The Unexpected Journey- A Sterek Novella

8. Deaton and Disney

Deaton applied pressure to his temples, the headache that had been threatening now a full-fledged pounding in his skull.  He poured over all his books making last minute preparations and adjusting everything down to the last granule to be sure he had the concoction's ingredients perfect. He couldn't make a mistake with this one, Scott would never forgive him and serving a true alpha was the highest honor his kind could ever hope to achieve and he wasn't going to be the first in his family line to fuck it up.

                The pack had spent the last three days in a high state of alert and conflict and everyone was exhausted and on their last leg to stand on. When they had shown up at the animal clinic three nights ago with Stiles and Derek both unconscious, Deaton wasn't really sure what was going on but knew Derek was seriously injured and something had went terribly wrong with Stiles. Scott had only given him the bare minimum of details to go on over the phone then minutes later they were there and he had to figure out a way to try and save them both.

                Deaton had set right to work on Derek because he looked like he might reach the point of no return at any second and he hadn't been sure he could save him. He still wasn't sure he had. The Quick Clot the Sheriff had used was only a temporary solution to Derek's problems. Deaton had managed to use his veterinarian skills with surgery to stop the bleeding permanently and used his ancestral knowledge to cleanse Derek of the very rare form of Wolfs Bane called letharia vulpine. It was that very same species he was able to use to render the nogitsune dormant temporarily while he worked on a way to permanently rid Stiles of the demon fox. Deaton had only heard rumors of this kind of possession and had spent the better part of the first day figuring out what had taken over Stiles in the first place.

                Now Derek remained unconscious on a cot in the back room hanging on to life by a thread and Stiles refused to leave his side, but also insisted he remain half drugged and chained to the wall in case the evil spirit possessing him managed to resurface before Deaton found a more permanent solution.

                With Stiles and Derek both here, the rest of the pack had been camping out in the vet's office, sleeping in shifts on every available surface not taken up by animals and supplies. The girls Allison, Lydia, and Kira were crashed out in the waiting room sprawled across the chairs and couches while Isaac and Scott had bed down in the store room using the giant bags of dog food as lumpy pillows. Chris however, was at home where Stiles dad had insisted he stay, not trusting him after he nearly shot Stiles.

                Deaton himself had had very little sleep and the stress was beginning to wear on him, hence the massive migraine now threatening to bring him low. He would work through it though, he promised himself as he glanced at the clock whose face mockingly flashed at him telling him it was almost three am in the morning. His pride and sense of responsibility to the Hale's would not let him fail in this, not to mention his loyalty to Scott and his pack and best friend by proxy.

                "Is it ready?" Scott's tired voice from the doorway brought him back to the task at hand.

                "Almost, I'm just making a few last minute adjustments. Give me about fifteen minutes and it should be ready to put to the test."

                Scott didn't have the energy left to answer but only nodded wearily. He turned and instead of going back to his lumpy bag of dog food, he went in to sit next to Stiles who looked up at him with hollowed and shadowed eyes as he entered the dimly lit room.  Derek lay completely still on a cot in front of him with a thin blanket pulled up covering his bare chest, the bandages still covering his wounds just visible above it. The only testament that Derek even still lived was the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest and the slow beep beeping of the machine Deaton had him connected to monitoring his heart rate. He hadn't moved or regained consciousness once in the last three days.