A Matter of the Heart
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews. Nikki
I don't usually listen to music when I write as I find it distracting, but for this chapter I listened to Snow Patrol's Set Down Your Glass, it just seemed to fit the story somehow!
Part Two-Cut to the Quick
It took another couple of hours before Billy regained consciousness. He opened his eyes to see his son, and none other than Bella Swan sitting beside him. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Jake." He said hoarsely.
"It's me, dad." Jake smiled in relief and quickly passed Billy some water. He used a straw and held it to his father's mouth so he could suck the cool liquid carefully. "Better?" He asked when Billy indicated he'd had enough.
"Yes." He croaked. Billy glanced at Bella again, his eyes showing their confusion.
Jacob noticed and took Bella's hand. She was smiling at Billy nervously, secretly wishing that her dad was in the room to take the heat off of her, but he had gone for a walk with Sue Clearwater to get some air. Jacob squeezed her hand. "Bells has been here the whole time. We've been so worried about you, dad." He paused for a second. "I'm sorry…I should never have left you alone the way I did." He hung his head in shame.
Billy noticed Bella use her free hand to gently stroke Jacob's arm in comfort. He frowned as anxiety welled up inside him. Why was she even here? Wasn't she married? How had she and Jake ended up together? He felt his head spinning with all the unanswered questions. The last thing he remembered was attempting to get ready to attend Bella's nuptials. He was going out of courtesy so he could support Charlie, and because he wanted to see for himself whether Bella would actually go through with it. He glanced down at her left hand to see she was still wearing the hideous engagement ring the cold one had given her. But what was missing was the wedding band. "You didn't get married?" He asked, unable to stop himself.
Jacob froze, his brow furrowing at the mention of Bella's wedding. Bella felt him stiffen and continued to rub his arm until he relaxed. Again she felt the undercurrent of electricity pass between them, but she chose to ignore it as she focused all her attention on Billy. "No, when I heard that you had fallen ill. I had to come. I wanted to support Jake and you." She saw the look of disbelief pass across Billy's face. It saddened her that he seemed to feel ambivalent about her actions. He was probably worried the effect this was all going to have on his son, and she couldn't blame him.
"Bells just walked out on her wedding." Jacob took over the conversation when Billy didn't respond. "She chose us, dad. She chose to come here." He turned to look at Bella and flashed her a heart breaking smile. Seeing it took her breath away and she couldn't speak. She saw worry cross Billy's face and she had to drop her eyes to the floor, she just couldn't bear to see the hope shining in Jacob's eyes.
Charlie and Sue returned at this point preventing any of them saying anything further. Charlie smiled in relief when he saw his old friend awake and talking. He began to trade affectionate banter with Billy. Sue joined in, as relieved as Charlie that Billy had pulled through and seemed to be on the mend. She lectured him a little on taking better care of himself.
Bella stood up while the adults took over the conversation. Jake took hold of her hand and looked at her warily. "Where are you going?" She winced when she heard the underlying anxiety in his voice. She knew he was panicking that once she left the room she was going to disappear. Bella hated what she had done to him. This was all her fault. She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket again. Edward must be frantic by now because she had not been answering it. Bella was dying to reassure him that everything was okay.
"I'm just going to the bathroom." Bella pulled her hand out of Jake's and began to retreat to the door. Jacob got up as if to follow her, but Billy called his name and he had to reluctantly go to him. Bella slipped away while they were all preoccupied.
Bella locked herself in one of the cubicles and finally answered her phone. Edward was indeed frantic. He bombarded her with questions and she tried to answer them as best she could. As she was with Jake Alice couldn't see what was happening. When she didn't answer his calls he had been on the verge of coming to the hospital to investigate. Bella's spine went cold when she heard this. Edward couldn't come. Jake was far too emotionally fragile to see his arch rival turning up at the hospital. Bella felt like she had dodged a bullet. "I am fine, Edward. You don't need to be here."
"I want to support you." Edward replied. He sounded a little sad. "I hate to think of you there all alone. I know what lonely places hospitals can be. I'm your fiancé, Bella. That's my role."
"I'm not alone, and I have plenty of support. I have my dad and…"
"Jacob Black." Edward's voice was now impatient. "You said Billy was awake and talking. Perhaps you should come home now? I can pick you up. I'll be there in less than ten minutes."
"No. I'm needed here." Bella sighed as she tried to think of the best way to persuade Edward that she needed to stay. She knew the last thing he wanted to hear was that it was because of Jake she wanted to stay. "My dad needs my support during this difficult time. Seeing Billy this way has really shaken him up."
"I understand that Bella. You are so self-sacrificing." Edward hesitated a moment. "Right about now we would have been on the way to our honeymoon." He said wistfully.
Honeymoon? Bella had barely given it a thought, all those weeks she had been looking forward to having Edward all to herself, and these past few hours it had slipped her mind. It had been kept a secret so she had no idea where they were actually going to spend their wedding night. Edward had been adamant he wanted it as a surprise. "Yeah, it's such a shame, but it can't be helped."
"Alice is already rearranging things, my love. Don't worry we will be married soon. As it was being held on our grounds it's only the invitations we have to send out again, and re-booking the registrar and caterers. We've been discussing it and we thought maybe two weeks from now would be enough time to…"
"What do you mean we?" Bella interrupted his ramblings.
"Well the whole family, apart from Rosalie of course. You know how difficult she can be." Edward sighed heavily. "But everyone else is excited about the prospect. It was unfortunate that today had to be cancelled, but I can assure you Alice especially has an even bigger reception in mind. She is in her element." He laughed indulgently as he spoke about his adopted sister.
"Well she hardly has anything else to do." Bella said tartly. She didn't know why but the very fact they were already organising another wedding irked her. She was supposed to be the bride shouldn't she have some say?
Edward caught her sharp tone. "Love, are you alright? I am so sorry. You must be tired. I wasn't thinking. Are you sure I can't pick you up and take you home so you can get some rest?" He asked solicitously.
"I'm fine." Bella said dully. "I have to go my battery's running out. I'll call you later." She ended the call before he could respond.
Jacob was waiting for her outside Billy's room. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed defensively across his chest, and frowning. Bella smiled at him but he didn't return it. "You were gone a long time." He searched her face as she turned red. "You were talking to him, weren't you?" His eyes turned dark when he referred to Edward as him.
Bella felt her head throbbing. It was like walking a tightrope, as she tried to navigate her way precariously between Jake and Edward. She wanted to please both of them, but ended up pleasing nobody. She rubbed her forehead trying to ease the ache. "Yes, I was if you must know. I had just walked out on my wedding day. I needed to talk to him and apologise."
"Apologise?" Jacob sneered. "Apologise for coming to support your friends. That bloodsucker really is something else."
"Enough." Bella felt tired, so tired of trying to do the right thing. "Don't talk about Edward like that." She chided him automatically.
"Here we go." Jacob pushed away from the wall and stood in front of her. He towered above her, and she had to crane her neck to look up into his eyes. Bella could see the hurt underneath the anger. However that didn't excuse him for the way he was talking to her now. "You always defend him. I bet he had a few choice names for me, but I bet you didn't tell him off."
"Actually you couldn't be more wrong. Edward was nothing but courteous, he was worried about you and Billy just as much as I was." This was not entirely true, Edward had briefly asked how Billy was, but he hadn't seemed overly interested in his welfare. He had glossed over her anxiety about Billy's recovery and started to prattle on about the aborted wedding. She didn't tell this to Jake though. This would have added more fuel to his hatred of Edward, and she wasn't in the mood for another argument. "Perhaps I should go home, Jake." She felt deflated, and just wanted to crash. It had been a long day. "I seem to be rubbing you up the wrong way at the moment. I'll see…"
Jake's whole demeanour changed. The anger left his eyes to be replaced by fear and uncertainty. He reached out and grabbed her, yanking her against his hard body. "I'm sorry." He whispered, pressing his lips into her hair. "I didn't mean to have a go. It's just been a heck of a day. Stay with me, Bella. I need you."
Bella couldn't fight this onslaught of emotion. It was too exhausting. She found herself agreeing. Jacob's hold on her loosened and he released her enough so he could up her face in his warm hands. Bella felt the undercurrent of electricity again as he touched her. She saw a slow smile cross his face so she knew he could feel it too. However he didn't comment on it. "I was going to head to the canteen and grab some food. Come with?" He gave her his puppy dog face, one which he knew she couldn't resist.
"Just as long you don't eat half the menu." Bella caved in and allowed him to take her hand.
"Now that I can't promise." Jacob joked as he took the lead and pulled her after him.
It was late, the pack had gone home. Now they knew that Billy was past the worst they had left to start the nightly patrols. Sue had gone with them. Charlie stayed with Billy. They spoke in low whispers as they spoke in worried tones about their respective children. Jacob and Bella were outside in the corridor. Jacob had fallen asleep as emotional exhaustion took its toll on him. His head was resting in Bella's lap. She was gazing anxiously down at his handsome face as he slept; she ran her fingers through his shaggy hair. It needed a good cut. Her touch soothed him and he only stirred a couple of times, murmuring her name. "Love you, Bells." The utter vulnerability in his voice cut her to the quick. She had never seen him that way before. Jake had always been the strong one, the one who propped her up when she fell. It was odd to be the one offering him comfort now. It worried her how on edge he became when she was out of his sight, even for a few moments. She knew that Billy and Charlie were worried too. It was written all over their faces as they looked at both of them. Guilt swamped her. This was all her doing. She had done this to Jake. Bella rested her head back against the cold wall behind her. She continued threading her fingers through Jake's silky hair as she closed her eyes and cried silent tears.
A/N-thank you for reading!
