4

"I don't have a name," she whispered.

Jasper stood stunned, unsure of what to say. In his five years with the Seattle Police Department, he had ran into his fair share of homeless teenagers, but he had never seen one like her. There was a darkness in her eyes that scared him, yet he understood immediately why his brother had been drawn toward her, the need to help her. She reminded him of someone, yet he couldn't figure out who, and that alone scared him.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked, frowning. "You have a name. Everyone has a name."

The girl shook her head, her eyes flickering back to the pancakes still sitting on the bed. Jasper reached over and picked up one of the containers, holding it out to her.

"Why don't you give me that empty container and you can have this one?"

The girl shifted her eyes from the container in her hands to the one he was holding out to her, before slowly nodding and making the trade. She hugged the new one to her chest before grabbing a handful of pancakes and shoving them into her mouth.

Jasper gave Carlisle a look before he turned and walked out of the room, knowing he would follow. Once the door was closed, Jasper turned to one of the officers, and held out the container, being careful not to touch any more than he had to.

"Let's see if we can get her prints off this. Sweep the car she rode in, too," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," the man mumbled before he hurried away.

Jasper dragged his hand over his face and through his hair before he turned back to Carlisle. "Damn, man."

"I know," he groused. "You think she's in the system?"

"I don't know. Just figured it would be worth trying," he rambled. "Those foam containers can be hard to pull prints from, though. Might get better ones out of the car. If the dirt and shit on her hands isn't too much."

"Yeah." Carlisle looked back at the door. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know," he said, clicking his tongue off the top of his mouth. "Maybe see if we can get her cleaned up?"

"I'll call Esme. Have her bring her some clothes."

"Alice would be more her size," Jasper fretted, and when Carlisle raised an eyebrow, he added, "She's more like ninety pounds, bro."

"You're right," Carlisle agreed, placing his hand on the door knob. "We're doing the right thing, aren't we? Trying to help her."

Jasper nodded. "Mom would have."

"Yeah, yeah, she would." Carlisle blew out a heavy breath before he opened the door and stepped back into the room.

Jasper pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through his contacts before stopping at Alice's. He turned away and walked down the hall a little as he hit the send button.

The phone rang twice before he heard her answer, "Hey, babe."

"Hey," he whispered, surprising himself by how emotional his voice sounded.

"What's wrong, Jay?" she asked.

"We, um, we found the girl, Al."

Alice sighed. "Oh, sweetie."

"It's worse than he said, just . . ." Jasper turned and leaned against the wall. "There's a look in her eyes, I don't know, I can't explain it, but . . ."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Can you bring her some clothes? She's filthy. I bet she hasn't showered months, of not years."

"Yeah, of course I can," Alice said, quietly. "I can be there in like twenty minutes."

"Thanks, Al," Jasper whispered, turning sideways against the wall. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Jay. I'll be there soon."

Alice ended the call, and Jasper took a deep breath, trying to regain some control over his emotions before he walked back down the hallway and entered the room. The girl was still pressed against the corner, though she had already dug into the third container of pancakes. Her eyes were wide, locked on Carlisle, who was leaning against the counter. Jasper hadn't understood why his brother had been so insistent in finding her, though the moment he saw her being escorted into the hospital, he felt this need to save her, too. Who was she, though?

"She say anything else?" Jasper asked, trying to keep his voice low.

Carlisle shook his head. "I didn't really push, either. Seems like it takes a lot of effort for her to speak."

"Probably a good idea." Jasper cleared his throat and looked back at the girl, noticing the bruising under the grime that covered much of her face. "Want something to drink?"

The girl's eyes widened as they shifted to the door and nodded.

"Okay, how about some water?"

The girl grimaced.

"Oh okay, no water," he laughed. "How about some milk?"

She shoved more pancakes into her mouth before nodding.

Jasper stepped out into the hallway, asking one of the nurses to grab her a carton of milk. When he stepped inside, she was pressed against the wall again, the container at her feet was empty.

"Were they good?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Why don't you tell us your name?" he asked again.

And she frowned, pressing her body against the wall behind her.

"How old are you?"

And nothing.

Jasper sighed and looked back at Carlisle, who shrugged. He looked back at the girl, but before he could say anything, someone knocked on the door, causing her to tense. Jasper put his hand up to caution her before he opened the door, finding the nurse with two cartons of milk: one white, one chocolate.

"Thank you," he murmured. "You have showers close?"

"Two doors down," she whispered, eyeing the young girl. "I'll put some extra towels and supplies inside."

Jasper nodded and turned, closing the door before offering her the milk. Her eyes flickered between the two choices before she pointed at the white milk.

"You don't like chocolate milk?"

She grimaced.

"Okay, guess I'll have to drink it," he said, placing the carton of white milk on the bed and stepping back.

She ripped it off the bed, tearing it open and draining it in one gulp. Then, she looked back at them, her eyes shifting between him and Carlisle before she used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth off. She crouched against the wall again, but tensed when someone knocked on the door again. Jasper reached back and pulled it open, sighing in relief when he saw Alice with a large duffle bag in her hands. She looked past him at the girl, her eyes widening.

"Oh, my God," she whispered, looking back at Jasper. "Here."

"Thanks," he said, taking the bag and handing it to Carlisle. "Probably going to be late, so . . ."

Alice looked at the girl again and nodded. "I'll wait."

"Honey," he started, but clamped his lips together when she put her hand up and said, "I'll wait. Take all the time you need, but I'll be right here."

Jasper nodded and leaned over, pressing his lips against her forever before closing the door behind again, leaving him, Carlisle, and the girl alone. She was watching him, like she'd never seen two people show affection toward one another, something that bothered him. She had to be sixteen, maybe even seventeen like Carlisle had suggested, yet she seemed younger, more naïve than most girls her age. That didn't sit well with him.

"That was Alice," he said, tilting his head toward the door. "She's my wife. She brought you some clean clothes. Would you like to clean up? Maybe take a shower?"

The girl frowned, pressing her body against the wall.

"Nobody here is going to hurt you," he said, grabbing the bag from Carlisle and placing it on the floor. He knelt down and unzipped it, pulling out the clothes Alice had grabbed. "See? There's clean jeans, a few shirts, some socks, and underwear. Would you like to put them on?"

The girl leaned over and grabbed the bag, pulling it toward her. She held up one of the shirts, her eyes shifting toward Jasper and Carlisle. Slowly, she nodded.

"Would you be okay if a couple of the nurses? Women nurses," he amended, "Take you to the shower, and help you?"

The girls tensed, shaking her head furiously.

"Okay, okay," he said, putting his hands up. "How about if we," he gestured to himself and Carlisle, "stand outside of the shower while they help you? Would that be okay?"

The girl shifted her eyes from him to Carlisle and back before she slowly nodded.

"Okay, okay, we'll go when you're ready, all right?"

The girl grabbed the rest of the clothes, hugging them against her chest before she slid up the wall, and slowly, oh so slowly, took a step toward them. Jasper and Carlisle moved so that when they opened the door, they were paving the way for her. Her hair hung in her face as she followed them out of the room, her eyes flickering to each and every person before she pressed her body against the wall, sliding in the direction Jasper and Carlisle were leading her. Two young nurses were waiting for them outside the shower, their eyes locked on her.

"This is Katie and Millie," Carlisle said, tilting his head toward them. "They're going to help you get cleared up, okay?"

The girl looked from him to the girls, shaking her head. She turned and started walking away, stopping when Carlisle reached out and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, her eyes wide.

"You can trust us," he whispered.

Her head shook as she pulled her arm out of his hand and motioned for the shower, but then pointed at the girls and shook her head. Her mouth opened one, twice, a third time before she said, "Alone."

"You want to shower alone?" he asked, and when she nodded, he said, "Okay. That's fair. There's some shampoo and conditioner and soap inside, all right? If you need anything, I'll be right here. Is that okay? If I stay right here?"

The girl slowly nodded, so Jasper and Carlisle moved and allowed her into the shower alone. Luckily, the hospital didn't have locks on the shower for reasons just like this. It wasn't uncommon for the homeless to show up with a medical need just so they could get a shower, some food, and a comfortable bed for a night.

"Jesus Christ, Carlisle," Jasper muttered. "Who is this girl?"

"I don't know, Jay." Carlisle leaned his shoulder against the wall. "What do we do now?"

"Maybe try to get her into a shelter," he said. "But will she go?"

"Probably not," he admitted, and they heard the sound of the shower turning on. "But there's no medical reason to keep her here, either."

Jasper looked down the hallway, finding Alice standing with Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme. Of course they would all want to be there. They were a family, after all. The only one missing was Edward, who probably had volunteered to stay with Beth. He didn't like hospitals, and did everything he could to avoid them, especially seeing as his last trip to the hospital was after the accident that killed their parents.

Jasper's attention was pulled to the room when he heard the shower turn off. He and Carlisle shared a look before stepping away from the wall, their eyes locked on the door. Several minutes passed before the doorknob turned and the door swung open. The change in the girl was outstanding. Her hair was long, reaching almost to the end of her back, and was a dark brown, as were her eyes. She was thin, too thin, and her skin was pale, like she hadn't seen the sun in months. There was bruising along her jaw line, and handprints around her neck. But she was beautiful, and young. She had put on the jeans Alice brought, which were still too big, along with all three shirts, the jacket, and had her worn out boots on. She was holding the duffle bag, which probably held her filthy clothes.

"Feel better?" Carlisle asked.

The girl simply nodded, biting her lip before she stepped out of the room and into the hallway. It was in that moment that Jasper heard someone cry out, and when he, Carlisle, and the girl looked, they found Rosalie being held up by Emmett.

"Oh, my God," Rosalie exclaimed, pulling away from Emmett, and hurrying down the hallway, throwing herself around the girl before anyone could stop her. "Oh, my God," she cried.

The girl screamed and pushed Rosalie off her, flinging her body against the wall as everyone stared at her.

"Rosalie, stop," Jasper snarled, throwing his arm out to stop her from going near the girl again.

"You don't understand," Rosalie cried. "That's my sister!"

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