Authors Note: Please make sure you read the last chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Thursday continued

Jasper

I will live like I told Edward but that slip hurt. I stepped back heavy onto my right leg when I lost my footing with my left and jarred the hell out of it. It's twinging now with a stabbing pain.

I should have remember the rain in Philadelphia and maybe I should have worn something else other then my tread worn boots this morning. But it was the boots or the sneakers neither were a great option.

I can feel both the Cullens watching me.

I stay still standing as upright as I can until Dr. Cullen and Edward's attention is elsewhere and then when no one is looking I let myself reacted. I breath slowly through the pain and sag a bit against the crutch as I ease off my right leg. It hurts to move.

I know I can't stand here forever I have to go. I put weight back on my right leg, it aches and protests and there's a sharp pain like what I felt before Dr. Cullen took the shrapnel out.

Edward looks back in my direction. He looks like he's going to say something. I decide to talk before he can "I'll be right there."

He nods and turns back to the door and waits. I'm glad he doesn't say anything. Really the last thing I need is too much attention. When I do follow it's cautiously as much because it hurts as I don't trust that I won't slip again. I try not to grimace with every other step as I walk with Edward down the hallway.

I'm ok... I'm ok...

In the back conference room shrug off my damp coat and set in over the back of a chair. I rub at my arm where Edward was holding onto me. I suppose I do appreciate his attempt to help me but I don't like other people so close and I can still feel where he had me by the arm. I don't like the sensation or the reminder.

"It rains a lot here. You probably didn't get a lot of rain like this in Texas." Edward says with a sympathetic expression the I cringe at.

If he thinks I've never seen rain before he is mistaken.

"More thunderstorms." I offer. I remember storms that would come billowing up and feel like they would tear the world apart, between the tornados and the hail and the small dark storm cellar that was fearful in its own right.

The thought of the storm cellar makes me shudder. I turn away from him and hope he doesn't notice.

And the rain here today isn't anything compared to what I saw while in Vietnam. There I saw more rain in my year and a half in country than I'd probably seen in my whole life. It would rain buckets for days and weeks on end and there were times when it was impossible to find a place to get dry.

I've got one happy memory of a rainy day. The thought of Alice coming into my life makes me almost smile before Edward interrupts my thoughts.

"Hey, can you grab me the folder from that box next to you, the folder's got an orange tab..."

Hum ok..."What's on the label?" I turn awkwardly towards the box trying to avoid using my right leg as much as I can.

"I can't remember, Spring 1943 maybe, I just think I saw a duplicate of this paper in a folder with the orange tab."

I look at the labels none say Spring 1943 in this box and I couldn't pick out an orange label to save my life. "I don't see it."

"Really?" He moves around to look in the box himself. I back up and put some space between us.

"It should be right there..." He looks in the box and pulls the file out like it was the easiest thing he'd ever done. "This is it. Oh... I remembered the label wrong it's 'measles' on the outside and the first page inside is dated Spring 1943. But it's like one of two with the orange ..." He looks at me as he starts to ask why I missed it and stops. He must see the frustrated expression I'm helpless to keep from crossing my face.

I can see the moment it dawns on him. "Oh, I forgot... sorry about that."

I turn away from him, I really don't feel like hearing that he's sorry right now, I just want to get to work.

After a couple hours of standing trying to focus and not being able to get much of anything finished a frustrated noise escape my throat, "uuugghh..." Of course even with the the constant white noise of the rain Edward hears.

"What's up." He asks and I rub my temple and groan internally this time. Thinking is giving me a headache. I look up at the clock and then back down at the notebook I'm working on.

"The person writing this never thought that years later someone would be reading it." Seriously this is a different note taker than I've read before and they could be writing in code for all I've understood of it. "It's got so many holes that I think only someone who was there could make any sense of it."

He nods like he understands, I not sure he does.

"Well it was written by a secretary or assistant. It's not like a historian wrote it." He shrugs.

Something about how he says that grates on me. I want to shake my head and sigh heavily. I stop and try to remember Edward is still young and naïve. "Through out history historians have very rarely ever told the whole story."

Edward looks skeptical "But that was a job right? There was always a guy who wrote stuff down for like kings and presidents. They would write down what happened so future generations would would know."

I do shake my head now. "History books are full of propaganda and vanity. They say history was written by the victors." He's got his eyebrow raised which I take to mean he doesn't understand. "That means the army that wins the war gets to decide how the history is told and what gets left out of the history books."

"I didn't learn that..."

"It's just how it's always been, that and people really are unreliable sources who can only tell what they saw or heard. They can't know everything. No one ever truly knows the whole story."

"Oh." Edward looks like he's got a lot to think about suddenly.

Surprisingly talking about that makes me feel better about not being able to decipher all of the writing I've been looking at. I relax a bit and roll my shoulders and shake my hands out. I've been tense trying to figure these notes out and wishing I could check on Alice.

My shoulders feel better and I stretch my back a bit. It's all fine until I shift wrong and the ache in my hip and leg that I've been working hard to ignore send a stabbing pain up my side and down my leg that make me freeze. When I open my eyes the first thing I see is Edward looking at me. He looks down quickly at his work.

I look down and grip the back of the chair next to me.

"You know if you need something..." He starts but then lets the thought trail off. I get what he's saying.

I try to say something. Thank you for the offer. Something. But feel like my voice would sound too pained if I used it now so I just nod.

There's only about an hour now before someone comes to pick us up. I hope Alice comes, I also hope she stays home out of the rain. It's all fine, either way I'll get to see her soon.

I breath and shift carefully to ease the ache in my thigh and try to get back to work. Before I can Cindy comes in to visit as peppy as she was the other day.

I can feel the tension start in my shoulders again.

"Knock, knock. Hi, how are you boys today?"

"Hi Cindy." Edward greets her and I look up and make eye contact with her to be polite.

"Enjoying the weather?" She chuckles at her own joke. "You've got to get used to it Jasper if you're going to stay in Washington, Right Edward."

Edward's saying something to her but I'm too busy watching the cup of coffee in Cindy's hand as she gestures with it over top of the table and my finished notes to pay attention.

Suddenly she and the coffee cup are moving around to my side of the table. She steps right up and stands right next to me to get a look past my shoulder at what I'm working on. "What are you doing?" Her tone is curious. All I know is I'm not comfortable with this.

"Is that short hand you're reading Jasper? I've never met a boy who could read short hand. Did your mother teach you?"

Under different circumstances, a different time I might tell her what she wanted to hear. When I wasn't worried for Alice or hurt or when I had the threat of Maria hanging over my head reminding me to cross my T's and dot my I's.

I might have smiled and spun some nice story for her something that would have maybe even endeared me to her. But here now today of all days, with her coffee hovering over top of my notes, I'm afraid I can't play that game.

"No." I say simply and try to get back to work we've got a little less than an hour now to go before I can get back to Alice. I'm almost done the transcribing this page. I just want to get through this day.

Cindy ignores my subtle reproach. She moves behind me from my left to my right.

I don't like this. She makes me nervous.

She steps up close to my right side to look at something else. I brace for a stab of pain, she's entirely too close to my bad side. I really only feel comfortable with Alice close to me on my right.

"Cindy did Dad tell you what Emmett and Rosalie have been doing this summer?" Edward asks in a cheery voice that doesn't sound much like the Edward I've been working with.

"No, how are they, Emmett's not getting into trouble is he?" Cindy's attention turns to Edward which is truly a relief.

I can breath again as she steps away from me and down the long conference table to go talk to Edward taking her coffee with her.

Thirty minutes to go.

Emmett

It's been raining all day. There's nothing on TV. I'm not on the work schedule today. So I'm laying on the floor in front of the couch with the slinky doing nothing.

Edward off doing Edwardie things up in his room. The girls are hanging out on the couch doing their knitting and stuff. If I say I'm bored to Aunt Esme she'll find something for me to do, not necessarily what I'd want to do though. And Jasper is sitting in the wingback chair in the corner reading.

He's not said more than hello to me and we've been in the same room like an hour now.

"What'cha reading Jasper?" I prop myself up on one elbow and ask him from the floor.

His eyes jump from Alice to me and lock onto mine what I like to call Jasper's 'Intense Owl' look. The one he gets when you talk to him when he's not expecting you to. I imagine in his head he's going 'Who just said my name? Who's talking to me? Who is interrupting the guarding of my Alice?'

I smile at him. Hopefully he can see I'm genuinely asking. He doesn't smile back. I don't think I've seen him smile all afternoon. He looks away from me and back to the book. He does answer though.

"Henry the Fifth."

"That's like Shakespeare, right?" I think I've heard of it.

"It is." He says simply.

"You're reading that for fun? Can you actually understand any of it?" I don't know why anyone would read any Shakespeare outside of school.

"Yes." His eyebrow raises like he thinks I'm the crazy one.

"Man, I never understand any of it. All the thees and thous. When we read Romeo and Juliet in class it put me to sleep." I was so bored. I got more detentions while the class read that play than I did all the rest of the school year.

"Emmett most readings for class put you to sleep." Rosalie speaks. That is kinda true.

"Well I can't help it if they just aren't interesting." Rosalie rolls her eyes.

"Did you listen to any of it? There are sword fights and feuds and poison in Romeo and Juliet." She stops her knitting to look at me.

"Really?" I thought it was just about two brats who run away when they can't be together.

"Yes." She shakes her head.

"What subject do you like?" Alice asks me curiously.

"I don't know," I really don't have a favorite or anything. I've never really been great in school so I don't like much of it. "Science is kind of interesting. Sometimes history is ok depending on the teacher I guess."

"My favorite book that I read in school about history was Johnny Tremain." Alice perks up. "Did you read that? It was about a boy during the Revolutionary war."

"Nah" not that I remember of course that doesn't mean the class didn't read it.

"I think Edward read it." Rosalie suggests. Of course he did the only person I've seen read more than Edward is Uncle Carlisle and now I guess Jasper, he seems to be reading most of the time.

"You should read it Emmett you'll like it." Alice seems pretty certain of that.

"Eddie might have a copy." Rosalie smiles slyly at me. She knows my history with books. Though I did like the last one Alice suggested I read.

"Hum sure..." I reply noncommittally, and decide to change the subject off of books and school, I mean this is summer after all. "Hey, anybody want to play cards?" No one answers. Rosalie does smile which gives me hope. "Come on." I say enthusiastically hoping to get someone interested.

"Jasper, you know any good card games?" I press. He half looks up from what he's reading.

"I guess..."

His almost answer is all I need. I get up off the floor. "We should play! I'll go grab some snacks. There should be cards in the basket on the book shelf next to you. They're in a red tin. I could actually bring the card table in here, probably. Would a tray table do? I'll figure it out."

I run to the kitchen and grab a bag of chips, and some sodas in case any one wants something, a tray table and folding chair. I grab as much as I can til I can't carry anymore. I'll come back and get the other folding chairs if the girls want to play.

I clamber back into the sitting room and find Jasper gone. Alice looks concerned the direction of the music room.

"What's up?" I ask shifting all the things in my arms so I can put the chair and tray down.

"I think Jasper is just tired. He's had to pretend for a long time." Alice says cryptically and then gets up to presumably go after Jasper.

"Hum ok." I drop the chair and the tray unceremoniously but manage to hold onto the food and sodas.

"He did look tired and kind of irritable when he left." Rose agrees with Alice.

"I wouldn't have bothered him if I'd known it would upset him." I was didn't mean to be irritating.

Rosalie shrugs. "It happens."

Yeah Rosalie's done pretty much the same thing to me a number of times. I've thought she was fine and we were cool and then like a light switch being flipped she just changes in an instant and everything's not fine.

Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle say that she can be moody. I guess Jasper can be moody too. I guess everyone can be moody sometimes.

"That book, the Johnny Tremain one, you think Edward has a copy?"

"Maybe." Rosalie stands up and takes one of the sodas from my arms causing everything to shift. I scramble to keep it all from falling.

Upstairs I knock on Edward's door. "Come in."

"Hey man what's up?"

"Nothing..." He leaves the word hanging and I know he's asking what I want.

"Rosalie said you might have this book Alice suggested I read and have you heard of some book call Johnny Tremain?"

"Um yeah, I read that in the sixth grade. I have it." Edward puts down his guitar and moves to his bookshelf and starts looking. "You really that bored that you're looking for a book to read?"

"Well I thought I was gonna play cards with Jasper but I guess I just pissed him off or something."

Edward smirks at me. "You pissed someone off?" He says sarcastically.

I have at times pushed buttons just to get a raise out of my little brother but that's what brothers do.

"I didn't mean to all I did was ask him if he knew any card games and then I went to get snacks. Really I was doing him a favor he was probably bored out of his mind reading Shakespeare."

"You told him to get the cards." Edward and I both spin around to find Rosalie in the doorway sipping her coke.

"Yeah I asked him to get the cards... that red tin of cards what seriously on the shelf next to where he was sitting."

"Oh you did what I did earlier today." Edward shakes his head and looks like he understands something I don't.

"You asked him to play cards earlier?" I'm not following.

"No," He rolls his eyes at me and has Rosalie come in so he can shut the door. "I asked for him to get me a folder with an orange label and I think he got kind of upset when he couldn't find it."

"Why..." seriously what am I missing here. I sit back wards on the desk chair and Rosalie sits on the end of the bed.

"We forgot he's colorblind." Edward explains.

"Oh... oh crap you did say that, I totally forgot." Now I really do feel bed. "You think that's why he got upset."

"It could be." Edward answers

"All he had to do was say something. Or he could of even told me to get the cards myself jeez it's no big deal."

"It might be to him." Rosalie points out. I guess I get that.

We're all quiet for a minute and then I remember something about Jasper that I was thinking about earlier.

"Hey so I was thinking..." I start and receive the expected moans and groans from the others.

"What is it now?"

"Well we know Uncle Carlisle knows more than us about Jasper. Right like maybe he already knows everything, about how old he is, everything. One thing we haven't considered is maybe Uncle Carlisle was selected to be Sergeant Whitlock's doctor."

"What are you talking about?" Rosalie sits up a bit and Edward turns from his book shelf.

"Think about it Uncle Carlisle is a really good doctor, with a history of taking great care of young...hum difficult patients and he has government connections."

"Oh...oooohh." Rosalie thinks for a second "That is actually not the craziest thing you've come up with."

Edward actually gets on board with the idea. "It would explain why no one has been able to answer any questions. If the government is evolved in all of it."

"I know right." It's scary just how not crazy the theory is.

Tbc...

Shout Outs:

Sky Dog: He is being very stoic. He's endured a lot so he figures what's a little more pain. Thank you for reading and for your review :)

baby Cyclopes: I'm so glad you liked it. I'm glad that you saw Alice and Jasper were both trying to help one another, I was hoping that came across. Thanks!

Brazos: I'm glad you saw Jasper was acting differently because he was in pain. And Yeah Edward didn't hear him cuss but we all know he did! Thank you so much for your review!

Fourjays: Oh yes, he wants to protect her she is his world this time he couldn't make it to her, he's not going to be satisfied with that.

Our Miss Connie: I'm glad you liked that it was fun to write!

Olivier: Yes that is the terrible terrible plan

Beb Sweets: He's going to have a bad time of it. He's going to need all the help he can get!

Welsh Angharad: That is so true! Funny. Emmett is great, he showed up in this chapter and he's got some stuff to do in the next few. Thanks!

Evangeline: Yes he went to the sitting room so he could listen for Alice. No I don't think he's done it before. I think he's not totally comfortable being around the house without Alice and things just got that much more crazy in his life, him finding out about Alice's seizures and her having a nightmare. Desperate times call for desperate messures.

NO OFFENCE: What is going on is that I'm making up this story. Making it up in my spare time, for fun, fairly quickly and for free. If you don't think the door should have been closed than imagine the door wasn't closed. I'm not a parent, I've never been in that situation, my first instinct was they are teenagers and they deserve privacy. I'm trying my best to come up with what I think might happen and yeah it might not be what you or even the majority thinks would happen, that's just the way it goes. Seriously if you are at all enjoying this story you should maybe think about saying 'thank you' instead of yelling at me about some little detail you don't agree with. I'm open to suggestions but nit picking this story will get you no where. Thank you for reading

Maxie: Yes! I love that about Jasper and Alice that really want to be there for each other sometimes even at their own expense. Thank you for reading and your review!

Painedjaspeluvr: Was this chapter whumpy enough to satisfy? What's your definition of whump? What do you want to see whump wise? I've got more of what I consider whump coming up a bit of hurt and a bit of comfort.

Georgia Peaches: I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you for saying so. It always makes me happy to hear someone is enjoying what I wrote. Thank you for reading and for all of your reviews.

Thanks everyone!