North Starr

31

Scott, Melanie and Stiles met at the hospital.

Sheriff Stilinski said, "Boys, Melanie, give us a second."

Scott turned to Stiles. "These are definitely sacrifices, right?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. It's the one Deaton mentioned. Healers."

"What about Danny? He threw up mistletoe. That's not a coincidence, and if he hadn't been with Ethan, he probably would've died. Danny's not a healer. I..."

Stiles pointed to his dad. "Can you hear that?"

Scott turned around and listened for a moment. "They found a body."

During Chemistry, Jennifer Blake walked in. "Good morning. As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing... I mean, sick. Anyway, I'm filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, let's get started, shall we? Melanie, could you please read the first paragraph?"

Melanie nodded and began reading.

Stiles, who was seated by Scott at the table in front of Melanie, said, "Hey, my dad said that the ER attending wasn't strangled, but did die from asphyxiation. They just don't know how."

Scott snuck a glance to him. "Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?"

"I don't know... But, Scott, there's got to be at least 20 other doctors in that hospital... at least, you know? Any one of them could be next."

Scott got a call and he leaned down so he could subtly answer. "Hey, doc. Sorry, I'm in class now. Can I call you back later?"

After a moment of silence, Scott said, "Doc, doc, doc, doc? What's happening?"

Scott ran off and Melanie glanced at a text she received and glanced at Stiles. "We need get to the clinic. Call your dad."

Stiles called his dad and he drove them to the Animal Clinic. As soon as they arrived, they saw Scott and the sheriff in the operating room. While Stiles took his place to Scott's left, Melanie hopped up on the counter.

Sheriff Stilinski placed a hand on Scott's shoulder. "All right, we're doing everything we can. Right now, the best thing you can do is go back to school."

Scott motioned for his friends to follow him silently. They walked into the Cat Clinic and Scott said, "We have to tell him."

Stiles jerked his head forward slightly. "You mean, like, tell him tell him, or tell him something else that isn't telling him what I think you want to tell him."

"You know what I mean."

Stiles placed a hand on the cages. "You remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eyes for, like, a week."

"And she got over it, and... it actually made us closer."

Stiles continued glaring through the window. "I don't know, dude. I mean, look at him. Come on, he's completely overwhelmed as it is"

Melanie glanced to see Sheriff Stilinski rubbing his eyes. "Stiles, he has no idea what's going on."

Scott nodded. "He's got people dying in this town, the town that he's supposed to protect, and it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening. He's gonna find out sooner or later."

Stiles let out a sigh. "Yeah, but is now really the best time?"

"What if not telling him now gets someone else killed?"

Stiles' tone grew desperate. "What if telling him gets him killed, huh? I mean, okay, look, I get that Deaton's been like a father to you. I get that, okay? But this is m... Scott, Melanie, this is my actual father. I can't lose both of my parents, all right? Not both of them."