CHAPTER FOUR:
The Rescue
DISCLAIMER: the author of this fanfiction does not, in any way, profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator(s).
A/N: As this author's note is being written it is 8:33pm on Monday 4th of August.
Breaking Dawn was released at 5:00pm today exactly, and I was there to see it happen! I attended a launch party and it was one of the most exiting experiences of my life. The book shop had a big screen set up and they played all the MTV stuff, trailers and EVERYTHING! There was free pizza and fizzy drinks in all flavours, there was jewelry to buy, they had Twilight in hardcover and the shop was all decorated with movie posters, balloons and streamers.
There was a Twilight quiz and at 7:00pm they announced the winners; Third prize, Second Prize, and of course FIRST PRIZE.
There were thirty questions including; What is Emmett's favourite time to hunt bears? What did Bella do the second time Edward kissed her? What is Esme's full name? What music was playing in the car when Edward drove Bella home from biology? What was the name of the restaurant where Edward took Bella in Port Angeles? and my personal favourite: How did Bella break her hand in Eclipse? (She punched a werewolf in the face!)
First prize was a giant block mounted portrait of the Breaking Dawn cover and twilight related jewlery, mobile phone charms, magnates and a set of bookmarks.
The third prize and second prize winners both got 24 out of 30 questions correct. The FIRST PLACE prize winner got 30 out of 30 questions correct and nearly fainted when her name was called out.
I was that first prize winner!
"Oh Bella, poor Bella. She's bleeding Carlisle, what do I do, why didn't I see this?" I peered up through the cold swirling fog at the dark figures moving around above my head. I heard a female voice, a males to I think. My vision was to blurry to make sense of the surrounding environment so I had no idea where I was and I couldn't seem to remember how I had even gotten here. The shadows above my head were still talking but I was so out of it that I couldn't recognise their voices at first.
I strained my ears. I knew I could definitely hear the shadow peoples voices but I couldn't understand their words, it was all mumbled and distorted like I was floating deep under water and someone was flicking through radio stations on the surface, just out of my reach. I strained my ears as hard as I could until I was able to understand what was being said.
"Hold your breath Alice, the smell won't be as bad. I'm going to take her home and tend to her wounds. You should help with Jasper." Was that Doctor Carlisle? Than the woman must be Alice!
It all suddenly came back to me in one crushing wave of despair: the murders, Rosalie hurting my feelings, the hopeless baseball game, Edward sharing his jumper, and Jasper...fear...panic...running for my life...falling to my death...
I remembered Edward's last words to me 'Scream for the others'. I gasped, taking as deep a breath as I could manage, I closed my eyes and screamed "ALICE!"
She didn't respond. So I tried again. "ALICE!"
Nothing.
"CARLISLE! ALICE!"
Nothing.
"ALICE! please help me!" I called frantically, my voice fading.
I was beginning to regain consciousness with each shaky breath. I started to cry when I recognised the unmistakable sounds of one vampire crashing against another. The fighting still hadn't stopped. Alice didn't answer my pleas. My leg was in agony, and I was frightened.
There was a sudden rustling sound as the damp leaves were swirled around the forest floor beside the spot where I lay, crumpled and broken.
I felt my self being lifted up off the ground, I struggled but a kind gentle voice calmed me.
"Bella? It's Carlisle. I've got you, your safe I'm taking you back to the house. Your injured so please try to be still. I won't harm you, you have my word."
I whimpered and curled both of my hands around the closest one of his. It was cold and hard just like Edward's, but the texture of his skin felt very much older, it wasn't wrinkled at all with age, at least not in the way a humans hand would feel after many decades of life. It didn't look old either, though that was obvious - vampires didn't age, I knew that but there was something about his hands in the moment where I held them in mine that portrayed his true, ancient age. Maybe it was the way they moved expertly across my delicate human frame, searching for signs of injury, so gentle and comforting, soothing me, telling me I was no longer in immediate danger but, at the same time the reassuring caress of his touch seemed to be sending a more urgent message: Don't die. Hold on. Don't die. Please.
It came to me then, the reason his hands felt so old. They had done this before, comforting the dying I thought grimly. Carlislehad seen death so many times through out his career as a doctor, he knew what to look for. Knew the signs of fading life. I felt a great surge of pity. Poor Doctor Carlisle, I've made him worry. Stupid lamb! I gave is hand a tight squeeze, letting him know that I was still alive and fighting, that I wasn't ready to give up on his family. He squeezed back comfortingly and let me cling to him with all my might. I closed my eyes tightly as Carlisle began to run back through the thick forest towards the house.
The run home with Carlisle felt as though we were traveling at least a hundred times slower than when Edward had first carried me out here, and that made me worry that we might not get away quickly enough. I whispered to Carlisle, asking if he could "Please run a little bit faster?" I didn't want to sound rude or ungrateful for his rescue attempt so I added another "Please?" at the end of the question.
I was terrified of Jasper coming after us. Not because I was afraid he would hurt me, but because he would bring Edward with him and I knew that poor Edward most likely would not be be able to resist eating me under these circumstances and it made my heart ache to think of him feeling guilty and hating himself for all eternity if accidentally killed me.
I continued to worry. It seemed to be taking so long to reach the house, the endless sea of trees seemed to go on forever.
Then suddenly, even with my eyes sealed so tightly shut that I feared I would never again be able to open them, I knew Carlisle and I had managed to escape the horror of the dark forest.
I could feel the suns happy warmth beating down upon me and the rare golden hue of sun light blanketing around me, piercing through the thin barrier of my eye lids. I took a deep breath, glad to once again find the air warm and smelling of spring flowers instead of the damp, mouldy, moss like scent the forest had produced.
I smiled slightly and instantly felt safer.
Carlisle had carried me into Edward's room and laid me down on his long black couch. He'd given me some medicine for the pain and also resorted to a does of three small blue pills, 'to help me calm down' he had said.
Because Jasper isn't available to offer his services at the moment. I guessed mentally. He was now running his hands along my bad leg, checking for broken bones. I winced in what I hoped to be a discreet manner when he found the tender spots.
"Nothings broken. You will need some stitches, that's a pretty nasty gash you've got there. You will be very sore for a few days but other than that your fine." He spoke softly. He gently brushed the wet, muddy hair out of my eyes.
"God help my son. If you had been killed... bitten. I am so sorry Bella. One thing after another for you isn't it?"
"Edward?"
"He is not here Bella, I'm sure he's fine. Alice and Emmett were helping him with Jasper." Carlisle said as he searched through his medical equipment to find a small but horrific looking sewing kit.
"Is Jasper OK? Why did he try to hurt me?"
He ignored my question. Instead of answering he lent over me and swiftly took hold of my hands that had moved unconciously to protect the deep scrape along my left leg from his sharp needle. He held them down securely against my side. I whimpered as he brought the needle closer.
Restraining me with one hand, he cleaned my wound and started to stitch me up with the other.
I tried to think of other things so as not to pass out.
He was avoiding the Jasper questions and that only made me want an answer all that much more. Hmmm. What was he keeping from me? From my point of view at least 'Why did your son try to kill me?' Seemed like a legitimate question to ask. I decided to try again but just as I began to open my mouth, Carlisle interrupted.
"Are those pain killers working OK, or would you like me to give you another dose?" The pain wasn't that bad, just a dull ache. I decided that if Carlisle was going to ignore my question than I was going to ignore his too.
"Jasper? What did I do to Jasper? Why does he hate me? Will he be OK?" I asked shakily as he made another stitch. OK, I thought. So I was wrong about not feeling any pain.
Carlisle took a deep breath. He tied the last stitch off and cut away the remaining thread. He stood up and walked over to a small table I had not noticed was there and picked up a syringe filled with clear liquid. He moved to my side again slowly and maneuvered the sleeve of Edward's jumper high above my elbow and injected the liquid into my arm before I knew what was happening.
"Don't lie to me Bella, there is no shame in admitting you are in pain." He stood again and repositioned himself at the the edge of the couch, sitting by my sore feet and soothing them with his icy hands.
He seemed to be thinking for a moment before sighing again and beginning to speak.
"Understand, please Bella that Jasper finds it much more difficult to abstain from drinking human blood than the rest of us. He tries very hard, he truly does. But sometimes..." He trailed off and looked towards the door way and out into the hall.
His lips twitched as though he were speaking to one of the other vampires who, for some reason, seemed very reluctant to step out of the shadows of the hall way, and into Edward's room to reveal themselves.
Carlisle's eyebrows knitted together, frowning in response to words I could not hear. He made a quiet 'huffing' sound in frustration before he snapped his head in my direction once more and smiled in false happiness.
"I'll be right back OK Bella? Don't fret. I'll be just outside in the hall." He stood and left me swiftly. I couldn't hear any sound apart from the ticking of a far away clock. I waited for him to come back into the room, perhaps with Edward or Alice. They must have Jasper sorted out by now, I reasoned.
Then again, if it was Edward in the hall, why didn't he come running in to see me? It wasn't like him. Alice would have barged her way in too, I was sure of that. Alice wouldn't want to miss anything.
So who was it in the hall?
Esme and Rosalie weren't home... they could have come home early, for some reason... maybe?
"No." I said quietly to my self.
Esme might have been reluctant to interrupt Carlisle when he was looking after me but she would have at least knocked first if she felt she absolutely had to disturb him. She would have let me know it was her. She was always so worried about doing something that might frighten me away, and turning up out of no where was one of her biggest 'no, nos'. She constantly chided Alice, who found the whole situation a hilarious game, that one day she'd give me a heart attack by jumping out at me with no warning. She also said it was far to impolite.
This thought reminded me of the time I once overheard her telling Emmett and Alice, after one particular afternoon of playing 'Bella-Barbie' that involved Emmett 'rescuing' me by waiting until Alice had her back turned, whispering in my ear his plan to throw me out the window and some how catch me before I hit the ground that:
"She is a tiny, defenceless human Emmett! It is not amusing to frighten her and laugh when she falls over in shock, have some respect. Alice, I know you mean well but one of these days you'll have her running from this house screaming, and I'll leave it to you to explain to Edward why his sweetheart no longer wants to come visiting." To which Alice and Emmett both burst out laughing.
So no, it couldn't be Esme.
Rosalie?
No.
She wouldn't hide. She'd want everyone within a ten mile radius to know that she was home, and she would have said somthing about the 'Stupid Pet' hurting itself and ruining her "twin" brothers life... existence or however it is best described.
So that left Jasper and Emmett. It would make sense for Jasper to hide in the hall, I don't know about Emmett, I hadn't seen him since the baseball game. He's not the type to hide in a hall way though. Like Alice, he wouldn't want to miss anything.
So it has to be Jasper. I reasoned. He's probably come home to say sorry or something and Edward and the others are just giving him some privacy, so that he can discuss the matter with Carlisleand me on his own first. He could be embarrassed or maybe even ashamed with himself.
Yes. I concluded, It is defiantly Jasper. He'll talk to Carlisleand then they will both come back into Edward's room and Jasper will say sorry and I will set him strait and say it was all my fault really for having such nice smelling blood and he will laugh and it will all be OK.
Then Edward will come. He will cuddle me and sing me to sleep and when I wake up we'll all have cake and lemonade.
Well...
The cake part is probably just the pain killers talking but I was so sure it would all work out for the better. All I needed to do was wait.
So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
I started to become anxious. I didn't feel safe on my own. It was growing dark and the trees out side looked sinister and threatning in the gloom and rolling fog, their branches scraping against the glass walls and forming shapes of frightening creatures like something out of a horror movie. My leg began to ache the medicine must be wearing off I thought. There was a creaking sound at the window across from me. My eyes snapped in its direction, I couldn't see anything but that didn't stop me from imagining all manner of horrifying reasons for the windows sudden squeak. I began to cry softly to myself again. I hated being alone.
"Shhhh. Here we are. There, there." Carlisle had responded, like the wonderful doctor he was, to the distressed cries of his patient. I just looked at him, to much crap had gone on to day and I think I might have been in shock.
He smiled at the look I was giving him. "Yes, yes. I was away for a long time wasn't I." He was speaking to me like I was a child.
"Where did you go?"
"Emmett has returned, I needed to speak with him." I could tell he was avoiding something. Panic shot through me.
"Where is Edward? Is Alice back to? What about Jasper? Is Emmett OK? No one got ripped apart and set on fire did they?" I asked in a rush.
Carlisle motioned to a shadow in the door way. Emmett stepped into the room. He smiled but kept his distance. I noted that he had changed cloths and had obviously just taken a shower.
"I'm fine." Were his only words.
"Did... why... I need Edward... please?" I was beyond reasoning now. Why were they being so secretive with me? Why hadn't my Angle come for me? I couldn't help fearing the worst. Emmett and Carlisle looked at each other pitifully.
"They won't be back for a while Bella." It was Carlisle who spoke.
"I hadn't taken into account the effect our 'game' would have on Jasper. I was foolish to believe he could handle that kind of situation. I suppose I was expecting to much of my son. Tracking your scent through the woods was to much like hunting for him. He became to involved, got over exited, he probably didn't even recognize you as Edward's mate. He seemed, from what Emmett reports, to have mistook you for a deer. He desperately needs to hunt now, to be able to regain control of himself. Alice wanted to be with him of course."
"What about Edward?" I whispered.
"Edward missed out on his regular feed last night when he returned early to watch over you. He was close to breaking point but insisted on guarding you, what with the recent murders and the 'incident' with James still fresh in his mind. When Jasper threatened his mate, well that really was the last straw so to speak. Edward must hunt immediately. He will return tomorrow with Alice and Jasper. In the mean time Emmett and I will watch over you for him. Is that acceptable? Because If you are to frightened to be with us now, and I would understand completely if you were, we could find you a human family to take you in until your father gets back."
"No I want to stay here." I couldn't think of anything worse than being left with other humans after all that had happened to day, only Edward's vampire family could possibly understand my feelings. Carlisle smiled softly. He got to his feet and brushed his hand against my forehead in a fatherly manner.
"So trusting." He murmured so softly I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to have heard.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a louder voice;
"Those pain killers should last a few hours at least. Just stay calm, Edward will be home tomorrow. If you will excuse me, I have some paper work that needs attending, Emmett is here if you need him." And with that said, he left the room.
Emmett shifted his feet. He put his hands in his trouser pockets, then took them out again and scratched his head. This is awkward. I thought as Emmett looked around the room and spotted a chair which he shifted close to the couch where I was laying and sat down.
"So." He began awkwardly. "You like...stuff?"
I nodded slowly. "...yep."
"Cool."
END CHAPTER FOUR