It took another week before Aeterna could produce his physical body once more. His host was becoming too weak. Aeterna would probably only be able to manage his body maybe five more times before he would have to rest for a decade or two.
Aeterna found Stiles sitting by himself in the waiting room. He was in one of the disgustingly green chairs. He was sitting on his palms and swinging his legs absently. Aeterna stood in front of the boy, causing a shadow to be thrown over him. Stiles looked up with a huge smile on his face. It dimmed and became a small frown before he looked down again.
"Hey mister," Stiles greeted half-heartedly.
Aeterna smirked derisively and crouched down in front of Stiles like he had done the first time they had met.
"Don't be too excited to see me pipsqueak,"
"Hey!" Stiles steadied a glare at the elder man, "I'm no pipsqueak!"
"Whatever you say," Aeterna gave him a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Where's your dad?"
Stiles made a face, "Him and mommy are talking with the doctors,"
"Oh," Aeterna thought about that for a moment.
"Mommy is going to be okay," Stiles murmured, "I think,"
The silence sat in the air. Aeterna clapped his hands against his thighs and stood with a groan.
"What do you say that you and I play a game?"
Stiles looked up and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Aeterna.
"What kind of game?" he asked.
Aeterna grinned, "It's a lot of fun. I act something out and you have to guess what I am,"
The boy's eyes lit up a little, "Do I get to pretend to be something and you guess what I am?"
"But of course," Aeterna nodded, "Where would be the fun in it if it was just me making a fool of myself?"
"Okay!" Stiles squealed with joy and began bouncing on his hands, "Let's play, let's play!"
Two hours later, that's how John found his son. The boy was shrieking with glee and his shoulders were shaking with insane laughter. Aeterna was on his back laying on the floor with his legs and arms in the air.
"What are you supposed to be?" the younger male said between laughs.
Aeterna scoffed, "I am most obviously a dead armadillo,"
Stiles just broke down in to an uncontrollable fit of laughter. He doubled over and clutched at his stomach.
John smiled and leaned against one of the archways of the waiting room. Aeterna dropped his limbs and groaned.
"No one appreciates my talents around here," Aeterna mumbled. His dark obsidian eyes flicked up and looked at John.
"What do you think, Sheriff?" Aeterna pleaded, "It was obvious that I was a dead armadillo, right?"
"Deputy," John corrected automatically, "I'm sorry to say, Andrew, but you don't make a very convincing armadillo,"
Aeterna sighed heavily and sat up.
"Well at least I didn't say what I was out loud right after my turn started,"
"It was one time!" Stiles protested.
Aeterna rolled his eyes, "You jumped up on the table, threw your hands in the air, and yelled "I'm Batman" in a scratchy voice,"
"Yeah well," Stiles mumbled, "I was Batman,"
Aeterna shook his head and slapped his palm over his face. He let out a long-suffering sigh.
"Kids these days," he grumbled.
John felt a small smile tug at his lips.
"Okay Stiles," John said, "Leave the nice man alone and let's go get something for lunch. And no—candy does not count as an entire meal."
Stiles pouted for a moment but then smiled when he waved to Aeterna.
"Bye mister!" He called as he trotted along behind his father, "Let's play again sometime!"
Aeterna returned the wave. His eyes were trained on the dark cloud that was beginning to form around the deputy. His lips thinned in to a mischievous smirk. It wouldn't be too long before he had a new, strong host.
Aeterna found himself entertaining Stiles whenever he would roam about. It also allowed him the coffee breaks with John. Aeterna learned that Claudia, John's wife, was refusing further treatment. She said with the cancer having progressed so far already, she just wanted to go peacefully. John may have also mentioned that most of the time, the treatments were more painful than the actual disease. So the woman was constantly having morphine and other pain killers administered by IV drip.
Claudia's cancer was spreading faster than the doctors had anticipated. John had told Aeterna that now the doctors didn't believe that she would live for much longer than three months. John and Claudia were already beginning to make preparations for when she was gone.
"It's all very surreal," John admitted over a cup of coffee, "I never thought that Claudia might—We had always thought that we would grow old together. She had always said that when she died, she would want us to be old and sitting on the porch of our farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. She said we would hold hands in our last moments and know that we lived a good life together."
"That sounds very ideal," Aeterna offered with feigned sympathy.
John let out a short laugh, "Yeah. I just—I don't know. I don't know if I'll be able to raise Stiles all by myself. How am I supposed to go on without her?"
Aeterna put a hand on John's shoulder, "You're strong. You'll figure something out."
"I'll have to," John nodded and opened his mouth to say something else when his pager beeped in his pocket. He looked at it and sighed. He ran his hand down his face.
"Trouble in River City, Sheriff?" Aeterna asked.
"'Fraid so," He slipped his pager back in to his pants, "Would you mind watching Stiles while I'm out?"
Aeterna shrugged, "It would do him so good to be around such a cultured fellow as myself,"
"Thanks," With a slight grin and a small wave, John turned and left.
Aeterna stayed in the little waiting room for about fifteen minutes before a large group of medical staff rushed past the room. Aeterna calmly took a sip of his terrible, machine coffee and then tossed the cup in the trash can. The hallways were a flurry of motion as Aeterna walked down them. The annoying beeps of hospital equipment and the sound of a flat line were prominent in the air around Room 305—Claudia's room.
"Clear!" A nurse said before the sound of a defibrillator being discharged came through. Aeterna reached the area outside the room and saw Stiles sitting in a chair. Tears stained his face and he was shaking with fear. Aeterna walked over to him and knelt down in front of the boy.
"Mister," Stiles said in a small, shaking voice, "Is my mom gonna be okay?"
Aeterna's lips thinned as if in speculation, "It's hard to say, kid."
Stiles' bottom lip trembled before he threw himself at Aeterna. He wrapped his shaking arms around the man and held on for dear life. Aeterna blinked and slowly returned the embrace. He was surprised by the small spark of magic in the boy. It was little—which was only to be expected with someone this young. But the boy definitely had the potential to be very powerful.
About ten minutes later, the nurses and doctors left the room.
"Time of death 10:34 pm," the doctor said to one of the nurses. The nurse nodded solemnly and wrote the time down a clipboard she was carrying. One nurse—Melissa McCall—came over to kneel in front of Stiles as well. The boy turned his tearful gaze on the woman. She seemed to be battling her own emotions as she faced the child.
"Stiles," she tried. Her voice caught on a sob, "Stiles your mom—" She shook her head and pressed her hand to her eyes. Stiles shook his head and looked down. Snot dribbled from his nose and tears streamed freely from his eyes once more. He didn't hold back any longer and let out loud, anguished wails as he cried in the hospital waiting room.
A few minutes later, Stiles had worn himself out. His eyes were red and puffy and his face a complete mess.
"I-I want to see my mom," he whimpered. Melissa looked up at him. She hesitated and looked at Aeterna. The man only shrugged.
"Okay," Melissa said after a moment. She stood and held out her hand for Stiles. The boy slid off the chair and took her hand. He disappeared in to the hospital room a minute later. Melissa left after a few minutes, her eyes freshly wet. She walked to the nurse's station where a few nurses waited to offer their condolences. Aeterna stood and moved unnoticed in to the hospital room.
Stiles was sitting in the chair that was always right next to his mother's bed. He stared at his mother's seemingly sleeping face. She didn't look to be in any pain and looked peaceful in death.
"I couldn't do anything," Stiles mumbled, "Mom died and I couldn't help her at all."
Aeterna stood across from Stiles on the opposite side of the hospital bed.
"I can bring her back," he said simply. Stiles' head jerked up and he looked wide-eyed at Aeterna.
"Wh-what?" He asked, his voice small and befitting of a child.
"I can get your mother's soul back and bring her back to life again," Aeterna explained.
Stiles' mouth opened in disbelief. He stared at Aeterna for a minute and then back down at his mother's form. He looked like he wanted to speak. But the words wouldn't come to him. After a moment, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly and shook his head rapidly.
"She wouldn't want that," he said, his voice shaking. Aeterna frowned and moved to the other side of the bed. His shadow covered Stiles in the fluorescent lights.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" He asked. Stiles only nodded his head weakly. Aeterna smiled wickedly, "I can take away your pain. I can give you power—I can protect you Stiles. Would you like that?"
Once more, Stiles was still. He sniffled as he thought about this. He scrubbed at his eyes as tears threatened to overflow again. He nodded a couple times.
Aeterna smiled and placed his hand on Stiles' shoulder, "You've made a wise decision, Stiles."
"Stiles!" John Stilinski yelled as he ran in to the hospital room. In the dim light, he looked at the form of his now deceased wife. Stiles sat in the chair next to her and simply stared at her. The boy then looked up at John. For a moment, his dark brown eyes looked black.
"Stiles," John whispered. He rushed over to his son and pulled him in to a crushing hug, "I'm so sorry I wasn't here, son. I'm sorry," he murmured against Stiles' shorn hair. John pulled back and looked at Stiles.
"It's okay dad," Stiles said simply, "I'm okay now."