A/N: This is a good Monday update. Especially this particular Monday.
So. Be careful with this one. Tread lightly. Let me know if you need me to answer questions.
A month passed. Then two more weeks. Jasper thought about Edward all the time. He went to the park when he could. School was back in session, so he didn't have much time. He tried to keep busy.
Bella had warned him. Abuse victims lived a different reality. It may have been that Edward couldn't make himself believe letting Jasper help him would keep him safe. It may have been that he believed, with everything in him, that he was the one responsible for the things his husband did to him. It could have been that he was too ashamed to face the idea anyone knew he—a grown man—was being abused. More likely, it was a combination of all of that and more.
"He knows you're here," Bella said, trying to comfort him. "That's more than a lot of people have."
Life went on. Jasper ached and worried.
One night in September, Jasper dragged himself up his front walk. Two more semesters. Two semesters, and he would be out of school. He would be qualified for a permanent position at his actual job, and he could drop working at the cafe. He reminded himself of that as he glanced at the time. One in the morning. And he had to be up at five-thirty to get ready for his other job.
When he switched on the light in his small living room, he started and jumped back with a yelp. There was someone sitting on his couch. Someone who didn't move, didn't even flinch with Jasper's startled scream.
"Edward?"
Edward still didn't move. Jasper stepped forward, uncertain. Then he ran to his friend as shock wore off, and he realized exactly what he was looking at. Edward was a mess. His shirt was torn. His hair was disheveled in some places, and matted to his head with blood in others.
Jasper let out another cry as he sat down beside Edward. His face was battered; his eyes unfocused. "Edward," Jasper whispered, cupping his cheek carefully. "Shit. I'm calling an ambulance."
Edward blinked several times. His eyes focused the slightest bit. "He broke my guitar," he said in a monotone.
"Okay." Jasper reached for his phone, surreptitiously checking Edward for other injuries with his free hand. "Keep talking, okay? Just stay with me." There was so much blood staining Edward's shirt, Jasper wasn't sure how he was upright. He was afraid to touch him. "Help is coming."
"He gave me that guitar," Edward said, as though he hadn't heard Jasper. "He gave me that guitar, because he understood me like no one else in my life." His voice wavered and broke. "I loved that guitar, and he beat me with it. He broke it on my head."
On the phone now with 9-1-1, Jasper couldn't say much, but then again, he doubted Edward could hear him. He was so pale. His skin—what little of it wasn't broken, bruised, or covered in blood—was a sickly shade. "I think he's going to collapse," Jasper told the 9-1-1 operator.
Right as he said the words, Edward's eyes rolled back into his head. He slumped. Jasper dropped the phone and caught him before he could topple off the couch. "Edward. Hey. Edward. Come on, man. Stay with me. Open your eyes." He could tell Edward wasn't quite unconscious. His body twitched, and his head moved as he fought to remain awake. "I'm right here. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay; you just have to open your eyes." Jasper's voice broke with panic and emotion as he rocked his unresponsive friend. "Come on. Please, open yours eyes. Please."
~0~
There was, Jasper thought, such a thing as too real. He hated how aware he was of everything. He was sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair, slumped over, with his elbows on his knees and his hands over his eyes so he wouldn't have to see what was happening around him. He was too aware of sounds—the bustling of the people and staff around him, the indistinct chatter, the sound of footfalls on linoleum. He could even hear his heartbeat in between his ears—the sound thick and heavy. His legs itched. His pants were stiff with blood from where Edward's head had been cradled on his lap. His eyes ached, because he'd been crying. His head ached. His stomach ached. It was sensory overload, and part of Jasper wished he could close his eyes and just sleep.
He knew he couldn't. Not when he had no idea how Edward was. He was alive—that much Jasper knew. He was in surgery.
Jasper couldn't quite get his head around that idea. That Alec—the man who had presumably sworn to love and protect Edward for the rest of their lives—had hurt him so badly he required surgery to repair the damage. And how had Edward found the strength to walk from his house to Jasper's in the middle of the night when he was injured?
Mostly, Jasper knew he couldn't sleep until he knew Edward was going to be okay. Whatever that meant.
It was almost noon. He'd been in this hospital for almost eleven hours.
"Hey."
Jasper straightened up as Bella—in full uniform—sat beside him. "How are you holding up?" she asked, with a hand on his back.
He shook his head impatiently. "I don't want to talk about me. What can you tell me about Edward?"
"Not much," she said, her voice soft. "He's scared right now, and his moods are unpredictable."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I need your help if we're going to help him." Bella's sympathetic expression tightened into a more furious one. "My goal here is to put his bastard husband behind bars, but I need his cooperation to do that."
"Christ, did you see him? He's a mess, Bella. He's—"
"I know." She looked Jasper in the eyes, holding his gaze. "But right now, he's being quiet about how he got injured. He hasn't given the doctors a reason for his injuries, and he hasn't implicated his husband. He's already put off talking to me, though he didn't outright say no to that either. But he did say he wants to see you."
Jasper let out a breath. "Okay. Okay, that's great. Let's go."
"He's with the doctor right now, but I need to talk to you anyway. Listen, okay? This is important. Getting his cooperation right now is critical. It's better to try to talk to him while he's alone. If Alec gets here, he's going to start controlling the narrative. We need to get Edward to talk now, and it might not be easy."
Jasper settled down as much as he could. He took several breaths and nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
She studied him. "I need you to be prepared. Victims…" She sighed. "Look, even now, there's every chance that he'll let his husband back in. That he'll be the one to protect him."
Jasper's stomach churned with revulsion. He clenched his jaw, and looked away from Bella.
"I know it's hard, but it's not uncommon," Bella said. "It's important for you to be calm with him and patient. You need to push him a little—it's only a matter of time before his husband figures out where he is—but without lashing out. Believe me, Jasper. I know that dealing with victims of abuse is frustrating, but you're the best chance he has right now."
Swallowing hard, Jasper nodded.
~0~
Jasper had no idea what to expect when he finally set foot in Edward's room. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, and he felt lightheaded with sickness. Still, his steps were remarkably steady as he crossed the room.
Edward was lying on the bed, staring out the window. He tensed slightly when he heard Jasper come in the room, but otherwise, he didn't move. Bella and the nurses said he was quiet and spaced out. He was conscious, but he wasn't processing information very well.
Jasper called his name quietly as he sat in the chair by his bedside. Edward didn't respond. Tentatively, Jasper reached out and took his hand, careful of the I.V. sticking out of it. "Hey."
Edward's hand twitched, but he didn't pull away. He blinked and winced. The gash above his eye had one or two stitches—one of the more minor head injuries he'd received. Part of his head had been shaved to stitch up the much more gruesome wound.
After a moment, though, he swallowed and licked his split lip. "You're not at work." It wasn't a question, and his voice was barely there. He didn't look at Jasper.
"I'm not going to leave you right now," Jasper said.
To his surprise, Edward's eyes got glassy with tears. He took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just shown up at your place. I'm such a pain in the ass. I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble."
Jasper's heart twisted and broke with those words. His breath left him in a gust. "Edward," he whispered.
Not quite sure what he was doing, but needing to do it anyway, he reached out and ran his fingers along Edward's forehead. The man refused to look at him. "You're no trouble, Edward," he said, voice soft but strong with conviction. "You haven't done anything wrong."
Edward didn't look at him. He didn't give any indication that he'd heard what Jasper said.
Jasper had to work hard to keep his voice soft and steady. "Look where we are. Are you going to tell me there's anything you could have done to deserve this? I'll bet you didn't do anything, but even if you did, do you think you deserve to be treated this way?"
Edward didn't answer and didn't look at him. Jasper had to count to ten before he tried again. "Okay. Let me ask you this. What would it take for you to do to me what Alec did to you?"
"You're good," Edward whispered.
"And you're not?" Jasper closed his eyes and willed himself to keep calm. He was going to lose his shit, but he couldn't do it yet. Not in front of Edward. "What did you do, then? What did you do to deserve to be hurt so badly?
The quiet stretched on so long, Jasper wanted to scream. Or be sick. Frankly, he wouldn't have been surprised at either outcome.
Edward laughed, and Jasper jumped at the sound. It was a soft laugh, but it lingered. It lingered until Edward gasped, cutting off a sob. He'd closed his eyes, but Jasper could see the tear that trailed down his cheek.
"I don't know," he said finally. "I don't even know what I did this time." He sniffled. "He came home angry, and I couldn't do anything right."
More silence as Jasper tried to digest that. Not that there was ever going to be an excuse big enough to justify this, but nothing? To know that his friend, this precious, beautiful man, was broken and battered for literally no reason at all?
Jasper changed his mind. It was no contest. As soon as he walked out of this room, he was going to be violently ill.
Then he was going to kill Alec Scarpinato with his bare hands.
"It doesn't matter," Edward said.
"What doesn't?"
"He's all I have. You think I can afford to pay for any of this without his insurance? And where would I go? I have nothing. No clothes. No car. Nothing that isn't his."
"You have me." Jasper squeezed his fingers. "You have somewhere to go. I told you that. And I'll help you."
"I can't do that to you."
"You're not doing—"
"He'll kill you." For the first time, Edward's voice raised above a whisper, though he still didn't look up. "He told me a million times he'd kill you, and I believe him."
"He'll kill you if you go back," Jasper said, keeping his voice as calm as he could. "He could have killed you last night." He took Edward's hand in both of his. "Talk to the police, Edward."
Edward stiffened and shuddered, whimpering audibly.
"It will be okay," Jasper said quickly. "Bella...Officer Swan, is my best friend. She'll help you. And I'll help you. You won't be alone. We can help you."
"Why would you do any of this for me?"
"Because you're worth it."
For the first time since Jasper had come into his room, Edward raised his eyes. The look in them was far and away the most heart-rending expression Jasper had ever seen in his life. Edward was wide-eyed, as if the idea shocked him. Yet there was a want so intense, it nearly stole Jasper's breath.
He wanted to believe. He wanted to hope. Jasper knew it looking in his eyes. He knew it without a doubt.
And he was scared. He was terrified and tired. It was all there.
Edward's eyes filled with tears again. He pressed the palm of his free hand over his eyes and his lips crumpled—the expression of a person trying desperately not to cry and about to fail miserably. He gasped with the effort.
"It's going to be okay," Jasper whispered, carefully stroking his hair. "You've got me, okay? I promise. You've got me."
Edward reached out blindly and grasped his hands, squeezing them so tightly, it hurt. Jasper didn't care. He just held on.
A/N: Deep breaths, kiddos. Hand holding.
