REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

iii.

iii. LABORED BREATHING

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ONCE THEY MADE it back into Beacon Hills, they dropped Kira and Malia back at their houses before they had called Deaton. None of them knew how to go about the newly aged-backwards Derek they had in their possession or what to do with him. It was all rather bizarre; and just when Carter thought she had seen everything, the supernatural realm threw another surprise in her face.

Carter, Lydia, and Raeven stood underneath the ledge of the animal clinic, rain pouring down around them as Stiles and Scott removed Derek from the backseat of the jeep. The boys rushed through the rain as Scott carried the boy over his shoulder toward the doors. Carter jogged ahead of them, opening the doors and allowed Scott to race inside. They ran in after him, Deaton swiping all of the objects off the examination table so that there would be a place for them to lay Derek down.

There was a wool blanket secured around Derek's body, his skin was like ice. Carter shivered at the thought, she had never been that cold before, the fire inside her never allowing her body to get any cooler than warm. She began to wonder why he hadn't gone into a state of hypothermic shock — wondering what in the world was keeping him alive when his body was that cold.

The five teenagers instinctively looked toward Deaton for answers, automatically assuming that he had seen something like that before.

"Wow," Deaton mumbled, staring down at Derek in amazement.

"Wow?" Stiles repeated, furrowing his brows. "Wow as in, "I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do," kind of wow? Because that's the kind of wow we were hoping for."

Deaton cocked his head to the side as he glanced toward Stiles, "I think you might be overestimating my abilities."

Carter stared down at her brother's still body, her fingers cautiously reaching out for Derek's hand. She slowly laced her fingers with his and squeezed the hand tightly. She tried to utilize the raging warmth within her to try and heat him up, but the coldness that had taken over his skin had been enough for Carter to gasp out in pain. The freezing cold clashing against her burning heat.

"He's cold," Carter coughed, everyone now moving their attention to the Hale siblings. "Really, really cold."

Scott gulped, "Do you think this is permanent?"

"I'm not sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate." Deaton replied, pulling out a small flashlight to check Derek's pupil dilation, lifting his eyelids and directing the white beam of light into his eyes. "This is well beyond my experience."

"So what do we do with him?" Stiles asked, moving to stand closer to Carter, placing a comforting hand on her forearm when he noticed the distraught look in her eyes as she continued to stare down at her brother's young face.

Deaton blinked, "Until he wakes up? Probably not much. It might be best to leave him with me. He'll be safe here."

"You mean from Kate?" Carter inquired, finally peeling her eyes off Derek to meet Deaton's.

Deaton stood straighter, pushing his shoulders back. "If she's alive and she is what you say she is, she won't be able to walk past that gate."