Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. This is just a tribute to her fantastic work.
Before long they're on their way back to the kitchen, his arm around her waist, to resume the making of lunch (which activity the pirates so rudely interrupted). Most everyone else has wandered back out to the main house as well, trying to determine how they would most like to spend their time. Before Edward and Bella reach their destination, however, suddenly his head snaps up. The newborn vampire is fast approaching the front of the house, having just caught the irresistibly compelling human scent from an open window (the confrontation with the pirates must have distracted Edward from getting the windows closed already).
Evidently, newborn vampires being what they are... when the pirate vampire finally decided to weigh anchor and carelessly raced the boat downwind in a self-preserving effort to outrun the ash cloud toward a different island that might quench his thirst, he caught a whiff of the delicious scent blowing off Isle Esme and just couldn't seem to keep from pursuing the humans there, after all.
The distance from the boat to the house is small enough that all Edward has time to do is tell Bella: "It's the newborn! Stay here." and dash with human speed to and out the front door in an effort to inconspicuously intercept him. To the other humans who happen to notice, his statement sounds like an expletive- and Bella's face has gone pale with anxiety. All of the sudden, they can also hear vicious growling and snarling noises coming from the front yard. Naturally curious, they follow after the sound to first look out the windows, and then file out the front door to watch. Bella goes with them, unable to stay behind.
Well, this is certainly problematic- to have to fight him off right in front of all the humans. The ash fall is not thick enough yet to hide anything from view. The newborn is no longer all bundled up, and his pale skin, blood red eyes, menacing crouch, bared teeth, and feral snarl are obvious to everyone... his hungry attack kept in check only by Edward's adeptly defensive crouch and low warning growls, a mere 25 feet in front of the stunned crowd. With a few well-placed shoves, Edward manages to get the newborn backed off a little more before his inevitable attack, neatly dodging the newborn's bare open arms as he does so. Then, he deftly grabs his wrist in an effort to yank him out of sight where he can finish the job properly. However, with his first touch of the newborn's skin, Edward freezes up- absolutely unable to move any of his muscles even to reactively get away. Apparently it is a physical talent of the newborn's, unconsciously active (during a fight, at least) and made possible by skin contact... and it won't be long before he realizes the advantage of it.
Since Edward is totally unable to let go of the newborn's skin, he remains in a state of absolute vulnerability. Helplessly, he watches the thoughts of the newborn edge toward this realization, with all of its catastrophic ramifications- and as he does so, despair grips him. After all: What will happen to Bella if I can't get free to protect her? Or if he thinks to break me or crush me before he goes for her? Anguish! No, I can't let that happen! I've got to protect her! There isn't anyone else. I have to get free! She's surrounded by danger on every side- if not from the newborn himself, then from the pirates- who would surely take advantage of her, without me. It can't happen! I can't let it! There's got to be a way. I can't be away from her! But I can't move! He hears her heart stutter, giving painful emphasis to his distress, but no one is looking at her so he can't tell why. Maybe she's afraid. Maybe she's worrying about me. Don't do something rash. Please, don't. And then, a pirate's surprised thought catches his attention to what she is doing. No! Bella! It feels like his heart has just dropped out of his chest. No! Panic floods through his still devastatingly-paralyzed body. Noooooo!
Bella notices Edward's freeze and the newborn's simultaneous astonishment, and realizes that it must be a talent the newborn has that Edward wouldn't have known to expect. The newborn evidently hasn't even truly realized it yet, but when he does... horror! Edward will be in grave danger! Her heart stutters in panic. He needs a distraction. Thinking quickly, Bella looks around for a sharp object and finds that a pirate beside her has drawn a dagger as a potential weapon in defense against the vampire. She grabs it out of his hands, surprising him, and- taking a step forward to where the breeze upwind from the fight just swirls her hair around- promptly stabs it into her arm... just as she threatened to do the last time Edward fought a vampire in front of her.
Arterial blood spurts out of her arm and the newborn is distracted from arriving at the deadly conclusion he was about to realize. He turns his fevered eyes on her, suddenly overcome with thirst, and rushes forward to attack- in the process releasing Edward from his infinitely agonizing freeze.
Recovering in an instant, having realized that he cannot touch the newborn's skin, and now also deathly terrified for Bella, Edward rips his shirt off to cover his hands with as he simultaneously races to catch the newborn's attack, for the moment unable to keep up the human facade. "No you don't!" he growls as he grabs the newborn's arm from behind, braces himself, and noisily rips it off barely a few feet in front of the horrified humans, turning the newborn to face him as he does so. Then (at a swift but believable human speed) he continues his attack- quickly ripping apart the newborn into a minimum number of nonthreatening pieces and tossing them just out of easy human viewing distance. With any luck, his single instance of inhuman speed won't garner significant notice in the mayhem of all else going on.
It has been only a few seconds, but the humans are frozen with shock and Bella is bleeding to death. White-faced with panic, Edward pauses his attack (at the earliest safe opportunity) to stride quickly to Bella's side and put a tourniquet on her arm, saying: "Bella! Bella! Stay with me! Please, stay with me!" She smiles at him wearily and says "Of course" in reply. "I'm here," Edward tells her again. "I'll take care of everything. You're going to be fine." Bella nods at him, stopping promptly to fight a fresh wave of nausea. Then he returns to the torn vampire- collecting the pieces as quickly as humanly possible (still keeping his skin carefully protected, of course) and taking them to a clear location just out of sight where he can start them on fire.
Thoughts Edward might hear as he pauses to attend Bella (or shortly thereafter) include:
(from the terrified pirate whose knife Bella used to split open an artery)
I didn't do it, honestly! I didn't do it!
(from the others)
He just...! He just...! He just tore that guy apart with his bare hands!
Ice? Ice? I think that was Ice! He just killed Ice!
I think he was going to tear her apart and eat her!
She's lost a lot of blood. Why did she stab herself?
Ouch! Oooh. Ah! Shudder. And I thought Ice knew how to fight!
That really hurts my ears. How can dismemberment be so noisy?
I think I just peed my pants.
(from Kaure: a wordless sense of awed disbelief mingled with terror for Bella's plight)
In a minute or so he is back at Bella's side- where she is sitting on the front porch steps, leaning against the railing, half-surrounded by the still stunned humans. Kaure has been feebly trying to mop her up and soothe her while still shivering with terror herself. Mumbling a quick "thank you" to Kaure for her efforts, as she simultaneously recoils in terrified reaction to his appearance, Edward scoops Bella up into his arms quickly and gently, asking everyone: "Is anyone here a doctor?" A few mumbled replies reflect the thoughts of them all: no one is. With a sigh, he promptly carries her inside to the kitchen and sprints off to return with the first-aid kit. He's got to be the doctor now. The humans file back in to watch, wide-eyed, keeping their distance.
Edward's attention stays intently on Bella as he determinedly proceeds to stitch her up better (and quicker) than any of the humans could have done, though not quite as expertly as Carlisle would have been able to. At least he's seen it before in his thoughts- that has to be worth something. As he begins, looking at the innards of Bella's arm brings back fresh to Edward's mind the oh-so-narrowly-averted image of Bella bleeding to death while he could only watch from the sidelines, paralyzed and helpless to prevent it... and an awful shudder runs through his body at the thought. (Kaure takes the motion to be a shiver of desire for her blood.) He steels himself and continues, knowing that time is of the essence.
He talks to Bella quietly as he works (acting as if his audience isn't there), reluctantly admitting about her dangerous stunt that "You saved my life, you know," and describing what he had been aware of when the newborn had touched him. "I've never felt so helpless." He relaxes as he works (to the degree that Bella's health has become stable again), finally kissing her lips as he rises to finish cleaning up and get her an ice pack. Only after that does he turn to face the captivated stares of their Portuguese-speaking audience.
There is no denying, now, that he is something else... maybe even one of 'them'- one of the rabid madmen he had just warned them about. They saw the newborn's ravenous madness and cringed away at his vicious attack, as well as witnessed Edward's proficient defense and his incredible strength (after all, how many people would you imagine could tear a body apart with their bare hands? Shudder. Obviously, he doesn't need to have a weapon in order to pose a fatal threat). They saw the similarities in his stance and features. Could he have been speaking from experience? But, if he was, how could he still be alive? None of them really want to know the answers; none of them know what to think. Obligingly (with the exception of Kaure, who was the only one predisposed to believe it), no one seems to have really understood the freeze, grasped the reality of his inhuman speed, or comprehended the significance of Bella's stunt (since, thankfully, Edward's calm doctoring has effectively nullified any perception of her blood's significance). And, although the pirates did just watch him tear their transformed comrade into (strangely noisy) pieces, even they can't deny that he just saved their lives. They are all respectfully terrified of him.
At this point, it seems the best approach might be to act as if all the strangeness never happened, and by doing so allow their minds to slough off what they don't really want to know. It will also serve to subtly communicate that he doesn't want to bring any attention to it. He will monitor their thoughts to help make sure they end up steering toward safe paths. Perhaps they'll initially take their cue from his lead. Finally breaking the uncomfortable silence between him and his audience, Edward tells them in a soothing voice: "Well- I'm going to make omelets for our lunch... and while I'm at it, for anyone who wants one. Does anyone have any allergies that I should be aware of?"
While most of them are still too dumbfounded to respond, it is the two teenage girls who are the first to speak up, clearly anxious to put more distance between themselves and their kidnappers but also just a little enamored with the idea of being friendly with Edward. Terrifying as he obviously can be, he has been nice to them- and they know the pirates will leave him alone. For their own sense of security, they'll want to stick around wherever he is, throughout their stay. Edward won't object to this, since he understands the reason why, and eventually the girls might even try conversing with Bella (through him), trying to make friends with them both by connecting with her. Bella might even like that. Otherwise, Edward will largely ignore them.
As far as Kaure is concerned, though Edward's benevolent actions have caused confusion in her, they have not been enough to dispel her suspicions about him. Edward did say that his father was a doctor, and perhaps that would explain how he was able to remain calm in the face of so much blood. It would be a very effective mode of disguise for ones such as them. She remains mostly watchful and worried about Bella's fate, come his mealtime, but can't quite reconcile that conclusion with his tender actions. She wishes she could speak to Bella directly. She also particularly worries about the sake of the young women who have now voiced their preference for his company (over that of the pirates who kidnapped them)- feeling more afraid each time they do something that brings them closer to him- but can't honestly say that she would choose differently, if she were them. Those pirates seem a nasty bunch.
Unquestionably, thoughts and conversation will center around this inopportune event for quite a while- and though some of their speculations may come dangerously close to reality, it is fortunately unlikely that they'll put any credence to the idea of him being a vampire. Kaure will not volunteer any information to this end, either, because of Edward's presence (and who would believe it, anyway?). In fact, after witnessing him calmly sewing Bella's bloody arm back together, and then watching him kiss her in front of everyone, even his more passionate kisses aren't so likely to engender significant alarm. Nervously, but with purpose, she and Gustavo have already taken it upon themselves to clean up the bloody front step- a welcome show of solidarity that she doesn't even realize the genuineness of. Thankfully as well, the ghost still seems like a completely separate entity to the rest of their guests... so he and Bella should be able to continue on with life almost normally (considering the houseful of people they now have to deal with)- keeping the pirates in check as planned, without any further show of strength.
With these cheerful thoughts in mind- and Bella smiling beside him, safe and happy once more- Edward's mood is able to return to its former glory. As soon as they are both able to get into a fresh change of clothes, he cooks lunch for everyone- while she lounges near him in the kitchen, eyeing him lovingly and conversing freely. She is so beautiful to him. Afterwards (as Edward insists) to help her be able to recuperate, they watch a movie again (subtitled in Portuguese for the guests that tag along) while Kaure cleans up after the lunch dishes (it was nice of her to offer). Later on, they both prepare dinner together- somehow not suffering from the stuffy heat or biting insects that increasingly annoy everyone else as the day progresses. They are never far apart from each other, and embrace often; their moods remain passionately close, buoyant, untroubled, and even infectious- almost as if they have a warm glow about them which has undertaken to inspire everyone else as well.