I own nothing from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
The tension in Cody Martin's ICU room in New York had been cut significantly by his awakening from the operation following his Car accident, but animosity still hung in the air in regards to Cody's role in Maddie's situation. Cody of course did not know the full extent of what had happened or in what state Maddie was in, but Zack did, and he was desperately fighting a battle inside himself over whether or not Cody was to blame, the twins hadn't spoken about the matter at great length, not wanting to upset Cody or Carey Zack avoided it. It was now fast approaching Midnight and Maddie's parents would soon be arriving from Europe and Zack rued the conversation that would follow, and the feelings and effects it would have on Cody, everyone was getting tired now and Cody was in need of some sleep, as was everyone else.
"Cody, honey" Carey began "You look tired, maybe you should try and get some sleep"
"Yeah, alright Mom, I don't know if I'll be able to though" Cody replied
"Just try; do you want me to stay here tonight?" Carey asked
"No, don't be stupid, I'll be fine" Cody didn't want to seem wimpy in front of Zack and Mr. Moesby so he insisted they leave and let him sleep.
"Alright honey, we'll go to the hotel and let you get some sleep then, good night Cody" Carey conceded, kissing Cody on the forehead before leaving.
"Stay well Cody, night" Moesby said before leaving with Carey. Zack looked like he was about to leave before Cody stopped him
"Zack, can you stay for a bit longer, go back to the hotel separately, please" There was no way Zack could deny Cody's request without looking uncaring, even if he desperately wanted to avoid the conversation, it was safer to stay with Carey so he didn't have to let slip his feelings about Cody and all that had happened.
"I'll see you in the morning then Mom, you two can come up to my room for breakfast" Zack said to Carey and Moesby before they left the room leaving just him and Cody.
"Ok Cody, what do you want from me?" Zack said, a sense of accusation in his voice, Cody was taken aback by his tone and looked slightly hurt
"I don't want anything except to talk, and to know why you've been holding back, Mom was so happy I'm alright, but you've been holding back Zack and I want to know why, have I done something so horrible?" Cody was breaking down as he spoke, obviously hurt and confused.
"Look, Cody, I don't think we want to be having this conversation now, some things we'd both regret might get said" Zack cut back, his voice icy confusing and hurting Cody more.
"I don't know what you're talking about Zack, no one's told me what's going on, please Zack, I'm your brother, I'm sorry I haven't been really around in the last year but I swear I didn't mean to hurt Maddie, I can't believe it, everything in my life is completely ruined" Cody broke down in tears as he spoke, Zack's heart went out to him, but he was so angry about it, all he could now think about was that Cody drove drunk and Maddie was dying because of it.
"Well if you really want to have the conversation I'll be straight with you. You were driving drunk, and you're alright, but in the other room Maddie is lying in a Coma, she's dying Cody, and you did it to her" Zack was getting so angry Cody just had a look of utter devastation on his face. All Zack's tact had gone, obliterated by his outpouring of emotion. Cody just continued crying, Zack felt compelled to hug his brother, a part of him loved Cody and hated seeing him upset.
"I'm so sorry, god I'm so sorry" Was all Cody could wail
"It's not your fault, I'm sorry I overreacted, I'm just so upset about everything, I'm really glad your alright Cody" Zack said trying to calm Cody.
"Maddie was just helping me though, she was there for me, listening to me" Cody said sounding so sad
"About max?" Zack asked
"Yes, how did you know?" Cody asked, embarrassed that Zack had found out
"You need to clean up better little bro" Zack managed a chuckle at his quip.
"All I seem to do is goof stuff up" Cody replied still sadly.
"That's not true; some of this is my fault Cody, that's part of the reason why I'm dealing with it so badly" Zack sounded depressed as he moved on to that passage of realisation.
"How is any of this your fault" Cody sounded utterly astounded that Zack would think any of this could be his fault at all.
"Well I'm the one who got you introduced you to alcohol" Zack replied, drawing a dismissive snort from Cody
"You didn't put me in the Car Zack, it's my fault" Cody was now comforting Zack who was obviously dealing poorly with his guilt.
"You wouldn't have gone to see Maddie if you hadn't slept with Max and I brought her to Boston and I intentionally left the suite empty, but I never thought you guys would do that, I just thought you and her could talk about your common experiences" Zack continued to mount the case against himself but Cody wasn't convinced.
"Well exactly, it was my stupid fucking self again, I just fuck everything up" Cody never swore, he was obviously getting very angry with himself now.
"Well the last thing I'm angry about is that I let Maddie go, I never realised how much I loved her until she's gone" Zack teared up as he spoke.
"All you guys did that I saw was fight Zack, but if you loved her you loved her, I suppose it shows in different ways" Cody was getting philosophical now.
"I still blame myself for this Cody, I don't want to blame anyone, but I do" Zack summarised
"It's my fault, the worst thing is none of this is Maddie's fault, yeah she was drunk too, and she gave me the drinks, but she didn't make me drink and drive, she didn't drive" Cody trailed off.
"Yeah, well look, there's no point dwelling on such depressing things, you look tired, I look tired, we should get some sleep, the doctor's will want to come around and check out your kidneys in the morning I spouse, I hope it's all alright" Zack tried to look optimistic
"Yeah, night then Zack, thanks for everything" Cody weakly smiled before trying to go to sleep. Zack walked out of the room and just before he turned the corner toward the nurses' station he heard the unmistakeable drawl of a Bostonian accent.
"Where's my daughter, Madeline Fitzpatrick, who's been dealing with her doctors?" it was Maddie's mother. Zack desperately wanted to avoid seeing them, especially now as it seemed his marriage was going to be revealed to yet another set of parents.
"She's in room 7, I'll call the duty doctor. Her husband has been dealing with the doctors" the nurse replied to Mrs. Fitzpatrick
"Husband! What? Maddie isn't married" She sounded shocked and agitated by this statement
"Yes, she was" Zack said as he stepped out from around the corner…
OOOOOHHHH Some drama is on the way (yes! Even more drama!) and not just from that obvious point. Sorry it took me a while to write this chapter, stuff is hectic at the moment. I'll keep writing though as much as possible, so please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks.