Can't Win Me Back

Jasper grappled with heartache. The contrast between his tall figure and his helpless demeanor made him the more pitiful.

Axel shot up from the bed and grabbed Jasper's collar. Fixing a piercing gaze on Jasper, he bellowed, "What have you done to my sister? Did you force her into BDSM?"

"No..."

"Why is she bruised all over? Fuck! You should've been the sub even in BDSM!" Axel's grip inadvertently tore one of Jasper's buttons loose. Their faces were mere inches apart.

Axel continued, "We raised Lyse like she was our daughter. She is precious to us. Nothing good has happened to her ever since she dated you. How dare you mistreat her in such a way?

"You may appear a gentleman on the surface, but your behavior in the bedroom is nothing short of savage. You should consider her feelings in the bedroom! How could you hurt her to satisfy your needs?

"Stay there. I'm getting that housekeeper of yours to check the injuries on Lyse's body, and I'll double that on yours."

Axel was visibly furious this time. His concern for Alyssa manifested in an outpouring of emotion, panic, and profanity.

"Axel." Alyssa struggled to open her eyes.

"I'm here!" Axel shoved Jasper aside, crouching by the bed to feel her forehead. His own brow was dotted with sweat from all the worrying.

He remarked, "Your forehead is too hot to the touch. I could fry an egg on it!"

"You're being annoying," she managed to say weakly, mustering the energy to flick him on the head. "I'm a patient in need of rest. Are you. deliberately trying. to disturb me?"

At that moment, Rosie jogged into the bedroom with an aspirin and a glass of water. Then, she took Alyssa's body temperature.

She gasped when she found that Alyssa was running a high fever of over 100°F. "Good heavens! You can kill cancerous cells at that temperature! How are you still breathing?"

Feeling sorry for Alyssa and resentful of Jasper, she gave him a hard shove, causing him to stumble. "Mr. Beckett, you're an idiot! At this temperature, we should be getting her to a hospital, not an aspirin, or her health will suffer!"

Jasper was deeply remorseful for hurting his beloved over his ridiculous possessiveness. He and Rosie hurriedly changed her clothes while Axel turned his back to them out of respect. Axel's shoulders trembled violently from the anger.

At that moment, Alyssa resembled a young, defenseless child. Rosie helped her put on a jacket, and Jasper helped her put on shoes.

Right as Jasper was about to carry her in his arms, Axel pushed him away, unwilling to allow him contact with Alyssa.

Axel crouched, his back facing Alyssa. "Lyse, I'll carry you on my back."

"Axel, I can manage," Jasper offered without hidden intentions.

He merely wished to spare Axel any inconvenience.

Axel snapped, "Get lost." Jasper pursed his parched lips in bitterness.

"When young Lyse was sick, her brothers took turns carrying her to the hospital. If she fell ill at night, each of us took our turn to comfort her and make her sleep." Axel effortlessly hoisted Alyssa onto his back, his eyes smoldering with anger. "She even rode on my shoulders when she was younger and upset!

"Jasper Beckett, you might think you love and dote on her, but you pale in comparison to what we've done for her. Now, I have reservations about entrusting her to your care."

Though Axel's words might have seemed exaggerated, they came from a place of genuine concern from an older brother who cherished his sister deeply.

"I'm sorry..." Looking pale, Jasper clenched his fist when Axel carried Alyssa out of the bedroom.

In the car, Alyssa weakly mumbled and insisted on sitting with Jasper. "Axel, do not blame him. He's always been clumsy and struggles to assert himself in front of you and others. He just panics." She tugged at Axel's shirt, pleading, "Don't be too hard on him. I know he didn't mean to."

"Lyse, you're too forgiving of him. You can't afford to be overly kind to men, or they'll take advantage!" Despite his simmering anger, Axel refrained from harsher words toward Jasper after Alyssa's attempt at defending Jasper.

"He's my husband. Of course I'll be nice to him. It's fine." She pressed her dry lips, which had started cracking from the fever. "Jasper has been struggling in his life. He's only clueless because he tasted happiness for the first time with me. Stop blaming him, okay?"

Consumed by guilt, Jasper battled his emotions, feeling overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy. Alyssa's understanding only intensified his feelings of inferiority, leading him to believe he wasn't worthy of her.

With Xavier driving and Axel in the front passenger seat, the luxury car sped toward the hospital. In the back, Jasper hugged Alyssa tightly. She was cocooned in a wool blanket.

He croaked, "Do you still feel cold?"

She snuggled against his chest, her words punctuated by the rhythm of his anxious breaths, "It's just a fever, darling. No need to fret. Just a gentle reminder to be more mindful next time."

That went without saying, as Jasper would never allow the same thing to happen to her.

Suddenly, the car came to a sudden brake. Frowning, Axel questioned, "Why aren't we moving?"

Xavier replied flatly, "Well, the lights turned red."

Axel raised a skeptical brow. "Lyse's fever is soaring above 100°F. The color of the light doesn't matter! She'll only suffer from all the delays! Just run the lights!"

"Axel, that's enough." She looked dumbstruck by Axel's overreaction. "I'm running a fever, not in labor. Can you please calm down—"

Her words weighed heavily on Jasper's heart, his shirt clinging damply with cold sweat.

Axel began, "Lyse, you're being too—" He was cut off by a dull, resounding thud—a man colliding forcefully with their windshield, his pale features twisted in a grimace.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.