Chapter 11:
Thanksgiving Feast
A/N: Yeah, this chapter starts off right where last chapter ended. We will find out right off why Jeremiah is suddenly bald. Okay, yeah, I really don't like this chapter that much, but it is important for future things. Nothing really sad in this chapter. This will probably be the last semi-happy chapter. Also, it's gonna be pretty short as it is merely a link between chapter 10 and chapter 12.
"Oh, Jeremiah…"Hermione gasped.
And she had good reason to stare open mouthed. Jeremiah was completely bald; all his hair had been shaved away. He smiled at her sheepishly and ran his hand over his completely hairless skinhead.
"Hello, everyone." Matthew watched him in awe, wondering why Jeremiah was bald after he had so soon grown it back from his treatment. "Hey, Matt."
"Hi. Where's your hair?" Matthew so unsubtly asked the question that everyone was wondering. Hermione knew in her mind that she should get on to Matthew for asking such a blunt question, but she really wanted to know the answer to her son's question. Jeremiah grinned, revealing his perfect white teeth.
"I shaved it all off. How do you like it?"
"Why?"
"Well," Jeremiah smiled, almost as though he was about to distribute a huge present. "Your Mom and Dad told me that you were kinda bummed about the fact that your hair's falling out, so I shaved mine so that you won't be bald alone."
Matthew looked at him in complete surprise. "You got rid of your hair for me." It wasn't so much a question as an unbelievable statement. Jeremiah nodded and Hermione began to cry. Harry stared at the teenage boy with a look of amazement.
"Say, let's dig into this amazing plethora of food!" Jeremiah ignored the stares, not wanting to be portrayed as a little hero. The stunned bystanders made their way to the table, Matthew sitting to Jeremiah's right, Missy Lyn taking the seat on Matthew's right. They began to eat, and as Matthew watched Jeremiah, suddenly being bald wasn't a bad thing-in fact, no hair seemed like the coolest thing in the world to Matthew. He almost couldn't wait until the rest of his hair fell out so he could be just like Jeremiah. As Matthew sat, lost in his thoughts, he felt a tug on his arm. He turned and saw Missy Lyn smiling at him shyly.
"How old are you?"
Matthew extended three fingers so she could see. "How old are you?"
"This many," two fingers were extended. "But I'll be this many in January." Another finger extended.
"Why don't you talk much?"
The little girl shrugged. "I don't have nothing to say to them. But you're nice. I like you."
"Thanks. And Jeremiah's cool. You could talk to him."
She shook her head. "He's a boy."
"I'm a boy."
Missy Lyn smiled shyly. "I know you are. But you're different."
Matthew nodded, not really knowing what to say. He turned to Jeremiah who was sitting quietly, pretending to listen to the adults' words. Matthew knew that he wasn't there right now; his eyes were clouded over as they so often did.
"Jeremiah?" His eyes returned to focus and he looked to Matthew.
"Yeah, Matt?"
"Are you okay? Your eyes were all cloudy for a minute."
"Oh, yeah." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, I was just…thinking. Plus I've just been a little under the weather lately."
"Oh." Matthew nodded in agreement, even though he hadn't the slightest idea what Jeremiah meant. Missy Lyn touched Matthew's arm gently.
"Look at this." She had made a statue out of mashed potatoes that resembled a crayon.
"Hey, that's cool! I wanna make one!" He got his mashed potatoes and, after looking up to make sure that Hermione wasn't watching, formed the potatoes into a ball. He worked the potatoes until they formed a little car. Missy Lyn laughed as Jeremiah watched them. Before they knew it, he was forming potatoes with them, making his food into a little boat-like form. They sailed the little boat on a sea of gravy, Matthew putting green bean people in the `boat.' Missy Lyn created a sail from a paper napkin, and the three patients began to go breathless with laughter. The parents finally realized that the kids were playing with their food. Dr. Regina made a motion to put a stop to it, but Dr. Powers shook his head at her.
"Let them play with their food. I certainly don't want them eating it after that." He pointed to Jeremiah who was stuffing little bits of potato in his nose and launching them out with a quick blow. Matthew erupted in giggles and slammed his tiny fists on the table. Missy Lyn seemed completely breathless with laughter. Finally, when Jeremiah launched a potato too near Missy Lyn's grandmother, Dr. Regina called the food fun to a stop. The three kids settled down and eventually tuned in to the grownup's conversation.
"Where's Keith?" Missy Lyn's grandmother asked before stuffing a forkful of beans into her mouth.
Dr. Regina sighed. "He's not been doing too well. He had treatment yesterday, and it made him pretty sick."
"Man, I hate that." Missy Lyn's grandmother looked truly sorry to hear of Keith's sickness. "I hope he'll be okay."
"I'm pretty sure he'll be okay. We really don't know why he got so sick."
"How long has he been here?" Harry questioned.
"About a year. He's a really sweet kid, he's just not very tolerant of pain, so chemo just about kills him. Your son, on the other hand, does exceptionally well compared to most treatments."
"I do?" Matthew piped up and Dr. Regina nodded.
"You are the easiest patient I've ever had other than Jeremiah." At her words, Matthew beamed at being compared to his hero. "You're a really brave kid, Matthew." His grin grew. The conversation went in other ways and Matthew and Missy Lyn began to get bored and Jeremiah's eyes glazed over again as he played with the prongs on his fork. Finally, the adults finished and Jeremiah said good-bye to Matthew.
"I'll see you on the first, Matt. That's your next treatment, right?"
He nodded and smiled. "See you, Jeremiah."
Missy Lyn came over to Matthew and said a quick and squeaky goodbye before kissing him on the cheek. Matthew blushed horribly and the adults and Jeremiah laughed. When they walked out of the hospital, Harry looked at Matthew and laughed, seeing his son still a lovely shade of red.
"Looks like someone likes Matthew!"
He shook his head adamantly, swearing to never ever like girls.
A/N: Well, I told you this would be short as it's but a link. And yes, someone Jeremiah's age would shoot potatoes out his nose and make a boat out of food. Trust me, someone very special proved that to me. But that's another story. I promise, things will get better from here. This story was good in the beginning, and I really don't like this chapter and the previous one, but well, you'll see why I had to write them. Okay, I'll just shut up now, medicine affecting my brain…
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