Skin & Bones ↠ Jasper Hale ✓

10 | To Better Days

But before she could even think about recovering, Lorelai knew she needed to do one thing and one thing only. She needed to see her sister.

Though that dream would have to be fulfilled another time, for one moment, Lorelai was wide awake as she followed her father throughout the airport, the next, she was hitting the ground, unconscious.

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Beep... beep... beep...

"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you awake?"

Lorelai groaned, her eyes still shut. "Take one damn guess." Unwillingly, she peeled her eyes open. Fluorescent lights burned her eyes, shining on her body. Instinctively, Lorelai reached up to cover her eyes. The tubes injected in her arms moved with her as she did so.

"Ma'am, do you know where you are?" the same voice wondered. Lorelai carefully uncovered her eyes. "Miss Swan, do you know where you are?"

"You don't have to ask me a million times," a somewhat cranky Lorelai muttered. Her head was pounding and her mouth was entirely dry. It felt as though she had to use up all of her energy to look at the woman standing before her. "I'm in Phoenix, right?"

The Nurse nodded, pressing Lorelai's chart against her chest. "Yes, ma'am!" confirmed the Nurse. "You passed out due to malnutrition. You should really try eating something, sweetheart."

Lorelai narrowed her large, brown eyes at the Nurse. "Great advice," she sarcastically said. "I'm inspired, really." She sighed. "Can I be left alone to rest? Please?"

With a bright grin, the Nurse nodded once again. "Of course!" she exclaimed, causing Lorelai to wince at the volume of her voice. The Nurse glanced at Lorelai's chart a second time more. "Oh, and happy birthday, sweetheart."

As she exited, Lorelai stared up at the ceiling as she laid. 'Today's my birthday? How did I forget?' she thought. 'To be fair, Bella being in legitimate danger is a pretty good excuse... Oh my God, I'm 18. God, I'm, like, a grandmother now or something.'

A gentle knocking disrupted Lorelai's moment of peace. Bitterness swept the girl as she rolled her eyes, assuming it was the same nurse as before. Lorelai sat up and rather unenthusiastically called, "Come on in!"

As the door opened, the person who had been knocking asked, "Well, is that any way to greet your favorite person?"

Her eyebrow shot upward, realizing that it had been Jasper. Immediately, Lorelai smiled widely. "Well, to be fair, you're technically not a person," Lorelai smart-mouthed. "I was wondering when I was going to see your face again."

Jasper offered her a subtle smile. "I thought I told you we'd see each other again," he mentioned. He observed as Lorelai started to rip out the IVs in her body, grunting at the uncomfortable sensation. "You know, I don't know much about hospitals, but I'm fairly certain that you're not supposed to do that."

Lorelai shrugged. "Well, if I didn't do this, then they'd just get in the way," Lorelai ominously explained. Before Jasper could ask what she meant by this, Lorelai stood up and gave Jasper a big hug. Given that he was freezing, Lorelai nearly pulled away, but if she was being honest, she really just needed a hug. Pulling away and sitting back down, Lorelai mentioned, "That felt good."

Jasper laughed at this. "I'm glad I could be of help," he commented. He sat down beside her. "Your sister's doing just fine. I just got back from visiting. She broke her foot and has to be in a boot for a while, but she should be fine otherwise."

Nodding, Lorelai wondered, "What kind of B.S excuse did you guys tell my dad?"

"That Bella fell out of a window."

Lorelai snorted. "Why is that completely believable?" she wondered, laughing. She watched as Jasper's smile slowly faded. With her eyebrows knitted together, she asked, "What?"

"Your mom," he began, "she's here, too. She said she wanted to see you, but your dad said that he wasn't sure if that was such a good idea."

Lorelai pursed her lips. "Well, I don't want to see her," she admitted. "I don't care about her. Right now, all I need is my sister and my dad and you and... maybe something to eat."

Hearing this caused Jasper's eyes to widen, astonished. "I didn't think I would ever hear those words come from you."

"Well, clean your ears because you're hearing them," Lorelai returned. She slowly stood up. "Yep. I'm sure of it. I want to eat... and be healthy... and recover. I thought about what you said, about me being strong. I want to channel that strength and get better. I want to see better days. I'm not sure how I'm gonna get there, but I'm ready to start that journey."

Smiling, Jasper said, "That was oddly inspirational." He stood up. "Well, I'd be happy to join you on that journey. But first," he paused, "I think it's time you start getting those taunts for your sister ready."

Lorelai laughed at this. "Oh, trust me. I always have something to make fun of my sister about."

As Lorelai got ready to go see her sister, she couldn't help but think that this was it. She was going to recover. She had to.

She would do whatever it took. From dawn to twilight, Lorelai would do anything to see better days.

END OF ACT ONE: TWILIGHT

Revised: January 5th, 2020