Chapter 4 - Intentions
"Say ahhhh," Dr. Cullen directed, bracing the tongue depressor between his thumb and index finger and looking expectantly into the seventeen-year-old girl's mouth.
"Ahhhh," Bella said, feeling very much like a five-year-old as she parted her lips as far as they could go. Nevertheless, she was grateful to the youthful doctor, who had agreed to examine her at her home. Her bed served as her examining table as she propped herself up on the palms of her hands. The room was still a mess, the floor cluttered with papers and books, but at least the doctor had been gracious enough not to say anything about it.
With his slim penlight, he checked her pupils, nostrils, and ears. "Are you sleeping well, Bella?"
She nodded. "Except when I try to roll over…"
Carlisle Cullen smiled kindly. "Is your leg bothering you very much?"
"Now and then," she replied. "Mostly if I move it."
"You have to stay off of it," he reminded gently. "The less pressure you put on it, the faster it will heal. Have you been using the crutches?"
"Yes," she replied, unenthused. Bella had a love-hate relationship with those blasted walking sticks, having almost caused herself further injury on a few occasions.
"Good. Now, how about your head? Charlie mentioned that you were having headaches. How often?"
Since she had come home, the chief had been treating her like a glass doll. He worried over every little groan, ready to seize the telephone to call nine one one. Bella's gaze turned to the ceiling. "It's nothing," she replied, shaking her head.
These headaches were keeping her from returning to school. And after three days at home, she very much wanted to return to her schedule as soon as possible. Get back to her life, get some answers…
"Bella?" he asked knowingly, arching a single perfect blond eyebrow.
She hung her head. "About five or six times a day."
"On a scale of one to five, five being the most painful, how would you rate them?" he asked, saddened by the girl's condition.
"Four…and a half."
Carlisle tried not to let the pity he was feeling show on his face. "I see. With time, the headaches will dissipate. I want you to keep taking your painkillers as needed. And get plenty of rest."
There was something very captivating about the gold color of the young doctor's eyes, and as much as she tried not to, she could not help but stare. The eyes, the color – so familiar.
"Your cuts are healing nicely, Bella, and your leg should be just fine in a couple of months."
"And my head?"
"Your head wound is healing as well. But if you begin to feel disoriented, or dizzy, then you should come see me right away." The CT scan in Phoenix had shown no permanent damage, and Carlisle anticipated a full recovery.
A smile crossed her lips. She had become accustomed to feeling dizzy and disoriented even before the accident…
"What about my memory, Dr. Cullen? Is it going to return?" she asked. She had been holding onto that question, hoping that his answer would not leave her devastated.
"While I can't say for sure, Bella, we'll hope for the best," he told her in his most assuring doctor's tone. "However, you may notice that a sight or a sound, or even a smell may trigger bits and pieces of your memory, or even a specific incident. When and how they occur is impossible to tell." Carlisle hated not having a definite answer for her. After all she'd been through, she at least deserved that. And then, Edward's sulky behavior was not making things any easier. There was no amount of reasoning that had appealed to the younger vampire, despite the fact that he could lessen Bella's misery considerably.
Bella's gaze turned downward once again, and she tried to hide her disappointment. She was used to feeling helpless before, but now she felt downright incomplete. The large gap in her memory was like its own entity – a big chunk of mystery that sneered at her constantly.
"Did you have any more questions for me?" he asked. Edward had already advised him about which questions he could and could not answer.
Her chocolate brown eyes turned to meet Dr. Cullen's golden ones. And will your son be making an appearance any time soon? She wanted to ask that. She wanted to learn as much as she could about Edward, wanting to make the connection from her first day of school to the circumstances that brought her to Phoenix. Even now, she could still feel the blinding sting from her lab partner's hostility. In the end, she could not bring herself to question the good doctor. He was familiar, yes, but she had no recollection of him either. "My arm," she blurted out.
His gaze turned toward her right arm which she now held in front of him. Free from the gauze, the odd white crescent shape stood out against her ivory skin.
"Is it bothering you?" he asked as he examined it, his gloved hand holding her wrist lightly in his grip.
"No, it's fine. I was just wondering what it was from," Bella stated. It was unlike any of her other cuts, appearing like a bright half-moon in the middle of her forearm.
Carlisle shrugged. This topic was definitely on the long list of no-no's. Edward would be very displeased if Carlisle were to reveal that the crescent shape was made from the teeth of a vampire.
Oh that. A crazed vampire bit you, Bella, but don't worry. Edward sucked the venom out, and it's going to be just fine. Carlisle could just imagine his eldest son going to pieces at just the thought of it. "You went through a window, Bella. It could be from one of the many shards of glass we removed from your body."
She looked at the doctor doubtfully. "Yeah, but it's such an odd shape, and it's cold. Touch it."
His cell phone rang at that moment and Carlisle thanked God. He had not been able to come up with any other explanation. "Excuse me," he said to Bella, releasing her forearm and reaching into the pocket of his white jacket for his phone. "Dr. Cullen." Patiently, he listened as Edward told him to hurry up and get out of there. "I see." His gaze turned back to Bella. "I'm leaving right now." Carlisle flipped his phone shut and looked to her regretfully. "I'm needed at the hospital," he told her, pulling the gloves off his hands and packing up his black leather medical bag. Moving at a fast human pace, he snapped it closed and headed toward the door. "I'm sorry to cut this short, Bella, but I'll come see you again next week."
"Okay. But, how about Friday? I would really like to go back to school on Monday." Bella just knew that being stuck in the house with nothing to do was going to drive her crazy.
Carlisle smiled again. "We'll see you Friday, then."
With that, she thanked him for seeing her and watched as he left. She continued to sit there on her bed, now leaning on her elbows and faced the window. It was odd, but for the briefest moment she had the feeling she was being watched. Her eyes stayed fixed there, mesmerized, as though expecting something to materialize.
After a moment, Charlie entered, pulling her gaze toward the doorway. "Dr. Cullen says you'll be fine."
Bella smiled. "I've been telling you that for days." And Renee. Every day on the phone, she'd repeated it. Bella was very happy that she had decided to come home with Charlie. Renee's hovering would have been stifling.
"How's your head?" he asked as his daughter laid her head back on her pillow.
"My head's fine right now. I haven't had a headache since early this morning."
With a frown, Charlie's eyes met the clutter around her bed. "Do you want me to pick up these things for you?" he offered.
Bella sat up impatiently and looked into her dad's concerned face. "I really don't. Please go back to work. You're the Chief of Police. They need you."
Charlie was torn between his obligation to his daughter and his commitment to his job. "But, what about…?"
"I'll be fine," she cut in. "After Jacob gets out of school, he's going to Forks High to pick up my homework, and if there's anything I need, Jacob will get it for me."
"Are you sure? Do you want me to get one of those home nurses for you?"
"Dad! I'll be fine. Please go," she told him, nodding exaggeratedly. Please.
Heaving a sigh, Charlie hoped that Bella was right. "Okay then," he said, turning toward the door. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"
"I'm sure."
He nodded then, but paused in the doorway after Bella called out to him. She had reached on the other side of the bed and now had her purse on her lap.
"There's just one thing, Dad. Before you go, I was hoping you could tell me about this?"
His brown eyes met the slim palm-sized can with dread, and he heaved another long sigh.
It was the pepper spray.
Jacob made his way up the stairs with a big heavy sack loading down his arms. His long, black hair was damp from the rain, and the book bag was covered with water spots.
"Hey there, Sunshine," he greeted with a smile.
"Jacob," she said. "Thank God."
He smiled, pleased by her reaction. "Did you miss me?" he asked playfully, setting down the bag on the corner of her bed.
She could feel the blood suddenly rushing to her cheeks at his remark. She had not meant it that way. "I'm very happy that you're here. Thanks for getting my work."
With a sigh, he began to unload. "I wouldn't be that happy if I were you. Here's your Trigonometry," he told her, showing her the textbook with a list of assignments tucked inside the front cover. "And here's your Biology, your Government, your required reading…." To Jacob's surprise, Bella looked unmistakably delighted. "This should definitely keep you busy. Last week's work that you missed and this week's."
"You're an angel," she told him gratefully, picking up her Biology textbook first, and then thumbing through it for clues.
"Okay," he smiled. "Thanks. Happy to help." He stuck his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do next. "So, I guess you want me to go…."
"No!" Bella protested. "I have all evening and the rest of the weekdays while you're in school to catch up."
Jacob nodded his head in agreement. He had not really wanted to leave, and hanging out with Bella was definitely preferable to going back to La Push to do his own homework. Without asking, he began to pick up papers one by one from the floor, straightening them out and placing them into a pile. "What do you want to talk about?"
Bella's brows knit tightly. "Charlie was telling me about some animal attacks. One killed his friend, Waylon Forge. And there was another one…a security guard was attacked down in Mason…."
Alarmed, Jacob kept his eyes toward the trail of papers against the wall. "I heard about it," he confirmed.
"Charlie couldn't tell me what it was that killed them. They're still searching," she stated anxiously. "Do you think it's still out there?"
"It's vicious, whatever it is. And, yes, the Quileutes believe it's still out there."
A chill ran down Bella's spine. "Is there anything that can be done? I mean, to kill it?"
Narrowing his eyes, Jacob was more than aware of the stories floating around the mystery attackers. His tribe was entirely convinced that the "cold ones" had been responsible, though because of the treaty, their people were not allowed to hunt them unless they were on Quileute grounds. There were stories and legends that the elders shared with all the young ones, but Jacob was not inclined to believe them…although now with the most recent incident with the Cullens, he had had his suspicions…
"I'm sure if there is a way, they'll find it, Bella. Every living thing has its weaknesses."
"I hope you're right," she replied, her mind still consumed by her father's stories.
Jacob had made his way around the bed, now collecting books and stacking them against his forearm when he ran across one that should not have otherwise been in her room. It did not appear to be a school book, or another work of fiction that he already had in his hold. This book with its gold binding had a cover of deep blue, featuring a gold embossed circle in the middle, and inside the beige circle was an illustration of a Native American with full headdress. Jacob leaned down just then, glancing over at Bella to be sure that her attention was focused elsewhere and then flipped open the cover. To his dismay, it was a book about Indian legends, and he realized that she must have picked it up after he shared the tales of Wolves and Cold Ones back at the beach. He would have liked to burn it, but instead settled for stashing it underneath her bed.
"Don't worry about it, Bella," he said lightly, continuing to the right side of her bed and stacking some notebooks on top of his collection. "I'm sure they'll find it – whatever it is."
Her attention turned back to him, and she finally recognized that he had been picking up after her. "You really don't have to do that." She had not been able to examine each and every sheet of paper yet.
"I don't mind," he told her. "If you're going to be on crutches, you're going to need floor space."
She smiled again, glad that he was there. "You're right. Thanks."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for," he told her, setting the heavy pile on top of her desk. "Your Jacob angel is here to serve," he told her with a formal bow. And he meant it – literally. He would have done anything for Bella.
"Now, let's talk about something else," he told her, anxious to shift the subject away from vampires and wolves. "How do you feel about motorcycles?"
Perched on a tree branch away from humans' view, Edward gritted his teeth. He had watched through the window, seething the whole time. He had not expected the Native American boy to return. He had not anticipated that Bella might want him to, and now his heart felt like it was being ripped in every direction. Jealousy raged through his mind, infecting his every thought and sucking the life out of him like a leech. At least from what he could read in the boy's thoughts, his intentions were pure.
Edward had not liked to think of what was to come. Although he relished the thought of Bella returning to school, he dreaded the actions of the other boys who would undoubtedly fall back into line for her affections.
Despite the jealousy, the anger, the frustration, Edward's resolve remained strong. At one hundred and four years of age, he had developed mountains of patience. He had already committed to Bella's happiness, and if her happiness resulted in a life without him, then that was the way it had to be.
A/N: Thanks to those who are reading, and I'm always interested to hear what you think, so please leave a review...please??