Twilight Canon Fodder Challenge
Title: Saving You for Me
Contest Category (Rookie/Vet): Vet
Characters/Pairing: Rosalie/Emmett
Rating: M
Canon Type (Book/Movie): Book
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. As much as I'd love to be, I am not in any way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Please do not copy, post, print or use any portion of this story without the express permission of the author—namely me. Your cooperation is much appreciated and wholly expected.
Some descriptions in this story may be disturbing to read as they deal with death.
Summary:In1935, she found herself mad with thoughts of saving him. She was desperate to save him for herself as much as for her dear friend, Vera. Could she risk losing him by making her selfish plea?
To see other entries in the Canon Fodder Challenge, please visit the C2 page:
http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/community/Canon_Fodder_Challenge/79719/
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It had been some time since I'd had more than a fleeting thought of my life in Rochester, New York. For the first 745 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 23 seconds I had tried so hard to remember everything. I made certain to commit every little detail of what my life had been like to memory. Everyone had known I was the most beautiful girl in that town. I could see a person's thoughts reflected in the way they had stared at me.
Appearances were important to all those in our societal status, but it was not difficult to see the facial expressions before they were safely hidden from the numerous wandering eyes. Envious women would sneer while glaring at me from a distance. Those same women would later speak kindly to me when surrounded by my family, friends or various influential businessmen. Some would endeavor to harshly tug at their man's arm for their obvious gawking. Those men had obviously been deprived of seeing a beauty such as mine and displayed a hungering lust I had learned of from an early age.
From the tender age of five, my mother had instilled in me that I was destined for a comfortable life—a very privileged one with luxuries even our family only dreamt of. My beauty would bring men to their knees in an attempt to win me over, and because of that, I would find a man who would be monetarily sound. She had been accurate in her predictions. Daddy had to sort through the many suitors that often darkened our doorstep. There were very few he ever allowed entrance into our home. That was until Royce King the second—my suitor turned fiancé who would later become my murderer. No one had foreseen the evil within that man's structure.
My family was strictly upper-middle class in the time of the Great Depression. Daddy held an occupation at a bank owned by Royce King the first, making the American economic tragedy seem like a pebble in my shoe—easily forgotten when dismissed, but bothersome enough while present. We had stood by and watched as friends and neighbors we had known for years became less than they once were. We could not be bothered by the pains of what others were going through no matter what their status had been prior. It would have been a blemish on our social status. Goodness knows we could not have afforded that. Our lives were infinitely more important than keeping unworthy friendships.
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There was no justification for thinking of those dreadful times that day. That day was the first day I dared venture out on my own. Carlisle had been encouraging me for the last month to take this crucial step in my existence. On that day, I had finally felt as though I could trust myself to roam around without any temptation for the warmth that pulsed in every human's veins—that once pulsed in my now dormant veins. That was until I saw him.
Every moment I stole to look at him, all I envisioned was Vera's beautiful baby boy, Henry. His dark curly hair and adorable deep dimples were evident even without the smile that would have presented itself once given the opportunity. Albeit human, an involuntary gasp escaped me when I witnessed his beautiful hazel eyes. I wanted to lose myself in him forever, but was not willing to risk his precious life. My life was stolen from me without my consent. A new life had been forced upon me, and I was unable to forfeit it. A life I would gladly relinquish to once again be Miss Rosalie Hale, the blissful and strikingly beautiful human woman who could have any wealthy man of her choosing. If I could dream, I would forever dream of a life with children of my own, a well kept home, servants, and a husband whom would love me and bountifully provide for our family.
The man before me was a brawny man, and I could see instantly that he was a laborer. He was well-formed with an expansive muscular chest and powerful arms. I watched enraptured as his muscles twitched in…pain!
Gasping had been a reflex when I had caught sight of him, but it quickly brought me back to the reality of the moment we were in. The blood's saccharine aroma invaded my senses, and a thirst I had thought to have been well-tamed reared its ugly head. It should have been revolting to see and smell but it had me drawing nearer to his struggling form.
His heart rate was faint enough that no human could have heard its pulsations as it attempted to push the blood through his veins. So light was the thumping of his heart that he would have been declared dead within a span of seconds, the air bubbling through the blood in his throat unrecognizable. That is, if he were ever found. He most likely would have died cold and alone, choking on the red stream.
The bear had slashed him deep, leaving gaping wounds in his arms, chest and abdomen. Those very wounds now seeped blood out of his body, saturating the forest floor. He was dying and would have been dead soon enough had I not taken action to save him. I scooped him into my arms and began running as fast as I could through trees and brush to get him to Carlisle. I would make dear Vera proud by saving our precious Henry; he could not die in this way.
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"No! I did not bring him here for you to doom him! You were only to save his life!"
"Rosalie, he has lost too much blood. I cannot save his human life; no one can. If you wish him as a companion…" He stared sympathetically at me, pity displayed in his features as my eyes widened, realizing my trepidations were becoming a reality. It reminded me of the first look I had ever seen on Edward's face as I lay in the final stages of my change. I hated pity; what is more I hated the thought of bringing Henry into this life—as it were.
Carlisle knew I would never have chosen this existence for myself. He knew I struggled daily with the choices that had been made for me, and he blamed himself for the hasty conclusions he had made. He had only wished for Edward and me to be as happy as he and Esme were.
Carlisle requested of Esme to monitor the staggering thrum of my Henry's heart before crossing the room to me. He knelt beside me, placing his hand over mine in a comforting gesture. "Rosalie, you've brought him here, knowing him to be a dying man. Tell me why you chose this."
I heard my Henry's heartbeat grow uneven and fainter. I felt panic takeover my mind. My once varying thoughts all shifted their focus to the beautiful man I had brought here. If I had still been human, I would have sobbed deeply. I knew I would doom him to this baneful life to keep him with me; it would be the most selfish thing I would ever do in my existence.
"I brought him here to be saved by you." If I had a heart, it would have broken for what I was about to ask. "Please, Carlisle…I have asked you for very little since my change. My only request is that you save him."
Those few words were a paradox to a real life—a human life would end. Were we truly saving him by dooming him to continue living in our soulless world? Edward would think me a hypocrite for all I have said to him. From the day of my awakening, I had blamed him for not fighting harder against Carlisle.
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Three days I sat by his bedside, waiting for my Henry to open his eyes. Two of those wretched days I had listened as he cried out in agony whilst I held his hand unable to soothe him. His body was doing as mine had done—repairing itself by burning venom through every atom that had originally formed him. I knew of the battle the body raged against the poison having gone through it myself. On this, the third day, he would cry out once more as the venom overtakes his heart by burning and solidifying it the cage of his chest. Finally, I would gaze into my Henry's bright eyes.
I heard the beat of his heart increase as he flexed his body and screamed out excruciatingly for several minutes. My mind was quickly calculating the seconds it took for the venom to run its course through his organs. Henry's chest rose as his back arched off the bed with the final burn overtaking the last chamber of his heart. I desperately wished to hold him and tell him everything would be alright. I knew better than that. I had full knowledge of what my selfish decisions had cost him. I only hoped he could forgive me for making them for him. I had yet to completely forgive Carlisle. I was certain my self-serving ways would haunt me for the rest of my days.
I heard Carlisle as he rushed from his study to my room. He glanced at me before tilting his head and closing his eyes. We both stood silently listening for anything to indicate that the transformation was complete. I watched Henry's face, waiting for a physical change but unable to ascertain what it was I should be looking for. I wanted him to open his eyes so I could once again see the beautiful hazel they once were.
He slowly opened his eyes, and I saw red. "Carlisle, his eyes," I whispered as faintly as I was able, forgetting that everyone was able to hear regardless of the decibel level.
"We'll speak of it later, Rosalie. Why don't we greet our guest?" He'd spoken to me in his gentle yet stern manner without removing his eyes from Henry. "Hello young man, I am Doctor Carlisle Cullen. I tended to your wounds. How are you feeling?"
My Henry glanced at Carlisle and began looking over his body. There was no evidence of any wounds. No scars marred his body. The venom had done its job well in healing him while killing him and turning him. Once he'd given himself a good gander, he then turned his head fully toward me.
I watched as his right brow raised and a smirk spread across his face. I could not help but smile at the gentle dimples in his cheeks. I had been correct in my assessment of their presence.
"Sorry, Doc." I knew he was speaking to Carlisle, but he was staring at me. "I'll speak with you in a minute. Right now, I need to talk to this angel before me."
"Rosalie, there is much to discuss…" Carlisle warned, but my Henry was quick to cut him off.
"Rosalie? Is that your name, doll? I should have known because you are definitely as pretty as a flower." I nodded in appreciation of his words and watched as his grin grew wider. "Emmett McCarty's the name, but you can call me yours."
I felt my face twist in confusion and took a step back. My Henry was speaking, but…he could not be… I left the room as fast as I could, running out the doors and deep into the wilderness of Tennessee. I needed to be alone with my scattering thoughts.
How could I have made such a colossal error in my judgment? I had sentenced this man—whom I had mistakenly identified as someone I had known was only a few months old a short time ago—to an eternity spent with the Cullens and myself. What have I done? I took a deep breath and screamed out my frustration to every living creature within earshot. "How could I have been so foolish?! He's not Vera's Henry!" I had let my emotions get the better of me when I had found him. That beautiful man was doomed to suffer for what I had done to him. What I had asked be done to him. He would forever be bound to this earth, an immortal and as much a monster as the rest of us.
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A/N: Remember in Eclipse, Rosalie speaks of how she was mad with vengeance when going after Royce. With those thoughts in mind, I wrote that same madness for this situation.
Thank you to my betas who, for reasons of anonymity, will remain nameless until posted after the end of this contest. Thank you for reading, reviewing and voting.