scorch: to affect the color, taste, etc., of by burning slightly
The fire that burns in her veins contrasts darkly with the ice that runs through his. Wanting normalcy in the form of a new life, Safina Wells finds this unachievable in the name of Ja...
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"anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured" -mark twain
Worry was so thick in the hospital that Jasper was almost plagued with a headache. His overwhelming gift almost begged him to stay away, yet his heart told him the opposite. The empath hadn't felt this much since his time with Maria and, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure if the worry belonged to anyone else but him.
Carlisle assured his son that he could leave the hospital if he needed to. Jasper refused, claiming he needed to be there for Safina. His head was spinning at the possibilities of what could happen if he left, not that he was really doing anything anyway. Edward's attempts to drag Jasper away from the near-catatonic teenager were futile.
Gabriel's thoughts were everywhere, splattered on the wall like blood, messy and sickening. All of his time outside of patrol and school was spent with his sister. His father encouraged him to go on with his life as if his baby sister wasn't basically on her death bed. He didn't want to go to football and track practice with Safina like that. Edward had to force himself to tune out Gabriel's thoughts, they gave him a brain-freeze like effect.
Finally, Carlisle came to prepare the group of humans and vampires alike for the effects of surgery. They all bit their nails and wiped their tears as he explained death was a slight possibility.
"So if she..." Jasper couldn't say the word, "what do we do?" He kept his voice low, but high enough for the girl's human family to hear.
"You won't be doing anything, let the doctors handle this," Elliot spoke boldly.
"So if the doctors can't do anything to save her, we just sit here?" the blonde's angry voice asked.
Elliot nodded, "Even if she did want that, which she doesn't, we can't be completely sure that she's not a shifter." Gabriel clenched his jaw at his father's words, hoping on his soul that Safina wouldn't have to bear the same burden. "If she is and you were to change her, it's impossible to know what the venom would do: if it would change her or..." Elliot trailed off, but everyone knew the alternative.
The room went silent as Carlisle walked in. "We're going to prepare her for surgery." Jasper's black eyes fell to the floor and he was sure he would throw up, despite it being impossible. His adopted father pulled him aside and gently placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "It's a long surgery son, go feed yourself, Safina wouldn't want you to starve yourself because of her."
Jasper wanted to refute, to protest and stay at the hospital for however long the surgery took, but his throat burned as it did in the first year of his immortality and he knew being that close to any human was dangerous. He briskly walked towards the exit, Gabriel joining him.
"I don't care where we're going but I'm going with you, I need to get away from here," the shifter spoke and Jasper responded with a slight nod.
Once the duo reached the forest, Gabe attempted to think of anything that would interest Jasper. However, once he got to thinking, Gabriel realized he knew next to nothing about the vampire besides - well, just that he was a vampire.
"So, like, how old are you?" Jasper seemed irritated by the question but Gabriel refused to backpedal and take it back.
"Old enough," Jasper simply responded. This caused Gabriel to look the cold one in the eye. He hadn't looked anyone in the eye since he had moved to Forks and he had never really noticed the golden eyes the Cullens donned, but as he looked into a starved Jasper's black eyes, he sighed.
"Listen, you're upset about Fina, I get it. Trust me, I do. But to push everyone away like you are, is the complete opposite of everything my baby sister stands for. She is the most loving person I have ever met. She's the only person who doesn't treat me like I'm a ticking time bomb, because everyone else just knows that I am. Safina sees the good in everyone, even you, for some reason. She only knows you for who your heart says you are, not whatever you did before this life that led to you becoming what you are," Gabe finished, hoping Jasper would lose the pissy attitude.
As soon as Jasper began to respond he caught the scent of a passing animal and ran in that very direction. Gabriel nodded to himself, "Cool, he left me for a deer."
When the shifter finally caught up to Jasper, he noticed a pile of - if he counted correctly - seven deer. "Dude, where did you even find that many?" The vampire only shrugged.
"Help me bury them." Jasper began digging eight feet deep holes for each individual deer.
"Tell me how old you are," Gabe crossed his arms over his chest and Jasper rolled his eyes.
"Oh my god," Jasper whispered to himself, "Fine, I'm 201. Happy?" Gabe uncrossed his arms in a fit of shock, his face contorting to borderline disgust.
"You're so," Gabriel struggled to find the word, "old!"
Jasper only rolled his eyes and asked, "Do you want to see an old man cry? No? Then start burying!"
By the time Jasper and Gabriel had buried all the deer, ensured that the former's eyes had gone back to their golden glory, and Jasper had showered and changed, a nurse had informed the group that the surgery was almost over and Dr. Cullen was successful in repairing the hole.
Alice's laugh chimed through everyone's ears and Gabriel looked up, a smile plastered on his face. He took one look at Alice Cullen's golden eyes, the same as Jasper's but all too different, and his jaw slacked. She, in a two second span, became his whole word and more.
