Chapter 7

Rated M

Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just living the dream. The kind where Jacob and Bella get together. I also do not claim to know a thing about medicine or how the screws in broken bones work. I know I've seen some grotesque pictures online, and haven't done research. So if I'm wrong, it's ok, just go with it-for me.

After being startled from sleep by the dream of Bella, Jacob went to the bathroom before returning to the couch. His body was sore from being broken and healing, so he laid back down to get some more sleep. He slept for several hours without awaking again and he had no other memories of dreaming at all.

The kids were getting dressed for bed when Jacob was consciously awake. He floundered around until he made it to the kitchen, where he perched on a barstool. Each of his kids came and gave him a long hug and a quick kiss before skipping off to bed.

Overall, Jacob was still groggy from the sleep, but he looked around the kitchen while rubbing his tired eyes. He stretched both arms over his head, carefully, and then tilted his head to both sides. A loud yawn soon followed, but gentle hands reached under his shirt, and rubbed up his back.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Danni whispered, as she placed a few kissed on the back of Jacob's neck.

Jacob expected the rise of goosebumps that he usually got when she did this, but instead there was nothing. He turned himself on the stool and Danni stepped in between his knees. He smiled at her, but his eyes still droopy. Jacob kissed her on the lips and found he didn't have to force himself to enjoy it. It was a nice feeling, a comfortable feeling, one that he knew.

"Sorry, I slept through dinner and bath time," he apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I mean it. You do whatever you need to do to get better," Danni said. "By the way, Billy wants to come over in the morning for a while. He said he'd find someone to drop him off and pick him up."

"Okay. It's been a bit since I've seen him. I wonder what's been going on," Jacob thought aloud.

"I've been keeping in touch with him. He knows you're focused on getting better, he didn't want to bother you," she smiled and ran a finger down his cheek.

"He's my dad. He's not bothering me," Jacob looked down at the floor feeling ashamed that he was so focused on himself that he hadn't even bothered to call his own father.

Jacob wrapped his arms loosely around his wife's waist and rested his forehead on her shoulder.

Two days. He had been imprinted for 2 days and he was already forgetting important things.

"Jake, why don't you get back to the couch? If you fall asleep on me, we'll both be on the kitchen floor," she said.

He just smiled at her like a goon.

"Not like that!" she laughed. Jacob got up and struggled his way back to the couch. Danni brought over a plate with chicken casserole and salad for him.

The next several weeks' routine at home was similar for Jacob and Danni. He would fall asleep for hours after his physical therapy and wake up in time to give the kids hugs and kisses before they went to bed. Danni would bring his leftover dinner to the couch, while she worked folding laundry or grading papers. Billy had come to visit a few times, as well as Paul and Rachel on the weekends.

Paul continued to shuttle Jacob to and from therapy. Much to Jacob's annoyance, Paul had started picking him up a few minutes later each day. Jacob had talked to Paul a number of times about being there on time, but Paul had plenty of excuses. Things at their store needed tending, he was eating lunch and it took too long, or he was on the phone with a customer. Jacob backed off because he knew that Paul was doing most of the day to day work at the store.

However, this left time. Jacob didn't want time. He didn't want spare time. The last part of the day he wanted spare time was at therapy. He and Bella had talked a little when he sat waiting for Paul. Nothing too personal, mostly benign things like the weather and her dad, but also discussing their individual progress on healing.

Yet, the one thing that Jacob noticed was that the ice had seemed to melt away from Bella. She was kinder to the staff members, except for Mike, she still glared at him when he got too close to her. But she didn't talk to him or say anything rude. Everyone commented on how much progress she was making.

Jacob also noticed that when she came out of the doors, she had a smile on her face. She wasn't smiling at anything or anyone in particular, she only seemed happier.

One afternoon, Jacob sat waiting on Paul. He was at least 20 minutes late and was not answering Jacob's calls or texts. He was getting annoyed and frustrated. If he knew that Paul wasn't going to be there, he could make other arrangements to get home. It was incredibly annoying having to rely on someone to take you places. If only he was completely healed.

A black minivan pulled up in front of Jacob and the passenger window rolled down. In the driver's seat was Bella.

"Hey, I saw you're still sitting here," she commented. "Did Paul forget you this time? Can I give you a ride?"

Jacob stood and walked over to the window, resting his crutches against the van and his forearms in the open window.

"You're driving?" he asked, surprised. He looked to see she was still in the wheelchair and had had hand controls installed.

"Yeah. My newfound independence! You like?" she grinned, holding her hands out. "I can give you that ride."

Just then a horn honked behind the van. Jacob leaned back and could see Paul waving to him.

"Nah, thanks, though. Paul's finally here," he rolled his eyes.

"Okay. Hey, wait a second. I wanted to say thanks. You know, for setting me straight on my attitude," Bella said, but she looked out the windshield to avoid eye contact.

"Oh. You're welcome," he started when Paul rudely honked the horn 3 times. "I gotta go. See you later."

"Who are you talking to in the fancy wheelchair van, Jake?" Paul asked, as he pealed out of the parking lot.

"Remember the girl in the wheelchair, our customer, Charlie Swan's girl? She got an accessible van, I guess. She offered me a ride," Jacob answered.

"Oh yeah? It would be nice to not have to wait around for you," Paul laughed.

Jacob turned and looked at his brother-in-law to see if he was serious about such a suggestion.

"I don't mind picking you up. Don't worry, I wouldn't leave you with a strange woman. Rachel would kill me. Danni, too," he said.

"Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment at 9:00 so don't forget to be here early to pick me up. I'm getting this crap off my leg finally," Jacob said as he gestured to the leg brace.

"So, you'll be done with therapy when you get that off, right?" Paul asked.

"Nah, man. When I get this off, I'll have to start working this leg out. I've only been doing stretches on the rest of my body while I was there. I couldn't put any pressure on this with screws in my leg," Jacob responded. "But I am looking forward to walking around on my own. I can probably start driving too. I want to wait until I know what the pain will be like."

"Thanks for the ride, Paul. See you later," Jacob called, as he headed into the house.

Jacob went in to the house and headed to his current bed-the couch. He propped his leg up and checked his email for work. Things were, thankfully, going well in his absence.

He called his dad to check in and talked with him for a little while.

After that, he sat staring around the living room. He had backed off the pain medication some and didn't really have a lot he could do, he wasn't ready to pass out asleep. Or so he thought.

In a few minutes, Jacob was snoring soundly on the couch, with his foot propped up and his head on the back, mouth open.

He was dreaming again and was sitting on the beach, gazing into the ocean. It was quiet and he felt at peace. When he turned his head, he finally noticed Bella was sitting on the sand beside him, looking out at the ocean too.

"Hey," she said, looking at him.

"Hi. How do we keep meeting like this?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. This is different than the usual dreams I have. Well, nightmares really," she breathed.

"Nightmares? Of what?"

"The Cullens. Vampires. The attack-you know what put me in the hospital," she shrugged.

"Why do you think we're here? Do you want to tell me about it?" he turned to face her.

Bella turned toward Jacob and they were facing each other with their legs crossed. Bella took a deep breath before starting.

"Well, I know this is going to sound crazy. But all things considered, we're having this talk, so I guess it's not as crazy as one might think," she breathed out in a rush, with a smile.

"Anyway, in high school, I met the Cullens. Edward was in my biology class and Alice was my best friend. After graduation, we all went east for college. I got a degree in journalism with a minor in business administration. Then I started working for a publishing firm. Things were normal, mostly. How normal can they really be when you live with a vampire coven?" Bella looked up at Jake.

He didn't respond, just nodded for her to continue.

"Only Carlisle, their 'father,' worked-as a doctor. Edward took college courses with me, or Alice. I was never alone. At the time, it was okay with me. It seemed normal because I liked being with them. Then when I got a job and they would come up with excuses to be there with me. It started to get weird. Whenever a guy would approach me and start talking to me, Edward would show up with a huge bouquet of flowers. One day at a work luncheon, one of my coworkers asked me why one of them was always around, if I was in the witness protection program or something."

She paused, and gazed out into the horizon, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Jacob reached out and brushed her arm gently with the backs of his fingers. She looked back at him.

"Finally, I confronted them. I asked them why they were following me everywhere. Why I couldn't have a life of my own. They all got defensive, saying they were doing what was best for me. I got mad. Of course, I fell. I am the world's biggest klutz. I went down two flights of stairs."

"Like you know, I ended up broken and battered. But more than just my body, my heart was broken. They brought me to the hospital, and Charlie had me moved here so he could take care of me. I didn't want to see them ever again. They've tried to do everything they can to help me out, but I don't want it. That ridiculous Mercedes, for instance. Finally, Charlie let me sell it to get the van. You see how much happier I've been." She smirked and turned away.

Jacob twisted back on the sand and straightened his legs out in front of him. He wiggled his toes and pushed them down into the wet sand. He absorbed everything Bella had told him. She had known about vampires and lived with them.

"Was he your boyfriend?" Jacob inquired.

"I called him that, but he wasn't really. Not like you think," she answered softly.

"What do you mean?"

"He said he couldn't do anything, without, well, killing me," Bella replied.

Jacob shivered with the thought of what could have happened.

"You said you had nightmares about what happened. You having a bit of a fall is bad and all, but what was so terrifying about that?" Jacob wondered aloud.

After a few minutes, Bella answered his thought. "I was bleeding, Jake. What do you think happened in a room of vampires?"

Jacob jumped up from the sand and began walking away from her. He knew that ultimately she was okay, but the thought of anyone with those leeches. The danger she was in constantly by being near them.

"They attacked you," he stated firmly.

By this time, Bella stood and watched him with her arms crossed tightly together.

"They fought each other. Edward, Carlisle and Alice protected me. The others tried to attack. It was terrifying. I see them coming for me in my nightmares," she finished.

Jacob looked long at Bella. With her arms wrapped around her chest, she was trembling. He didn't feel like he knew her that well, but he didn't think anyone should have to live in fear. He walked over to her and placed his palm on her shoulder. She jerked and looked at him alarmed.

"Did you feel that?" she asked with shock.

"Jake! Jake! Wake up! Jake!" Jacob was roused from his sleep by the persistent pushing of his arm. Slowly, he awoke to realize Danni was speaking to him. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"There he is! Welcome back to the land of the living!" she joked. "You've been sleeping for hours, thought you needed to wake up and eat."

"Thanks," he said. "Let me go splash some water on my face."

"No need," Danni said, as she held a bowl with ice water and a washcloth up for him. "This was next."

He chuckled and wetted the cloth, rubbing it across his face.

The next morning, Paul took Jacob to his scheduled appointment. It wasn't the easiest or even a painless appointment, as he had all of the "equipment" removed from his body. However, he was finally free. Jacob looked forward to laying down to sleep in his own bed. Well, his and Danni's bed.

As soon as they got back to Jacob's house, Paul helped Jacob get into the bed. The doctor gave Jacob a shot of the "good stuff" as Paul called it before they removed everything. Jacob was barely awake and in a lot of pain. Paul left some things on the nightstand for Jacob so he wouldn't have to go far when he woke up. His bottle of pain meds, water, a candy bar and his cell phone were all within reach.

"Later, dude," Paul whispered as he left the room.

With the heavy duty medication, Jacob slept for hours. When Paul came to pick him up for physical therapy, he couldn't rouse the other man from sleep. Instead of trying, he simply called the therapy center and cancelled that day's appointment. He left and texted Danni so she would know he'd had a rough morning.

In this dream, Jacob found himself sitting at the top of the cliffs. He hadn't been there since he stopped phasing, having no interest in proving what his body could still handle. The accident proved he was breakable, that's for sure. As he sat staring out over the ocean, he heard a twig snap behind him. He turned to see Bella walking up behind him.

"I'm not sure we can keep meeting like this, Jake," she giggled.

He smiled back and patted the open rock next to him. She sat down, but further away from the edge.

"How have your nightmares been?" he asked, interested.

"Still bad. Except the few times I get to see you," she turned red and looked away. "I'm sorry. I know you're happily married and I feel awful for being excited to have a dream with you. Not that you know about it or anything. How crazy would I sound if I told you I was dreaming of you?"

"Yeah," he whispered. He kind of knew how she felt. This was such a strange feeling. He wondered if she was only part of his imagination, or she remembered these dreams too.

"So, last time, when you touched my arm, it was like an electric shock. Did you feel that? Or is it just my crazy brain?" she asked him.

"No, it's not you. I felt it too," he answered quietly.

"It's weird. I've never felt that before."

"Me neither," he said, honestly.

"So, why do you give Mike such a hard time?" he finally asked, feeling brave in this dream world.

Bella laughed. "Well, you know we went to high school together?" Jacob nodded his head.

"He wanted to date me. Which isn't really a big deal. He was relentless about it. I couldn't get him to give me any space. I was young, I didn't know how to tell him. So Edward offered to get involved. Of course, that was the last thing I wanted! My mind reading vampire boyfriend telling a guy to leave me alone," she smiled, looking at Jacob, pausing when she saw his expression.

"Did you just say mind reading?" he gasped.

"Uh, yeah. Wait, I thought you knew what they were? How do you know about the Cullens?" she finally thought to ask.

"I'll get to that part. He was a mind reader? Are you kidding me?" Jacob shook his head, appalled at this new knowledge. All this time and his tribe's treaty with them. They knew exactly what they were doing.

"Not kidding, Jake. Every mind but mine. I was silent to him. Broken, I guess," she lifted her shoulder.

"Lucky is more like it, you know. In short, I was a protector for my tribe. We could change our shape-into wolves. After they left Forks, we were able to stop shifting. I'm just a plain old guy now," he said.

"You're not old, or plain," she retorted.

It was Jacob's turn to blush a little. "I think it's time to go," Bella said. "Since this is only a dream…" Then she leaned forward a placed a gentle kiss on Jacob's lips. "I've been wanting to do that since we met."

Jacob froze for a moment. He leaned forward and placed his lips tentatively against hers. Then, she opened her lips just the smallest bit and slid her tongue out to taste his lips. They continued the kiss and deepened it. Bella wrapped her hands in Jacob's shirt, holding onto him. Finally, he placed one last kiss to her lips and backed up.

"That was amazing," she said, lighting up beautifully.

Jacob turned around and was finally awake. There staring into his eyes was his beautiful daughter, Hope.

"Hi, Daddy," she whispered.

"Hey, sweetness," he whispered back. He sighed. Things were so messed up.