Here it is February. With Valentine's Day approaching, poor Bella doesn't have anything like romance in her life. Nothing but a flu epidemic which is all over the news. The worst since 1918.
Warning – character death.
Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I just like playing with the characters, especially Jasper.
PROTECT MY HEART
Chapter 4 – Not At Home
Alice clapped her hands. "We'll go by your house to pick up a few things after school then you can come stay with us."
Bella was too tired to fight all of that energy. She decided to go along.
That day after school, Bella's first trip was to the hospital. Jasper drove this time, only the two of them in the car. The ride over was quiet but the space felt comfortable.
When she entered the tiny Forks Community Hospital, the hallways were lined with even more gurneys than the day before. Patients were lying under sheets with I.V. drips in their arms, nurses and aides walking between them. Some reached out to Bella as she passed, asking for a doctor.
When she finally found Charlie, he wasn't a private room. There were three other people in a small room that in Bella's experience had been private when she had been a patient.
The beds were so tightly packed that the visitor chairs were set up back to back in between the beds.
When she entered the room, she saw a young nurse bending over Charlie. She didn't recognize this girl, who didn't look much older than she did. Dr. Cullen had mentioned the hospital had recently hired several women just of nursing school. Ordinarily they would have still been in training but the health crisis had meant putting them on the floor.
"There's not much space," said the nurse, straightening up when she saw Bella. "We want to treat everyone we can."
"I understand," said Bella, taking Charlie's hand in hers. "Hi, Dad."
Charlie struggled to focus but smiled as he recognized her. "Hey," he said. That seemed to exhaust him and he lay back on the pillow, closing his eyes.
"It's a good thing that new doctor came when he did," the young nurse commented. "He was able to get us the supplies we needed. We wouldn't have been able to treat as many patients without him."
"He does seem very caring," Bella said. She coughed and quickly covered her mouth, hoping no one had noticed. One of the other visitors had noticed. She offered Bella a face mask, which she accepted. After sitting for a few more minutes, Bella left. She didn't want one of the Cullen kids waiting for her and truth to be told, she was feeling really tired.
Jasper drove her by her house to pack a few things. When they got there, she invited him inside. Though he had been in the day before to help with Charlie, it felt different with just the two of them.
She showed him to the living room. "Um, have a seat," she said, gesturing to Charlie's chair. "I'll just be a few minutes."
He nodded, looking around the room before moving to the overstuffed chair.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked.
"I'm OK," he said softly.
Jasper seemed at ease in the house. It felt surprisingly natural to have him in it.
"Is this your dad's chair?" he asked as he sat down.
"Yeah," she replied. "Reserved seating for the Mariner's game."
He laughed. "My brother Emmett gets into all the sport. Me, I like watching baseball."
"So, do you follow the Mariners?" she asked, trying to remember where he had transferred from. Wasn't it Alaska? Did they play baseball up there?
"I follow Houston sports," he said. "My people came from there."
"Well, here's the news while I pack," she said, flicking on the TV with the remote. "Shouldn't take but a few minutes."
"Take your time," he said softly.
She went upstairs and stuffed a few essentials in a duffle bag, wishing she had real pajamas instead of just her old sweats and t-shirts. She had a feeling Alice would want to visit her bedroom at the Cullens. She just hoped that wouldn't mean doing one another's nails. She had never been good at that.
Once she was packed, Jasper drove them to the Cullen house, the mystery house which had been the source of much speculation at school.
There had been work done on it over the summer and into the fall before the Cullens had moved in. A few of the local guys had been hired to do some of the carpentry work and wiring. They had talked about knocking out both interior and exterior walls on the first floor and installing floor-to-ceiling windows along the back wall. They all said the pay had been better than they received for other jobs.
As Jasper drove up to the house, Bella saw the exterior of the farmhouse had been preserved. It was still a three-story house with a wrap-around porch. Once they stepped inside, she saw the impact of the changes. The interior looked very modern, with an open floor plan on the first floor, and windows that covered the entire back wall. Even though it was dreary outside, the first floor was bathed in a soft, natural light.
Esme showed her to a room on the second floor. It looked like it had been a man's bedroom, as the color scheme was a neutral cream that showed off the antique furniture. The heavy, dark-stained wood furniture covered with white linens gave a surprisingly homey feel to the room.
"I hope you'll be comfortable here," Esme said.
"It's great," Bella said, setting her bag down on a marble-topped wash stand.
"I'll leave you to get settled in," Esme said. "Dinner will be at 7:00."
That gave her about a half hour. She washed her face and put her things in the dresser. Then she sat on the bed, not really sure how to pass the time. She had left her backpack with her homework in the car.
Finally she went downstairs to offer to help with dinner.
"There you are," Esme said as Bella entered the kitchen. Esme was handing a serving bowl of pasta to Alice.
"Can I help with anything?" Bella asked.
Esme shook her head. "I'm just putting the food on the table. You can take the garlic bread in, if you would like."
Esme had fixed chicken and pasta for dinner. "I hope you're hungry," she said as they sat down. Bella was seated next to Emmett and across from Jasper and Alice.
Bella helped herself to salad, pasta, and garlic bread, taking a pass on the chicken. It felt like the entire family was watching her eat.
"How is it, Bella Bee?" Emmett asked.
She felt relaxed around Emmet. She wished she could say the same for Alice and Jasper.
"Are they together?" she whispered to him, motioning to Jasper and Alice whose heads were close together. They seemed to be sharing a quiet moment.
Emmett laughed. "No. They've been friends forever. She's with my brother Edward, who's been helping my Dad at the hospital."
Jasper looked up from where he was slicing his chicken breast. Eating chicken with a knife and fork. Bella was glad she was vegetarian now and was just eating the salad and pasta. She remembered picking up her pieces of chicken and not using silverware when she ate it in the past. She'd have probably committed a major faux pas eating chicken in front of the Cullens.
After dinner, the family went to the living room and sat by the fireplace. When Jasper excused himself to upstairs to get a book, Bella edged closer to Emmett.
"He's just shy, that's all," Emmett assured her.
"I'm sure all the girls get told that," she said. "Am I that obvious?"
"Seriously, there are no girls," Emmett replied. "He looks and acts like a player, but he's not. And the way you two try not to look at each other is, well, amazing."
"He's Romeo," Bella said, immediately regretting it.
"He hopes not," Emmett said. "Be easy on him. He has his secrets. As do we all."
"Yeah, that's for sure," Bella said.
Jasper came back downstairs carrying an album.
"Can I bore you with some research I've been doing on my family during the Civil War?" he asked.
Not possible for you to bore me, Bella thought. "Sure," she said aloud.
He settled in and put the album in front of them. "It's about a man who disappeared near Galveston in 1863. He would have been my great uncle, many times removed."
xxxxxx
New story!
Hope you're enjoying both this story and your February. I'll post final chapter on Valentine's Day. Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. Reviews are like those sayings inside of Dove chocolate wrappers.