Dedication: So my poor flower, jfka06, watched as everyone but her got a fic they wanted. Her want was simple: Jasper/Edward loving. But alas, this silly writer can never write without a plot. Jasper/Edward plots are few and far between in my head. So this has been a long time coming. Jfka06 - I love you.

Disclaimer: Not SM. Just playing with her beautiful toys.

Why did bad things always happen in the middle of the night?

No, that wasn't a very accurate thing to think. Jasper's accident had actually happened in the daytime, but no one had called Edward until the small hours of the morning. Everyone was asleep - or they had been until Edward had looked around, realized if someone didn't stop him, he would go out of his mind, and called in the cavalry.

Emmett was there, of course, but after Edward had hollered at him, the man had gone off to lick his wounds in another corner of the hospital, far away from Jasper, just like Edward wanted. It wasn't fair. It wasn't Emmett's fault, but Edward couldn't stand the sight of the hulking man. How had he let this happen? The whole point of doing what he and Jasper - thrill seekers that they were - did togetherwas to keep safe. There was safety in numbers.

Jasper was supposed to be safe. He'd promised.

So now Edward waited alone, pacing, going out of his skin.

Anything, I'll give you anything. Just let him live.

"Edward?"

Alice Whitlock - Jasper's ex-wife and the mother of his little girl, Bella - looked frantic. Of course. Edward hadn't exactly been coherent when he called. "What's going on?" she demanded, hurrying over to him.

Edward took a deep breath. "It happened almost twelve hours ago." His voice cracked because he couldn't help but imagine Jasper lying helpless for so long. "Emmett and Jasper were hiking Mt. Rainier. The trail was a little icy. Jasper slipped and fell." Another deep breath. "He fell beyond where Emmett could get to him and he was unconscious. Emmett had to hike out to get help."

Alice's hands went to her mouth. "Oh, God." She stepped forward, wrapping Edward in her arms as he held her close.

"I don't know much. He's still in surgery," Edward finished. "It's bad, Al. It's really bad."

"He's going to be fine. He's got to be," Alice muttered, stumbling backward and sitting down. "How could I ever tell Bella..." She shook her head fervently. "No. He's going to be fine. Jasper's a fighter. He'll make it."

Edward sat down beside her, offering his hand, grateful when she took it and squeezed tight.

In some other universe, Edward and Alice would have been very good friends, and the scene that played out then wouldn't have been so unusual. They were very similar people and when their defenses were down, they enjoyed each others company very much.

Their problem came in one simple fact: they had the same taste in men.

Alice had been Jasper Whitlock's first love. Edward Cullen had every intention of being his last.

~0~

The next few hours were daunting for everyone involved. The waiting room filled up slowly, family and friends waking each other, getting on the horn.

Rosalie Hale, Emmett's fiancé, showed up next, followed quickly by Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme.

With everyone around to calm him, Edward apologized for taking out his fear on Emmett and the large man - nearly bent double in guilt - took his rightful place in the waiting room with the rest of them.

They waited.

Just as dawn was breaking, the doctor came out to see them all.

The official diagnoses was Jasper was comatose but stable. They'd repaired a lot of internal damage. He'd taken a horrible blow to the head. Only time would tell.

Jasper was no fool. He knew the risks he took when he and Emmett went out climbing. He'd taken the precaution of having Edward named his attorney in fact so medical decisions would be made by him. Lord knew he didn't trust Maria and Deacon - his parents.

"I want to prepare you, Mr. Cullen," the doctor said gently. "He looks a little gruesome."

Falling down a cliffside would do that, Edward imagined.

He steeled himself, but how could he possibly be prepared for what he saw?

The man he loved was slack, his skin - what little of it was visible - was a sickly pallor of grey. His head was bandaged, but his face was a mess of scrapes and bruises. From what Edward could tell, his pretty, long blond hair had been shaved away.

His right hand was relatively unharmed, and so that was where Edward situated himself, curling Jasper's fingers around his, whispering to him encouragingly, bargaining with every power of the universe for his lover to wake up and blink his beautiful brown eyes and smile his breathtaking grin again.

Jasper remained unresponsive, his eyes closed, his hand limp in Edward's.

~0~

Days turned into weeks and still Jasper slept.

He was hardly ever alone. Alice and Bella were there frequently. Bella insisted. She would sit on Alice's lap or Edward's and talk to her father every day. She would kiss him and tell him she loved him.

Alice would only let her stay for an hour or so. Bella was loathe to leave her daddies with Jasper still sleeping and Edward being so sad. But Alice wanted to keep her life as normal and happy as possible.

When Edward could be convinced to leave his side, Jasper entertained a wide range of visitors. He was a police officer and well liked on the force, so his fellow officers dropped in on their off time. Jasper's sister Lucy flew in, though Maria and Deacon only called for updates.

Still, Jasper slept.

Slowly, his physical wounds faded, began to heal. The bandages around his head were unravelled revealing jagged, nasty gashes along one side of his head. He was going to be so scarred when he recovered from this.

"You're still beautiful to me," Edward told him every day.

~0~

Jasper did wake up.

It was the middle of the night again when Edward felt a tug at his hand. He was awake in a heartbeat, leaning over Jasper, saying his name as a tear escaped and rolled down his cheek.

Carefully, talking softly to him, Edward stroked his fingers down Jasper's face. Jasper looked confused and frightened. Edward did his best to soothe him.

"It's okay, love. You're just fine. Everything's going to be just fine."

Jasper's eyes focused finally on him, and they were the most beautiful thing Edward had ever seen.

And then they narrowed sharply, and Jasper yanked his arm out of Edward's grasp.

"You better... you better back up off me, man," Jasper said, his voice thick and raspy.

Edward blinked. "What?"

"Look you... I'm sure you don't mean any harm, but you need to be out of my personal space."

"Jasper?"

Jasper didn't respond. He was looking around now, blinking sporadically, taking notice of things like the IV in his arm and the fact his body wouldn't respond the way he wanted it to. "What the hell... what the hell is going on?"

"Calm down," Edward soothed. He started to stroke Jasper's cheek, but his lover batted his hand away harshly.

"Stop. Touching. Me," Jasper demanded in a growl. "Where the fuck am I? What happened?" He dragged in a deep breath. "Look. You need to call my wife. Her name is Alice. You need to call her right now."

All the breath left Edward's lungs in one big whoosh as Jasper's words hit him hard. He imagined taking a hit right to the gut from Thor's hammer would hurt less than his lover's confused, angry words. "Jasper... do you know who I am?" he asked in a small voice, dreading the answer.

Jasper's frantic eyes looked at him, searching.

"No. I don't."

A/N: Ouch.

Thank you to jfka06 and barburella.

This fic will start posting when Just a Number and Call Me Home are done... which should really only be a few days.

So. Thoughts? Fears? Hopes? Questions?