There were thirteen bodies in all. Jasper offered to help us drag them back, but Edward literally barked at him, and so he stayed in the grove of trees, sitting with his back against a trunk and his knees huddled up to his chest.
He looked stunned. And scared.
“Button your fucking pants,” Edward snarled as we left.
The accident was such a mess, it was easy to hide the bodies and put them back in positions that made it look like they’d been thrown from the cars. Make people think that the bodies were mangled because they’d gotten caught between metal and concrete and not because they’d been carried off by two thirsty vampires.
Carlisle was still there, doing triage. When he saw us working, he just nodded solemnly, and turned back to his own patients.
When we were done, we returned to Jasper. He was fully clothed this time, but lying on his side in the snow, staring blankly. A pool of sticky red lay near him.
I looked at Edward, who stared down at Jasper.
“He couldn’t keep it all down,” he said, after peering into Jasper’s mind. Grabbing Jasper’s arm, he yanked my husband to his feet.
“You should feel that ashamed,” he said. “I’m glad you felt so awful that you hurled.”
Jasper just closed his eyes and clutched his stomach.
The three of us walked back to the house at human speed. It took two hours.
Edward walked between us, one hand on Jasper’s shoulder, like a warden, and one hand holding mine, like a friend.