Fic: Any deviation is a problem || PG-13 || Pre-Stiles/Derek
Author: MARISHNA
Title: Any deviation is a problem
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Pre-Stiles/Derek
Character/s: Stiles, Derek, Scott, Melissa, Boyd, mention of Laura & Erica
Summary: Derek rolled onto his side and was about to say, "I'm fine" but he saw Boyd's eyes widen. He looked down and his stomach did a weird flip-floppy thing when he saw the shard of glass sticking out of his leg.
Warnings: Vague descriptions of a bloody injury?
Content Notes: Meeting for the first time, paramedic!Stiles, human!au,
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 3001
Prompt: 221 - Emergency
Author's Notes: Sorry to anyone with actual medical background, I tried to be as general as possible while using the info I thought would fit/work so if I messed it up it's all on me.
Derek wasn't really sure what happened. One second he was removing one of the old windows from his burned out former childhood home, the next he was sprawled on the floor with the sound of shattered glass ringing in his ears.
Boyd ran in the second-floor bedroom Derek was working on from across the hall. "Derek! You okay?"
Derek rolled onto his side and was about to say, "I'm fine" but he saw Boyd's eyes widen. He looked down and his stomach did a weird flip-floppy thing when he saw the shard of glass sticking out of his leg.
"Shit," Derek spat out as a wave of cold clamminess washed over him. "Boyd?"
He looked up and saw his friend already on the phone with 911.
"Yeah, the old Hale house. ... That's the one. Right. ... There's not much blood, no."
Derek looked back down at his leg. It was a thin piece of glass since the windows were older but the piece was sticking out of his leg at least four inches and he didn't know how much was embedded. He reached out and gingerly grasped it, seeing if it would come out easily but--nope.
"Derek! Don't move it!" Boyd exclaimed. Derek watched red stain his jeans around the glass and another surge of cold clamminess hit him while his vision swam.
"Oops," Derek breathed.
And passed out.
***
He didn't think he was out of it for that long but the next thing Derek knew he could hear Boyd rushing down the stairs to the front door to greet the paramedics.
Now that he was aware of the extent of his injury he could feel the pain start to radiate from it and it stabbed at him like a mix of burning electric shocks. He bit his lip and turned his head to look at the door, noticing he had something soft under it.
He could hear Boyd leading the paramedics up the stairs and Derek sighed to himself, cursing about how he should have been paying more attention. He was trying to get as much of the house fixed up as soon as possible before the brutal heat of summer set in so he could move out of his sister's place with her daughter. Now he had to worry about wasting at least the afternoon at the hospital, maybe have limited mobility, worry about possible infe--oh.
One of the paramedics stepped into the room and Derek's thoughts took a stumble.
"Derek? Hey, I'm Stiles. Your buddy said you passed out," the paramedic--Stiles-- said as he put his bag down and knelt by his side to start his assessment.
The other paramedic dodged the broken glass and mirrored Stiles on Derek's other side. "I'm Scott, how're you doing, Derek?"
"Been better," Derek grumbled in reply but Scott flashed him a bright, wide smile and took out a pair of scissors.
"We'll get you fixed up in no time," Scott assured him before he began to cut the bottom of the left leg of Derek's jeans.
Damn, he liked this pair.
On his right Stiles reached out and took Derek's pulse from his wrist with a gloved hand as he concentrated on his watch. Derek's eyes flitted across Stiles' face, taking in the angles of his profile and making note of the moles and marks scattered across his skin. He had soft-looking brown hair and full lips.
As if he could feel Derek's eyes Stiles looked up suddenly, caught Derek's gaze and winked at him. Derek didn't have time to feel embarrassed as the team started working on him
"Gonna have you taken care of in no time, Derek," Stiles said easily, opening his bag. "How's it look, Scotty?"
Scott had his pant leg open up to the glass and was carefully peeling the bloody sides away from the glass. He grabbed some gauze and carefully tried to clean up the area as best he could, then carefully examined the area.
"Gonna need stitches, dude," Scott declared as his finger moved too close to the glass and moved it enough for Derek's forehead to break out in sweat. His right hand spasmed and he took in a sharp breath.
"Derek?" Stiles' broke in. "Can you tell me if you're hurt anywhere else? Did you hit your head and that's why you passed out?"
Derek turned his head while Scott grabbed more gauze and a splint so he wouldn't have to watch.
"I don't think I'm hurt anywhere else, I didn't hit my head. I don't know what happened. One second I was talking to Boyd and the next you guys walked in," Derek explained.
"Probably just shock, then. Nothing to be too concerned about right now but we're going to get you to the ambulance, okay? You're gonna need stitches." Stiles reached for Derek's hand and squeezed it briefly before working seamlessly with Scott to get him secured. Once they got his leg immobile and he was standing on one leg he was checked over for more injuries but, luckily, there weren't any as he expected.
With Boyd's help they slowly helped Derek down the stairs on one leg and out to the waiting ambulance, its doors flung open to await him. It felt weird to be strapped onto the gurney and loaded into the vehicle backwards but as he was being locked in and Boyd started to climb in after them Derek swore.
"Derek? You okay?" Stiles asked, immediately concerned and hovering by his leg.
"Boyd, Laura's out of town until tomorrow morning and Lia's at school. I was supposed to pick her up after school at three--"
"Derek, it's cool. I've got her, okay? I can call Laura for you, too," Boyd assured him as he stepped back out of the ambulance.
"You can call your wife from the hospital," Stiles cut in while putting a blood pressure cuff on Derek. Boyd snorted and Stiles looked up between them with a confused look.
"Laura's my sister and Lia's her daughter," Derek explained quickly. "Can you call Laura and have her let the school know you're going to pick her up? Or, uh--"
"Derek, it's cool. Erica works in the main office at the school, remember?" Boyd assured him. "I'll call her right now and clear it with her, okay?"
Derek nodded and tried to relax back on the gurney while Boyd went back into the house to get his phone. Scott was filling out some forms on his right while Stiles called out results and readings.
"Almost there," Stiles murmured, close to Derek's ear.
Derek turned his head and could have brushed his lips against Stiles' cheek he was so near. Before he could look away Stiles gently held his jaw and held him still to shine a light in his eyes.
"Follow the light," Stiles said softly and Derek did, blinking once Stiles clicked it off. He let go of Derek's chin but was still leaned into his direct line of sight, giving Derek a chance to search Stiles' amber eyes as he tried to chase away the colour spots in his vision.
"I'll drive, I take it?" Scott cut in abruptly, closing the cover on his record book with a snap.
Stiles appeared to get pink in the cheeks and sat back on the bench by Derek's gurney while he put away some of the equipment.
"Sounds good, dude. You know I hate navigating traffic in this thing," Stiles replied.
"You're in good hands, Derek. You'll be as good as new." Scott clapped Derek on the shoulder as he jumped out of the ambulance to get into the cab. He was closing up the back doors as Boyd ran up and caught them in time.
"Hey, got in touch with Erica. I'll pick her up when school's over and Erica and I can look after her, okay?"
Derek truly did relax, as much as he could, and gave his friend a thumbs up. "Thanks, man. I owe you one."
Boyd waved him off before Scott closed the doors and climbed in the front. Stiles sat back and watched the monitors on the other side of the ambulance where readings blipped out in jagged lines that made no sense to Derek from clips and pads Scott stuck onto him.
"Shitty day, huh?" Stiles asked as Scott started driving down the dirt driveway. Derek wrapped his hands around the sides of the gurney as the vehicle swayed and bounced a bit from the uneven road.
Get that shit paved, Derek thought to himself and tried not to grit his teeth.
"It was going pretty good," he forced out instead. "I was hoping to get the house re-insulated and drywalled before the heat hits but..."
"You working on it for the owners?"
"I am the owner," Derek replied and Stiles blinked, clearly surprised.
"You're a Hale?" Derek nodded. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
Derek shrugged. "It's fine. It's not like it's a secret what happened." Stiles still looked uncomfortable so Derek changed the subject. "So... you're a paramedic. What's that like?"
Well, he tried.
If Stiles noticed the awkwardness in Derek's tone he didn't show it and instead broke out in a wide grin. "Never a dull moment, that's for sure. I get to meet all sorts of people."
"Yeah?" Derek noticed how Stiles' eyes were wandering a bit, across Derek's collarbone where his Henley was pulled open enough to show some skin and a hint of chest hair, then lower still to his abdomen. Derek realized his shirt was pulled up a bit and a strip of tanned skin peeked out.
Derek watched Stiles' face as his eyes glanced down Derek's body and lingered over his muscular leg--the parts without glass impaled in it, anyway. A bump in the road jostled the gurney and Derek hissed, drawing Stiles' attention back instantly.
"Sorry!" Scott called from the front. "Shouldn't be too much longer!"
"I'll pad your leg a bit better so it shouldn't move as easily." Stiles jumped up and leaned over Derek to a cabinet on the other side where he grabbed what looked like some white towels. He cursed as he dropped one and bent over Derek to get it.
Derek looked down and took in the sight of Stiles' butt in the air and practically in his face. Despite his situation and the pain from his leg Derek could feel his cock becoming aroused and he quickly shifted.
"Bad idea," he groaned as his leg throbbed from the movement. Stiles abandoned the towel and stood up quickly.
"You okay?" he asked, one hand on Derek's shoulder.
"Peachy," Derek bit out. Stiles snorted as he carefully tucked the towels around his leg and it did help with the movement from the ambulance.
"Is there anyone I can help you contact before we get to Emergency? It'll be too chaotic once you're in there," Stiles asked, checking the monitors again.
Derek shook his head. "Boyd's calling my sister, I'm good."
"No significant other that should be notified?" Stiles pressed, conveniently not looking at Derek while he made notations in the book Scott worked on earlier.
Derek had to bite back a grin because Stiles is so far from smooth but it's endearing--maybe even refreshing. When he lived in New York he found the dating scene to be too sly, masked by the facade of forced casualness and blase attitudes.
"No, there's not," he replied and that must have pleased Stiles as the corner of his mouth twitched up. Derek was working up the nerve to ask Stiles if it was against protocol to see each other outside of work when the ambulance slowed down.
"We're up!" Scott called out.
Stiles shifted modes effortlessly, gathering paperwork and stripping Derek of his monitors. Once Scott parked he threw the back doors open and together they got Derek out of the ambulance and through the emergency room doors.
"What do you have?" someone called out inside when they rolled in.
"Glass impaled his leg, some blood loss. BP is 124 over 83, heart rate 86 BPM," Stiles rattled off along with some other information that sounded like Greek to Derek.
"Get him to curtain three!"
Scott and Stiles wheeled him down a short hall and into a bigger room that was quieter than the entrance. He could hear some moans and groans from behind other curtains and there was a strong smell of blood in the air that set his teeth on edge.
Once the gurney was in place a nurse swooped in and started setting Derek up with sensors and clips and sticky bits to track his vitals again while she fired questions at him rapidly. Derek felt overwhelmed and glanced up to find Scott and Stiles.
As soon as he locked eyes with Stiles by the curtain where it was only partially pulled to it was pushed aside and the doctor stepped between them. The nurse relayed info to him while he took some notes. Behind them Derek could see the top of Stiles' head and tried to wave him over to... Derek wasn't really sure.
The doctor noticed and turned around to see what Derek was motioning to. "McCall, Stilinski, you can go now, I'm sure there are other calls. The patient is ours, thank you." And with that he snapped the curtain shut again.
The next few hours passed in a blur for Derek. He was sent for x-rays, bounced from room to room a couple times, seen by two more nurses to be poked and prodded, and finally saw the doctor again to have the glass removed. He felt comfortably numb by the time it finally came out and while it didn't feel great he wasn't in shock any longer and just wanted to go home.
"You're lucky it missed anything major. You'll have to take it easy for a few weeks and you're getting fourteen stitches but otherwise you're okay," the doctor explained as he sewed Derek up. "Crutches for at least a week and stay off the leg as much as possible. I'll have prescriptions for an anti-inflammatory and pain killer at the desk on your way out. Keep it clean and if you notice any signs of infection get back here immediately. Got it?"
Derek did and without any further niceties the doctor was gone, onto the next patient. A nameless nurse gave him a pair of scrubs to put on since his own jeans were trashed and rolled him out to the front desk in a wheelchair where a man was leaning over the counter while talking to the nurse there.
"--c''mon Melissa! You've told me more for less," a familiar voice was saying.
"I told you, I'm not giving you any pri--Clara, what do you need?" The nurse behind the desk, Melissa, cut in when she noticed Derek and his nurse waiting.
"Checking Mr. Hale out," Clara replied, handing his file over to Melissa. The man at the counter spun around and came face to face with Derek.
"A ha!" Stiles exclaimed triumphantly to Melissa. She rolled her eyes but was smiling fondly at him.
"Stiles, why are you here?" Derek asked.
Stiles smiled sheepishly and he shrugged. "I wasn't sure but I figured you didn't have a ride home and I didn't think you'd want to take a cab and I just got off shift so I thought, y'know. I mean, I was close by-- sort of. But um, yeah. Here I am."
Derek was exhausted and his leg was aching. He hated the smell of the hospital and being in strange beds and being shunted from station to station by strangers. He wanted nothing more than to go home, take a shower, and crawl into his own bed.
But Stiles' guarded yet hopeful expression and rambling explanation caused everything else to fade into the background. He regarded Stiles incredulously because this kind of thing just didn't happen to him.
He didn't realize he'd been silently staring at Stiles until he cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. I'll go."
Derek blinked. "No! I mean, you don't have to. And I'm incredibly grateful you came back. Since you were sort of close by," he added with a grin.
Stiles pressed his lips together but his eyes were bright with laughter. Behind him Melissa rolled her eyes and poked at him, handing over Derek's release papers and prescription when he swung around.
A half hour later he was sitting in the passenger seat of Stiles' blue Jeep going back to his sister's house across town after getting his prescription and a drive thru meal because Stiles could hear his stomach growling. When they pulled up to the house Derek felt an incredible sense of relief, but it might have been the painkiller he took kicking in, too.
"Thank you for everything, Stiles," Derek said as he opened his door.
"Whoa, whoa. Wait for me!" Stiles yelled as he scrambled out of the Jeep before Derek tried to get out on his own. Derek felt his cheeks get red but he waited as told and leaned heavily on Stiles as he hobbled up the walk to the front door.
"Do you have crutches?" Stiles asked as Derek leaned heavily on the doorjamb to get his keys out.
"I don't think so. I'll pick some up tomorrow or something," Derek replied with a shrug. He wasn't sure how he'd do it; maybe Boyd would take him to the store or Laura could buy--
"I know we have a set at home. I could drop them by tomorrow?"
Derek blinked slowly and yeah, the painkiller was definitely kicking in. "A house call?"
Stiles laughed while Derek unlocked the door and pushed it open. "I guess it kind of is."
With Stiles' support, Derek shuffled through the front door. "And when I'm healed up maybe we can play doctor."
Title: Any deviation is a problem
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Pre-Stiles/Derek
Character/s: Stiles, Derek, Scott, Melissa, Boyd, mention of Laura & Erica
Summary: Derek rolled onto his side and was about to say, "I'm fine" but he saw Boyd's eyes widen. He looked down and his stomach did a weird flip-floppy thing when he saw the shard of glass sticking out of his leg.
Warnings: Vague descriptions of a bloody injury?
Content Notes: Meeting for the first time, paramedic!Stiles, human!au,
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 3001
Prompt: 221 - Emergency
Author's Notes: Sorry to anyone with actual medical background, I tried to be as general as possible while using the info I thought would fit/work so if I messed it up it's all on me.
Derek wasn't really sure what happened. One second he was removing one of the old windows from his burned out former childhood home, the next he was sprawled on the floor with the sound of shattered glass ringing in his ears.
Boyd ran in the second-floor bedroom Derek was working on from across the hall. "Derek! You okay?"
Derek rolled onto his side and was about to say, "I'm fine" but he saw Boyd's eyes widen. He looked down and his stomach did a weird flip-floppy thing when he saw the shard of glass sticking out of his leg.
"Shit," Derek spat out as a wave of cold clamminess washed over him. "Boyd?"
He looked up and saw his friend already on the phone with 911.
"Yeah, the old Hale house. ... That's the one. Right. ... There's not much blood, no."
Derek looked back down at his leg. It was a thin piece of glass since the windows were older but the piece was sticking out of his leg at least four inches and he didn't know how much was embedded. He reached out and gingerly grasped it, seeing if it would come out easily but--nope.
"Derek! Don't move it!" Boyd exclaimed. Derek watched red stain his jeans around the glass and another surge of cold clamminess hit him while his vision swam.
"Oops," Derek breathed.
And passed out.
***
He didn't think he was out of it for that long but the next thing Derek knew he could hear Boyd rushing down the stairs to the front door to greet the paramedics.
Now that he was aware of the extent of his injury he could feel the pain start to radiate from it and it stabbed at him like a mix of burning electric shocks. He bit his lip and turned his head to look at the door, noticing he had something soft under it.
He could hear Boyd leading the paramedics up the stairs and Derek sighed to himself, cursing about how he should have been paying more attention. He was trying to get as much of the house fixed up as soon as possible before the brutal heat of summer set in so he could move out of his sister's place with her daughter. Now he had to worry about wasting at least the afternoon at the hospital, maybe have limited mobility, worry about possible infe--oh.
One of the paramedics stepped into the room and Derek's thoughts took a stumble.
"Derek? Hey, I'm Stiles. Your buddy said you passed out," the paramedic--Stiles-- said as he put his bag down and knelt by his side to start his assessment.
The other paramedic dodged the broken glass and mirrored Stiles on Derek's other side. "I'm Scott, how're you doing, Derek?"
"Been better," Derek grumbled in reply but Scott flashed him a bright, wide smile and took out a pair of scissors.
"We'll get you fixed up in no time," Scott assured him before he began to cut the bottom of the left leg of Derek's jeans.
Damn, he liked this pair.
On his right Stiles reached out and took Derek's pulse from his wrist with a gloved hand as he concentrated on his watch. Derek's eyes flitted across Stiles' face, taking in the angles of his profile and making note of the moles and marks scattered across his skin. He had soft-looking brown hair and full lips.
As if he could feel Derek's eyes Stiles looked up suddenly, caught Derek's gaze and winked at him. Derek didn't have time to feel embarrassed as the team started working on him
"Gonna have you taken care of in no time, Derek," Stiles said easily, opening his bag. "How's it look, Scotty?"
Scott had his pant leg open up to the glass and was carefully peeling the bloody sides away from the glass. He grabbed some gauze and carefully tried to clean up the area as best he could, then carefully examined the area.
"Gonna need stitches, dude," Scott declared as his finger moved too close to the glass and moved it enough for Derek's forehead to break out in sweat. His right hand spasmed and he took in a sharp breath.
"Derek?" Stiles' broke in. "Can you tell me if you're hurt anywhere else? Did you hit your head and that's why you passed out?"
Derek turned his head while Scott grabbed more gauze and a splint so he wouldn't have to watch.
"I don't think I'm hurt anywhere else, I didn't hit my head. I don't know what happened. One second I was talking to Boyd and the next you guys walked in," Derek explained.
"Probably just shock, then. Nothing to be too concerned about right now but we're going to get you to the ambulance, okay? You're gonna need stitches." Stiles reached for Derek's hand and squeezed it briefly before working seamlessly with Scott to get him secured. Once they got his leg immobile and he was standing on one leg he was checked over for more injuries but, luckily, there weren't any as he expected.
With Boyd's help they slowly helped Derek down the stairs on one leg and out to the waiting ambulance, its doors flung open to await him. It felt weird to be strapped onto the gurney and loaded into the vehicle backwards but as he was being locked in and Boyd started to climb in after them Derek swore.
"Derek? You okay?" Stiles asked, immediately concerned and hovering by his leg.
"Boyd, Laura's out of town until tomorrow morning and Lia's at school. I was supposed to pick her up after school at three--"
"Derek, it's cool. I've got her, okay? I can call Laura for you, too," Boyd assured him as he stepped back out of the ambulance.
"You can call your wife from the hospital," Stiles cut in while putting a blood pressure cuff on Derek. Boyd snorted and Stiles looked up between them with a confused look.
"Laura's my sister and Lia's her daughter," Derek explained quickly. "Can you call Laura and have her let the school know you're going to pick her up? Or, uh--"
"Derek, it's cool. Erica works in the main office at the school, remember?" Boyd assured him. "I'll call her right now and clear it with her, okay?"
Derek nodded and tried to relax back on the gurney while Boyd went back into the house to get his phone. Scott was filling out some forms on his right while Stiles called out results and readings.
"Almost there," Stiles murmured, close to Derek's ear.
Derek turned his head and could have brushed his lips against Stiles' cheek he was so near. Before he could look away Stiles gently held his jaw and held him still to shine a light in his eyes.
"Follow the light," Stiles said softly and Derek did, blinking once Stiles clicked it off. He let go of Derek's chin but was still leaned into his direct line of sight, giving Derek a chance to search Stiles' amber eyes as he tried to chase away the colour spots in his vision.
"I'll drive, I take it?" Scott cut in abruptly, closing the cover on his record book with a snap.
Stiles appeared to get pink in the cheeks and sat back on the bench by Derek's gurney while he put away some of the equipment.
"Sounds good, dude. You know I hate navigating traffic in this thing," Stiles replied.
"You're in good hands, Derek. You'll be as good as new." Scott clapped Derek on the shoulder as he jumped out of the ambulance to get into the cab. He was closing up the back doors as Boyd ran up and caught them in time.
"Hey, got in touch with Erica. I'll pick her up when school's over and Erica and I can look after her, okay?"
Derek truly did relax, as much as he could, and gave his friend a thumbs up. "Thanks, man. I owe you one."
Boyd waved him off before Scott closed the doors and climbed in the front. Stiles sat back and watched the monitors on the other side of the ambulance where readings blipped out in jagged lines that made no sense to Derek from clips and pads Scott stuck onto him.
"Shitty day, huh?" Stiles asked as Scott started driving down the dirt driveway. Derek wrapped his hands around the sides of the gurney as the vehicle swayed and bounced a bit from the uneven road.
Get that shit paved, Derek thought to himself and tried not to grit his teeth.
"It was going pretty good," he forced out instead. "I was hoping to get the house re-insulated and drywalled before the heat hits but..."
"You working on it for the owners?"
"I am the owner," Derek replied and Stiles blinked, clearly surprised.
"You're a Hale?" Derek nodded. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
Derek shrugged. "It's fine. It's not like it's a secret what happened." Stiles still looked uncomfortable so Derek changed the subject. "So... you're a paramedic. What's that like?"
Well, he tried.
If Stiles noticed the awkwardness in Derek's tone he didn't show it and instead broke out in a wide grin. "Never a dull moment, that's for sure. I get to meet all sorts of people."
"Yeah?" Derek noticed how Stiles' eyes were wandering a bit, across Derek's collarbone where his Henley was pulled open enough to show some skin and a hint of chest hair, then lower still to his abdomen. Derek realized his shirt was pulled up a bit and a strip of tanned skin peeked out.
Derek watched Stiles' face as his eyes glanced down Derek's body and lingered over his muscular leg--the parts without glass impaled in it, anyway. A bump in the road jostled the gurney and Derek hissed, drawing Stiles' attention back instantly.
"Sorry!" Scott called from the front. "Shouldn't be too much longer!"
"I'll pad your leg a bit better so it shouldn't move as easily." Stiles jumped up and leaned over Derek to a cabinet on the other side where he grabbed what looked like some white towels. He cursed as he dropped one and bent over Derek to get it.
Derek looked down and took in the sight of Stiles' butt in the air and practically in his face. Despite his situation and the pain from his leg Derek could feel his cock becoming aroused and he quickly shifted.
"Bad idea," he groaned as his leg throbbed from the movement. Stiles abandoned the towel and stood up quickly.
"You okay?" he asked, one hand on Derek's shoulder.
"Peachy," Derek bit out. Stiles snorted as he carefully tucked the towels around his leg and it did help with the movement from the ambulance.
"Is there anyone I can help you contact before we get to Emergency? It'll be too chaotic once you're in there," Stiles asked, checking the monitors again.
Derek shook his head. "Boyd's calling my sister, I'm good."
"No significant other that should be notified?" Stiles pressed, conveniently not looking at Derek while he made notations in the book Scott worked on earlier.
Derek had to bite back a grin because Stiles is so far from smooth but it's endearing--maybe even refreshing. When he lived in New York he found the dating scene to be too sly, masked by the facade of forced casualness and blase attitudes.
"No, there's not," he replied and that must have pleased Stiles as the corner of his mouth twitched up. Derek was working up the nerve to ask Stiles if it was against protocol to see each other outside of work when the ambulance slowed down.
"We're up!" Scott called out.
Stiles shifted modes effortlessly, gathering paperwork and stripping Derek of his monitors. Once Scott parked he threw the back doors open and together they got Derek out of the ambulance and through the emergency room doors.
"What do you have?" someone called out inside when they rolled in.
"Glass impaled his leg, some blood loss. BP is 124 over 83, heart rate 86 BPM," Stiles rattled off along with some other information that sounded like Greek to Derek.
"Get him to curtain three!"
Scott and Stiles wheeled him down a short hall and into a bigger room that was quieter than the entrance. He could hear some moans and groans from behind other curtains and there was a strong smell of blood in the air that set his teeth on edge.
Once the gurney was in place a nurse swooped in and started setting Derek up with sensors and clips and sticky bits to track his vitals again while she fired questions at him rapidly. Derek felt overwhelmed and glanced up to find Scott and Stiles.
As soon as he locked eyes with Stiles by the curtain where it was only partially pulled to it was pushed aside and the doctor stepped between them. The nurse relayed info to him while he took some notes. Behind them Derek could see the top of Stiles' head and tried to wave him over to... Derek wasn't really sure.
The doctor noticed and turned around to see what Derek was motioning to. "McCall, Stilinski, you can go now, I'm sure there are other calls. The patient is ours, thank you." And with that he snapped the curtain shut again.
The next few hours passed in a blur for Derek. He was sent for x-rays, bounced from room to room a couple times, seen by two more nurses to be poked and prodded, and finally saw the doctor again to have the glass removed. He felt comfortably numb by the time it finally came out and while it didn't feel great he wasn't in shock any longer and just wanted to go home.
"You're lucky it missed anything major. You'll have to take it easy for a few weeks and you're getting fourteen stitches but otherwise you're okay," the doctor explained as he sewed Derek up. "Crutches for at least a week and stay off the leg as much as possible. I'll have prescriptions for an anti-inflammatory and pain killer at the desk on your way out. Keep it clean and if you notice any signs of infection get back here immediately. Got it?"
Derek did and without any further niceties the doctor was gone, onto the next patient. A nameless nurse gave him a pair of scrubs to put on since his own jeans were trashed and rolled him out to the front desk in a wheelchair where a man was leaning over the counter while talking to the nurse there.
"--c''mon Melissa! You've told me more for less," a familiar voice was saying.
"I told you, I'm not giving you any pri--Clara, what do you need?" The nurse behind the desk, Melissa, cut in when she noticed Derek and his nurse waiting.
"Checking Mr. Hale out," Clara replied, handing his file over to Melissa. The man at the counter spun around and came face to face with Derek.
"A ha!" Stiles exclaimed triumphantly to Melissa. She rolled her eyes but was smiling fondly at him.
"Stiles, why are you here?" Derek asked.
Stiles smiled sheepishly and he shrugged. "I wasn't sure but I figured you didn't have a ride home and I didn't think you'd want to take a cab and I just got off shift so I thought, y'know. I mean, I was close by-- sort of. But um, yeah. Here I am."
Derek was exhausted and his leg was aching. He hated the smell of the hospital and being in strange beds and being shunted from station to station by strangers. He wanted nothing more than to go home, take a shower, and crawl into his own bed.
But Stiles' guarded yet hopeful expression and rambling explanation caused everything else to fade into the background. He regarded Stiles incredulously because this kind of thing just didn't happen to him.
He didn't realize he'd been silently staring at Stiles until he cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. I'll go."
Derek blinked. "No! I mean, you don't have to. And I'm incredibly grateful you came back. Since you were sort of close by," he added with a grin.
Stiles pressed his lips together but his eyes were bright with laughter. Behind him Melissa rolled her eyes and poked at him, handing over Derek's release papers and prescription when he swung around.
A half hour later he was sitting in the passenger seat of Stiles' blue Jeep going back to his sister's house across town after getting his prescription and a drive thru meal because Stiles could hear his stomach growling. When they pulled up to the house Derek felt an incredible sense of relief, but it might have been the painkiller he took kicking in, too.
"Thank you for everything, Stiles," Derek said as he opened his door.
"Whoa, whoa. Wait for me!" Stiles yelled as he scrambled out of the Jeep before Derek tried to get out on his own. Derek felt his cheeks get red but he waited as told and leaned heavily on Stiles as he hobbled up the walk to the front door.
"Do you have crutches?" Stiles asked as Derek leaned heavily on the doorjamb to get his keys out.
"I don't think so. I'll pick some up tomorrow or something," Derek replied with a shrug. He wasn't sure how he'd do it; maybe Boyd would take him to the store or Laura could buy--
"I know we have a set at home. I could drop them by tomorrow?"
Derek blinked slowly and yeah, the painkiller was definitely kicking in. "A house call?"
Stiles laughed while Derek unlocked the door and pushed it open. "I guess it kind of is."
With Stiles' support, Derek shuffled through the front door. "And when I'm healed up maybe we can play doctor."