Derek's tired eyes took in her fragile frame, seeming so small in the hospital bed. He squeezed her hand, wrapping both of his around it before lifting them up. He placed gentle kisses across the back of her hand as he desperately tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks. A hand rested on his shoulder but he didn't look up, he was too ashamed.

"It's not your fault, son" Derek's jaw tightened painfully as he stopped himself from listing all of the reasons why it was entirely his fault to the poor Sherif. Stubbornly he kept his eyes on her, the Sherif sighed, squeezing his shoulder before walking away. An hour passed but Derek didn't move. Stiles came and went, offering food and telling him to go home and get some rest. But he was paralysed by sheer determination. He hadn't been there for her when she needed him most, he definitely wasn't going to leave now.

The night passed slowly, with little sign of improvement. Derek repeated that she was stable over and over in his mind like a mantra. She wasn't getting better but she also wasn't getting worse. If he didn't keep telling himself that he would go mad. Bowing his head, he rested it on the edge of her bed whilst listening to the steady beep of the heart monitor. As long as Derek kept hearing that noise he'd be okay, it was the only thing anchoring him and preventing him from lashing out at anyone who dared to come close to her.

Agonisingly slowly she came round, the incessant beeping of the machinery around the bed roused her from sleep. Cracking her eyes open she took in the small hospital room. She was afraid to move as the memories of the accident came back to her, everywhere ached and she knew moving would only make it worse. Glancing down she saw Derek's head resting on the bed, his hand wrapped tightly around her own. He looked awful, his skin was sickly pale, only emphasised by the dark circles beneath his eyes. She gently retracted her hand from his, moving it to play with his hair. She caressed his face, trying to soothe the furrow of his brow.

He stirred under her ministrations, his eyes immediately shooting to hers. His face crumpled as she attempted a smile. A sob echoed through the small room as she pulled him to her chest, carefully avoiding her injuries. He buried his head in her neck, trying to get as close to her as possible without ever actually touching her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" He repeated the words over and over. Anger stirred in her chest, she hated how easy it was for Derek to fall into his old habits of accepting all of the guilt and blame. She carefully cupped his face in her hands, pulling him away from her neck so she could see him properly. He refused to meet her eye, looking stubbornly out of the window.

"Hey, look at me" He still refused, clenching his jaw as he tried to suppress his emotions. "Derek. Look at me"

Hearing the aggravation in her voice, he brought his eyes to her. It killed him, seeing the love glowing in her eyes. He didn't deserve it, not anymore.

"This wasn't your fault, you can't control the weather or other people's bad driving. You did the best you could and we're both still alive. That's all I care about" He shook his head, biting his lip to hide the way it had started to quiver. "I'm not taking no for an answer Derek"

All he could do was bury his head back in her neck as tears streamed down his face and onto her neck. She felt so hopeless, she wanted to erase all of his pain and guilt but she knew that was a near impossible task. So she did the next best thing, she threaded her fingers through his hair, and rubbed his aching back with her other hand. All the while she whispered words of comfort and love, trying to reassure him that nothing would stop her from loving him, especially not this.

Eventually, Derek lifted his head. He kept his eyes down, feeling ashamed. She wanted to reach out for him again but he crossed the room before she could. He came back with a glass of water, he held it in front of her. She sighed, taking it out of his grasp and drinking just to appease him. He dropped back into the uncomfortable plastic chair, resting his head in his hands. She tried to reach out to him but the doctors came flurrying into the room, ushering him away as they reexamined her.

She glared at Derek as he kept his eyes trained on the tree outside of the window. It'd had been two days and he'd yet to say a word. He was a silent guardian, helping her with whatever she needed without saying a thing. She tried everything from prophesying her love for him to reciting her worst jokes in the hope that his lips would twitch and he would finally smile. She huffed out a breath before sitting up in her bed. She decided that the only thing left to do was to push him into doing something. Ignoring the aching pain that seemed to span the entirety of her body, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and tentatively placed her feet on the cold floor. Derek sprang to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist, taking all of the weight off her feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" His voice was hoarse from days of not using it. She gave him a sheepish smile as she leaned into his chest for support. The annoyance in his eyes faded into concern as he secured his arm around her more tightly and lifted her back onto the bed.

"So, are you going to talk to me now?" Her playful smile dropped when Derek's face transformed into the stoic expression she'd been forced to see for the past two days. She sighed as she lied down on the bed, she didn't know what to do to snap him out of it. Derek's heart broke as he watched her roll away from him, facing the window instead. He longed to reach out for her and to pull her into his arms. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and how he was going to take care of her. But he couldn't, she deserved better than him.

(Y/n) had fallen asleep when Lydia came into the room. Her disapproving gaze fell on Derek, he tried to hide the way he wanted to shrink under her hostile glare.

"Do you want to explain yourself?" Derek kept his face emotionless despite wanting to tell Lydia that he knew he shouldn't be here and that he'd leave (y/n) alone as soon as she'd recovered so that she could move on with someone else. He opened his mouth when she beat him to it.

"Do you think this is helping her? It's killing her Derek, she hates seeing you like this." She pointed a perfectly painted finger nail at him before continuing "So snap out of it or you'll lose the best thing that's ever happened to you"

She turned away from him and walked towards (y/n), she brushed the hair away from her sleeping face before placing her bag on the floor. "Go clean up, get some sleep, eat. I'll look after her until you come back"

Derek knew Lydia well enough not to argue with her. He stood up, trying to ignore how stiff his aching limbs were. He bent over, pressing a tender kiss to (y/n)'s forehead before stepping away from her and leaving the room.

When she stirred in the morning her room was filled with flowers, they covered every available surface. She turned towards Derek, only to find the chair he'd been occupying for the last three days empty. Her heart sank, thinking he'd finally given up on her and left. The door creaking open snapped her out of the whirlwind of thoughts racing through her mind. Derek stepped through the door, two cups of coffee balanced in one hand as he used the other to open the door. His face lit up when he saw that she was awake. Her eyes roamed over him, he'd shaved and showered, looking as good as ever. Seeing her surprised expression he offered her an explanation.

"Lydia gave me a talking to" She smiled, huffing out a laugh.

"I'll have to thank her later" He looked down, shame clouding his eyes.

"I'm sorry-I was just so scared of losing you that I shut down and all I could think about was taking care of you" His words were quiet as he gazed at her hopefully. Part of her wanted to be angry but she wasn't. Instead, she was just so happy that he'd come back to her.

"C'mere" He set the coffees down, taking her into his arms. He pulled away, pressing his lips against hers. It was needy and desperate as their lips brushed together. Eventually, they pulled away, pressing their foreheads together. She was mortified by the rapid beeping of the heart monitor. He laughed, a real, full laugh. A blush crept its way up her cheeks as she looked away.

"You know I can always hear your heartbeat, right?" His smirk was back as he stared at her playfully.

"Shut up."