Happy New Year, Everyone!
CHAPTER NINE
Minutes turned into hours and then days. Unbeknownst to anyone, Edward practically disappeared. I tried to think of every solution to his whereabouts, but nothing ever came up. It was like he was never even here. At first, I figured he was placed on another level, but usually, word got released of that, and no news was ever brought to anyone's attention. The attendants and doctors wouldn't provide me with any information due to the "regulations" here. I grew frustrated by the lack of communication but mainly not being able to say goodbye.
I was in a particularly sour mood this afternoon after yet again no word from Edward. Alice had grown exhausted from my "pseudo-depression" and grew weary of the whole situation. I found myself keen to hide my emotions from her and decided to bottle them up. Of course, I was no expert, and my anger/depression was evident on my face and demised energy. So here we were, the three of us, and I felt more alone than ever before in my life. It seemed as though after Edward's disappearance, everything in my world went from color to black and white.
The only silver lining was that Alice and Jasper's relationship felt like it was taking significant strides. Though Alice has yet to confirm what was going on between them, it was becoming noticeable. They pretty much were, in fact, an "item" by their body language and overall happiness. I watched as Alice and Jasper playfully fooled around on the couch, innocent to the outside eye. I zoned out until I noticed two fellow patients staring disgusted at them, at their carelessness, and for some reason, I snapped. Maybe it was all this pent up aggression that I had, which finally I had popped.
Alice and Jasper were in their own world when I stood up and walked over to "Tweedledee" and "Tweedledum." They both looked up at me at the same time as I stomped over with my hands on my hips. The girls looked a bit imitated, which only added fuel to my fire. "Excuse." I interrupted their gawking stares. "You know, it's impolite to stare." I pointed out. My tone was low, but my words were drenched in annoyance.
The one girl looked a bit nervous, but her friend, "Tweedledum," gave me the attitude right back. From what I remembered, she was a relatively new patient that joined us to "re-examine" herself after suffering from exhaustion. In layman's terms, she was a spoiled actress that wanted out of her contract, so she used the loophole of "mental breakdown" as an excuse. She had no reason to be here besides collecting a hefty paycheck and doing a reality show on her road to recovery.
"Tweedledum" flicked her perfectly coiffed hair as her cold eyes started up at me. "Excuse, this is a free country, and we can stare at whoever we want. And second of all, that is a complete joke coming from you of all people. So go kindly go fuck yourself... or we can leave that up to your daddy" Her voice was sweet and laced in a higher pitch. I was dumbfounded by her venom. That horrid word snapped Alice and Jasper from their world and brought them over to watch the scene unfold.
Before I could do anything else… Everything went black.
I moaned as I felt a small tension headache pulsating in the front of my head. My muscle tightened as a need to stretch became ever more evident. I opened my eyes as I stared up at my familiar ceiling. My hands rubbed my face as I tried to remember how I got back into my bed. The loud, unfamiliar cough caught my attention as I turned my head to find a stressful Jasper looking at me.
My eyes blinked a couple of times, getting used to the light. Jasper stood up and walked over, and sat at the edge of my bed. I pushed myself up so that I could arch my stiff back. My mind tried to think back to what happened and what brought Jasper here. Finally, after a pregnant pause, Jasper broke the silence. "How are you doing, Bella?" his voice asked me softly.
I rubbed my face once more to wake myself up even further, still confused about what had happened. The only conclusion was that I had an attack, but why… And then it hit me. It had to happen after my confutation with the "Tweedledum" girls. I looked back over and saw the stress marks evident on Jasper's face. "Fine." I said softly, "Actually, more than fine. I feel as though I just got a good night's rest." I tried to make light of the situation.
Of course, the situation probably occurred was no laughing matter, but I didn't want to add an extra burden onto Alice and Jasper. I watched as Jasper smirked a bit at my comment. "Good." was all he said. I could see him struggling to say something else but knew he was more of the "silent type." "Alice should be back in about thirty minutes." Jasper paused, "She had her appointment that she couldn't miss." he concluded.
I nodded my head in acknowledgment since I could see Jasper become more nervous. I still don't understand why he was shy around me still… "It's cool," I said. "You don't have to be here. I don't want to keep you." I pointed out. I hated that they thought I needed a babysitter but could understand their nervousness after I suffered an attack. "I don't want to keep you, and watching me sleep was probably as exciting as watching paint dry." I rambled on.
Jasper rapidly shook his head in disagreement, "No, no, no." he repeated. "It's nothing like that." he paused. "I want to be here," he emphasized in his last sentence. "I wanted to make sure you were okay…" Jasper took a deep breath as I observed him. He fidgeted on the bed but took a deep breath to calm himself. "I wanted to thank you." He looked deep into my eyes.
My forehead scrunched up even further. "Thank me for what?" I tried to think back to what happened, but my mind was met with complete darkness again. Endless waste of nothingness, but still the confusion on why Jasper wanted to thank me had now quenched my knowledge to know more. He didn't seem like an appraisal type but something about this moment felt more genuine than I ever experienced.
"For defending me." He stopped herself. "For defending, Alice and I." he concluded. My head tilted to the side, still unsure about what he meant. Of course, I would support these two to the end, but I was still confused about what happened, and I guess that was evident on my face. "Valerie, (Tweedledum) said some…" Jasper paused as he searched for the correct terminology, "Arrogant and nasty comments, and you fixed her." he stopped.
I watched as Jasper relieved that memory as a smile formed on his face. "What happened?" I became eager to hear more about the story. I leaned forward and sat crossed legged as Jasper followed suit. He went on to tell me what happened and what unfolded. Basically, these idiots were talking "shit" about all of us, and I lost it, well E., did. She came out and verbally bashed them both to tears. Of course, Jasper glanced over the fact that E. almost popped them both, much to my surprising satisfaction.
Of course, I was more annoyed that Jasper prevented me from doing so, but he countered that violence was never the answer and that those two were just empty shells of people that only felt something when they treated others lower than them. It made them feel more empowered, but they were more dead inside than those who were actually dead in all actuality. Of course, E., the terminology was not as eloquent as I would have typically said so, but she did bring the fear of God into those girls. Jasper concluded that it helped them see the "light" or at least shut their mouth around them.
We both busted out in a fit of laughter as he continued with precise details about their faces and how I almost broke one of the girl's noses. Of course, I was shocked to be here and not locked up on the second level, of which Jasper concluded with, "No one technically saw anything since well, and everyone hated them, so it was practically looked over." Jasper stopped and dropped something about her family, "Plus, my mom's this human right attorney, and I threatened to call her if they proceeded to take action." Jasper casually shrugged his shoulders in conclusion. I smiled and nodded my head at that little piece of knowledge. "Plus, I've been pretty much on edge ever since Alice, and I almost got caught making out in Ms. Deluca Group Therapy Room," Jasper said with a straight face.
I was about to continue on something else, but then his last sentence prevented me from doing so. I literally had a "deer in the headlight look." "Wait for what?" I said. Jasper stopped the conversation and looked at me strangely. My mouth had dropped at this revelation. "Are you and Alice together?" I asked.
Jasper smacked his hand to his forehead; apparently, their secret was revealed. "You didn't know?" he asked inquisitively, in which I held up my hands and nodded no. "What?!" he shouted. "I thought she would have told you already?" Jasper sounded more upset than annoyed.
I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of what to say or do, and felt more uncomfortable by the minute. I was a bit shocked that Alice was not the one who told me, but I can understand why she didn't. It was similar to why I haven't told Alice about everything with Edward. Something we leave things for ourselves and hold onto those private moments before other factors can contaminate it.
Still, I was reeling from this revelation but felt as though Jasper and I haven't hit that level in our friendship yet to gossip about him and Alice. I quickly switched the subject since he had obviously checked out and no longer felt comfortable discussing this matter with me. I could understand since we were just in the beginning phase of our friendship, and those two were in the beginning stages of their own relationship. We all were on a fine line, and I didn't want to push any harder.
Jasper and I continued our conversation but changed the subject matter to something more lighthearted. Soon enough, time quickly flew by, and before we knew it, Alice came bouncing in. Both Jasper and I were in mid-laugh when we stopped at Alice's presence. Jasper knew that he wanted to leave us alone, grabbed my hand, and lightly pressed down. It was a small but warm one that made me realize that he cared about me. I looked up at him and gently smiled and thanked him quickly with my eyes.
Once Jasper left the room, I turned my attention back to Alice. I felt as though the tables had been turned. The spotlight was no longer on Edward and me but on those two. Alice could sense something brewing as she finally caught onto the energy that lingered heavily in the room. "Shit, he spoiled it, didn't he?" Her voice screeched as my smile grew wider. I wasn't sure if it was the happiness of knowing that those two were in a relationship, or I could be the one for once to give her the "talk." Either or I was happy for her and glad that she moved on.