Chapter Text
His head was hurting.
This wasn't unusual for him.
But still.
It hadn't stopped hurting in the last few days.
"Ugh..." he groaned, rubbing his forehead. It was only the morning, and he already felt ready to take a sick day.
"You okay?" Michael asked, shaking his elbow.
"I'm fine." Jeremy gritted his teeth and smiled at his friend.
"Your head has been hurting non-stop the last few days." Rich noticed.
Jeremy opened his mouth to counteract this argument, but then he heard "Heere, Jeremy?"
Usually, he said I'm present, but he was distracted, so he said "Here!"
Snickers ran through, but he didn't care. He only concentrated on rubbing his forehead in small circles around on each side. Left right, left right, left right...
Before he knew it, the class was over. His next class, he had none of his close friends, so he darted off without having to wait for anyone.
Rich was getting suspicious. So was Jeremy. He hadn't had a free moment to his head since the hospital.
He had woken up. Rich was there, he was healed completely from his squip. They had done a brain surgery on him to get the computer out. Jeremy asked not to. They said that he might need a surgery someday in the future, but it wasn't urgent. It wouldn't kill him.
He got back to school, asked Christine out to lunch, and she said yes. And now they were dating.
But it had been almost two weeks now.
Shouldn't his head be fine now?
The day passed by very, very slowly. After a couple hours, it was lunch. He ate lunch with his close friends, and his girlfriend; Christine, Michael, Jenna, Chloe, Brooke, Rich, and Jake. It was silent when he got there.
"Hey, guys...?" He said as he hesitantly sat down.
"How's your dad doing?" Jenna asked, casually trying to start up a conversation.
Jeremy smiled. "He's great! I'm glad he's finally taken control of his life. And now he's a lot of fun, and we spend a lot of time together."
"That's great, Jeremy!" Brooke smiled at him.
The table fell silent again, uncomfortably. It lasted like this for a couple minutes before Jeremy put down his sandwich. "What's up?" he asked.
"Jeremy..." Christine grabbed his hand. "Michael's worried about you. We're all worried about you."
"...Why?"
"Your head has been hurting the last few weeks and it hasn't stopped," Jake said, leaning forward.
"Guys..." Jeremy scoffed. "I know, it sucks, but it's gonna take a while to recover from the squip. I'll be fine. Just a little bit more recovering. It's not going to happen overnight."
"But Rich recovered. He's fine now." Chloe spoke up.
"Well.... he was in the hospital for longer than me. And he had surgery. But I don't need surgery as much as he needed it. I'll be fine." And Jeremy finished the conversation by making a show of shoving his sandwich in his mouth.
"Okay..." the table muttered uncertainly, and they all spoke quietly for the remainder of lunch.
Jeremy's head still hurt, but he was careful not to show it.
He usually walked home these days. Michael's house was closer to the school, and Michael walked with him until he had to go inside.
But before that happened, when school ended, Jeremy went inside the bathroom. He locked himself inside and slid down to the floor. His breath was shaky, and then tears started flowing, though he didn't know why.
The pain was never-ending. He wished it would stop.
What is something happened that couldn't be fixed?
What if he would be in pain like this for the rest of his life?
The pain.... make it stop. Please make it stop. I just want to be okay. Please.
Finally, he picked himself off the bathroom floor. He walked home, Michael by his side. He would usually tell Michael, but Michael had been being loaded with crap lately. It might hurt him.
"See you later, Jer," Michael smiled, waved, and went inside his home.
Now that Jeremy was alone, he allowed himself to groan out loud. He got home and found a note on his counter.
Buying a new couch. Be home soon. -Dad
Jeremy went upstairs, leaving his backpack sitting on the table. He went into his room, closed his door behind him...
and screamed.