It had been four months since I had been told to stay away from Jasper. I had done as I had been told, though he had never been far from my thoughts, or my dreams. I felt terrible for abandoning him, but my family came first. My daughter came first.

I occasionally passed by his room, but all I ever heard anymore was him screaming, and swearing. It was as if I had never been there, and I hated it.

He haunted my dreams at night. I could see him ranting and raving, screaming and cursing, throwing himself against the cell wall in a fury. At times I saw him huddled in a corner, shaking and sobbing. Mostly I remembered his sadness as he talked about his Alice and the rest of his family.

Sam was now four years old, and curious about everything. I often found her looking through our books, studying the pictures, regardless of whether the books were fiction or not.

She had convinced me to get her a kitten; that is, she had brought one home from one of the neighbor's whose cat had had a litter, and I hadn't had the heart to make her take it back.

She was excited; we were going to the zoo today. I had the day off, and she had been studying books about animals. I often came home to find books open to pictures of animals spread throughout the house. When I had asked yesterday if she wanted to go to the zoo, she had thrown herself into my arms, beaming.

We reached the zoo, and she was bouncing up and down as we waited in line for our turn to go inside. She accidentally bumped against the ladies in front of us, and the blonde one turned sharply on her, annoyance plain on her beautiful face.

Her expression softened as her gaze fell on my daughter. She smiled at her, almost sadly.

"Sorry." I said to her.

She turned to smile at me. "No harm done, right?" She asked the woman beside her, who turned to look at her briefly before turning back away. The woman looked sad, lost.

Sam raced around once we were inside. I could barely keep track of her. "Sam, stay close!" I called after her.

She stayed closer after that, but was still trying to be everywhere at once. She gazed at the lions, beamed at the monkeys, and stared at the snakes. She was having a great time.

I saw him, running backwards, not paying attention to where he was going, but didn't have time to shout. He tripped over Sam, and they both went down. By the time I had reached them, a girl was helping him up. They were both young and very attractive.

He looked devastated as he scrambled up. "I am so sorry, ma'am." He apologized quickly, running a hand through his shaggy hair. He was tall and well built, but his eyes were kind and worried. The girl stood beside him uncertainly, her deep brown eyes concerned.

I knelt down to check over Sam. She hadn't uttered a sound, but there were tears in her eyes. She had scraped her knees and the palms of her hands badly; there was a bit of blood.

"Come on, honey." I said. We'll go find a bathroom and clean you up." I turned to the couple, who still looked worried. "It's okay. These things happen, and she's so quiet, it's hard to always know she's there."

The girl was frowning at the boy, as if in thought. "Oh, hey." She said, her expression clearing. "Grandpa's here."

"Yeah." Agreed the boy. Apparently her statement made sense to him. "He's a doctor." He explained. "He can look her over, if you want."

I hesitated for a few seconds. "Um, sure." I decided it couldn't hurt. He would only be looking at her injuries. He probably wouldn't even notice her lack of speech. These two hadn't. I picked up my daughter and followed them through the zoo.

The man they led me to was in no way old enough to be their grandfather. He was pale, and very handsome, with short blonde hair and a brilliant smile. His eyes were an odd golden color.

They explained the situation, and he agreed to have a look at Sam. I set her down, and he moved to look at her hands.

She shrieked and recoiled back up against me. The 'Grandfather' frowned, and froze. "What's her name?" He asked calmly, as if she hadn't just freaked out on him.

"Samantha. Sam." I was starting to think this had been a bad idea.

He smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm a doctor, Sam." He said, looking her in the eye. He must have seen something there, because he continued softly. "All I want to do is look at your hands, Sam. May I, please?"

Hesitantly she held out her hands to him. He examined them, and muttered to the boy, "Go ask and see if you can find a first aid kid, Jacob." He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and spoke to Sam again. "I'm going to clean off your hands. It might hurt a little. Is that okay?" She nodded, her eyes glued to his. She blinked rapidly as he wiped off her hands, trying not to cry, but didn't make a sound.

"Thank you." Jacob had returned with the kit. The doctor gently finished cleaning her hands. "Would you like me to bandage them?" He asked, pulling out a roll of gauze. She nodded shyly, and he quickly bandaged her hands. "May I look at your knees?" He asked when he had finished. She nodded again. "I told Jacob he and Nessie need to be more careful. Just because they're tough…" I didn't hear any more, because the name Nessie had made me think of Jasper back at the hospital.

I wondered yet again if his family could possibly be alive, somewhere, looking for him. It had been five years, though. That was a long time for anyone to be missing.

He had finished bandaging Sam's knees and was now digging through his pockets. "Let me see," he was saying, "if I have any- I thought I did- wait just a minute- here." With a flourish he pulled a lollipop out of his jacket pocket. He held it out to Sam.

She turned to look at me, and Jacob chucked nervously. "Hey, um, Carlisle? I don't think kids are supposed to take candy from strangers."

"Ah, yes." Carlisle looked at me too. Carlisle? Again I couldn't help but think of Jasper. This man was too young to have been Jasper's father. I shook my head to clear it. "It's fine, Sam. Go ahead." I said. "Thank you, Doctor-"

"Cullen." He supplied, and my heart just about stopped beating. I think my mouth was hanging open.

Carlisle and Jacob and Nessie watched me curiously. Carlisle and Nessie. Cullen? There was no way it was possible, but-

I turned to face Nessie.

Disclaimer: As you well know, Twilight is not mine. I just play around with it.