Disclaimer & Summary : See chapter 1.
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Author's
Note: I want to thank everyone for their wonderful feedback and
especially gilmoregirl to have notice something no one else
mention. And thanks to Jayde (coffeechick87) to have taken
the time to beta this chapter.
Didi
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The
Seventh Stranger
Chapter 17: Jeremy
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"What can I do for you this early in the morning?" Rory asked with her arms crossed over her chest.
Xavier raised an eyebrow and looked at her wrinkled dress, "Just get me my son back."
Rory walked over to the door and opened it, "You'll be happy to know that I said my goodbyes to him last night." She looked at him expectantly, "Now, if you would be kind enough to let me go back to my bed I would be…"
He was in front of her with a rapidity that astonished her, "I don't think you understand." His cold eyes locked with hers, "I need him, and you made him want to run out."
She cringed a little, "What are you talking about?" She saw him about to talk but rambled, "He asked me for a chance, I gave it to him. But I just can't be rejected like that... it just hurt too much!" She saw Xavier raise an eyebrow, "I was going on my first date with him! How can you treat people like this?" She wiped the tears of anger that fell from her eyes, "I went on a freaking date! Next thing I know Jeremy is going into brain surgery and Gabrielle is crying her heart out! Then after two days awake, I just want to sleep and I'm put in the same category of the sidewalk sluts." She pushed him out the doorway, "I'm sorry, it's just too much for me to take." She slammed the door on his face.
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Xavier DuGrey walked to his car while listening to the ringing tone on his cell phone; he heard a sleepy answer, "Ethan! Why didn't you tell us that Jeremy was going through brain surgery?" Xavier kept on walking toward his car, "I know it's early and it's no joke." He unlocked the door to his car, "Sunday morning, and I'm not sure of the…" He looked at the phone and muttered, "Some people can be so rude; they don't even say goodbye." He shook his head before entering his car.
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Gabrielle entered Jeremy's room with glances from left to right. She'd been avoiding the hospital staff for the last hour to make sure she would be able to get inside Jeremy's room. Silently, she closed the door behind her and walked over to his bed. She took his hand and whispered, "Can you hear me?"
Jeremy interlaced his fingers with hers and smiled brightly as he turned his head to face her. "Of course I can hear you." He registered her puffy eyes and sad smile, his face became concerned, "Hey Gab, I should've known something had happen for you to wake up and visit me at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning." She sobbed heavily and hid her face on his shoulder. Getting worried, Jeremy asked, "Gab, tell me... I need you to calm down and tell me what happened."
In between sobs, she muttered, "I thought I had lost you."
And then it hit him all at once. He closed his eyes to overcome the sudden nausea that seized him. He instinctively squeezed her hand and he asked softly, "How long have I been out?"
But instead of answering him, she looked at him stunned, a faint smile over her lips, "Try that again?"
He blinked the cloudiness that threatened to get hold of him, "How long have I…"
She cut him off excitingly, "Squeeze my hand again."
He did unthinkingly, and smiled at the realization.
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Rory couldn't concentrate on her classes, her mind kept wandering to either Tristan or Gabrielle and Jeremy. She checked her watch and seeing that there was still more than an hour to the lecture, she packed her stuff and decided to leave the class. She stood up under the inquisitive look of the teacher who had stopped talking. She mumbled, "I'm sorry, I really don't feel well." She left without waiting for an answer and ran to her car; she needed to talk to someone but before that, she had one stop to make before she went to Stars Hollow.
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Tristan woke up at nine with a stiff neck, and aching back; he stood up and finished packing his bags after reading Gabrielle's note. He took everything of value for him, knowing he wouldn't bother to come back and pick up the rest. He left silently, making sure that he wouldn't have to talk with anyone, and left for his apartment.
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Jeremy watched the curls on his shoulder and listened to Gabrielle's soft breathing. He was fighting sleep and had a very hard time until a nurse came inside the room. She was about to wake Gabrielle up but he said, "Don't, she needs her sleep."
The nurse, a middle aged woman looked apolitically at him, "I'm sorry, only close family are admitted."
Jeremy looked at the nurse coldly, "Why can't my fiancée stay with me?"
The brown eyes of the nurse became slits of suspicion, "Then why didn't she say so? Where is her ring?"
Jeremy closed his eyes sleepily, "Do you know who I am?" The nurse nodded but he didn't see, "Don't question me if you like your job." He heard her gasp and smiled inwardly. Reopening his eyes and mirroring all the innocence he could inside them, he asked, "How long was I out?"
The nurse checked his medical chart and then noted his pulse, his temperature and blood pressure. "Not so long, considering you had a brain surgery yesterday morning and a heart attack last night."
She was close to the door when he asked with dread in his heart, "Was the operation successful?"
She sighed and didn't turn to look at him, "It went as well as can be expected, we'll know more with time."
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Tristan sipped a coffee in his kitchen and saw the microwave clock, he felt uneasy as if forgetting about something. Still he watched the time as he tried to salvage information from his foggy mind. He remembered floppy hair and he cursed, "Shit!"
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Rory saw the nurse go out of Jeremy's room looking quite unsettled. She looked around and saw no one and slipped through the door. She was met with penetrating green eyes watching her. She smiled in relief as she saw Gabrielle's blonde curls sprawled across his chest. "I'm happy to see you awake." Feeling like an intruder, she grabbed the handle of the door and whispered, "I hope you get better soon."
As she started to open the door, Jeremy asked, "Keep me company for a while?" Big frightened blue eyes met his expectant ones. "I'm bored out of my mind." Then he smiled, "As much as I love to see her golden locks… it gets tiresome after a while."
Reluctantly, Rory grabbed a chair and brought it on the other side of the bed. Not knowing what to say, she rambled, "We were all here waiting for you to come out yesterday, when you did, Tristan and I left but Gab called us back because you had a heart attack. She was a wreck."
"I've heard." He glanced at the door then back at her, "So where is big T.?
She blushed and looked away, "I don't know." He examined her carefully and was about to speak when she changed the subject, "How come your parents aren't here?"
Jeremy smiled sadly, "What can I say, 'oops'?" Seeing her confused gaze, his smile fell, "I keep forgetting. You don't come from the same crowd we do." She was about to protest but he didn't let her; instead he grabbed her hand in his, under her astonished eyes at the gesture. "And I don't want to sound snobbish or anything. Don't be offended by my words, but it's the truth." He closed his eyes for a moment, "That's the reason why you are so refreshing." He opened his eyes and locked his gaze with hers. "See, we were raised to be elite of society and to step on people we thought weren't as good as us because of the money."
Rory was deeply offended, "So now I'm worthless because my mom ran away from that and made me rich with love and ambition?"
He laughed softly, "No, that's what makes you better than us. Only, my parents would never see it that way. They never cared about what I did until I shamed their family names by wanting to be an artist. To do it as a hobby, I was only 'eccentric', but to make a career out of it, it's plain disgrace for them. That's why they sent me to military school. To 'reform' me so I would loose what they considered shameful tendencies."
She gasped, "But that's horrible!" She grabbed his hand back and squeezed it slightly, "Is that why they didn't come when they knew you were having a surgery?"
"They don't know about it, I haven't told them." He sighed, "They stopped coming to visit when they found out I wasn't going to get better and I was getting worse." Jeremy laughed bitterly, "I became a shame for them; imagine the shame; their only son loosing all of his physical capacities and hope. Who is going to take over the company later; because it certainly wouldn't be someone in a wheelchair."
Rory was completely horrified, "But… but… they're your parents! They should… love you!"
He closed his eyes, suddenly exhausted, his breathing betraying that he was dozing off. Rory gave his hand one last squeeze, "I'll let you get some rest." She stood up silently and whispered, "I'll come back to visit you, if you don't mind."
She saw his head nod once, and his mouth opened, "Just remember that, whatever happened between you and Tristan, he comes from the same place I do."
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Tristan ran inside the office to find his father explaining to someone, "I'm sorry Mr. Forrester. But I believe my son will not be coming to work a while. An emergency has come up and…"
Tristan interrupted his father, "its okay, Father. I'll be available for that case only." He walked over to Dean, "If you would please follow me to my office?" He didn't wait for an answer and strode away, Dean close behind him.