It is safe to say that out of all his friends, he's heard Lydia scream the most. And as he hears it now, he knows that it doesn't matter if she screams every day for the rest of both of their lives. He will always react the same way. With fear and concern and worry and every protective instinct he has rising to the surface.

"Lydia?"

Stiles feels it all, now. His hurt plummeting to his stomach, his pulse accelerating as he whips around. Something in this particular wail tells him that it is not of a warning of an impending death. He hears her scream again, this time punctuated with terrified sobs, and he knows he's right.

"Lydia-" he moves, pushing himself away from the operating table he'd been leaning on. "Lydia!"

Panic starts to set in as he wonders what exactly could have happened to her in the time that she had left to use the clinic's restroom. He pushes his way past Deaton and Cora, who are frozen in shock, and then stops when he hears her sobbing again and this time the sound is much closer.

He blinks and Lydia is there. If he had thought seeing her would do something to calm his nerves, he was sorely mistaken. She is clawing at herself and he freezes, stunned. Her white dress is shredded and he can see the red of her skin where her nails have attacked it. "Get it out of me-GET IT OUT OF ME!"

"What the-what the hell are you doing?" Stiles grabs her, trying to catch at her arms. "Lydia, stop it-"

She just keeps screaming the same thing. "Get it out of me! Please-get it out-"

He realizes that she is not lucid, her eyes wide, petrified and far, far away. It frightens him to see her so terrified and incoherent. He quickly glances at her stomach, trying to understand what it was that she so desperately wanted out of her.

But there was nothing.

Nothing but blood from her hands, and white cloth, and more blood from the self-inflicted scratches all over her torso. Stiles lets her go for a fraction of second before he reaches for her from behind, grabbing both of her arms and crossing them in front of her as he holds her. "Lydia, there's nothing there-Lydia-"

Deaton, who'd been rummaging around for something, approaches them cautiously. Stiles catches a glimpse of the syringe in his hand and the vet subtly gestures to Lydia. His arms tightening around her, the blood on her hand now on his own, Stiles nods his consent. He hopes Lydia won't hate him too much for it and forgive him once she's calmed down.

But as Deaton moves towards them and Lydia begins thrashing even harder against Stiles, he wonders if he'll even be able to forgive himself.

"No-" her voice is choked as she screams. "I need to be awake- I need to get this out-Stiles-please-"

His heart breaks as he fights to keep his hold on her. He tells himself that this is for her own good, that she will be grateful that he stopped her from hurting herself. And yet, with Lydia crying and screaming and struggling to get away from him, it is much harder to accept the words he repeats to himself in his head.

"Lydia, it's okay," he murmurs into her hair. "It's going to be alright, Lydia."

And then the syringe is in her neck and Deaton pushes down on the plunger. It takes a few moments but the change in Lydia is palpable. She stops fighting, her movements stilled. Stiles is ready for the dead weight in his arms when her head drops back against his shoulder and she is no longer making any effort to hold herself up.

He lowers her to the floor steadily and Deaton kneels down beside her, murmuring something about how he's sedated her. Stiles keeps one hand on her hair, his eyes narrowing as he tries to process what just happened. "What's wrong with her?"

"She hallucinated," Deaton says simply. "Any chance someone could have gotten wolfsbane into her?"

Stiles shakes his head. "No, she's been with me all day-" And then he freezes. Except when she wasn't.

He stands up quickly, trying to control his emotions so his expression won't come out livid. Cora calls his name but he was already moving to the door. "Stay with her," is all he says.

"Stiles!"

"Just stay with her- I'll be back."