Ok, so yet again I apologize for the wait. I had to go to my dad's house, and my stepmom is picky when it comes to computer time. Then I was upset because Jackson and Jerad left 100 Monkeys, and lost inspiration. And THEN I was angry when I saw all the negative comments about Jackson and Sheila.

So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Alice POV

Jasper was whimpering.

Gathering him close to me, I tried to soothe him, to no avail. I didn't even know if he could hear me. Edward wasn't here to tell me if he could hear us or not.

"Shh, sweetheart, it's all right. It will all be over soon, Jasper. You'll feel so much better."

We were home now, in our bedroom. Carlisle, Esme, and Peter had been in and out for two days, but I hadn't moved from my vigil beside him.

Sometimes I sang to him, or hummed lullabies. It didn't always comfort him, but it made me feel a little better.

Aro had left out one small detail- fever. Jasper was burning up, and all we could do was hold him in our cold arms or put ice wrapped in cloths on his body.

He woke up to vomit or complain of headaches. He was often lost in delirium, wandering through days of his human life. It frightened me when he spoke to his dead siblings or mother.

Now he was still, the whimpering stopped. I laid him back down on the pillows, kissing his nose lovingly.

"Lydia."

My dead heart sank. He was talking to his dead younger sister again. Lydia Ann had died when she was thirteen, from consumption.

"I'm here, Jasper." I'd found that it helped to just go along with what he wanted. It always hurt when he didn't know me, when he thought that my hands were his sister's. It shouldn't bother me, I always told myself. He's delirious.

His eyes opened halfway. "You're not Lydia Ann."

"It's Alice, Jasper baby, your wife, Alice."

"Alice… I want Peter. I need to tell him…"

I sighed. "Okay… but he went hunting, Jazz, you can see him when he gets back."

I saw that Jasper had fallen asleep again and was grateful. At least he was free of pain for a little while. My own heart was aching.

Jasper was awake more often, and we were beginning to see what Aro had meant about separation anxiety.

He'd cried fretfully the first time I left him, having been forced to go hunting. He was afraid I was gone forever. He hadn't realized how badly I needed to go, because if he had, I was sure he would've been more tolerant of my disappearance.

The second time, I was only gone for about ten minutes, but when I came back he was hyperventilating and shaking.

So I just stopped going anywhere. I stayed with him constantly.

Most of the time, he was either sleeping or in that other world where I did not exist. The cure was causing him to be exhausted all the time.

"Mother…" Jasper called weakly.

He wanted his mother. I couldn't give him what he wanted. I didn't even have a picture of his mother.

When there was no answer, his dark eyes flickered open. "Alice?"

"Jasper," I said softly, kissing his forehead. "Do you feel any better? It's almost time to drink some of your cure again."

"Alice, I don't think it's working."

"It's working, sweetie. Remember, you could lift your cup for a minute by yourself yesterday."

"But I don't feel any better."

He was obviously upset. And I couldn't help but wonder if he was right about the cure not working. He'd been taking it twice a day for four days and the only thing that had happened was being able to lift his cup.

Carlisle brought the little vial in. "Here, Jasper, drink it."

"It's not making me any better."

"It will work in time, son, now drink it, please."

I held the vial to Jasper's mouth, fearing that his hands would shake and he would spill. He drank it easily enough, though he didn't look too happy about it.

Later, when he was sleeping again, I heard Carlisle on the phone.

"Aro, this cure has only had minimal effects. He's gotten the slightest bit stronger, and even that is going away a little. Is it going to work at all?"

Hard as I tried, I couldn't make out Aro's response.

"What do you mean, something went wrong? Jasper's not strong enough to come back to Italy so you can fix it!" Carlisle's voice was slightly raised, something I rarely heard.

"No. Your coming to Forks is absolutely unacceptable."

I stared at Jasper, panic-stricken. The cure wasn't working. He wasn't really getting better at all.

"Yes, we can give it another three days. If it doesn't start to help him by the time those days are up, we will work something out. Thank you." He hung up.

That night, Jasper woke up and realized I was crying.

A weightless hand smoothed my head. "Why are you crying, Alice?" he whispered. "I'm not dying." His hand stroked my hair. "Hush, now, love. It's not as bad as you think."

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I'm sorry, Jazz, I can't stop crying."

Jasper's bent fingers pushed my hair away from my face and stroked my cheek. "Tell me what's wrong, Alice."

I looked my husband in the eyes. "I've done everything, wrong, Jas. No matter what we try, we can't help you and everything hurts you. It's not fair."

"You've done all you can. You do everything right, Alice. Don't fret, darlin'." His heavy eyelids closed and his ragged breathing slowed in sleep.

I avoided crying in front of him. I knew it would stress him out and cause him to worry about me unnecessarily. I hated that he'd caught me doing it.

Honestly, I usually wasn't one for crying. These were just such dark, terrible times and Jasper was so sick. At times, it seemed like he would never get better.

I covered him with an extra blanket, since his fever was gone, replaced with icy cold. Then I went out of the room, closing the door softly behind me so he wouldn't be disturbed.

Most of my family was in the living room, watching It. Edward wasn't there, of course, but all the others were.

"Want to join us, Alice?" Esme patted the couch cushion beside her.

"Just for a little while. I need a break from the sickroom for now." I sat on the couch beside Esme and watched the remaining half of the movie. But by the end, I did not need any more time away from the sickroom and I missed Jasper.

Almost running to check on him, I found that his breathing was a little shallow, but he was alive and no worse than usual.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I love you," I whispered to him, pulling the blankets over his shoulders. "I hope this cure works. Because if you die, I will too."

My breath caught in my throat. I was so glad Jasper hadn't been awake to hear me say that. I'm sure he knew that, but to hear me say it would break his heart.

So I would really appreciate more than three reviews for this chapter... reviews make me update faster...

Is anybody reading Lost and Found or The Fall?

I have also decided to start thanking my reviewers at the end of each chapter.

Thank you to:

TwilightTwihardFanFictioner

Randomer

Aly130

Everyday i'm shuffling

Everyone who reviews get an outtake or a teaser! If you leave anonymous reviews, please PM me your email if you want an outtake or a teaser and I can email it to you or something. Everyone, just mention in your review:

If you want an outtake, you can have anything you desire. Just tell me what you want. If you want a teaser, it will be of the next chapter. Please let me know if you want an outtake or a teaser.

Sorry for the long A/N and please review!