Too loud! Too loud! Too loud!
The mental voice registered pain as the child slapped his hands hard over his ears. I couldn't see them with my own eyes, but I could see them through others' eyes and hear the frustrated mother's thoughts and voice as she tried to get her son to cooperate. I paused outside the Thriftway, curious to see—in my way—what would happen.
"Please, baby, come on, we'll go home in a minute! Mommy just needs to get one more thing!"
I can't do this anymore. Every time we go anywhere, this happens. I need help.
"Go home!" The child yanked himself free of her grip and threw himself against a shelf of cookies. Packages rained down onto the floor. Through the child's eyes I saw the mother's face contort in a mixture of anger, sadness, and embarrassment. He felt her disappointment so acutely it actually would have taken my breath away if I'd had any. Mommy sad. Mommy angry.
"No Michael! Look at this mess! Pick up these cookies, now!"
Too loud, too loud, Mommy angry, Mommy angry.
People are starting to stare at us. What are you looking at, asshole? Never seen a kid have a fit before?
Other voices filtered in.
That child needs a spanking!
That poor mother.
Obviously someone's been too spoiled.
As I looked through the mother's eyes, the boy named Michael crumpled into a heap on the dirty tile floor. Tears rolled down his face. "Go home," he whispered. Images of his computer at home and the fun Web sites he would visit filled his mind.
The mother saw the end of the tantrum and knelt down to help pick up the cookies. Her thoughts were tired and overwhelmed, but at that moment her love for her child dominated everything else.
He didn't mean it. He's sorry. God, I hate seeing him cry over this. He can't control it. I shouldn't have freaked out on him. I should have just come back later. We didn't need groceries that urgently.
"I love you, Mikey," she told him. "I'm sorry I yelled."
"Happy?" he asked, looking at her face. Mommy happy?
She smiled at him. It was half sincere, half forced, but she knew she had to do it. He needed to see that the worst was over.
Mommy happy.
The child's spirits lifted. His mother saw the change and sighed in relief. Five bad minutes in an otherwise good trip, she thought as she stacked the last of the cookies back on the shelf. She held her arms out for Michael, and he leapt into them. Mommy happy! Love Mommy!
"Go home now?" he asked.
She nodded, picking up her basket. "Let's go pay for our groceries, and we'll go home." Please, please be okay with that, baby. Just a couple more minutes, I promise.
"Computer?" More images of Web sites and videos played in his mind. His thoughts were disconnected, but I could sense the happiness he felt.
"Sure, you can have the computer when we get home. Step one, we pay for our groceries…" she showed him the basket. "Step two, we go home, and step three you can have the computer. Okay?"
"Okay Mommy." Step one, groceries. Step two, go home. Step three, computer. He began to skip down the aisle, holding his mother's hand. Step one, groceries. Step two, go home. Step three, computer.
"What was step one?" the mother asked. Keep him on task; remind him of the steps. I've just got to get him to the car, and then we'll be okay.
"Step one, groceries!" he answered, smiling.
"Step two?"
"Step two, go home!"
"Step three?"
"Computer!"
"Good job, baby, I'm very proud of you." She put her few items on the belt while Michael stood beside her. He was rocking back and forth, she saw. Stimming again, she thought. Stimming? I wasn't familiar with the term. I made a note to look it up when I got back to the house. His thoughts were of an animated movie, perhaps something by Disney. He was mentally reciting the closing credits with incredible accuracy. His eyes were on the ceiling, and the way he rolled them made me feel almost dizzy myself. Around and around, he watched the ceiling tiles spin and blur as he rocked.
The cashier kept an eye on Michael. What a weird kid, she thought. Must be retarded or something. She glanced at the mother, who was eyeing her back with anger. She thinks my son's a freak. The look on the cashier's face had been too easy to read.
"Michael, honey, come on." she reached back and took his hand. Her hand on his interrupted his recitation, sending his mind into a tailspin. He became disoriented. Sounds got louder. People were staring. Mommy angry. Mommy angry.
"Come on, Michael, let's go to the car and go home now. Step two, remember?"
Step two, go home. Step two, go home. Mommy angry?
"Happy?" He read her face.
"I'm happy, baby. Let's go home."
Go home.
"Go home?" he asked. Go home. Step two, go home.
"Yes, we're going home," she answered. He took her hand slowly and followed her to the doors.
They passed by me as they stepped out of the store and crossed the darkening parking lot. The mother held tightly to Michael's hand. We'll be fine as soon as we can get to the car. Just get him in the car. I tuned the voices out again and walked on, headed for the music shop a few doors down, my original destination. Just then, my cellphone rang.
"What is it, Alice?"
"Something's about to happen, Edward. Don't interfere, it will be bad for all of us if you do."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just walk away, Edward. You have—"
Nooooooooo! The volume and anguish in the voice in my head drowned out Alice completely. I turned back toward the parking lot. The boy called Michael was in the grip of a stranger who held a gun on Michael's mother.
"Please don't hurt him, please," she was begging. I'll do anything. Don't hurt my baby! Michael, baby, please hang on!
"Get in the car, bitch!" She'll be fun once I ditch the kid. His mind drew vivid pictures of exactly what he would do. My cellphone crumbled in my hand. I knew minds like his. I had hunted them before, decades earlier.
Then things got exponentially worse.
"Let gooooooo! Let goooooo! Mommy! Mommy! Ahhhhhhhh!" Scared! Scared! Let go! Don't like this! Go home! Michael began to struggle against the carjacker's grip. Stunned by the child's sudden and strong reaction, he brought the butt of the gun down hard against the side of Michael's head. His mother screamed as Michael slumped to the pavement.
I wasn't aware of moving or of making any conscious decision to move, but suddenly I was there between the sobbing, frightened woman and her attacker. Rage pulsed venom into my mouth, and I wanted to rip his head from his shoulders and bleed him dry. With speed only one of my kind could have seen, I tore the gun from his hand and crushed it to dust.
"You have ten seconds to run before I do the same to you," I growled at him. It took him three heartbeats—once his heart resumed beating—to understand me. He stumbled as he turned and ran off into the night. I knew his scent; I would track him later.
I closed my eyes and attempted to regain control of myself. After a few moments' hesitation as she gauged my intentions, the woman behind me sank down to the still body of her son and burst into tears.
"Don't touch him yet," I whispered, not sure how much control I had over my voice. Her thoughts were fearful as she mistook my words for a threat. I turned at last and faced her. "The blow to the head or the fall to the pavement may have caused him serious injury. Help is coming, I promise." I knew Alice would be coming, most likely with Carlisle in tow. I tried to smile to reassure her, and her thoughts became confused at first. Her heart rate increased again. I was worried I had frightened her more, but then she relaxed slightly and attempted a shaky smile.
"Thank you," she whispered. She surprised me then by laying herself down next her son in the street. My poor baby, she thought over and over again as she gently brushed his hair from his face. I listened to her mind, wondering if she'd seen my inhuman speed or registered my strength in destroying her attacker's weapon, but her thoughts remained focused on the boy before her.
"Are you all right?" I asked finally, squatting down on the other side of Michael. I needed her to focus on me and on what had happened. She closed her eyes for a second. Am I all right? I don't even know. I'm not hurt; he didn't hurt me. But Michael, he hurt my baby! I would have killed him myself if he had. I would have broken him with my bare hands…
At that moment, her mind at last registered what she had seen. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at me. Where did this man come from? He was just—there. And the gun, what did he do to the gun?
"I—I think so," she answered, sitting up. Her thoughts became jumbled as she looked around for the remnants of the cheap pistol. I'd had the presence of mind to hide the evidence while her eyes were closed, so she was even more confused to find nothing where she'd expected to find…something.
Did I imagine it? If he didn't destroy the gun, how did he save us? Why did the other one run?
I needed to distract her before she got too far.
"I'm Edward," I said, holding out my hand. She looked at it for a moment, still confused, then grasped and shook it.
"Bella," she answered. "Bella Black. This is my son, Michael."
We're here, Edward. The police will be here in 5 minutes; we delayed calling them as long as possible.
"Edward! Are you okay? What happened?" Alice feigned concern and raced over to us as though she had simply come out of a store and seen us sitting here on the ground. Carlisle slowed to a similarly human pace behind her, immediately kneeling down by Michael when he reached our place.
"Bella, this is my sister, Alice, and my father, Carlisle." To maintain the charade, I briefly explained what had happened. "He was pistol whipped, Carlisle. He's been out for at least 3 minutes. Bella, my father is a doctor. He can take a look at Michael if you'd like."
She turned to Carlisle and nodded. "Please!"
Carlisle began assessing Michael's condition. Alice knelt beside Bella, who was carefully watching my father work. In the distance we could hear sirens. Time was getting short to cover our tracks, if we needed to.
"He'll be okay," Carlisle pronounced. "Nothing's broken, his pupils are equal and reactive, and I don't think he'll have any serious injury, but we should get him to the hospital for a CT scan. You can hold him if you want to, Bella. I think he'll wake up soon."
Thank God, she thought, before smiling at Carlisle. "Thank you so much," she said as she picked Michael up and held him. "All of you," she added after second, looking around at me. "I don't know what would have happened if—"
I don't know what he did or how he did it, but he saved us. He must be an angel.
I wanted to laugh, but it wouldn't have been appropriate. I saw Alice smirk briefly out of the corner of my eye. My brother, the angel of Thriftway, she thought.
"Don't think about that now, Bella," I told her. "Everything will be all right."
Will it, Edward? Alice thought. Her mind spun with a thousand different scenarios. I can't be sure yet.
I thought you said it would be bad, I thought back at her.
I saw you killing him, she explained. That would have been bad on many levels. But you didn't, and now it will depend on Bella and what she decides to tell the police.
"Does Michael have any medical conditions, Bella?" Carlisle was already filling out a medical history in his head, preparing for the coming ride in the ambulance now turning into the parking lot.
"Yes, he's autistic," she answered, confirming my earlier suspicions. "He's on some medications…"
"Is he verbal? Does he respond to commands?"
"Some," she answered. "He can answer concrete things, his name, his phone number, things like that."
That will make it difficult to assess his brain function when he wakes, Carlisle mused.
"I can hear his thoughts," I whispered low enough that only my family could hear. "Will that help?"
It could. You should come to the hospital, he answered.
At that moment the ambulance and a police cruiser pulled up. The EMTs, Mike and Eric, rushed up with a gurney, ready to warn us about moving Michael, but they stopped short when they saw Carlisle.
"Dr. Cullen!" Mike looked around at us. "Edward, Alice, what happened?"
"I'll be asking the questions, son. Evenin, Doc." The unfamiliar voice came from the police chief, a new transplant from Arizona. He was a tall, middle-aged man with a moustache that would make a porn star proud (not that I watched porn, of course; that was more Emmett's territory). I hadn't met him yet, but I knew Carlisle had had some interaction with him at the hospital. His thoughts were relatively calm as he prepared to take statements, until he noticed the woman and child on the ground at his feet.
"Bella?"
"Daddy!" She stood and threw her arms around him. Daddy? I looked at Alice. How could she not have seen this?
He didn't just decide to be her father, Edward. She stuck her tongue out at me while no one was looking. This could be good though, he'll be more focused on finding the guy who did it than on how you saved her, right?
Bella was sobbing against her father's shoulder as she explained what had happened.
"And then Edward came…came out of nowhere and ch-chased him off, and his family stayed to help us."
She gestured to me, and Chief Swan narrowed his eyes briefly as he took me in. His thoughts were suspicious. Came out of nowhere, hmm? What were you doin' hanging out in a dark parking lot? Carlisle's boy, though. Looks respectable enough. We'll see how his story holds up.
He held out his hand. "I'm Charlie Swan. Thank you for helping my daughter, Edward. It's nice to meet you."
I shook his hand, careful to apply the right amount of pressure as he actually assessed my grip. I wanted to smile at the absurdity of ranking manhood by a handshake, especially considering I could shatter his bones into dust.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Chief. I'm just glad I was here to help."
He gave me another quick look before turning his attention to Michael. Eric and Mike had gotten him buckled onto the gurney and were preparing to move him. The chief's thoughts turned to his injured grandson, and his anger was palpable. Sonofabitch, he growled mentally. He'd better hope one of my deputies catches him first.
"This boy needs a head CT. He's been unconscious for 8 minutes," Carlisle was rattling off the details. We followed them to the ambulance and watched as Mike and Eric lifted and rolled him inside.
Carlisle looked at Bella. "You should probably get checked out at the hospital too, Bella. We don't want you going into shock. You too, Edward. You've all been through quite enough tonight."
"I'm not going anywhere without my son," she began to protest.
"Don't worry, Bella. You can ride in the ambulance with me, and I'll make sure you're with Michael or as close as possible the whole time. I promise," Carlisle assured her.
Hurts.
The thought was small and weak, but the voice was familiar. "He's waking up, Carlisle," I whispered.
"Come on Bells, I'll help y'up there," the chief held out his hand for Bella and half-lifted her into the ambulance. He then stepped aside as Carlisle and Eric climbed in after. "Hey Doc," he leaned in, keeping his voice low in an attempt to keep me from hearing. "I need Edward to stay behind here a few minutes so I can take his statement. That all right? I can drive him over to the hospital myself if you're worried about him."
"No problem, Charlie. I'm sure Edward's fine, and Alice will stay behind to drive him. It's no trouble." Be careful, Edward, he added mentally. Get to the hospital as soon as you can.
The chief nodded and stepped back. He closed the ambulance doors, and a minute later we watched it pull out of the parking lot and drive into the night.
"Now, how's about you tell me what happened here, Edward?" Make me believe it.
"I was walking past the Thriftway on my way to the music store; I was just gonna run in to pick up a package they're holding for me." That much was true, anyway. The owner of the shop, Ms. Cope, was a pro at tracking down vintage vinyl, and she'd managed to get a lead on some rare albums I wanted for my collection. She had something of a crush on me, so it had been easy to persuade her to sell them to me at a relatively low price.
Focus, Edward, Alice chided.
"I was on the phone with Alice here, actually; she and Carlisle were in the car waiting for me, and she wanted me to grab something from the market. I heard someone yell, and I saw a woman—Bella—being threatened by a guy with a gun. I started heading toward them. Michael started yelling and struggling, and the guy hit him with the gun. That's when I ran over. I think he must have freaked out about what he'd done, because he just took off."
"Can you describe him?"
In minute detail, Chief, I thought to myself. But I knew I had to be vague and unsure. I was just an eyewitness, after all. With human eyes.
"Uh, he was a white guy, little shorter than me, 5'11 maybe? He had dark hair, brown I think. I'm not sure, it was getting dark, you know? He seemed kind of dirty. His jeans were ripped, and he had a plaid flannel shirt on under an old army jacket." I paused, as though trying to think of something else. "That's all I really remember. We've lived here in Forks for a while now, and I didn't recognize him."
In a town like this, that's saying somethin, he thought. "You hear him say anything? Notice an accent or anything like that?"
"I know he was yelling at Bella, trying to force her into the car I think, but I didn't really notice anything particularly unusual about his voice. I'm sorry, Chief."
Well, he seems sincere enough. I'll check the security cameras, see if they match up.
I glanced at Alice. I'd forgotten the cameras. She winked back. No worries, Edward. Jasper's on it. He's editing the digital files right now. They'll back you up.
"All right then, I think that'll be enough for now. Miss Cullen, do you have anything to add?"
Alice smiled at him. "It's Whitlock, actually, but you can call me Alice, Chief. No, I can't say I really saw anything that happened. Edward hung up on me rather abruptly. We heard some yelling, but by the time Carlisle and I arrived, Edward and Bella were alone with Michael." She flashed him a brilliant smile, and his eyes and thoughts unfocused momentarily. Leave it to my sister to flirt her way out of anything.
Be glad I can, Edward.
"Okay then, you kids head on over to the hospital. I'll see you over there; I need to take care of a few things here first." He held out his hand to each of us again, and I laughed mentally as I wondered what he'd think of Alice's grip.
That I have an appropriately feminine handshake for my size, of course! She smiled at him again, however, and his thoughts on that subject and any other were again disrupted. "Thank you, Chief Swan. I'm sorry we had to meet you under these circumstances. I hope your daughter and grandson will be all right. Come on, Edward, let's get you to Carlisle so he can fuss over you!"
Overdoing it a bit, aren't you, sis? I thought.
Shut up or I'll drive your Volvo into a tree, she retorted. I cringed. I didn't exactly love the Volvo, but I hated for any of my cars to be damaged. Especially since it would give Rosalie reason to show off her skills and gloat over my slightly less encyclopedic knowledge. We made our way at human speed to the car, and Alice pulled out of the lot and drove the speed limit until we were out of the Chief's sight.
"Bella's very pretty, Edward," Alice observed after a couple of minutes.
"I didn't notice." An image of Bella crying in the street flashed through my head. "It wasn't like I really had a chance to admire her, given the circumstances. Besides, she's married. And human. And a mom. Not exactly my type."
As though you even have a type.
"Bite me," was my less-than-witty response. She smirked. The whole topic of love and mating was off-limits with me, and she knew it. She just liked to jerk my chain whenever she could. She pulled into a spot near the emergency room entrance, and we went in search of Carlisle. It didn't take long to find them.
"Ahhhhhhhhh! Let go! Let go! Let go! Go home!" The yells carried down the hallway. Michael had apparently woken up. I focused on his thoughts, but they were too chaotic to make anything out except for the occasional Mommy! Bella's thoughts, on the other hand, were distraught. I hate seeing him like this. My poor baby! She was watching as Carlisle and a nursed wrestled with Michael, trying to keep him on the bed.
"We're here, Carlisle," I said casually as we walked in. "How's he doing?"
"Well, he's awake, obviously," he chuckled. He just regained consciousness a minute ago and started flailing and yelling almost immediately. We haven't given him anything yet. Can you read him?
"Looks like he could use a hug from his Mommy," I said by way of response, smiling at Bella. She returned the smile gratefully, and seeing Carlisle nod his assent, she rushed to Michael's side. He threw his arms around her so tightly that she winced in pain but immediately dismissed it as irrelevant. I admired her ability to compartmentalize her thoughts and emotions. All that mattered was getting Michael settled and making sure he was okay. Carlisle stepped back and let her take over, coming to stand by Alice and me.
Is he feeling pain, Edward? Carlisle asked. I focused on Michael.
Hurts. Hug Mommy. Go home. Where's Daddy? Hurts. Go home!
"His head aches, but he doesn't seem to care; it just registers as pain," I whispered. "He can't express the pain and doesn't know what to do about it. He wants Bella. He's scared and wants to go home. He's also wondering about his father."
"Where's Daddy?" Michael asked Bella at the same moment. She sighed as she sat down beside him on the bed. Images of a large Native American man passed through her thoughts. I recognized him as Jacob Black, son of one of the Quileute leaders on the La Push reservation. Jacob had grown up on the reservation but had gone to school in Arizona and only recently had returned to the area. That explained Bella and her father's arrival in town. They must have come up here to be with Jacob.
"Daddy's coming, baby," she answered. Why did he have to be out of town now, of all times? She remembered dropping Jacob at the airport in Seattle. "He'll be here as soon as he can." At least as soon as I can get hold of him. He's probably got his phone off while he gambles or fucks a cocktail waitress. What happens in Vegas…
Carlisle stepped forward again, interrupting Bella's thoughts. "I'd like to try to get his blood pressure now that he's calm, Bella. Do you think he'll let me?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. He doesn't like doctors in general, but we can try." A collection of memories, all of various disastrous doctors' visits, flashed through her mind. What's one more humiliation? She thought, and then chided herself for it. He can't help it. Let's just get it over with.
"Carlisle," Alice spoke up suddenly. "Maybe we should call Jasper, he might have a suggestion." She turned to Bella. "My husband is studying to be a psychologist, Bella," she explained. "He specializes in emotionally challenged people. Maybe he could help?"
"That would be great, Alice, if you're sure it's not too much trouble. We haven't been able to find anyone locally who works with autistic kids, and the doctor in Seattle had a four-month waiting list. We've been just sort of coping until we can get him in somewhere." Even a psychologist in training is better than none at all, she thought. Who knows? Maybe he can recommend someone locally for me, as well. Although the doctor would have to be a mind reader to make sense of my scrambled brain.
I coughed to cover the laugh I couldn't quite hold back. A mind reader, hmm? Bella glanced at me in confusion. Alice stepped in to cover my gaffe.
"I'll call Jasper right now. He should be able to get here in a few minutes; we don't live very far away." Nice move, little brother. Smooth. "Carlisle, do you want to check out Edward while we're waiting? It sounds like he's got a bad cough developing; perhaps he's going in to shock or something." Come on before you really step in it, dumbass, she added for my benefit.
"Oh, yes, of course," Carlisle agreed. "Come on, Edward. Bella, excuse us for a few minutes." He and Alice walked ahead of me. I half-smiled awkwardly at Bella and nodded. She frowned slightly at me in puzzlement. I can't make him out, she thought as she nodded back. I turned to go.
"Edward," she called out. I stopped and looked back.
"Thank you for what you did tonight. It was…" Crazy. Unexpected. Unexplainable. Supernatural? "very brave."
Alarmed by the path her thoughts had taken, it took me a second longer than it should have to respond.
"Er…it was…I'm glad I could help, Bella. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get to you sooner."
"You saved us, Edward." She looked me in the eye, and for the first time I really saw her. Alice was right; she was pretty. Her eyes, although still puffy and reddened from crying, were a deep shade of chocolate brown I had never seen before. "I'll never forget what you did for me and especially for my son." It doesn't matter how you did it or who or what you are.
Panicking internally, I smiled at her. "You're welcome, Bella." I turned and left the room as casually as I could, but once out of her sight I gripped my hair in both hands and tried to figure out how I was going to get us out of this mess.
Stop that. You look like you're freaking out, Alice's thoughts reached me before she turned the corner at the nurses' station, where Carlisle was filling out paperwork and eyeing me cautiously. It's going to be okay, Edward. Unless you keep letting your sense of humor slip out inappropriately. See? Her mind whizzed through a dozen versions of the future before settling on one that seemed more concrete than the rest. In it, Bella was telling her father that she knew I wasn't involved in the attack and asking him to leave my family alone. "They're good people, Dad," she was telling him. "Stop being so suspicious of everyone."
She won't tell anyone her suspicions, Edward. Whatever she may come up with, she'll keep it to herself. We just have to be cool and not give her reason to be any more inquisitive than she is already.
"Too much for her own good already," I answered aloud.
You think too much, brother! A wave of calm settled over me.
I turned to see my brother approaching from the other end of the corridor. Alice ran to him and leapt into his arms with a squeal.
"Hi baby!" She kissed him, and he laughed. "You're just in time!"
"You called, and I came, Sweet," he smiled at her. "The tapes are all taken care of; they were low-res digital files anyway, it didn't take much to edit them."
"Thanks Jas," I answered. "Thanks for coming, too; we think you'll have the most luck in there." I gestured toward the room where Bella and Michael were waiting. Carlisle walked up to us then.
"Shall we go in? I really want to get Michael in for a CT as soon as we're able; it's been longer than I would like already. I don't want to have to sedate him either, if we can avoid it."
We walked as a group back to Michael's room. Bella looked up as we entered. Michael was staring at the ceiling again, mentally reciting the same movie credits as he'd done earlier in the store.
"Bella, this is my husband, Jasper," Alice pushed Jasper forward. He smiled and held out his hand for Bella.
"Pleased to meet you, Bella."
She returned his smile. "Thank you for coming, Jasper."
" And who do we have here?" he asked, turning to Michael.
"This is Michael," she answered. "Michael, can you say hi to Jasper?"
Michael continued his mental recitation, failing to register his mother's voice at all. His mind simply dismissed the distraction completely. It fascinated me, being unlike anything I'd experienced before in a human. It wasn't very different from what I did to tune out the outside voices I heard in my own mind. Certainly I had come in contact with autistic people in the past but only in passing; I'd never taken the time to listen to them. Michael's mind was both extremely sharp and detailed with regard to things that interested him and yet slow and disconnected when something failed to interest or frustrated him.
"Michael?" Bella called again. This time her voice broke through. "Michael, say hi to Jasper."
"Hi to Jasper," he repeated before zoning out again.
Carlisle moved next to Michael on the other side. "I'm going to try to take his blood pressure again; let's just see how it goes, okay?"
Bella nodded. "Okay."
It took only a second. Carlisle's cold hand on his arm registered sharply in Michael's thoughts, causing him to react with sudden and uncontrolled violence. It was so unexpected that Carlisle almost wasn't able to react humanly—with the surprise and alarm a human would show as well as the instinct to step back and away from the potential danger. Bella rushed forward to grab hold of Michael's flailing limbs, getting a scratch to the face and a head butt to the chest for her efforts. Her mind registered the pain with more intensity this time, but she held back her reaction and focused on Michael.
Wow, Jasper thought, glancing my way. This kid has no control at all, does he? I shook my head imperceptibly. He leaned forward then and began calling Michael's name and talking to him quietly. Meanwhile, he began sending small ripples of calm toward Michael, testing his need and trying to settle him without tipping Bella off that any outside forces were at work. I could hear that his voice was gradually getting through the maelstrom in Michael's mind. Soon the ripples had graduated to waves, which spilled over to Bella as well, giving her a chance to catch her breath. She released her hold on Michael as his body relaxed, and she watched Jasper carefully and with some surprise as he interacted with him.
"Not too much, Jas, we don't want him to fall asleep," Carlisle cautioned in a whisper. Jasper stepped back, reducing the force of his gift as he did until it was just enough to keep Michael's emotions in check.
Wow, Bella thought.
"Wow, that was amazing, Jasper," she said aloud. "I've never seen him react to anyone so well. You have a real gift."
You have no idea, Alice thought with a smile. Jasper chuckled. "Thank you, Bella." He continued sending smaller waves of calm toward Michael and Bella both as Carlisle slid the blood pressure cuff onto Michael's arm. Michael watched and pulled back now and then, trying to free his arm, but Jasper simply talked to him quietly—under the pretense of using a "therapeutic technique"—while in reality increasing the level of calming force until Michael was able to settle down again. Within a few minutes Carlisle had finished taking Michael's vital signs and was preparing to move him to radiology.
"I'd like Jasper to come with us, if you don't mind, Bella," Carlisle said as he raised the side rails on Michael's gurney. "We'll need Michael to stay as calm as possible during the test, and I'd really rather not have to restrain or sedate him unless we have to."
"That's fine with me, Dr. Cullen," she replied. Carlisle rolled Michael toward the door, and Jasper followed. Bella hung back for a moment.
"Edward, Alice, will you stay? I'd really appreciate it. I don't have any friends here…" She trailed off. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to, she thought.
"Absolutely, Bella!" was Alice's rather enthusiastic response. "We'll stay as long as you need us."
Bella smiled. "Thank you." Then she disappeared out the door after her son.
"Alice, what—" My question was cut off by the images that suddenly filled Alice's thoughts.
She's going to be my friend, Edward! Alice thought with unrestrained joy. A real friend!
"Alice," I warned. "It's too dangerous."
"No it's not. Look! Nothing to worry about!" She showed me more images, snapshots of her and Bella laughing, shopping, even out dancing together. "We'll be great friends; I'm sure of it."
"Well, Bella could sure use some friends," a voice from the doorway said. Chief Swan had arrived. "Where are Bella and Michael? The nurse said this was his room?"
"Carlisle's taken Michael up to radiology for a CT scan, just to be sure he doesn't have a concussion or any internal injuries," I told him. "Michael's awake; there was a little bit of trouble getting him to cooperate, but things have settled down a bit now."
"Hmpf, I'm sure there was trouble," he chuckled. "My grandson's not exactly the easiest kid to handle, and he really hates doctors."
"My husband Jasper is with him now," Alice interjected. "He's a psychologist. He seemed to be able to get Michael settled, so he stayed with him to keep things as calm as possible."
"You folks are pretty good people to have around, it seems," he observed. Helpful. Too helpful? Not sure about them yet. "Thank you for all of your help."
"We're glad we can, sir," I answered. "I guess we should find a waiting room or something. I hope you don't mind, sir, Bella asked us to stay."
"Fine with me. Come on, let's go find some chairs." We followed him out of the room and down the hall to the waiting area. He took a seat opposite Alice and me and eyed us when he thought we wouldn't notice. The silence in the room was in sharp contrast to the flurry of thoughts running through Alice's brain as she planned parties and girls' days out and other human nonsense with Bella. Suddenly, her eyes unfocused, and a new image appeared. I nearly growled as I recognized the face of Bella's attacker, right here in the hospital. A second later a deputy appeared at the waiting room door.
"Chief?"
Oh Lord, now what's happened? "Garrett? What's up?" Chief Swan stood, and Alice and I did the same, knowing we'd be needed.
"Sir, a man was just brought in who matches the description of your daughter's carjacker. He was the victim of an apparent hit and run and was found in the woods off the highway about half a mile from the Thriftway. A passerby saw him and called it in. I knew you were already here, so I hope you don't mind, I just had him brought in and left Ben at the scene to do the forensic stuff."
"Forensic stuff." Christ, small towns and their limited resources, the chief grumbled, thinking of the much larger budget and staff of criminalists he'd worked with in Arizona. "Fine, yeah. Let's go have a look at the sonofabitch." He started for the door then stopped, remembering me. Might as well get a witness ID while I'm at it. "Edward, why don't you come along with me and see if you recognize this guy."
"Sure, Chief," I answered, following him and the deputy out.
"I'll wait here for Bella and Michael," Alice called after us.
We made our way down the corridor and around to another section of the emergency room, where I recognized Dr. Gerandy among a crowd of nurses.
Broken pelvis, shattered tibia, possible skull fracture, he was thinking as he assessed the man on the bed. Semiconscious, disoriented, appears to be hallucinating, something about red eyes.
My attention, which I had begun to wane as I focused on Bella's attacker, snapped back to Dr. Gerandy at these last words. Red eyes? I turned back to the carjacker. His thoughts were clouded by pain, but there was a consistent image in all of them, a woman with red hair, pale skin, and crimson eyes.
Another vampire.
"We need to get this man up to radiology and then prep him for surgery, now," Dr. Gerandy called out. "Call the OR; have them get a room ready."
"Doc?" Chief Swan called as he walked up beside the doctor.
"Hey Chief," he answered brusquely. "I'm sorry but I need to get this patient ready to go upstairs."
"Yeah, I know, I'd like Edward here to take a look at this guy before he goes, if that's all right." He waved me over. Dr. Gerandy looked at both of us and nodded.
"Sure, but do it quickly. Anything I should know?"
I stepped up beside both of them and took a moment to examine the man below me. I knew he was the right man, but I had to pretend to look him over. It gave me a chance to better focus my attention on his thoughts, which had drifted into an almost dreamlike hallucination—a memory. The redheaded vampire was talking to him inside a car. Her voice was seductive, and her eyes were not red but violet, undoubtedly from contact lenses.
"Bring me the boy. The woman is yours to play with, baby." She kissed him, and his body reacted with both anticipation and an innate sense of fear, knowing instinctively that it was in danger, even as it became aroused by her proximity. It added to his lust, making him hungry for more. "Go, now, they'll be coming out of the store any minute." She kissed him again and let him out of the car at the far end of the parking lot. He crept between the cars and waited. What fun I'll have, he thought. I'll take Victoria her brat and have his mother as my personal pet.
Her name was Victoria.
"Is this him, Edward? Take your time." Chief Swan was getting impatient with my hesitation, wondering again if I was somehow involved.
"It's hard to tell, he's so badly injured and it was dark, you know," I stalled. "I just need to really look at him and think for a minute, can I do that?"
"Hurry, son," Dr. Gerandy pressed. "He needs medical attention, now."
"He crushed my gun! And he had these strange yellow eyes!" I saw myself in the man's thoughts now, as he stood in the woods down the road from the Thriftway, begging Victoria to forgive him. "I can get the boy, I promise! I just freaked after I hit him and he fell down—"
"Your excuses are useless to me." Her voice was cold and brittle, no longer seductive. He looked up in time to see that her eyes were no longer violet, but a terrifying crimson. "And now so are you."
His memory ended in blackness.
"This is him," I told the others. "This is the man who attacked Bella and Michael."
Now I just needed to find out why.
After dismissing me with a curt "Thank you, Edward" and a handshake, Chief Swan followed as the man was wheeled out of the emergency room and into an elevator. When the doors were closed, I pulled out my cellphone.
"Em? I need a favor."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By the time I returned to the waiting room, it was empty. I heard Alice's voice coming from Michael's room, so I headed that way. She gave me a quick look as I entered. I heard your conversation with Emmett, and I passed the word on to Carlisle and Jasper that we're watching for a redheaded vampire. But what does it all mean, Edward? Why would a vampire go after any human child, let alone this one in particular? And why would she recruit a human to do it instead of taking care of it herself?
I shrugged slightly before turning to Bella, who was holding Michael in her arms. She smiled at me, and despite everything I couldn't help returning her smile. "How are you doing, Michael?" I asked, making eye contact and attempting to engage him. His mind processed my words and, as though searching through a file drawer, it came up with a response.
"Fine thank you, how are you?"
Rather than being an instinct to answer or a curiosity about me, however, his answer was rote, as though he'd been programmed to give it. I realized he must have been taught to respond to specific social cues appropriately, even though they had no meaning for him. In the meantime, however, the rest of his mind was moving at an almost vampiric pace through lists of various things such as movie titles, American presidents, and types of dinosaurs. Another area of his brain was literally playing out another Disney movie. It was no wonder to me now why he rolled his eyes around so frequently; there was so much to see inside his head that his human eyes couldn't register all of it!
"I'm very well, thank you for asking," I replied, but he was already focused on something else.
"Your father says he's going to be okay," Bella added. "He wants to keep him here for the rest of the night, but the X-rays showed no serious injury." Thank God.
"That's wonderful news, Bella, I'm glad to hear it. I'm afraid Alice and I have to go now, though; I've checked out okay and visiting hours are over."
"Oh, right," she replied. Damn, she thought with disappointment.
"I do have some news I should probably tell you, although your father will be able to tell you more than me, I imagine. They've arrested the man who attacked you today. He's here in the hospital; they think he was hit by a car, of all things."
Karma's a bitch. "That's good news, Edward, but do you suppose we're in any danger here? I mean, if he's in the hospital?" Although if he comes near my son again, he'll be the one in danger.
I wanted to laugh. The idea of tiny Bella going up against her attacker would have been amusing under other circumstances. She seemed almost breakable in her humanity. But the rage behind her thoughts and the protective force of her love for Michael held me in check; she could not harm me in the slightest, yet given the strength of her anger, even I might think twice before getting in her way.
"Of course not, don't worry," I assured her. "He's badly injured and under arrest. Your father's here and I'm sure he'll have someone keeping an eye on you both." Not to mention at least a half-dozen concerned vampires standing guard in and around the hospital. I couldn't count on Rosalie, but I knew Esme would help as well once she heard the whole story. Probably before she heard it, if I were to be honest.
She's coming with Emmett, Alice confirmed. Rosalie too, but only because Emmett made her. Be careful, Edward, Rose is pissed that you got us "tangled up" with the humans.
Of course she is. Rosalie's annoyed with me—must be Tuesday.
"Well, we'll be going now Bella. If we can be any help to you, please let us know. I'm sure by now Alice has gotten your phone number, address, birthday, Michael's birthday, and all other vital statistics…"
Bella laughed. "Yes, you could say that."
"What?" Alice said, looking between us. "So I'm thorough! It's not every day I meet someone new in this town, you know." She glared at me.
"I can understand that!" Bella said, still laughing. "I've been here only a couple of weeks, and I thought I'd met the whole town until tonight. Everyone seems to know everything and everyone here." Except the Cullens, apparently. Only gossip and rumors about them, nothing even remotely specific. Rich, reclusive, standoffish…but they certainly don't seem antisocial or stuck up to me. Probably just small-town, small-minded prejudices.
"True, there are few secrets in this town," I replied. "But that means we'll probably see you again very soon. Good night, Bella." I offered my hand.
"Good night, Edward." She took it slowly. "Thank you so much."
I'd touched humans before, of course, but Bella's hand was warmer than I expected. Softer. I had the oddest impulse to linger there and not let go. Meeting her eyes, I felt strangely out of sorts. Alice coughed mentally. You gonna shake her hand or just keep it for eternity?
"Sorry." I'd have blushed if it were possible. I noticed the color rise in Bella's cheeks, but her thoughts were suddenly quiet, as though the volume had been muted. I struggled to hear what she was thinking, but I couldn't. It made me feel even more disoriented than before.
"You're welcome," I said finally, breaking the connection. "Good night, Michael," I added.
"Good night Edward," he replied, looking at me directly for the first time. "The lady had red hair like you."
The words came without conscious thought, so they took me completely by surprise.
"What lady, sweetie?" Bella asked, puzzled. "You mean Alice? Her hair is brown, not red like Edward's." Although Edward's isn't really red so much as copper or something. Where did he see a redheaded lady? "Oh wait, do you mean Mrs. Cope, baby? Her hair is kind of red."
"The lady had red hair," he repeated. I searched his mind for something more, but I got only the vaguest impression of long red hair. I knew Mrs. Cope at the music store had short hair, so it wasn't her. There was no defining characteristic to confirm it, but somehow, I knew.
Michael had seen Victoria. And not in the parking lot at Thriftway.
This chapter was written as part of the Fandom Gives Back Autism fundraiser in April 2011. Thank you to those who donated to this cause, which is near and dear to me because my own son is autistic. How I wish I had an Edward to get inside my son's mind and tell me what's really going on in there.
I will continue this story, but for the first time I'm posting a story without having it written in advance, so I can't tell you yet what my writing schedule will be or how often I'll update. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll stick with me!