Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own Twilight, New Moon or anything else relating to her. I also do not own any of the text stolen from the books.
Chapter 3 – Phenomenon
When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.
It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.
I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror.
A fine layer of white stuff covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid – coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly icy slick. Especially for me. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.
Charlie had left for work by the time I got downstairs, a note on the kitchen counter informing me that he was helping out another county yet again. It wasn't uncommon out here, not enough money in the budget of most of the surrounding counties to truly afford a large police force, so the counties helped each other out as needed. Even some of the bigger areas, like North Bend and Seattle, didn't truly have enough police to do what would actually be needed if a crisis ever truly hit. It was yet another sore topic for my dad.
I ate a quick bowl of cereal and drank some orange juice straight from the carton. I knew it was a bad habit to have, but Charlie never drank the juice I brought home anyways. In truth, I was lucky if I caught Charlie drinking anything other than coffee or beer.
I was excited to go to school. I knew it was because I would get another chance to see Edward, I refused to admit it even to myself though.
I should be avoiding him entirely. Between my brainless babbling yesterday and the way he treated me last week – not to mention his obvious lies – I knew it was foolish to be looking forward to spending time with him. I couldn't help myself though, even if he and I were in completely different stratospheres when it came to leagues.
It took every ounce of concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to my truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.
Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of humiliating myself once there by thinking about Edward and his family. There was something so strange about them all. Each one of them looked far older then they claimed to be, with Edward looking the youngest of them all, and even he looked closer to eighteen than the fourteen or fifteen that he should be, given his grade. Alice looked to be right on the cusp of adulthood, in spite of her small stature, I thought she had to be almost twenty, at least from the way she looked and acted. Rosalie could easily pass for anywhere from twenty-one to twenty-five, as could Emmett. As for Jasper, the only thing I could think of him was ageless, I supposed he could pass for eighteen or so, but he could just as easily pass for thirty. None of them looked the age they were supposed to be though, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they were in witness protection or something and pretending to be younger than they really were. I wondered if dad would be able to tell me if I asked. Would he even know?
I was surprised when I arrived at school with no troubles. My truck had no problems with the black ice that covered the roads. Even so, I realized it was foolish to be contemplating stuff that shouldn't be important rather than focusing on driving. Especially in this weather.
When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck – carefully holding the side for support – to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knew how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. My father's thoughtfulness caught me by surprise.
I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound.
It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I spun around, startled.
I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my mind work much faster, and I was able to absorb several things in clear detail at once.
Edward Cullen was standing four cars down, staring at me in horror. Alice and him stood side by side, her face was an identical mask of horror. Further back were the three older members of the family, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett – all of their faces were completely aloof, unconcerned with what was happening. Theirs were the only ones.
Jessica, Angela, and Mike – who I assume had all been chatting moments earlier – were standing across the lot besides Mike's SUV all staring in shock and fear. Austin's Corolla was just to their left, where Austin, Rob, Ben and Eric all had similar masks on their faces. To the right of Mike's SUV, Lauren was just getting out of her rusted out Mustang, her mouth was forming a word, I had no clue what. She too looked horrified.
Many of the other faces blended together, but amongst all of them, there was one solid fact, everyone had the same looks of horror, shock, terror and fear.
Then came the far more important fact of Tyler's dark blue van skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck – right where I was standing. I always knew my bad luck was going to get me killed someday and it looked like today was that day.
I locked eyes with Tyler. I heard his engine rev. Something rock hard and ice cold hit me, but not from the direction I was expecting. I felt my head connect with concrete.
Everything went black.
. . .
I opened my eyes as I felt a hard bump, everything was groggy. A bright light was shining in my eyes. I recognized the face above the light, Brett Warner. He'd graduated about four years ago. I remembered when he took the job as the EMT, it had been all dad had wanted to talk about for days.
I closed my eyes.
"Bella, stay with me now. We'll be to the hospital soon."
I groaned and tried to open my eyes again, but it was too much work. I couldn't remember how to do it.
"How's she doing?" Someone said from the front of the ambulance. I was sure that's what I was in. It sounded like it was Martin Klark, he was probably the driver.
"I'm guessing a concussion and at least a couple broken ribs. We'll know for sure once she gets into the hospital," Brett said, his normally easy going voice sounded strained.
"She's lucky to be alive. If Edward Cullen hadn't been right there and shoved her down we'd have been picking up a body." It was Martin again, this time I was sure it was his voice.
"Yeah well, he could have been a little gentler with the shove," Brett muttered.
Everything faded to black again.
. . .
When I came to the second time the first thing I remembered was the fact that Tyler had tried to kill me. I remembered locking eyes and hearing him put his foot to the accelerator. We had dated for two years. He'd just tried to kill me. I started to hyperventilate. I heard a heart monitor go crazy.
"Bella, you need to calm down." I'd recognize the smooth melodic voice anywhere. It was Edward.
I opened my eyes immediately, seeking him out. "What happened?"
"Tyler lost control of his van and was skidding towards you. I was near you and saw what was going to happen, so I shoved you down. Unfortunately in my panic I pushed you too hard. You hit your head pretty hard on the pavement. My dad thinks you've got a concussion, a couple broken ribs too. I've been waiting for you to wake up because I wanted to personally apologize for what happened. If I'd been a bit more careful then you might not have been injured at all."
"That wasn't what happened. Tyler deliberately tried to kill me." I remembered the look in his eyes. It had to have been on purpose.
"I assure you, he never wanted to harm you. That wasn't what he was–" Edward stopped. "What I mean is that I could tell that wasn't his intention or desire."
"But the way he looked at me..." I trailed off. "Wait a second, you weren't anywhere near me."
"I was standing right next to you, Bella."
"No, you weren't. I remember. You were beside Alice at your car. The rest of your family was behind you two. They were the only three in the entire lot completely unconcerned by the fact that I was about to be killed."
"No, I wasn't. I was right beside you." He didn't comment on what I said about his family.
I started to dig my metaphorical heels in. I knew that he'd been four cars away. I couldn't have imagined it. "No, you were standing in front of your Volvo. It was four cars away from where I'd parked. In between us was Rob's nineteen eighty something Buick, Sarah's nineteen ninety five BMW rust-bucket, and June's older Lincoln Continental."
Edward's eyes looked almost guilty as he responded to my words. "Bella, you are right about the placement of the vehicles, but I wasn't standing near my vehicle. I was right beside you. I shoved you down to keep you from getting hit, but my push was a bit too strong. You hit your heard pretty hard. It's probably why the events aren't lining up right for you."
"I don't know..." I remembered something hitting me from the side, it had felt like more than just a hand or even a pair of them. It had been cold and hard, almost as hard as what I figured the vehicle would have felt like. If he'd knocked me down then that didn't make sense. He was only a boy after all. "Maybe you're right."
Edward smiled, seeming to be relieved by the fact that I was agreeing with him. "I am."
I looked down, memories of my brief return to consciousness while in the ambulance resurfacing. "Thank you. For saving my life."
Suddenly a doctor stepped into my room – it was one of only two private rooms in the ER and I often felt that both had my name permanently attached to them – my mouth dropped open. He was young, he was blond... and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with dark circles under his black eyes. I didn't need anyone to tell me that this had to be Edward's father. I didn't recognize him and I knew all the doctors here.
"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm completely fine," I grumbled, it was hardly my first time with a concussion or even broken ribs. Edward stepped out of the room after Carlisle looked at him.
"EMT's on scene believe you have a concussion. I would like to order a CT scan to confirm it."
"You don't need to order one. I can already tell I have one, it's hardly my first." In fact, it was my second concussion this year. I could feel the pulsing pain in my head of an oncoming headache, the lights were painful to look at, staring at any one thing too long made it fuzzy – all of which were classic signs of a concussion. It was sad that I could self diagnose one.
"Yes, I've read your charts. Is there any particular reason that your medical background is larger than most people twice your age?"
"I'm accident prone and have seriously bad luck. Always been that way." I remembered dad telling me that one of the first times after I started to stand on my own I fell and hit the crib bars hard enough to cause a hairline crack on my skull. Charlie had been terrified by it. It was one of my first ever visits to the ER. I didn't remember it, of course.
"It would be my recommendation that you stay the night in the hospital."
I groaned. "What for?"
He opened his mouth, but I knew what he was about to tell me.
"Dr. Cullen, I know the reasons, but I hardly need to be shown how to wrap my ribs. I also know what to look for and do when it comes to concussions. As does my dad. He's the chief of police, he has some basic medical knowledge. And if you've really read my charts then you know this is hardly my first rodeo."
"If your father checks you out then I can hardly stop it, but I wouldn't advise it."
I knew all of this. "Where is my dad?" It wasn't like him not to be here.
"He was in the waiting room talking to someone on the phone when I was coming to check on you. Would you like me to get him?"
There was only one person he would be calling with me here. "Yes, please."
I waited impatiently for them to come back, knowing that he was probably advising my dad that I should stay in the hospital for the night – and if this was ten years ago, I'm sure my dad would have agreed. Now though, he was as used to my injuries as I was. I knew he'd take me home. There was no point staying here through the night.
As I waited, I happened to glance at the table beside me. On it, were four, still plastic wrapped, dvd cases. I reached over, stretching to grab them, really feeling the burning pain from my ribs for the first time as I did so. I shuffled through them. They were the four movies that Edward was going to loan me. They were brand new. These hadn't been in his dad's collection.
Finally Dr. Cullen and dad stepped into the room. "Dad, you here to spring me?"
"Yeah, paper's have already been signed," dad said, confirming what I'd suspected. "You gave me a heart attack, kid. You know that right?"
"Sorry, dad," I said contritely.
To Dr. Cullen I suspected that my dad's decision to go against his recommendation seemed like unnecessary callousness about my life. It wasn't that though. It was knowledge, knowledge that this was hardly my first accident, and definitely was not going to be my last. Knowledge that I would be far more comfortable at home. Knowledge that I would spend the entire night restless and worrying about him if I couldn't go home and cook supper for him.
It wasn't long after that when dad and I were leaving, the dvds that Edward had lent me in hand.
Part of me knew I should ask how Tyler was, but I still couldn't shake the fact in my mind that it had seemed like he had intentionally tried to kill me.
"So, what did mom say?"
Charlie looked guilty. "How did you know?"
I arched an eyebrow at him. Even if I hadn't been told that he'd been spotted on the phone, how could I not know?
"Fine, she wants you to call her," he finally said, still looking guilty.
"Okay..." I trailed off. I knew there was more.
"Alright, I told her that you were almost in a car wreck." Charlie finally broke down. "She was distressed and wants you to move down with her."
And there it was. "But she isn't coming up here, is she?" I didn't wait for the no answer that I knew I would receive, instead, I sped up, walking faster than my dad to get to his car so we could head home.
It was always the same, every injury, every ER visit, she never came. Mom loved me, and I knew that, but be it her erratic, child-like attitude or her fear of what she might face … she never came. I wondered, more often than I liked, if she'd even bother to show when I graduated from high school. Would she come to Seattle when I graduated from college? Would she come to Tacoma when I graduated from the police academy? Would she be there for my wedding, if I ever had one?
I once again shoved my concerns into a tight recess of my mind, burying them the same way I always did.
When we got home, I called mom and reassured her that I was fine. The injuries were no worse than what I normally had and she didn't need to worry. She wanted me to move down to Florida where she was currently looking for a house. I refused.
I fixed fried fish and fried okra even though it wasn't healthy, as it was quick, and served the food out in the living room where another football game was on when it was done.
After cleaning the dishes I went up stairs and opened one of the dvd cases and inserted the movie into my computer to watch.
Once the movie was finished, I went into the bathroom to shower, unwrapping the bandage around my ribs so I could do so. When I finished unwrapping it I happened to glance in the mirror. On my side, right where my broken ribs were, was the perfect, bruised indentation of a hand print.
I dreamt about Edward that night.
AN: Long author's note, but some food for thought.
1st) Was Tyler really trying to kill Bella? I can confirm he did hit the accelerator, but it is a commonly accepted practice that hitting the gas can pull a person out of a spin. (Not saying that it actually works). So was he trying to save her life? Or trying to kill her? I know in my mind which way I saw it, but I refuse to tell you which.
2nd) You may have noticed the fact that Edward knocked her out. There are many reasons for this decision. One of the main ones is the fact that the throughout the original Twilight Saga it was told to Bella how fragile she really was in comparison to Edward, and in spite of the fact that he shows off his strength a couple of times, her fragility was never really shown. The other major part is the fact this is a difference between fantasy and reality and the original version was just a bit too fantastical for my liking.
3rd) Lauren Mallory was yelling "Isabella move" as loud as she could. This will never be revealed to Bella, and even if it did slip out, Bella wouldn't believe it. But Lauren is a multi-faceted girl, and even though she hates Bella, she ultimately cares for her. I think everyone knew someone like that when they were in school.
4th) Some people may think badly of my Renee. For the record, I don't see her that way. She is a good person and the best mother that she can be. I know some people believe that a person should always have both a mother and a father in their lives, I don't. I am truly a believer that sometimes the best a person can do for a child is to let them go. That is what Renee did. She knew she was not fit to raise a young child, which is why she left her with her dad. However now that Bella is older, Renee would be more than able to be a part of Bella's life if Bella did want to move down with her mom. I see my Renee as very similar to the one in Twilight, just a little more erratic and child-like than the original version.
5th) and lastly... did you notice what Bella wants to be when she grows up?
