Human is Just a Word 82/85
Chapter 82
Derek sat on a couch in the waiting room with Lydia and Mark wedged to his sides and Stephen and Ellen sitting in chairs near by.
They were waiting for news on Tommy.
When a doctor came by to tell them that Tommy was out of surgery, they all breathed in relief.
"That's good, right?" Lydia asked the doctor. It hadn't been easy to convince him to tell them more than that Tommy was alive, they weren't family, but then Derek pointed out that he was Tommy's alpha and things went a little smoother after that.
"He's fighting." Was the doctor's answer to Lydia's question. He wasn't used to counting in werewolf healing so Derek and his pack were slightly more optimistic that Tommy would make it than the doctors. If he held on for a little while longer. If his body accepted the bite.
Nobody mentioned it but they were all thinking of Loreen.
Mark was even quieter than the others and Derek wondered if he was thinking of the fire, the events of the night had brought back some memories for all of them, or if he was thinking about the time when he had been the one fighting for his life in a hospital bed.
An hour later Tommy had been transferred to a room in the ICU and after some debating Lydia was allowed to see him. Derek would join her once it would become necessary.
After Mark and Loreen, who had also been heavily injured when he had bitten them, Derek settled in for a long wait. So it took him by surprise when not half an hour later the connection in his mind took hold.
Derek still didn't know what to do with his newest member, he knew next to nothing about this man, but he followed the beacon in his head to his room nevertheless.
He found Lydia sitting next to the bed, holding the injured man's hand, and said man lying there pale and with blueish shades under his eyes. He had an infusion in his arm and an oxygen support under his nose but he was breathing on his own and his monitor showed everything in green and wasn't frantically beeping so Derek guessed that everything was fine.
"How is he?" He asked. Tommy was still sleeping but he was healing. There were bruises on his face and on what was visible of his chest along with cuts and burn marks and what looked suspiciously like fresh blisters. All of that was already healing but the old scars would stay. And Tommy had quite a few of those.
Derek tried not to stare too much, it felt like he was invading the other man's privacy.
"I think he's waking up." Lydia said in a low voice.
Right on cue his eyelids flattered open and he took in a sharp breath.
Then suddenly his heart-beat skyrocketed and the monitor went wild. Thrashing in his bed Tommy fought against the infusion and the thing on his face and Lydia's hands on him.
"Tommy, it's me." Lydia tried to get through to him. "It's me, Lydia, I'm here."
Derek stayed back, she had a better chance to calm him down, but he kept an eye on them. Tommy was a newborn werewolf who had no idea how strong he was.
But once the attachments were gone, when the needle of the infusion ripped out Derek winced from just seeing it, the man calmed down a bit.
By the time a nurse came rushing in his heart was still beating rapidly which the monitor didn't like one bit but he was focused on Lydia and it seemed to ground him.
In hushed voices Derek and the nurse had a short discussion about the infusion. She wasn't convinced, patients weren't supposed to just rip out needles, but since the point of entry had already healed, she was okay with dropping this on the doctor in charge and went in search for him.
"Tommy, you with me now?" Lydia asked and leaned over to look him in the eye. "You're safe now. I promise. Nobody is going to hurt you."
He nodded but his gaze shifted over to where Derek was standing and his heart was still beating faster than it should.
"That's Derek." Lydia introduced him and it felt safe to step up to the bed. Tommy went rigid at that but when Derek didn't come closer, he relaxed slightly.
"He had to bite you, your remember that?"
"I'm your pet now?" His voice came out flat and his eyes, not meeting Derek's, were dead and empty.
Derek couldn't answer, there was a lump in his throat and his vision swam with unshed tears.
"No." Lydia answered for him. "He's your alpha but he's nothing like Peter. I swear. Tommy?" With a gentle hand she turned his head so that he was looking at her. "Trust me, okay? Just for a little while?"
"You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to." Derek finally found his voice again. "But at the moment you need an alpha."
"Why didn't you let me die?" He asked and curled in to himself. His whole body shook with suppressed sobs.
Derek couldn't stand it any longer. On of his betas was in distress and the wolf in him whined to make it better. Carefully to not spook the other man farther, Derek sat down on the edge of his bed and reached for his shoulder. The man froze, waiting for what Derek would do now. He expected pain, expected to get hurt again, that much was clear, so he didn't know what to do when Derek did the opposite.
In black lines the pain disappeared in Derek's arm but the man didn't relax under his touch. This had to be a trick. Something to lull him in until Derek would hurt him again.
Derek knew those thoughts, he had been there with Isaac before. But Isaac had come around, Derek hoped it would be the same with Tommy. Things like this needed time and a lot of patience.
"Is there somebody you want us to call?" Derek asked. According to John he had gone missing over a year ago, there had to be somebody out there looking for him. "Your parents, maybe?"
"No." He shook his head, face hidden under his arm. "There's no-one."
But the offer alone seemed to do something for him. He didn't quite let down his guard but when Lydia reached for his hand, he let her take it.
When Derek had claimed Stiles, he had thought that he would never see his father again, Derek remembered, so making this offer might have gained him some points in Tommy's book.
It was just sad that there was nobody to call. Things would be easier for Tommy if he had his family to help him. Now he was completely at Derek's mercy and it would be hard to proof that he wasn't like his uncle.
Tommy was healing and when he was at a point where he didn't need help with the pain any longer, Derek left the room. With only Lydia around he might get some rest.
After this Derek needed his mate and he wanted to check on John anyway.
He found them still in a cubicle in the ER where Stiles was just helping his father into a shirt. Since he had one arm in a sling, the buttons didn't close but it was good enough for now.
"Dad, you need to …" Stiles started but was cut off by his father.
"I know." He snapped and swatted Stiles' hand away. "Would you just …?"
Derek had no idea what they were arguing about but it was amusing to watch.
"Ready to leave?" Derek asked.
"More than ready." John let out a groan and snagged his pants out of Stiles' hands. "I don't need help with those."
Father and son glared at each other over the pants but in the end Stiles let go of them.
"How's Thomas doing?" John changed the topic. "How is he taking everything?" As the sheriff John had seen other of Peter's victim, he probably had a pretty good idea in what condition the new beta was.
"Not so good." Derek admitted. "He trusts Lydia and he seems to be clear in the head." He had no idea what he would have done if his mind had turned out broken. "But he's afraid of me."
"I figured that." He fiddled with his pants but didn't attempt to put them on. "Listen, I need to ask Melissa first but we have a guest room. Maybe he feels more comfortable with us."
The guest room he was talking about was actually meant to be his bedroom but as far as Derek knew John had never used it. The kids had taken it over to store their school stuff in there.
"Thanks, that's probably a good idea." His first thought had been to put Tommy and Isaac together, but his new beta might do better with humans around. "As long as Melissa is okay with it."
With that settled John returned to the task of getting dressed but before he and Stiles could launch into another argument over that, Erica burst into the cubicle.
"Derek? There are some of Peter's pack here." She informed him. "They want to talk to you."
"I'll see what they want." He had a pretty good idea what they wanted. They were omegas now and they needed an alpha. And it was common to take over most of the pack along with the territory.
"I'm coming with you." Stiles said and threw the pants at Erica. "Erica is going to help you with your pants, Dad."
"Erica is not going to help me with my pants." His dad yelled back but Derek doubted that he stood a chance against Erica.
"Are you going to take them in?" Stiles asked while they walked down the hallway.
"Let's talk to them first." Derek didn't know most of Peter's pack. He had kept contact with Peter to a bare minimum.
They found five werewolves waiting for them in the parking lot.
"You have to be kidding me." Stiles blurted out when he noticed who the leader of the little gang was.
"Haven't you taught your pet some manners by now?" Jackson asked Derek with disapproval written all over his face.
"Okay, shithead." Stiles was not one to get ignored that easily. "There goes your not existing chance to ever join our pack."
"Looks like you need somebody with a firm hand in your pack, Derek." Jackson said, his old confidence back.
"What do you want, Jackson?" Derek crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting for him to actually say it.
"Alpha Derek Hale." Jackson raised his chin. "I'm asking for a place in your pack for me and these werewolves. We're strong fighters and will strengthen the pack and your position as the alpha."
"No." Derek said firmly. "At least for you, Jackson. As for the rest of you, I don't know you so I can't make this decision just yet."
"What?" Jackson gaped at him. "You can't do that. I'm …"
"You're an arrogant asshole." Stiles filled in for him.
"Who do you think you are?" Jackson flashed his eyes at him. "I don't know what this little shit told you about me …"
"You do know that you're insulting my mate here, right?" Derek interrupted him with a raised eyebrow.
"But he's a pet." One of the others said, disgust clear in his voice.
"Aaaand you're out." Stiles pointed a finger gun at him.
Derek didn't know him but his uniform identified him as one of the deputies. And judging by what he'd heard from John about those, he was pretty sure that he didn't want one of them in his pack.
"I'll ask Lydia and Tommy." Stiles decided. "See if they can vouch for one of them. Or for anybody in the pack."
If these were the men Jackson deemed worthy, Derek doubted he wanted them in his pack but there were others.
"The pet's still alive?" Jackson still didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "And you want to ask him?"
For a moment Jackson just stood there, waiting for Derek to tell him that this was all a bad joke, but when it became clear that this wasn't a joke, he threw up his hands.
"You are as weak as Peter always said." He turned around and started walking away. "I don't want an alpha who lets humans run the pack."
After a second the deputy followed him but the others stayed, looking expectantly at Derek.
Chapter 83
Masterpost