Chapter Ten
Jasper's POV
I tried to move my arm.
Nothing.
"Jasper! Jasper, I'm here...I'm right here...Jesus...everything's going to be okay now; I promise..."
Someone was...speaking to me?
My eyes were closed even though I could not find any more sleep, and it was with slow, groggy movements that I opened my eyes to the sound of my name being spoken with so much crushing emotion behind it.
Blindingly bright lights made my initial vision of wild, bronze-colored tresses and worried, green eyes blur for a moment before another blink of my eyes brought forth the crystal-clear sight of Edward looking directly at me...worried...and crying.
"What are you...why are you...crying...?" I asked in a terribly hoarse, barely audible voice and fatigued words as I felt soft, gentle fingers slide across my cheek, Edward's emerald gaze piercing into me as he touched my face.
"I'm just so...happy to see you, sweetheart..." Edward spoke with thoughtful words as he smiled at me, tears streaming down his pale, diamond-cut cheeks as he carefully retracted his hand from my chin but only so he could place his hand comfortingly on my arm nearest him.
Just as I was about to say how glad I was to see him as well, my attention was drawn to the door to the room that swiftly opened and closed, as a slender, middle-aged man clad in a long, white coat with his lengthy, coffee-brown mane tied in a loose pony-tail behind him entered with a chart in his hands and a professional smile on his face.
"Ah, I see you are awake again, Jasper," the man began in a quiet, collected tone of voice as he finished thumbing through a few pages adorning the front of the chart, before lifting up his aged, wise gaze to look upon both Edward and me, "...how are you feeling?"
Edward also moved his gaze to mine before I could give my reply, his bottom lip showing signs of being chewed on for quite some time, as I dropped my eyes from his features so that I could gather my thoughts.
"Um...tired, mostly...but um...alright, I guess...not in any real pain..." I stumbled my way through my answer to both males in the room, my lowered eyes catching Edward twisting his torso away from me for a moment while he reached over towards a table next to the bed and retrieved a plastic cup full of ice water.
The doctor smiled softly at my answer, seemingly pleased with my response, as Edward cooed a quiet 'here,' brought the cup under my chin, and placed the end of the straw in between my lips so that I could finally have a much needed drink to calm my screaming throat.
"Very good. The medicine will make you drowsy at times, but it will help with the pain. You were quite fortunate, Mr. Whitlock, that your injuries weren't any worse. And as far as your broken arm, there is no nerve damage or multiple fractures to speak of, so you'll have that cast off before you know it," the doctor spoke in a calm but positive manner, for which I appreciated tremendously, as I felt my lungs physically breathe easier at his words.
Suddenly, Edward's arms were around me, hugging me firmly but mindful of my cast and bandaged side, as he buried his nose and lips into the side of my neck, every inch of him trembling as he did so.
I gasped upon being embraced with so much tangible emotion, despair and gratefulness, hope and sorrow all rolled into one, simple gesture, that left me breathless for a second, as I could only rest the side of my head on top of his to reciprocate everything he was telling me he felt right now.
"Doctor Aro, I have some questions for you, if you don't mind..." Edward sniffed back his sobs as he released me from his warm, meaningful hug and spoke to the doctor, unwinding his arms from around me with lingering touches, as he cast me a significant, reassuring glance, before padding away from me and towards the long-haired doctor.
"Of course. Let's talk outside," Doctor Aro first extended a hand towards the glass door to my room, motioning for Edward to exit with him, before Edward stopped and turned to speak to me one last time before taking his leave.
"I'll be right back, Jazzy, okay? The doctor and I are just going to be right outside to talk for a few minutes..."Edward spoke hurriedly to me, his words and mannerisms showing of his pressing reluctance to leave my side as his tone spoke more of his need to reassure me that he would be coming back to me, as I simply nodded at his implication that admittedly made my chest ache and offered him a weak smile.
"Oh...okay...no problem," I replied, instantly regretting the lame tone of my words as I watched Edward draw his bottom lip in between his teeth, his brain and his heart in obvious conflict with each other, before he turned towards the opened door where the doctor waited patiently.
I swallowed hard at the sight of Edward leaving, especially when I saw him from the other side of the glass door looking back at me with the same pain in his features, before I promptly closed my heavy eyes once more, and gave into the tempting lulls of my exhaustion calling me to sleep for a little longer.
X
Edward's POV
"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I can tell already that your presence is helping Jasper to recover," Doctor Aro began to me upon turning around so that he could face me, the both of us having walked down the hall from Jasper's room so that we could talk in private.
My stomach jumped a little upon hearing the doctor's positive assessment, and I felt proud that he had noticed Jasper's and my strong connection straight away.
"Oh, of course! I'm just glad someone called..." I responded adamantly, nodding politely as I watched as Doctor Aro shifted his weight on his feet for a second before speaking again.
"As for Jasper...we noticed a lot of minor things, things that would not have come from the accident...such as swollen fingers, bruised knuckles. You see, someone involved in a car accident that gets thrown from the vehicle, let's say, they end up with the lacerations on the palms of their hands, not along the top..." Doctor Aro posed the information to me with a pointed, curious stare, his solemn features reflecting how he somehow knew how I would, without a doubt, know exactly what he was asking.
"Oh...oh, oh yeah that um..." I was already slightly shaking my head in understanding, as I briefly brought up crooked finger to swipe at my nose before continuing, "...Jasper had been in a fight earlier today...it's...probably the reason why he was out driving for so long..."
Doctor Aro frowned at my explanation.
"I see. This might not be any of my business, but..." the doctor began slowly, flashing his eyes to mine for a moment to read my reaction, which I readily nodded for him to continue.
"...I would recommend that you or someone close to him watches over him for a little while, or at least until he is completely healed," Doctor Aro spoke freely with me, blinking his seemingly all-knowing eyes at my attentive expression as I clung to his every word as if my own life depended on it, trying to digest their every meaning and implication, "...when we received him in the emergency room this evening, if you'll excuse my choice of words, he looked like a man that's been recently broken...and I'm not sure if he is totally put back together yet."
I could feel myself internally recoil from hearing such relentlessly true words, instantly recalling the tumultuous, violent emotions that had played across Jasper's every feature and fiber whence I had stopped his fight and witnessed first-hand just how thin his lines were between solace and mayhem...when I had honestly been afraid that my fate would have matched that of James and Jacob.
Then, of course, when I had seen Jasper wholly shut down from having to re-live so much deeply buried shame whence he had told me his entire past story...another part of him had broke in front of me as well.
I licked my drying lips, cleared my throat, and then spoke firmly, the feelings of extreme, soul-breaking empathy and remorse giving me the strength I needed at this moment, giving me the extra courage one needed to truly be there for Jasper Whitlock.
"I'll take care of him," I promised with stern words to the doctor before me, steeling my eyes as I held his understanding gaze and now literally spoke of the things I had only thought of on my way to the hospital as well as to Jasper's intensive care room, "...I'll watch him; it won't be a problem. I know I can get the time off of work."
"It's settled, then. I'll release him as soon as I clear his condition, and then he's all yours," Doctor Aro glanced back down at the chart in his hands, before looking up and casting me a small smile and then turning on his heel and striding away to go about his other duties.
Now that I was alone, I breathed out the air filling my chest, my half-focused sense of hearing only somewhat able to register the dull chatter of the nearby nurses at their triage station, the constant humming of several machines running at various point, and the subtle tap sounds of rubber soles walking down the clean tiled floors that made up the network of corridors of patient and operating rooms on this first level of emergency care.
"He's all mine..." I reflected gravely on Doctor Aro's parting words to me, not at all letting the cruel irony slip my attention that such a concept had been what I wanted since the beginning, of Jasper just being mine.
Turning around in my spot as well, I easily navigated back to Jasper's ICU room, slowing my steps as soon as I appeared in front of the windows and glass door, looking inside and immediately beholding the image of Jasper sleeping comfortably with his curly head tilted a little to a side.
I smiled my naturally crooked smile at the heart-warming sight of such calmness at last, as I silently slipped inside the room and sat by Jasper's side once more, my eyes never leaving his peaceful, bruised face as I leaned in close to him.
Heat slowly collected at the backs of my eyes, making my emerald orbs water, my throat feeling as if I had just swallowed a handful of cotton, as I struggled against my overwhelming urge to cry as I looked over Jasper's healing, battered form.
"God...it could have been so much worse...he could have...could have...no, I don't even want to think of that word. That didn't happen, and here he is with me right now...sleeping...safe..." I mentally told myself as I forced away my stifling symptoms and crossed my arms over one another on top of the bed mattress, and then lowered my chin down onto my settled wrists.
Jasper's broken arm was draped across his stomach, the thick, white cast blending in seamlessly with the stark white of the thin blankets and sheets that covered him to his chest – my half-lidded, exhausted eyes taking in the sight of the medical treatment my angel had to have, and it was with a heavy heart that I closed my eyes as well.
X
"Yes...yes, I agree with you. Of course..."
Crinkling my forehead as the sounds of human voices flooded my responsive ears, I awoke with a start and lifted my head up lying on my crossed, tingling arms, whipping my alert attention to the doorway where I immediately saw Doctor Aro speaking with another man.
"Ugh...how long was I out...?" I murmured the curious question aloud as I saw the two doctors finish their conversation, followed by Doctor Aro turning towards the glass door to enter the room.
"I'm not sure...a few hours, maybe...?" Jasper unexpectedly answered my words, making me cast my wide, thankful eyes to his lovely face already looking softly over me.
"Sweetheart..." I breathed at once, before gingerly bringing up my hands to either side of his face, carefully touching his cool flesh with my fingers as I felt my whole world lighten with the way Jasper leaned into my touch, seeking my warmth and drawing his own happiness from it, as he smiled back at me.
"They said I can leave as soon as I get my prescription," Jasper said, his tired eyes never leaving my face as he continued to offer me his gentle, life-saving smile, and it was now that I felt my overdue tears begin to slide down my cheeks.
"That's...thank God, Jasper..."I replied with broken words and a beaming smile before I saw Jasper lift up his uninjured hand to my face and carefully wipe away the trail of warm tears going down one side of my face, his eyes watching his own ministrations and acknowledging all the pain I was letting go.
"Gentlemen, good morning again..." Doctor Aro announced his arrival as he stepped into the ICU room and padded to the foot of Jasper's bed, a packet of papers in his hands as he regarded us courteously, "...I have here your information for at-home care, as well as your prescription for pain medication."
"Thank you, doctor," Jasper spoke with a sigh of relief, his hand having naturally slid down my arm until he could squeeze my fingers with his own, all of which I was more than happy to oblige as I rubbed my thumb over the top of his hand.
"No problem. I'll have a nurse in here with a wheelchair to escort you out," Doctor Aro smiled his aged smile at us as he handed me Jasper's information, "Now take good care of that arm, okay, Jasper? Ice any swelling on your sides...and Jasper...?"
"Yeah, doc?" Jasper asked with an adorably hesitant voice as he listened to Doctor Aro speak to him warmly, much like how a father would instruct his child on how to behave for the time being, as my handsome lover swallowed hard at the doctor's growing smile and kind eyes.
"No more fights...at least, not for awhile. Deal?" Aro spoke with a small chuckle, and my steady eyes easily caught the way Jasper's cheeks flushed a soft pink as he lowered his curly head for a moment before directing his slightly embarrassed gaze back on the doctor.
"Deal," Jasper agreed, earning a satisfied nod from Doctor Aro before Jasper and I both watched as he waved us good-bye before taking his leave of the medical room.
"Come on, Jazz...let's get out of here," I offered plainly but gently to the gorgeous man beside me, helping him to change back into his normal clothes before a soft knocking at the door caught our ears.
"Hello! Are you all ready, Mr. Whitlock?" sounded the voice of a young, female nurse wearing light purple scrubs, the wheelchair handles in her hands as she first popped her head inside the room, obviously saw that Jasper was now dressed, before she pushed the mobile chair out in front of her.
"...hello...uh...yeah, yeah I think so," Jasper responded awkwardly with much less enthusiasm than what was given him by the nurse, and I offered my lover a sympathetic smile as I watched as he maneuvered to sit down in the wheelchair, clearly hating it, and then placed his booted feet on the appropriate foot pedals.
"Aww...what's that you got there? A broken arm? You'll be okay, sugar pie! In no time at all!" the increasingly bubbly nurse cooed to Jasper as if he were a small child as the three of us began to make our way down the corridor, passed the nurse's desk, and veered left towards the exit of the emergency center, my car keys and Jasper's packet of forms being held tightly in my hands.
Jasper looked up to me as we continued to venture outside of the facility, confusion and comical panic in his eyes, almost as if he was asking me to save him from the nurse's painstakingly upbeat personality.
I almost laughed out loud when Jasper only replied with, "...erm...thanks..."
Finally standing on the wide sidewalk out in front of the emergency area, Jasper carefully stood up from the wheelchair, my hands immediately going to his shoulder and back to help him, as our chatty, obviously overly-optimistic nurse turned to leave, but not without saying something else to either of us.
"Oh...you guys look so cute together! Definitely a match made in heaven! Take care now!" she beamed at us with a blindingly eager smile before she dutifully pushed the wheelchair back through the automatic glass doors and inside the hospital, both of us silently watching her as she did so.
"Jasper...I..." I began mindlessly, perhaps just needing to break the silence between us as we now stood in the crisp, breaking light of day that offered scant but gracious warmth to our overwhelmed and completely exhausted bodies, my hands still holding onto him as I quickly noticed that Jasper was leaning heavily on me for support.
"Wait, Edward...I have something I need to say..." Jasper cut me off with airy, but determined words, his eyes only downcast for a fraction of a moment to shut out the peeking colors of orange and grey that battled and mixed diligently with the overall navy of the fading night, before he lifted them back up, taking in me and everything about this moment in that single gesture before speaking again.
"I can't thank you enough for coming here for me...and I'm...I am just so sorry that all of this had to happen in the first place. I didn't mean...I just...I shouldn't have just left when we were talking earlier," Jasper confessed with a solemn sigh, his eyes showing of his internal pain rather than any physical discomfort and I could feel it deep in my heart that Jasper was truly trying to repent to me, that he needed to know that I still loved him, "...I'm sorry, Edward."
I breathed a smile before gingerly wrapping my arms around Jasper's neck, hugging him to me as urgently as I dared, as I felt my eyes mist over with hushed emotion as I allowed the wind-blown scent of his plain, white T-shirt and work uniform to fill my nostrils, offering me something real to latch onto in addition to his body, as I smiled into the side of his neck.
"Jasper...I'm just so glad you're okay...when the doctor called me about you...I thought I was going to have a heart attack," I whispered against the smooth expanse of Jasper's throat, speaking of the exact things I knew Jasper was apologizing for, "...but the fact that I'm holding you know...that's all that matters to me."
Jasper's throat moved as he swallowed at my words, the bridge of his nose pushing into the top of my shoulder as he let me hold him as tightly as I pleased, and after a brief second of silence in which I knew Jasper was simply trying to digest everything I was telling him in spite of how exhausted he had to have been, I spoke quietly to him again.
"You scared the shit out of me, baby...I love you...I don't ever want to see you hurt..." my thoughts seamlessly poured out of my mouth in the most cleansing of ways, and I could not help my actions and squeezed his chest a little closer to my own, needing to rectify through touch just how happy and uncaring of the circumstances leading up to this point I honestly was.
Slowly, Jasper and I inched our torsos away from one another, my arms still wound around him, and it was with a sharp, aching rasp occurring inside me that I noticed that it was now Jasper who was crying, his saddened, cobalt eyes releasing all of his jagged-edged remorse in glistening streaks of rain down his porcelain cheeks.
"Jasper..." I breathed my lover's name, cherishing it always, as I freed a hand from around his shoulder and brought it to the side of his silently crying face, still strong in its regal beauty as my glinting jade orbs easily held Jasper's emotional, sapphire gaze, "...let's go home."
Perhaps not trusting his typically smooth, smoky voice at such a time, Jasper nodded at my words, his sparkling eyes immediately regaining a little more of their brilliant shine, as I smiled in earnest at him before stepping to his uninjured side and lacing our fingers together.
Together, we walked to my Volvo in the emergency parking lot located nearby, where I assisted Jasper in climbing into the large SUV, before I took my place at his side, and proceeded to drive us to my house, neither one of us saying a word, neither one of us having to at the moment.
The both of us were purely grateful to be with the other once more...to be able to have that chance again, now that it had become abundantly understood how fragile such a thing truly was.
Only a few times did I hear Jasper clear his throat as I continued to drive the two of us to my side of town; the exceptionally early morning hour bringing an array of gorgeous, warm colors to collect in the overhead sky, as the pink and yellow hues dominated over the murky blue, making for an enrapturing contrast happening right before my very eyes over the tops of the city buildings.
I smiled at the lovely, inspiring view before turning my head to seek out Jasper, to make sure that he was also beholding such a magnificent sky, but my eyes softened in their intensity the second I saw that Jasper Whitlock was sleeping soundly in the car seat next to me.
His curly head was tilted a little away from me, moving subtly along with the motions of the drive back to my home, as his lithe figure was cradled by the bucket seat with his uninjured hand resting comfortably on his thigh.
"I mean it...thank you, God...thank you for not taking him away from me..."
X
Several minutes later...
"Jasper...Jazz, you need to wake up so we can get you inside," I spoke softly to the angel slowly rousing from his slumber, my fingers gently playing with a few of his honey-blonde curls around his brow, as I watched as he gradually began opening his drowsy eyes.
Jasper had his beautiful eyes squinted with his pressing need to continue sleeping as he turned his head towards me with a growing smirk on his face, my fingers still in his hair, moving the messy strands out of his face all the while.
"Are we here?" Jasper whispered the words to me, closing his eyes once more as my fingertips sifted through another few of his tresses, before he opened them once more and cast his striking gaze directly into my waiting one.
"We're here, sweetheart. Now come on," I spoke just as softly back to him before retracting my hands from him and making to open my door so I may hop out of the vehicle, my own senses inconceivably tired just as Jasper's were, but my fierce will to first see to my lover's comfort made my muscles work without flaw.
"...'kay," Jasper murmured as he also opened his car door, just as I had rounded the front of the vehicle and helped him step down, my every movement being unbelievably conscious of his broken arm as I navigated the both of us inside my house, his footsteps sluggish beside my own.
One of my arms wrapped around Jasper's waist, I noticed that Jasper had his eyes closed again, only taking steps when I did, as I carefully steered him through the kitchen and up the stairs, having dropped my keys unceremoniously onto my kitchen counter whence he and I had passed it.
"We're almost there, sweetheart...just a little longer and then you can sleep all you want," I cooed to the man in my arms as he and I both finished ascending the stairs and made a left towards the master bedroom, ample amounts of fresh sunlight peeking in through closed blinds seeming to make my whole house have the peaceful ambiance of a silent church as we went.
"...mm-hmm..."Jasper hummed in response before I meticulously helped him get situated on top of my bed, my hands working quickly to pile a few pillows behind him before I fluidly knelt down in front of his sitting form and began untying his heavy work boots.
"Alright...just lie back slowly, baby..."I whispered the instruction to my weary lover as I set down his boots on the floor, my own eyes feeling just as weighted as I watched as Jasper reclined against the stack of chocolate brown-colored pillows I had provided for him, his eyes closed as he snuggled into the soft tufts of the thick duvet.
Unable to ignore my own dreadful fatigue any longer, I heaved a great sigh of relief as I finally flopped down upon my bed next to Jasper, my muscles already beginning to soothe in their hyper-induced tension as I felt my body practically melt on top of my mattress, my thoughts mellowing out inside my calming mind as I felt the tempting warmth of sleep start to overtake my senses.
"...Edward...?" Jasper's accented voice whispered quietly to me from my side, neither one of us moving as he and I mutually understood that what we both needed most right now was some rest, and I knew that after Jasper said what he needed to say, that the both of us would finally get some recuperative sleep at last.
"...hmm?" I responded the best I possibly could, the sound of which having been muffled by the pillow currently cradling my head as I felt a tinge of eagerness of hearing Jasper's spoken thoughts partially poke through some of my overall drowsiness, as I listened to my healing, earth-bound angel take a few, deep breaths before finally finishing his statement to me.
"...I'm...really glad you brought me here...instead of my place..." Jasper confessed to me, his voice like a pleasant, comforting balm to my heart and soul as I smiled against my pillow while I continued to lie on my stomach and let the gentle sweeps of his meaningful words pass over me like a warm blanket meant only for me, "...I...need you, Edward...I realized that I don't want to be away from you either. I'm still sorry for everything; I hate how...I made you cry like that...but I'm also just...really...happy that I'm here now..."
Author's Note: Ha! This story has a mind of its own, I tell ya. XD Thanks for continuing to check out my story and I will appreciate any overall feedback you might have. The end draws near, yes? Thanks.