Chapter 11

Epilogue

Stiles was alive. The only way he knew that to be true was the excruciating amount of pain he was in. His body screamed out like every piece of him had been broken and put back together wrong. He tried to open his eyes to move his hand to let them know that he was okay but he was so exhausted. He could hear the excited voices calling above him. Melissa, Deaton, his father and finally Lydia's soft tears as they all quieted down.

He fell asleep or passed out he wasn't really sure. And for the first time in a long time he was sleeping and he wasn't being hunted by some psychotic demon. He only knew that the time had indeed passed because when he awoke, or as close to consciousness as he could get, he could feel the soft bed beneath him. Gone was the cold morgue like table he'd been on.

He wasn't sure how long he was out of it for. He was able to pry his eyes open once and he found he was in his own room, his bedside lamp glowing softly, his father asleep in a chair he'd dragged in beside the bed. He only managed to stay awake briefly before falling back asleep. The second time he awoke the sun was coming through the window and Lydia's petite frame had taken the place of his father. She was reading a text book and making notes in her notebook.

She must have felt his eyes on her because she snapped them up to see him. "Oh my God! Stiles!"
She shouted excitedly and tossed her books carelessly to the floor with a crash causing Stiles to flinch. "Sorry," she whispered as she gingerly took his hand in hers and leaned against the bed. "Are you okay? Can I get you anything?" She asked her eyes round and probing into his.

It took him a few tries to whisper out "water" and she leaped to her feet as quick as she could and returned with a glass of water from the bathroom sink. She spilled some on him as she brought it to his lips but he couldn't complain. It was cold and wet and he took a few long drinks before relaxing his head back on the pillow. "How long?" He said as his eyes started to droop again.

"Three days. You've been out three days. I have to call your Dad and wake up Melissa. They'll be upset they missed you. But get some rest Stiles, we'll be here when you wake up." She brushed her hand softly over his brown and he closed his eyes and fell back into a heavy, peaceful, slumber.

When he woke up again both Melissa and his father were by his bedside. Melissa was adjusting an IV and something next to his bed and his dad had his hand on her shoulder in an intimate gesture and suddenly Stiles felt like he was spying. He tried to move so they'll know he's awake but it takes him a little bit and he ends up jostling his sore body causing him to groan.

It succeeds in halting their flirting or whatever it was they were doing. Their attention was immediately drawn to him as they started fussing over him. "How are you feeling son?" His father asked with a deep furrow in his forehead. He looked exhausted.

"Sore. Okay." He managed to croak out. His father beamed at him his eyes glistening heavily with unshed tears.

"Glad to hear it, you gave us quite a scare, but it's all good now. Can I get you anything?" He asked him as he unnecessarily straightened his blankets.

"Drugs?" Stiles asked looking to Melissa.

She shook her head ruefully at him but had a smile on her face. "Sorry kiddo, unless you are under the care of a doctor you are stuck with over the counter. We really should take you back in soon anyway."

Stiles shook his head adamantly. "Bathroom?" He asked his father. His father nodded and Melissa temporarily stopped his IV flow as his father helped him stand shakily to his feet. He leaned heavily on his father not really strong enough to carry his own weight. He was thankful to relieve himself and would be happy to be under his own damn power again. He hated feeling helpless!

His father helped him back into the bed and Stiles whimpered again as his stiff back protested to the movement. "Easy now." Melissa said as she helped ease him into a semi reclined position and plugged his IV back in. "You can have another muscle relaxer, it might help some." She said as she opened his container of pills and plopped the small pill in his hand and handed him a glass of water.

He had just swallowed the pill when Lydia returned. She was wearing a different pair of clothes so she must have gone home or maybe that was days ago that he'd woken up to her by his bed he couldn't be sure. He gave her a quick smile and she lit up at him beaming her megawatt smile back at him. "How you doing?" She asked as she moved to his free side.

"Trying to avoid the inevitable." He answered and she quirked her eyebrow at him. "Figuring out my return date for going back to Beacon Hills Tort… I mean the hospital." Melissa was giving him her fake glare and Stiles acted like he was chagrined at his sarcasm.

"Might as well get it over with. Besides I'm going to need you on the mend, the winter formal is coming up next month and I really would like a dance." She blushed at her forwardness and Stiles let out a nervous laughter.

"Seriously? Really?" His voice cracked as his voice screeched. His face immediately was awash in crimson. "Wait is this some trick to get me back to the hospital?" She didn't answer but brushed her hand against his cheek.

His dad cleared his throat. "So about that treatment? What do you think kiddo did you want to try manual adjustment or go ahead with surgery?"

"I don't know, whichever has the least amount of recovery time involved. I'm done feeling like an invalid." Stiles answered and looked to Melissa for her opinion.

"Well you could try manual manipulation, it would be hell but if it worked it would be outpatient and it would be a few visits to physical therapy. But if it doesn't work you'd end up in surgery anyway. Surgery would require anesthesia and a hospital stay, but you'd be out of it when they fixed you. You'd have to wear a brace for a month or two." Melissa explained and Stiles head began to spin. He hadn't had an Adderall in a long time and it was affecting him.

"I'm going to have to take a little bit to process that. I'll figure it out. Soon." He finished as his father gave him an exasperated look. "In the meantime can someone fill me in on everything that went down while I was… out?"

Melissa and Lydia looked at each other before looking to his father. His father swallowed nervously and his grasp on his emotions was tenuous at best. So Lydia cleared her throat and began to explain. "Well… Deaton did his summoning or whatever you call it and we could feel it. Like this overwhelming presence that was just suffocating. We could see it pull you under even as you fought it." She paused her voice was thick with emotion and tears began to well up in her eyes in danger of spilling over. Stiles grabbed her small hand in his and began tracing it with the pad of his thumb, either for his comfort or hers he wasn't sure. Lydia paused and the forged onward, "It was the worst thing in my life I have ever seen and I will NEVER watch you die again Stiles, do you hear me?" She lost control then and the tears spilled over.

Melissa picked up for her. "We waited for ten minutes before we put Lydia under in the ice water. You were out for another ten minutes. As your injuries can attest the demon was able to cause some physical damage, nothing too serious other than some 2nd degree burns on your hand though. You both reemerged but you hadn't regained consciousness so we simply prayed that you were okay. And I second the fact that we are never going to watch that happen again young man." Melissa too began to lose her composure. Stiles was sniffling a little himself but he kept his eyes trained on the blanket afraid to look at anyone.

"Well hopefully we won't have to go through that ever again." He said after a moment. His eyes were already growing heavy with sleep. He fought to stay awake. "Dad, I don't want them to put me under, I'm afraid it would be too much like…" He trailed off and it was obvious to all of them in the room what he was referring to.

"Okay son. Get some rest."

The next afternoon found Stiles at the outpatient therapy room at the Beacon Hills hospital. He had begged his father to allow Lydia to come along but he had staunchly insisted that she return to school. So he sat nervously bouncing his good leg waiting for his name to be called.

They had him take his muscle relaxer and a mild narcotic to ready him for the manipulation. He lay face down on the chiropractic table and the doctor entered the room. The first manipulation lasted twenty minutes and Stiles was glad he had kept from crying, but only just. Thankfully this route came with a good pain pill prescription and Stiles went home in a hazy bliss.

The second time went scarcely better than the first but surprisingly by the following morning his back was far less painful and for the first time in a long time he had hope that this treatment might actually work. His shoulder was only a dull ache now and he could take the sling off for short periods of time. His bruised ribs were tender but he was turning a sickly yellow shade from the blues and blacks that he had been. He kept himself busy during the days keeping his assignments caught up and texting his friends each day. Lydia came over every evening to make sure he wasn't falling behind and to make sure both he and his father were taking care of each other. In fact, his house had a revolving door as of late. Frequented visits from Scott and Isaac wanting to watch movies or play Xbox, Allison, even Derek and Cora made an appearance. Melissa visited too though it wasn't him she was coming to see. It seemed that she was more interested in taking care of the elder Stilinski now that he was on the mend.

By the time his last visit rolled around Stiles was feeling good again. He hadn't been able to remember the last time he felt good. Long before Scott getting bit, maybe even before his mother had gotten sick. For the first time in a long time he was thankful just to be healthy and alive. Walking itself held new meaning.

He had friends and a life outside of the supernatural. He was falling even further for Lydia and she was even reciprocating the feelings. He was no longer plagued by a sense of evil lurking at every shadow.

The CT scan revealed a successful alignment and aside from taking it easy he was given the green light to head back to school and back to his life. He knew that there would be other things that would go bump in the night. Other terrors that needed to be handled and problems that needed to be solved. But for the first time in a long time Stiles couldn't say that he minded. He was sure of it. He could handle whatever happened next.

A/N: So that's it folks. Can't believe this fic is over so soon. I'm not sure I'm ready to let them go. They were fun to write. Are there any story prompts you want to see written? I'm looking for a new idea to write so if you have something let me know. I'm definitely going to stick with Stydia. There isn't enough of that to go around I'm finding. So if you have any good Stydia recommendations let me know. Chasechick on tumblr!