The Wild Side | Stiles Stilinski | One

32 - Hostile Care

"Did you get the picture?"

Derek and I were currently sitting in the hospital parking lot, waiting out an officer who had ducked inside. I'd wanted to go in anyway, but Derek was adamant that neither of us enter the building until the police were gone. He was a wanted felon, and if someone recognized him inside, or found him alone in my car, there were going to be some major problems. At least if we were both in the car we could make a quick getaway. Just as the cruiser pulled away, my phone went off, alerting me to a message from Scott, followed immediately by a phone call.

"Yeah, Scott," I sighed into the phone. "Compared it to the drawing and it looks exactly the same."

Derek grabbed my arm roughly, pulling the phone closer to him so he could speak. I had to scramble to make sure my arm wasn't torn off in the process.

"Hey, is there something on the back of it?" he called into the cell. "There's gotta be something. An inscription, an opening, something!"

I wrenched my arm back with a glare. "Get your own damn phone."

Derek glowered, and I reluctantly put the phone on speaker, holding it between us to avoid any further injuries.

"No, no, the thing is flat," Scott informed us, "and no, it doesn't open. There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing."

"So if it's just a family heirloom, that means it just has to do with the Argents, right?" I asked, looking over at Derek.

"What would the Alpha want with Allison's family?" Scott asked, with more than a hint of worry.

"They're hunters, Scott. There's gotta be loads of werewolves with vendettas against them."

Derek furrowed his brow, taking the thought into consideration, but Scott's frustrated sigh cut off anything he might have said.

"Scarlett, where are you? The game's gonna start in a couple minutes, and I don't mean to be pushy, but Stiles is freaking out."

"Yeah," I sighed, glancing disdainfully at the hospital building. "I know, I—we just got a little caught up, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Just remind him to take a couple deep breaths. He worked hard for this."

"Do you wanna talk to him?"

"No! Uh—no. I should go, just...just tell him I'm on my way and I'm gonna be a little late, okay?"

"Yeah," Scott sighed. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay. Good luck."

"You too, Scarlett."

The line disconnected. Derek and I sat in silence for a few seconds as I tucked my phone back into my pocket and stuffed the car keys into my purse. I should have been scrambling to get out of the car, to get the errand over with as soon as possible, but part of me knew it was futile. Derek knew too.

"You're not gonna make it," he informed me, his voice much gentler than I would've expected.

"I know." My heart clenched and I took a deep breath. "But lacrosse games are pretty long. I just have to get there before it's over so I can congratulate him. He's gonna be on the field. He won't even notice I'm not there."

"Yes, he will. What about that sign you made for him?"

"Wow, thank you, Derek," I spat, smacking my hands on the steering wheel. "Thank you! You get an award for making me feel even more like shit!"

Derek turned away, looking up at the hospital through the windshield. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and trying to ignore the guilty weight sitting at the bottom of my stomach. I should've left the sign at home. It wasn't doing anyone any good in the backseat of the van. At home I could've texted Lydia, asked her to grab it on her way out. That would've kicked Stiles into high gear for sure.