The Carver Café [Edward/Jacob]

10

T/W: Child death.

Jacob doesn't really take the time to truly process the information he's been given. Instead, he escapes to his room and plops down at his desk and stares down at pictures of dead bodies. He's back on his old theory of vampires after ruling out any other prominent theory, but he can't just walk up to his team with such a wacky conclusion and expect them to take him seriously. So, he instead works on finding some kind of tangible evidence that it's a particular person or group of people.  

It's a hard enough task without the nagging part of his brain that wants him to think about other things. So many questions were popping up into his head that he had to force himself to ignore them, biting down on the inside of his cheek and only stopping when he tastes blood. 

Imprinting is a pretty serious endeavor which means it comes with pretty serious consequences. If he's not making some form of skin-to-skin contact on a normal basis, he's going to start feeling stronger effects. It feels like withdrawal. He detests the feeling, but he'd sweat through it. He'd be fine. 

A strong wave of nausea hits him and he has to work to swallow down bile. 

He needed to get back into the office. It was the only way to get his mind off of things. Being surrounded by the team and the random smells and sounds would keep him busy. The weird sterile lighting of the station that flickers every now and then kept him sane and grounded.  However, he had another week. The Chief seemed adamant that he stay home the entire healing time. It was strange for such an important case that seemed to be rattling the people of Forks, but she sounded like she'd start threatening his life if he insisted upon coming in any earlier.

So, there were no distractions besides him shoving a pencil into his cast and scratching at an imaginary itch.

His body was thrumming, aching. He stretched his back and legs, shifted in his seat trying to get more comfortable. The movement makes him very suddenly aware that his body is just as on edge as his mind is. He tries to think about something else, anything else. He stares down at the dead bodies hoping that they'd cool down his heated skin and settle his mind.

He was wrong, this felt less like withdrawal and more like...like...

Quil bursts into his room, seemingly content with the two hours he'd given Jacob alone. He has snacks clutched up under his arms as he makes his way over to the bed without any real introduction. He climbs up and gets settled before popping open his bag of chips and Jacob's about to say something, but the smell hits him first and he can feel the tell-tale signs as his mouth begins to water and his stomach turns.

He swallows hard and clinches his teeth hoping to reel it back in just like he had before, but he  can't hold breath for the rest of his life. With the second inhale of breath, his stomach cramps and he's lurching forward for the garbage can at his feet. His dinner ends up on top of crumpled up notes he'd been tossing earlier. 

He can hear the crinkling of the chip bag and he has to hope that Quil is rolling it up. He stays hovering over the trash can for a moment, waiting to see if a second wave hits. Eventually, he moves away slowly and tries to catch his breath only to find Quil standing over him looking concerned.

"'M fine." He hears his own haggard voice mutter. He wants to stand up to wash the vile taste out of his mouth, but he feels like he might topple over so he instead stays glued to his chair his eyes closed, waiting for the room to stop spinning. 

"Maybe he left something around here..." He can hear Quil talking, but he's really not paying attention, instead trying not to think about much of anything. 

"Hey, it's okay." He hears from somewhere behind him as Quil, no doubt, trashes his room. He can hear the clothes hitting the floor and furniture being shifted around. Jacob doesn't need reassurance, he needs his head back on his shoulders. He needs to solve this case so he can go back to standard police work. No dead bodies, no ME's.