork too."

     "How could I have let this happen, Melissa?"

     Frowning at the utter distress on the sheriff's face, she slid her hand into his. "It wasn't your fault, and we both know Stiles, he won't go anywhere if it would mean leaving you and his friends."

     The sheriff turned to her with grateful eyes. She lead him over to where the rest of the kids were waiting in the waiting room. Scott practically ran over when they entered. Knowing the sheriff couldn't talk about what he just witnessed right now Melissa took the lead in explaining.

     "They managed to revive him and are taking him into surgery right now to repair the lung", Melissa said looking at each of the panicked kids. "Nothing is for certain right now, but he also had a bit of head trauma that could be dangerous."

     The sheriff slid down numbly into one of the seats and drowned out everything else. Right now he was in that operating theater with Stiles.

**********

     After sitting with the kids and the sheriff for about thirty minutes she needed the sheriff to fill out paperwork. The sheriff was still in shock and she ended up filling out most of it, knowing Stiles' allergies and dates of shots since she was the only person he trusted to give him them. When she was done she disappeared down the hall to see if she could find anything out. 

     She was technically removed from this case because of her and Stiles' relationship, but that didn't man she couldn't find anything out. As it turns out Stiles had the largest operating room with an observation window and she peered inside. 

    From what she could see they had borrowed the pediatric surgeon from a few floors up to help, along with the standard ER surgeon. Stiles head was barely visible from the several bodies covered in blue scrubs crowded around him. He had a tube down his throat now and also one up his nose. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful. She watched for a while longer before going back to tell the sheriff that he could go watch as well if he wanted. 

     She returned to the lobby and it looked as if she had never left. There were a few other people there waiting on news now, including coach and Lydia's mom. She walked up to the sheriff who was staring off into space and whispered to him to walk with her. 

     "I found the operating room that he is in and there is a window so you can watch", she said glancing up at his face, and there was a glisten of hope in his eyes. In his eyes that looked extremely tired and afraid. 

     As they approached the room she stopped talking and let the sheriff pier inside the white room. His breath almost stopped when he saw Stiles surrounded by all of the doctors and nurses. Being the sheriff he had become well acquainted with most of the doctors in the hospital and knew that Stiles was in good hands.

      They stood there in silence for a very long time, just staring at Stiles face, since that was the only part of him that they could see. After a while Scott somehow found them and joined in the watching. Noah was not exactly young and after a while is back started to ache from standing in the same position for so long. 

     He was so afraid that while he was watching the room would go into chaos and Stiles would crash again. He was stand there and watch them try to revive his son over and over until the doctor would make the call and the time of death would be announced. Just the thought made him want to bend over and hurl, but he would never give up on Stiles that easily. 

     "Noah, I think they are rapping up", Melissa said, dragging the sheriff out of his dark thoughts. 

     "Okay. Good, that's good", he answered rubbing a hand down his tired face. 

      Inside the room Dr. Barnes sewed the last stitch to the incision on Stiles chest then peered at the young man's face. He looked still too pale and his eyelids were taped shut. That was about as stressful as any surgery he has ever performed. He knew the boy's father well and had even removed Stiles' appendix when he was seven. He didn't know how he would have lived with himself if he let his life slip through his fingers. 

     He brushed a hand over Stiles forehead and pushed back his hair, which was sweaty when they brought him in but his skin was now cold to the touch. He stepped back to allow the nurses to finish up bandaging his cuts and shoulder. He took one last look at the boy before peeling his gloves off and leaving the room. He hoped that the worst was over.