-Direction-
I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.
- Charlotte Bronte
Affliction
The hospital staff were out in force to greet us. As the ambulance came to a stop, the back doors flung open with an unnecessary urgency and a shaft of natural gray light had me squinting. A hand reached forward to help me down from the back. The stretcher Jasper was strapped to was next, pulled roughly out of the ambulance and set on the floor, the wheels bouncing slightly. I'd been lucky enough to convince the EMTs that I was perfectly capable of walking on my own, whereas Jasper had been confined to a stretcher. I felt rather stupid, looking at the concerned faces around me, as there was nothing physically wrong with me. Mentally is a different story...
There were murmurings from behind. One of the nurses was questioning Jasper, and I turned to look at them. I let my eyes drift to the small trail of dried blood on his forehead and felt my stomach twist in guilt. You caused that... He saw me staring at it, raising his eyebrows to let me know I'd been caught. His eyes met mine and I found myself mouthing 'Sorry' to him. It felt like the appropriate thing to do. However, once he'd got my attention, he shrugged, attempting to either downplay his injuries or nullify my guilt, as if saying "What can you do indeed?" I rolled my eyes, making sure he saw me do so. Boys...
The automatic doors parted ahead of us and I turned my attentions to avoiding my mother. I'd spent most of the ambulance ride considering how I was going to explain my presence here, when I should be in school - complete with a bleeding boy and grass stained jeans. It wasn't the best impression to make. I'd managed to catch a glimpse of my reflection in the glass door and knew that the hairstyle I was sporting now was nothing like the one I'd had when I left the house. I looked like I'd been dragged through a hedge school bag was missing, presumed lost during all the drama, and I fidgeted with the leather bracelet that was on my wrist, trying to distract myself. Everything was a little overwhelming and I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. Lost...
The accident and emergency department at Forks General was deserted. One very bored looking receptionist sat behind the desk, the look on her face making it clear she was expecting us. Heck, this was probably the most excitement they had had around here in ages. She was tapping her pen on a stack of papers in a steady rhythm, pausing only to acknowledge our entrance. I avoided her gaze, attempting to scan the department subtly for my mother. It was easier said than done, as my odd behaviour was earning me a few concerned glances from the EMTs. I chose to ignore them, more concerned with the thought of my mother's reaction to my presence, than whether or not they thought I was mentally competent.
I took in the generic public service posters, the muted green tone of the walls, and the hard plastic seating in the waiting area. The plants gave the room the only human element, but other than that, I couldn't help feeling the whole place room was detached and eerie – more like an institution than a place of recovery. I didn't feel welcome here. The smell of antiseptic and bleach didn't help either, constantly reminding me of where I was. I was sure I had never been a fan of hospitals.
I felt a cool hand on my back just as I spotted my mother at the end of the corridor.
"Best get you examined before she notices you," a voice said from behind me. I tried to place the tone, knowing that it sounded familiar. "Unless you want to see her first?" it added, backtracking in an attempt to give me a choice. I shook my head rapidly. I didn't know what to say in response, but let the hand guide me down another hallway away from my mother.
The receptionist glanced at me oddly as we passed, before her eyes drifted upwards to the person behind me. She openly stared at them, even leaning forward slightly, before regaining her composure. I heard a low chuckle from behind me. The annoying squeak of an un-oiled wheel let me know that Jasper was close-by. I found it reassuring, in a strange way, to know that he was near. Hopefully, he could act as a buffer when my mother finally discovered I was here.
I was lead into a room where beds lined the walls, sorry-looking privacy curtains hung on rails, attempting to mark an area for each patient. There was nobody else here and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was led towards a bed at the far edge of the room, Jasper taking up the empty bay next to me. I sat, and twisted around to see my saviour. Angel would be a more appropriate word...I looked up into his cheerful face and suddenly wondered if I'd hit my head harder than I thought and ended up in a television soap opera. I shook myself out of that chain of thought. He was... handsome, to use the right word for it, but in a more mature, fatherly sort of way. His eyes were warm and friendly and I couldn't help but feel like I was in good hands. I wondered which doctor this was, I couldn't remember my mother describing him in our brief conversations about the others day. Blonde hair stood out from his pale skin, making me think back to my own father, though there were no similarities.
I tilted my head, puzzled. There was something about his face that made him look familiar, other than the pallor of his complexion. I knew I hadn't seen him before, but still... something... My brain was refusing to cooperate. It had most likely taken a leave of absence - due to high levels of confusion. Not that it could be blamed... I kept getting the oddest sense of déjà vu, tinged with frustration, as I was positive this was a whole new experience, but my body seemed to be thinking something different. The confusion I had attempted to dispel during the ambulance was back with a vengeance, causing me to groan in annoyance.
The doctor moved to examine Jasper first, the privacy screen between us remaining open as I watched intently as he poked and prodded his forehead. Jasper was watching my reaction to all this, as if he were trying to distance himself from the situation. I maintained eye contact, trying to figure out what he was feeling by the expression on his face. It seemed to be layered, and every time I thought I'd worked it out I would notice something else. The sadness in his eyes, the slight pull of his lips as he tried to stop himself from full out grimacing in discomfort, the way he squared his shoulders every time the doctor moved to examine somewhere new, and how they seemed to drop slightly in defeat moments later. Jasper gave me the impression of a puzzle, one that had more than a few pieces missing.
It wasn't awkward though, continually looking into his eyes. I didn't find myself fighting for breath or losing the ability of coherent thought. It felt normal, safe - though normal social conduct didn't involve prolonged eye contact. He winced then, and unconsciously I did too, causing him to grin weakly. Sorry, I mouthed again, feeling a sharp pang of guilt shoot through my stomach. I'd tried to protect him from the van, for some reason I didn't quite understand yet, and because of that he was now injured. I felt useless and dropped my gaze to the floor, instantly hating myself. I felt responsible for his pain, even though I hadn't intentionally caused it. I knew that if I hadn't acted his fate would be a whole lot worse, but I still couldn't ignore that feeling - the one that constricted my chest every time Jasper looked pained. I needed to snap out of it. I didn't even know the boy.
The doctor moved onto his shoulder, and I heard him asking Jasper to take of his shirt so he could assess the bruising. Jasper's head shot up as did mine, his eyes flashing with the same fear I had seen in the parking lot. He was scared? I froze for a second, contemplating what to do, before turning my entire body around to face the wall. I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me, and tensed as I heard the rustlings of Jasper's shirt being removed.
I began feeling faint. My fingers gripped the bed underneath me as a sharp pain ran through my forehead. It felt like my brain wanted to explode as my vision began to blur.
"Are you alright Miss Brandon?"
I focused on the speaker, staying in the present. I didn't know what was happening, but my body fought against whatever was threatening to overtake me. I could feel a tingling sensation in my extremities, like the blood was suddenly rushing back towards them after it had been cut off. I panicked. I clenched my teeth, forcing myself to think of something else, trying to push the feelings from my mind.
"Miss Brandon?"
I nodded, my tight jaw preventing me from speaking. I began to study the patterns on the opposite wall as I heard the doctor mutter something to Jasper. I caught the words pain and swelling, but I tried not to pay attention. I felt like I was eavesdropping, even though they both knew I was well within hearing range. The feeling of guilt was threatening to overwhelm me, in the least melodramatic sense possible. I knew that I'd stopped him from getting hit, I was pretty positive that if I hadn't given him a bad tackle then he would have been hit, hard, but I still felt incredibly guilty that he'd still gotten hurt. It was completely unreasonable really, to feel so bad when I'd saved his life.
It didn't stop me though.
Bruises... the doctor mentioned, and I stiffened again. The scars... I heard, one of them talking in a low voice, causing my already knotted gut to twist again, tighter, and for a moment I had trouble breathing. Scars? I swallowed thickly. What had I done to him? I was officially the worst excuse for a rescuer in the history of the planet. I rested my head in my hands, feeling worse, if that were possible.
You saved his life, I repeated, the simple fact of the matter making me feel insanely uncomfortable. I didn't want to be the hero. There were going to be questions. People would want to know what had happened. And what are you planning on telling them? I'd had little experience of lying on this scale; I'd had no need before. Sure, there had been the occasional white lie – 'Did you eat those cookies Mary Alice?' 'No mom, wasn't me...' – but this so much bigger. How close to the truth could I stay when I didn't even know the truth myself?
I groaned slightly, throwing my head back in a mixture and annoyance. My hands went behind me on the bed to support me as I leaned back, beginning to swing my legs as they dangled in the air. I didn't see why they needed me to stick around and get checked out, I was pretty sure I was perfectly fine. I could feel my annoyance steadily building; the dull throbbing that was emerging in both my right arm and forehead not helping matters. Maybe you're not as fine as you think... Oh shut up, I told myself, ignoring the fact that I was telling myself to shut up... again. I shook my head. I didn't like how strange things seemed to be getting. The prolonged state of confusion I was in was intensely frustrating. My whole world had tilted off its axis and I no longer knew up from down. I was spinning again, my heart pounding unsteady rhythms as I ranged from uncertainty to guilt to confusion again. My emotions were a mess, and just pinning down what I was feeling was proving to be a task in itself.
I heard the sound of pen on paper and the moving of feet and then felt the doctor tapping me on the shoulder. I turned to look at him, snapping out of my daze, as he began to go through the usual checks. I was well versed in the usual routine, after receiving it countless times from my mother.
"How are you feeling Miss Brandon?" The doctor was concerned, and I made a conscious effort to appear more normal. I pushed myself up straight, locking my ankles together so I wouldn't be tempted to sit and keep swinging them like an idiot.
"Alice," I corrected him, Miss Brandon seeming too formal. "And I feel like I just jumped out of the way of a van, Dr...." I tried to read the tag that was clipped to the upper pocked of his lab coat.
"Cullen," I knew I'd heard that name before. The faint feeling of recognition filled me, and I tried to sort through memories of the past weeks in Forks to place the name to the time when I'd heard it.
"Dr. Cullen," I repeated, trying to place it. As I expected, my brain didn't cooperate. I sighed heavily. He took this as a cue to begin the exam.
I felt a little embarrassed with Jasper watching me, so for the most part I just nodded and shook my head, giving the Dr. Cullen the occasional yes or no so he didn't think me completely incapable of speech. He seemed to check everything, shining a light in my eyes, checking my pulse, blood pressure, the usual.
"Can you tell me if you hit your head?"
"No," I answered monosyllabically. Cool fingers probed my head anyway, searching for any signs of injury.
"Any pain?"
"No," I gave a quick shake of my head, as much as his hands would allow, well aware I was starting to sound robotic. I wasn't being very helpful at all, and I was beginning to get annoyed at my own attitude. Snap out of it...
"I'm sure I have some killer bruises," I joked, though it didn't sound very funny out loud.
He spent a little more time analysing me, more than I thought necessary, probably because he noticed the nurse in that had come into the room watching him like a hawk, noting his every movement. I groaned. I had been found.
My mother was worried, that much was clear as I spotted her leaning against the far wall, her arms folded across her front. Goodness knew who had recounted the details of the accident to her, but by the way she was looking at me, they'd made it seem much more 'eventful' than it actually was. This was going to be a fun situation to talk myself out of. She shook her head at me when she realised I'd caught her hovering, but she didn't look remorseful. I really hoped the look she was sporting wasn't anger.
"Really, I'm fine mom. They just want to be certain," I said, raising my voice so she could hear me from across the ward. She seemed unconvinced, but at the same moment Dr. Gerandy turned around and gave her, what I assumed to be a reproving look, as she seemed to sigh and then left the room without a word. I recognized him from the time he came to pick my mother for work last week when her car wouldn't start. I smiled at him weakly and he turned and followed her out.
"She worries about you, you know," the doctor beside me said, regaining my attention, his attempts at trying to start a non-awkward conversation obviously failing miserably. Oh, so she had talked to him about me. Great...
I shook my head, realising Dr. Cullen expected a response. "What?"
"She's just concerned," It didn't seem nearly as patronising coming from him as it would from anyone else. He must be a parent himself, I concluded. I attempted to smile.
"I'm fine, just a few bruises," I shrugged, hoping that was what he was referring to.
"That's not what I meant," he sighed.
"Oh," There really wasn't much else I could say to that. I thought I had been doing a decent job at pretending I was happy in Forks. Obviously not... It wasn't that I didn't like it here – my green surroundings were starting to grow on me – it was something else. I felt like I was missing something, a part of me that I'd probably left back in Biloxi. I didn't feel like I belonged here.
"My children go to your school, you may have seen them." he said, conversationally. I was thankful for the change of subject. "Edward called me when he heard they were taking you both to hospital, after he rang for the ambulance." Dr. Cullen continued talking, having probably noticed my lack of response.
"Hm.." I replied, more interested now. At least I know knew who I had to blame for my presence here. My mind jumped back into gear and I remembered what had looked so familiar. I resisted the urge to shout 'Eureka', though my expression probably showed that I had figured something out. It was his eyes; a rich honey colour that I had only seen since moving to Forks. I knew they were all adopted, but the tone of his eyes had an uncanny resemblance to Bella's, and also Edward's, now I thought about it. They were all from Alaska, I faintly recalled someone telling me that. Maybe it was something to do with the air up there. Yeah, something like that...
"What happened anyway?" he questioned, sounding more like a concerned parent than a doctor. He put the clipboard down on the edge of the bed, dropping his tone to little more than a whisper. Uh ho...
"Well..." my throat was suddenly dry. "I was in the parking lot... and he," I gestured towards Jasper subtly with a jerk of my thumb, "wasn't paying attention when the van almost slammed into the side of him." He raised his eyebrows at me, obviously expecting more detail, and I decided to leave out the part where I'd seen him getting hit by the van before it actually happened, and had sprinted across the parking lot to save him.
"I pushed him out of the way," That was the truth.
"And you were right next to him? You tackled him pretty hard," he asked, in a tone that told me he knew something was off, but wasn't going to push me. However, I'd never said I was right next to him. I looked at him, confused for a second. What was I supposed to say to that? I settled for accepting his analysis, nodding my head. I could probably use that. Again, I found myself thinking back to my dad - he would have liked him. There was just something about him, some quality that made me feel at ease, even though he was questioning me. I allowed myself to relax some.
"I think it's called an adrenaline rush," I said, spouting the first plausible excuse that came to mind. I watched him try to fight back a laugh. This time it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.
"I've heard that somewhere before," he said simply. I accepted it.
"So what's the verdict, doc?" I asked, "Am I free to go?" Not waiting for him to reply, I hopped down off the bed and began to stretch my shoulders. His posture suddenly changed, I noticed him stiffen infinitesimally and I stopped moving instantly. The ache was back, though I didn't know why. I didn't fall that hard. He seemed to notice my slight wince, and gently pushed me back down onto the bed. My right arm moved awkwardly. Slowly, he lifted the arm up, turning it gently, and I was shocked to see a patch of crimson dampness on the sleeve of my top. We made eye contact for a moment.
I looked down at my arm again as he was slowly rolling up the sleeve of my top to my elbow. My arm had been sliced, a clean cut of at least 2 inches. A single shard of glass rested in the wound. I supposed this was what karma thought acceptable after you tried to save someone's life. I wouldn't be hurrying to do it again in the future if this was the kind of reward I got.
"I'm afraid you're going to need stitches." He said gravely, anticipating that I wouldn't be thrilled about this development.
"Fabulous," I muttered. My mother was going to have a field day.
It only took him a few minutes to stitch up the wound. I watched, strangely fascinated as he sewed up my arm with amazing precision. I couldn't feel anything except the slight pulling of my skin – a weird out of body experience. It didn't feel like it was my arm at all, more like someone else's. I couldn't say anything much though, mesmerised by the movements of the needle. I really was messed up.
"Where are you going?" I asked as he began to walk out of the room. I looked at him expectantly as he returned to stand beside me. He finished bandaging up my arm now, but it seemed a little weird to leave me here now it was done.
"I'm just getting you something to help with the pain." He reassured me.
"But I don't feel anything..." I tried to protest, but he put a hand on my good arm, signalling for me to stop talking.
"Trust me, you will later," he said kindly, before turning and leaving the room.
I turned my head to face Jasper. An uncomfortable silence surrounded us, as we both sat, unmoving, looking at each other. Dr. Cullen had turned me around when he began to work on my arm, giving Jasper a front row seat of the show. It was cripplingly awkward and neither of us seemed to want to be the first to speak. He was thinking, and I prepared myself for an onslaught of questions. I still felt incredibly guilty, even though the graze on his head looked a lot better now the trail of blood was gone.
Jasper eventually broke the quiet with the question I had been dreading.
"How did you get over there so fast?" He dropped the tone of his voice to a whisper. Everything seemed so loud after the silence we had been sitting in. I had hoped that he wouldn't ask this, that he'd be able to accept what had happened and move on, but it was unreasonable to think this would happen. I couldn't tell what he was feeling by his expression; I'd never seen anything like it before. I wanted to know what was going on with him. I wanted to know why he was reacting this way, but I had a feeling he wouldn't tell me if I asked.
"I ran." I couldn't lie to him. It was absurd that I felt compelled to tell him the truth – even a severely edited version of the truth. I immediately cursed myself, what was I thinking?
"Why?" he asked, dumbfounded. His eyes pleaded with me, begging for me to give him reason. It was a reaction more expected from a torture victim than from someone who had just been saved. It felt like he was asking me something else entirely.
"I don't know." I answered simply, my voice barely a whisper. Would I have risked my life if it was anyone other than Jasper? It was a question I didn't want to answer. I wasn't given much time to dwell on it.
A small rectangular box was placed in my hand. I looked up, not expecting Dr. Cullen to return so soon. My mother mustn't have cornered him. Yet... "Take them every three hours. Don't wait for the pain to start first."
I nodded, really not trusting myself to speak. I wanted to run, to get away from everyone as everything was slowly catching up with me. It was like I was stuck in quicksand, the confusion steadily building as I sunk lower and lower, until only my head was showing, desperately trying to stay above the sand.
"Now you are free to go," he said, repeating my words, thankfully breaking the tense silence of the room. "But try not to throw yourself in the path of any oncoming vehicles in the near future,"
"I'll do my best," I joked, raising my hand in a mock salute. I tried to sound happy, but my voice cracked, giving me away. I turned around and hastily retreated out of the door. One of the Cullen boys passed by me on the way out of the room, moving slightly to stay out of my way. Edward perhaps?...
"Alice," my name became some kind of greeting. I nodded at him in response and carried on walking.
I wasn't thinking, shutting myself down until I was just doing the tasks I needed to do to get past everyone and then home. I walked around the corner, into a long corridor that ran to the entrance noticing two police officers in the corridor as I turned to leave. They were watching the exit and didn't see me as I passed. I sped up, hoping to avoid anyone who might be waiting in the entrance. I wasn't fast enough.
"Mary Alice Brandon," I winced at the shrill sound of my full name being spoken. I knew I was in trouble.
"Hi mom," I said sheepishly, ducking my head so I couldn't judge how angry she was. The floor was suddenly extremely interesting to me. I began to trace patterns on the tiles with my shoe.
"Don't you dare 'hi mom' me," I jumped at the tone of her voice. She was livid by this point. "Would you care to explain how you managed to land yourself here and I only found out when I overheard a conversation some other nurse was having?" I stepped backwards, trying to put more distance between myself and her.
"I don't have my cell phone..." Which wasn't exactly a lie. There was no one who was going to contact me, so it was safely 'stored' in the drawer next to my bed. The battery was probably flat anyway.
"Never mind that, are you alright?" Her tone softened considerably as the worst of her wrath was over. She never could stay angry at me for long, but I feared there would be a sequel to her brief questioning.
"I'm fine mom, honestly," I was pleased at how convincing I sounded. "I'll see you at home okay?"
"Your not going back to school, are you?" she worried, moving forward to begin her own inspection of me.
"You should probably take the rest of the day off, just to be on the safe side." Dr. Cullen joined us in the corridor, appearing from the door I assumed lead to his office. "Do you know where you're going?"
"Err..." In all my time at Forks I'd never found the need to go to the hospital, and since the back of the ambulance had no windows to speak of, I was pretty unsure of my current position. "No" I admitted in defeat. "But how lost can I get in Forks?"
My mother however, seemed to think that there was every possibility I could get lost. "I don't think it's wise to have you wandering the streets, I could take you, if you wait till my shift ends, or I could try and get some time off..." I could see if they would let her have some time off, then I was going to face the interrogation of my life. I silently pleaded to whoever might be listening to give me an alternative.
Dr. Cullen's expression changed minutely, as a thought seemed to come to him. "How about I have my son drive her home?"
My mother looked at him blankly, like he was speaking in a foreign language. I looked at him expectantly.
"He's already here, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all." He explained, flashing my mother a reassuring smile. "Emmet?" he called, looking over his shoulder, not giving her a chance to refuse. The larger Cullen appeared from the doorway of Dr. Cullen's office. My mother still hadn't responded. "You wouldn't mind taking Alice home, would you?"
"No problem, Carlisle." He willingly replied to his father. "If that's alright with you?" He turned to face me, a non-threatening smile on his face. I didn't detect a hint of resentment in his voice, he didn't seem bothered by this obligation. I smiled at him nervously, causing his grin to widen.
I looked from him to the face of my mother. My alternative was getting her to drive me home. She could probably swing the morning off, which she would spend fussing over me.I nodded quickly, not needing to think any longer. The whole Cullen family had such interesting voices, I noted, as I heard the clink of keys being exchanged hands.
"The paperwork is mostly filled in Ms. Brandon," Dr. Cullen turned to my mother. "There are just a few signatures I need before its all in order," They broke off to form their own private conversation, shifting slightly, blocking me from the conversation. I smiled as I saw him reassuring my mother; I hoped that he'd put her mind at ease. I needed time alone, which couldn't be achieved if she was watching my every move.
"See you at home mom," I waved quickly to my mother, before turning and follow Emmett, who had begun walking, struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. I was about to break into a jog when he slowed down to a more reasonable speed. I let out a breath, relieved that I was on my way home. Sanctuary...
I managed to avoid most of the curious eyes in the waiting room, letting Emmett block their view of me. Standing close to him, I realised he towered over me, and used this to my advantage. He led the way to an impressive black vehicle that sat close to the hospital doors in the parking lot. I didn't know much about cars, but it looked shiny... and expensive. He opened the passenger door for me and managed to be in the driver's seat before I'd finished strapping myself. It wasn't much of an achievement as my bandaged right arm was hampering my progress.
"That was some pretty impressive sprinting you did this morning," he said, a weak attempt to break the tension. I blanched.
"Seriously, I'm impressed. You ever thought about trying out for the track team?" He laughed, turning to me, eyebrows raised, doing a perfect imitation of Coach Clapp. I couldn't fight the grimace that crossed my face at the thought of gym. Obligatory physical activity never really appealed to me. Emmett ignored my expression, instead starting the car. He pulled effortlessly out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"You saw that?" I finally gained the courage to ask. From the corner of my eye I saw him nod. My head fell to my hands. Oh man, I muttered. There went my, I-was-right-beside-Jasper, plan.
"Don't worry, no one else did." He added quickly, sensing my problem. I looked at him, confused. Why would he be telling me that? "And I don't plan on telling anyone either." Forks was racing past me and I had a feeling that he were travelling well above the speed limit. I craned my neck to look at the dashboard. 70 miles per hour. Awesome...
"What... really... why?" I couldn't find the right question to ask. He was going to help me cover it up?
"It's none of their business," he added as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, turning his expression back to the road ahead. I felt a little more settled now his eyes were off me and were instead helping navigate the way ahead. He seemed to be in perfect control, driving through the streets with ease.
"Err... thanks," I added, not really knowing what else to say. I turned to face him. He smiled at me kindly, the gold in his eyes mirroring that of Carlisle's and Bella's. I wondered if the whole family had the same interesting colour.
"So what did your boyfriend think of your athletic abilities then?" he teased, his eyes sparkling as he noticed my embarrassment.
"He is not my boyfriend." I snapped, staring out of the window. From the corner of my eye I could see him raising his eyebrows at me, but he said no more. We pulled onto a familiar street and I recognised my house. I felt the car slowing and we came to a stop on the pavement.
"Thanks for the lift," I thought to add as I clambered out of the passenger seat, trying to avoid jostling my arm too much. It had begun to rain, and my face was lightly soaked in drizzle by the time I turned to shut the car door. He nodded at me once, much like Edward had done back at the hospital, before starting the engine. I watched as the car drove away, speeding down my street before turning the corner out of sight.
I stood on the pavement for a few seconds longer, ignoring the rain that was beginning to fall heavily now. Something was pulling at my memory, random wisps of thought floating around my cluttered brain. I was missing something. My mind kept hitting a blank every time I tried to figure out what it could be, like a brick wall had been constructed, blocking out any memories that would help me in the arduous task of remembering details that could help. It was going to be a slow process.
All I knew was that I needed to figure out what that something was.
Disclaimer; If I owned Twilight I would be rich, therefore wouldn't have had a mechanics exam on Friday. I did have a mechanics exam on Friday, so we can safely assume that Twilight is not mine. Not even Jasper. *sigh*
A/N; Dear Readers,
I did warn you there would be a long wait. In any case, I still feel the need to apologise again. I'm in the thick of my exams at the moment, and most of my time is taken up studying. Sorry guys, all I can ask you to do is be patient and hang in there. As soon as my exams are over, I'll be back to a decent writing schedule and hopefully will be able to post chapters a lot faster.
This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend and editor/beta/whatever-she-wishes-to-be-titled hopeisabluebird. She's awesome and the main reason this chapter makes sense. Bluebird, we salute you. Why not check out her story 'Awake Unto Me' if you're looking for some good AH Alice and Jasper fiction. Go on... you know you want to...
Also massive thanks to my reviewers; diehardTWIhard, hopeisabluebird, BlindingFirefly, SimplyDazzling, R. L. N. Tonks, mz(.)spiffy, Lucy Alyce, Ilithya, halesgirl101 and PixiePrincess88. Thanks for taking the time to give me your opinions, I love you all for it. And thanks to everyone who has put my story on story alert. You guys are awesome too.
Hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. I tried to make everything as clear as possible (but then again, it is called Ambiguity, so some confusion is a given). I was a little unsure of Carlisle's reaction to Alice - but after a lot of editing I think I've got it as in character as possible (as would be seen from Alice's point of view). I do have the Carlisle sections of this chapter written from his point of view, and when the story further progresses I will be able to post that as a companion to this chapter - then his motives may become clearer. Remember that Alice would still be very confused at this point - I mean she's just had a vision of Jasper getting hit by a van... I know I'd be freaking out. Carlisle, ever the concerned doctor just wants to make sure Alice is alright - and not make her mother worry too much. Compassion is one of Carlisle's skills, if you will, so it may seem like he's acting a bit too fatherly towards Alice after just meeting her, but that's not supposed to be the case.
Oh and Emmett, his dialogue is not as 'fun' as I would have liked it to be, but he can't be too relaxed around Alice, can he? She has no connection to the Cullen family (unlike Bella, who in Twilight, had Edward) so he's got to try and balance friendly with distance. They don't want humans getting too close as there is always a risk that they could discover their secret. I know, I really like 'fun' Emmett as well.
So what did you think? Review please?
Ostentatious Querida =]