Chapter Seventy Three

Charlotte

I went outside to where the Major lay where he'd hit the ground, still covered in broken glass. I pulled him to his feet and dragged him back inside, sitting him in the kitchen and pulling a chair up in front of him.

"Major you have to pull yourself together. She's going to need you more than ever when she wakes up".

He shook his head,

"She won't want me after what I've done to her"

"She wanted you to change her anyway".

"But not like that, not then Char. She trusted me to keep her safe. I promised to protect her and look what I did. Peters right, I really am the monster they say I am. I tried Char, I really thought I was a different person with her help but I can't get away from it."

Peter

I heard the conversation downstairs and my blood boiled. If Char started trying to make him feel better I was going to rip her a new one too.

"Jasper, she's your wife, your mate and she will need you. She'll forgive you I'm sure"

"No she won't, why should she? I have to go, get away from here"

That was it,

"I'll be back in a minute Bells"

I patted her hand and ran down the stairs to stand by the door.

"You aren't running away Major till she's had a chance to get her own back. You stay here till Bella wakes up. She has a right to tell you what she thinks of you, or are you too much of a coward for that?"

"Peter stop it"

"Charlotte keep the fuck out of this. It's between us, I would say man to man but I don't think a man would do what Jasper did to his wife. She's upstairs enduring the fires of hell while he sits here getting tea and fucking sympathy from you. I'd have thought as Bella's friend you would be on her side a bit more. So much for loyalty".

"Now you listen to me Peter. What's happened has happened and can't be taken back but you have no right to talk on Bella's behalf. You have no idea what she's thinking at the moment or what she'll say when she wakes up."

"Well let me hazard a wild guess. Now, probably "This hurts like a bitch" and when she wakes up, "Come here you fucker and let me show you what I think of you". Does that sound plausible?"

Charlotte

I was about to answer him when the phone rang, we all looked at it knowing it was likely to be Charlie ringing to speak to his daughter.

"Well this is going to be an interesting fucking conversation, Hi Charlie, Bella can't come to the phone right now only I just condemned to become one of the damned"

He picked up the phone and threw it towards Jasper but I intercepted it

"Hello?"

"Oh Hi Charlie. I'm sorry they aren't here at the moment. They went away for a few days but I'll get them to ring as soon as they get back. Sure, nice to talk to you again"

I threw the phone back to him.

"Right we have Charlie off our back until after Bella wakes up. She can decide what she wants to do then"

"Decide? Speak to Charlie? Do you remember anything about newborns Charlotte? She won't be doing more than snarling and snapping for months, another mess the Major has landed us with."

I looked at Jasper who sat eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to Peters rant.

"Enough Peter. You don't talk for Bella. Now back off"

He scowled at me and at the Major before running back upstairs to Bella.

Peter

Why she was defending him I had no idea. I didn't know what we were going to do about Charlie either but for now our concern should be for Bella. She was restless as I walked back in the room and I took her hand trying to reassure her but she pulled away, her jaw working convulsively but no words coming out. I heard a sound behind me and saw Jasper standing in the doorway.

"What the fuck do you want?"

He ignored me and walked slowly to the bed. I expected Bella to become more restless but as he took her hand she calmed, her body relaxing slightly. As I watched her hand clutched his tightly I found myself wondering if I was the angry one, not her. Did she love him so much that she forgave him? He bowed his head over their clasped hands and I walked out in disgust. At the bottom of the stairs Char waited for me,

"What? You have something to say woman?"

She nodded and took me by the arm.

"Peter they are mates, and whatever he did she will forgive. I know it and so does he, however much he beats himself up over it. You have to get over your own anger, and ask yourself if you would have done any differently in his place?"

Jasper

Bella calmed as soon as I took her hand and she closed her fingers around mine tightly. I heard what Charlotte said and I knew she was right. Bella was my mate and she would forgive what I'd done. She loved me and I felt that even as I felt her pain. How had I been so lucky? To find my mate after so many years was wonderful enough. To find a mate who loved me equally was even more amazing. I knew it but I wouldn't accept it until she opened her eyes and told me so, and how long would I have to wait for that? As Peter had pointed out, as a newborn she wouldn't be able to think coherently for months, years, perhaps. I would have to wait patiently until she was able to speak to me as my Bella.

Bella

Mixed with my own torment was Jaspers, and all I wanted to do was to wake up a vampire and say the words he was longing to hear,

"I forgive you".

The burning was moving from my extremities to the centre of my torso, all the fire building a huge funeral pyre in my chest right over my heart which beat valiantly on despite the venom it now pumped, my blood nearly all gone now. I knew the fight was all but over, but I had no idea how much longer I had to suffer, nor how long I had already lived through this torture. Jasper still held my hand and I felt his agony and his thirst as if they were my own. He was suffering as much as me and he shouldn't be, he'd already had to endure it once, that should be enough for any man.