09.

                                    

                                          
22nd December, 2001.
                          
06:14
                          
"i have memories of memories.
but do i still know you like i think i do?"
                          
"I'll be back later, my love." Jasper kissed her forehead softly before adjusting the blanket covering Ms. Marsh, who was asleep on the spare cot. 
                          
Emmett, Edward and Carlisle were dragging him away to hut because he had only fed twice since she had been admitted, His control was slipping, so he thought it was for the best, despite the fact leaving Daisy always left a heavy feeling in his chest. 
                          
The four vampires took their time, trying to distract their coven member with light banter. Emmett was as annoying as usual, challenging them all to hunting competitions and wrestling matches. He only won once, taking own a massive bear slightly faster than Jasper did. In return, Jasper had beat him in their sparing match, multiple times because the brute of a man didn't know when he was outmatched. Carlisle refused to participate, acting like their referee instead, and Edward bested them both in wrestling with the aid of his gift.
                          
The distraction was welcome, though fleeting. Jasper felt wrong to be enjoying himself at a time like this. The love of his life was on her deathbed, her mother was at her side, already mourning, and he was out, laughing and joking around with his family. It didn't feel right. 
                          
"She would want you to be happy, Jasper. She wouldn't want you to spend all your time being miserable," Edward told him, reading his inner turmoil. Though he couldn't see into Daisy's mind completely, he would sometimes get lashes of her thoughts, or sometimes even images. And she had always been concerned for Jasper's health when she finally did pass away.
                          
"I know," he responded softly, imagining the scolding she would give him for being so worried about her. "I just can't help it; it doesn't feel right."
                          
"How about we send a few more hours hunting, enough to tide you over for a few weeks, then you can return to her?" Carlisle suggested. He nodded in agreement, as did his brothers, and they all sped off deeper into the woods. 


                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
14:02
                          
"your love burnt my lungs and scorched my heart.
you set fire to my soul, 
then left me to collapse in ruin."
                          
Carlisle and Jasper had just pulled up outside of the hospital, after having changed into fresh clothes, when the patriarch's mobile phone blared with a message. He fished it from his pants pocket and read it silently.
                          
Jasper watched as his father's face fell, his lips part with a gasp and venom wells in his eyes. He'd emotions were powerful; grief and guilt slamming into Jasper's chest with so much force, it made him flinch. 
                          
"Oh God," Carlisle whispered. "I'm so sorry, son."
                          
He didn't take a moment to think, he was out of the car and into the hospital before Carlisle could blink. He barely managed to contain his supernatural speed as he ran towards his girlfriend's room, consumed with panic. 
                          
He didn't want to believe it, he couldn't. She wouldn't leave him, not before he got to tell her good-bye, or how much he loved her, or how much she had changed his life. He needed to feel her warmth again, feel her pulse drumming away under her soft skin. 
                          
He came to a staggered halt outside of the room. The door was wide open, no Ms. Marsh in sight. Daisy's bedsheets were in disarray, a few dots of blood on her pillow, most likely from another nosebleed, her copy of Sense and Sensibility carelessly tossed on the floor, but no Daisy. He stood frozen, his world swiftly falling apart around him. 
                          
"Jasper," the cautious voice of his father said from behind him. "She had another seizure late this morning. They did everything they could, I'm sorry."
                          
He didn't move, he didn't blink. He couldn't believe what was happening. He wasn't there for her, like he promised, and she died without him to comfort her. He would have to live with that forever. The anguish was so raw and painful, and his unbeating heart ached. He thought it would be easier, after spending months with the knowledge that she was dying, but this was beyond any pain he could imagine. 
                          
His Daisy was gone.


                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
a/n: just a few more chapters to go.