Chapter 4-Speak To Me!

Jeremiah stayed close by Carey's side the rest of the day well…until she had to go to her rehearsal. He stayed away from the door and the windows. He just sat on the couch, staring at the picture. Once 3:00 rolled around he heard rapid footsteps running down the hall and a massive bang that sounded as if a body crashed into the door. He stared at it as Cody opened the door and Zack walked in after him with a huge red spot on his forehead.

"Where did you go? We heard from the principal that you ditched," Cody said with worry in his voice as he walked over to Jeremiah. He was surprised when the young boy didn't back away and was even more surprised when the young boy threw himself into Cody's arms and started to cry. Zack stared in bewilderment as Cody hugged him back.

"What in the world is going on here?" Zack finally spluttered.

Jeremiah mumbled words against Cody's chest and they both looked at him in shock. He never spoke before. So why is he talking now? The twins lead him to the table and gave him a chocolate sundae. He stared at the glass bowl until he pushed it away from him with a hard look in his eyes. Cody pushed it back but he defiantly pushed it away from himself again.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked.

"It's poison!" Jeremiah finally responded. Zack and Cody stared at him. He finally spoke! He had a slight accent in his voice and it was as soft as a breeze.

"No it isn't. It's really good. We've eaten a lot of them before and we've never been poisoned from them," Cody said as he put a spoon in Jeremiah's hand. Jeremiah hesitantly spooned some ice-cream onto his spoon and stared at it. He looked up at Zack and Cody who nodded encouragingly. He opened his mouth and finally pushed the spoon in and closed it. Zack and Cody watched as he slowly swallowed. He glanced at them…and there was a small smile on his face.

"It's good," he whispered as he got another spoonful, this time a little bit more was on it.

Zack and Cody watched as Jeremiah ate his sundae happily. Once he was finished he started to shiver, but that's natural when you eat a lot of ice-cream. They helped him clean up and he started to become distant again. He retreated to the bathroom and opened up a very dirty and stained book. On the inside were pictures of him and Sarah; he picked one up and stared at it. He made a face and ripped it in half. Then he hid it once again and sat on his bed. He tilted his head so his black hair covered his eyes completely.

'Why did I crumble? Why did I start talking to them?' He asked himself as he pinched his wrist as punishment. He lightly traced the bandages as he thought about his past. He shook his head to get the images clear. 'I'll never do it again. I'll stay strong! They can't know about what has happened! They can't! They wouldn't understand what I went through anyway! Except maybe Cody. He seems so understanding and…nice. Almost as nice as Buddy(1) was. But he had to go and die. And Sarah didn't tell me what we were doing. She just drove us away from that. And then she went insane. Poor Sarah.'

"What do you mean poor Sarah?" A voice asked.

Jeremiah jerked his head up and gasped. Sarah McGwire was sitting on the toilet seat filing her nails and glairing at him. Her hair was ling and blond and in the ponytail again. She had a mad look in her eyes and her blood red lips (2) were turned down in an angry scowl. She wore a red and black plaid vest over a black tank top and blue hip hugging jeans; black boots were on her feet. She got up off the seat, sauntered over to him and slapped him hard on the cheek.

"You bastard! You said you had my back! You said you would protect me!" She snapped.

"I-I do! I will!" Jeremiah spluttered as he held his now stinging cheek.

"You dumbass! How can you protect me if you're in Boston?"

"They made me come. Then my mom adopted me so-"

"Your mother? Kid, I'm the only mother you've got!"

"But-"

"They tricked you! I'm your real mother! I did everything I could to protect you. What did they do for you?"

"…They fed me poison."

"That's right. You're on your way to hell because of them. You were better off with me!"

"Where are you? I wanna to go home!"

"You'll have to work hard to find me, kid. But we'll be reunited once again. You, me, and Butch."

Suddenly pain went straight through Jeremiah's head; he screamed as Sarah started to fade. He reached out a hand towards her but she slapped it and faded into the darkness. Once he opened his eyes again his cheek was pressed up against the cool bathtub and he was breathing heavily. Something cool was placed on his forehead. He glanced up to see Zack, Cody, and Carey. He took off the cloth and backed away from them.

"Jeremiah, are you ok?" Carey asked as she started towards him.

"Where's my mom?" he demanded,

"She's right here," Zack responded.

"She's not my mom!" Jeremiah said, getting angry, "Where's my mom? Where's Sarah?"

"She's not here."

"Bring me home! I want Sarah! Take me home!"

"Jeremiah," Cody started.

"TAKE ME HOME TO MY REAL MOMMY! PLEASE! TAKE ME HOME!" Jeremiah cried as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if they would just vanish if he opened them. When arms tried to circle around him he would scream and struggle. Finally he opened his eyes and slapped the closest person to him…Cody. Cody held his cheek in disbelief as he stared at angry, cold eyes that belonged to Jeremiah. Cody started to whimper and Zack patted him on the back as he glared at Jeremiah. Suddenly Jeremiah fell over and landed hard on the floor. Carey patted his cheek but his head rolled around. Carey felt his forehead and pulled her hand back as if she just got burnt.

"He's burning up! We have to get him to the hospital," Carey said as she jumped up and ran to the phone. Zack stayed put but Cody placed the wet cloth back on Jeremiah's forehead.

"What're you doing? He just hurt you and you're helping him?" Zack cried angrily.

"If something happens to him, I'll feel guilty for not helping him," Cody responded as he cut his eyes at his brother. He soft stroked the young boy's hair as he tried to hold in tears. "He's not a bad kid. He's just misunderstood."

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He's not a bad kid. He's just misunderstood…

He's not a bad kid…

Bad kid…

Just misunderstood…

Misunderstood…

Jeremiah felt really hot. Sweat dripped off of his forehead and landed on the ground where it immediately turned to steam. He opened his eyes and saw that flames had him surrounded. He coughed as smoke filled his lungs and made his eyes burn. He struggled to look around but the heat made his eyes water.

"Mama!" He screamed as he wiped his eyes frequently to see. He took off his black jacket and tied it around his waist as he tried to find a path to take. A shadowy figured stood on one side of the wall of flames. He recognized the shirt, and the hair, and the eyes. "Mom! Mom!"

Sarah turned towards him and gave him a slow, menacing smile as she raised her hand and slowly waved; a farewell wave. The flames suddenly engulfed her and left Jeremiah watching in shock. He screamed and tried to run to her but a wall of flames stopped him. He tried to find a way around but he couldn't. Suddenly a creaking sound reached his ears and he glanced up. A part of the ceiling, with flames on it, fell away. Before it hit him he felt intense heat and blacked out…

"AAAH!" Jeremiah screamed as he shot up right in bed. He sighed heavily but froze once he saw all the white. He looked down and saw that he was in a white hospital gown. He glanced around the room and shuddered at all of the white. Suddenly a doctor came in and fear swelled in his chest. He tried to get away from the doctor but he had an IV in his hand and he wasn't able to move without seriously hurting himself. The doctor chuckled lightly as Jeremiah stared with wide eyes. Suddenly pain filled his chest as red feathers started to sway in his face as things started to swim in and out of focus. He muttered, "No," before everything turned dark once again.

The next thing he knew he was in his suite at the Tipton. He was staring up at the ceiling and his head felt heavy as he tried to lift it. Zack and Cody sat at the table going over homework, trying their best to leave him alone. Jeremiah narrowed his eyes as he swung his legs over to the floor and glanced at their homework. Hesitantly, he stood and finally made his way over to the table. He glanced down at Zack's paper as he tapped a pencil against his bottom lip. Cody's head was bent over his history homework as Zack pondered over math. Jeremiah noticed many mistakes on Zack's paper and tried not to laugh…or show any emotion for that matter. Zack smiled as he wrote down the completely wrong answer and shut his notebook, declaring, "I'm done!" Jeremiah finally couldn't take it. He grabbed the book and flipped it open, jabbed his index finger at his homework, and declared, "That aint right."

"Oh yeah? Tell me how it's wrong!" Zack challenged receiving a glare from Jeremiah but a sigh in defeat.

"It's simple really. A congruent angle is the same degree as another angle. So they're the same. The question is: If an angle is 55 degrees and you add 125 degrees to it would it be the same as a straight angle? A straight angle and a 180 degree angle are the same things but with different names so basically they're congruent." Jeremiah responded confidently in his accent.

"Wow. You know ninth grade math?" Cody asked in disbelief. Jeremiah shrugged and responded, "I had to do something when I was bored besides eat cereal and watch TV."

"But that sure beats homework!" Zack interjected.

"It may, but it aint a substitution of education. The only reason I learned was because I kept switching schools and I didn't know as much as the other kids. But that aint gonna stop me from doing what I usually do."

"And what's that? World History?"

"Naw. Watchin' TV."

"He is definitely related to us Cody. I don't see why you always said he wasn't our brother!"

"I never said that! You did. And if you haven't noticed, we have a resemblance by the physical features!" Cody snapped as he glanced up and shut his homework. "He has your freckles; he has my mole. He has your hair, although the color is changed; he has my frame. He has a mixture of our habits, manners, and personality. You get it now?"

"You have a point there," Zack responded as he dragged Jeremiah over to the mirror along with Cody. He motioned for Cody to get on his knees and they both pressed their cheeks against his. Jeremiah stiffened slightly but eventually relaxed once he saw the resemblance. Carey walked in and smiled once she saw her boys at the mirror. Her boys. She had never called Jeremiah that before now. Maybe it was because she felt connected to Jeremiah after what had happened at the hospital.

Flashback

Carey, Zack, and Cody were all sitting around Jeremiah's bed in the hospital. Carey was holding his hand as he seemed to twitch in his sleep. Zack was staring out the window with a bored expression on his face while Cody sat with his head in his hands. They have been there for about and hour and was waiting for word form the doctor. Finally the door opened and Dr. Kingsford came in with Nurse Carter at his side. Nurse Carter injected an IV into Jeremiah's arm and left quickly.

"What's wrong with Jeremiah?" Cody asked.

"We can't really explain it except by saying that he got a drug induced cold, so to speak." Dr. Kingsford responded.

"Jeremiah? A nine year old took drugs?" Carey asked in disbelief as Zack snorted.

"He may not have taken drugs himself. His other mother could have made him take it," he suggested before he left the room. "You can stay for twenty more minutes. He needs his rest."

"Mommy?" Cody asked in a small voice. "What kind of mom would make their kids take drugs?"

"A bad mom Cody," Zack finally responded. "A bad one."

End Flashback

"Jeremiah…what happened in your past?" Carey suddenly asked. Jeremiah looked at her with sad eyes but responded, "In due time, you shall know."

"Jeremiah, talk to us. Speak to me!"

"You'll know…when I'm good and ready."

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(1)Buddy is a character from The Heart. I don't own him.

(2)When it says blood red lips I mean her lipstick is a dark color

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Next Chapter:

Chapter 5: Jeremiah vs. Maddie