Chapter 67
Stiles sauntered into the animal clinic wearing khaki shorts and a gray shirt. His black baseball was on backwards. Deaton was at the front desk looking at a manila file.
"He's in the back," Deaton said nonexpressively without looking up from his work.
Stiles gave a smile and a nod as he passed through the waist high swinging doors that were made of ash. Deaton gave a small chuckle. Some things never changed, thank god. He was worried that the two were beginning to drift, but it appeared that it was just that. Worry.
"Yo, Scott," Stiles called as he walked down the short hallway.
He peered into Exam 1 and stepped in as Scott was checking on a German Shepard. The dog panted heavily with its tongue hanging out of its mouth as he lay on the exam table. Scott patted the dog.
"I went to the crime scene," Stiles said.
Scott snorted.
"Of course you did," he chuckled. "How did your dad feel about that?"
"Well…" Stiles squeaked with an inhaled hiss, signifying that he hadn't told his dad about it at all. "Cora and I were nearby-ten miles give or take, so we checked it out."
Scott's eyebrows pinched together as hearing her name. Stiles rolled his eyes. The sighs. Eye rolls. Jaw clenching. These reactions were getting old and grating on his ever loving nerve.
"And?" Scott said.
"And, there are some heavy duty gashes in a nearby tree. Authorities are saying there's a wild animal on the loose. Sound familiar?"
Stiles leaned back against the counter. With his arms propped up on it and his hand gripping the edge, his fingers tapped anxiously.
"Do you think its-" Stiles cut himself short. He didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it gave him wretched flashbacks of their beastly faces. All of them. The alpha pack. It made him flinch.
Scott looked up to see Stiles staring at the corner of the room. He could see his friend's mind working overtime.
"It's possible," Scott replied with a tone that was unsure.
"Scott, if it's them they're going to want you to kill us or they'll do it themselves. That's how they work," Stiles said.
"I'm not going to kill my friends."
"I know. I'm just sayin'."
"We'll handle it," Scott said soothingly.
He listened as Stile's heart beat slowed to its resting pace. They talked idly for a while before Stiles left to go see Cora. Scott didn't ask about Derek. He didn't care to. He knew that Derek was busy working on the reconstruction of his house, but that was it. Peter was gone. Scott tried to remember when but couldn't. It wasn't a far off thought that these attacks could possibly be him.
Isaac stared at his foggy reflection in the mirror and then down at his scrubs. He scrunched his nose. The itchy cotton wasn't comfortable but he got dressed anyway. The hospital was better than the mechanic shop anyway. Melissa was buzzing around the kitchen downstairs. He could hear her on the phone arguing with the power company again. Some things didn't change.
Scott was just coming through the front door as they were leaving for the hospital.
"There are leftovers in the fridge," Melissa said quickly. "I love you."
Scott gave an odd nod. It was strange to see Isaac following the medical direction. He would've never guessed it. More so, the career move was impressive and made him feel pride for his friend.
"Oh, Isaac," he said quickly as Isaac rushed past him to the car.
Isaac got the car door open then paused. His eyebrows rose, acknowledging him.
"Look out for anything weird." Scott told him.
"Define weird," Isaac said with a smirk. He gave a nod then got in the car.
The hospital wasn't very busy when they arrived. A few nurses were on rounds. Melissa took Isaac on personally as her intern, saying that she needed more to do and the extra hands would be helpful. She emphasized the word helpful and Isaac knew what she implied instantly. Too much freaky and horrifying shit happened at the hospital. Why she hadn't quit or even requested a transfer was beyond his understanding.
Though it wasn't something that he was supposed to learn or do at all, Melissa showed him how to properly insert an IV needle into a patient. The skin popped as the needle pierced it. The sound was strange. There was a small bead of blood as the needle moved into the blue vein.
Then there was checking a patient's heart rate and making sure they were in stable condition. Though his core classes were finished on top of a few needed for his major, it was good to see what he would be getting into in a few years.
She also showed him the charts. They were simple enough. He studied them for nearly an hour and a half. The symptoms and diagnosis were to be learned later of course but it was still interesting. While putting one back, the ER doors opened and two gurneys came rushing in with paramedics leading them.
"What happened?" Melissa demanded as she rushed alongside the first gurney. It was a man.
"Car accident. They spun out of control and slammed into a tree," said the paramedic control the airbag, squeezing it every three seconds.
"Isaac! Let's go!" Melissa hollered. She called for Dr. Gallavan.
Isaac followed. Observing was the most of it as well as staying out of the way. The man, no older than 24, suffered from heavy bruising and severe head damage.
"You have to check on Sid," the man mumbled.
Melissa checked his eyes, using her flashlight to stimulate his pupils. His eyes rolled from the bright light.
"She's right in the other room," Melissa told him. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"She's really hurt," the man said, moving his head side to side in a panic.
"The doctors are taking care of her. I promise," Melissa said. "What happened?"
"There was a girl. She was…in the middle of the road," the young man coughed.
Melissa rushed into the adjacent ER with Isaac in tow. The young woman, Sid, was in worse shape. She was crying and blubbering.
"What's going on?" Melissa asked her.
The doctors tore open her shirt. Blood seeped through the gauze that was stuck to her side.
"Sid, honey, tell me what happened," Melissa said.
Melissa pulled the gauze from the girl's side on the doctor's command. Isaac held out a pan to put them in. Orders were shouted back and forth. His heart pumped at an overwhelming rate. He couldn't keep up with everything they were all saying. Another nurse raced past Isaac with a plate of instruments.
"We need to stop the bleeding," the doctor said.
He grabbed a handful of clean gauze. The white cloth instantly turned a dark rose red as he pressed it to her side.
"You!" he pointed at Isaac, making him jumped from his spacey, disturbed daze he was in, staring at Sid. "Come here!"
Isaac hurried to his side. The doctor took his hands and pressed them down on the victim's wounds. Melissa still pressed Sid for answers. Isaac just couldn't tell if it was to keep her conscious or to know whether she saw something normal or not. Isaac looked down at the wounds, avoiding any eye contact with either of them. Avoiding attention as an intern was a good thing. He wasn't even supposed to be here. So he pressed down on the small puncture hole in her side. He mostly used his fingers. Too much pressure would make the wound worse.
"Th-there was a girl in-in the road. We didn't see h-her until it was-" Sid's eyes rolled back and her body gave out.
"She's unconscious!" Melissa exclaimed.
"Let's get her to the OR."
Another nurse took over for Isaac, pressing her fingers, which were much smaller than his, underneath his, relieving him. He stepped back. The nurse and the doctor left the room. Two other nurses met them right outside the swinging doors.
"Isaac?"
He turned his head. Melissa stared at him, her eyes soft with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"A girl…?" he muttered, looking back at the doors.
"We'll find out who it is." Melissa touched his arm.
Hid head turned sharply to look down at her.
"Go get cleaned up and then call Scott. I'll come find you after she's stabilized," she said.
Isaac looked down at his latex clothed hands which were lathered in blood. His white shoes were soaked as well as his abdomen. He hadn't even noticed it until now. The bitter, tangy smell made his nose sting with every painful memory that was just like this. He nodded and walked out of the room. Melissa caught the elevator up to the OR.
In the locker room, he scrubbed his hands mercilessly. The skin turned pink from how hard he scrubbed them and from the hot water. He pulled them back after the first layer of skin began to peel and blister. He threw his scrubs away and dressed in a new pair. All of the motions felt lifeless just like everything else.
He sat down on the bench that sat between the lockers. The entire scene from the ER played over again in his head. A girl was in the road.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Scott, giving him all of the info. A pause before Scott replied that they would check it out later. It was one of the shortest conversations he'd ever had.
Sid, the victim, was in ICU at the end of the night. Her boyfriend was put in a regular room and was fast asleep on the best pain killers that his insurance could afford.
"How was that for a first day?" Melissa asked, meeting at the nurse's station.
"Not sure," he replied.
"I'm sure that whoever they nearly hit was some hiker. Don't worry. This isn't anything out of the ordinary," she assured him.
"You're really hoping aren't you?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Yes, I am." She said solidly. "And you should too."
Isaac nodded faintly. Hoping seemed like the stupidest thing to do.
It was 4am by the time his shift ended. For ten minutes, he just sat there on the bench in the locker room, resting his feet. The sun was rising as both Melissa and went home.
Scott was asleep when they came in. Allison was with him. Both looked peaceful and exhausted at the same time. Isaac went straight to his room. He pushed the door closed, but the feebleness in it left it cracked. Not really caring, he fell onto his bed and passed out.
Stiles awoke and shrunk underneath his covers away from the glaring afternoon sun. He fell back asleep for a little while longer before forcing himself to get up. Well, sort of get up. He sat in bed. His sleep entranced gaze focused on his walls. A lot of the unsolved cases, the ones with red strings attached to them, had been solved. There was still so many that needed to be figured out, like some hideous puzzle, but a lot had been put to rest. It was relieving.
A part of him wished he never decided to solve them. His dad got increasingly annoyed by it. It was the whole need to protect him and it was understandable. Arguing that he didn't need protecting was difficult however.
Stiles found out things that he never wanted to know through these unsolved cases. Missing family members. Different-could he call them species? There were more than just werewolves, kanimas and daraches out there. Cora didn't let him handle any of it alone either. He was grateful for that.
She suggested on more than one occasion that solving these weird fucking cases was to keep his mind busy so that he didn't have think about his own problems. He didn't deny it. She wasn't wrong. Nobody else knew that he was just trying to keep himself occupied. Advertising it would only end with him in therapy. He couldn't go through that again. There was no way to explain his problem to a therapist, not like he when his mom passed away. So he was thankful for Cora being able to help him in the way that she did.
Since Scott stayed at the college, he didn't know very much about their activities, which was also a good thing. If Scott found out that they were doing he would pull out the whole 'I'm the alpha' card. That was a whole different kind of baggage Stiles wanted to avoid.
He needed this. If he didn't do this, didn't find semblance of peace for those involved in these cases, then how could he find it for himself?
Stiles got dressed and hurried down the stairs.
"Hey Dad," he greeted.
The sheriff sat at the kitchen table, reading the morning paper. Stiles stopped quickly at seeing him in casual clothes and not his usual uniform.
"Not working today?"
"I am letting Parrish handle temporary duty today. You and I are going fishing." He looked up and smiled happily.
Stiles's mouth opened into what he hoped was a smile in return, but he wasn't sure. It felt more like gaping confusion.
"Fishing." He tried to manage a look of surprise. "We haven't done that in a while."
"I know. I figure we can catch a few and make dinner out of it."
"Uh, yeah."
"And, I figure we can talk about your extracurricular activities," the sheriff added.
"My activities…" Stiles's face fell.
Cora looked around the loft. Derek had seriously been to work on renovating it and rebuilding the Hale house. Everyone had been finding ways to keep themselves busy. Nobody really talked to each other anymore. Even Lydia was finding ways to keep herself busy. Allison offered to take her on vacation with her and her dad, which actually meant going to see the Calaveras.
It was strange that 'friends lose touch after high school' wasn't just an exaggeration.
Cora's pocket buzzed. She pulled out her phone as she put her coffee cup in the sink.
Dad wants to go fishing…
She let out a scoff. The sheriff had already told her that he had this planned. She thought it was a great idea. Stiles needed a heart to heart that she couldn't give. He was getting careless. It was worrying her more than she liked. She was afraid that there was going to be a time that she wouldn't be able to help him. That terrified her more than she could express.
Derek came from his room.
"Hey," she said.
He stopped and glanced at her, yawning.
"We need to talk," she said.
"Later," he said in that same distracted tone he'd been using.
"No. Now," she said. "What is going on with you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I think it's great that you're doing all of this renovating."
"Yeah?"
Cora nodded happily.
"But, there are problems. You know the kind," she said.
Derek sighed and rolled his eyes, signifying that he saw this coming. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze of comfort. All of the anger and grief that had dwelled in him for years had faded.
"Scott and his pack will handle it." he assured her.
"They're not. They're doing what you're doing."
"And what am I doing?" he asked sarcastically.
"Avoiding Beacon Hills. Something is happening and everyone is out to avoid it. Lydia is going to Mexico. Do you know how weird that is? She complains about how dirty that country is. She would never go there. Stiles is going to get himself sent to Eichen soon because of all the unsolved cases that he and I are chasing. Isaac is consumed with his internship so that he that he doesn't have to face himself. Scott is looking around, but is remaining oblivious. Deaton is very concerned," she told him.
"Because we all have lives?" Derek asked, his eyebrows rising.
"No," she said softly. "Because you're all avoiding each other and the problem. Allison and Chris seem to be the only ones who are serious right now. They're going to Mexico to find out info on to see if the alpha pack is truly back. They're taking Lydia to keep her safe. And, the rest of you are just looking for ways to distract yourselves."
"They're not my problem," Derek said. He kissed the top of his little sister's head. "The alpha pack is not our problem."
"So we're not going to help Scott?"
"He doesn't want us involved. I'm doing what he wants for once," Derek replied.
He shrugged, frowning a little. It was on his mind.
He left the loft, ending the conversation.
"Damn it." Cora muttered. She put her hands on her hips. "All of you morons…"
If they didn't snap out of their dipshit oblivion, they were going to end up dead. Maybe Scott would be easier to talk to.