Home (Sciles AU)

Chapter 44

Third Person POV

Exactly one week after Scott's proposal to Stiles, Melissa gets a call from the Sheriff, a call that she never wanted to get. It fills her with fear, horror, dread and heartbreak. She feels her eyes start to water, but she refuses to let herself cry now. Not until she knows more about what happened, and what's going to happen.

"I'm so sorry, Melissa. I am in as much shock as you right now. But I just thought that I should let you know what happened, before the paramedics bring them into the hospital." The Sheriff apologizes sadly on the other end of the phone after they had a solid minute of silence in response to the Sheriff delivering some unpleasant news. The Sheriff knew he had to say something because he doubts that Melissa would have.

Melissa stays silent for a while, still trying to fully process the news all the while trying not to let her grief overwhelm her. She mentally tries to tell herself that everything is going to be okay, and that the injuries won't be as serious as she and probably the Sheriff are fearing. Melissa can't believe that this is happening right now, and she stops breathing for a few moments and she hears a ringing sound in her ears for a moment. Melissa readjusts her grip on the phone, afraid that she might drop it and watch it smash against the ground. Melissa doesn't have enough money to pay for a new phone right now. Melissa feels like her stomach is twisting and turning inside of her, making her feel queasy and very anxious. Melissa blinks rapidly to try and keep the tears away even as the world continues to disappear around her, trapped in her own fearful thoughts, the Sheriff's voice only very faintly droning on in the background as he explains something to Melissa that she can't really hear in her state of shock. Eventually though, she is pulled out of her shocked state by the Sheriff shouting her name.

"Melissa!" Sheriff Stilinski shouts worriedly into the phone after not hearing a response from her for a solid minute.

"Y-yes?" Melissa responds, her voice sounding a little shaky.

"Are you okay?" The Sheriff asks softly.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay. Thank you... I'm glad you told me. I just... I don't even know what to think right now. It doesn't seem real." Melissa eventually replies, still recovering from the shock, and trying to not let her grief overwhelm her too badly yet. Nobody has been classified as dead yet, so that has to be a good sign... Right? Melissa has to believe that it's a good sign. She just has to.

"Yeah... Being here doesn't make it feel any more real. It just feels like some sort of nightmare that I'll wake up from at any moment." The Sheriff sighs sadly, his heart aching and his eyes stinging with tears as he looks at the complete wreck in front of him. There is shrapnel, glass and blood everywhere. A lot of people have also come out of their houses to see what has happened. Deputy Parrish and some of the other officers are putting up some barriers around the accident area, trying to force the onlookers to stay back to give them and the paramedics more space to do their hopefully life savingwork.

"I-I should probably go and get back to work. Thank you for letting me know about this, Sheriff. I'll see you soon. Try not to freak out too much. That won't help anyone. I'm sure things will be okay." Melissa eventually says after a couple moments of silence.

"I hope you're right, Melissa. I really do." The Sheriff responds with a tired, sad and defeated sigh before he hangs up the phone and puts it back into his pocket. Noah Stilinski walks back over to the mess of the car wreck again, where some of his officers and paramedics are all working hard to get everyone in the three cars out to examine the extent of their injuries. Noah watches them work, still feeling shocked that all of this has happened. Noah knows he shouldn't be acting like this. He knows he needs to be more professional actually help his officers out... But how can he do that? His emotions will just get in the way, causing a massive conflict of interest. In the police force, you can't have such a big conflict of interest interfering with your job. It could cost people lives. Noah knows that. But he also can't bring himself to leave the scene either. How could he? What if something terrible happens, and Noah isn't here? The Sheriff doubts that he could ever live with himself if that happened. He made that mistake the night his wife died. He stayed with the wrong person, and left his only son to watch Claudia die on his own. The Sheriff is not going to make that kind of mistake again. He's not going to leave this area until he's forced to. Noticing that Parrish is walking over to him with a glum expression, Noah thinks that he might be forced to leave very soon, and his heart aches a little more.

"Sheriff? Are you okay?" Parrish asks as he reaches Noah.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm okay." Noah waves a hand in dismissal, but Parrish gives him a disbelieving look.

"I know that this must be very hard and distressing for you, Sheriff. You should go home. I don't think your mind will be completely focused on the job tonight, which is completely understandable." Parrish suggests to the Sheriff softly.

"I don't want to... I can't. I can't leave Stiles. Or Scott, for that matter. Not like this." Noah responds, his voice shaky, tears starting to blur his vision, and he can't bring himself to look over to the people continuing to be carefully pulled out of the wreck of the mangled cars.

"Sheriff, you really should take the rest of the night off and go home. Or go to the hospital and wait there, if you have to. I can handle this situation here, alright? You're only going to stress out more while you're here on duty. It's not going to help anyone, including Stiles and Scott." Parrish continues, staring at the Sheriff seriously.

"What, are you saying that you're not freaked out and upset by this?" The Sheriff asks incredulously as he wildly gestures to the chaos in front of him.

"Of course I am upset by this, Sheriff! Stiles and Scott are my friends! But Stiles isn't my son, so it's different for me and you. Please just go home, Sheriff. Or go to someone else's house if you really want to. I can handle this, I promise." Parrish says firmly, not backing down from his argument. The Sheriff glares back at Parrish for a few more moments, hoping to wear down Parrish's defences, but Parrish looks firm and like he is not going to change his opinion on the matter. Noah Stilinski eventually sighs in defeat, knowing that deep down, Parrish is right. Noah feels like he's going to either break down at any moment or be really sick while he's here at the car wreck, unable to do actually do any helpful work to try and save as many lives and sort out this car wreck as efficiently and safely as possible.

"Just... Just make sure that they are both safe. And that they are both okay." Noah concedes, finally looking away from Parrish and over towards the wreck, where the paramedics have managed to get an unconscious Scott out of the upside down jeep, scratches covering his body, glass sticking out of his skin in some places, his skin pale and his arm is at an odd angle. Scott doesn't look like he's in a good condition, which worries Noah. He doesn't even want to see what sort of condition Stiles is in. It might break his heart completely.

"Of course, sir. I want them to be okay just as much as you do." Parrish reassures the Sheriff, pulling Noah's attention away from the car wreck again.

"It's just terrible timing, don't you think? They just got engaged, and then this happens to them..." Noah laughs sadly, his eyes still stinging and his throat hurting from trying not to cry or sob for so long.

"I know. It sucks. But life isn't always fair. You know that." Parrish shrugs sadly.

"I unfortunately know that all too well..." Sheriff Stilinski sighs, thinking back to when he found out his wife was sick and how he had to watch her slowly deteriorate until she was only a shell of the woman that she used to be. It was the most horrible thing that Noah has ever had to witness in his life. If his only son and only family left doesn't make it through to the morning though... That might just be able to top it.

"Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow, Parrish. Good luck with everything here, I'm leaving you in charge." The Sheriff announces as he starts to turn around and trudges back towards his car glumly, his heart still feeling like it is in his throat as it has felt like ever since he first arrived at the car crash scene.

"Stay safe, Sheriff." Parrish calls out in response. Noah nods a little bit, but other than that, he doesn't answer as he gets into his car, turns they keys in the ignition and drives away from the scene and towards the hospital. There's no way in hell that Noah would be able to go home and sleep tonight. Not when his son's life is in danger. If the Sheriff can't stay at the car crash scene where his son is currently, waiting at the hospital where Stiles inevitably will be going is the next best thing. Staying at the hospital and waiting to hear some news, any news, about his son as well as Scott, hearing that they'll be okay is what Noah needs to do. He won't be leaving that hospital until he hears something.