Hello y'all and thanks for sticking with me for this long. Reveiws are ALWAYS appreciated, constructive critism or not.
Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"So what did Dr. Winston say?" Charlie asked, spooning a forkful of steaming baked potato into his mouth.
"It wasn't Dr. Winston" I informed him. There was no point in lying, he would find out anyway. "He's left. Dr. Cullen has taken his place."
Charlie dropped his fork and it clattered to his plate.
"But he said I was fine and I won't need the crutches soon" I hastily added, trying to make it sound like I didn't care. I pushed the food around my plate, staring at it, trying to disguise my anxiety.
"Dr. Cullen!" Charlie shrieked. "I thought he'd left!"
"He did" I couldn't think of anything else to say. I nibbled on a lettuce leaf, although the last thing I felt like doing was eating. I felt like going to sleep and never waking up.
"What about… the rest of his family?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen them at school"
"Well… that's good news about your leg"
"Yeah"
Silence roamed the small dining area of the house, only interrupted by the occasional scraping of forks. I could tell Charlie was trying to work out how Carlisle's sudden appearance had affected me, so I threw him a small smile to reassure him and he returned to devouring his dinner.
* * *
Before long, I was able to walk around the house, unassisted by my crutches. Charlie kept his hand a couple of centimetres from my waist as, bit by bit, I made my way across the living room. And after a little practise, Charlie's support was unnecessary and I could freely move around the house, leaning on furniture if I needed to. It felt so good to be able to move again, even if it was limited.
Charlie had to complete some emergency paperwork at the station, so I was home alone for the day and after a while of wondering what to do with my time; I decided to stretch my legs even more. I was confined to this house without crutches, but I felt I was stable enough to go out. But where could I go? Mike and Jess had gone out for the day, and Angela had gone to visit her uncle in Seattle. I didn't really want to visit Jacob, but I knew I had no choice. Something was scratching at my mind, commanding me to see how he was after the occurrence at the hospital.
Jacob must have seen me coming. He didn't answer the door even after the fourth knock, but I continued anyway. He wasn't getting rid of me that easily.
"What do you want?" He growled, in a gruff voice.
Was that really Jacob? He was already tall but now he was towering over me, heat exuding from his russet skin. He had cut his black hair shorter, but had grown out again and fell limply over his frowning, bushy eyebrows.
"Well?" He snarled.
"I- erm" All the words I had revised to say to him on the long walk here, suddenly seemed pathetic. "I just wanted to see how you were" I shrugged.
"I'm fine" He started to shut the door, but I stopped it with my foot.
"What happened at the hospital?" I blurted out, unable to restrain myself.
Jacob sighed and loosened his shoulders, but they didn't even come close to reaching mine. He bent down so his face was next to mine and studied my face, his eyes closed and his fingers clenched into fists. He sharply inhaled then took a step back into the doorway. Before closing the door he turned around to face me once more, and there was no mistaking his hurt expression.
I stood, for a moment outside the door too shocked to move, even when it started to rain. Only when a raindrop trickled down my back did I shudder and look up at the grey clouds that were forming. It was stupid of me to go out in Forks and not bring an umbrella, but I expected Jacob to invite me in once he realised it was raining. He didn't.
I walked home as fast as I could - which wasn't very fast due to my limp. I mulled over what Jacob had said to me at our brief encounter, but couldn't reach any logical reason why he would act in such a way.
Charlie still hadn't finished work when I returned home, so I microwaved a small meal and changed into some dry clothes. A mug of seaming hot tea didn't really appeal to me but I was soaking wet and freezing so I wrapped myself in towels and sat on the sofa with the cup of tea warming my hands. I tried not to shiver too much as I knew it meant I would spill it.
* * *
I couldn't sleep. Carlisle, Edward and Jacob's faces all swam into my mind, flooding my brain causing all reasonable thoughts to drown - and soon, everything in my mind fused into a mass of unfathomable clutter. Trying to sort my mind out was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but for some reason I couldn't stop searching
I woke, the next morning, with a feeling that someone had rammed sandpaper down my throat. Stupid Jacob, if I had a cold I was holding him personally responsible.
"Morning Bells" Charlie looked up from his newspaper and nodded at me.
"Morning" I nodded back.
The consequences of a sleepless night hadn't managed to sink in yet, so I poured a cup of coffee hoping the caffeine would fight them off even more.
"What's your plan for today?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know" answered. "I think I'll go into Port Angeles, you know, for some clothes"
Charlie's head immediately ducked back under his newspaper once the word "clothes" slipped from my lips. He knew I wasn't a very fashion-obsessed girl but shopping scared him anyway, what with the loud music, strong smell of leather shoes and riotous women.
"You look tired" Charlie noted.
So it was obvious.
"Didn't get much sleep"
I grabbed a pain killer for the ever-increasing pain in my throat and headed back upstairs before I had to explain to Charlie why I was unable to sleep.
Charlie was lying on the sofa, his feet resting on the coffee table, flicking over the cannels, unable to come to a decision on what to watch when I returned.
"Bye dad"
He turned to face me.
"I probably won't be home when you get back; I'm going fishing with Harry. You'll be ok wont you?"
"Yeah, of course"
He threw the remote down in defeat and frowned at the TV set as I walked out the door.
* * *
Water was leaking through my trainers and drenching my socks. I sighed and realised I would have to buy a new pair. Shoes were the worst thing to buy, it was so fussy. It had started to rain so I tried to find the nearest shoe shop I could.
I wandered for a while, hunting for a shop when I noticed a familiar sight. A young, blonde woman was hurrying through puddles, desperate to find a shelter. I tried to remember where I had seen this woman before.
I balked suddenly as I recalled where I had seen her. She was in the changing room at Marks and Spenser's whilst I was rummaging through a clothes rack. She was sat at a table reading a magazine in Starbucks when I was resting my feet. She had appeared everywhere I had gone. She was following me.
No, I thought. Why would she? She hadn't even noticed me!
"You are following her" A sinister voice whispered in my head.
But I couldn't be! We had just happened to go to the same places – that was all. I wasn't a stalker; I didn't even know the woman! I started walking quickly in the opposite direction, but something was tugging at my feet, demanding that I went the other way. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't give in. Eventually I surrendered and span around. The woman was almost at the end of the alley, progressing to the main shopping street. I stepped back as something hit me in the chest and immediately I could hear thumping in my ears and a mouth-watering taste lingered in my mouth, as if someone was holding a bar a chocolate inches away from my tongue.
I only realised I was sprinting towards the woman when a tsunami of water poured trough my scraps of trainer. But I didn't stop, I couldn't. I was getting close to the woman; she had barely moved a fraction in the time I had sprinted to her. As I got closer I realised what the delicious smell was.
Blood. The pounding in my ears suddenly picked up a rhythm and I realised it was the beating of the blood flowing through her veins.
I wanted to stop, I felt sick. But the realisation of the blood drove me even further. My hand was outstretched, ready to snatch her throat. I was screaming at myself, trying to pull myself back. I almost thought it was too late, when a cold arm gripped around my waist and with an almighty force, threw me backwards. My head struck a wall behind me and the strangers arm was still coiled around me, but I didn't care. I forced out a lungful of air as the woman strolled onto the main street and disappeared from my view.