That infernal beeping was annoying. I tried to raise my hand to slap my alarm clock to make it stop, but my arm felt like lead. Had I drank too much? Wait, that couldn't be right. The last thing I remembered was being at Mike's party, and the booze was flowing, but I wasn't a drinker. Especially around people who could and would never let me live down any embarrassing stunt I would have pulled during any drunken stupor.
I finally forced my eyes open and everything was blurry. I blinked several times before the room began to take shape, and it was then I realized I wasn't at home. The beeping wasn't my alarm.
I was in the hospital.
Panic started to set in, but I forced myself to pull from all of my composure.
I couldn't move my arms yet because they still felt like they weighed a ton, but I could move my head slightly. There was a presence in the room with me, I felt it, felt him before I saw him.
"Jake?" I asked, my voice hoarse and my throat was raw.
"My god, Bella, you came back. You came back."
"Came back? Jake, what? What happened? Where's my dad? Edward? What happened at the party?" I was rapid firing questions, the pain in my throat turning into a raging inferno that required something ice cold.
He was yelling for a nurse. Jacob, who was never known for being calm, was still usually more composed than this.
"I'll answer everything Bells, just let the doctor look you over first, please."
I wanted to scream, but knew arguing with him would do zero good so I conceded and did something more constructive than his screaming and pushed the nurse call button.
"Ms. Swan, happy to see you're awake."
I blinked. My name sounded odd coming from her.
She called for the doctor immediately who didn't take long to come in and give me the once over. I'll be honest, I didn't listen to much of what he said but Rhys hung on his every word and that was good enough for me. He could fill me in later.
Once the health staff had left, I looked at Jake and as calmly as I could spoke one word
"Explain."
The story he launched into was one that was filled with agony, heartache, selfishness and selflessness, it was full of everything that a blockbuster movie would need to possess to make millions.
Tears slid down my cheeks as I started to recall flashes of everything that had transpired, as if his recounting the story was bringing back my memories and the fog was beginning to lift.
His face was full of emotion, his eyes were dark and brooding. He wanted to console me, but I was simply thoroughly confused.
Jacob told me that I had been in a coma for the past several weeks, that life as I knew it was over, simply over. I had made the choice, once Carlisle had figured out I was part Faerie and that was why my blood sang so loudly to vampires, to walk away from them. To let Edward, go and then I had taken off on Jake's motorcycle, winding up in an accident that caused some pretty rough head trauma.
I didn't fully remember what had spurred that decision but it felt right, and Jake would never lie to me.
I took a deep breath, and then another and another.
I was full of questions, but right now all I wanted to do was show Jacob that I didn't regret my decision, even if I couldn't remember exactly why I had done this.
He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss to my lips, and I felt his hot tears hit my cheek.
Words couldn't compare to the emotion felt by him in this moment, I know that well.
He had wanted me to love him more than Edward, more than the rest of the Cullen's, he simply had only always wanted to be enough. Now he knew just how important he was to me.
For now, I just wanted to revel in being alive, awake and being fortunate enough to have the guy who stood beside me that loves me as much as he does.