Prologue

Tears blurred his vision as he briskly exited his mother's hospital room. Her words burned in his mind. His fault- he did this to her- he was killing her… Stiles was a smart 8 year old, but he hurt to much to think logically right now. Those words would haunt him, he would never be able to forget them. They had been branded in his mind, a scar that only he could see. He could not even think of where he was walking, his feet just carried him away from that room.

After what felt like years, he focused on his surroundings. He had just walked into another hospital room, diving into one with a closed door to avoid being seen by some nursed walking farther down the corridor. The lights were dimmed, not off completely, but it was significantly darker than the bright hallways he had escaped.

"Are you alright?" a soft voice had replaced the scornful words of his mother. Stiles looked up to see who spoke and locked eyes his whiskey brown with wide dark chocolate of a girl. He certainly was not what he expected, the girl looked young, probably around his age and certainly too young to be in the hospital. Words would not come to him and further inspection revealed the reason she was in the hospital bed. Both her legs were elevated and had some sort of braces instead of full casts. There were pins and bits of metal sticking out of the skin from what he could see. Her left arm had a black Velcro sling keeping it pinned tightly to her chest. The right arm seemed to have escaped with less damage, it only had a black brace on the wrist area. Of the pale pink skin exposed, 90% was mottled with dark black and purple bruises and cuts of various length and thicknesses. Her head had some thick bandages too and the bits of dark hair sticking out looked like it had been unevenly chopped. Both chocolate orbs were stark against the black raccoon mask of bruises. He had to wince, she must have been in a terrible accident.

Her right arm raised to beckon him over, "Why don't you sit down, you don't look like you should be walking around in such an emotional state…" When she spoke again, his feet obeyed without his own input. Stiles found himself sitting in a chair right next to her bed. He looked up at her as if waiting for more commands. The bed put her about a foot taller than his seated form so his face was even with here side. The girl gave him a small comforting smile, the split on it probably stinging from the small movement. Stiles was touched to receive that little smile from this stranger, despite the pain it obviously caused her. He still couldn't find his voice to even introduce himself to the girl he had disturbed.

"If you need to cry, than you should go ahead. I promise I won't judge you for it. Crying can be better than medicine sometimes…", her good arm reached out and rested on his head. Despite looking about his age, she was so much smaller than him. Her tiny hand sent warmth down his body and gave him comfort he felt he didn't deserve. At that thought the dam that kept the tears stemmed when he entered the room burst free. Tears flowed free and fast as he buried himself in the mystery girl's side. He felt more bandages there too. The girl combed her finders through his short hair slowly as he sobbed loudly. Stiles couldn't even find it in himself to feel embarrassed for his ugly crying. The girl just pulled his head farther into her side and continued to run her hand over his head.

Despite the awkward angle his head was at, the slight embrace was a huge comfort. It felt right to be held by this mystery girl while he hurt so much. He looked up and saw understanding in those big brown eyes. Warmth bubbled deep inside him and he felt more together than he had since his mother was diagnosed. She had no idea how much he appreciated her presence and the comfort she was giving him.

"Do you think you are ready to talk about it?", she continued to run her fingers through his hair as she spoke to him. He gave a nod after a moment of thought. An explanation was the least he could do for running into his room.

Stiles finally felt his throat open, "M-my mother is… really sick…they call it frontotemporal dementia…today was a really… bad day…" he couldn't look away from the girl as he spoke.

She looked thoughtful as she listened, "I think I understand a little…my grandpa has dementia…not sure how different the two are but she hasn't been acting…right, correct? Like she gets angry and upset? Extreme mood swings?" Stiles nodded at her question. "You know she isn't…really angry right? The doctors always said that the brain is really delicate and I know grandpa got angry over really strange things or didn't make sense. You look like you did something wrong, but it isn't your fault you know…" she trailed off and while he had been told similar thing before, they made more sense out of her mouth.

The girl glanced away quickly, trying to find the correct words, "I know it must be painful to see her like this, but don't let that anger or mean words to taint your good memories of her. It seems…more serious than regular dementia, but just remember that the mother you love is still there, she is just a little lost…" The words were soothing on the burn his mom's scorching words had left there. A balm that didn't erase the pain, but helped ease it just enough.

"It can hit even the young and there is no cure…it is killing her. M-my mom is dying…" the words came out as a sob. It was probably the first time he explained it to someone. Even Scott learned about it from his own mom who worked at the hospital. The words released a little pressure he didn't realize was there. The girl pulled him close again in as much as a hug as she could give from the bed with only one working arm. Tears flowed once more and Stiles felt like his eyes would fall out from crying so much in one day.

There was a knock and the heavy hospital door swung open. A nurse poked her head into the room and she did a double take at seeing the extra person there. Her arms were full of various colored iv bags. There was a big red one that really stood out from the other, which were clear or yellow tinted liquids. Stiles swallowed when he realized that was a bag of blood. As bad as she looked, that bag made him really understand how much damage she was healing from. The nurse walked to the side Stiles was positioned at. He now saw the tubes coming out of the girl's inner forearm. It was in a position that kind of hid it from his view before, or that is what he told himself.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to change out your bags sweetie. You weren't awake when we started this set. We need to give you more blood, since you lost so much before the doctor could stop it. This yellow bag has an antibiotic to prevent infections. The little one is a painkiller." The girl made a face at that one, her mouth opened as if she were about to protest, but the nurse cut her off, "We know how you feel, but the doctor said there was no way you were allowed to go without because of your extensive injuries. Now this big one just has saline fluids. You aren't allowed any food or water yet so this is how we will keep you hydrated." The nurse was quick and efficient with switching the bags. She pushed some buttons on the machine the tubes went through before continuing to her arm.

When the nurse was done with the iv, she waked to the wall where there was a whiteboard and wrote her name, "Riley, I am Nurse Ann and it is very nice to meet you. I will be here for the rest of the night. You can push the call button if you need me at all. If you feel ANY pain I want you to let me know. It is important to manage it so you can make a full recovery." The room remained silent as the nurse exited.

"So, your name is Riley?" Stiles finally broke the quiet, "Mine is Stiles- Stiles Stilinski- well its not really my first name, just what I prefer to be called…My name is like…really weird and most can't even pronounce it so 'Stiles' just better for everyone…" he spewed the word out with a single breath. The girl, now dubbed Riley laughed but quickly brought her hand to the side of her chest.

"Please stop! It hurts to laugh so hard." She patted his head like a small animal with a painful smile, "Stiles is a great name and I'm sure your real first name isn't that bad. My name is Rylie Finstock and it is very nice to meet you! I was named after a guy my dad lost a bet to so it couldn't be worse than that!" She rambled in a similar way to Stiles, which made him feel a little better for word vomiting over her. He started laughing, for what felt like the first time in an eternity.

'This girl must be an angel', he couldn't help but think, she had made the pain go away and he could almost float now. It had been such a bad day, his mom saying such painful words. He had felt like he was dying before meeting Riley, but now…The door opened again, and the too smiling kids looked to see who it was this time. Stiles was surprised to see his father standing there.

"The nurse said she saw you in here Stiles. Hello again Riley, how are you feeling? I apologize if my little delinquent has been disturbing your rest…" Stiles felt a wave of shame flow over him, his dad was right…Here he had been emotionally unloading on Riley, who was in the hospital and could not use 3 of her 4 limbs. Even the smiles he felt so much comfort from had caused her pain! He was looking at the floor until he felt her hand on his head again. He looked up quickly to see a gentle smile on her round face.

"It is good to see you again sheriff. Stiles hasn't bothered me at all. He is actually my first visitor besides you or the staff here, which has been great. It's really nice not to be so alone here…" Riley trailed off and Stiles felt warm at her words. He wondered if his dad was the responder to her accident of something, to have been here before.

His mouth opened before he thought about it, "How do you know Riley, dad?" His father looked strained at the question and glanced at Riley without answering Stiles. Riley looked at her lap and grimaced, her hand was still moving through his hair.

"Um, my…my mother has some problems too… she isn't sick really…she does some things that are not exactly legal. Sometimes the -um- drugs cause her to get really crazy. When she isn't…using…she gets really angry too…" Stiles felt ice crawl down his spine at those words. He reached up and took her hand in his. He felt sick from what he was hearing, "So she was in trouble and your dad was coming to arrest her…she got really angry when she heard from a friend they were coming to get her…she just got so angry and…well your dad got there just in time. He saved me, she was gonna…" her voice caught in her throat and white hot anger flowed through Stiles. He gripped her hand as he realized what she was saying without saying it outright. Her mother hurt Riley, she would have killed Riley if his dad didn't show up.

Stile stood up and put his arms around the girl. The roles finally reversed and Stiles was the one offering Riley the comfort she desperately needed and defiantly deserved. There was a hand on his back and Stiles realized his dad must have moved away from the door while Riley was speaking. He offered both kids his support while Riley cried into Stiles' chest.

The Stilinski men stayed with Riley for at leas an hour more. It was pitch black out when they finally headed home. The car was silent, but it wasn't a bad silence. His dad was really a hero, he had saved Riley's life. She told him that she would be in the hospital for a while yet, and he vowed to visit whenever he had a free moment. He told himself that anytime he wasn't at school or with his mom at the hospital he would be in Riley's room at the hospital. After hearing what his dad had saved her from, he decided he would not allow Riley to be hurt again. He would look after Riley from now on.

As far as Stiles was concerned, she was his person now and he would keep her safe and happy. It wasn't exactly the most healthy thought process, as the counselor had gone over with him before. His father was making him talk to someone, had been since his mom was diagnosed. The shrink though the possessiveness started once he found out his mom was dying, but that isn't true. He had been possessive of Scott, one of his only friends, since they met in the sandbox. He may or may not have chased others encroaching on the friendship away, but Scott didn't seem to care. Riley was his now, even if she didn't know it yet and her living incubator could shunt off.