CHAPTER 4: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

"Dad? Why are you home so early?"

As I closed the door behind me, I realized that the house was completely dark and silent. When Charlie was home, he always had the television on - if for no other reason than to provide background noise. I looked back out the window and looked up and down the streets as far as I could. What was his cruiser doing in the driveway, if he wasn't actually home?

Before I had a chance to look around for a note or some sort of explanation, I heard a really loud rumbling that sounded similar to thunder getting closer and closer to the house. I peeked out the window to see a red beat up truck pulling into the drive next to the cruiser. Three heads were bobbing up and down as the driver must not have seen the small dip in the gravel that he just parked the truck in. It looked like the three of them were all laughing at this - Charlie's head distinctly on the far left.

I opened the door and walked outside to see what was going on. The driver side opened and a guy who looked about my age jumped out of the cab while Charlie helped out the man that had been sitting in the middle. I noticed he was helping him into a wheelchair that Charlie had grabbed from the bed of the truck. They were all still laughing about the guy's driving when Charlie finally realized I was standing there.

"Hey, Bells! Good - you're home!"

Charlie proceeded to introduce me to the two people he brought with him. Billy Black, a name I definitely remembered from my childhood, waved to me before pushing himself forward to get inside the house. Jacob was Billy's son, and the driver that was still laughing at Charlie's teasing comments. Apparently, he wasn't quite sixteen yet and Charlie was giving him a hard time about his driving.

"Aww, come on, Charlie! I drive on the Res all the time! I know I'm not thatbad!" He said this while flashing me a really wide (and really beautiful) smile.

"I don't want to know about all the illegal things you do on the Res! Just be glad I like you or I'd have your license suspended before you even had your picture taken!" Charlie was clearly joking with Jacob, who just kept laughing.

Billy finally spoke up, "Now you wouldn't do that to me, Charlie! Jacob here is the only way I manage to get around anymore! And what would you do with yourself if I didn't have a way of bringing Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry over to you?"

Charlie obviously found this amusing - "You're right old man - I'll have to find something else to hold over Jacob, because I definitely need Clearwater's fish fry!"

This time Billy seemed to notice me standing there because he brought me into the conversation, "Charlie, aren't you going to explain to your girl here about this truck? Or do you need me to supply explanations too?"

I had been politely smiling through all of their playful bantering, but the truck comment definitely made my face take on a look of confusion.

"Bella - that's right, I almost forgot to tell you what I'm doing here so early. Jacob here has been restoring the engine on Billy's old truck, and Billy thought this might be the perfect vehicle for you. I have to admit, one look at it, and I agreed."

He paused when he said this to look at me in a concerned way, "So I went ahead and bought it off of him. I thought it was time you had your own vehicle."

I must have had a look of shock on my face, because it was Jacob that spoke up. "I know it doesn't look like much, and is probably a little louder than you'd like, but it runs great! And if you have any trouble with it at all, you can always call me and I'll get it back running, no problem."

My face must have shifted from confusion to panic at Jacob's speech because he quickly finished with "But I'm definitely positive that won't be necessary - honest, it runs great." He flashed his winning smile at me again.

"Seriously?"

It was all I could say as I looked at Charlie. His choice of words and his concerned look hadn't escaped me - I knew why he thought this truck was perfect for me. I could probably drive this truck into a brick wall at 100 mph and do little damage to its body, and mybody, more importantly. Okay, well, maybe not quite that - but I honestly couldn't foresee an accident that I wouldn't survive, and I was pretty sure that was where Charlie's mind was going. He must have noticed that I hadn't been in a hurry to drive since I've been here.

"Yea, seriously. Look, I don't mind taking you to school, and I know you don't mind walking home, but Bells, I don't want you to feel like a prisoner. You should have your own wheels - you know, for going out and having fun with your friends. Responsibly, of course."

I had to laugh at that last part he threw in there. Isabella Swan was a lot of things, but irresponsible was never one of them. Charlie smiled at my laughter, and I realized it was probably the first time he had seen me do that since I've been here with him. That thought made me kind of sad and killed my amusement almost immediately.

Before I could let myself get too serious, I gave Charlie the best smile I could muster and thanked him genuinely for the gift. And it really wasa cool gift, I had to admit. If I wasn't feeling a bit irrationally when it came to being behind the wheel (or to be honest, even sitting next to the wheel - Charlie was the only person I felt safe in a car with), I know I would have really gave the truck and Charlie the much deserved appreciation I seemed to be unable to generate in this moment. Trying to show excitement that wasn't entirely there, I asked Jacob if he'd mind riding with me around the block a few times to make sure I knew how everything worked.

Charlie and Billy went in the living room, turning the TV on right away, making themselves comfortable while they heard Jacob agreeing to my request. I told Jacob to grab himself a soft drink or something while I went upstairs to change. As much as I enjoyed the rain, I didn't enjoy the effect it had on my clothes. While my walk home now seemed like hours ago, my very wet clothing reminded me I just walked through the door about ten minutes ago. I quickly grabbed a dry outfit from my dresser and sprinted across the room and out the hall towards the bathroom, hoping the faster I got dressed and left with Jacob, the more excited I would seem about the truck for Charlie's sake.

That would have been a great plan, had it not been for my running late this morning and forgetting to throw my toiletry bag inside my room, and instead hastily dropping it outside the bathroom door next to the steps. I had almost made it to the bathroom when my foot caught on one of the straps of my bag. I instinctively reached out to steady myself, but instead of hand meeting wall, my hand met air, instantly throwing me off balance in the direction I was reaching - which, unfortunately for me, was the empty air in the stairwell. I saw what was about to happen in my head before I actually felt my body pitch forward. I felt my wrist buckle under my body on the edge of one of the stairs before I felt my head getting knocked into the railing - and then my face into a step - before finally coming to a stop at someone's outstretched hands at the bottom of the stairs.

"Bella! Oh my God! Are you okay?" The question came from Jacob and Charlie who were both hovering.

I tried speaking, but it must have come out as something unintelligible, because no one seemed to be listening. Charlie was telling Billy something about Jacob and him taking the truck for now. I was being carried out of the house, despite my efforts at requesting I change my wet clothes first. Charlie mumbled something as he started the car and cranked the heat on full blast for my benefit.

My head hurt a lot. My wrist hurt even worse. Ugh, I'm such a freak of nature.I went a whole month without any real mishaps. I mean, sure, it had only been six months since my last ER visit, but I was doing good here - I only dropped my books once in school, and only walked into an inanimate object twice. That had to be a record. I wanted to protest about the ER thing - surely there was a small doctor's office open in this town somewhere at three o'clock in the afternoon? I knew Charlie was on his way to the hospital because I had finally realized why my head was pounding even harder now that we were in the car - Charlie was using his stupid siren.

"It's definitely broken."

A very young and very good looking doctor came walking towards us holding my x-rays. I bet patients immediately were comfortable with him - he looked like a doctor you could trust just by the color of his skin. Something has to be said for a medical professional that spends so much time in his working environment that it looks like he's never seen the sun. Instinctively, I knew that probably wasn't the case. Before even being introduced to him, I had a pretty good feeling he was the same doctor that adopted Edward and the rest of the Cullen kids at school. I still couldn't understand how they all looked different, yet so very much alike. It was fascinating.

My assumptions were proven accurate as soon as Charlie spoke, "Dr. Cullen! Good to see you again. I'm not surprised about the wrist, but I'm more concerned about her head." Charlie was talking about me as if I wasn't sitting on the bed right next to him. It was one of those things that really tended to annoy me.

"My head's fine. It's just sore is all."

I tried to look as pain-free as I could. Dr. Cullen wasn't fooled.

"Bella, you took quite a spill."

He shook his head and started lightly probing my face and head with his cool fingers. "A whole flight of stairs. I'm actually surprised there isn't more damage. You don't seem to have a concussion though. I'm afraid the soreness will be there for a while, as will the bruises." He skimmed my right cheek with his hands when he said this. "But, the good news is that you don't have any facial bone fractures."

I knew I must have bruises. I remembered my face landing on one of the steps during my graceful decline. But I hadn't had a chance to look in a mirror yet.

"Well, Chief Swan, it looks like it could have been much worse. We'll get Bella's wrist all fixed up and then get you guys out of here."

He smiled warmly at me as he patted my knee and walked over to speak with one of the nurses. Charlie left me alone while he went to go fill out the required paperwork.

"Bella?"

Oh. My. God. What was he doing here? Did I imagine his velvety voice purring my name in concern? Yes. Of course I did. I closed my eyes. Could this day getany worse?

"Hi, Edward."

I spoke his name before I opened my eyes to see him standing there.

"Bella - what happened to you?"

Okay - I wasn't imagining the concern in his voice. But then again, he was a doctor's son, and I'm quite sure I looked rough enough to warrant that tone from anyone familiar with the medical field. His eyes were searching my face. As much as my body hurt, I couldn't help but feel completely grateful for that stupid truck and my need to show Charlie I could be excited about it. If it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have this beautiful, god-like creature showing concern...for me.

"I fell down a flight of stairs."

I fell down a flight of stairs? I couldn't come up with anything a little cooler than that? Something about Edward gave me diarrhea of the mouth. I was already uncool enough to have him handicap me further that way. It just wasn't fair. And is he still burning me up with his concerned stare? Oh - wait, he must be expecting me to say something else.

"It's not as bad as it looks. No head trauma." I tried to give a smile as I said this, but it came out as a wince as the pain from my cheek flared up at my action.

My breath caught in my throat as he reached up and brushed his fingers ever so delicately across my cheek. He had a look of complete tenderness on his face as he brought his hand down my face to cup my chin.

"Try not to do any moredamage tonight, huh?"

As soon as he said it, he dropped his hands from my face and took a step back.

"I have to go talk to Carlisle about something, but I'll see you in Biology tomorrow, okay?"

I couldn't believe that as quickly as he showed up, he was planning on leaving again. Then I remembered tomorrow we wouldn't have Bio - the Juniors were splitting up in two groups - a morning group and an afternoon group - and visiting the Forks Timber Museum for a project all the Junior History classes were working on. I tried to keep myself from smiling when I remembered that he was in Angela's history class - and she and I had already talked about the trip last week when we found out it was our two classes that were pairing up for the afternoon shift.

"Yea - actually - you won't see me in Bio. Remember the field trip is tomorrow!" I really hoped my voice didn't betray me. I didn't want Edward to know just how much I was looking forward to seeing him for more than just our hour in class.

"That's right! Well, see you then!"

He flashed his bright white smile at me as he turned and walked down the corridor. I wasn't sure why, but his smile sent a shiver down my spine.

I didn't want to feel anything towards Edward. I knew he was just a genuinely nice guy, and after meeting Dr. Cullen, I completely understood where he got it from. It was weird that the rest of the student body didn't see him as compassionate and warm. As I remembered from the first day of seeing him with his family, I understood why my classmates thought they were standoffish. I still had a hard time comprehending the look of hate he apparently reserved just for me that day, and how suddenly that look had been replaced with one of concern for my well-being. I had a feeling his "lost" month might explain the mystery behind the change, and I suddenly became even more excited at the time I would be spending with him tomorrow. Maybe, I'll finally get some answers!

I tried to not let my constant lack of enthusiasm for everything creep into the anticipation I had for tomorrow. What would it hurt to feel a little excitement for a change? I never thought I would actually feel enthusiastic about seeing the Forks Timber Museum. It was starting to look like tomorrow might not be such a bad day after all - even with the cast and bruises.