Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did Bella would have said to hell with Edward and stole Jasper from Alice.

I'm so so sorry this took me forever. I just couldn't get things right in my head enough to get my fingers working right.

It's here though and hopefully the next one won't take this long to come out.

This chapter is for my Oh Joy girl. I love you babe.

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Bella

"Bells come on honey. You need to wake up." I felt Emmett tap my cheek lightly.

My eyelids fluttered open only for me to squeeze them shut when the memory of why I was in his arms flooded my brain.

I whimpered causing him to tighten his hold on me and whisper, "I know Bells, but we need to go."

Taking a deep breath I opened my eyes again and found Rose, coming from the kitchen with tears still running down her face.

"I turned the stove off." She said as Emmett helped me to stand.

I nodded and leaned over to blow the candles on the table out.

After grabbing my purse we made our way out to Emmett's jeep and climbed in.

As we started the short drive I asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know. All Edward said was he was hurt and in surgery. He said he'd tell us the rest when we got there."

"How did he find out?"

"I don't know."

I nodded and fell silent for the last few miles.

Once we found a parking spot we headed in and quickly found the surgery waiting room and all our friends. They glanced up as we walked through the door.

Edward detangled himself from Alice who leaned into Seth as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his other already around Nicole. Edward came over and wrapped his own arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

As I hugged him back I asked, "What happened?"He pulled back and led the three of us over to the others. We settled down in the empty spaces and he said, "He was attacked as he was getting into his truck after leaving the florist."

"What did Paul do to him?" I asked, knowing, without a doubt, he was the one that had done it.

He didn't say anything at first, but after a deep breath said, "He stabbed him twice. Once in the side and then in the left shoulder. He then went on to beat the fuck out of him."

"Is he..." I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could continue. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know Bella. He was already underway when we all got here, so we don't know the full extent of his injuries."

I buried my face in my hands and I broke. Sobs rocked through my body as I struggled to get enough air into my lungs and I felt a set of arms come around me.

"He's strong Bella," Alice whispered into my ear, her voice rough with tears, as she rocked us a little. "He's going to make it through this."

"Did you call Peter and Charlotte?" Emmett asked bringing my eyes over to him and Edward.

"Actually they were how I found out what was going on. The nurse called Peter to inform them and get their permission to do what they needed to. He said Jasper came to long enough in the emergency room to give the doctors their number. They're getting the first flight out so they'll be here soon. Peter did tell them to tell us what was going on though so at least we won't have to wait. The nurse said once Jasper is done the doctor would be out."

Emmett nodded and leaned back in his chair, pulling Rose tight to his side.

Now we just had to wait. It wasn't five minutes later when two men in suits walked into the room.

They glanced around briefly at the other people there before their eyes landed on us and they came over.

Edward and Emmett both stood up to meet them. One held out his hand and said, "Hello I'm Detective Matthews and this is my partner Detective Hunter. We're investigating Mr. Whitlock's attack and we have a few questions."

Edward shook his hand and introduced himself before moving on to introduce every one else. When he got to me he told them I was Jasper's girlfriend and they both gave me kind smiles.

Once the introductions were out of the way Detective Matthews sat down in the only remaining seat and pulled out a small notebook.

"I'm sorry to be blunt, but the brutality of the attack causes us to believe this was personal and not a robbery gone wrong. Plus Mr. Whitlock still had his keys and wallet on him when he was found. Can any of you tell us of any enemies he had?"

"It was my ex." I said right away.

"Why do you believe that Ms. Swan?"

"Because he's a psychotic bastard." I said before going on to tell him everything about Paul.

Detective Matthews scribbled away on his little pad, nodding occasionally.

"Have you seen him at all since you've been back here?" He asked when I finished.

"No, but I know it was him."

"We'll look into it. Does he have any family here that could put him up?'

"No, but there is a girl at school that probably would."

"What's her name?"

"Lauren Mallory."

"Alright we'll speak to her. Is there anything else you can think of?"

"No."

"Okay. Now have all of you been in Mr. Whitlock's vehicle?"

We all nodded in answer.

"We'll need all of you to come to the station in the next day or two for fingerprinting, so we can eliminate the ones we find in his truck. Hopefully we will find one that doesn't belong."

"We'll all be in tomorrow afternoon." Edward said looking around at us and receiving nods as confirmation.

"Good. Well that's all we need for now." Detective Matthews said standing up. "We'll be back to speak with Mr. Whitlock when he's up for it. We'll also be looking for your ex Ms. Swan." He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Edward. "If any of you see him or can think of anything else that might be helpful just call one of the numbers on there. They are a direct line to both of us."

"We will."

Detective Matthews was the one to nod this time and went to walk away, but turned before he made it to the door. "I don't think I need to reiterate this to any of you, but I will anyway. Until we figure out who did this none of you need to go anywhere alone. That includes the guys."

"Yes sir." Edward said.

With a small smile to each of us the detectives left the room and we went back to waiting.

Over the next hour and a half the boys took turns pacing. The girls and I just sat quietly in a corner watching the clock. I did call dad and tell him what was going on. He like the rest of us knew it was Paul and he would be coming out in a few days.

Edward had gotten in touch with Jasper's dad also and Peter had told him they were on the way to the airport and would be in town around 4 in the morning.

About two hours after we got to the hospital Edward went to ask the nurse if there was any news only to be told there wasn't. We all were growing frustrated with the wait knowing the longer it took the more damage they were having to fix and it was doing nothing for our piece of mind.

Finally after another hour passed the doctor walked in.

Everyone moved to grip a hand of someone else as he stopped in front of us.

The doctor gave us a small smile and said, "It went well." As we all let out the breath we'd been holding he went on to tell us the extent of Jasper's injuries. "Mr. Whitlock had a stab wound on his side that nicked the top of his kidney. We were able to close it with a few sutures. His left shoulder also had a stab wound that needed to be closed. It was a clean through and through though and fortunately did not hit any major nerves. He had multiple cuts on his upper arms, most likely caused as he tried to defend himself. A few needed to be closed up with stitches. He has a concussion that we are keeping a watch on, but I don't think it will cause any issues. He also has three broken ribs on his right side and two on his left. There are contusions on every part of his body as well. As bad as it seems he is an extremely lucky young man. Things could have been so much worse, but I'm confident, barring any complications, that he will make a full recovery."

"What kind of complications?" Rose asked. I was thankful because I couldn't have made words come out of my mouth if I tried at this point.

"Infection is the main thing, but we have him on a high dose of antibiotics to keep the risk down. His concussion is also there. While it doesn't look like it's going to be a problem, it can change which is why we're going to keep an eye on it.

"We have him sedated and will continue to do so for at least a week. It will give his body time to start healing before he's awake. However he's going to be in quite a bit of pain afterward for awhile."

"If everything goes fine how long will it be before he's fully able to move around?" Emmett asked.

"Six to eight weeks at least, but it could be up to 10. The nick on his kidney, while small, was still damage to a major organ. He was strong and healthy before this took place though so that will help him."

"When will be able to see him?" Alice asked.

"I'm sorry not for a while. We're moving him to the ICU for the next week. Until he's awake and moved to another room only immediate family is allowed in."

"But..." I said finding my voice.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do." The doctor interrupted.

I nodded and dropped my head into my hands and let the tears come again.

This was all my fucking fault. Jasper was going to hate me and so would his parents. I couldn't blame them either since I hated myself for bringing Paul into their lives.

"Bella, honey let's go." Edward said.

I shook my head no. 'I don't want to go home."

"We're just moving to the ICU waiting room. No body is going home yet."

I let him help me up and with him on one side and Alice on the other we made our way to the fourth floor.

As we all piled into an elevator I said, "Guys I'm so sorry."

"Don't Bella." Emmett said from behind me, his voice leaving no room for argument.

I said nothing else, but it didn't stop the thoughts from rolling around in my head.

Once we made it to the empty waiting room myself, Edward, Alice, Angela, and Nicole settled into an empty corner. Seth and Ben decided to run out to get dinner for everyone and Rose and Emmett disappeared to see if they could get some blankets for us.

When we were all back in the room together and had eaten we settled around in chairs and tried to get comfortable. Not much was said except for little things here and there. I know Edward left a message on Peter's phone about what was going on with Jasper, but other than that I didn't pay much attention to anything else as I sat staring out the window.

I don't know how much time passed while I sat there but one minute I was watching cars drive by on the street and the next I was back in Paul's hallway and he was hitting me.

My dream played through everything. The kicking as I dragged myself to my feet, the words he said with each connection of his fist, and the slow torturous slide to the staircase were all there. The only thing that wasn't there thankfully was the pain. Even though I knew I wouldn't feel it I closed my eyes and braced for impact when his foot touched my back. However things were different than what actually happened. I still flew through the air, but instead of crashing into the table I landed on something else. Opening my eyes I realized it wasn't something but someone. Jasper was lying under me, his eyes closed and blood all over him and the floor around us. I let out a cry as I tried to scramble off him. Just as my knees found purchase on the hardwood his hands shot out to grip my forearms. I watched in horror as his head slowly rose and his eyes opened.

'This is your fault.' He gritted out, causing me to start screaming.

"BELLA, BELLA. FUCK, WAKE UP BELLA."

I tumbled off the chair into someone's lap as their yelling finally made it into my head. My arms immediately went around their neck as sobs tore at my throat.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're okay." I heard and finally registered it was Seth I was being held by.

"Jasper. So much blood. Too much."

"Bella it was just a dream."

"It doesn't matter this is my fault."

"No it's not." I heard from several different voices.

"Yes it is." I said pushing away from him and looking up at every one. "Paul is here because of me. Jasper is hurt because of me."

"I'm pretty sure my son wouldn't be happy if he knew you were blamin' yourself my dear." Every head snapped to the doorway, finding a tall man who was the older version of Jasper and the beautiful woman who'd spoken.

Edward, Alice, Rose, and Emmett immediately moved over to them and as hugs were passed around Seth helped me up to my feet.

When the greetings were out of the way Jasper's mom stepped away from the group and came over to the rest of us. She gave us all a warm smile before cupping my face in her hands.

"You're even more beautiful than he said you were." She said making the tears flow again.

"I'm so..." Her hand moved and clamped around my mouth cutting me off.

"Do not apologize for something that is in no way your fault."

"But, I..."

She interrupted me again by turning away.

"Why don't all of you go get some breakfast and fresh air?"

They all nodded slowly and started to move toward the door. I knew I wasn't part of that request so I stayed where I was.

"Do you want us to bring something back?" Rose asked.

"Please."

I watched all of our friends' leave the room before Mrs. Whitlock turned back to me. "Now why don't the three of us have a little chat?"

I nodded dumbly as I backed myself into a chair. Jasper's parents sat on either side of me and his dad gave me a big smile.

Mrs. Whitlock took my hand and said, "I'm going to tell you a secret Bella. When Jasper told us his decision to move here we weren't happy. He thinks we were okay and we've made sure he had no cause to think otherwise, but on the inside it killed us."

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"His father and I could see how unhappy he was. How much that horrible girl had hurt him. While we knew Edward and the others would be here for him it didn't help ease our mind. We worried that even with them and a change of scenery it wouldn't help. That he would spiral into a depression and would possibly do things he would end up regretting later on, but we let him go and worried every day. Then he called one morning and wiped all that worry away." She stopped for a moment to give me a smile and squeeze my hand.

"He went on for an hour about this amazing girl he met. He talked about the date they went on the night before and how he could already see himself falling for her. How it was so different than what he felt for Jessica and while it scared him he wasn't going to let that fear stop him from being happy. And god is he happy with you. We can hear it in his voice when we talk to him and we know he's going to be okay. For that Peter and I have to thank you."

"How can you?" I asked near tears again. "I got him hurt. He's lying in a hospital bed because Paul wanted me and went after him instead. Why don't you hate me? He's going to."

"Our son will not hate you. He loves you very much. You should have seen him that week he was in Texas, especially after you called that first night. He was so afraid that something was going to happen to you and there was nothing he would be able to do."

"It was all I could do to talk him out of getting on a plane that night." Jasper's dad said with a chuckle and bringing my eyes to him briefly.

"The point is Bella, that if Jasper was given a choice on who ended up lying in that bed, he would choose himself every time. He will gladly endure all the pain as long as he knows you aren't. As long as he knows you are okay, he will be okay. You are the most important thing to him now and honey you are just going to have to live with that. He's not going to accept an apology because he'll only see it as you being safe and that is all that will matter."

I finally believed somewhat what she was saying and I nodded. "Thank you Mrs. Whitlock."

"None of that, it's Charlotte and Peter. Mrs. Whitlock was my mother-in-law and she was a bitch."

I choked out a laugh before looking over at Peter who was smiling wide. "She was." He said shrugging his shoulder.

I laughed again and turned back to Charlotte as she stood up. "Now that everything is good here, let's go see Jasper."

My shoulders fell as for the millionth time tears filled my eyes.

"What's the matter?" Peter asked.

"I can't."

"And why the hell not?" Charlotte asked.

"The doctor said only immediate family."

"Well that's just not going to work." She said before pulling off a ring on her right hand and holding it out to me. "Put this on you left hand."

"What?"

"Put it on and follow me."

She turned without another word and walked toward the door. Peter was laughing as he too started for the door and I quickly stumbled after them, sliding the ring into place.

I followed them down the hallway, coming to stop behind them as they stopped at the nurse's station.

"We are looking for Jasper Whitlock's room." Charlotte said to the nurse sitting there.

"Are you family?"

"His parents and his fiancée."

The nurse gave me the once over and I tried not to fidget, giving away the lie. She finally looked back to Charlotte and said, "Room 415."

"Thank you."

The three of us made our way slowly down the hallway. As much as I wanted to see him I knew it was going to be hard and as we pushed the door to his room open I knew I was right.

My hand covered my mouth as a sob escaped. The small part of skin not covered in black and blue marks was extremely pale. He had monitors and IV's surrounding the head of the bed, all with tubes leading to his body. There were stitches above his eyebrow and more on his arms. His face was swollen and his hair was matted to the top of his head.

Peter and Charlotte moved to stand on one side of the bed and beckoned me over to the other. Each one of us kissed his forehead and whispered our love to him. Charlotte and I lightly held his hands in ours and we just watched him.

I don't know how long we stood there before Peter moved the two chairs in the room closer and had us sit.

None of us spoke as the minutes passed. The only noise coming from the monitor beeping out his heart rhythm. My eyes had landed on his chest at some point and with each rise and fall I said a silent thank you to God for not taking him away from me or anyone else that loved him.

All we had to do now was wait for the doctor to take him off the medicine and for him to wake up.

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How was it? For some reason I'm nervous about this chapter. Please let me know what you think.

Next chapter Bella gets receives a message and gets a little pissed. Well maybe a lot pissed.

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