Jasper only watched with sorrow eyes as Safina lay on the crisp white sheets of the hospital bed, curls spread around her face. Renesmee had taken it upon herself to care for her friend's hair, it seemed to be the only thing keeping her grounded. The Texan didn't know how he done so as long as he had. He expected himself to break down into tears at any given second, though he only held tightly onto Safina's ashen hand and waited to see her coffee-colored irises.
A nurse came in soon enough to check her vitals and Jasper held his breath. He hadn't had any mishaps in years, not since Bella's eighteenth birthday party. Still, he could never be truly sure of himself and simply turned away from the red-haired nurse.
"Has she shown any sign of waking up hun?" It took Jasper a second to realize she was talking to him and rather than responding he only shook his head. "Hm," her tanned face scrunched up in frustrated confusion and she wrote something down on a clipboard.
He had to know, "When should she wake up?" Jasper had not studied medicine like Rosalie, Edward, or Carlisle had. Even Alice took a slight interest in pharmaceuticals in the 1970s, but quickly decided that the subject did not spark as much passion as psychology did.
"Charlotte" - as her name tag read - avoided eye contact with the Cullen boy, deciding on a quick smile and a reassuring, "Any minute now." She was just like the rest of the hospital staff who shared a room with any of the Cullens: nervous, mesmerized, and lustful - despite the unconscious patient whose hand had not left Jasper's since she got there. Charlotte, however, felt guilty. For what, Jasper couldn't decide; maybe she was lying to him and Safina would never wake up, maybe she didn't want Safina to wake up, or - and Jasper rationalized that this was the most likely - maybe she just felt bad that nothing was definitive for the poor boy.
"Thanks," Jasper mumbled, settling back in his spot beside Safina. "I'm not sure if you can hear me," he whispered into her ear, "but on the off chance than you can, I need you to wake up baby." He knew that if he were human, he would be shedding a waterfall of tears. "There's still so much I haven't told you...so much that I need you to know, things that you have to know."
Carlisle stood behind his son, watching from the doorway of the bleak room that reeked of bleach and saline. Jasper had heard the approaching footsteps in the hallway, along with the notes the doctor took as he walked, not having to worry about running into anyone. Though, it still surprised him when his adoptive father didn't smile sympathetically at him like he assumed he would. The Cullen family knew of Jasper's past, well, all that he could tell them without having a flashback episode of the war. Carlisle was understanding of the delicate situation the Texan lay at their feet, all too remembering of the traumatics of war, and what it felt like to imagine himself as a traitor.
"Son, no matter what you tell her, she'll understand. You'll find out in time what it means to be in love. Acceptance is not equivalent to value: your worth won't change in her eyes simply because of who you were. She knows Jasper Hale, not Major Jasper Whitlock," Carlisle's hand rested on top of his son's marble shoulder, a tight grip of reassurance.
"Major?" Safina's voice croaked. Neither of the vampires had heard her wake up, which meant she had to have been either completely silent or had only heard part of their conversation.
Carlisle pushed the topic into another direction: her awakening. "Ah, Safina, so glad to see you're awake," he gave his signature smile and quickly grabbed the flashlight pen out of his white coat pocket, giving the teen girl instructions to follow his finger while he made sure her pupils reacted accordingly to the light. "How do you feel?"
"I feel great, doc," Safina smiled, although Jasper knew she was in pain, even as much as she tried to hide it. "But...I do think my chest hurts a bit." Carlisle laughed, giving promises of a nurse coming back with pain medication shortly, then leaving after getting an emergency page.
"So," Safina's raw voice was directed at Jasper, "Major, huh? What war was this? World War One?" It was at that moment that two things occurred: a) Jasper had never been more in love than when Safina Wells stared up at him, eyes full of wonder with a cut lip and a long scar marking her chest and b) he had never felt more grateful that his father was such an influence in the hospital when Charlotte stepped back into the room, pain medicine in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
When she left, Safina took a few drinks, cleared her throat, then turned back to her boyfriend, "That is definitely not Fiji." Jasper laughed, head thrown back, taking a few seconds to compose himself. Safina's smile dulled slightly when she asked, "Do all of the nurses look at you like that?"
Jasper thought for a second then answered, "If I'm honest, probably, though I wouldn't really know. You've been alI could think about this week. And last week. And probably next week." Her smile reached her eyes and she hurried in for a kiss but soon regretted it when her head - thrown with too much momentum - knocked into Jasper's stone-like forehead. The vampire tried not to laugh and kissed it better for her, more times than was probably necessary but neither one cared.
"Oh!" Jasper called out, "I have something for you!" He walked to the counter where a black duffle bag rested and began to dig around.
"You didn't have to do that," Safina reassured
"Oh but I think I did." He rummaged for a few more seconds before calling out "Aha!" and pulled out a pair of black, square rimmed glasses.
"My glasses! Thank you so much Jazz, it kinda sucked not being able to see," she rejoiced as she put them on, reveling in having good vision again. She pulled him in for a kiss on the cheek before asking, "So what about that Major thing?"
Jasper sighed before taking his seat once more, attempting to find a way to explain his complex past to Safina. "I'm from Texas, as you know, I, uh, fought in the Civil War."
Automatically assuming the worst, Safina's face dropped and she managed to get out, "You didn't…"
He chuckled and Safina thought about throwing something at him. Jasper explained, "No, I didn't, technically. Safina, I didn't agree with the ideals of the South, I knew what the Confederacy was fighting for and I knew it wasn't right. The North wasn't better in terms of how they treated people, but at least they fought for liberation.
"I was drafted, but as much as I wanted to avoid it, I instead sought a deal with the North. I would spy on the Confederate battle tactics and report them back to the North. At some point, I was given orders to evacuate Galveston, where I met Maria." Jasper continued his story of being a pawn in Maria's attempt to control the southern territories, and how his empathic abilities were seemingly used against him.
Safina gave a sympathetic smile to the honey-haired boy, "Jazz, I love you."