All Shades of Blue

41

At school, Stiles talked about a key. "So then she starts talking about the phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, right? And so that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in... it's gone. Okay, it doesn't matter though. It doesn't matter. I've still got the key." Stiles stuck a hand in his pocket and didn't find anything. "What the hell? I had it. I had it here. I had it here this morning. I swear to God, I had it this morning."

"The key you were talking about last night?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. I showed it to you two, right? Didn't I show it to you?"

Scott shook his head. "No, you just told me about it. I never actually saw it."

Stiles' voice grew more and more agitated as it took on a panicked tone. "I was here a couple of hours ago. And the message left to Barrow spelling Kira's name was right there and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

Scott frowned. "So you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide it from the cops and then you wrote that message to kill Kira?"

Stiles sighed. "I know how it sounds. But look at this. This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used. See this? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts, and screws. And then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. What does that sound like to you?"

"Coach."

Stiles nodded his confirmation. "The joke we played on Coach. That was my idea. You remember? That's no coincidence. It can't be."

"I don't know what's going on here, but I don't think you were trying to kill anyone."

Stiles looked around the room. "It was here. It was all here."

"Look, Stiles, relax. Okay?"

"I can't relax."

"Take a sick day. I'll handle Coach."

---

He walked into the hospital and up to the front desk. Melissa, who was sitting there, looked up. "Stiles? What are you doing here?"

"I need someone to talk to. Is there a doctor who can spare some time?"

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

Stiles looked at her and shook his head, starting to panic.

Nora, who had taken Mateo for a check-up, noticed Stiles' panic. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

Melissa looked at Stiles. "All right, kiddo. All right. Come with me. It's okay."

She led us into a room and closed the door behind us. "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."

Nora, with Mateo on her lap, 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."