Bravely Courageous

41

Maggie glanced back at her friend. "Uh, Stiles needs to talk to someone. Could you spare a few minutes?"

Melissa looked at her computer. "Doctor Gardner's not back until next week. Your dad is busy. Do you want to try waiting at one of the urgent care doctors or... Stiles. Are you all right?"

Maggie looked back at him to see that his eyes were widening and his breath was quickening. "Melissa, please. Stiles? Hey, Stiles, look at me. You're gonna be just fine."

He shook his head like he didn't believe her and gripped her hand tightly. Melissa nodded. "All right, kiddo. All right. Come with me. It's okay. Maggie, I think you should be with him."

She led them into a room and closed the door behind them. "Stiles, why don't you sit on the bed, and we can figure out what's going on. I'm going to ask you a few questions and hopefully we can figure out what's going on."

Maggie took a seat next to Stiles and Melissa pulled up a chair and opened her notepad. "All right, so why don't you tell me what's been happening recently. And I'll take some notes."

Stiles sighed and was silent for a moment. "Um, well, I've been having some blackouts... but not for that long. And sleepwalking, which I used to do a lot as a kid. Um, also having some really bad anxiety."

Melissa looked up at him. "Panic attacks?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, a couple. Oh, and I temporarily lost the ability to read. But that might have had more to do with this giant magic tree and a whole human sacrifice thing."

Melissa let out a soft laugh. "I recall something vaguely about that, yes. How many hours of sleep are you getting?"

"Eight."

"A night?"

Stiles fidgeted awkwardly. "In the last three days. Yeah, definitely eight." He noticed Maggie's expression. "Maggie, it's okay."

Maggie shook her head and said softly, "No, Stiles. It isn't."

Melissa looked at Stiles. "Been feeling irritable?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. Possibly to the point of homicide."

"Inability to focus?"

"No. The Adderall's not working."

"Impulsive behavior?"

"More than usual? Hard to tell."

"Vivid dreams during the day?"

Stiles let out a sigh. "Okay, basically all of the above. Do you know what this is?"

Melissa nodded. "I think so. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go run and get something."

She left the room and Stiles turned to Maggie. "Admit it. You think I'm a freaking mess."

Maggie nodded. "You are, but we're all messy. There's a lot going on right now." She let out a sigh. "I wish you'd said something earlier, Stiles. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends. But you're right. I should've told you how bad things got."

"Yeah. You should have. But I'm gonna do what I can to help you."

Melissa reentered the room and said, "I need you to roll up your sleeve, Stiles."

He frowned at her. "Sure. Uh, what's that?"

A large needle inched closer to him and he gripped Maggie's hand. Melissa said softly, "Do you trust me?"

Stiles let out a nervous laugh. "When you're not holding a needle."