Teaser... Chapter 52.

Alice POV

After stopping briefly at the house to get changed, I made my way to the gallery. Despite Jasper’s request, I tended to spend as little time at home as possible. The house was unbearably lonely without his presence and I avoided it as much as I could.

There were some things I needed to get done before he came home, though. Nothing major, just things I knew would bug him. Like the light bulb in the living room. It had been out for a few weeks but I knew if I didn’t change it before he got home, I’d find him doing it himself before long.

Carlisle’s main worry about releasing Jasper was him behaving himself, and I understood his concerns. Jasper and I had lived together long enough for me to know he couldn’t be stopped if he wanted to do something and I didn’t want to be the one trying to stop him. I wanted to take care of him...I needed to do that, but I didn’t want to police him. All I could do was ask him to look after himself and hope that he did.

It was the same tussle we’d been having since we met and it wasn’t something I could ever see changing. The thought made me smile as I opened the door to my office. It was just Jasper, and I wouldn’t change him for the world.

Resisting the urge to return to the hospital too early, I buried myself in long overdue paperwork. The gallery had been so far down my list of priorities over the last few weeks, the mountain of admin I had was overwhelming. It took me the best part of the afternoon to wade through it. 

It was past four o’clock when Brady appeared, the cordless phone from reception clutched tightly in his hand.

I glanced around the office when I saw it, wondering why I hadn’t heard the phone on my desk ring. The mystery was solved when I finally located it, unplugged and broken on the shelf above me. When had that happened? Exhaling crossly, I turned back to Brady.

My whole body froze when I saw his expression. “Brady? What’s the matter?”

Brady swallowed and held out the phone to me. “I’m not sure, it’s the hospital, they want to talk to you.”

Snatching the phone quickly, I pressed it to my ear. “Hello?”