Origins. || teen wolf [3]

twenty one: recovery

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I open my eyes and just stare at the ceiling above me. I am in a large narrow room and on the right side of me is a nurse's station.

I closed my eyes tightly, in hopes this was a dream.

But it wasn't. I was alone in a hospital bed with a sharp pain in my neck causing me to wince as I sat up. I quickly place my hand over the area and feel a bandage covering the side of my neck of a wound that had already healed.

I thought I had died but I was still here, I was still breathing, I was still living.

How?

I was injected with wolfsbane. I should've died. I had to be dead. It didn't make sense.

The handle of the door began to shake, and I quickly lay back down to pretend I was asleep. I wasn't ready to answer the question of "are you okay?" because I wasn't exactly sure if I was just yet.

The door finally swung open, and closed quietly.

Footsteps were heard coming closer and closer to me, followed by a deep sigh.

"You're alive," they spoke in a whisper as they sat down in the chair that was beside my bed.

My heart rate sped up at the sound of Peter's voice, but I remained still trying my hardest to keep my breathing steady.

"Thank god, you're alive Lainy." He whispered again, this time his voice shaky.

Why was he here, I thought to myself, he has no right to be here. He knew that if I was awake that I would tell him to go away. I wanted nothing to do with him, and thankfully he understood that.

"You look just like her, you know?" He let out a small chuckle, "Every time I look at you I see Clare. I wish you didn't though." He paused letting out another heavy exhale, "Your face is just a reminder of the woman and child I abandoned, and all the regret that goes along with it."

I felt my whole body stiffen as he continues to talk. I knew that he was saying things that he would never be able to say to my face.

"I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I stayed with your mother and you. I thought it was right of me to leave... you deserved a better father than what I was. I couldn't be what you needed, and I knew that... that's why I left. I hope one day that you will be able to understand that. Maybe if I didn't leave your mother would still be alive and we would be a family."

I felt his feet began to shuffle on the floor as he approaches me. I feel his light grip on my hand and I could feel the guilt and sympathy that is radiating off his body.

"I'm so sorry, Lainy. I wish I could change the past, but I can't." He whispered, "God, I'm so sorry."

Another person who had just walked in interrupts him, "What a performance, Peter... really well done." Derek's sarcastic voice chimed in followed by a few slow claps.

"What do you want Derek?" Peter barked back, his tone now annoyed.

"What do I want?" Derek scoffed, "What I want is to know why you're here?"

"I just needed to make sure she was okay."

"Why the sudden change? Why now?" Derek asked, his tone softer, "You didn't want her to be anywhere near you when she arrived in Beacon Hills, but now...it's like you've had a complete change of heart."

"I love her, Derek. She's my daughter." Peter whispered, "I need to do this for Clare. I need to be there for our daughter."

"You really proved yourself last night."