For The Love of Jeremy Chapter Two
"Look at me, Jeremy, please." Jason said in a ragged breath.
Jeremy did not look at his brother. He did not speak.
Jason and Joshua exchanged a sad glance.
Leaning toward Jeremy, Jason gave him a little kiss on the side of his head. Jason whispered in Jeremy's ear, "I love you, Jeremy. I still promise to protect you. I will always do my best to make good on my promise."
Jason stood up. He patted Joshua on the shoulder. "Josh, stay here with your brother, please. I'm going downstairs for a little while. Shout if you need me."
"Okay, Jason." Joshua sat down in a chair by the bed.
Jason went downstairs. The doctor had left saying he would return this afternoon.
It was about 11 am. Jason stood leaning on the bar.
"Jason, go have a seat in the back room. I'll be in in a minute with a little Irish coffee." Lottie said with a sympathetic smile.
"Okay, Lottie." Jason replied dejectedly. He walked to the back room and sat down at the table.
A short time later, Lottie came in with the coffee. She set a cup in front of Jason. She took a seat next to him.
"Oh, Lottie!" Jason put his face in his hands. "Every day, I deal with grown men. Some of them have the foulest nastiest mouths you could imagine. And lots of times those foul nasty words are directed right at me. What do I do? I take it in stride." Jason said with a wry smile.
"But an eight year old little boy can say a handful of words to me and plunge a knife into my heart." Jason burst into tears.
Lottie stood up from her chair. "Jason, come here, please."
He got up from the chair and went to Lottie. She wrapped her arms around him. Jason put his head on her shoulder sobbing.
"There there, it's going to be alright. You don't always have to be tough. Even Jason Bolt needs a good cry sometimes." Lottie said gently.
"Thank you, Lottie," Jason said a few minutes later.
They sat back down at the table.
"You're welcome, Jason." Lottie replied. "You know Jeremy has been traumatized by what happened. And you also know that it's harder for Jeremy to deal with trauma than it is for most people. He's been coping with emotional pain since he was five years old."
"I know Lottie. And I understand that he's frightened. But it still hurt when Jeremy told me my promise is no good. How am I going to raise him and take care of him if he has no trust in me?" Jason asked.
"Oh, Jason, I think Jeremy trusts you. You have to remember he had just woken up from being unconscious after a terrifying attack." Lottie answered.
"That's true, Lottie. And it's only been three months since our father passed away. The heartbreak of losing Dad and the stirring of the memories of when Mom died." Jason looked at Lottie. "I don't know how anyone is expected to endure all that, let alone a tender hearted little boy."
"JASON!" Joshua shouted from upstairs.
Jason and Lottie looked alarmed.
Jason rushed upstairs. "Josh! What's wrong?!"
Joshua looked calmly at his brother. "Nothing. Jeremy wants to talk to you."
"Well, what was the yelling for? You scared me….and Lottie." Jason asked.
"You told me to shout if we needed you." Joshua answered.
"That's a figure of speech. I meant…never mind." Jason sighed.
Walking to the bed, Jason looked at Jeremy. The little fellow looked like he had fought a mountain lion. His eye was purple, red, black, and swollen. He had other assorted bruises on his face and his neck. Jeremy's ribs were bandaged tightly. His broken arm was in a cast.
"Is it alright if I sit on the side of the bed?" Jason asked quietly.
"Yes. Hey, Josh?" Jeremy looked at his blond brother.
"Oh, yeah! I'm gonna go talk to Lottie." Joshua left the room fast.
Jason sat on the side of the bed. Jeremy looked down at his hands for a minute. Then he looked out the window taking a ragged breath and clutching his ribs in pain.
Jason winced almost feeling the pain in his own ribs. His blood boiled as he thought of the agony, he wanted to inflict on the evil men who injured his baby brother.
"Jeremy, you wanted to talk to me." Jason said gently.
Jeremy looked at his oldest brother. Tears were running down his cheeks. "J-J-Jason, I'm s-s-sorry! I didn't m-m-mean…" Jeremy gasped in pain from his broken ribs.
"Easy, Jeremy, easy. Take your time." Jason put his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.
Jeremy rested for a minute. "I'm s-s-sorry I h-h-hurt you. I trust you."
"Thank you, Jeremy!" Jason beamed at his little brother. "That means the world to me. You and Josh mean the world to me!"
"We love you, J-J-Jason." Jeremy told him.
Jason gave him a very light hug. "I love you and Josh too." Jason choked up.
A few weeks went by. Jeremy's black eye and bruises were gone. His broken arm and broken ribs were better but not well. Fortunately, Jeremy's spleen was not injured, and surgery was unnecessary.
The Bolt brothers continued to stay at Lottie's so she could watch Jeremy while Jason was at work and Josh was at school. Dr. Wilson did not want Jeremy to return to school until his arm and his ribs had improved more.
One day when it was late in the afternoon, Jeremy was sitting at a table in the barroom. Joshua was playing ball with friends after school. Jason was still at work. Lottie was back and forth between the kitchen and the barroom.
Jeremy was bored. He had drawn pictures and read the books he had there over and over. As he was thinking of something to do, Jeremy thought about the fairytale book his dad gave him for his last birthday. The book was good. It had stories about monsters and dragons. Jeremy decided he would enjoy reading the book tonight before he had to go to bed. The book was at the cabin. If he waited to ask one of his brothers to get it for him, they might be too tired and tell him just to read a book that he already had there.
Jeremy looked out the window. It wasn't dark yet and the cabin wasn't far…it was just down the street.
Lottie was in the kitchen. It sounded like she was involved in getting supper started. If he hurried no one would ever know.
Jeremy got up from the table. He looked around. There were a few men in the room. They were not close to him and they certainly were not paying attention to him. Jeremy walked closer to the door. He glanced back toward the kitchen. Lottie was still deep in conversation telling her staff about supper. Jeremy went out the door as fast as he could.
Once he was outside, Jeremy looked up and down the street. There were no signs of Jason or Joshua or anyone who would tell on him.
Jeremy tried to run to the cabin. After a minute, he realized his broken ribs made running too painful. So, he walked as fast as he could toward his home.
When Jeremy made it to the cabin, he was very pleased with himself. It was too bad, he couldn't tell anyone.
Jeremy went into the cabin. It was darker inside than he expected it to be. He didn't want to take time to light a lantern. Jeremy stood still for a few moments to let his eyes adjust. He knew right where his fairytale book was so it would be easy to find.
When he could see pretty good, Jeremy started toward the bedroom. Just as he got to the bedroom door, he heard a loud voice.
"THERE YOU ARE! YOU HAVE MADE THIS EASY FOR ME!" The voice said.
"J-J-Jason?" Jeremy called out even though he knew it wasn't his brother.
Terrified, Jeremy turned and ran for the front door. He had almost made it when he stumbled and fell. The intruder grabbed him by the ankle. The intruder was pulling him one way and Jeremy was pulling himself the other way. Jeremy was close to the little table where they dumped all sorts of odds and ends. Jeremy groped through the stuff trying to find some type of weapon. His hand landed on the right thing. The stick that Jason had been using to teach him how to whittle. Jason had whittled a sharp point on the end of the long stick.
Jeremy looked behind him and stretched his arm as far as he could with the sharp stick in his hand. One big jab and Jeremy poked the intruder in the eye with the stick. The man screamed. He let go of Jeremy. The frightened boy scampered up from the floor.
This time Jeremy ran in spite of the pain. He couldn't run as fast as usual but he did the best he could. He was halfway to Lottie's when he heard someone coming behind him.
Run. He thought. Almost there. Run. Hurry. Run. He was getting tired. His ribs were throbbing. Jeremy could hear the man coming behind him.
"Come here, you brat! You almost put my eye out!"
"Jeremy Bolt! Where are you! Do you want Jason to blister your backside, mister?" Lottie stepped out of the saloon shouting for him.
"Lottie!" Jeremy yelled as loud as he could before he collapsed in the street. The pain from his fractured ribs was excruciating.
Lottie heard Jeremy yell and she ran toward him. The man who was chasing the boy stopped short when he saw Lottie. The man turned the other way. He started running again and ran right into Jason.
"What the blazes were you doing chasing my little brother!? You're one of the jackals that nearly beat him to death, aren't you?!" Jason screamed.
Before the man could answer, Lottie shouted, "Jason! Jeremy won't wake up! You need to get the doctor!"
"Come on!" Jason drug the man by the arm. They went into Lottie's. Big Swede was sitting at a table.
"Big Swede, this is one of the men who beat Jeremy. Hold on to him while I get Jeremy out of the street." Jason told him.
"Sure thing, Jason!" Big Swede replied grabbing the man's arm.
Jason ran back out and picked up Jeremy from the street. He rushed upstairs with him and put him on the bed.
"Jeremy? Can you hear me?" Jason looked intently into the boy's face.
Jeremy didn't move or speak.
Joshua came running in. "Was Jeremy attacked again?"
"One of the jackasses tried. Jeremy got away from him and collapsed in the street. Stay here with him, Josh. I'm going to get the doctor." Jason told him.
"I'll stay with him, Jason." Joshua replied.
Jason returned quickly with
The doctor examined Jeremy. He told Jason and Joshua that Jeremy collapsed from the severe pain of his fractured ribs. The doctor said the pain was also preventing him from waking up right away. Dr. Wilson said he would stay to wait for Jeremy to wake up.
Jason went downstairs to talk to Jeremy's attacker. "Why have you attacked my brother?" The eldest Bolt was standing over the man who was seated.
"Someone hired me to do it." The man answered.
"Wait…. you are actually telling me that someone hired you to attack an eight year old child?" Jason was shocked.
"Well, I wasn't hired to attack him. I was hired to kill him." The thug replied.
Jason yanked the man up from the chair he was sitting in.
Jason grabbed the man by the hair of his head. "You agreed to kill Jeremy for money?! Who is paying you?! Tell me now!"
"I don't know! I was hired by a guy who knows a guy who talked to someone who wanted it done!" The thug told him.
"What did the guy who hired you tell you?" Jason asked as he still pulled the criminal's hair.
"He said I was supposed to kill Jason Bolt's little brother. The one who can't talk right." He winced as Jason let go of his hair and punched him in the face.
The attacker fell in the floor. Jason snatched him up and threw him in a chair.
"Have you gotten any pay from your unknown employer?"
"Yes. I got a partial payment because I didn't finish the job. I was told that I would get the rest of my money when the boy was dead." The lowlife looked at the floor.
"That's why you were at the cabin tonight, wasn't it? To kill Jeremy so you could get the rest of your money!" Jason spat the words at him.
"Yes." He answered.
When and where did you get this partial payment for your failed attempt to murder my little brother?" Jason snarled.
"I got it last month at Aaron Stempel's office." He replied.