Chapter 31

He lay on his back, looking up at the boring plain white ceiling. This was a sight that had met him for the past month, and still, he saw no change of it at all. There was no changing of this place. This place would never change –only he would. He would only get weaker and weaker by the day, counting down his days, and waiting for the Grim Reaper to come.

It seemed almost like yesterday that he was off the coast of Miami, running a con on the businessman who had been rumored to abuse his poor workers. It seemed almost like yesterday that he’d bedded the businessman’s mistress, and found out exactly how kinky she could be. Through enamoring her, he’d managed to fish out the dirty secrets of the businessman.

How the days had changed.

How he had changed.

He raised his left hand up, staring at it with the background of the white ceiling. At his forearm was a tube connected, sending IV drips. Around his wrist was a white paper band, and as he turned his wrist, he saw his fake name on it. Jeremy Stills.

He flexed his fingers, watching as they obeyed him slowly. His hand was trembling slightly, and the skin on his fingers looked sunken. He blinked, and his vision blurred for a short moment before it focused back into view again.

With a long sigh, he let his hand fall again, and closed his eyes.

Complications, they said. Complications with his brain. The cancer cells had spread to other places, and could potentially bring about more cancer. They stopped the surgery to find out where the cells had gone to.

They didn’t realize one important thing: he probably would be dead even before they realized where else the cancer cells had affected.

Quite literally, he was waiting for death.

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He opened his eyes again, and suddenly, he is brought back into a flashback. He recognized the place. It was his tiny room in the Seyfrieds house. A small hand is on his forearm, and he looked to the side and saw a young and innocent boy with wide eyes.

“Jeremy.” Hayden piped up. “Sis taught me how to run away from the police today!”

He smiled, a hand ruffling Hayden’s hair as he sat up. He distantly remembered getting a fever due to his previous con that had him shivering and sleeping in a cold alley before Hayley managed to find him and get help.

“That’s great. Maybe you’ll grow up to be as skillful as her one day.” He replied with an encouraging smile, feeling better after the sleep.

“I don’t wanna be as skillful as her, I wanna be better than her!” Hayden declared, and he chuckled. Though Hayden had a bright future, there was no one better at learning how to con than Hayley. While his master had told him that he had had picked up conning pretty well, he knew Matthew Seyfried’s biggest success was within his daughter.

“Hayden,” A soft, feminine voice called from the doorway, and both of them turned to see a young Hayley walking in with a bowl of steaming soup carefully propped between her hands. “Don’t disturb Jeremy. He’s sick.”

He smiled at the girl as she walked in, placing the bowl quickly on the table beside his bed before withdrawing them quickly and pinching her earlobes. Hayden laughed at his sister’s movements, but he reached forward and took Hayley’s hands in his, feeling the residue warmth still in her palms.

She blushed quickly, and he watched as her beautiful eyes reverted quickly back to their holding hands.

“Thanks, Hays.” He said truthfully, and she nodded sheepishly.

“It’s Mum’s idea. Dad doesn’t want to show it, but he’s worried about you too.” She excused, but he knew she’d taken his compliment to her heart.

“You guys treat me too kindly. I’m just a student.” He says, still holding on to her hands, but she shook her head.

“You are Seyfried too. You’re Hayden’s brother, Matthew’s son.”

“I want to be more than that.” He replied, pulling her closer. She looks up, and her eyes capture him.

“Y-You… want to be more?” She asked, and he nodded.

“I want to help you when you’re in trouble, whether you like it or not. I want to take care of you, whether you like it or not. I want to achieve money, power and success, to protect you and I’m going to do it.” He promised, and she blushed even prettier. Hayden giggled beside them, but he ignored the young child.

“Y-You don’t have to, Jeremy.” She replied sheepishly, but he shakes his head adamantly.

“I want to. I want to be more than Seyfried, Hayley. I want to be yours, to be beside you and help you wherever I can. I want to take care of you.”

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“I want to take care of you.” He whispered the same words again as he opened his eyes back to the painful familiar surroundings. An ache started in his heart, and he was sure it wasn’t due to his condition. It had been long since he last contacted Hayley. She had visited him less and less often after he tried his best to push her away.

It was for the best, he kept on repeating to himself, but he could not forget how hurt Hayley looked. He could only wish that Hayley would do as he wished, and just get on with her life. He didn’t want her to give everything up for him. He didn’t deserve it. Hayley deserved more than sacrificing for a nearly-dying man.

With another sigh, he reached for the phone at his bedside table and pressed a number. Funny how she was on his speed dial, and he hadn’t tried to call that number for the past two weeks. The phone rang a few times, then she picked up, but she didn’t speak. It was something Matthew Seyfried had taught the both of them, and he knew that if he didn’t speak to declare his identity, both of them would stay silent on both ends of the connection.

“Hays, it’s me, Jeremy.” He said softly, hoping to keep the pain away from his voice. He hoped she could neither hear nor feel his pain.

“Are you alright? I’m so sorry I haven’t had the time to visit you. Between Hayden, the case and Rainer, I’m tied up.” She asked worriedly in reply, and he smiled despite himself. It felt good to smile again. Just the sound of her worried about him made him smile.

“Don’t overwork, Hays. You tend to do that when you’re busy with cons.” He replied, equally concerned for her as she was for him.

“Oh, I’m alright. Hayden’s around to force me to sleep if I pull all-nighters. Seriously, I think Mum gave him her motherly instincts.” She sighed through the phone, and despite everything, he stifled chuckles. Hayden definitely was the ‘mother’ between the both of them. Hayden had taken more after Rose Seyfried while Hayley was a clear parallel with his master Matthew.

“You sound worn out. Been working all night?” He continued on softly, closing his eyes to cope with the blurry vision he was beginning to be faced with. These days, it was hard to keep his vision from blurring up especially after staying awake for more than a few hours. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, though he knew well that it wasn’t going to help much with the throbbing in his head.

“Yeah. I’m closing the high-profile case. After this, I’m going to get an update on my acquiring of Hayden as my CI. We’re going to get Hayden out, and we’re going to get you a better doctor and make sure you’re cured so hold on, Jeremy.” Hayley promised, and though his heart warmed a little to know that she’d taken his advice in the end, it still made him frown just that slight bit to know that she was still out there, looking to sacrifice for him.

“You don’t have to do this for me, Hayley. When you get Hayden out, just go out and break into the con world again. Let Hayden claim a place on The Circle, and… forget me.”

There was a period of silence through the phone, which Jeremy wondered if Hayley was still there, or if he’d somehow gone deaf all of a sudden.

“There was once, Jeremy; that you said you want to take care of me. You said you wanted to be more than Seyfried, more than my father’s student. You wanted to take care of me and protect me.” Hayley spoke quietly, and his heart picked up pace to know that she still remembered.

“Yes.” He replied simply.

“I want you to keep holding on to those thoughts because right now…” He heard her draw a deep, steadying breath. Almost immediately, he sensed that there was something wrong. Hayley always appeared strong, but Jeremy knew that beneath that hard conwoman, he always found a scared girl who pushed away people to keep herself safe. The only man she’d let in was Neal, but there was no further explanation on how he had left her. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, opening his eyes quickly. Even though she wasn’t physically there, he could imagine her unsure face, her 'I’m-scared' face.

“Besides Hayden, I need someone to promise to be there for me. I… I’ve met Neal, but I can’t… trust him to be there for me anymore.”

It takes a long moment for him to understand the weight of the words she spoke of. Almost immediately, the candle fire of silent anger burst forth like an explosion, and for the first time, he felt his weakness chased away by the fiery anger.

“You’ve met… Neal?”

“It’s not like what you think. I find it hard to forgive too, but he really was in the crash. If you see him now… you’ll understand why I haven’t gone ballistics on him yet. He’s trying to make up for what he did, but… I don’t know if I should trust him anymore. And everything with Dorian… I just need someone right now.” Hayley rushed to excuse, but there was newfound anger. He always knew Hayley was a woman who, beneath it all, needed the comfort of a man. And where all the men around her should have given her such support, none of them had.

None of them had treasured her enough to promise to take care of her and protect her. Instead of protecting her, they’d all harmed her –one after another.

“I will protect you, Hayley. And even if I can’t, I’ll make sure there’s always someone there to say it to you –and mean it.” He promised.

“Wait.” Her sharpness of being a con artist definitely made sense, but it still it struck him at how fast she’d caught on. “What do you mean by you’ll make sure that there’s always someone there?”

He closed his eyes and ran through a quick plan in his mind. He could see a million and one ways it could all fail. He could see a billion ways his plan could be put to a stop with just his condition taking a turn for the worst. There was only one way to make it a success, to make Hayley truly happy for a long time to come. He was willing to risk it all for that one route of success.

For so many years, he’d loved Hayley with the whole of his heart and wanted nothing back. This time, he wanted something.

“Promise me, Hays,” He whispered quietly. “Promise me that you’ll forget me and move on.”

He could hear the rising panic in her voice, and immediately regretted breaking the promise he’d just made to her a moment ago. But if he wanted to take care of her, if he wanted to protect her, he needed to leave her.

“What are you talking about, Jeremy? Don’t do anything stupid!” He heard her raising her voice louder, and he smiled faintly to himself as he sat up. Resting the phone between his shoulder and cheek, he bit his bottom lip and pulled the tube from his forearm. It came off with a sharp pain, and the monitor beside his beeped erratically. Before he could regret anything, he swung his legs off the side of the bed and drew the pack of his clothes from the drawer beside the bed. Obviously, he wasn’t about to run out of the hospital in a shapeless, all-too-obvious hospital gown.

“Jeremy? Jeremy!” He could still hear Hayley shouting his name at the other side of the line, but he’d made up his mind, and he wasn’t about to back down.

“Promise me.” He stopped at the door, a hand on the knob. If he walked out of here, he might never be able to make it back in time before he died. If he died, would it be in a comfortable bed, or perhaps in a dirty alley?

Hayley flitted through his thought.

“I promise anything, Jeremy, but don’t do anything stupid!” She exclaimed through the phone, and he sealed his final fate.

“Thank you.” He hung up the call and pulled the door.

He would die in a dirty alley then.

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The tears were beginning to crowd my eyes as I clutched the phone in my hand, hearing the flat tone of a hung up call. A spiral of desperation, panic and fear was bubbling quickly to the surface, and my hands shook as I swiped everything off the desk, keeping my documents shabbily while I jammed them in drawers.

The door slammed open, and I looked up to see Hayden’s worried face. I must have been a mess, because the worry didn’t fade and the frown only deepened when he caught sight of me.

“What happened?” He demanded, and for a moment, I felt like the weaker one between the both of us.

I dropped the phone from my hand, still staring fearfully at Hayden.

“H-Hayden… J-Jeremy… H-He…” I stutter, unable to believe it.

His eyes widened, and the color drained away. “Jeremy’s… gone?”

I bit my bottom lip to stop from sobbing. “He… ran away.”

A little relief came back to my brother’s eyes, but there was still shock. “He what?”

Outside, the other agents were beginning to get curious as they peered into my temporary office. I wiped the tears away with a trembling hand, but it didn’t take a genius to see that I was trembling right down to my toes. Every inch of me was filled with fear and worry… fear that Jeremy would do something suicidal.

“He ran away. He said he would make sure that there would be someone to protect me. And he made me promise to forget him if he died and move on.” I regained myself slightly better now, no longer stuttering as badly, but I was still badly shaken. Jeremy… he couldn’t have…

Hayden jumped forward and latched a hand around my wrist, pulling me up stumbling from my seat.

“Then let’s go. There’s no time to waste.” He urged, and pulled me out of my temporary office. Curious eyes followed us as Hayden dragged me out the door, and piled me in my car. He didn’t wait as he started up the car and sped out of the building in record speed. I was barely aware of the fact that we were making towards the hospital until we reached.

The mechanical, non-emotional side of me had begun to set in by then as Hayden and I ran to the front desk to find a bunch of nurses and doctors looking flustered, running around. My fears grew as I watched the panicked expression in their eyes grow.

My phone rang again, and I picked it up. “Jeremy!”

“Is this Miss Annabel Francis?” A polite voice, and it suddenly all connected. I passed a look over to the nurse at the front desk, clutching on to the phone worriedly.

“I’m already here. Is Jeremy... missing?”

The nurse caught my eye quickly and hung up, running over to us. “Yes. Patient Stills pulled his IV drip just ten minutes ago. It alerted us of the emergency, but when we rushed there, he was gone and nowhere to be found. We're doing everything we can to find him.”

It finally sank in.

But instead of being weak and useless, I reminded myself forcefully of my own standing. Why was I losing my mind? Hayden was right to bring me running here. There was something I needed to do with these crazy men in my life. It was time they knew to stop playing with me.

Dorian, Neal and Jeremy. They couldn’t play with me and break my heart. They will find me at the end, an angry force who will punish them all. I’d invested my heart and soul with them, and if they dare to break it…

Fingers clutching tightly over my phone, I stomped away to a desolate corner of the hospital and hid beneath the chaos of desperate doctors and nurses. There, I picked up my phone and dialed the number my informant on the street of NYC.

“I don’t care what you do.” I ordered seriously. “Find me Jeremy Stiles and bring me to him.”