Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Behind Steel Bars

By Midnight Dreamer

Chapter 26: One Way Glass

The last thought Jasper had was that he wasn’t gonna make his date with Isabella…

Jasper’s awareness of his surroundings was faint and made him confused. Wherever he was seemed to be really dark… was he still in the truck? Had they not gotten him out yet? No, Jasper thought, that couldn’t be right – the police were right there.

He began to hear distant voices in the darkness; voices that were too far away to hear exactly what they were saying. Jasper tried to yell out to them, but they didn’t seem to hear him no matter how loud he yelled. Jasper’s hope flared as the voices seemed to move closer. The one voice he didn’t recognize, but the other one he would know better then his own: His Ma.

“Doctor, what is goin’ on? What’s wrong wit my boy?”

“Ma’am, it seems that your boy here has slipped into a coma.”

“A coma! Well, how the hell did that happen?”

“We don’t know, Ma’am”

“Well, when’s he gonna wake up?”

“We don’t know that either…”

“Well, what do ya know then?”

“We know that he sustained multiple injuries when his vehicle crashed. He has two bruised ribs and a severe head wound which could have caused him to slip into the coma. Though the x-rays don’t show any severe damage to his brain so this could just be his body’s way of recovering.”

“So your tellin’ me he probably made himself go into this coma?”

“Yes Ma’am. It could be the only way his body knew to deal with the trauma and allow his body to heal properly.”

“Can he have visitors?”

“Yes, Ma’am. If ya talk to him he may even be able to hear ya. They don’t have proof of it yet but they say that most coma patients understand what the people around them are saying.”

“Well then, I guess we will just have to wait and see then, won’t we?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

It got quiet then. Jasper’s mind was a whirl of activity; he was in a coma… and he could hear what was going on around him… but to the outside world he was simply asleep.

The time seemed to pass slowly. The only thing that marked the time for Jasper was the comings and goings of the staff and his family. Peter and Charlotte were always the last to leave; they would tell him goodnight and that someone would be there in the morning. From what he could tell, it had been almost a week since he first regained awareness.

The pattern seemed to repeat and became habit; always the same people at the same times, everyday. He could hear them talking and would listen to the conversations around him – but the one voice he longed to hear had yet to come.

Jasper’s Ma was always the first of his visitors. She would come in the morning and stay till lunch time; she would read the newspaper to him and tell him all about the things going on at the farm. Then after lunch Esme would be there, talking about her job and how Carlisle was always busy here at the hospital. She would turn on the TV to the afternoon news channel. She would leave shortly before the dinner rounds were made at which time Carlisle would come in and do his regular vital checks and discuss everything that was going on before leaving. Jasper enjoyed the fact that Carlisle would tell him how he was doing physically. Closer to what he would call lights out is when Charlotte and Peter would arrive. As they told him about their day, they would work his arms and legs; their work would help in keeping his circulation flowing and prevent the muscles from getting too weak. He would look forward to their visits, always hoping Charlotte would let something slip about Isabella… but it never happened.

It was just over the one week mark when the atmosphere in the room changed. Jasper could feel it through his entire body that something was gonna happen today but didn’t know what.  It was just after dinner time when he heard the tell tale voice of his sister, Charlotte. She seemed upset and angry, making him wonder if something at work had set her off. He knew that she was having trouble with another co-worker who couldn’t take the hint. Yes, he knew all about Newton though he never told Charlotte that he knew. But he also knew that she could take care of herself and that if it ever got out of hand that Charlotte would come to him.

Jasper had been so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the voice he had been longing to hear. She was leaning so close to him that he could feel her breath on his skin. She began whispering to him:

“I’m so sorry, Jasper! I should have been here sooner but I thought you didn’t want anything  to do with me and that you had stood me up for some reason. I was an ass and avoiding everyone’s phone calls so I just found out today that you were in here.”

Jasper wanted so bad to tell her that it wasn’t her fault, that he would have thought the same thing. He wanted to scream out to everyone that he was here and could hear them. Then he felt something soft and wet on his cheek. He wasn’t sure but he could almost imagine her lips on his skin. He sighed mentally… or so he thought.

“You felt that didn’t you, Jasper? You are here with us, aren’t you?”

Isabella had whispered once again in his ear. The other occupants of the room didn’t seem to notice the exchange going on between the two. He wanted to answer her but didn’t know if he could. So he tried to sigh again. It seemed to have worked.

“Thank God! I know you can’t do much – and it’s probably damn near takin’ everything in you to just sigh – but I’m glad you can understand what I am sayin’ to ya. Please forgive me, Jasper! I promise to make this up to you, but in order for me to do that you need to wake up – that and you’re not going to like what you hear today… but know that I’m working on it.”

Jasper sighed once again and Isabella squeezed his hand. He thought that that had to be the weirdest one sided conversation on the history of the planet. Once again, his thoughts were interrupted by a very irate Charlotte:

“You won’t believe what the piece of shit has done! I can’t believe he would pull this shit! I will have his head for this! Just because Jasper is out of commission doesn’t mean that he is gonna get away with doin’ this!” Char was pissed.

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“Ma, when I was at work this morning I came across a file on my desk. Now, I know that doesn’t sound ominous but hear me out! Since I’m a State Prosecutor most of the criminal cases eventually come across my desk. Major crimes are the main ones I see the most of…”

“Get to the point, cupcake!” Peter said.

“Well, this one particular case came out of Houston. The file said Whitlock – and knowing that there aren’t any other Whitlocks in the Texas area – I was curious. Good thing I was, too…”

“So, are ya gonna tell us what has ya so in an uproar?” Ma asked.

“This case is against Jasper! The file says that he deliberately ran someone off the road and they are gonna charge him for attempted vehicular homicide!” Charlotte’s voice was raising steadily as she continued.

“But seeing has how the other driver walked away without barely scratch, he only got charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Since he was unable to attend the court proceedings, they only took the word of the other driver along with the police and a witness who was also ran off the road. Jasper has been already sentenced to 5 years.”

Gasps were heard around the room. Jasper was so pissed off that his blood pressure was starting to rise.

“That’s not even the worst part!”

“Don’t tell me there is more?” Peter said.

“There is – the plaintiff is none other then Edward Masen.”

Jasper was sure he heard every cuss word known to man come from the people in the room. He was also getting angrier by the minute.

A loud, fast beeping brought everyone’s attention back to Jasper. His monitors were going haywire. Carlisle quickly looked over at the machines and told everyone that his blood pressure had spiked. They weren’t sure what had caused this so Carlisle decided he would give Jasper something to calm him down but Isabella asked to try something first. She leaned and began whispering once again to Jasper:

“Jasper, you need to calm down hun, or Carlisle is gonna stab ya with that needle and who knows what else! I know it sucks what ya just heard but remember what I said: I’m workin’ on it.”

She continued to whisper to him until the beeping settled back to a regular rhythm.

“There – now that’s better! Keep your cool Jasper, we will figure this out. He won’t get away with this. He is messing with the wrong girl! It wasn’t just your date that asshat ruined. Now I come to find that he is the reason that you didn’t show and that you were hurt. Now this shit. Oh, he has no idea the hell he is gonna be up against!”

Jasper again was thinking this whole one sided conversation was just strange as hell. He wondered how Isabella thought she could fix this? Then he wondered what the hell she meant by the wrong girl? This shit was to confusing. So he decided to just sit back and let them hash it all out. With another sigh he acknowledged Isabella.

“Everything is gonna be just fine, Jasper. Just hurry the hell up and wake up! It would be much easier if you were to participate in this conversation and let us know what really happened…”

Again with a sigh he let her know that he could hear her. Isabella once again kissed his cheek. Then seemed to get lost in the conversation with the others. Jasper decided that once again he would just lay there and listen…