She was the only human he ever didn't want to kill. He was the only man who'd ever seen past her disease. So what if she's going to die and he's a vampire?
This is my first Twilight fanfiction so please be nice! I made Kyleigh up, obviously I own nothing else. Some of my medical info may be inaccurate, but I tried my best. So enjoy!
Jasper Hale had issues. Jasper Hale had a lot of issues. But Jasper Hale had the most issues with ER nurses. He and his brother Emmet had been sitting off to the side of the emergency room for the last twenty minutes, waiting for Carlisle to come talk to them. Jasper understood that they were busy people with stressful jobs, but honestly? It wasn't even that crowded today and they were still blatantly ignoring some patients.
"That one's hot," Emmet muttered quietly to him, subtly gesturing across the room to a busty brunette leaning back in her chair.
"She has a boyfriend," Jasper replied just as quietly.
"What? Where?" Emmet not so subtly looked around.
"Big guy standing at the counter with the black eye."
"Damn…Can you read minds now, too?" Emmet seemed impressed.
Jasper just shook his head and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "What do you think is taking him so long?"
"He's probably saving someone or something. I mean, that's what doctors typically do. Especially in hospitals."
A young nurse paused in front of them and, as usual, took a few seconds to take in their beauty before getting a grip on herself, "Boys, your father said to give him another 5 minutes or so, okay?" Then without waiting for a response, moved on.
"Well, that was definitive." Emmet commented sarcastically, "This whole thing was a lot easier when Ali-" He broke off abruptly at Jasper's murderous expression, "Just saying…" He mumbled.
Jasper shook his head again, and cradled his head in his hands. Of course. Everything was easier when Alice was around. But she wasn't, not anymore, and he needed people to stop bringing it up. He and Emmet sat in silence for a few minutes. Jasper was about to suggest that they leave and come back later when he felt her come into the room. His head snapped up and his eyes locked on her.
Emmet felt him tense next to him, "What's up, man?" He followed Jasper's line of vision, his eyes sweeping the room, "What are you looking at?"
Jasper could smell her, but not in the normal way he smelled a human. She smelled sweet, but there was something different about the sweetness, something that drew him to her like a magnet. Yet…there was no overwhelming urge to kill her. No. There was a desire, but it wasn't for blood. He couldn't figure out what he was feeling, but he knew exactly how she felt as she staggered to the nurses' station.
"Please," He heard her gasp, "Please, I need to talk to Carlisle."
Emmet, too, had heard her, "Join the club, sweetheart."
"Dr. Cullen is busy and will see you when he's available." The nurse responded, not even looking up.
Jasper watched as the girl groaned and turned away, stumbling slightly as she moved to the other side of the room. A triage nurse approached her, asking her questions too quickly and quietly for Jasper to hear. Whatever the girl had said didn't seem to affect the nurse, who turned away from her to move onto her next victim. Oops, patient. Jasper thought to himself and smirked.
"What the hell are you looking at?" Emmet asked again, still searching the room.
"Over there." Jasper murmured, nodding slightly with his chin.
Emmet eyed the girl, "Really? Her?"
"What do you mean 'really?'"
"I mean out of all the other girls in this room, you pick the one who looks like she got hit by a truck."
"Correction: She," Jasper gestured towards a girl with a cast on her arm, covered in bruises, clutching a bloody cloth to her lip, "Looks like she got hit by a truck. She," He looked over at the girl again, "Looks…like she's going to pass out." Jasper was at his feet and across the room in an instant, catching the girl before she hit the floor.
Emmet groaned and rushed after him, "Way to seem like a normal person." He hissed to Jasper.
"No one has ever thought of us as 'normal.'" Jasper muttered back, cradling her in his lap. He vaguely heard the scuffling of nurses rushing around and a page going out for Carlisle. The young woman from before was kneeling down across from him and Jasper stiffened up at the close proximity to a human…then remembered that he was holding a human already so it shouldn't bother him. But it did.
Thankfully, Carlisle chose that moment to skid into the room and was at Jasper's side instantly, "Kyleigh? Kyleigh, can you hear me?" Then he looked at Jasper, "What happened?"
And so Jasper explained the staggering and the swaying and the passing out, shooting a few glares at the triage nurse standing by.
"Let's get her up," Carlisle rose. Jasper glanced up at him then got to his feet, bringing Kyleigh with him. A few nurses tittered nearby, but Jasper and Carlisle ignored them. "This way." Carlisle said brusquely. Emmet glanced at Jasper, who shrugged and they rushed to follow Carlisle down the hall and into an empty room. "Put her down, I'm going to get Trudy."
Who Trudy was, they did not know for Carlisle had already disappeared out the door.
"Well." Emmet sighed, sitting down on the chair near the bed, "Thanks a lot, Jasper."
Jasper merely glared at him while he arranged the girl, Kyleigh, he corrected himself in his head, on the bed.
Then Carlisle was back with Trudy, a rather plump woman with dark skin, "Apparently she just collapsed." Carlisle was explaining.
Trudy crossed quickly to the bed and began puttering around Kyleigh's unconscious form. Carlisle looked over at Jasper and Emmet, "You were looking for me?"
"It was about Esme's birthday, but…" Emmet trailed off.
"It can wait." Jasper finished, stepping away from the bed so Trudy could work.
Carlisle nodded then turned his attention back to Kyleigh, "We need to get her hooked up to an IV right now. She's dehydrated. She has a fever, but I don't want to give her anything until she wakes up and I can find out what she's taken already. Also, she's going to need a blood," He paused meaningfully, "test." Jasper and Emmet stood up quickly, "Why don't you boys wait outside, she deserves some privacy."
Emmet and Jasper went to the end of the hall to wait, "Dude, we should just leave." Emmet said, glancing around, "We're obviously gonna have to wing this whole birthday thing."
"I want to stay."
"What?" Emmet stared at him incredulously, "Are you kidding me? You hate hospitals!"
"Is there anyone who actually likes a hospital?" Jasper raised his eyebrows, "Besides doctors, I mean."
"No, I mean, you don't like being around people that much." He dropped his voice, "There's a lot of blood around here."
"No shit." Jasper snorted, "I want to stay." He repeated firmly.
"I know you think she's pretty, but…"
"It's not about that!" Jasper snapped, "I think I could be…useful."
"To a human." Emmet clarified.
Jasper rolled his eyes, "Carlisle." He called.
Carlisle poked his head around the corner, "Yes?"
"Is it okay to come back now?" Jasper asked casually.
Carlisle watched him carefully then nodded and Jasper crossed back to the room and ducked inside. Emmet groaned and, like a good brother, followed him. Again.
Kyleigh was hooked up to an IV and a bunch of obnoxious, beeping machines. Her long eyelashes fluttered lightly every time she breathed. Trudy had gone and Carlisle was standing by Kyleigh's side, watching her closely. "Carlisle." Emmet said finally, "What's wrong with her?"
Carlisle sighed heavily then looked at his two "sons." "Kyleigh is HIV positive. She's been very sick for years now and I'm afraid that time is running out…" He sighed again, turning back to the girl.
"So…" Emmet began slowly, "This girl has AIDs?"
"HIV and AIDs aren't the same thing," Jasper replied, "Right?" He looked to Carlisle.
Carlisle nodded, "Exactly."
"But AIDs isn't too far around the corner." Came a new voice causing the three men to jump. Kyleigh had apparently woken up and was eyeing Jasper and Emmet warily.
Carlisle immediately was at her side, "Kyleigh, what happened?"
"I could ask you the same thing." She croaked out, her voice painfully raw, "Last thing I remember is having that bitch tell me to sit down."
Carlisle ignored Kyleigh's insult towards the triage nurse and instead said, "You passed out and Jasper caught you."
"Oh, my God." Kyleigh blushed, "Are you serious? I fainted?"
"Yup." Emmet nodded.
"In front of everyone?"
"Yup." Emmet said again.
"Today just keeps getting better." She shook her head in embarrassment.
"Tell me about today." Carlisle seamlessly steered her back on topic.
"I woke up and I felt sick…not that that's a surprise." For just a second, Jasper swore he saw tears in her eyes, but in the next instant they were gone, "And I kind of, sort of ran out of my pills so…"
"Kind of, sort of ran out when?"
"Um." She fidgeted with her blanket, "Last week?"
Carlisle shut his eyes in frustration, "And you didn't think to call me then?"
"I don't-" She began, but then a coughing fit overtook her frail body. Carlisle stroked her back lightly, clearly unfazed.
Emmet sidled over to Jasper, "Can we leave now?" He asked, his lips barely moving.
Jasper responded with the slightest shake of his head then cautiously went over and sat next to Kyleigh's bed. Carlisle eyed him over her back carefully and they seemed to have a silent conversation, resulting in Carlisle standing up and going to look for Trudy. Jasper reached his hands out and cupped them over the angel bones on her back. Within a minute, Kyleigh's coughs subsided and she slumped back against the pillows again. "Thank you." She murmured.
"For?" Jasper raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know…for making me feel better?" She shrugged, wincing as she swallowed, "I felt like I was gonna die until you touched my back and now I feel…sick."
"I suppose that's an improvement." Jasper drawled wryly.
"In the big scheme of things, yeah it is." She shut her eyes for a minute then they flew open again, "Wait a second, who the hell are you?"
Emmet grinned, "Took you awhile to realize we're strangers."
"So kill me, I was focusing on other things." She rolled her eyes.
"I'm Jasper, he's Emmet." Jasper held out his hand to her, "We're Carlisle's sons."
She stared at it, seemingly frozen.
"Maybe where she's from they don't shake hands." Emmet mock-whispered.
Jasper glared at him, but Kyleigh giggled, "It's not that, I'm just not used to…oh whatever." She shook his hand, "I'm Kyleigh, obviously."
Carlisle and Trudy entered the room again, Trudy bearing a tray of food, a pitcher of water and a packet of pills. Carlisle merely carried a piece of paper. "Girl, you are so dehydrated." Trudy made a tsking noise, eyeing the empty IV bag, "No wonder you passed out." She hooked up a new bag then poured a huge glass of water.
"When was the last time you ate, Kyleigh?" Carlisle asked, examining Kyleigh's bony wrists, "And, for that matter, when was the last time you slept?"
"I dunno." Kyleigh mumbled around the glass then she was currently chugging from.
"You have to do better than that." Trudy glared.
"My throats been too sore to eat," Kyleigh explained, "And then the pain started waking me up so I've taken up knitting."
"Really? Have you moved onto patterns yet? Because-"
"Trudy." Carlisle cut her off, "If it hurt so much, again, why didn't you call me."
Kyleigh stared down at her hands and shrugged, "I didn't want to bother you."
Trudy rolled her eyes, "If you need me, page me. Don't worry about bothering me." Then she swiftly left.
Carlisle sank down onto the seat on the other side of the bed, across from Jasper, "Kyleigh, you never bother me. Ever. And you know that."
Kyleigh began fidgeting with the food on her tray, "I figured it didn't matter anymore."
"Why wouldn't it?" Carlisle asked gently.
"Cause I'm dying, Carlisle." Kyleigh looked him in the eye, her expression hard, "It's over."
Emmet shifted uncomfortably and tried to send brainwaves to Jasper to convince him to leave, but Jasper wasn't moving either, his eyes on Kyleigh.
"It's not. I'll give you a new prescription and we'll try again, it'll all be okay." Carlisle pulled out a pen and began writing. Kyleigh stared at him for a moment then reached over and wrenched the pen out of his hand, hurling it across the room. It went deadly quiet.
"No." Kyleigh whispered, "No more drugs, no more shots, no more anything. I'm done."'
"Kyleigh, you're not dying yet." Carlisle reasoned.
"Please, Carlisle," Kyleigh begged, "Enough. Please." She said again.
"Why?" Jasper asked suddenly. The other three stared at him.
"Jasper." Carlisle said warningly.
"No really, why?" Jasper kept his eyes on Kyleigh, "Why stop the treatment?"
"It's not something I've determined lightly," She replied icily.
"Jasper." Carlisle repeated sharply.
"You're not dead till you're dead." Jasper continued.
Emmet snorted, "That was deep, man."
Jasper ignored him, "Why not keep trying until the end?"
"Because, because, why do you even care?" Kyleigh turned full around to face him.
Jasper took a deep breath then sighed, "I don't."
"You…don't?" Kyleigh repeated.
"Nope." Jasper shook his head, "I don't."
Kyleigh turned to Carlisle, "Your son is psycho."
"Jasper, maybe you should leave." Carlisle suggested quietly.
"No." Kyleigh reached out and grabbed Jasper's arm, "I want to hear what his reasoning is. Why should I continue treatment at this point?" Before Jasper could open his mouth, she continued, "Do you know how long I've been battling this? 7 years. 7 fucking years. I was a child when this happened to me. Do you know what it's like to be abandoned by your family because you're diseased? I don't have friends because no parent wanted their kids to be near me. Do you know what it's like to go to a support meeting and never know who will be there and who will be dead? Do you?" Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"I've seen a lot of death, ma'am." Jasper leaned towards her, "I've felt a lot of loss."
"You're equating loss to living with a disease that up until the 1990s most people didn't even admit existed?" she threw her head back and laughed, "There are people who still believe that only gays and sinners get AIDs. It didn't mattered how many times I said that it was an accident that I was only 12, it never matter-" Kyleigh broke off, her breath coming in gasps. Jasper reached over and stroked her cheek with a long, cool finger and slowly her breathing returned to normal. She fell back against the pillow again.
"Jasper, I think it's time you and Emmet left." Carlisle and Emmet were both glaring at Jasper now.
Jasper nodded curtly and stood up. "Thank the Lord." Emmet muttered. Jasper leaned down to Kyleigh's ear and whispered so only she could hear, "Don't give up yet, there's another way of life, believe me." Kyleigh jerked her head up, but he was already gone, trailing after Emmet.
"What did he say?" Carlisle asked.
"Just apologizing." Kyleigh answered, leaning against the pillows again.
"Okay, let's get some food in you then." Carlisle perked up, unwrapping the food in front of her.
Thoughts? Opinions? I promise it will actually get interesting after all of the establishing mumbo jumbo. Please send me feedback so I know what you like or dislike. =0)