Thank you so much to those that have actually read this! The one review I got on the first chapter made me really want to update so I did! Don't criticize me on my medical information! Wikipedia only gave me so much information!
Disclaimer: SMeyer owns the Twilight series! I just own Jacob's daughter!
1 week ago…
"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband in wife," the preacher said happily before the small wedding crowd. "You may now kiss your bride."
Wiping away my tears, Jacob smiled widely and placed his hands on my waist. I sighed happily before he pulled me in and placed his lips upon mine in our first kiss as a married couple. With my bouquet still in my hands, I threw my arms around his neck and didn't pull away before we heard Alice clearing her throat quietly.
"Were married," he murmured happily to me as we turned towards the crowd and headed down the aisle. "It's you and me, baby girl."
"Thank goodness," I breathed loudly in relief, ready for the real festivities to begin.
My maid of honor and best friend, Alice Cullen, proved to be extremely tedious when it came to taking the wedding photos. The frustration on the photographers face was clear and somewhat comical as she tried to do her job and Alice kept getting in her way.
She seemed all too relieved when we were finally done and able to go the reception. I linked my arm with Jacob's and made my way to the large white tent propped up in the large backyard of the Black family
"And now, introducing for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Black!" Embry cheered excitedly as Jacob and I entered the tent. The crowd erupted into loud cheers as he pulled me into yet another kiss. "Somebody pull those two apart!" he joked.
I blushed deeply and took his hand as we ventured into the crowd, hugging and receiving congratulations from each person we came across.
"Oh Bella," my mother gasped. Her eyes were rimmed red, showing she'd been crying quite heavily. "You look so beautiful. You and Jacob were meant for each other, sweet heart. I couldn't think of a more perfect couple. The dress is gorgeous. Did Alice pick it out? That explains why it's so elaborate," she turned towards Jacob. "I am so glad that my Bella finally found somebody so perfect! And she didn't even have to be pregnant for it to happen!"
"Mom!" I exclaimed, a brush creeping across my cheeks. "Thank you for coming. We're just going to go. And why don't we lay off the alcohol?"
"I'm fine," she smiled, turning around to walk to the food table. Jacob and I laughed quietly before taking our place at the wedding party table as Emmett tinked his glass with a spoon. I was almost positive I had discussed no speeches with him and the rest of the party, but I shouldn't have been surprised that he didn't listen.
"I'd just like to propose a toast," he began in his booming voice. "To my baby Bella and my new best friend Jake. These two… well they were kind of meant for each other. Sure, they hated each other when they first met two years ago but time changes everything! I'm so glad that Bella found somebody that is as perfect for her as Jacob is. And I know I'm not very good at making speeches or anything but Bella, I'm glad that you're my best friend. I guess we have Alice to thank for that…as much as I don't like to admit that."
The last line got a small rise from the crowd. Even Alice cracked a smile at Emmett's lame joke. Both of the Cullen siblings had befriended me when I transferred into Forks High School.
"Anyways, Jake you better treat her right," he smirked, raising his champagne flute. "To a life of happiness."
"To happiness," the crowd cheered.
The rest of the night continued on without a hitch. More toasts were given, more dances danced. I hadn't expected my wedding to go as smoothly as it did. The fact that Jacob seemed winded after a couple of dances should have set off an alarm in my mind, but it didn't.
"Your car is here!" Alice exclaimed, pulling Jacob and I towards the door. With a grimace on his face, he placed his hand over his heart. "You alright Jacob?"
"Yeah," he said, a smile replacing the grimace. "I'm cool."
Worried, I followed Alice out to the drive way where the crowd had parted and were now throwing rice through the air. I clutched Jacob's hand tightly and began to walk towards the car but he stopped immediately.
"Jake, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. Once again, he was clutching his chest. Had his face gone paler? "Are you alright, honey?"
"Yeah… I'm…fine," his voice trailed off and he suddenly fell to the ground.
"Jake!" I cried, falling to my knees at his side. "Somebody call an ambulance!"
"He's going to be okay, Bells," Rosalie, another one of my close friends, said to me as we sat in the waiting room. After the ambulance had arrived, he'd been wheeled into a room that I wasn't permitted to enter, so I'd been sent here. Half an hour felt like an eternity. "Nothing is going to happen."
I was joined by the entire wedding party, which must have looked ridiculous. None of us had bothered to change out of our wedding attire.
"He was fine," I sobbed, my eyes glued to the beige walls. "An hour ago, he was fine."
"I'm sure it's nothing," Emmett consoled me, rubbing my back in small circles. Alice and Rosalie were also there, comforting me and attempting to convince me that things were fine. "Just stay positive."
I shook them off and stood from the couch. Pacing seemed to be the only thing that would keep me sane at this point. How had something like this happened? Should I have been more attentive to his health?
"Mrs. Black," the doctor suddenly called. My head snapped in the direction of the elderly doctor walking towards me. My heart began doing back flips in my chest, itching for some good news. "We've run some tests on your husband and it seems that Jacob has a condition known as HCM or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy."
"What does that mean?" I breathed.
"HCM is the thickening of the heart muscle. There is no obvious cause. Is Jacob very athletic?"
"He runs all the time," I said sadly. "Does that have something to do with it?"
"HCM is one of the most common causes of cardiac arrest in young athletes."
"So…he went into cardiac arrest?" I sobbed. "Is he going to be okay?"
"Only time will tell," she nodded. "Were keeping him overnight for observation. If his situation doesn't improve, he may have to be put on the donor list for a heart transplant."
"But it was so sudden," I sobbed, new tears welling in my eyes. "He was fine earlier today. I mean, aren't there symptoms for this kind of thing? Sure he a little tired after we danced but doesn't that just happen?"
"Although it is rare, these kinds of things can go undetected and show at very random times. His labored breathing after dancing was probably a sign. But we will do everything we can to save your husband."
She looked me over with a smile.
"Congratulations," she said somewhat happily before walking away.
As the doctor walked away, I was left feeling lifeless, like maybe I was dreaming. That was the only reasoning I could come up with as to why this would happen to Jacob and I. No woman should ever go from being a brand new bride to possible widow in the same night.
"What'd they say?" Alice asked as I returned to my seat.
"He has some heart condition called HCM," I rasped. "The doctor said that he might need a heart transplant."
"Oh Bella," Alice cried softly, taking me into her arms. "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," I muttered. "He's going to be fine."
Over the course of the next few days, I repeated my mantra, though Jacob showed no signs of improvement. He didn't wake up at all, not even a twitching of the hand. The doctors notified me that he had been put on the donor list and as soon as a heart was available, he would receive it.
Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and even Emmett and Alice's older brother Edward—with who I knew little about—kept me company at the hospital, bringing me clothes though I felt no need to change and clean clothes though I felt no need to change.
"I know we don't really know each other," Edward said to me one night as I sat by Jacob's bed. Edward had been at the wedding and said congratulations when they were due but other than that, I hadn't spoken more than two words to him. "But I'm sorry that this happened."
"Thank you, Edward," I forced a smile. Edward was a young, single man, though I couldn't see why. With his firm jaw and piercing Jade eyes, he seemed like he could get any woman he wanted. "But you don't have to say sorry. It's nobody's fault but my own."
"It's not your fault," he said, sitting on the couch. "Nobody can know about a heart condition. This is just life playing a cruel joke. Look, before you know it, Jacob will be back on his feet in no time."
As if that comment had pissed life off even more, the monitor suddenly went blank and that monotonous beeping I'd become so accustomed to turned into a steady hum.
Jacob was flat lining.
"Nurse!" I cried. They all rushed in in a frenzy. Before I knew it, I was blinded by my own tears and being pushed from the room. "Save him!"
I sobbed heavily as I watched them pump Jacob's chest, a fierce expression on the doctor's face. Emmett held me as we watched painfully until they looked at the clock and back to Jacob.
"No!" I sobbed, falling to my knees. "No!"
I pushed past everyone to get into the room where my dead husband now lay. My sadness was slowly turning into anger. I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream as loud as my lungs would allow.
"Jacob!" I sobbed, grabbing him tightly. "Jacob, wake up! Wake up, please!"
I continued crying as the doctors left the room one by one.
I remained that way for what seemed like hours.
Jacob. My Jacob.
Before all of our friends, I laid next to his cold corpse. His russet skin had gone pale and every ounce of life that had once lit my world was gone. Now, all he was was nothing. Just a body that would never hold me or touch me or kiss me. How had things come to this?
Somehow, I knew that this HCM thing wouldn't turn into anything good, but never had I anticipated that it would progress this quickly? If only I could have known that I would lose my husband just a week after marrying him.
"We got married a week ago," I said, fighting the lump in my throat. "A week ago, he said 'I do' and today, he's dead. That's kind of ridiculous, ya know?"
It was then that I could no longer hold back the tears that were fighting so hard to fall. I suddenly began convulse, making it hard to breathe. I was blinded by the tears that were falling from my eyes.
"I'll never get to see him again," I sobbed, digging my head into the crook of his neck. I didn't object when I felt a pair of large arms lift me from the bed. Emmett stroked my hair and rocked me as I continued weeping.
My body continued to rock with each sob, the tears forming a stain on Emmett's shirt. This was the only moment that losing my composure before anybody was alright. I was known as Bella, Jacob's doting, calm wife.
That was now not the case.
"Let's take you home," Emmett said, rising from the couch. I kept my head in his shoulders as he carried me from the room. "Hello, officer. Can we help you?"
"I need to speak with Mrs. Black," the officer said gruffly. I lifted my head to see a middle aged police officer standing before us, his lips in a hard, straight line. Emmett nodded and reluctantly placed me on the ground.
"We'll be over here," he whispered, slowly backing up with everybody else.
"Mrs. Black, were you aware that Jacob had a daughter?" he said.
A daughter?
"N-no," I stammered. "He never mentioned it."
"Right now, we have a four year old female in custody and on the birth certificate; Mr. Black is listed as the father. Her mother appointed him as legal guardian if anything was to happen to her. We've tried contacting other family but she doesn't seem to be wanted. I understand that you were married?"
"Yes," I nodded stiffly, afraid of where this conversation was headed. "It happened just recently, actually."
"You know that legally, you are responsible for all of Mr. Black's assets, correct?"
"I guess," I said quietly.
"I'm sorry to spring this decision on you so quickly but as of now, you have sole custody of this little girl. I know this couldn't have come at a worse time but with both of her parents now deceased and you the wife of her father, we have no choice but to grant you custody."
So, somehow, even with my husband dead, I was still the mother of his child.
"Custody?" I cried. "My husband died a couple of hours ago and I'm being granted custody of his four year old daughter that neither he nor I knew anything about? How is this fair? I haven't even had time to grieve officer!"
"If you could just come down to the station and we can sort this out."
"Now?" I choked.
"As soon as possible. Ma'am, I understand that this is a tough time for you and you are grieving the loss of your husband but if this little girl doesn't find a home, she will be handed over to the state and you know as well as I do that no child deserves that kind of life."
I stared into the officers eyes and I swore I almost saw a gleam of sadness in his eyes and for some unknown reason, that look made me actually contemplate meeting this child down at the station. He was right. Nobody deserved the awful life of state custody.
So now I had a child to take care of and a funeral to plan?
God must really dislike me.
