*I own only plot.*
The couple woke to a doctor. "Excuse me?"
Jasper jumped, waking his girlfriend, who wrapped her arm over him and snuggled closer. "Five more minutes." She whispered.
The doctor said "Sir, you realise the lady had to have stitches? Those stitches may have unravelled with the way you were holding her."
He let him check her over. "Is she OK?"
"Her injuries have made a rather miraculous recovery. She'll have scars, but she can have her stitches removed early. She can be home tonight. This is a medical miracle. She's a miracle. I don't understand it."
Jasper smiled. "Every day I know her, she becomes a more and more complex woman. But you know, a bit of understanding, she might reveal what she is."
"What who is?" Trudy asked.
"Miss, you have healed at a very rapid speed. You're a medical miracle."
"Oh. That's not a miracle, I've always been a quick healer."
"Cuts that deep should have taken weeks to scab over and scar. Instead, they healed overnight."
Trudy shrugged. "I never knew that wasn't normal."
Jasper mumbled "You also think that the word spelling is spelt with one L and no G."
Her sharp ears caught his words and she glared. "Hey! My spelling may not be the best, I certainly may be much less of an intellectual challenge than you, but you have no place to judge me!" She hissed, fury raging through her body.
The couple were allowed out after Trudy's unrequired stitches had been removed. Jasper hadn't heard her voice in two hours by the time they reached his home. He turned to her. "My angel, I'm really sorry for what I said. I know it isn't your fault, my love. Please talk to me."
She turned to him, her glare as cold as ice. "Forget it. I'll go to the bookstore when I've got somewhere to go, then I'll teach myself. I don't know if you know this, but when I read, it takes me twenty minutes to read one paragraph. Nobody taught me. I only know my alphabet and numbers."
He felt worse. "Look, I said you can live with me. Not just for the rest of term. For the rest of your life."
"I'll bore you. You need someone intelligent, someone who can give you as much of a fabulous conversation as you give to them."
Jasper kissed her hand lightly. "You're intelligent, you provide a fantastic conversation. You never manage to bore me. I want you around, Trudy."
She looked sad. "You're just saying it. I know you think different."
"You know nothing. You're a lovely woman and I'd love to have you."
"Fine. A week, no more. I'll get myself a home." She told him, feeling crushed. "I do appreciate your offer, but I can't stay longer than a week, I don't like to impose. You know you have plenty of admirers."
Jasper sighed. He muttered softly, turning from her "I only want you."
Her sharp ears caught his words and her eyes filled with tears. "I want you, too, but I'm not good enough and you deserve so much better." She whispered, softly. Jasper could hear her words and he felt really bad.
He heard a tiny sniffle as she got out of his car and grabbed her cases. The knowledge that she was crying stung. He wrapped his arm around her. "I'm sorry, darling. I never mean to hurt you."
"Don't bother about it. It's silly of me to keep crying like this, my lovie."
He let her unpack her things and eat, then said "Would you like to go to the bookstore?"
"That sounds lovely. And while I'm at it, maybe I might pop to an estate agency."
He felt really bad at that. The woman he loved had every intention to stay as far away from him as she could. "OK. If you like."
She didn't like, not really. She just felt that he deserved so much better. "Listen, I really appreciate what you're doing for me. You're so lovely." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. He pushed her back. "What's wrong?"
"Don't get too close. It'll be less painful that way, when you leave."
She felt a sinking feeling. "Oh. Alright. Sorry."
Jasper hated himself, wishing that he could just man up and hold her close, tell her he never wanted her to leave him. They had a special soup that Trudy had made for their supper. She'd told him that the bookstore could wait. He'd finished it soon enough and said "That was lovely, Trudy. A recipe you know well?"
"No, not really. It's just something I usually whip up." She blushed.
As Jasper lay in bed that night, he heard tiny sniffles. It was Trudy, sobbing into her pillow. Soon, the sobs turned into shaky breaths and slowed to regular sleeping breaths. He hated that she'd cried herself to sleep. He softly whispered "I love you, Trudy."