When I reached the ballet studio, the door was ajar and light flooded from one of the small practice rooms. I sprinted in, only to find Bella's limp body collapsed on the ground, surrounded by glass from the broken mirror, and blood, her sweet aroma filling the air. But that meant nothing to me now.
"Oh no, Bella, no!" my voice was a fit of hysteria- I couldn't stand to see her this way.
I leaned over her face, her head wound gushing blood, her face paler than usual, her dark eyes closed peacefully. "Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, Bella, please!" my begging pleas were answered with silence. Obviously she couldn't hear me, but I couldn't stand to sit and do nothing. If I could have cried, I would have. "Carlisle! Bella, please, no, oh please, no, no!" The agony was overwhelming. I leaned down to kiss her white cheek, collapsing on the ground beside her. "Bella!"
After a few desperate moments, she cried out, moaning, an anguished sound. "Bella!" I cried, triumphant, but still anxious.
"She's lost some blood, but the head wound isn't deep. Watch out for her leg, it's broken." Carlisle was so calm! How did he do it? Once I was sure Bella was all right, James would be beyond dead. I would rip him to pieces. I let out a low growl of frustration and fury. "Some ribs, too, I think."
James is so beyond dead.
"Edward…" Bella's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but hearing her gentle voice murmur my name was comforting.
"Bella, you're going to be fine. Can you hear me, Bella? I love you."" My voice cracked with the weight and truth of the words.
"Edward…" Her voice was still weak and tired, pained.
"Yes, I'm here."
"It hurts," her voice made me want to cry out in fury, and kiss her, but I couldn't get any closer to the blood right now.
"I know, Bella, I know. Carlisle, can't you do anything?" I was losing my patience. Couldn't he move any faster? And where is Alice?
"My bag, please…hold your breath, Alice, it will help." Carlisle, finally here to help. Why was he only now asking for his bag?
"Alice?" Bella moaned.
"She's here, she knew where to find you."
"My hand hurts!" she cried.
"I know, Bella. Carlisle will give you something, it will stop."
"My hand is burning!" The pain in her voice was overwhelming. I couldn't stand it, and the sweet fragrance of her blood was growing stronger……I wouldn't be able to resist much longer…No. I could. I would never take of Bella's blood.
"Bella?" I was terrified now. What else had James done to torture her?
"The fire! Someone stop the fire!" Her voice was but a high pitched scream and she was gasping in pain.
"Carlisle! Her hand!"
"He bit her." I gasped, revolted, horrified for Bella. I couldn't let the venom spread, wouldn't let her become a monster too.
"Edward, you have to do it." Alice was always sure she would be changed anyway. Even if I hadn't been able to hear it in her thoughts, her tone resonated "I told you so, you knew it would happen all along."
"No!" I wouldn't let that happen to Bella. Ever. She would not lose her soul for my sake.
"Alice," Bella sighed.
"There may be a chance," Carlisle's voice was still methodical, but with a trace of skepticism. I turned immediately at his words. Anything to save Bella.
"What?" I was ready to grovel at his feet in order to find out how to rescue her soul.
"See if you can suck the venom back out. The wound is fairly clean." But could I do that? And would it work? And would I kill Bella in the process……
"Will that work?" Alice's voice was nervous, tense.
"I don't know, but we have to hurry." Carlisle said.
"Carlisle, I… I don't know if I can do that." I was likely to kill her, and I couldn't stand the prospect of seeing her lying there- pale and cold, lifeless.
"It's your decision, Edward, either way. I can't help you. I have to get this bleeding stopped if you're going to be taking blood from her hand." Carlisle sounded sincerely sorry he couldn't just give me all the answers or do it himself, but it made my decision no more simple. But I had known all along that I would never let her be changed, and my mind was made up.
"Edward!" If my mind hadn't been made up before, Bella's beautiful, pleading voice was the deciding factor.
"Alice, get me something to brace her leg! Edward, you must do it now, or it will be too late." Carlisle's voice was grave.
I grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight, knowing I needed the comfort as much as she did, and raised it to my lips. The scent was luscious, but it was nothing compared to the incredible feel of her blood, still warm, rolling over my lips and tongue. The blood was the richest I'd ever tasted, and was probably comparable to fresh chocolate, but magnified times 1000.
I looked into her warm eyes, frightened, but turned away. I was frightened too. If I got carried away, it would mean the end of her life, the last time I would see her blush a pleasant scarlet, feel the warm sensation of her lips on mine. So, somehow, I stopped. I pushed her arm harshly to the ground, leaned down to kiss her gently, and heard her soft voice, more breath than word.
"Edward…"
"He's right here, Bella," was Carlisle's response, I was still too numb for words.
"Stay, Edward, stay with me…" her voice faded as she fell in and out of consciousness.
"I will." Even to my own ears, my voice sounded triumphant. I had stopped. My inner voices were cheering, and I heard Alice's gentle "good job" in her thoughts.
"Is it all out?"
"Her blood tastes clean. I can taste the morphine."
"Bella?" Carlisle whispered softly.
""Mmmmm?" she murmured.
"Is the fire gone?"
"Yes. Thank you, Edward."
Hearing her say my name was all the thanks I needed. "I love you," was my simple response.
"I know." I chuckled at her simple reply, drowning out the still skeptic conversation of Carlisle, Alice, and Bella.
"It's time to move her," was all Carlisle said to me.
"No, I want to sleep…" Bella complained, leading me to laugh quietly again.
"You can sleep, sweetheart, I'll carry you."
I picked her up gently pulling her into my chest, whispering in her ear. "Sleep now, Bella," was all I got to say before she slipped into unconsciousness.