liam went into the hospital room for an x-ray.
after a moment of guilty silence, stiles spoke up.
"alright, i gotta get going. promised of study with malia."
the hyperactive boy hit his keys against the palm of his hand.
"sure."
scott said halfheartedly, shrugging.
"i wanted to check on him anyway."
teddy's ears perk up at the mention of liam.
in truth, she was kind of mad at scott for doing what he did, for almost ruining her chances of a friendship with liam, but she new it was silly, because he didn't mean it, and liam knew that.
stiles turned to leave, before spinning round once again to face the two mccall's.
"hey,"
he said to scott.
"i don't need to say this wasn't your fault, right?"
stiles' eyebrow was raised quizzically.
scott remained silent for a moment before responding.
"i don't know."
stiles' voice became soft and quiet.
"scott, if you'd have used any wolf power, that kid wouldn't be limping, he'd be crawling— back to the other half of his body."
teddy couldn't help but roll her eyes at her brothers friends dry sense of humour, but she knew he was right.
scott still seemed unsure.
he angled his head in the direction his mother had taken liam.
"if i hadn't been so worried about being captain, he wouldn't be hurt either."
teddy touched her brothers arm gently.
"you were only trying to get the role you deserve."
teddy tried, but some part of her disagreed with her own words.
some part said liam deserved it.
stiles sighed.
"it's okay to want something for yourself once in a while. team captain, alpha werewolf.."
stiles paused, and patted scott's shoulder.
"you're still only human."
the pair nodded before stiles turned and left, and scott turned his head back in the direction of the room liam was in.
"you okay?"
teddy asked her brother gingerly, taking a step towards him.
"yeah."
he said, nodding.
"i think so."
><
teddy and scott took a seat outside of liam's room.
scott's knees bounced as he waited impatiently to find out the consequences of his actions.
teddy, on the other hand, was curious.
she knew liam's step-dad was the nurse in the room with him, and, despite the guilt pestering her conscience, she found herself listening in to their conversation.
"it's broken, isn't it?"
liam's voice sounded so full of sadness and disappointment that teddy felt a pang of sympathy form in her chest.
"it's definitely gonna need an x-ray."
teddy could tell that liam's step-dad was trying to be optimistic for his sons sake.
"it's broken and it's my fault."
liam said bitterly.
liam's nurse waited a moment before speaking.
"you wanna tell me what happened?"
liam paused, and teddy could tell scott was now evesdropping on the conversation also.
he didn't move, but he seemed more alert.
scott could hear it all whilst teddy could only hear bits and pieces.
she didn't have enhanced were-wolf hearing like her brother.
scott stood up and began pacing outside the room, clearly agitated.
teddy strained to hear liam's voice from inside the room.
"i went up against two juniors."
he sighed.
"one of them was captain of the team."
teddy heard muffled movement, before searching again for another voice behind the thin white wall.
"li, you know what we always say. play smart, not hard."
"you mad at me?"
teddy's heart just about imploded.
liam was hurt, badly, yet he was worried about whether his step-dad was mad at him.
"no, of course not."
the nurse chuckled a little.
"your mom might be mad at me for getting you into lacrosse, but maybe we should wait for the x-ray before we panic. and trust me, i have more reason to panic than you."
liam's step-dad laughed a bit, louder this time.
"it's not over yet. wait for the x-ray."
he reassured his son before walking out the room.
scott turned away from his position at the door hurriedly as the nurse walked out.
he sighed, before pulling his phone out of his pocket as it buzzed.
"hey, lydia."
teddy listened in on her brothers conversation, even though it was only one sided.
'i need to stop listening in on conversations,' she thought, but she didn't stop.
as lydia spoke, scott's sad face changed to one of panic.
"okay, lydia, slow down."
teddy's face became obscured with concern as scott's brown eyes filled with panic.
he turned around abruptly.
"so am i. i'm at the hospital too."
scott hung up the phone before turning back to face teddy.
"teds, look, i'm sorry, i have to go."
"it's okay."
teddy lowered her voice.
"supernatural?"
scott nodded.
"look, moms shift ends in ten minutes, then she can take you home."
scott looked around hurriedly.
teddy stood.
"i'll be fine til then."
she reassured her brother, patting his shoulder.
scott nodded, and with that, he ran off, muttering something under his breath.
teddy caught it just as her brother turned the corner.
shawn bullcott.
teddy recognised the name, but she didn't know where from.
it nagged at her mind, but she brushed it off as she made her decision.
inhaling deeply, she pushed open the door to liam's room.
><
"hey."
teddy said softly, standing at the foot of the injured boys leg.
"hey."
liam said, shifting his weight gently to look at teddy.
"you okay?"
teddy looked down, shy, but as she did, caught a glimpse of liam's leg.
it was black almost, with patches of blue and purple, and swollen to almost, what teddy assumed, twice it's normal size.
teddy blushed.
"i'll take that as a no. stupid question."
liam followed teddy's gaze to his swollen leg and he felt his cheeks redden.
"no. i'm okay. it doesn't hurt."
liam tried to move his leg, but winced in pain.
he gave up trying to show teddy he could move it and looked up, forcing a smile.
"i'm on pain killers."
teddy laughed quietly, but she wasn't persuaded.
she just stood awkwardly at the end of the bed, staring at liam.
"hey."
he said suddenly.
"come sit."
he patted the edge of the bed, next to where he sat.
teddy looked at the area that liam had gestured to awkwardly.
"come on."
liam's voice faltered.
"unless.. you don't.."
liam stopped to look at teddy, blush painting his cheeks pink like it did so often when she was around.
"never mind."
liam said hurriedly, but he stopped short.
teddy made her way over towards the top of the bed and sat down next to liam.
"i'm sorry."
she said once again, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.
teddy looked down, and the strand of hair fell back over her eyes.
liam took a deep breath.
"you don't need to be."
liam said, gently moving the piece of hair from in front of teddy's face and placing it behind her ear.
teddy looked up, and liam was grateful to see that it wasn't only his cheeks that had turned to a shade of crimson.
teddy's eyes refused to meet liam's for a moment; they flitted around the white room, unfocused.
finally, the chocolate orbs met with the startling blue ones opposite them.
slowly, a smile crept across teddy's face.
despite liam's racing heart, he smiled too.
the blonde boy could've sworn his heart was going at a hundred miles per hour.
he was concerned that teddy could hear it like he could've sworn he did hers, pounding against the inside of her chest.
abruptly, teddy stood up.
"uh— i better go. my mom- her shift is ending."
teddy stumbled over her words.
"okay."
liam nodded then smiled.
"it was nice talking to you."
"you too."
teddy waited for a moment.
"bye, li."
"bye, tee."
teddy stumbled out the room, butterflies fluttering round her stomach like crazy.
her heart was pounding, and her cheeks were warm and red.
suddenly, a piercing scream tore through the gentle silence of the hospital corridors, throwing teddy off guard.
teddy knew that scream.
it was her mother's.
><
"mom!"
teddy screamed, sprinting down the hall.
"mom!"
teddy dashed for the stairs after surveying the floor she was on.
she ran faster than she even thought possible for her.
"mom! scott! moms hurt!"
teddy pleaded for her brother.
she was only fourteen; a slight, shy, defenceless girl up against something beyond anyone's belief in this supernatural mess.
but her brother was strong and brave— with claws and fangs, and he was a true alpha.
he could take on anything.
sometimes teddy envied him.
"no! leave me alone!"
teddy's mother's voice ruptured the silence once again— this time, closer.
no one else was around.
"mom!"
teddy screamed, catching sight of the familiar brown hair and nurses uniform.
pure fear was painted across melissa mccall's face.
she looked close to tears as she fought, her arms coated in thick, red blood as she cried.
she kicked and flailed against what appeared to be a teenage boy, except he had glowing white eyes and two rows of razor sharp teeth.
teddy had seen one of these before.
a wendigo.
teddy stood and watched her mother fight, feeling more helpless than ever.
there was simply nothing she could do except get herself hurt also.
"mom!"
she screamed again, but this time, it was cut short by a blood-curdling roar.
teddy physically felt the room shake as scott roared.
then, he leapt forwards, tackling the wendigo off his mother and to the floor.
melissa rolled to the side so she was against the wall, out of breath and in shock, as the two supernaturals fought.
scott pinned the wendigo against the wall, pushing hard against his shoulders, but the wendigo was too strong.
with one strong, well-placed kick, scott flew across the corridor, into the wall above his mother.
"scott!"
teddy shrieked, but he just yelled at her, his red eyes glowing.
"run!"
teddy ducked inside a room as the wendigo ran, his bare feet slapping against the cool tiled floor.
she held her breath in anticipation as he ran past the room she was in, not even stopping, despite the fact he could probably smell her.
after a minute, teddy ran back out the room to her brother and mom.
her mother stood, leaned against the wall.
"mom?"
scott asked.
"i'm okay."
she panted, resting her weight against the wall.
"i'm alright."
"are you sure?"
scott asked, his voice raised.
melissa turned her body away from her son, but kept her eyes on him.
"go get that son-of-a-bitch."
she panted.
the werewolf turned to his sister.
"teddy, you good?"
teddy swallowed, and then nodded curtly.
satisfied, scott took off running down the hallways.
after scott left, the other two mccall's stood for a moment to catch their breath.
both of them locked eyes when they heard a voice.
"hey? did anyone hear that?"
it was liam.
teddy turned towards the general direction of the voice in despair.
it sounded about a floor lower, where liam's room was, but was easy to hear in the newfound silence.
"mom. that's liam! i gotta do something!"
teddy turned to run, but melissa grabbed her shoulder.
"teds."
she said, pulling her daughter back.
"i wouldn't let you go even if you had werewolf strength and speed and claws. scott can handle it."
teddy nodded at her mother.
"scott can handle it."
"come on."
melissa said, wiping down her bloody arms.
"let's head home."
teddy nodded, but she had a bitter taste in her mouth.
scott can handle it.
for the first time ever, in the empty hospital corridors, teddy mccall realised something.
she was jealous of her brother.