Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable.
When I opened my eyes that morning, I should have just rolled over and went back to sleep.
My day started as usual. When I got up, I noticed it was lighter than normal, and I looked outside to see snow on the road and ice on the trees where the rain from yesterday had frozen over. I didn't think anything of it.
It wasn't until later, when I was making my morning visit to the toilet, that the vision hit me.
Bella was standing by her truck, staring at the tires. I was walking up to her, and noticed that Charlie had put snow chains on the tires. Good. Bella's tires were pretty bald. I carefully leaned on the truck next to her and said, "That was nice of Charlie. We need to get you some new tires soon."
Bella jumped, and I giggled at her. She let out a breath and said, "Why do you feel the need to scare me like that?"
"Why do you always feel the need to be unobservant when I'm around?" I shot back.
She gave me that look that said, Really? You're going to go there?
I smiled sweetly at her, twisting my body in a cute way to make myself look like a little kid. Bella opened her mouth to say something, but I couldn't hear her over the sound of the screech of locked tires on pavement. My head snapped to the side, and I saw a large dark blue van heading straight for us.
I reacted on instinct, pushing Bella out of the way. She skidded a few feet away from me, and I mentally sighed in relief when I saw she was out of the way; however, when I pushed her, the momentum was causing me to fall towards the ground.
The last thing I saw was the chrome and black coloring of the van's tire heading for my face before it went black.
I spent the next three minutes looking for other possibilities for this vision. My visions were similar to Alice's in the way that black equaled dead. Seriously? I only lasted, like, four chapters into this freaking book? Are you fucking serious?
Finally, I gave up. This vision was solid, so either I was going to die, or I just didn't see that far into the future. I decided I was going to have to act as normal as I could. Bella could tell when I was jittery, and I didn't need her freaking out over nothing. If it was nothing.
Wow, I was morbid this morning. Stupid vision.
Charlie was gone by the time Bella and I got downstairs this morning. Bella was rather happy-go-lucky this morning, and I, of course, being me, had to comment on it. She stuttered and blushed, and I teased her, saying that she was so bright today because she was going to get to see Edward again. Her face was tomato red as she ate her cereal.
When we headed out to get in our cars, I told her to be careful before I hopped in my own truck. I knew she would be fine, thanks to the vision I had this morning, but sometimes the little things can make someone's day better.
I blasted music and sang horribly off-key as I drove to school, trying to distract myself. At least my vision would happen quickly, and I wouldn't have to be anxious all damn day.
As I pulled into the school's parking lot, I turned down the music. Once I pulled into a parking space, I turned my truck off and leaned my head against the top of the steering wheel. I took a couple of deep breaths, and tried to shake off the fear. After a couple moments, I let out another deep breath, nodded to myself, and hopped out of my truck.
Bella was parked a couple rows away from me, and I carefully walked over there, trying to avoid most of the patches of ice that littered the parking lot. It was no wonder Tyler's van went out of control. The school didn't use enough rock salt on the damn parking lot.
As I approached Bella's truck, I saw her standing there, staring at her tires. I dropped my book bag quietly on the ground next to me, and then carefully leaned against the truck. Looking toward her tires, I saw that they were balder than I had originally thought, and said aloud, "Damn. I didn't think your tires were that bald. Good thing Charlie thought to put snow chains on them."
Bella jumped, her head snapping up to look at me. I had to giggle at her. She was breathing heavily with her hand over her heart, and she glared at me and said, "Why do you feel the need to scare me like that?"
"Why do you always feel the need to be so unobservant when I'm around?" I shot back.
Oh. There it was. The really-fucking-really face. Beautiful. It looks exactly like it did in the visions, but better.
She opened her mouth to retort, but my ears were busy being filled with the screeching of tires. My head whipped to the side, and all I could see was Tyler's van headed for Bella. My arms instinctively shot out, and I heard Bella scream as she landed a few feet behind the truck and away from where the van would hit. I, on the other hand, managed to catch myself before my head hit the ground. When I looked over, I saw my vision being fulfilled as I saw Tyler's tire headed for my face, and I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.
The sound of metal being smashed together caught my attention, and pain suddenly erupted in my ankle. I let out a small cry, and I suddenly felt something icy on my face. My eyes opened, and, above me, was the most beautiful sight I could have ever hoped for.
Jasper hovered above me, gently stroking my cheek. His lips were moving, but I didn't know what he was saying. I was too busy looking around me.
Somehow, I was now on my back. No idea how that had happened. I was shoved between Bella's truck and Tyler's van, with Jasper crouched over me. Looking over, I saw that Tyler's tire, the one that had been headed toward me, was now a few feet away from me. A large part of the side of Tyler's van was crushed, and I could see two distinct handprints on the side.
That's when it hit me.
Jasper saved me.
The black end of my vision hadn't been my death, it had been me closing my eyes.
Thank. Fucking. God.
"Seri?" I finally heard Jasper's voice saying. "Seri, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah. I can hear you," I said, trying to gently swat his hands away from my body as he tried to check my injuries. Another thought suddenly came into my mind. "Is Bella okay?"
Jasper sighed. "Bella's fine. Edward's with her right behind you. I think she may have hit her head though."
I twisted around to look behind me, and saw Edward holding Bella, seemingly arguing with her. Yep. She was fine.
I sighed in relief, and began sitting up. Jasper gently grabbed the top of my arm, his other hand supporting my back. I looked up at him, and met his honey-golden eyes filled with worry and fear. I couldn't help it. I threw my arms around him, my head on his shoulder, and squeezed him tight as I whispered in his ear, "Thank you so much for saving me, especially when you didn't have to."
"Shhh," Jasper said in my ear soothingly, gently rubbing his hand up and down my back.
It was true, though. He didn't have to. He had basically just exposed himself, had the others around us been more observant and less dumb and gullible. He had also just invoked the wrath of his family onto himself. Hell yeah I was going to be grateful.
As the adrenaline wore off, the pain in my ankle started coming back, and I started digging my fingers into Jasper's back and shoulders as it came back full force.
Jasper carefully pulled me away from him when I whimpered quietly between my clenched teeth.
"What is it, darlin'? Where are you hurt?" Jasper asked, his southern drawl slipping out. God, he really shouldn't hide that drawl. It was damn sexy.
Wait, what did he say?
"My ankle," I managed to grunt out. He was sitting on his knees, straddling my lower abdomen, so it wasn't a surprise he hadn't noticed it before. When he turned to look, I peeked over him and saw my ankle caught between the tires of Bella's truck and Tyler's van. I watched as Jasper looked around, and, apparently seeing that no one was close enough to see what he was doing, gently nudged Tyler's van, just enough to leave an inch of space between my foot and the tire. Pain flared up even worse, crawling up my calf, and I let out another sound of pain that came from the back of my throat.
"Sorry, doll," Jasper apologized, and somehow managed to pick me up in the tiny amount of space we were in. As he was carrying me over towards where Bella and Edward were located, the sound of people screaming, asking if we were okay and calling out "Someone call 911!" filled my ears.
As he squeezed us out from between the cars entirely, I told him, "Set me down by Bella."
He looked down at me for a moment before nodding, and the next minute I was placed on the ground next to Bella.
"Thanks," I said, and he nodded. My attention was then turned to Bella, and my need to know she was actually okay overrode the pain in my ankle. "Are you okay, Bell?"
Bella turned to me, pausing in her argument with Edward, who was hovering next to her, and her eyes widened. "I'm fine. When did you get over here? Are you okay?"
"Jasper just dropped me over here," I told her, and I saw her look toward my feet. Her eyes widened even more. "And I'm perfectly fi—Ah!"
Pain hit me before the feeling of ice colliding with fire traveled over my ankle. My head whipped towards my feet, and I saw Jasper leaning over my legs. He had peeled the bottom of my skinny jeans away from my ankle and pulled it up my leg. One of my plain black converse and favorite plaid sock lay next to my leg, and he had put his hand around my ankle, which was already purple and swollen.
"Sorry," Jasper muttered, and gently began probing my ankle.
I kept my teeth clenched as he checked it out, trying not to make any noise. Next to me, I could hear Bella and Edward arguing again.
"You were by your car," Bella accused, and I could tell by the tone of her voice that this wasn't the first time she had said this.
"Bella, I was walking right over here to talk to you when Tyler's van came," Edward replied, his voice dead serious.
"Oh, yeah? Then what about Jasper? How did he get over by Seri?" Bella returned, sounding smug. I saw Edward's eyes widen, and he looked toward my feet, where I could feel Jasper had paused his fingers on my ankle.
"He was walking over here, too," I said, grinding my teeth. "I waved him over when he was walking to your truck. He was following me over. He must have been just close enough to pull me out of the way when Tyler's van came at me."
You could practically smell the disbelief in the air. Bella couldn't believe what I had said in general, and Edward and Jasper couldn't believe I was lying and defending them. The feeling of their eyes on me was super awkward, and I looked down at the ground. I glanced over at Jasper, and his eyes met mine before flicking over to his right. I followed his line of sight and saw Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett standing by a large Jeep that I knew belonged to Emmett.
"Jasper," I said, causing his black gaze to lock back on me. "Go to your family. I'll be fine."
"Seri…" he said slowly, and the look on his face said, I'd really rather not.
Luckily, I was saved by the EMTs, who were bringing stretchers over. Bella, after a lot of arguing, ended up on a stretcher in a neck brace after Edward told them she had hit her head and probably had a concussion. When they went to place me on a stretcher, Jasper told them I had a dislocated ankle, which I totally believed. After that, I shooed him away, and they began moving me.
"Bella! Seri!" I could hear Dad yell as they were about to load Bella on the stretcher.
I was already in the ambulance, and the male EMT with me told me to take a deep breath while he tightened his grip on my foot. As I took the deep breath, he slammed his hand into the bottom of my foot. I heard a loud pop, and the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life rocketed up through my body as I yelled, "Holy fucking shit!"
I blacked out right after that wonderful fiasco, and when I finally came to, I was swimming in white. White ceiling with bright lights, white sheets on a bed, white walls. A loud beeping that was all too familiar to me came from my right, and I knew in that particular moment that I was in the hospital. At least my foot is numb.
"Seri," a deep, musical voice said to my right. My voice snapped to the side to see Emmett in a chair right beside my bed.
"Mountain Man," I said in relief, smiling softly. Emmett's eyes lit up at the use of his nickname, and the corners of his lips tilted up. "What are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you," he replied, just as softly. "Your Dad just left to take Bella home. I told him me and Jasper would take you home."
"Jasper?" I asked curiously. I'd have thought he would be at home with his family. But Emmett was here too, so I guess they were rebelling. For me. Awe.
"Yeah," Emmett said. "He's out in the hall talking to Carlisle. He's really worried."
I nodded in response and, because I absolutely hated hospitals and was jealous that Bella was already on her way home, asked, "Do you know when I'm getting out of here?"
Emmett chuckled, likely seeing the irritation on my face as I looked at the needle stabbed into the back of my right hand and the clip on my finger. "Once Carlisle checks on you one more time, he'll decide if you get to go home. They're apparently concerned because you passed out in the ambulance."
I scowled at him. "They put my foot back in place in the back of that damn ambulance. Hell yeah, I passed out. That shit hurt."
"Yeah….I know," he said, grinning from my annoyance. That only caused me to scowl even more.
"Was anything wrong with Bella?" I asked Emmett, trying to steer the conversation away from my unhappiness of being here.
"No," Emmett said. "I think she just had a couple of bruises. No concussion or anything though."
"Is she still fighting with Edward over what happened?" I asked, knowing they still were but needing to ask anyways.
Emmett glanced in my eyes for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Apparently, he found nothing, because he said, "Yeah. She's stubborn."
"You're telling me," I said, trying to cross my arms only to realize that I couldn't because of the IV still stuck in my skin. My lower lip began to puff out in a pout, and Emmett started his belly-aching laugh.
Pouting harder, I was about to retort, but as soon as I opened my mouth, the door of my room swung open and Jasper was next to me a moment later, followed by a light breeze.
"Seri," Jasper said softly, taking a spot right next to Emmett and gently taking my hand, stroking the back of it in soothing circular motion. "How do you feel?"
In my head, all I could think was Shouldn't you already know that?
"I believe it's in my job description to be the one asking that question, Jasper," another male voice cut in before I could say anything. Looking to my left, I saw a tall blonde man, exceptionally pale and extraordinarily hot walking up to me. When the fuck did he get here?
Seeing my eyes were now on him, he smiled at me with an attractive mouth full of straight white teeth and said, "Hello, Miss Swan. My name is—"
"Carlisle Cullen. Yeah, yeah. I know. So when can I get out of here?" I asked quickly, waving my free hand around. Carlisle's face turned into one of surprise, probably because I had the nerve to talk to him that way. Emmett started booming his laughter again, and I could hear Jasper quietly snickering beside me. I looked over at them. "What? I want out of here. I hate hospitals."
Carlisle seemed to recover from his surprise, because he chuckled as well and said, "Yes, the hatred seems to run in your family. Now, discussing your ankle. You'll be in a walking boot for six weeks, and you'll have to use crutches for that time. No unnecessary walking or standing. Your ankle needs iced three to five times a day, and the boot needs to come off twice a day for twenty minutes each. You also need to make sure you keep your foot elevated above your heart as much as you can. I know you have school, so at least try to elevate it on a chair while you are there."
"Please tell me you have this written on a piece of paper somewhere cause you lost me after 'in a boot for six weeks,'" I said, waving my hand.
Carlisle sighed slightly, and said exasperatedly, "Yes. It is. I'll give it to Jasper and Emmett to give to your father when they take you home."
"Sweet deal, Doc," I said. "Now can you de-needle me and give me my clothes. Sitting in front of two guys in a piece of tissue paper is kind of awkward in any context."
Carlisle chuckled, shaking his head, while Emmett boomed his laughter next to me. I could see the wide smile on Jasper's face as he, too, shook his head at me. What? I was like this normally. And now I'm on pain meds, so they should be glad I'm not worse.
"I'll have a nurse come unhook you from your IV and bring you your clothes," Carlisle said, turning toward the door. As he was about to head out the door, he turned around for a moment and said, "I can see why my children quite like you, Miss Swan."
Then he disappeared around the doorframe. I sat for a moment before raising my eyebrows and then turning to Jasper and Emmett and saying, "You guys….like me? I'm so honored, senpai!"
"Senpai?" Jasper asked, his drawl coming out slightly. Emmett raised an eyebrow and looked at Jasper with a shit-eating grin on his face. I should have known that Emmett has seen some kind of anime. He seemed like the type, now that I thought about it.
I was saved from answering by the nurse that came, carrying my clothes under one arm in a neatly folded pile. I almost snorted. They'd never be folded that neatly again. Unless I could convince Bella to do my laundry.
As she shooed the boys out so that she could unhook me and I could get dressed, I yelled to Emmett, "Explain to Jasper what a senpai is while you're out there!"
I could hear the smile in Emmett's voice as he shouted back, "Sure thing, Little Red!"
Those boys….
With Jasper earlier…
After I gave Seri to the paramedics and watched them load her up into the ambulance, I walked slowly over to where Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice were still standing. Edward, I knew, had gotten in the ambulance with Bella. I should have done the same with Seri, but I also knew that I needed to get away from her for a little while and talk to my family.
However, I knew that as soon as I got over to my family, I should have just gone with Seri anyways. Anger, resentment, fear, disappointment, and a barrage of other emotions hit me hard. And they were only coming from Alice and Rosalie. Emmett was radiating a large amount of concern, worry, protectiveness, and familial love as he clutched Rosalie to his side with one hand. It looked like it would have hurt her, had she been human.
"What the hell were you thinking, Jasper?" Alice yelled at me when I got close enough that the humans wouldn't notice we were fighting amongst ourselves. "Or were you thinking at all?"
Before I could respond, Rosalie started in. "I expected this out of Edward, Jasper, but never from you. You both could have just exposed us to the entire human race here in Forks, Jasper. Then the whole family will have to either become fugitives or die at the hands of Volturi. Is that what you want, Jasper? To have the family split apart and killed because you want to save some insignificant little human girl?"
My anger flared, fueled by hers, Alice's, and now Emmett's own anger, and I growled low in my chest, barring my teeth slightly. I could feel my eyes darken in color. Seri may have been human, but she was one of the only people that I could talk to like I was just another person. Outside of the family.
"Don't you growl at Rosalie, Jasper. She's just stating the truth," Alice said scathingly, crossing her arms.
"How do you know that, Alice? Hmm? Did you see it in a vision?" I snapped at her. I knew for a fact that she couldn't see shit when she tried to look for a future with Seri in it.
"And what about Bella?" Emmett questioned, releasing Rosalie and coming over to stand by me and crossing his own arms defensively before Alice could retaliate. "Edward would have saved her, too, had Seri not been there to do it. But you're only berating Jasper saving Seri."
"That's because Bella is important to the family! To our future happiness!" Alice screeched, stomping her foot.
"I think we should have let them both get squashed," Rosalie mumbled under her breath. Emmett and I ignored her, knowing already how she felt.
"And Seri is important to me and Jasper now!" Emmett boomed, loud enough for some of the humans to turn their heads toward us. He then shook his head, disgust blooming in his emotions. He nudged me gently with his shoulder before saying, "Come on, Jasper. Let's go to the hospital. They can run home."
Alice gasped in horror and Rosalie's eyes widened. She tried to place a hand on Emmett's arm as he walked by, but he pushed it away and walked to the driver's side of the Jeep, hopping in. I did the same on the passenger side. Emmett started it up and we headed out of the parking lot, leaving Alice and Rosalie to stare after us.
It was a pretty quiet ride to the hospital, with both of us trying to calm down. Emmett was managing to keep the speed limit, if only a little over, but his grip on the steering wheel was so tight that he was leaving grooves. It would need replaced.
As we got to the hospital, we both hopped out and headed in. Forks' hospital was pretty small, with only three floors. We walked in, and the woman at the receptionist table beamed at us, sending off emotions of lust, guilt, and disapproval. I nearly rolled my eyes. It was normal, but it was still disgusting.
Emmett, completely oblivious to the woman's emotions, walked right up to the counter and leaned on it with his elbows.
"We're looking for Serinda Swan," he said. "Can you tell us where she is?"
"She's in room one seventeen," the receptionist said dreamily, her eyes drooping slightly as she began to rest her chin in her hand.
Emmett and I nodded to her as we began to walk toward Seri's room. As we rounded a corner, Emmett said, "I wonder why she's in the ICU."
His concern was back again full force, and I almost growled at him. It was confusing. For some reason, his emotions were rubbing me the wrong way, so I turned my gift off before it got worse and answered, "She dislocated her ankle. They must need to keep her to make sure it's back in the right spot. And to tell her how to take care of it."
Emmett nodded, accepting my answer. As we stepped up to the door of her room, I tuned into the sounds, and turned my gift back on for a moment. Her breathing and heartbeat were even, and her scent was seeping out from around the cracks of the door, soothing my nerves. I could feel Emmett relax beside me as well. All I could feel in the room was content, which was normal for someone who was asleep and not dreaming.
"She's asleep," I told Emmett lowly, and he nodded his acknowledgement as he opened the door silently and stepped. I followed him a moment later, holding the door back as it closed so it wouldn't make any noise. As I turned back around, I saw that Emmett had already taken one of the chairs beside her, so I instead walked to the other side of the bed to stand beside her.
Her auburn hair was in complete disarray, splaying all over her pillows in tangles. She had an IV in her right hand and a finger connected to a heart monitor on her left. They'd also taken her clothes, and she was in one of the hospital gowns that everyone hates. She was a little paler than usual, but she had more color than when she was in pain earlier. I couldn't help but run a finger down her warm cheek.
I realized I was lost in my own thoughts when Emmett suddenly said, "Carlisle's coming."
And he was right. I could hear Carlisle's quiet footsteps and soothing voice coming up the hall, along with a much heavier set and a much gruffer voice. Charlie Swan. It sounded as though Carlisle was trying to keep him from being so frantic.
"I promise you, Chief Swan. Seri is just fine," Carlisle said, opening the door to the room. I swiftly put my hand in my pocket and raced over to the chair next to Emmett, taking a seat.
Chief Swan walked in right behind Carlisle, and you didn't have to be an empath to know that he was extremely upset. He rushed over to Seri and stood next to the bed, staring over her body, before looking at Carlisle and asking, "Why is she asleep? Is she unconscious? Did she hit her head?"
"Chief Swan," Carlisle started, lowering the chart he was carrying. "Miss Swan was overwhelmed by the amount of pain she was in from having her dislocated ankle set. It caused her to lose consciousness, and the pain medication we have her on now will make her sleep for a small amount of time until it is in full effect."
"So…no head trauma?" Charlie asked, sounding relieved.
Carlisle shook his head. "No head trauma, Chief Swan. And she will be ready to go as soon as she wakes up and I check her then."
"Do you know when that will be?" Charlie asked. "When she'll wake up?"
"I'm afraid not. It's different for everyone," Carlisle answered.
Chief Swan sighed and looked down, scratching at the back of his neck. "Damn. I need to take Bells home so she can call her mother and go to the station to fill out some reports. But I can't just leave Seri here by herself."
"We can take her home, Chief Swan," Emmett piped up. Charlie's head whipped around to look at us, as though he didn't know we had been here this entire time. It was possible. He was pretty concentrated on making sure his daughter was okay when he came in here.
"Well…I don't…I mean," Charlie stuttered, obviously not knowing what to say.
"Really, sir," Emmett said politely. "We don't mind. And we'll make sure she gets there as safely as possible. Right, Jasper?"
"Yes, sir," I said, some of my drawl accidently coming out.
"Well," Charlie said, scratching the back of his neck with a blush spreading across his face. "I suppose…if you really don't mind."
"Not at all!" Emmett chirped, smiling brightly at him.
"Well. All right, I guess," Charlie muttered under his breath. He looked over Seri one more time before glancing at Carlisle. "Can you please give me a call when she's cleared, so I know when she should be heading home?"
"Of course," Carlisle said, giving Charlie his signature soothing smile. Charlie nodded to him in thanks and walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Carlisle turned to me and said, "Jasper, may I speak with you in the hallway?"
"Sure," I said, getting up and following him out into the hall.
Once we got in the hall, Carlisle turned to look at me and said, "Rosalie called to tell me what happened today."
I was immediately on guard. My back stiffened, causing me to straighten my posture. "What? Are you going to tell me that what I did was wrong and is going to ruin the family? Because I've already heard that today."
"Of course not, Jasper," Carlisle said calmly. "You know that I believe that we should help the human race in any way we can."
"But…?" I asked, waiting for him to continue.
He sighed, looking at the ground for a moment before looking back up at me and saying, "But the family does come first. And I'm afraid that your actions today have caused some serious repercussions. If someone noticed what you did, then we would have to leave. Immediately."
I just stared at him. I knew this. It was one of the first and only rules we had. Keep the family safe and don't expose yourself to the humans. But that hadn't crossed my mind at the time. All I'd been thinking about was Seri, body smashed and bones crumbled, with blood leaking out from between the truck and the van. It couldn't happen. It couldn't.
"I just want to inform you of what could happen, Jasper, not what will," Carlisle continued, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'd also like to tell you I'm proud of you for trying to help."
I nodded, and in the back of my mind I heard a small, feminine giggle. My head snapped toward the door, and Emmett's booming laughter caused the wooden door to shake. Seri was awake.
I looked at Carlisle and asked hastily, "Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all," he said.
With that, I turned and walked back into the room, smiling at the happy look on Seri's face as I took my seat next to Emmett. I couldn't help but reach out and carefully grab her hand, tracing circles on it with my thumb as I asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I believe it's in my job description to be the one asking that question, Jasper," Carlisle said, walking to the edge of Seri's bed. Seri's eyes shot over to him, and widened slightly as he smiled, almost in awe. "Hello, Miss Swan. My name is—"
"Carlisle Cullen. Yeah, yeah. I know. So when can I get out of here?" Seri asked quickly, waving her free hand around. Carlisle's face turned into one of surprise, and Emmett and I shared a look. Carlisle apparently hadn't completely believed some of the stuff we had said about her. Neither of us could help but laugh at the expression. Seri, apparently hearing us, looked over at us and said, "What? I want out of here. I hate hospitals."
Carlisle seemed to recover from his surprise, because he chuckled as well and said, "Yes, the hatred seems to run in your family. Now, discussing your ankle. You'll be in a walking boot for six weeks…"
I nearly rolled my eyes as Carlisle continued on his doctor's explanation. Seri's eyes had glazed over slightly and her face was pretty blank. She was obviously not paying attention. How did Carlisle not realize that?
"Please tell me you have this written on a piece of paper somewhere cause you lost me after 'in a boot for six weeks,'" Seri said abruptly, waving her hand around in the air again.
I mentally snickered, and I could feel Emmett's shoulders shake slightly as he laughed silently beside me. Carlisle sighed, and said exasperatedly, "Yes. It is. I'll give it to Jasper and Emmett to give to your father when they take you home."
"Sweet deal, Doc," she said. "Now can you de-needle me and give me my clothes. Sitting in front of two guys in a piece of tissue paper is kind of awkward in any context."
Carlisle chuckled, shaking his head, while Emmett boomed his laughter next to me. I grinned at her, shaking my head. She might not be the only person to have ever thought something like that, but she is the only one that would word it that way.
"I'll have a nurse come unhook you from your IV and bring you your clothes," Carlisle said, turning toward the door. As he was about to duck around the doorframe, he turned around for a moment and said, "I can see why my children quite like you, Miss Swan."
Then he was gone. Seri watched him leave and sat there for a moment, seemingly thinking about something. A few seconds later, she turned to us with her eyebrows raised and said, "You guys….like me? I'm so honored, senpai!"
"Senpai?" I asked, my drawl coming out once again. I don't know why I was slipping up so much lately with my accent, but it's not like Seri really cared. And senpai? I know it was Japanese—I could speak the language fluently, of course—but why did she say it that way? Emmett raised an eyebrow and turned to look at me with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
The nurse came in only a minute later with Seri's clothes folded—and washed, by the smell of them—tucked under her arm and told us to get out. As the door was about to shut behind us, I heard Seri yell, "Explain to Jasper what a senpai is while you're out there!"
Emmett's grin was huge, and I rolled my eyes as he shouted back, "Sure thing, Little Red!"
Then Emmett turned to me and opened his mouth again. Before he could say anything, I held up a hand and said, "No, Emmett. I already know what a senpai is." Emmett pouted, probably upset that he couldn't feed me some made up, perverted version of what a senpai is. I leaned against the wall next to me, hands in my pockets, as something else suddenly came to mind. "So, why do you call her Little Red?"
Emmett shrugged, a small smile on his lips as he explained, "Well, it originally started when she called me Mountain Man, and then she told me that she thought that if the woodcutter in Little Red Riding Hood could be embodied, she thinks he would look like me. And then there's the fact that her hair is red…." Emmett stopped for a second, looking thoughtful, before he shrugged again. "I don't know. It just fits."
I nodded, looking at the ground. I didn't really know what I felt about their kind-of-matching nicknames. I mean, sure, she has one for me—she calls me 'Soldier Boy' often enough—but I didn't have one for her. I'd never called her anything but her preferred name. Should I give her a nickname? And why was I so concerned about this?
The door to the room opened, and the nurse came out and told us, "She's changing. Just a warning, though—we gave her a little bit more pain meds for her first day at home, so she might suddenly get a little loopy here soon."
"Okay," Emmett said.
"Thanks," I said at the same time.
I'm sure this will be interesting.
Back to Seri
God, damn it! Why is this so hard all of a sudden? It should not be this hard to put a freaking shirt on. It's bad enough that the nurse had to help me put my pants on, so I was definitely going to do this by myself. I shit you not, I'm pretty sure it took me, like, five minutes just to put my shirt on. My shoulders ached, so it was hard to get them over my head to get my shirt on, but I finally did it! And that's all that matters.
I grabbed the crutches next to me and carefully placed them under my armpits, making deliberate movements to make it to the door. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at getting the door open with the crutches, I let a sharp breath out through my nose, pouted, and slammed the end of one crutch into the wooden door a couple of times.
The door opened almost immediately, and I grinned into Jasper's worried face as I said, "Ready to go?" and squeezed around him and into the hallway.
"Er, yeah. Let's go then," he murmured from beside me. Emmett came up beside me, looked at me for a moment, and then grabbed me, holding me in a bridal style carry.
I about peed everywhere. My crutches dropped to the ground, and Jasper picked them up before one of the nurses running around here could trip over them as I yelled, "Whoa, bro! A little warning next time would be nice! What if I had to pee? I'd have dribbled all over you!"
Emmett's face turned into one of disgust as he started walking down the hall, Jasper right beside him.
"You wouldn't really have peed on me, would you?" Emmett asked, the disgust evident in his voice.
"I'll pay you fifty bucks to pee on him, darlin'," Jasper said, smirking. His accent was out and about again, exposing his differences. Good.
I giggled at him. "I'd pee on Mountain Man for fifty cents."
"Ew," Emmett said, scrunching his face up. "That's just nasty, Little Red."
I giggled again before shivering slightly. We had just walked outside, and I tucked myself closer to Emmett in a very terrible attempt to get warm. Especially since he was colder than the air. Suddenly, a woolly grey coat fell on top of me, and I looked over to see that Jasper was now in only his t-shirt.
Wow. Those are some nice arms.
"We'll try to get the Jeep warmed up as quickly as possible," Jasper told me, "but you can have my coat for now."
"Thank you, Jasper," I whispered into the jacket. He was not doing a very good job at keeping their secret a secret, but I wasn't going to blow his cover by saying something. Wait a second… "You've got the Jeep?"
"Yep. My baby," Emmett said, walking up to the silver monster that looked like it was twice my height. Jasper opened the door for him, and he carefully set me into the back seat so that my leg was propped up. Emmett and Jasper then climbed into the Jeep, almost too quickly, and cranked the heat as soon as the Jeep was on.
"I thought Rosalie was your baby," I said as we pulled out of the hospital's parking lot.
I could see Emmett and Jasper both scowl in the rearview mirror. Oh. Must have hit a tough spot with the family. They really were rebelling.
I shifted slightly in my seat. "You know, if you guys are going to get in trouble with your family, you don't have to hang out with me. I know you guys usually keep to yourselves…"
I didn't want to be the reason that they have problems with their family.
"No!" they both screamed.
"No. It's fine. They'll get over it," Emmett said reassuringly.
"But…you're having problems with Rosalie now," I started.
"Seri," Jasper interrupted, turning around in the passenger seat to look at me. "Really. It's fine. Our family just isn't very used to mixing with others. We move around a lot, so we try not to get too attached to people."
I stared into his eyes. Of course they moved around a lot. They didn't age, so they had to. Duh. I sighed a second later and nodded to him. He gave me a small smile and turned back around in his seat. Fine. If he and Emmett are okay with being alienated from their family for a while, that was their decision. I'm not going to argue. But I should look into that a little bit later.
I leaned my head back against the window and closed my eyes, listening to the rain wash gently over the roof of the Jeep. A few seconds later, I fell asleep. The next thing I remember was being lifted into another pair of arms. My eyes opened slightly to see pale skin, golden eyes, and honey blond hair. Jasper. My savior.
"Thank you, Jasper," I remember mumbling under my breath. Then I was asleep again.