Lost: Meredith's Marbles

The following week, Meredith found herself thinking a lot more about her encounter with Justin than she had initially thought she would. At first, it was just the flattery that had her falling in and out of daydreams, but once things with Jebidiah began to get even more heated than before, it was more the relief from tension that had her thinking about the young doctor and his goofy ears. She didn't really recall being that attracted to him, but looking back, part of her wished she'd taken the opportunity to get even with her husband.

"Yeah, right, like that'll happen in the next million years." However, she realized, it was not entirely Jebidiah's fault that she was angry. In fact, in hindsight, she realized that the problem had been her... And Meredith found that an even more troublesome fact. Jebidiah had the excuse of bad genes and bad parenting -- what'd she have... A bad influence? That was still her fault. She was old enough to know better.




It had all started over that silly case from that silly Beverley Castor. The local stylist was always hitting up Jebidiah with one suspicion or another -- Meredith assumed she was the town gossip here in Twinbrook -- and this time, it was about a pair of stolen shoes. It was Jeb's job to investigate the claims, no matter how inconsequential; but this time, Beverley was pointing the blame at Meredith's new best friend, Eva Drudge.




Naturally, Eva denied the accusations -- she didn't have a thieving bone in her body -- and she even dared Jebidiah to search her house for evidence.

Jeb ended up breaking in to get the job done more quickly, but all he ended up finding was a leaky faucet... which he ended up fixing out of guilt for breaking in when she was actually innocent.

When Eva returned home, he barely made it out unnoticed... But, she actually had. Eva ended up telling Meredith about it later -- she just was too amused to confront Jeb when he was trying to be sneaky.




"You went through her house? And her trash? You should've trusted her word, Jeb! Of course she didn't steal a pair of shoes!"

"I did what I had to do, Meredith, in order to prove she was innocent. I can't take someone's word a-hundred-percent just because they're your friend."

"Yeah, but it doesn't help that you don't like her! You can't lie and say you didn't at least enjoy getting to break into her house!"

"Mere, now you're just being ridiculous..."

And sadly... she knew she was. Meredith didn't want to admit it, but she had come to realize something over the course of several days and several arguments over burnt toast: she was losing her marbles. Jeb was even doing everything he could to try and make it up to her, but there was something lurking in the back of her mind, refusing to let her go back to being her normal self... And she knew exactly what the problem was.




"Please, not again," she thought as she tiredly pulled herself out of bed, grumbling as she saw the time on the clock: 3:30am. The unmistakable sound of a music box was playing in the upstairs hallway, and from the sound of the snores from the room down the hall, she painfully guessed that it was not one of her sons that had started it to play.




No... It certainly was not Travis nor Bradley that awoke Meredith that night, despite all of her desperate hopes. She would give anything for it to be a rowdy little boy playing pranks, rather than the non-corporeal form of her worst dream... Her worst memory. But tonight, something had to change.




Meredith burst out of the bedroom, and caught the ghost red-handed . "You!"

The spirit did nothing for a moment, unresponsive to her initial cry. Unfortunately, Meredith hadn't thought this far ahead. Um, um... what the heck was she supposed to say?

Finally, she mustered: "What are you doing here?! Why are you following me?! Why won't you leave me alone?!"




"Oh, so now you want me out of your life, Meredith?" The words were sickly to Mere's ears; Chandra's voice was no longer like anything she remembered... It sounded as a thousand voices whispering, sending chills up Meredith's spine. "You should have thought about that before you called me out that night... But you wanted to know the truth. Poor, poor Meredith... Don't you remember?"

"There's nothing to remember! You tried to kill me!"

"Then why am I the one dead, Meredith? Hmm? Why am I dead...?" With an eerie cackle, the ghost of Chandra Hawkins sent one last cold shiver across Meredith's whole body, and disappeared into thin air -- leaving nothing but a cold-hearted laugh that continued to resonate through her very soul.

---

"Mere? .... Mere. Meredith!"

"What?!"

Meredith looked up from the pool, her eyes still glazed over from the daze she had been caught in. She was thinking of Justin... Or the previous night... Or something. She quickly shook her head to try to get rid of the awful images, but it was no use -- she still felt miserable. With a sigh, she picked herself up from the chair, and tried to head towards the bathrooms. She just had to get away!

It was Travis' birthday, and they were supposed to be having fun -- but even though Travis had been fine with just the family playing at the pool for the day instead of getting a big party, it meant there was less distraction for Meredith, and more time being absorbed in the memories she just couldn't shake.




"Mere, could you please tell me what's wrong? If you don't cheer up, the kids are gonna start wondering..." Jebidiah reached out a hand to grasp hers...




...but she instantly pulled away, as if flinching away from a painful sting. "Can you just please leave me alone? It's none of your business. I'm doing my best, and you're not helping."

He shrugged and backed away, throwing up his hands in defeat. "Alright... But don't accuse me of not trying. I'm just worried."




"You have nothing to be worried about!" Meredith stomped off, leaving Jebidiah completely confused.

"Ooookay," he thought to himself. "Must be that time of the month, or something. Probably best if I just leave it be."




Jebidiah instantly gave up his attempts to cheer Meredith up, and conked out completely on one of the lounge chairs while the kids continued to play. Travis saw that something was up, though, and rushed over as fast as he could swim.

"Mommy, it's okay, you don't have to be upset," he said, reaching up to give her a hug.

"Oh, sweetie, it's not your fault, okay? I'm just having a bad day... But it'll be much better once I see my little man grow up! Why don't we get that cake set up."




The family gathered 'round as Travis got ready to blow out the candles, taking only a moment to make his wish before giving a heaving blow: "I just want my mom to be happy."




Well, kid-Travis then became teen-Travis, which at least -- for that moment -- put a smile on everyone's face... Except Moody Meredith.

The family spent a few more hours swimming, but after getting super-soaked by one of Travis' new and improved splashes, Jebidiah thought he heard a ringing noise. Once he climbed out of the pool, he answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Jebidiah Kane? Hello, this is Harry Halbright, Mayor of Twinbrook. I'd like to be the first to congratulate you on receiving the Key to the City, from our wonderfully esteemed town! We're just getting ready to host a celebration at City Hall in your honor... Better get here quick!"

After he hung up the phone, Jeb groaned, and quickly got the family dried off and saddled up into the car. "Couldn't give more advanced notice than that, huh?" he grumbled, but he wasn't the only one that seemed rather annoyed by the news.



As he approached the steps, he realized... It was quite the celebration. Confetti? Balloons? Seriously? Everyone was chanting Jeb's name... And Jeb hadn't even known he was up for nomination on the award. Why him? At the same moment, Meredith was wondering the same exact question.

However, the kids weren't interested for long, and had completely disappeared after the Mayor still hadn't shown up after quite some time.



Finally, after what seemed like eons, Mayor Halbright descended the steps and quickly took Jeb's hand into a firm handshake. "Jebidiah Kane! It is such an honor to finally meet you! We, the citizens of Twinbrook, would like to thank you for your dedicated effort trying to free our town from the grip of crime, and strike fear into the hearts of wrong-doers everywhere! Justice finally has a name and a face, and... It's yours!"

Jebidiah was amused to say the least, but accepted the award nonetheless -- it's not like anyone had to know that he was actually a former criminal himself.




But as he turned to look at Meredith, to catch her eye as he recieved the most prestigious thing the town could award, she quickly turned her head away, her lower lip clearly being bitten to fight back the tears...

... and as Jebidiah was handed the key, he watched as his wife quickly ran, disappearing down the sidewalk, away from the crowd, and away from him.

---

It was like a world of separation had suddenly come between them. Jebidiah could not understand what was wrong with his wife, and Meredith was too afraid to try and understand, herself. The distance between them was so little, especially compared to that day when the law had taken Jeb away from her, but she had never felt further from him than this.

Once he returned home he went straight to the living room, avoiding Meredith for the moment, who he heard clunking around in the nursery.




She did her best to try and prepare herself before walking into the living room -- she knew what was coming... But as much as she didn't want to face it, she had no choice.

"I'm sorry, Jeb," she sighed as she rubbed her neck, still trying not to meet his gaze, even though he was turned the other way. "I'm really, really sorry."




"Meredith," he said, slamming the book down on the coffee table, and standing up from the chair to turn and approach her. "What has gotten into you? First you flip out over me doing an authorized search of your friend's house, then you're moping around at our son's party, and now you embarrass me in front of the whole town by running away from my award ceremony in tears! What the Plumbbob is wrong with you?!"

"I.. I-I-I don't know, Jeb," Meredith sniffled, still avoiding any glance in his direction. "I'm just... just so afraid..."



"Afraid of what, Meredith?" Jebidiah pressed his hands together after lightly turning her face towards his. "Please, Meredith, tell me what's going on. I know my dumb slip-ups like hitting on Tana and Eva have been bothering you, but this... This is different. You're so distant, and I... I just want to know what I can do to fix this."

But, instead of getting the answer he wanted, Jebidiah had to watch as Meredith bowed her head and turned away, her loner instinct suddenly overcoming her. She walked out the door to the deck and began to paint, as if she'd never even been asked a thing.




"Mom still being ridiculous?" Travis asked a few hours later, pulling his dad away from the computer in order to chat. "Ya know, she always listens to me, I'm her perfect little boy... I can go talk to her for you, if you want."

"Would you?" Jebidiah said, letting loose a small sigh of relief. "I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate that. She doesn't hear a word I say, and I just--"

"Say no more!" Travis laughed, sticking his thumbs towards his chest. "Travis is here to save the day."




"Your father sent you, didn't he?" Meredith grumbled, closing her eyes to listen to her son's footsteps down the back porch.

"Oooh, so close," he laughed. "No, I come of my own free will, just influenced by the mopey face Dad had while was... you know... going over wedding pictures on the computer..."




"You are not going to win me over with that sap. I don't think Dad even has any wedding photos on his computer, let alone would he actually be looking at them."

"Well, he was on your computer, not his," Travis said with a shrug. "And yes, it is gonna win you over, because Bradley and I don't want to see you guys fight anymore, and you love us all too much to keep being mad over stupid stuff that doesn't matter. You don't want to see us upset, just as much as we don't want you upset... Just go talk to him, at least... Please? For me?"




"Alright, I'll come and talk," Meredith said as she plopped herself onto the couch next to Jeb, grabbing the remote to switch off the TV. "But only because you brought our kids into this."

"Mere, that isn't it at all," he responded with a sigh. "C'mere..."




They stood up, and he took her hands into his.

"Look. I'm worried about you, and that's why I'm probing for answers. But I really shouldn't be. I know you'll tell me when you're ready to tell me... And until then, just know that I'm here for you, whenever you need me.'

"I know I'm not perfect," he continued. "But I'm trying. I mean, look, I got an award for being a 'good boy' today... and while I thought it'd make you proud, I obviously need to keep working harder to try to win you over. And I will keep trying. Because... Mere, I love you. More than anything in the world. I would do anything -- anything -- for you."




As Meredith later rested with her daughter in her lap, she found herself doing something she didn't quite expect, and hadn't done in far too long...

She smiled.

"I guess, there never really was anything wrong between us. And, you can't fix what isn't broken, Amelia... You just can't fix what isn't broke."