Knight-in-Shining Armor

BPOV

I sit in my new bedroom at my grandmother's house. My parents and my grandmother did a pretty good job creating my sterile clean environment for me in my eight foot by eight foot bedroom. I also have my own sterile and protective bathroom. I have been here for six months after my parents lost our house because they lost their jobs and my medical bills are out of this world. Then I hear another crack of lightning and thunder outside. I look out my window looking for my knight in shining armor like I had seen every summer since I was nine.

I still remember the first night I ever saw him; it was a night similar to this one. A streak of lightning lit up the sky between our two buildings in Manhattan. He was looking out his window at the storm just like I did. I was so scared from all thunder and lightning and I was tracing the rain as it fell down my window. I jumped at the next thunder boom and I wanted my parents to come hold me; but they weren't home. My babysitter was just sitting in the living room watching TV and texting, I am sure. This was always the easiest babysitting gig for anyone. I wasn't allowed out of my room. My parents had already given me my food allotment food for the weekend. The sitter just had to look in my protective bubbled room to see that I was still alive every once in a while plus I had a panic button I could push if I really got into trouble. For whatever reason that night, I was really scared. I was so young, but seeing that man over there watching the storm and seeing me helped calm me down. I didn't know what he looked like, he was too far away but I was sure it was a guy from the build. He had shorter hair and broad shoulders and his shape just looked masculine. After that night, I started glancing out my window more often and trying to see him or at least his shadow over the summer. Then on Labor Day he wasn't there anymore and I never saw anyone in that window until Early May the following year. I was so excited when I saw him again that I didn't leave my bed for like four hours just watching his window. Can you say school girl crush? I had made up so many stories about him over the long winter months; I had even nicknamed him "Mr. Knight." And then again he disappeared over Labor Day until the following May.

That cycle continued until we lost our apartment back in December of last year and moved to my grandparents. Now here I sit wishing I had my knight out the window because it was May and he should be back at his window. I wondered if he ever saw me and what he thought of me if he had as I had grown up in the last eight years. He calmed me so much over the years. My parents left me with my grandmother two months ago to go looking for work and have not returned. My grandmother tells me that they found some work in North Carolina; but I haven't heard from them. I can't remember the last conversation I had with them. As I was sitting hating my existence and not being allowed out of my bubble, I realized I hadn't seen my grandmother in a day or so. And I hadn't had any food. The next morning I would call out for her, if I survived the storm brewing outside my window. "Where are you, Mr. Knight?" I thought to myself as I laid down and went to sleep. I woke around 10 am hungry, dizzy and generally feeling like shit, plus I had a nasty headache. I left my bubble looking for my grandmother and found her on the floor in the living room. I realized something was terribly wrong when she wouldn't respond to me. I called 911 and told them I thought my grandmother was dead. I finally realized the truth of the matter and fainted next to her. As I lay unconscious next to my grandmother, I pull everything inside of me and think back about my knight wondering about this man that is about all I know. I make up stories about him being my knight in shining armor. Someday maybe I can get out of my plastic cage and meet him, but for now I am stuck in my cage. I did not even here the ambulance pull up.

JPOV

There is a knock at my door. We have a family rule about privacy in our own bedrooms. I set down the history book I am reading and say, "Yes."

"It's Esme, may I come in?"

"Esme, I'm sorry, I would prefer to be alone right now."

"Jasper, you have been in your room for a week. Please let me in."

"Fine, you can come in Esme; but I am not very good company," Jasper said.

"Jasper, I'm sorry. I know I am intruding in your personal space; but you have stayed locked up in your room for the last week and your depression is reaching all the rest of us now. Please talk to me; what is going on? You were so excited when you got home for the summer a week ago. Then you went to your room and we haven't heard from you since then."

"Esme, there is a girl; I was so looking forward to meeting this summer. But when I got home for the summer, she didn't show up like she always does."

"Jasper, I am confused. You haven't left your room since you have been home."

Jasper stood up and started pacing and then finally said, "Esme, she should be in that window over in that building. I have sat here all week just hoping she would appear again. This is the ninth summer I have seen her from my window while I was home. I first saw her eight years ago. In the early summer during a thunderstorm all those years ago, she seemed so scared and alone. I willed my calmness to reach her and she seemed better while she just sat by her window and watched the storm. I think my powers reached her because after moment she seemed calmer. I saw her touching the window and she wasn't shying away when the thunder roared through or the lightning lit up the sky anymore. Since then, I watched her grow up at the window. She is almost always there or I can see her shadows moving around the room. I was planning on meeting her this summer because I finally think she is old enough and I knew we would be moving on soon. But I haven't seen her once this week. I'm sorry that my emotions are affecting everyone else."

Esme says, "Family meeting now. Everyone meet in the living room."

She said it in a normal human voice yet everyone heard her and was heading for the living room as she and I came out of my bedroom and headed to meet everyone else, as well. You wonder how everyone else could hear her and yet they were nowhere near us. We are all vampires living amongst the humans in New York City. I promise as the story continues you will learn more about vampires living amongst humans.

Emmett looked up at Esme and me and said, "Oh look, Esme got Jasper out of his room. I thought you were seeing how long you could sit still."

Edward piped up and said, "Drop it, Emmett. He thought he had found a girl and now she is gone."

"A girl, now I'm intrigued," Emmett said.

Esme said, "Rose and Emmet use your computer hacking skills and we need to find out who lives or lived in the apartment straight across from Jasper's window. They have a daughter and that is who we are trying to find."

"Got it, Esme. Anything to maybe get Jasper laid," Emmett said leaving the room.

As Emmett and Rose went down the hall, the rest of us heard a crashing sound from Rose smacking Emmett.

Esme turned to Edward and I and said, "Edward, take your brother hunting he needs it and you are off tomorrow so you get to take him. I need to clean out the gloom from this house."

"No problem. Jasper, we can go down into the Appalachians for some hunting fun."

As soon as I got back from hunting, I was nonstop bothering Rose and Emmett to see if they had found out anything yet.

Twelve hours later Rose called the family meeting. They had some information that they shared with everyone. Rose and Emmett find out that the apartment is empty because the apartment was foreclosed on in December and that it belonged to the Swans. Their family is made up of Charlie, Renee and their daughter Isabella. Isabella is 17 and will be 18 in September. Both Charlie and Renee lost their jobs due to the economic downturn. Eventually, the bank foreclosed and they had to move out. The family also has a very large amount of medical bills in their debt arsenal as well. We are still trying to get information on those. The medical bills are almost all for Bella's care.

I ask, "Can we find them? Where they want and why Isabella has so much in medical bills? I want to see the empty apartment if it hasn't been leased or sold yet."

Emmett makes some comment about her being just a ghost and a simple human girl.

Jasper gets grumpier and punches Emmett. Esme looks at both of us and says, "Sons, what have I told you about that?"

Rose pipes up and looks at Emmett and says, "You were a simple human boy who thought he could play with bears when I met you."

"Sorry, Jasper. I'll try and see what I can find where they went," Emmett said and Emmett retreated back to his room and the computers in his and Rose's office.

The next morning under the ruse that Esme was a realtor, she and I get in to see the apartment. As soon as we entered the apartment high rise, Esme introduced herself to the front desk and they gave her the keys to the apartment. Esme and I then rode the elevator up to the 20th floor. Esme opened the apartment and I immediately go straight to her bedroom. I didn't know the layout of the apartment but I was pulled straight to her room. I open the door and said, "Oh my god, Esme. What is going on in here? Everything is covered in plastic. I have never seen anything like this before. Have you?"

Esme shows up and says, "Why did that girl have to live like this? No, I have never seen anything like this before."

"Esme, look at how she read her books. It was like the books couldn't even touch her; she had to read them in what looks like an incubator."

Esme said, "Jasper, take pictures of this room. We will take the pictures back to Edward and Carlisle. I will go through the rest of the apartment and see if I can find anything else that will give us a clue of where we could find them. That poor girl, I can't imagine having to live like this. Now, I want to find her and make her feel better and give her back some of the life experiences I am sure she has missed."

"Thank you, Esme. We just need Rose and Emmett to find her first."

"I know they will, Jasper. Just give them some time please," Esme said.

As soon as we were back in our home, I brought the pictures up on my computer and waited for Edward and Carlisle to come home. I pounced on them as soon as they came in the door with the pictures. As soon as Carlisle saw the pictures, he knew what it was. He explained to us, "Isabella has Severe combined immunodeficiency, SCID for short. It is the result of frequent recurring infections. Her antibodies are not strong enough to fight off her infections. The result is that her system can not fight off infections because her t cells and b cells have been destroyed and her system doesn't generate nearly enough or none at all to help her depending on how severe her case. So the doctors have forced her to live in a plastic bubble that is strictly monitored with a clean sterilized system. She cannot even breath normal air or come into contact with anyone else for fear of her getting sick and never recovering. I wonder where she is now without everything that is still in the apartment."

Jasper then commented, "So the best way to treat her is to never have any contact with anyone even the love and touch of her parents."

Edward said, "Unfortunately, yes Jasper."

"Where did she go without her bubble protection? Can we take care of her? Now let me make sure I understand, the girl's immune system is so weak one stray germ could kill her." Jasper asked.

"I do not know where she went; but we will watch for mention of her case around the area at the hospital and in our clinic. As to taking care of her, let Edward and I look into it. I have some ideas."

Edward said, "I do, too. Don't worry, Jasper; she deserves a chance at a real life and if you are willing to give it to her, then so am I. I want to see you happy."

"Thank you, Edward and Carlisle. I will do anything I can to help; just let me know."

A/N

So this is the beginning, to my new story. The inspiration came from the old stories about the boy in the bubble. Trust me though, it will always be a Happily Ever After story as all of mine are. Just put me on alert. I have the guts of this story written; now I just need to fill in the details. This story may be a little slow updating to start with. Hope you enjoy and drop me a note and let me know what you think. The cast of characters is the same with just two mix ups. Edward will be with Alice and for most of the story Jasper will be with Bella.