Heartbeat // A Derek Hale Love Story (Teen Wolf)

She Found Me

Derek's POV

Jon came back a few hours later, after Alaric went to find me something to eat. I attempted a protest, but he was convinced Lillian would be just as comforted to see me when she woke up than him. And with my stomach audibly growling, I didn't argue further.

"So how do you and Lillian know each other?" Jon asked, checking the clipboard by the other side of the bed.

"We met at the Foundry, it's a gym in town," I replied quietly. "She came in looking for a sparring partner, and she found me." A smile fluttered over my face for a moment at the memory of when she first came into the gym.

Maybe it was me who found her. Saved her from the irritant that was Tynan. Maybe it wasn't so much that I saved her, but more that she sought me out and saved herself. I could still see the impassioned expression on her face when she demanded I help her. When she insisted I wouldn't have picked up the sparring sticks if I thought she couldn't do it.

"She your girlfriend?"

I paused, eyeing the monitor as it indicated Lil's pulse quicken ever-so-slightly. "Yeah," I replied, knowing the terminology didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I cared about her, and wasn't seeing anyone else. Her being my 'girlfriend' sounded a lot better than someone I had a 'thing' with. And sitting in a hospital at four in the morning seemed more important than just a 'thing'.

A sharp intake of breath cut through the air, and my gaze darted to Lillian's face. Her eyebrows knit together, and she sighed, flexing her fingers.

"Lil?"

Her eyes slid open, gaze drowsy as she beheld me, then Jon.

"Hey!" I exclaimed softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was stomped on by a horse," she groaned, no trace of humour on her gorgeous face as she lay there. "Still hurts... what did they do when I was out?"

"They had to operate on you and find the source of the bleeding," Jon jumped in, planting by her side of the bed.

"Is that why it feels like I was impaled with an axe?" Lillian weakly gestured to her midriff, where I was sure there was heavy bandaging, and beneath, a fresh incision.

"If there's still a lot of pain, we can increase your morphine drip," Jon responded, pointing to the button that could turn up the concentration of the drug.

"I just want to go home," Lillian said softly, eyes welling with tears again. "I don't want to be here." She glanced at me. "Can you take me home?"

I frowned, looking at Jon. "I think we have to wait for your dad. He should be here soon."

"Is there anything I can get for you?" Jon asked, sympathy reflecting in his irises.

"Can you knock me out until my dad gets here?" she sighed, sinking further into the bed, as if she'd fall through the floor and disappear. "Or go get him."

Jon dipped his head. "I'll see what I can do."

Once he left, Lillian looked at me. "Take me home," she said softly. "Please."

"I can't," I replied sadly, brushing my thumb across the back of her hand. There wasn't much more I could say to her, I knew right then all she could think about was leaving. I wasn't much of a conversationalist, either, especially when I was exhausted as I was.

I racked my brain for anything to say, but all I could hear was that scream and the splintering crunch of bone when those hooves came down. All I could see was the blood spewing out of her mouth, the strangled gasps, the endless tears. Ice skittered down my spine.