You Be the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on the Ground

Five days later she still hadn’t woken up, and Isaac hadn’t left her side once for more than five minutes. Every few minutes he checked her pulse once more just to make sure her heart was still beating and he often caught himself staring at her chest and stomach to make sure it was still rising up and going down slowly. Derek had insisted they keep her at the vet’s office again so that the vet could check in on her every now and then, but after a day Isaac had moved her to their apartment because he hoped that her being at home would make her wake up.

Their friends filtered in and out often; an array of faces that Isaac stopped paying attention to after a while. Derek was there a lot, but Isaac refused to even look him in the eye after a certain point. Lydia Martin and Allison Argent came in frequently to feed Isaac and Olivia’s pets and make Isaac food that he rarely ate. Scott and Stiles Stilinski brought a giant bouquet of multicolored lilies because they were Olivia’s favorite flower, and they sat on the nightstand slowly wilting before Olivia had the chance to see them.


“What if she never wakes up?” Isaac asked Scott on the sixth day. Scott had managed to pry Isaac from his post in their bedroom so that he could shower and then Scott took him out for a real dinner at a fancy restaurant to try to take his mind off of things. Obviously, it wasn’t working.

“She’ll wake up, dude. It’s Olivia. She’s strong; probably stronger than any of us, and she loves you. She’ll come back to you, Isaac,” Scott reassured him, and Isaac tried to believe him, but had a hard time of it.

“I just want her back, you know? I miss her,” Isaac replied, and Scott nodded.

“We all miss her. But I’m telling you, she’s going to pull right through this and then we’ll have her back. Her and her sarcasm, and her bossiness, and her big heart under all that rough outer stuff. She’ll come back to you, Isaac. She’ll come back to all of us,” Scott said, and when Isaac looked up at him, he noticed tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

After that, Scott and Isaac finished their dinners quickly and made their way back to Isaac and Olivia’s apartment. As soon as they walked in, Isaac could smell that Derek was there, and he could smell something else; someone else. Someone familiar.

He and Scott rushed into the bedroom and Isaac almost sank to his knees in relief at the sight of his lovely Olivia sitting up in bed talking quietly with Derek. She looked exhausted and half-starved; as if she’d lost weight in her unconsciousness, but she was there. It was Olivia. His Olivia. He ran over to her and it was everything he could do to restrain himself from jumping on top of her head first. He wrapped his arms around her torso and picked her right up out of the bed and twirled her around wildly as she giggled and buried her face in his neck.

“Liv? It is you? Do you remember?” Isaac asked, setting her down and kissing her forehead, cheeks, and then up and down both of her arms.

“I remember. I remember everything,” she said with a giggle, standing on her tippytoes so that she could kiss his lips. Once they pulled apart, Isaac held her at arms’ length and looked her over.

“Prove it,” he said, and she giggled again.

“How?” she asked with a smile, and he pointed at Scott.

“Who’s that?” he asked, and she walked over and gave Scott a tight hug.

“This is Scott; dopey, lovable, reliable Scott,” she said, and Scott smiled at her and hugged her again.

Isaac turned his attention to Derek and walked over to stand in front of him. “How? How did you do it?” he asked him, and Derek showed the smallest of smiles.

“I just howled. It was so stupid of me to not try it before. I just came in here, leaned over her, and howled, and she woke up right away. She was a little dazed at first, and she was practically dying of thirst, but now that she’s hydrated and feeling a little better, it seems like she’s completely back to normal. I asked her a ton of questions, and it seems to me that she’s got all her memories back,” Derek said, a full-blown giant smile spreading across his face. Isaac returned the smile and pulled Derek into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered to him, and Derek shook his head.

“It was my responsibility. I’m just glad she’s back,” he said, and Isaac nodded and glanced over at Olivia, who had her arm around Scott and was smiling at him and Derek widely.

“Well, guys, I love you both, but it’s been way, way, way too long since I’ve been alone with Isaac, so do you think maybe you could give us some privacy? And could one of you call everyone else and let them know I’m alright? I’ll see everyone tomorrow, I just really want to relax and be with Isaac right now,” Olivia said a few moments later, and both Derek and Scott exited the apartment after saying their goodbyes.

Once they were alone, Olivia walked over to Isaac and kissed him passionately. “I missed you, little wolf,” he whispered in her ear, making her smile from ear to ear.

“I missed you too, Isaac. Like, I really, really, really missed you. Even when I was out cold and even when I didn’t fully know who you were, somewhere inside I missed you. It was like an ache that wouldn’t go away,” she whispered back, and he pulled her into his arms.

“But you’re back now. You’re back now, and I’m never going to let you leave me again,” he said, picking her up off of the floor and holding her baby-style. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I love you so much, you know that?” she asked, and he smiled.

“I love you too. I love you more than anything in the whole world. Seriously,” he replied, bowing his head so that he could kiss her.

“Isaac?” she asked a moment later, and he cocked his head to the side in question.

“I am absolutely starving,” she said, and he laughed and put her back down on the floor.

“Grilled cheese or spaghetti and meatballs?” he asked, and she smiled at him sweetly.

“Spaghetti. Lots and lots of spaghetti,” she replied, and he laughed again, kissed her one last time, and began down the hall to the kitchen.

They talked about anything and everything as he prepared dinner, and then after it was done, they ate and watched some sappy love story that Isaac normally would definitely have protested against watching. He was so happy to have his Olivia back that he even almost enjoyed it.