Gently // jasper hale [Completed]

08.

26th November, 2001.

15:04

"her words on worn pages that still smelled like her,
were my only sanctuary from a world without her."

"You really love her, don't you?" The weary voice of Ms. Marsh asked softly. Jasper was facing away from the door, seated next to Daisy's bed, still holding her hand.

"More than anything," he responded quietly.

His heart ached, yet he felt completely empty. He couldn't feel anyone else's emotions because his devastation so strong.

Daisy's mother pulled over a chair and sat beside him, looking at her daughter with red, puffy eyes. Jasper only glanced at her, not wanting to take his eyes off his girlfriend for a second.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I should have been keeping a closer eye on her, then maybe she wouldn't be here."

"It's not your fault. This was inevitable. I guess none of us really wanted to believe it," she consoled him, gently petting his knee. "You must think I'm a terrible mother."

He shook his head. "No, I don't. I get it... watching her fade away has been devastating. I can't imagine how it feels to watch your daughter slowly deteriorate."

The few times Jasper had seen Ms. Marsh were always fleeting, she was distracting herself with work, so she didn't have to be faced with reality. He had felt her conflicting emotions every time he saw her, her regret, her fear, and her deep sadness.

"She never shut up about you, you know. Jasper this, Jasper that. I owe you for giving her love and happiness, even when you knew she wouldn't be around forever."

"All I ask is that you talk to her now, because I don't doubt she can hear us. She misses you, she thought you hated her for being sick," he told her, trying to be as gentle as possible, but still making her break out in a new wave of sobs.

Though he was averse to physical contact, with the exception of Daisy, he couldn't let her mom cry alone. He slung an arm over her shoulders and brought her in for an awkward hug. 

The days began to blur together, like heavy waves rolling into each other against an immovable cliff. An endless current of emotions churning below the surface, swallowing everything into their dark, turbulent depths.