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It’s around 10 am when the sheriff enters Stiles’s hospital room.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Jackson asks from his seat next to Stiles’s bed. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Well, there hasn’t been any crime in the last twenty-four hours, so I think they can manage without me… and besides, since when do I need a reason to come here?”
Jackson almost says that he doesn’t need a babysitter but by now he knows it’s pointless.
“What’s that?” He asks instead, pointing to what his father-in-law is carrying as he gets up.
“Well, I got junk magazines, junk food and some flowers.”
Jackson smiles. “Thanks.” At least the sheriff never tries to make him eat healthy shit like the rest of the pack or his parents.
“How are you holding up? Get any sleep?” The sheriff asks, leaving the two bags on the table.
Jackson snorts. “What the hell is sleep?”
“How about I get you a cup of coffee?”
Jackson looks at Stiles for a second doubtful.
“It’s just down the corridor…” The sheriff waves his right arm
“I know.” Jackson licks his lip.
The sheriff shakes his head. They’ve had this talk before.
“Could you just bring it here?” Jackson asks, avoiding the sheriff’s eyes.
“Fine,” the sheriff says with resignation.
The sheriff leaves and he’s back a few minutes later with two small cups of coffee. He hands one to Jackson and stands next to Stiles, running his hand through his son’s hair. He could say that he looks good but he doesn’t… somehow it feels inappropriate because he always looks the same. Now that he’s healed from his injuries, he looks like he used to before the accident and it’s a relief but sucks at the same time.
The sheriff takes one of the chairs and places it close to Jackson before sitting down.
“I’m glad you came to the party last week,” the sheriff says after taking a sip of his coffee.
“Yeah, me too… but if you’re here to lecture me about—”
“Son, I’m not here to lecture you.” The sheriff interrupts him. “It was just a comment, okay? I’m just honestly happy. My grandson had a happy day… or as happy as it can be given the circumstances and that’s it, that’s all I was going to say. You don’t need to get defensive every time I mention him. I know what you’re going through and I get why you can’t be with him, so don’t misinterpret my words because that’s not what I meant.”
“Fine. I’m sorry.” Jackson sighs.
“You know why I came today, right?” The sheriff asks.
“Yeah, I didn’t at first but when you went to grab the coffee I figured it out.” Sleepless nights will do that to you… like forgetting dates you’ve never forgotten before. “But I hope it’s just you, I don’t want anybody else here.”
“I know you two always do something special today and I have no idea what’s going through your mind, so… you know… I’m here if you wanna talk about it… or not… talk about it.” He just doesn’t want him to be alone but it doesn’t feel like he can actually say that. Hopefully, Jackson gets it.
Jackson smiles briefly. Maybe it’s the sheriff who needs to talk about it a lot more than he does. It’s not difficult to imagine what his father-in-law must be thinking right now and he gets it all too well but the truth is that there’s nothing he can do except maybe listen.
“He’s the one who always picked what we’d do, you know? He started it. It was his thing.”
“Yeah, I know.” The sheriff nods.
“Look, I know you’re not okay… so don’t tell me some bullshit about being here for me because I mean, you always come here to check on me but today is the day you got him back and I know that you may need to talk to somebody about it, so it might as well be me, you know? Don’t put up a front. Not today.”
The sheriff just looks at him, sips some more coffee and doesn’t say anything.
“Hey, I’m not weak despite the fact that everybody keeps treating me like I’m gonna break if they cry around me. I can handle it. Maybe I couldn’t a month ago but now I can.” He’s stronger now, he knows that.
“I don’t think you’re weak. I could never think that.”
“Fine. Then talk to me. Say whatever it is you’re thinking.”
The sheriff sighs. “Okay… so, when I woke up this morning I couldn’t help but think wouldn’t it be great if today is the day he comes back to us… and before you say anything, I know it doesn’t make any sense, I know—”
“No, I get it,” Jackson interrupts him.
“You do?” The sheriff raises his eyebrows.
“Yeah, of course, I do. It’s the kind of thing that Stiles would say, actually.”
The sheriff licks his lips and doesn’t say anything at first.
“The truth is that I lied to him.” The sheriff continues.
“What do you mean?” Jackson frowns.
“I mean…” The sheriff looks at his coffee for a moment avoiding Jackson’s eyes. “I mean that after a few days when we had zero intel about where you were, there were moments where I really believed that you two had been killed and I’d never see him again. And the thought of losing him because of fucking werewolves… well, I wondered why the hell he had to get himself involved in all that shit... Why it had to be him, you know? I had never been more afraid in my life… and I took it out on Derek, Scott… everybody who I thought was responsible for getting him most probably killed. I don’t know if it was irrational, it probably was but I was seriously pissed with Derek for accepting him into the pack. And if he had died, I don’t know what I’d have done to Derek.”
The sheriff takes a sip of his coffee.
“Yeah, I know you were pissed. Stiles told me that you didn’t want him to have anything to do with Derek after that.”
The sheriff nods. “I asked him to stay away. I wanted him... shit, I don’t know... I guess I just wanted him to have a normal life—to be safe. And all I managed to achieve was to make things difficult between us for a while.”
“If what you mean is that you regret what you did… then, you shouldn’t… you’re his father and with all the shit going on in this town back then, nobody can blame you. You were just trying to keep him out of trouble… but he…” Jackson waves his right arm. “You couldn’t have stopped him.” God knows he’s tried himself many times.
“Yes, but that’s also part of the reason why he lied to me for so long about you. If you hadn’t done what you did, he would have never told me because I had told him a million times how I felt about the pack.”
“To be honest, I think it was because it was me… not because I was pack. He thought you blamed me for what happened that day. The truth is that you didn’t just blame Derek and he knew you would be upset about us.”
“Yes, I guess… I might have blamed you too but it’s been a long time since I realized it wasn’t your fault. I’m perfectly aware that he could have died if you hadn’t been there.”
“Look, I appreciate it but all that happened so long ago that I’d never think about it if it wasn’t because your son started that stupid “rescue” day tradition…” Jackson smiles. “He’s the one who thinks that we ended up together because of what happened, you know? I think it’s his way of turning that nightmare into something… something different… and if that helps him in any way, then why not?”
“So, he’s really the only one who thinks that? You don’t think so?”
“Those fuckers tortured me until I couldn’t feel my hands and they almost killed him. One more day and he’d be dead. I’m sure of it. So, no, I refuse to believe that I owe the most important thing in my life to those bastards. I’d rather believe in fate, and I don’t care if he calls me a romantic because of that, he can call me whatever he wants… because I’m sure that we were meant to be, and Daniel was meant to be too… and I don’t know why he’s ended up here but I know that he’s not meant to die in a hospital and he’s not going to.” There’s a reason why he survived all those years ago and it wasn’t to die years later in a stupid car accident. Jackson needs to believe that because he needs to stay strong and keep hoping that this nightmare won’t last much longer.
“Do you think he can hear us?” The sheriff asks out of the blue.
That’s not something Jackson expected but he’s not surprised either because he’s wondered that himself too many times.
Jackson snorts. “I have no fucking clue… but if he does, he sure as hell must be having a laugh with some of the fucked up things we say around him every day.”
The sheriff gets up and comes closer to Stiles’s head until he can run his right hand through his hair before grabbing Stiles’s left hand, holding it with both hands.
“Son, I’m here. I just… I came to see how you were doing, you know? And as much I enjoy talking to your charming husband, I’d rather be listening to your rambling right now… We’d both prefer it. We both miss you. And we need you. Your son needs you. Please, Stiles…” There’s a hitch in the sheriff’s breath and a couple of tears fall down his cheek. “Please, wake up. We need you to wake up.”
The sheriff lets go of Stiles and removes the tears with the back of his right hand.
Jackson doubts that the sheriff was actually hoping for anything to happen but he’s said similar words himself many times and he knows why you need to do it once in a while, and even more on days like today. He knows that his father-in-law feels as useless as he does and he’s as tired of waiting as he is. Waiting all those years ago when he didn’t know if his son was dead or alive had to be pure agony but waiting now, two months after the accident, when he’s right there in front of you but you can do absolutely nothing to give him his life back, can slowly drive you mad with pain and despair.
In that moment, they both can hear the sound of a text coming from the sheriff’s phone. The sheriff grabs it, reads it and sends a reply.
“They need me at the station. I have to go but I’ll be back later tonight.”
Jackson gets up and follows him to the door.
“Why don’t you eat some of that food before it goes to waste? I know I’m not your mother but you need to eat,” the sheriff says, opening the door.
“I will as long you don’t tell me that I’m eating for two, okay?” Because it’s like his head might explode if he hears that sentence one more time.
The sheriff snorts and smiles. He grabs Jackson’s arm with his right hand, squeezing lightly. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” the sheriff says before leaving.