"Code: Insomnia"
By cdc100
Summary: Jeremie is having fits in his sleep. Aelita wants to know what's wrong with him and he insists that nothing is wrong. Find out what happens.
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. Code Lyoko is the property of Antefilms, Moonscoop, France 3, Canal J, Cartoon Network, Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. Please support the official release.
Chapter Seven
"Lunch Meeting"
Jeremie quickly closed the distance between the infirmary and the cafeteria. When he arrived, he found a few students still getting their trays and sitting down. He could see his friends at their usual table as he got in line. He turned his back to avoid their gaze and avoid the twinge in his chest that game from gazing at them.
He soon found himself at the front of the line and got a simple sandwich with some soup. As he was turning to leave the cafeteria with his box of victuals, he heard the voice of Ulrich call out to him.
"Jeremie, wait up," he said.
Jeremie turned to see his friends all looking up at him with frowns. Not ones of disapproval, but of concern.
"Oh, hey guys," he said. "I hope you're all right."
"We were actually just about to ask you," said Yumi. "Do you mind sitting down with us for a bit? We'd like to talk to you."
Jeremie hung his head.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I'm really busy. I'll…try to talk to you guys later, okay? I've got to go."
He turned and continued toward the door to the cafeteria, despite, or perhaps even due to, the group's protests. He continued until their voices faded behind the voices of other students talking about whatever nonsense and the glass of the cafeteria windows. Jeremie grit his teeth as he tried to bury his desire to be at his friends' table.
As the boy genius left, Ulrich slumped in his chair.
"Well…I guess at least he spoke to us this time."
"He didn't have a door separating him from us this time," said Yumi. "I'm…guessing he felt trapped."
"Seems kind of counterintuitive. But I guess you're right. It's probably a lot easier to keep your trap shut if you're not so obviously in earshot."
Odd sighed.
"Five euros says he doesn't try to talk to us later. Not to state the obvious, but I really wish he would, or at least let us talk to him. I think Yumi was right about him being stuck in his head."
Ulrich shook his head.
"Much as I hate to admit it, I think the only thing we can really do now is wait until we hear something new."
"Well, it's got me wishing for a XANA attack," said Yumi. "At least we know he wouldn't try and tackle that on his own."
"That's because he doesn't think he could," said Ulrich, shaking his head again. "And I think that's partially what's going on here. He feels like he has to handle all of this on his own."
Aelita pushed her tray away and looked up at the ceiling.
"I keep thinking about us getting the teachers involved. I really hope it wasn't a mistake. I did tell Jim I would trust him, but I'm not sure what they can do for Jeremie that we can't."
As the friends continued to speak, several of the teachers came into the cafeteria. At the end of the group was Jim, followed by Yolande's fiancé. Jim and Moreau each grabbed a tray as they spoke.
"I can get my own lunch, Jim. Really. Mr. Delmas didn't have to treat me."
"It's the least we can do. You offered to help us out gratis."
"I want to help Jeremie. That much is true. But I also did it as a favor to Yolande."
"Who is also not paying you, right?"
"That's beside the point. I may not be some millionaire doctor, but I'm not exactly having financial problems either."
"Well, you also said we could pay you whatever we think you deserve, right? Well, I guess Mr. Delmas thinks you deserve a free lunch."
"Alright. Fair point."
Jim picked up a drink as he addressed Moreau again.
"Besides, Dr. Moreau, this will actually be more like a business lunch. We'll be using some of this time to discuss your plans for Jeremie while Mr. Delmas sets up a meeting with his folks."
"Jim, I appreciate your respect for my experience, but I seriously think this whole thing will go much easier if you call me Marc. We're both adults. We're both invested in Jeremie's wellbeing. The way I see it, that makes us teammates."
Jim nodded.
"Alright. Roger that."
They approached Rosa and held out their trays.
"Rosa," said Jim, "The good doctor's lunch is on the house."
Rosa nodded.
"You got it."
Rosa handed each man a club sandwich, a bag of chips and a cup of soup. Jim smiled as he stepped back and Moreau nodded his head in gratitude before following.
"I'm not sure what more I can tell you at the moment, Jim. For now, my plan is to chat a bit with Jeremie and see if I can get a good measure of what's happening with him. I'll also be talking to his friends to see if they might be able to help us out. Unfortunately, I wouldn't exactly be able to let you in on every single conversation that I have with the group, but I can tell you what I'm able to do."
"I thought doctor-patient confidentiality only applied to the doctor and the patient."
"For the average psychiatric professional, you would be right. But I prefer to keep any conversations on the job between myself and the people I have them with. The same would apply to you. My patients need to know that they can trust me."
"A man of integrity, huh? Yolande never mentioned that."
"That being said, there are still limits, and things I can tell you. Like I said before, I can tell you what decisions those conversations lead to. And while I can't disclose the fine details of each conversation, I can give you somewhat broad information regarding the patient and what conclusions it leads me to.
"What do you mean by 'limits?'"
"Say Jeremie told me he planned to kill someone. I would not be obligated to keep that secret."
"Uh…okay. I suppose if you remain silent, I can just assume he hasn't decided to do anything that drastic."
Moreau shrugged.
"That's the idea. I'm not trying to alarm you. I'm just explaining the parameters of my work. You've put your trust in me, so I'm going to deliver what I can."
As they continued walking, Moreau spotted Jeremie's friends.
"That's his group, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Strange as it sounds, it's actually kind of sad not seeing Jeremie there like normal."
"I'll be right with you, Jim. I'm going to talk to them for just a couple of minutes."
"Alright, I'll flag you down when you head our way."
Jim made for the teachers' table as Moreau turned and approached Jeremie's friends. As he got closer, Moreau caught small bits of their conversation.
"Did Jim give you any details about what they were doing for Jeremie?" asked Ulrich.
"Not really," said Aelita. "He just said he spoke to the principal and Yolande. And that they'd do whatever they could, I guess. I wish that made me feel better."
Moreau gently entered the conversation.
"It's natural to feel uneasy, even when you're given assurance."
The group looked up at the new arrival in surprise.
"I hope you can all forgive my intrusion. Are you enjoying your lunch?"
Odd nodded.
"It's alright. I feel like the lettuce on the sandwich could have been a bit fresher, though."
"I'll keep that in mind. You guys are Jeremie's friends, right?"
"Um yeah," said Yumi. "Sorry, sir, but who are you? You don't look like any of our teachers."
"Well, that's because I'm not. I'm Dr. Moreau."
"You mean like that weird Marlon Brando movie?" asked Odd.
Moreau chuckled lightly.
"I guess so. Suppose I should have thought about that before I went for my doctorate."
"Wait…Dr. Moreau?" asked Ulrich. "Like, a doctor doctor?"
Moreau nodded.
"Do you mind if I sit with you? I have something I'd like to talk to you about."
The four looked amongst themselves. Ulrich then gently moved down one seat, prompting Yumi to do the same, which left an empty spot for the doctor to sit.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything critical."
Ulrich looked at the doctor with a raised brow.
"Kind of, but…if you're here to talk about Jeremie, I'm hoping you could answer a few questions for us."
"I can do that, if you don't mind answering a few of mine."
Ulrich nodded.
"Ask away."
"Actually, I think I'd like to start with your questions. But before that, I'd like to tell you a bit about myself that might clear a few things up for you. I practice both medicine and psychology, and I came here to see if I can help Jeremie as a personal favor to your nurse, Yolande."
Aelita looked at the doctor with interest as he spoke, and asked the first question.
"It might be too early to ask, but…do you think you can help Jeremie, sir?"
"It's not too early to ask, just too early for me to tell. I've examined Jeremie and I can tell you that he is unwell. He needs care that he's been denying himself. And I intend to give him that care. I'm not sure what I can do for him just yet, but I plan to find out."
Odd frowned.
"Doctor, Jeremie's not…he's not going to have to leave the school, is he?"
"I can understand why you would wonder that, Odd. But I did not come here to take away your friend. Whatever I do, I plan not to have Jeremie taken off campus unless I have no other choice. And even then, it would only be temporary."
Odd sighed in relief as Yumi asked the next question.
"What exactly did you find out from your examination, doctor?"
Moreau leaned forward on the table as he addressed the group.
"I'm not exactly able to tell you what's going on with him right now. But I'm due to meet Jeremie's parents later today and when that happens, I'll be explaining the situation to them. As his friends, I see no reason they wouldn't be willing to tell you about it. In fact, if you would like me to, I would be willing to encourage them to talk to you."
Yumi nodded.
"We really appreciate that, doctor," she said. "Thank you."
Moreau nodded.
"We especially appreciate you coming, doctor," said Aelita. "What do you need from us?"
"Mostly, I need information. Do you mind telling me about how long ago you think this started?"
"It's been about a week or two," said Ulrich.
"Well, that's good to know. And what exactly changed around that time?"
"Well, he would always hang out with us outside of class, but he stopped showing up to our hangouts. He's always spent a lot of time alone in his room, but never this much."
"Working on the thing with his computer?"
Ulrich hesitated.
"Y-yeah."
"I see. How were his eating habits before all this started?"
"Well…he'd occasionally give one of his portions to Odd, but other than that, fairly normal, I suppose."
Moreau looked at the teen with spiked hair for a moment.
"Just purely out of curiosity, does Jeremie give you his food because you don't eat enough?"
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. I get plenty to eat. I just have a huge appetite."
"That's an understatement, doctor," said Yumi. "You…probably won't think this is very funny, but we often joke that Odd has a black hole for a stomach."
Moreau scoffed.
"That actually is kind of funny. Anyway, I guess that's good to know. Back to Jeremie. How has he seemed in class lately?"
"More or less normal, I suppose," said Ulrich. "We probably don't need to tell you this, but Jeremie does quite a bit better in class than…most of us. He doesn't exactly struggle with any assignments; at least, not that he's told us. And I haven't heard any teachers say anything about his work or anything like that."
Odd's eyes widened.
"Oh, but he has been…kind of rushing through everything in class lately? His work has always seemed effortless, but anymore he just tries to get through it quickly. And he'll answer our teachers' questions, but he won't go out of his way to participate in class lately."
Moreau nodded.
"Have you noticed him spending time in places that he wouldn't normally? With people that he shouldn't, perhaps?"
Ulrich sighed.
"I wish I could say otherwise, but no. He's been kind of…isolating himself."
Aelita took a deep breath herself and spoke next.
"Doctor, we do think we know something that might help, but…would it be possible for you not to tell Jeremie?"
Moreau fixed Aelita with a raised eyebrow, but after a few moments, he answered.
"Jeremie is my patient. What the two of us say in our sessions stays completely confidential. Ordinarily, that confidentiality does not extend to anyone who isn't my patient, but I was telling your P.E. teacher, I prefer to keep any conversations I have on the job between myself and the other person. I believe our interests are aligned in that we all want Jeremie to get well. As such, I can refrain from telling him what any of you have said. However, I will tell you that when you can, you should all talk to each other.
"From what you asked, it seems you want to tell me something that you feel would be a betrayal of Jeremie's trust. I'm not going to tell you that's an easy situation to be in. It's not. Friendships are founded on trust, and if that trust is broken, a friendship can crumble. It's especially hard if you're trying to help someone by doing it. I can't promise you that Jeremie will see it that way. At least not immediately. But I promise not to do anything that will hinder your friendship. It's obviously very important to all of you. I don't want to color your choices any particular way, either. I welcome any information you can offer me that you think may help Jeremie. But whether you share it is entirely your decision."
Aelita looked at the others, who nodded at her. Nodding herself, Aelita turned her attention back to Moreau.
"We kind of…overheard something he said, doctor. He was recording a log entry. He was talking about…"
Aelita trailed off, then looked to Ulrich. Ulrich took the cue and continued.
"He was talking about us," he said. "Jeremie seems to think that he's a burden on us and was talking about how…maybe it would be better if he wasn't in our lives."
Odd shook his head as he interjected.
"Ulrich said that he sounded almost suicidal. I…don't want to raise any red flags or anything. I just…"
Moreau raised a hand.
"Don't worry, Odd. What Jeremie is going through is serious, I have no doubt about that. But I don't jump to conclusions. Doing so is a waste of time."
He looked around at the group before continuing.
"Can you tell me anything else?"
"He doesn't seem to think he deserves us as friends," said Ulrich. "Anything else we could say at this point would be pure speculation, doctor."
Moreau nodded once more.
"Thank you very much for sharing this with me. I'm glad you did. I think it'll help. I should really get to the teachers' table, but before I do that, I'd like to ask you all a favor."
"What's up?" asked Odd.
"I will need a lot of one-on-one time with Jeremie. But I think in order to get to know him, I'll need to get to know the people he's around the most. Perspective makes almost an entire world of difference in situations like this. So I'd like to ask if I could talk to each of you individually. Would you be alright with that?"
The group of friends looked at each other hesitantly as the doctor's question hung in the air.
"I realize it's a lot to ask," said Moreau. "If you need time to think it over, you can. I'll be talking to Jeremie first, anyway. Assuming, of course, that his parents approve of my involvement."
Ulrich spoke before Moreau could say anything else.
"Sir, if you think it'll help Jeremie, then I think we'd all be willing to talk."
Moreau stood up from the table.
"Alright, then. I'll speak to Mr. Delmas and try to work out some meeting times. I'll have Jim send you some notes of excusal from your class at the appointed times."
Picking up his tray, he addressed the group once more.
"I apologize for interrupting your lunch, but thank you very much for talking to me. It was very nice to meet you all. If you're late to your next class, have your teacher call the infirmary and I'll get you excused.
The doctor walked away, leaving the Lyoko Warriors staring after him.
"…did you guys feel that?" asked Odd.
"What?" asked Ulrich. "That crazy wave of calm that happened when he started talking to us?"
"Yeah," said Yumi. "I felt it too. It was like everything that was bugging me before didn't matter as much."
"At the same time, it felt like every word we said was important," said Aelita.
"Do you think that guy could be an alien?" asked Odd.
Ulrich rolled his eyes.
"Don't be stupid. …Make that 'stupider.'"
"Seriously, I think he might be an alien."
Moreau, meanwhile, continued back to the staff table and sat down near Jim.
"There you are," said the P.E. teacher. "Was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."
"There is definitely something to that group," said Moreau. "They have a strong bond. It's clear to me that the situation with Jeremie has hurt them greatly."
Jim nodded.
"You said it. Never thought I'd say this, but I think I preferred it when they seemed like they were scheming on some prank. Heck, I'd even prefer if this whole thing was a prank."
"I can understand that sentiment," said Moreau, opening his chips. "Night terrors aren't very easy to fake, though."
"I figured."
Moreau took a chip out and ate it.
"Mr. Delmas said you were the one to bring Jeremie's behavior to his attention."
"Only because the kids came to me first."
Moreau continued eating.
"Care to elaborate on that?"
Jim shrugged.
"I think it might just be the first time that a student has ever earnestly asked me for help with something that mattered."
"Really?"
"Come on, you've seen the students. Do I strike you as someone who carries a lot of respect around here?"
"Actually, yes. More than you think."
Jim gawked at Moreau.
"What?"
"Respecting someone doesn't mean that you always obey their commands or agree with what they say. In fact, I think it's much easier to disagree with someone you respect than not. I can't speak for you, but disagreeing with someone I don't respect has always given me a headache. The students here know they can count on you when things get hard, and they come to you whenever there is a problem. They wouldn't do either of those things if you didn't have a little of their respect."
Moreau looked back over at Ulrich and the others before he continued.
"Even if you weren't their first choice, the fact that Jeremie's friends came to you about his problem should say something."
"I guess I never thought about it that way."
"If Jeremie's parents give approval to treat Jeremie, there may be some things I need you to help me with. Should that happen, can I count on you?"
Jim nodded.
"Absolutely…Marc."
To Be Continued…
A/N: Well, I hope you guys all liked this. I'm not the best at making up chapter names, so I hope the quality of the chapter makes up for that. See you next time!
