Seven Hundred Twenty-Nine Minutes

A/N So you all know the drill, I do not own these characters. They belong to The Royals and Lionsgate. I just wanted to take them out to play for a while.I had this all written and ready to post and then got a suggestion from floausten on Twitter. Thanks for the suggestion.

One hour and 36 minutes. Ninety-six minutes. Five thousand, seven hundred, and sixty seconds. That's how long it had been since Rosie had rushed through my bedroom door, face pale with unshed tears in her eyes and uttered the words that had crushed my soul. The memory of that moment keeps rolling over and over in my mind. She hadn't even knocked. I had been rereading Jasper's letters while waiting for him and didn't know why it was taking so long for him to either respond to my text or show up at my door. I had actually started to get worried. When Rosie came through the door my head jerked up thinking that Jasper had finally come to me, but the smile on my face vanished the moment I saw her face. I'm not sure what all she actually said because all I heard was Jasper, shot, and hospital. I'd grabbed my purse off the coffee table in my room and took off running down the hall. Rosie was hot on my heels as I ran down the steps of the palace and out to the waiting car. My mind was spinning the whole way to the hospital. Rosie pulled up in front of the Emergency Room and even though something in the back of my mind told me that I should wait for Rosie, I bolted out of the car and was at the front desk begging for someone to tell me where Jasper was in less than sixty seconds.

I heard someone calling out my name and within seconds I was in the comforting arms of James Hill. He told me to come with him. As we walked he told me that Jasper had been shot once in the abdomen. He said that the doctors didn't know the extent of the damage yet as they were in the process of doing x-rays now. We slowed to a stop in front of a door and as James reached for the handle I realized that he had brought me to Jasper. He slowly opened the door and I'm pretty sure that my heart stopped. My breath caught in my chest and my lungs burned. I was pretty sure I was going to throw up as well. There lying on the gurney was the love of my life. He was pale and looked weak. My normally strong as steel and tough as nails Jasper looked anything but. And yet still he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Because the heart monitor was still going and he was still alive and in that moment I felt such relief. When the doctors and nurses realized I was there they acknowledge me with the typically Her Royal Highness and Princess Eleanor. I had waved them off with a weak smile and a nod and asked if I could have a moment alone with Jasper. They all quietly walked out of the room and as he walked out the doctor said they would be back in two minutes to take him up to surgery.

As I stepped up to the head of the gurney and for the first time in over four months saw the face that had haunted my dreams in the best and worst ways every night that I was gone. What I wouldn't give to see his beautiful blue eyes right now. I leaned down and caressed his check and kissed his forehead. I leaned and softly whispered to him. "I'm here Jasper. I'm right here baby. Please come back to me. Please. I love you so much. Please don't leave me."

The door opened again and two of the nurses walked back in. They looked at me with such compassion and sympathy. I knew that I had tears streaming down my face but I didn't' even bother to try to wipe them.

I love Jasper and I am tired of hiding it. Jasper was always the one who thought we had to hide. I'm tired of hiding. I love him and I don't care who knows it or what they think about it. Not anymore. I know what it's like to live without Jasper and I don't want to do it, I can't do it.

James came in and took me by the arm and quietly led me into the hallway. We stood in the hallway and watched them prepare to move Jasper.

I realized that James was talking to me and looked up to meet his eyes. His eyes, like mine were moist, although not crying at that moment, it was obvious that he had been crying at some point. We shared a glance that said so much even though we never verbally acknowledged it. Then he told me that the hospital had consented to us sitting in the surgical gallery while they performed Jasper's surgery. I nodded and as they wheeled Jasper out of the room and down the hall James and I followed them as far as we could until James guided me down a different hallway and up a flight of stairs and then down another hallway and into a room. A room that was mostly made of glass. Glass through which I could now see Jasper again. I wasn't sure I could stomach sitting there and watching what they were going to do to him. But I also wasn't strong enough to get up and walk away. I'd left him but now I was back and I wasn't going anywhere. He was always so strong for me. Always there when I needed him. Now it was my turn to be his strength. To be there for him. I'm not leaving him again.

James said he hated to do it but that he was going to have to head back to the palace. Being the head of security meant that he really needed to be there, but that he would be back as soon as he could. He told me that Rosie would be right outside the door if I needed her. He kissed my forehead and walked out the door.

Now, here I sit, in front of this glass wall, watching the doctors and nurses try to save Jasper, the love of my life, my heart and soul. If he dies, I don't know if I can survive it. I've already lost so much, had to deal with so much, I just don't think I could survive losing Jasper too. He came into my life like a whirlwind. I certainly wasn't looking for love, and I definitely never thought that I would find it with Jasper. I hated everything about him, except that I didn't. He made me feel things I had never felt before. I made me care about things that I had never cared about before. He saw me for who I really was, not the image I put on for the world. He saw all my flaws and he loved them just as much as he loved my goodness. He accepted me for exactly who I was and for exactly who I wasn't. He loved me and protected me. Even when he didn't have to, even when I didn't want him to. I never thought it was possible, but he is my whole world. He is my everything. If he dies, I know that a part of me will too.

A hand softly lands on my shoulder and I look up, startled to find my father standing beside me. I hadn't heard the door open, or footsteps, as he entered the room. But then again i wouldn't have would I. Within seconds I was in my father's embrace for the first time in almost a year. I had been trying so hard to be like him lately that even though I hadn't realized it, he was exactly who I needed in this moment. The tears came quickly and heavily then. Rolling down my face, faster than I could ever hope to catch them. My breath quickened. My father rubbed invisible circles on my back and whispered soft words of encouragement to me. He told me to let it out and that he was there. After a minute or so I calmed down enough to finally speak. I let it all out then.

"He wrote to me while I was gone but I didn't write back. I kept them all. They were always in a stack where I could see them, but I wouldn't read them, couldn't bring myself to read them. Not until a couple of nights ago. I stayed up all night, reading and rereading these beautiful, heartbreaking, funny, apologetic, soulful, healing letters and then the next morning I started packing my bags to come home, to come back to him. Oh Dad what if I was too late. What if he doesn't wake up? What if he dies thinking that I didn't care about him. What if he thinks that I didn't love him anymore. I was scared. Scared to give him another chance. But the truth is, he didn't do anything that I shouldn't have expected him to do. I might not have liked it, and I certainly didn't agree with how he went about it. But he did exactly what Jasper does. He protected me, the only way he knew how. He just protected me from the wrong thing. I didn't need protection from a reporter, or a news story. My heart needed protecting. He did what Jasper does, and I love him, just as he loves me, faults and all. Oh Dad, what am I going to do if he doesn't wake up?"

"Listen to me Eleanor. That man loves you with everything that he is. I know it and you know it. I bet he can feel you here with him right now. He has fought so hard and waited so long to be with you. He's not going to give up now. He's too stubborn and pig headed." I cracked a smile and even laughed a little. "But no matter what happens, you are going to be alright. You have so many people who love you and support you and they will all be here, no matter what. They will be here for whatever you need, whether it's a shoulder to cry on or to listen or to get you something to eat or drink. Whatever you need, just tell them. They wanted to give you space but there all here, in the waiting room, whenever you are ready. Don't forgot that."

" I miss you Dad! So much! I hope you know how much I always loved you, even if I didn't say it."

" I love you too sweetheart. And yes, of course I knew."

" I want you to know Eleanor that I approve of Jasper. I know he didn't come into our lives with honorable intentions, but he stayed for all the right reasons, the best reasons. He stayed for love. And I know that he will continue to love and protect you with everything that he is."

"Thanks Dad. That means a lot. It means everything to me to hear you say that."

"I love you Lenny, never forget that." My father leaned over and kissed my forehead and even though I knew it was just an illusion it felt incredibly real to me.

The sound of the door opening caused me to look away and when I looked back my father was gone."

I blinked and wiped the tears from my eyes as my mom walked in and sat down beside me. She asked if I wanted to talk but I was all talked out. I shook my head no and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and I laid my head on her shoulder and we sat there in silence together. Just hoping and praying that the most important man in my life would make it through the surgery, through the day, and be able to walk back out of this hospital.

A nurse came into the surgical gallery a couple of hours later and told us that they were finishing up Jasper's surgery and that he would be taken directly to the ICU. She said that typically ICU visiting hours are limited but that due to Jasper's employment with the palace they were going to be less strict about that. He was going to be taken to a larger room in the ICU that was at the end of the hall. He would be permitted one visitor at a time that could stay as long as they wanted as long the hospital staff wasn't actively working on him. They said that Jasper's contact information had labeled me as his emergency contact but that they had also contacted his parents in Las Vegas as they were his next of kin. They said that his parents had told them that it wasn't possible for them to come right away but that they had given oral consent for surgery and told them to defer to me for any future consents needed. The nurse told me that we could wait in the ICU waiting room until they got Jasper settled in his room and then I could go back and see him. If they were only going to let him have one visitor at the time then everyone else would just have to wait. Because I knew that once I was in that room with him, they would have to pry me away from him for a great deal of force.

Mom and I headed to the ICU waiting room and were met there by Liam, Rosie, Sebastian, and Robert. They each hugged me and told me they were sorry that this had happened. We all sat around in silence until the nurse came in to tell me that I could go back. I'd picked up my purse and followed her back to Jasper's room. You would have thought that it would be quiet but the heart monitor, the oxygen tank, and the sound of Jasper's breathing echoed so loudly around the room that it made me dizzy. As the nurse and I walked in the room she told me that Jasper was in stable but critical condition. She said that if he made it through the next forty-eight hours that the doctors think they he will likely make a full recovery. She told me that there was no way to know how long it would be before he woke up, that between the shooting, the surgery, and all the medications he was on, that it could be any time in the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours. She checked Jasper's vitals and then walked out, closing the door behind her. My eyes took in all the different tubes and machines. The only other time I had been around anything like this was when my father was attacked. It was all so overwhelming. I approached Jasper's bed and gently took his right hand in mine. I softly rubbed small circles on the back of his hand. I stood there just holding his hand and staring at his face for God knows how long. I leaned over and kissed his forehead, his cheek, and then his lips. I told him over and over again that I was there, that I loved him, not to give up, not to leave me, and begged him to come back to me. But there was nothing. He didn't blink, he didn't move, he didn't make a sound. Finally when I couldn't hold my legs up any longer I sank back into the seat beside the bed. I reached for my purse and took out the story book that he and Sara Alice had made me for Christmas. I reread and it when I was done, I finally took the necklace out of the book and placed it around my neck, clasping it in the back. I softly ran my hand over and over the heart. Sara Alice had referred to it as the "Happily Ever After" necklace. I hoped and prayed that Jasper and I would get that, A "Happily Ever After" ending. I placed the story book on the bedside table and reached back into my purse and took out the stack of letters that Jasper had written me. I leaned back in the chair and read the letters out loud. I commented every so often about something he had said. Sometime later I had fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes someone had come in and laid a blanket over me. I'd been dreaming about Jasper. We were together and happy. Smiling, laughing, kissing, dancing, and loving each other. It was beautiful, but when I turned to him, he was still asleep, unmoving, silent.

I heard a knock at the door and looked up to find Liam standing there would a paper bag in his hand. He said he had brought me something to eat and drink. Said I needed to keep my strength up. Said he couldn't stay but a minute due to the visitation rules but after handing me the food he walked to the other side of the bed. It occurred to me then, as I watched my brother that he appeared to have been crying as well. He placed his hand on Jasper's shoulder and leaned in, almost like he didn't want anyone to hear him and told Jasper that he was like a brother to him and that he was one of, if not, his best friend. Told him he had slept enough and it was time for him to wake up. Told him when he was up to it that they needed to have a boys night out. He promised him that he wouldn't let me know what happened. Said it would be like "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". He looked at me and winked when he said it, so I knew he was joking. Liam wouldn't let Jasper do anything crazy, well not that crazy. And I knew he certainly wouldn't allow or encourage him to do anything that would threaten our relationship. He told Jasper that he had to go but that he would see him later. He hugged me and I told me he loved me and kissed me on my forehead and quietly left the room shutting the door behind him. I sat back down and laid my head on Jasper's arm and holding his hand.

As I came to, I felt a feathery touch playing with my hair. It took me a second to realize that it was real, and it was coming from Jasper's hand. I looked up and our eyes met and it was at that moment, seven hundred and twenty-nine minutes, twelve hours and fifteen minutes, after Rosie had burst through the doors of my room that my heart started beating again. I took my first real breath of air. I rose from my seat and stood beside the bed. I leaned over so that Jasper and I were face to face. The smiles on both of our faces said more than words ever could. I placed my hand on his cheek and our lips met in the softest kiss we had ever shared. It was full of love, full of promises, and full of hope.

We both knew it, this was our new beginning and this time, nothing and no one, not even each other, was going to get in our way. We were going to have the fairy tale, we were going to have our "Happily Ever After".

A/N I know this probably won't be exactly how the episode goes down, but I needed something happy to get me through the week. Hope you like reading it as much as I loved writing it.

For those of you who voted in the Twitter poll I apologize for it not being Liam that Len was talking to. My heart just didn't guide me in that direction.