✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter ten.

Ella rushed into the bathrooms behind Scott and Stiles, kneeling at Scott's side with everyone else behind Ella. Ella looked Scott in the eyes, him giving her a nod before she began to lift up his shirt. "Oh my god," Ella gasped at the scratch marks on Scott's torso that had seemed to get worse, "Why didn't you tell us?" "Sorry," Scott muttered, trying to smile. "Okay. Just give us a second, okay?" Ella asked as she stood up and huddled with Stiles, Lydia, and Allison. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this," Allison said.

"Okay, what do we do then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles asked. "What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" Allison asked. "We gotta do something," Ella exclaimed. "You know, it could be psychological," Lydia suggested. "What do you mean, like, psychosomatic?" Stiles asked.

"Somatoformic," Lydia corrected. "Som. .?" Stiles trailed off. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause," Lydia explained. When no one answered, Ella face palmed, "She means it's all in his head." "All in his head?" Stiles asked, "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died." "So what do we do?" Allison asked. Lydia dig through her purse, then handed a needle and thread to Ella, "Stitch him up."

Ella breathed out, looking at the objects in her shaking hands. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing. Plus, Ella, you calm him down the most. If you speak to him though it all, maybe it could make him heal faster," Lydia shrugged.

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Ella set fire to the tip of the needle, "He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" "Um, I'm gonna get it. I hate needles anyway, so uh, Daniella, do you know what you're doing?" Stiles asked. "Yeah, mom taught me so I could sew dresses for my Barbie dolls when I was younger," Ella said. "I mean, how fast are you gonna I mean, the bus, like, the bus could leave," Stiles stated. "Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave," Ella said firmly. Stiles nodded and walked up to Ella, placing a soft kiss to her forehead before looking over at Allison and Lydia.

"We can help. Come on," the two girls said, Stiles following them out. Ella watched them leave before looking down at Scott and kneeling down to his side, taking a hold of his chin with one hand, "Okay. Okay, stay with me. Stay with me, okay? Stay with me."

"I'm tired."

"Scott, just look at me, okay? Just keep looking at me. It's Ella. Daniella Nicole Stilinski; you're second best friend since the second grade," Ella said as she tried to put the thread through the eye of the needle, "Come on. Come on. Come on."

Suddenly, Ella felt her mother's presence beside her. "You can't thread a needle, honey?" Claudia's soft voice rang through her ears.

Ella licked her lips, "I'm trying, mom."

"Well, my love, try harder. This is the boy you love correct?" Claudia asked. Ella glanced up at Scott, "I don't know about—"

"You love this boy, sweetheart. And you want to save him. Thread the needle."

"My hands won't stop shaking, mommy," Ella whispered, biting her lip.

"Breathe. My darling, breathe. Try it again." Ella groaned through gritted teeth. "Nicole. Save the boy you love."

"Save the boy I love," Daniella whispered to herself. She took a deep breath then let it out, finally getting the thread through the needle. She nodded to herself and began to stitch Scott up, "Okay. Stay with me, stay with me. Stay with me, Scotty."

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Ella set the needle down then tied it off, sighing deeply. "Scott," Ella asked, stroking his cheek. "Scott?" Ella leaned in to try to hear his breathing, but she couldn't hear a thing. "Scott? Scott?" Ella stroked his torso with her thumb, "Scott." Scott then suddenly woke up, breathing heavily, "It was my fault." "Scott, look at me," Ella said, lifting up Scott's chin so he could look her in the eyes. Scott visibly calmed down, finding comfort in Ella's ocean blue eyes.

He then looked down to see his three scratches stitched up, "Did you do that?" Ella chuckled whilst shaking her head, "Yeah. Surprisingly."

"Nice," Scott breathed out. Ella smiled, "Can you stand?" Ella helped Scott stand up, placing one hand on his muscle and the other on his back. "Okay, put this on," Ella said, helping Scott put on the t-shirt. "I didn't even know that you could sew," Scott chuckled, wincing afterwards.

Ella smiled, "I had some help by my mom." "Your mom? You still see her, don't you?" Scott asked softly. Ella nodded, "Yeah. She talked me through it. And gave me a good reason as to why I should calm down and save you." "Save me?" Scott asked. Ella bit her lip, "I've said too much. Come on." Scott couldn't help but chuckle as they made their way out of the bathroom.

"I'm surprised no one went in there through it all, if they had, it would've been insanely hard to explain," Ella chuckled. She then saw Lydia and Allison rushing to them. "Is he okay?" Allison asked. "Are you okay?" Lydia asked. Lydia took Scott's bag and slung it over her shoulder, Allison leading them. "Yeah," Scott replied, "Stiles. Where's Stiles?" "Trying to stall coach. We still don't have gas," Lydia said, motioning between she and Allison. "I'm not leaving him," Allison shook her head. "Then you'd have to leave the car," Ella rolled her eyes. "Sounds good," Allison shrugged.

Ella looked at Lydia who was giving her an 'Are you kidding me' look. "I don't think that was an actual suggestion. Allison, wait. Ah. Screw it."

Ella helped Scott to where Stiles was standing. She noticed how a large group was forming around something. "Stiles, what's happening?" Ella asked her brother. "They went after him. I told 'em what was happening with him and they just went after him," Stiles replied. "Who, Boyd?" Scott asked, alarmed. Scott and Ella began to rush towards the scene, watching as Isaac threw punch after punch at Ethan, Danny trying to push Isaac off of him but Isaac only shoved him off and continued to beat Ethan. "Isaac, Isaac, Isaac! Back off!" Coach shouted. "Stop. Isaac!" Ella shouted, attracting Isaac's attention who only snarled and turned back to Ethan. Scott then pushed himself off of Ella and roared, "Isaac!"

Isaac stopped punching Ethan, coach eyeing Scott with surprise and shock. Eventually, everyone brushed it off and began to get back into the bus. Ella sat with Scott, and Stiles and Lydia sat in front of them whilst Allison sat in the lone seat beside Ella and Scott. Ella reached forward and played with Scott's fingers, her cold hands sending a chill down Scott's spine. "You knew that I could hear you when you were stitching me up, right?" Scott asked softly. Ella's eyes immediately flickered up at Scott, "You could?" "Yeah," Scott chuckled. Ella rested her head on Scott's shoulder, "I love you, Scotty." Scott smiled and could feel something other than fear in his stomach, "I love you too, Daniella."