Alfie had finally calmed when Jerome's heart monitor read a fair signal and hours later on Jerome was already starting to feel better as the doctors took more tests.
The hours passed slowly after that. School let out and the others came and visited, Amber leaving a bouquet of flowers on the table next to Jerome's bed, all of them giving their condolences and words of encouragement for Jerome. They all agreed that they would hold a belated birthday celebration for Jerome as soon as he was better and got out of the hospital. The only people that remained was Trudy, Nina, Mara and Alfie.
Alfie and Mara excused themself though saying they had a lot of French homework to catch up on and left Trudy and Nina by Jerome's side.
One moment after Alfie and Mara left Nina had an incoming call from Fabian and Nina picked up. Fabian had wondered why Nina had stayed and not Alfie and Mara since they were closest to him and Nina was not.
"They had homework to do, and I don't know Fabian it just feels right to stay here with him right now, Trudy and I will be back before 10." Nina explained and with the reassured Fabian she said goodnight and hung up.
At around 9 O'Clock Trudy and Nina were talking queitly.
"I hate to see him like this," Trudy said. "I've never seen him vulnerable," Trudy said. "Except the first time I meet him when he was 5." Trudy finished.
Nina's jawdrop she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean you've known Jerome for 11 years?" Nina asked shocked.
"That's right," Trudy answered. "He's lived in Anubis house for 11 years,"
"11 years?"
"Yes, his parents dropped him off hear and all I could remember was him crying at the steps of the drivethrough of the House screaming "don't leave me" to his parents." Trudy said as Nina had tears in her eyes finally understanding Jerome for once. The whole time she's known Jerome she just thought of him as a jerk and nothing else but now she realized something. She realized that he wasn't a jerk but just a broken lonely boy.
"After that," Trudy spoke up. "He changed," Trudy said as she stared straight in Nina's tearfilled eyes. "He started misbehaving on his 7th birthday and ever since then he's been the same way. cold and secluded. But I know he's a good person," Trudy paused. "I just wish everyone could know that to." Trudy finished looking at Jerome warmly.
Nina couldn't help it this time as she burst out crying in a very still and silent way putting her hands over her eyes. "I do." she whispered.
Jerome wasn't aware that his friends had visited as he was sleeping deeply, locked in a strange dream.
Jerome was floating in a void of white light, quite a contrast from his last dream. He squinted as the light grew almost blinding, seeming to originate from the figure he could just make out the outline of as it hovered across from him.
"The power has been accepted, the change complete. Let it flow and recover your strength young savior. This trial is over, but many more will come. The sun and moon will be your guides. Defeat the Chaos that soon will rise. Seek the treasures of Order to combat your foes to stop the shadows from spreading across the globe." a strong, powerful voice spoke in his mind, both frightening in the intensity and somehow comforting at the same time.
He woke up with a start, feeling more lucid than he had since that first dream. He saw his dad kneeling on the ground by his bed, asleep with his head on his arms. He couldn't help but smile at the thought that he finally had a parent who cared enough to visit him when he was sick.
He mulled over the words in the dream as he settled back on his pillow. He didn't know what they meant, but one thing he could tell for certain is that things wouldn't be the same for him after this day.
Jerome wanted nothing more than to get better so he could go home to his friends. He wasn't sure what the voice in his dream had meant about "letting the power flow", but it had said he would recover his strength, so he stopped thinking about it and let his body do what it needed to do.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, he didn't simply fall into another deep sleep but actually went into a short coma.
In the morning Trudy woke up to find him like that, unable to wake him however hard she had tried. She began to panic about this now and called the doctor in and pleaded for him to do something.
"It seems he's gone into a comatose state. His vitals are all normal other than his temperature, which actually has gone down a degree or so. All we can do is keep him under observation, but I believe this may just be his body's way of fighting off whatever caused him to get sick. There is a good chance that he will wake up on his own when he's recovered enough." the doctor explained patiently.
Trudy didn't look fully convinced, deeply worried for Jerome because she cared so much about him, but nodded and took a few deep breaths. She had to stay positive. Jerome wasn't getting any worse so maybe it really was just a step towards full recovery.
She decided it was best not to worry Jerome's friends with this unless it was absolutely necessary.
Jerome had more dreams, but they were too fragmented to really understand, so he figured they weren't of too much importance. It was a few hours later when he finally awoke, blinking open his eyes to find Mara holding onto his hand and crying into his sheets, Trudy nowhere to be found.
"Mara come on, you're getting the bed all wet." he teasingly complained.
Mara looked up with a start, smiling widely. "Jerome! You're awake!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
Jerome patted her back and chuckled softly. "You can't get rid of me that easily." he replied.
Mara began to laugh and slapped his arm playfully, then ran out of the room to get Trudy, who had went to get her a snack.
They returned a few minutes later, Trudy smiling in relief when she saw that Jerome had pulled out of the coma. "Jerome I'm so glad to see you're back with us again." she said sincerely, walking over to the bed and sitting in the chair beside it.
Jerome smiled back but then looked away, not used to all of this sentimental caring emotional stuff. He was saved from having to respond by the doctor coming in again, having heard that he had come out of his coma.
After checking him out again, the doctor turned to Trudy. "There's some good news. Jerome's temperature has started going down and as far as I can tell, he's well on his way to a full recovery." he assured him.
Everyone looked ecstatic at that news. "So does that mean I can go home?" Jerome asked hopefully, though he was still feeling a bit groggy.
"I'm sorry, but not just yet. We should wait for the fever to break completely just in case. We'll keep you here the rest of the day for observation, but if everything is normal and nothing else happens by this evening, we'll let you leave." the doctor told him very kindly.
Jerome groaned but nodded and reluctantly resigned himself to passing the hours until his friends Later that afternoon….could visit by talking to his family or watching random things on the TV.
School finally let out and Jerome had just finished eating his second rather unappealing hospital meal when all his friends came rushing in, ignoring the protests of his doctor.
"Buddy, how are you feeling?" Alfie asked, grinning from ear to ear now that his best friend was starting to look more like himself again.
Jerome shrugged. "Still feverish but not bad. The hospital food is nasty though. I mean really… they're supposed to be helping me get better, not giving me food poisoning." he replied snarkily.
Alfie laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, the others were all smiling and Patricia commented "Yep, he's back."
Everyone chuckled and Jerome gave Patricia a look of mock surprise. "I'm touched Trixie, really. I didn't know you cared that much." he teased.
Patricia rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched into a small smile.
"You sure had us worried there for a while." Fabian said.
Alfie and Amber both nodded vigorously in agreement.
"I was worried myself. Not sure what happened, but let's look at the positive shall we? I'm getting better, that's what matters." Jerome replied quickly, uncomfortable with all the sappiness going around. Plus, there was still the matter of his dreams and the things those voices had been saying to him. He knew there was more going on than they all thought, but he decided not to tell any of them about that stuff for now. He would try to work it out for himself first. They would probably find out on their own eventually anyway if the past two terms were any indication.
Mara stepped up to his bed, looking a bit sheepish but was secretly overjoyed about his recovery.
Nina noticed Mara's expression. "Well, it's really good to see that you're doing better Jerome. I know we're all looking forward to you coming back to the house. It wasn't the same without you. Everyone, why don't we go and get everything ready for that thing we had planned." she said to the whole room, giving them meaningful looks.
Amber eyes lit up as she caught on to Nina's meaning. "Oh yeah! We have so much to do. Come along all, I can't do everything myself." she announced, winking at Mara before strolling out of the room with the others like a princess being followed by her royal subjects.
Mara watched them go in amusement, then sat down in the seat by Jerome's bed. She hesitated for a moment but then grinned and pulled him into a big hug.
Jerome hugged her back, then pulled away a bit to look her in the eyes. He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bed next to him, where they just sat and stared at each other fondly for a while, then talked about how Mara's day had gone.
"I was so worried Jerome." Mara murmured.
"I know. Sorry you had to feel that way." he said sincerely.
Mara shook her head. "Don't apologize, you were the one who was sick." she responded.
Jerome just ruffled her hair affectionately and they wiled the rest of the afternoon away in each other's company.
Jerome was finally released from the hospital that evening after the doctor announced that his fever was officially gone and gave him a clean bill of health, though he called Trudy and told her to keep an eye on him to make sure there was no relapse.
He couldn't get out of there soon enough. He grabbed Mara's hand and together they ran back to Anubis house. They entered the house to much cheering and wolf whistling from all their friends. Mara squeezed his hand before leaving his side to stand with the others. "Happy Belated Birthday Jerome!" they all shouted.
Jerome laughed as Amber and Alfie dumped confetti all over him from the top of the stairs.
They all headed into the living room, where Trudy was just finishing setting up their dinner. She pulled Jerome into a tight hug, tearing up a bit as she pulled away. "I have a whole fresh batch of chocolate chip pancakes waiting in the oven. You guys celebrate and I'll go get them." she said cheerily, walking into the kitchen.
Jerome noticed the room had been decorated with balloons and a huge banner they had made on his birthday that now said belated on it, courtesy of Patricia. There were also eight presents on the table, one from each of his friends.
They sat around the table and talked and laughed together. Trudy brought in their dinner and set an extra big helping of her chocolate chip pancakes in front of Jerome, much to his delight. "Oh thank you Trudy! You have no idea how much I've been waiting to eat something that can actually be considered food!" he proclaimed before digging in hungrily, the others all laughing, including Trudy.
After dinner was over, Alfie announced it was time for cake. "Trudy made it of course, but I had a lot of input on the design." he said with a mischievous grin.
"I helped with the frosting!" Amber added.
Jerome raised an eyebrow and smirked as Trudy brought out a cake that looked like a zombie head. He shook his head and chuckled. "Nice. Well, let's dig in then. We wouldn't want this unique creation to go to waste." he said. They lit the sixteen candles on the cake and Trudy told Jerome to make a wish.
He wished that if there was to be a crazy new adventure, everything would work itself out and they would all get out of it unharmed. Then he blew out the candles and they all enjoyed the cake, despite its moldy gray-green exterior.
"IT'S PRESENT TIME!" Amber shouted gleefully after the zombie cake had been devoured.
Jerome and Alfie clapped. "Yes presents! What have you all gotten for me?" Jerome wondered, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He always loved getting stuff that he didn't have to pay for.
"Mine first!" Amber said, handing him a very neatly wrapped package with shiny blue paper and a white ribbon. He opened it curiously and gave Amber a look of fond exasperation when it turned out to be two t-shirts, one for him and one obviously for Mara, both blue that said Team Jara across the front in big silver letters. Mara blushed profusely and Jerome rolled his eyes.
"I know about Mara and Mick breaking up and I thought it was about time you guys got it on," Amber said. "All you needed was a push."
"Wait Mara you and Mick broke up?" Jerome asked curiously.
"Well yes but it was only a few days ago and Amber wasn't supposed to tell anyone." Mara said annoyed.
Amber beamed at them sweetly. "I knew you'd love them." she said in her usual oblivious manner.
Fabian had gotten him a really neat Egyptian chess set with the pieces being of a few of the gods and goddesses. "I heard from Mara that you two liked playing chess and I thought the theme was appropriate." Fabian explained.
Jerome clasped hands with him and shook it in gratitude. "Thanks mate, I like it." He looked at Mara. "Mara, me and you, later? We have to break this set in." he said slyly.
"Oh you're on." Mara replied, accepting his challenge.
Nina handed him an envelope that said "read in private" on the front. Jerome looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Mara and Joy exchanged confused looks. She smiled a bit. "It's sort of a collaborative present. You'll see when you read it." she said cryptically.
"Uh, thanks I think Nina. I'll take your word for it I guess." Jerome said slowly, looking at the letter curiously, not noticing the meaningful glance Nina shared with the Sibuna gang.
Patricia had gotten him a cool black leather jacket. Jerome put it on and Alfie said it helped with his bad boy image. Jerome shoved him and playfully told him to shut it.
Nolan got him a box set of the original three Star Wars movies. "Maybe you, Alfie, and I can have a movie marathon sometime." he said with a casual shrug like it was no big deal.
"Yeah sure, sounds fun." Jerome agreed.
Mara gave him a wrapped parcel which contained a copy of The Catcher In The Rye, with a little message from her inside saying Happy Birthday and she was glad they were together. Despite what everyone thought, he actually had a lot in common with Mara, including their mutual love of chess and classic literature.
"Just kiss already." Amber huffed as Jerome and Mara just looked at each other shyly.
"Amber!" Mara scolded in embarrassment. Amber gave her an innocent 'what?' look and Jerome looked at Mara questioningly for a moment. Mara gave a tiny smile of consent and they shared a brief but sweet kiss while everyone cheered them on, with the exception of Patricia who made a gagging noise. That was her version of approval though.
Joy's present was a professional lock-picking kit. "You never know when it might come in handy around here." she said with a secretive smile.
Jerome looked at it thoughtfully. "That's true. Let's just hope Victor doesn't find out about it." he commented, slipping the small case into one of his new jacket's pockets.
Alfie bounced up and down excitedly. "Speaking of which… finally, last but certainly not least, is my gift to you!" he proclaimed dramatically.
Alfie handed Jerome a small box wrapped crudely in brown paper. Jerome opened Alfie's gift and looked up at him in a mixture of bemusement and confusion as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and a tiny key.
Alfie grinned widely and held up a finger as a signal to wait a moment. It was almost 10:00 and like clockwork, Victor came stomping down the stairs and stood in the entrance hall to give his usual pin drop speech.
Alfie darted out of the living room and over to Victor. "Hey Victor, can I ask you something?" he began, giving him his best innocent expression.
"What do you want Lewis?" Victor growled, annoyed that the miscreant was disturbing his routine.
Alfie reached out and took Victor's hands in his own, smiling at Victor as the caretaker glared at him. "Oh Victor, I just wanted to let you know that I greatly admire your dedication towards making sure we get enough sleep each night. Making us go to bed at 10:00 every night… you really care don't you?" he said, pulling Victor's hand with his as he put a hand over his heart.
Victor just grunted in exasperation and tried to pull his hands away, but before he could do so Alfie had snapped the handcuffs around his wrists, stepping back as he twirled the small key in his fingers with an impish smirk.
"ALFIE LEWIS! I demand that you release these cuffs AT ONCE!" Victor yelled.
Alfie gasped dramatically. "Victor, you really shouldn't yell. How are you supposed to hear a pin drop over all that shouting?" he asked. Everyone watching tried but failed to stifle their chuckling at that.
Victor narrowed his eyes, rage flashing in their depths at the mockery. "LEWIS I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! GIVE ME THAT KEY!" he roared.
Alfie just laughed and ran off around the house, Victor chasing after him with his cuffed hands stretched out in front of him.
The Anubis residents all joined Alfie in laughing at Victor and even Trudy couldn't help the giggle that escaped her at Alfie's antics.
Jerome laughed loudly in amusement along with the others, wiping tears of glee from the corners of his eyes. He beamed at Mara and she smiled back as everyone exchanged high fives and cheered Alfie on.
In that moment Jerome decided that this was by far the best belated birthday ever.
