CHAPTER THIRTY
( AMNESIA ! )
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"HEY."

Stiles removed his gaze from his lap to look up at the person who was standing in front of him. He was currently slumped down in a hospital chair in the waiting room. He looked up to see Luna standing in front of him with a tired smile on her face. She had two cups of what seemed to be coffee in her hand, and she handed one to Stiles.

"You looked like you could use one." Luna spoke.

Stiles hesitantly took the cup out of the girl's hand. She did pin him up against a wall last night, so he wasn't exactly expecting her to be speaking to him. She had not said a word to him ever since then.

Stiles smiled weakly, "Thanks."

Luna smiled in return and slowly took a seat down next to Stiles on his left side. She traced the edge of her cup with her index finger.

"I'm sorry about last night." She spoke, still looking at her cup.

"You shouldn't be," Stiles looked at her. "You were right. It's my fault she's here. I knew the brakes in my Jeep were causing problems. I should have fixed them as soon as I noticed."

Stiles looked back down at his coffee.

"Don't blame yourself." Luna said, "Tori wouldn't want that."

Luna took her vision away from Stiles and dozed off for a second. She mirrored Stiles and looked down at her coffee. It was still hot so she did not drink from it yet. The two of them sat clutching their coffees and stared down into its dark depths. Pictures played across their minds of Victoria in pain, being wheeled into the emergency room.

Luna whispered, "What if they can't help her?"

The brown haired boy looked up from his coffee to see Luna on the verge of tears. She still looked down at her coffee and she had stopped tracing the edges of it. She mostly spent her time in the hospital wondering what she would do if Victoria never came back through those doors.

"Hey," Stiles reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder.

This gesture made Luna finally look away from her coffee. Her eyes traveled to Stiles' hand and she lifted her head up leisurely to face him.

"She'll be fine." Stiles comforted. "You'll get to see her again."

Luna pouted. "And how are you so sure?" She questioned.

Stiles hung his head down and took his arm off of the girl next to him. He pressed his lips together before responding.

"My friends and I are usually always here, so I know some of the doctors." He confessed, trying his best not to reveal too much.

A line appeared between Luna's brows, confused about why a group of teens would constantly be in the hospital. "Do I even wanna ask?"

That made Stiles laugh. He laughed for the first time in more than twenty-four hours.

"Not really, no."

Luna mirrored Stiles' actions for earlier and gave him a weak smile.

The two fell silent and time became a blur. Victoria's mother sat a couple of chairs away from them, dozed off into space.

Eventually Stiles did the same, letting his mind wander as he waited. He was so lost in space that he was not sure if it was one minute that had passed, or one hour that had passed. All he knew was that the sound of a womanizer voice jolted him back to reality.

"Victoria Dario?"

A nurse spoke out from the Emergency Room doors that Victoria had went into last night. Stiles' head snapped up at the sound of Victoria's name. He shifted in his chair.

"Yes." Victoria's mother stood up out of her chair, cautiously making her way towards the nurse.  She took small but quick steps, her face filled with concern.

At the same time Stiles and Luna lurched out of their chairs, Luna not noticing she spilled coffee on her shoes. They practically raced over to stand next to Victoria's mother.

"Is she okay?" Ms. Dario demanded, trying to read through the expression on the nurse's face.

Stiles and Luna did not known whether or not they wanted to find out what happened to their friend, or cover their ears. Their palms were both sweaty and the hot coffee cups in their hands did not help their case. Luna slowly grabbed Stiles' muggy hand and held it close to her side. Stiles clutched her hand and hoped for the best.

"Yes, she is fine."

Stiles let out a breath that he did not even realize he was holding in ever since Victoria's name was called. Luna and Ms. Dario sighed peacefully in relief.

"Thank God." Victoria's mother spoke.

The nurse smiled. "She made it out of surgery and is stable now. The only reason it took so long was because we were not sure if she needed to have an MRI for her head. She's not awake yet, but family is now able to go and see her."

The nurse looked at the three, her eyes suddenly fixed on Stiles.

"You're the one who brought her here, aren't you?" She asked.

Stiles was in too much shock to reply. He nodded his head and blinked rapidly.

"You saved her life. If you hadn't brought her in when you did, she most likely wouldn't be here right now. You did a good job."

Luna stumbled backwards a little, her knees starting to give way. Stiles let go of her hand and held onto her arm instead, stopping her from sprawling across the floor.

"Where is she?"

Stiles spoke as if it was an emergency to see his friend.

The nurse furrowed her eyebrows so slightly that the three of them almost missed it. "Are you family?" She asked.

"They're her cousins," Ms. Dario cut in before one of them could answer. Stiles looked back at her, shocked. She just gave him a small smile.

"Okay." The nurse smiled once again. "I'll take you to her room."

Luna continued to hold onto Stiles' hand as they followed behind the nurse and Ms. Dario down the hall and into a room in the middle of the hallway.

The door stood open a jar. Ms. Dario hesitated, Luna and Stiles almost walking into her back. She worried for what she might see when they enter the room. Luna took her hand and squeezed it.

Ms. Dario turned around and smiled at Luna, taking a deep breath before turning back around and pushing the door open gently.

Everything in the room was white: the walls, the floor, the blankets, the hospital gown, the machines—everything except Victoria's hair. It was a small patch of blonde color in the sea of white, and the three of them moved towards it.

Victoria laid on the bed, tucked neatly into the blankets with a tube hooked up to her arm. She looked pale, but calm and peaceful, and everyone felt a little bit of ache leave their chests.

She was here. She was alive. They could even hear her soft breaths that appeared to be loud in the silence.

They walked to Victoria's bedside, Ms. Dario standing on her right and Luna and Stiles on her left. Ms. Dario reached out to lace her fingers into her daughter's.

After a calm and quiet reunion, the two ladies hung back and sat down into two chairs that were placed in the corner of the room. Soon they fell asleep with Ms. Dario's head in her hand and Luna's head on her best friend's mother's shoulder.

Stiles did not sleep. He couldn't take his eyes off of the girl in front of him for the fear that something might happen to her while he isn't looking. He mirrored Ms. Dario's actions from earlier and held onto his friend's hand.

Victoria's fingers felt like ice, so Stiles held them tighter. He bit the inside of his cheek and sank into a chair he previously pulled up next to the bed, rubbing small circles into the back of Victoria's hand with his thumb.

As much as he tried to fight it, Stiles' eyelids sagged and his limbs were numb and heavy. His head sunk forward as he drifted to sleep for a few seconds only to jolt it back up when he realized he'd fallen asleep.

He eventually lost the fight to keep his head up. His body ached with exhaustion from not sleeping for hours, and he couldn't hold himself up anymore. He promised he would only lay his head down for a second, but he wouldn't fall asleep.

Still holding a firm grip to Victoria's hand, he used his other arm as a pillow and laid his head on the edge of the bed. Closing his eyes felt nice, and the feeling of Victoria's hand in his own helped loosen a little of the tension in his shoulders.

He thought about what he was going to tell her when she woke up. He knew better then to bombard her with relationship stuff as soon as she woke up, so he agreed that he would not say anything in relation to his recently discovered feelings, or Lydia.

The next thing he knew, he felt gentle fingers running through his hair. Disoriented and groggy, he peeled open his eyes, almost forgetting where he was until he saw a familiar blonde looking down at him in a sea of white.

Victoria jerked her hand away from Stiles and her facial expression changed, showing that she was awfully confused.

Stiles' heart beat sped up and he picked his head up.

"Wait," Victoria mumbled. "Who are you?"

Stiles' eyes practically popped out of their sockets when he heard those words. He was still a very groggy so he was not sure if he heard her words correctly at first, but the expression on her face said it all.

Stiles was even more confused when Victoria began to laugh.

After a few seconds his face relaxed and his heart rate slowed down. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't believe you. That wasn't funny."

"It was a little funny." Victoria spoke softly. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty."

She went back to running her fingers through Stiles' hair. A warm feeling washed over his body.

Stiles croaked, "How long have I been asleep?"

His throat was dry. He wiped a bit of drool from his mouth and hoped Victoria had not noticed.

"About an hour."

"An hour?"

Stiles remarked. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

The blonde smiled at him. She still looked drowsy from what the doctors had given her for the surgery, but the small tint of a rosy pink had returned to her cheeks.

"You looked exhausted." Victoria defended. "And if I'm being honest you still look exhausted."

"I'm fine." Stiles insisted. "Are you feeling..."

His words trailed off as he looked Victoria up and down as if he'd be able to see blood soaking through the spotless white sheets. Just the thought made his throat close up.

"Hey,"

Victoria cooed, moving her hand from his hair and into his hand.

As much as Stiles hated it, the tears he'd been fighting to hold back for the past hours finally broke through and began to spill over. He shut his eyes and turned away from Victoria to try to hide them.

"Stiles, hey, what's wrong?" She tugged on his hand.

Biting his lip, Stiles tried to swallow down his sobs, but when he opened his mouth to talk they escaped. It took him a few seconds to collect himself enough to speak.

"I thought I lost you."

His voice was heavy but quiet as he tried to contain his sobs, but Victoria still heard them loud and clear and her face softened.

"I'm so sorry." He choked, "It's my fault that you're—"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence." Victoria spoke with stern in her voice.  She reached out and cupped his cheek, brushing away his tears with the softest of touches. Stiles noticed that her hand was warm now, and it was not cold like before.

Victoria shook her head, tears threatening to leave her own eyes. "It is not your fault."

"Come here." She scooted as best she could without jostling her injury and patted the bed beside her.

Stiles wiped his eyes. "I shouldn'-"

Victoria peeled the blanket's aside and gave him a look that he knew better than to argue with. He slipped his shoes off and crawled up onto the bed next to her. When he was settled Victoria tucked the blanket around them both.

"Don't blame yourself. I'm not going anywhere, so get some more rest. I promise, I will still be here when you wake up. Honest to God, you look terrible."

Stiles chuckled. It was small and fast, but it made Victoria's heart warm.

"You're the one who's injured." Stiles debated. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you."

It was Victoria's turn to laugh. She giggled softly and reached over to hold onto Stiles' hand.

There it was again—that warm feeling that took over his body. Lydia was so right, she was a smart girl after all. She wasn't the one Stiles wanted, Victoria was.

Stiles knew he swore to himself he would not say anything. However, that hope had lingered in his heart and the idea had clung in the back of his mind.

Victoria furrowed her eyebrows but chuckled when she noticed the expression on her friend's face. His eyes looked like the ones you would see on a sad puppy, and his lips were slightly parted.

"What is it?" Victoria scrunched up her nose a little.

Stiles sighed.

"I didn't want to say this now...you're laying down in a hospital bed for crying out loud, but I don't think I can hold it in any longer."

He continued to talk before she could ask any questions.

"I like you, Tori. I really do. And before you ask anything, I ended things with Lydia. Well, she ended things with me technically...but that doesn't mean anything. I wasn't sure of how I felt until Lydia made it clear for me, and I wish I figured it out myself. Gosh, she's so smart...not that you're not! You are smart, but that's not the point. The point is—"

"Stiles?"

Stiles stopped talking when he heard Victoria say his name. He hummed in response.

"Shut up and kiss me."

It took Stiles a second to comprehend what the girl had said. It made his heart race and his stomach flutter. He smiled.

"You know what?" Stiles slightly smirked. "I was thinking about it, but I don't think I want to after that rude comment."

This made Victoria laugh. Really laugh.

"Oh really?" She laughed.

Stiles was about to keep talking before Victoria cut him off. In one swift second, she gently pressed her lips onto his.

Almost immediately, Stiles placed his left hand on the side of her face. They shared a small, sweet kiss. It wasn't full of lust or need, just pure intimacy. Their lips moved together slowly. It lasted a couple of seconds before Victoria pulled away. Their hands did not move, their bodies did not move, only their lips separated.

Stiles smiled noticing the blush spreading across Victoria's cheeks as she smiled back. He thought she was beautiful, especially this close. He saw every detail on her soft face—the little crinkles by her eyes as she smiled, the little sparkles that formed in her eyes from the light hitting them, the faint freckles that were scattered across her nose and upper cheeks, and the way her lips were parted ever so slightly as she breathed heavily from the kiss. He was mesmerized.

"Suddenly I don't feel so tired anymore." Stiles broke the silence.

Victoria laughed as she leaned in to kiss Stiles once again.

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i finally updated wow

sorry i know i'm so bad at updating ugh

can't believe they're kissing while ms. dario and luna are there smh