I Guess We're Lucky

Breath of Relief

     It was early morning two days later and still dark out when the sheriff left Stiles with Haley to get a coffee and snack. Now that Stiles was doing better he felt like he could actually breath. He was still extremely exhausted but he couldn't fall asleep knowing that Stiles might wake up.

     He took a brief walk around the hospital to stretch his legs before heading back to the ICU. Stiles had officially been taken off of the critical condition list now that he was healing rapidly. When he is completely off of the ventilator he is allowed to be moved to  a private room, where the pack can visit.

     He smiled at Haley and sat down as she left the room. Sitting his coffee on the rolling table he reached down and held Stiles's hand. He had gotten a sponge bath twice and now the hair net and smell of blood was gone, which made it a lot easier to relax, knowing he wasn't smelling his son's blood.

     He watched the sunlight begin to peak through blinds as the sun rose. It was very peaceful as the sun showed through and bathed the big room in natural orange light. It was also nice that he could just be Noah Stilinkski the dad for a few days and not have the stress of Sheriff Stilinkski of Beacon Hills on top of everything. He had put Parrish in charge in his absence as they 'searched' for the person who did this to Stiles. But unfortunately, it would go unsolved and marked as someone who had beef against the sheriff and told them where Stiles was, thinking he would die. They would never know who had done it.

    They did have a problem though, seeing as Donovan's body was missing. Which was just great news. Theo had broken the news shortly after Stiles had his seizure, and they had looked for after shortly deciding that it was pointless. The sheriff had been skeptical of the Theo, only because Stiles was and Stiles was good at judging character, but after everything he felt as though Theo could definitely be trusted. He hoped Stiles would too, he had heard Theo had been distressed since Stiles had been in the ICU. All his friends were.

     He reached for his coffee to finish it off while it was still hot, when he was startled by Stiles abruptly going into a coughing fit, choking on the tube down his throat. His eyes were full of panic and his face was turning red. 

     "Stiles! Hey, you're okay, you're okay! Hey we need help in here!" Noah yelled as nurses ran in to help. He clutched Stiles's hand as they began to crowd around.

      "Stiles? Can you hear me? On three I am going to pull the tube out! Okay buddy?" Dr. Nolan yelled for Stiles to hear. "One... two... three!" The tube was freed from his throat but he continued to cough which hurt his sore, injured chest. The sheriff continued to clutch his hand.

      An oxygen mask was quickly placed over his mouth and nose and he greedily gulped in air. They added more morphine to his IV then left the father and son alone. After a while his coughs stopped but the sheriff continued to clutch his hand and caress his face, brush his bangs back. 

     "Hey Stiles. How do you feel son?" The sheriff asked gently.

      "W-water", he choked out. Noah reached over to the grey thermos with a straw that was brought in by one of the nurses. He held it up to Stiles's mouth. "Go slowly, don't start coughing again."

     He took a few sips to soothe his sore throat, then the sheriff sat it back down. Stiles leaned back and relaxed again and shut his eyes for a moment before turning back to his dad to see tears in his eyes.

      "Dad. I-I'm so sorry", Stiles added beginning to cry. 

      "No no no no no. Stiles you have absolutely nothing to feel sorry for", he said leaning down to wipe the tears from his face. "It's just really good to see your eyes."

      "He-he said he was going to kill me then kill you and there was n-nothing I could do he was a-a chimera and he was so strong and-and", Stiles started to sob out and gasp. 

     "Shhhhhh. You're fine, I'm fine everyone's fine. He isn't going to hurt anyone anymore", Noah said as he held his son while he cried and clutched onto his chest. "Everything's fine."

     After a long time Stiles couldn't hold himself anymore and collapsed back, but Noah caught him and gently laid him down. He fixed the oxygen mask which was barely on his face anymore then scooted his chair closer. Stiles was staring off into space as his eyes began to drift shut then closed as fell into a drug induced sleep. 

    He sat and watched him breath for a while before texting the pack that he had woken up. They immediately texted back that they were on their way. Dr. Nolan walked in and announced that they were moving Stiles to his own room and asked him to wait in the waiting room. He reluctantly trudged down the hall and collapsed in a chair.

      About ten minutes later the whole pack stormed in and immediately sat down by him. Not saying a single word. Melissa sat right by him and reached down to hold his hand. 

     "Everything's going to be fine", she said squeezing his hand.

     "Yeah. You're right", he said realizing that she was. 

     They all just sat in silence as they waited. The last few days had been hell for all of them, and they just anticipated this moment. Several minutes later and nurse walked in and told them they could follow. When they reached his door the sheriff went in first to see Stiles asleep and relaxed. His scars were healing as were the bruises. They oxygen mask was fogging up as he took painful shallow breaths. 

     The nurse said he would be out for a while so he invited the pack in and they all sat and stood around Stiles. The sheriff and Melissa left to give them some privacy. Scott and Malia sat the closest. Malia gently holding his hand, as if she was going to break him. Scott just sat looking at him and cried. What a big bad alpha. But they all understood what he was feeling and didn't blame him at all. They had all cried about Stiles. 

     The first thing Stiles was aware of was someone holding his hand and the sound of Scott sniffling. He would know those sniffles anywhere. It was this realization that gave him the strength to flutter his eyes open and look around. No one even noticed at first because it was supposed to be another hour until he was awake but then the heart monitor gave it away. 

      "Stiles!" Malia yelled out as she jumped to hug him, surprisingly gently. She laughed in relief as he hugged her back and when she backed off Scott instantly replaced her. 

     "Hey buddy", Stiles said as he rubbed circles on Scott's back while he cried on Stiles shoulder. "I'm okay." What a little puppy, Stiles thought.

      "I know. But you weren't and I was so scared", Scott said backing off and looking into Stiles's eyes. 

     "How long was I out?" Stiles asked looking around at all of them, realizing it must have been really bad.

     "A little more than three days", Liam said.

      "Oh. How bad was it?"

     "Well your lung was punctured and you had internal bleeding, several broken ribs, severe concussion, burns, cuts, bruises, and a hurt leg", Lydia rattled off. But she looked guilty.

     "There's more?" Stiles asked knowing they weren't telling him something. 

     "Well after a few hours in the ICU, you kind of had a seizure", Scott said watching Stiles as he looked down and played with his IV. He still had dark circles under his eyes and looked really weak. Maybe he wasn't ready for all of this yet. 

     "Oh?" He said trying to hide his shock.

     "Yeah, we weren't allowed in at all but your dad said it was pretty bad", Malia added.

     "What caused it?" He asked trying to sound casual, but it really freaked him out.

     "One of the medicines you were on for swelling in your brain", Lydia answered.

     "But's its all good now?"

      "Yeah your all good now", Scott answered patting his shoulder as Stiles grew weak again and his eyes began to flutter. 

      "Get some rest Stiles", Malia said leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead. 

     And he dosed off.