I don't own Teen Wolf.
No One Does It Better: Chapter 10
"Jackson!" Stiles yelled, running to the wolf who swayed on his four legs. Stiles reached him just as the teen collapsed. "Shit, Jackson, wake up!"
"Fuck," Scott whispered, transforming back to his human form and catching his shorts that Stiles threw at him. He crouched over Jackson, who's wolf had allowed him to transform back to his human form, his fingers hovering over the teens pale skin. Lydia growled, pushing past the boys and running around the corner. She returned a few moments later fully dressed in her human form, Jackson's sweats in her hand.
"Jackson?" she whispered, rolling him over and letting her hands rub over his smooth head. She let out a sigh, moving down to pull on Jackson's pants with shaky hands.
"Lydia, I can do that…" Scott whispered, but the girl shook her head.
"He took my virginity. I've seen him naked more times than I can count. I've got this." Scoot stayed crouched beside them.
"What…What do we do?" Stiles asked, glancing back at the empty house.
"He feels really warm, like he has a fever. Let's get him in the car and take him to see your mom at the hospital," Lydia whispered, pulling on Jackson's shirt with help from Scott. Scott nodded, standing up and pulling Jackson into his arms. He nodded towards the car and Stiles scrambled to his feet and ran to get the door open. Lydia climbed in the back seat, allowing Jackson's head to rest in her lap as Scott placed him beside her. Scott climbed in the front seat, pulling out his phone. He glanced back at Lydia who gave him a sad smile as he dialed.
"Hey mom?" Scott said, letting his head fall back. "Something's wrong with Jackson. Yeah, we were running and he just collapsed. He feels like he has a fever and he's not waking up….Yeah, we're bringing him in right now. Will you wait for us at the ambulance bay? Great, thanks mom." Scott hung up, sighing again.
"This is a disaster," he whispered, glancing back at Jackson again.
"It could be worse," Stiles mumbled, flicking his turn signal as he turned onto Steeplechase Drive.
"How do you see that?" Lydia whispered, running her hand over Jackson's head.
"He could have been stuck in his wolf form when he passed out. Then we'd have to call Derek and explain that Jackson collapsed while running as a wolf after Derek specifically told you that he wasn't supposed to come running with you and that he was stuck as a wolf and we had no idea how to make him switch back. At least now all you have to do is tell Derek Jackson collapsed and that he's at the hospital," Stiles said, turning into the hospital parking lot and driving up to the emergency room door.
"Fuck, Derek," Scott mumbled, jumping out of the car and pushing his seat forward as Melissa and a few other nurses met them, pushing a gurney between them.
"I'll leave that phone call to you," Lydia said with a grin, watching sadly as Melissa pushed Jackson away from them.
"Where is he?" Derek growled, grabbing Scott by his shirt color and pulling him to his feet.
"Hey, calm down!" Scott said, holding his hands up in defeat.
"I said, where is he, McCall?" Derek said, his eyes flashing red.
"Derek, calm down," Lydia whispered, pulling at his shirt and glancing around them. "They're running some tests on him now and making sure everything's okay. Scott's mom made it sounds like his cell counts were out of whack. It's going to be okay." Derek growled again, pushing Scott away from him and dropping down in a chair to wait. Danny entered the room, perching on the arm rest of Stiles' chair.
"I thought I told you not to take him running. He's not strong enough," Derek said quietly, staring at his hands.
"He just sounding so hopeful," Scott said with a shrug. "He kept saying how he missed going on a wolf run and that he really wanted to go. He said he wouldn't feel up to it by the time the next full moon came around. I didn't have the heart to tell him no."
The pack stayed silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Danny whispered comforting words to Stiles as he rubbed his back; Allison ran her fingers through Scotts hair trying to keep him calm; Lydia hugged her arms close to herself, glancing at the door every so often. After another half hour, Melissa joined them. She gave the teens a small smile, squeezing Derek's shoulder.
"Jackson's going to be okay. He's resting right now. With the mets in his lungs it's harder for them to pull in the oxygen his body needs. So while he was running, his muscles and brain weren't able to get enough oxygen, causing him to pass out. He's also got a bit of a fever. We've got him on oxygen and we're trying to bring his fever down, but he's going to be okay. He's resting peacefully right now; he should wake up pretty soon. So all you can go home. Just his parents and Derek are allowed in tonight." The teens groaned, each slowly climbing to their feet.
"Told you he'd be okay," Scott mumbled, flinching when Derek glared at him.
"Tell him we're all thinking of him when he wakes up, Derek," Allison said with a small smile, wrapping her arm around Scott. Derek nodded, watching them go. Danny gave him a small smile, nodding as he passed.
"Can you wait out here a couple more minutes, Derek?" Melissa asked, giving him a sad smile. "Just give Carol and Sean a couple minutes with him."
"Yeah, sure," Derek said, sitting on the edge of his seat.
"Thanks, sweetie. I'll come get you in a couple minutes." Derek sighed, letting his head fall in his hands. It was going to be a long night.
Jackson was vaguely aware of an obnoxious beeping noise somewhere close to him. He was exhausted, his muscles screaming in agony as he shifted. Jackson scrunched his nose, pretty sure something was in it. He brought his hand up to brush whatever was causing his nose discomfort away, whimpering when someone caught his hand.
"Leave it there, Jackson," a quiet voice whispered, causing Jackson to slowly blink his eyes open. Derek perched on the edge of his chair, smiling down at his mate.
"What happened?" Jackson whispered, grasping Derek's hand as the alpha held out a glass of water with a straw to the teen's lips.
"You passed out. Apparently your lungs suck," Derek said, sitting back in his chair, still holding Jackson's hand.
"That a technical medical term?" Jackson whispered, a small smile on his face. Derek chuckled, shaking his head.
"According to Melissa, the mets in your lungs are preventing them from taking in as much oxygen as you need. So when you were running, your muscles and brain weren't getting enough oxygen as you needed, causing you to pass out. You also had a fever when they brought you in. Pretty sure you scared the shit out of Stiles; never seen that kid so quiet."
"Sorry," Jackson mumbled, reaching up to pat his face. "What's this for?" he mumbled, trying to pull the tubes out of nose. Derek grabbed his hand again, stopping.
"I said leave it there," the alpha said, and Jackson could tell how tired he sounded. "They've got you on oxygen to help get everything cleared up right now. I don't know how long they want you on it. But I'm pretty sure you won't have to go to school tomorrow." Jackson gave Derek a small smile, burrowing himself deeper into the bed.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, sighing when Derek raised an eyebrow at him. "For scaring you guys."
"It's not your fault," Derek said, squeezing Jackson's hand tight. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't want you running anyway. Mind you, Scott didn't have the heart to tell you know. At least you weren't by yourself…. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit," Jackson mumbled, rubbing at his nose again. He let his eyes fall shut as he took a deep breath.
"I think that's to be expected. I bet Melissa can get you more drugs," Derek whispered, rubbing his thumb over Jackson's knuckles.
"No, I'm okay. I just want to sleep." Derek nodded, starting to stand up. "No, don't leave. Not yet, please. Just let me fall asleep first."
"Okay," Derek whispered, giving Jackson another small smile.
"I love you," Jackson whispered, his eyes drooping.
"I love you, too. Now get some sleep."
Jackson sat in the passenger seat of Danny's truck, staring at himself in the flip down mirror.
"You ready to go in?" Danny asked quietly, glancing at his phone. They had five minutes to get to class.
"Give me a minute," Jackson whispered, adjusting his stocking cap.
"No one's going to say anything, Jax," Danny whispered.
"Everyone knows I just spent the last three days in the hospital because I collapsed, Danny," Jackson mumbled, still staring at the dark bags under his eyes.
"Jax…" Danny trailed off, sighing.
"Were you going to tell me?" Jackson asked, raising a brow.
"Tell you what?" Danny asked, cocking his head to the side. Jackson sighed, finally turning to look at Danny.
"About you and Sties?" He asked, causing Danny to gasp.
"I…Uh…" Danny stared at Jackson with wide eyes. "We're not sure if anything's going on yet. We're just kind of circling each other right now."
"The whole pack can tell," Jackson said with a shrug. "And you've smelled like Stiles ever since you broke up with Brett."
"This is why I hate running with werewolves…" Danny mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face. "You feeling okay?"
"I guess," Jackson said with a shrug. "We could always skip?" he said hopefully, grinning at Danny.
"And you're crazy alpha boyfriend would kill me. He's already threatened to kill Scott after you collapsed. How did you convince them to let you leave without the oxygen, again?"
"I have to wear it at night," Jackson said, rubbing at his nose while thinking of the uncomfortable oxygen tubes that he had taken off a half an hour before. Jackson sighed, making sure his hat was on straight before turning to Danny. "Let's go."
Danny followed close behind Jackson who kept his head up, falling into his old familiar strut. The teens froze, however, when they walked around the side of the school and saw a mess of cops and roped off area.
"Shit," Jackson said, running a hand over his face.
"Did you wolf out last night?" Danny whispered.
"I just got out of the hospital, dude. I came home, I fell asleep. I was definitely not wolfing out and eating innocent people last night," Jackson whispered back, rolling his eyes. He glanced up as Stiles pushed his way through the crowed.
"Hey," he panted, leaning against Danny. "It wasn't Scott, or Lydia. And I'm assuming Derek was with you last night and he has ten times more control than everyone else."
"But it was a wolf?" Jackson asked, pulling Stiles away from their gaping classmates.
"Dad said it looked like some kind of animal. And from what Derek has been telling us about that nearby pack…"
"They're moving in on our territory…"Jackson mumbled and Stiles nodded.
"We've been patrolling a bit," Danny whispered, and Jackson swallowed his grin as the goalie reached out and touched Stiles' arm. "Derek's probably going to have us stepping up patrolling now."
"Should I text Derek?" Jackson asked, having to stop himself from pulling his hat off.
"Don't think you need to," Danny said, nodding his head to the back of the crowd where Derek stood, his hands in his pockets.
"Do we know who was attacked?" Jackson asked, glancing at Stiles.
"Mr. Wise, the geometry teacher. Maybe the other pack doesn't like math," Stiles said, causing both Jackson and Danny to roll their eyes.
"Where's Allison?" Jackson asked. "She should probably let her dad know this wasn't us." He jumped when someone touched his elbow, letting out a sigh of relief when he turned around to see Derek.
"I'm going to talk to Argent. You guys just keep your heads down," Derek said, keeping voice low.
"Got it," Stiles said, giving the alpha a small salute.
"And you," Derek said, wrapping his arm around Jackson's waist. Jackson closed his eyes, letting his forehead fall against Derek's chest. "Stay calm. If you don't feel good, go home. They aren't going to fault you."
"I'm fine, Derek," Jackson said.
"I know. And I want to keep it that way. I'll talk to you after school. Love you," Derek whispered, kissing Jackson on the forehead.
"Love you, too," Jackson whispered back. With a sigh he turned back to Stiles and Danny. "Well boys, let's get this over with." With that, the teen led the way into the school, keeping his head up.
AN: I hope you like it. Thank you for all your support! I know this was a short chapter, but it was more filler than anything. The next one will be much longer. I hope you liked it. Please review!