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“I want Stiles! Laura whined.
“Stiles is sick, pup, you’ll have to make do with me.”
“You’re not funny” Laura stated with a pout, her nose wrinkled in displeasure. Derek sighed but he knew she was right. School was closed so he had to stay home with her the whole day, but he also had to get some work done and so he’d spent most of the morning in the study with his laptop. Probably not the best company for an active and now very bored little girl.
“How about pancakes for lunch?” he suggested hoping to distract her, and he was relieved to see that it worked wonderfully. For about ten seconds. Laura gave a whoop of joy and raced into the kitchen. Derek chuckled and followed her, put the frying pan on the stove and then…
“Nooo Dad, not the pre-made mix” Laura protested when Derek reached for a box in the pantry. “You should do real pancakes, like Stiles. He mixes all the eggs and the other stuff together himself. They taste much better. And sometimes he puts in blueberries.”
Derek was torn between wanting to kill Stiles for making better pancakes than him and thank the stars that his daughter had such an awesome babysitter. In the end he settled for sighing again and calmly explained that these pancakes were the only ones on the menu today, so either she accepted that they were not made from scratch or they would have sandwiches for lunch instead. Sulkily Laura accepted the pancakes but she still only ate one of all the ones that Derek had made and he contemplated pulling out his own hair. How did other parents do these kinds of things? Then he really contemplated pulling his hair when Laura came and asked for a sandwich just an hour after lunch because she was hungry again. Derek couldn’t wait for Stiles to get better again.
::
Two days passed and still no Stiles. Luckily Laura was back in school so that Derek didn’t have to worry about boring her out of her mind at home but he was getting worried about Stiles. When he tried calling Stiles hung up on him and then sent a short text message explaining that he couldn’t speak since his throat hurt too much. Considering this was Stiles, who often had to be forcibly quieted, Derek expected getting a ton of text messages to make up for the lack of normal conversation but to his surprise that didn’t happen. When he called the Sheriff he said that Stiles mostly slept, and mentioned that he’d considered letting Melissa check his son out since it didn’t seem that Stiles was getting any better. Derek’s anxiety peaked at this and also the feeling that he hadn’t felt for anyone else than his daughter for a very long time. It was the need to protect and nurture, to look after and care for someone. He wanted to wrap Stiles into a warm, fluffy blanket, make him tea and bring him hot soup and not leave his side until he was feeling better. He wanted to take care of him so much, needed to make sure that his mate was all right.
As soon as the thought had formed in his head Derek freaked out a little, because mate? Stiles? Of course he was attracted to him, Derek would have to be blind not to, but from that to actually being mates there was a huge step. He’d never met anyone that he’d even begin to consider as his mate since Paige and the realization sent his mind reeling.
Maybe he should have seen it coming? He trusted Stiles with the most precious thing in the world, his daughter, and Derek’s pants would usually end up too tight when Stiles was around. His wolf liked Stiles’ smell and accepted the human as a caregiver and protector to Laura. And all that together, wasn’t that exactly what a mate was? Someone to accompany him, to help him protect and care for the pack and someone that made his blood run faster and his heart sing. Thankfully, Laura interrupted his thoughts and if he was avoiding the subject then no one else but him had to know.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Can we go see Stiles?”
“He’s still sick, honey, and very tired. I don’t think that it’s such a good idea.”
“But you’re supposed to visit people when they’re sick to make them feel better” Laura protested.
“It’s true, sweetie, but only if the person wants to have company. Some people want to be alone when they’re not feeling well.”
“It’s Stiles” Laura pointed out and Derek had to admit defeat. The idea of Stiles not wanting to have company seemed absurd somehow, like Jackson admitting to like romantic comedies or the Sheriff taking ballet classes. It just didn’t add up.
“Okay, we’ll go” Derek acquiesced. “But you have to behave and if Stiles gets too tired we’ll leave straight away, promise me that?”
“Promise” Laura said solemnly.
::
The minute they pulled up outside the house Derek had a bad feeling and it only intensified as they walked inside. The whole house smelled of sickness and stale air and Derek held his breath until he’d wrenched a window open. Laura must have felt it almost as bad as him because she sneezed three times before squeezing Derek’s hand and trudging up the stairs, almost overbalancing because of the large bouquet of flower that she was carrying. Holding it out in front of her like an offering she peeked her head into Stiles’ room and immediately emitted a loud whine. Half a step behind her Derek felt like doing the same.
Stiles looked like hell. He had dark circles under his eyes, he was deathly pale and every time that he tried to speak he’d start coughing wildly. In the end they had to settle for written notes instead of real responses and a nasty wheezing sound came from his chest with every breath that he drew. Derek was almost crawling out of his own skin with the need to yank Stiles from the bed and sprint off to the nearest hospital but he kept his emotions in line and snuck out of the room to call Melissa, Stiles being temporarily occupied with Laura telling him a story about a magic cat who apparently loved cupcakes. Derek was willing to bet that this was Laura’s sneaky way of getting Stiles to offer her one of the pastries that they’d brought Stiles along with the flowers, without being rude enough to ask right out for it. Derek feared for what would happen when she became a teenager.
“Hi, Melissa, I’m at Stiles’ house” Derek aid in lieu of a greeting as soon as Mrs McCall answered. “I think there’s something wrong with him, there’s this wheezing when he breathes and I don’t know…”
“I’ll be over in ten minutes” Melissa interrupted him and then hung up. If there was one thing that Derek loved about Melissa it was the fact that she’d never waste time on unnecessary pleasantries when there were more serious issues at hand.
After a quick examination Melissa went straight to the point.
“You’re going to the hospital.”
“No” Stiles protested weakly. “Come on, you know how I hate hospitals. It’s just a cold, I’ll be fine.” Derek shook his head.
“If Melissa says you need to go then you’re going” he stated flatly and he could see the fury in Stiles’ eyes when he said that.
“I’m not…“ Stiles croaked and then started coughing. Derek raised an eyebrow and waited until Stiles got his breath back.
“Fine, I don’t have the energy to argue” Stiles conceded at last. He started to throw back the covers to sit up but Derek stopped him.
“I’ll carry you” he said and Stiles scowled at him, kicked off the blanket and tried to sit up anyway but after three attempts that all ended with him flopping listlessly back against the pillows he had to admit defeat.
“If you’re quite done?” Derek didn’t wait for an answer before lifting Stiles from the bed and pulling one of the blankets around him before heading downstairs.
“I’ll take Laura over to Scott’s and then meet you at the hospital?” Melissa offered and Derek smiled at her gratefully.
When they got outside they walked to their separate cars and Derek gently placed Stiles in the passenger’s seat of the Camaro before he moved to close the door.
“Wait, daddy” Laura said and stepped up beside Stiles. With her brows furrowed in concentration she placed a small hand on his shoulder and black tendrils started snaking up her arm as she absorbed some of the pain in his chest.
“Thanks, sweetie” Stiles murmured, eyes closed and slumped in his seat. Derek’s heart ached for seeing him so ill and he might have driven just a tiny bit too fast to get to the hospital quickly. Luckily the officer on duty happened to be the Sheriff and when he’d grasped the situation he threw the ticket out of the window and then proceeded to escort them to the hospital. With flashing lights and sirens.
Once at the hospital it was affirmed that Stiles was, in fact, not having just a cold but instead a severe case of pneumonia. He had to stay for a week and if anyone wondered why Derek practically set up camp in his room no one commented on it. Not that it was something to comment on anyway. Derek was only there to make sure that Stiles got better. That’s was the only reason he slipped his leather jacket around Stiles’ shoulders whenever he seemed to be cold and he only encouraged Laura to smother the other man in kisses and cuddles because it would make Stiles feel better. It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the cute male nurse that took every opportunity to touch Stiles and the corresponding, relentless urge that drove Derek to try to erase every trace of his scent from Stiles. Nope, not at all.
Because he was just taking care of hi ma... of his Stiles.