So sorry for the wait, but I've been really busy. I have no idea if the Fall will be updated again, as I've spoken with Jackson, so I've seemed to have lost the ability to write about him temporarily. (Please don't tell me it was a fake Facebook, because I opened webcam with him)
Carlisle POV
Day 1:
Jasper came down with a severe fever. His emaciated face was hot and a reddish color that worried me, since he didn't have blood. He complained that he ached all over and his bones hurt. "Carlisle, where is Alice? Where are Alice and Peter?"
He wanted Alice and Peter badly. Finally, they showed up, returning from a forced hunting trip.
Instantly, they became anxious. Alice rushed to her mate's side, cradling him close to her, and Peter leaned over him. Peter started questioning me about the cause for this. I couldn't answer, because I didn't know.
I checked his temperature again. With the thermometer in his mouth, Jasper stared up at Alice as if a golden angel had come to save him in his time of pain and sickness. I was all but forgotten.
"Sweetheart, my darling Jasper," she cooed, cradling him on her lap and kissing his forehead. "I'm here. I love you. I'll take care of you and make it go away."
Alice put him under the covers again, hovering beside him and feeding him a little blood. Her golden eyes were filled with tears that would never fall, and her slender white hands worked their way through his hair.
Day 2:
He started coughing. Listless and pale, he lay in the huge bed. He seemed made of porcelain, he was so waxy white, and his dark eyes grew larger as they appeared to sink deeper into his skull and purple shadows came under them.
Around noon, one glance at the thermometer from Jasper's mouth caused me to panic. Oh, God, no. That's high for a human, even, what could this mean for my son?
All day, everyone jumped up and down, to run for ice cubes, blood, blankets. Jasper finally started to cry at about three. I felt awful. Even though I was a vampire, and had been for 363 years, I understood what it had to be like to feel so sick you wanted to cry.
He tossed and fretted, weak and uneasy, bothered by things he couldn't express but through fearful eyes that ripped at my heart.
He started asking strange questions, but I didn't know if he was delirious or not.
"Why do I stay upstairs all the time?"
"Where is Esme? Did she disappear?"
"Why are the walls fuzzy?"
"Are they fuzzy?" I asked in answer.
"Peter is all fuzzy too. Pete, why are you blurry?"
"He's tired," I told Jasper.
"Peter, are you tired? You should rest."
"Kind of. I'd like for you to go to sleep so I can relax and know you're sleeping soundly."
Alice sighed and cuddled Jasper against her, kissing his cheeks. "Go to sleep for just a little while, okay?"
He closed his eyes, nestling his cheek in her shirt. "Okay."
We all relaxed when he was asleep.
That evening, I was drawn to Jasper's room by the sound of him coughing. I ran to their room, where I saw him sitting up in bed, bent over and coughing harshly.
His terrifying coughing continued, as he gasped for air.
Alice was weeping and hugging him close to her, rubbing his back to try and ease his struggles.
I rubbed his chest and pulled him from Alice's arms, hitting his back.
His coughs died away and slumped back against me, replaced by a weak whimpering. I soothed him softly, rubbing his back and whispering to him.
"We'll have to try again," Esme said from the doorway, eyes wide and glistening with tears that would never fall. "Should we try somewhere other than Volterra? Carlisle, I can't watch my son die."
I looked down at Jasper, who was all but asleep in my arms, and nodded.
Alice POV
Jasper's fever went down a little. He was out of danger, for the moment.
We had a bit of a scare with him. Emmett wanted to try and get him to walk a little, thinking it would help. When my brother's back was turned, Jasper had taken a tumble down the basement stairs. None of us had known until we found Emmett pulling Jasper from a tub of hot water.
I'd asked what he was doing, and he said he was trying to warm Jasper up, and explained what had happened. Carlisle had dragged Jasper away from Emmett, dressing him in a warm pair of pajamas, and Peter had taken Emmett to the forest for "a little talk."
I wrapped Jasper in a blanket and sat down in a rocking chair, cuddling my mate on my lap. I covered his wan face with kisses and whispered sweet nothings in his ear, causing him to sometimes give a breathy laugh.
If he could laugh, he could drink. I gave him sips of lukewarm blood. I rocked him in the chair, singing "Smile" to him, the song by Uncle Kracker.
"Alice," Jasper whispered as he started to nod off into sleep. "I miss Esme. Doesn't she still love me?"
My heart broke for him. "Of course she does. She just has to comfort the others, when you're sick and they're so worried."
Jasper stared up at me to see if I was sincere. Then slowly, his frail arms crept up to wrap around my neck and he nestled his head on my shoulder. "I'm so sleepy, Alice, but will you please keep singing?"
I was still rocking, still singing softly, when Peter came back into our room. Jasper had fallen asleep on me, but I kept singing for him.
"Did you… speak with Emmett?" I asked. We'd long since given up the struggle to be Jasper's caretaker. For Jasper's survival, we had to work together.
"Yes. He's currently in the woods nursing his shoulder."
I giggled, and kept rocking my Jasper.
"Good. He shouldn't have made Jazz walk, anyway."
Before Peter could respond, we heard Carlisle on the phone in the living room.
"Hello, Corrine. It's Carlisle. My son is sick. I need your help."