Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 3
BPOV
Finally, I could see the roof of the safe house coming into view. Just a few more minutes and I would be there. It only took some quick running, a generous offer of a ride by a surprised classmate, and a "borrowed" Tundra, but I made it. I guess Edward never thought that I would have to find my own transportation to this place.
I slowed the truck as I pulled up closer to the side of the cabin. Before I could reach the handle, Rose was there lifting me out of the truck and running me inside. She put me down on the couch in the front room and then backed up looking at me as if I were about to fall apart. After a few minutes of dead silence, I finally asked, "What?"
"Are you ok, Bella?" Her voice was so tentative, so unlike her. Now I know something must be wrong.
I looked her straight in the eye to show her I was not going to take anything but the truth. I asked, "Rose, where is Edward?"
She eyed me carefully, as if deciding whether or not I could handle the truth, then came and sat by me on the couch.
"Bella, the Volturi are here looking for you. I'm not sure how bad it is, but when Alice was on the phone with Edward he was visited by Jane and Alec. Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett went to get him. They are going to bring him here. Alice and Jasper are leading Felix and Demetri away from here and then when they lose them they'll meet up with us."
My voice was barely a whisper, but I knew she would hear me. "Is Edward going to be alright?"
"Carlisle is with him." Then she got up and walked across to the other side of the room.
Not exactly an answer to my question, but I figured it was the best I was going to get. I knew I needed to be strong for Edward, but I felt like my world was crashing down all around me. I sat on the couch with my knees pulled up to my chest and silently cried until it was completely dark outside. Rose came over to check on me a few times, asking if I needed to eat something and telling me I should try to sleep. Finally, when it looked like she was out of patience with my rocking, I laid down on my side, closed my eyes and tried to rest.
"NO! I WILL NEVER DO THAT!" I yelled so loudly I even scared myself. Rose was sitting me up, and trying to get me to wake up. I was trembling, but I realized that it was just a nightmare. When she asked me about it, I told her briefly what I remembered.
"I was in the castle of Volterra…Aro was there…He was trying to force me to do something horrible…I felt different…that's all I remember." I was still trembling, and I knew I needed to walk around to get myself completely awake so I could shake off the nightmare.
"Rose, have you heard anything? Where are they?" I began to feel so impatient. How could I just sit here and wait? There has to be something else I can do. The love of my life is out there, hurting. I have to go to him!
I glanced around the room until I found what I was looking for, the keys to Rose's BMW. Quickly I grabbed them and headed for the door. Of course, Rose was faster. She grabbed my arm and held me in place. I started to protest, but she just shook her head and said, "They're here."
Chapter 4
BPOV
I turned my head toward the door, just as Carlisle came through it. Esme followed right after, and then Emmett with Edward in his arms.
"Put him down in here, Emmett." I heard Carlisle's voice and followed Emmett into one of the back bedrooms. I watched helplessly as he lay my husband's body down onto the bed.
"Edward, Edward, please answer me!" I touched his face, kissed his forehead, whispered "I love you" into his ear, but no response.
"Bella, I need to talk to you in the other room." I looked up into my father-in-law's face and saw tremendous grief in his eyes. I knew I did not want to hear what he had to say.
"Come on, dear. Edward needs to rest now." Esme carefully guided me out to the front room. I looked back over my shoulder at Edward, the love of my life, just lying quietly on the bed. He looked almost at peace, except for the expression of pain that was frozen on his face.
I turned to Carlisle and tried to make sense of what he was saying. It was hard to focus, my brain wasn't allowing my ears to hear all of his words. My heart must have heard though, because it started beating faster than I thought possible. It suddenly was very hard to breathe, and I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside.
"Bella, did hear what I said? There's nothing I can do…I'm sorry." He fell to his knee and began to sob. Esme started to help me sit down, when suddenly she turned to look at the door.
Alice came bouncing in, looked at the somber faces, then proudly announced, "You all shouldn't be so glum, it's bad for your complexions. Edward's going to be fine. Bella's going to save him!"
I ran over to her, gave her a big hug and asked, "How, Alice?" "Tell me what to do!"
Alice smiled and replied, "Your blood, Bella, it heals him. He needs to drink your blood."
It took me a minute to process what she had just said. But then it all made sense. Of course, human blood would help an injured vampire, and the blood that Edward's body craved was mine. I turned to Carlisle, "Will you help me? I'm not sure what to do."
Carlisle looked right at me. Many emotions flitted across his face: horror, sadness, grief, doubt, then finally determination. He slowly walked back into the bedroom where Edward was. I followed.
Carlisle took a scalpel out of his bag and approached me with caution. He looked at me for a moment, then took me by the arm and made a small incision just above my wrist. He let go saying, "That should do it."
I looked up at him with questioning eyes and asked, "What do I do now?"
He gently grabbed me by the shoulders and led me over to Edward. "Just get close enough for him to smell it, his instincts should take over from there."
I climbed up onto the bed and knelt over him holding my wrist just above his face. I waited for Edward to respond, but still nothing.
I placed my other hand under his neck gently cradling and lifting his head up to reach the blood that had began to ooze from the cut. I whispered softly, "Edward, you need to drink this."
He began to stir a little, and his lips parted slightly. I brought my arm in closer until his lips made contact and he latched on.
At first I just marveled at the sight. Edward was sucking blood from my arm, but he was so weak that it didn't hurt. It reminded me of an infant child nursing from his mother's bosom. I realized that this would probably be the closest that I would ever come to that "human" experience.
Suddenly I could feel Edward's muscles tense, and he began to drink more earnestly. It started to hurt, and by instinct I tried to pull away. Edward growled and grabbed my arm, holding it firmly to his lips. I gasped in fear. Carlisle put a comforting hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, Bella. I'll stop him when he's had enough."