Chapter 7: No Traces of Amber Left
Companion Song: Hurricane by Something Corporate
Stand up don't make a sound
Your ears might bleed
There are sweet fluorescent enemies
That live inside of me
The world moves faster than I knew
Not fast enough to creep up on you
And the space we put between
So pull me under your weather patterns
Your cold fronts and the rain don't matter
Because the sun burns what I needed
So don't say
"These currents are still killing me"
And you can't explain
But the wind went and pulled you into the hurricane
Into the hurricane
You don't do it on purpose
But you make me shake
Now I count the hours 'til you wake
With your babies breath
Breathe symphonies
Come on sweet catastrophe
(Lyrics are copyright of Something Corporate)
(Characters are copyright of Stephenie Meyer)
No permission is implied from their use and belongs to the respective copyright owners.
Seth ran as fast as all four of his legs would carry him. The sounds of growling and yelling faded behind him as he got further away. He didn't really know what was going on between everyone but he didn't have time to worry about Jacob and Edward fighting each other when something was clearly very wrong with Bella. He knew if anyone would be able to help her or understand it was Carlisle. The Cullens were a few miles away.
It took only a few minutes but it felt like forever to Seth. He knew a wolf charging at the house probably wasn't going to look good. He stopped about a hundred yards away from the front door and dropped Bella gently on the ground and phased back to being his human self. She was still shaking uncontrollably, and when he scooped her up in his arms he could feel how incredibly warm her whole body was. She seemed to be running the same temperature as him. This scared the hell out of him, knowing how cold she was supposed to be.
He ran to the front door, pounding on it with a fist he managed to get out from under Bella's legs.
"Help, please, Carlisle!"
He didn't have to pound for long. Within a few seconds, someone was at the door. It was Emmett.
"What the – " he said, looking at Seth. He noticed Bella in Seth's arms.
"Carlisle, NOW" Seth yelled at him. Emmett opened the door behind him and stepped back.
"Seth, what's wrong?" Carlisle's voice came from behind them somewhere. Seth saw his face a few moments later. Carlisle looked at Bella with a surprised look on his face. He saw her convulsing and then the doctor side of him took over.
"Put her over on the table" he said pointing in one direction and going to find his medical bag. Jasper had appeared a few seconds later. He cleared a bunch of things off the table in a blur so Seth could set her down. Emmett was looking at Jasper with a suspicious expression. Jasper shook his head back at him. He could feel Seth's distress and it was real. Carlisle was ordering someone to get towels as he was coming back up the hallway with a bag full of things.
Bella's shaking had lessened a little. Then she went still. Seth's face became really white. A few seconds later he could hear her making noise. She turned her head, throwing up. Carlisle went over and turned her on her side as she threw up more. Emmett and Jasper disappeared, mumbling something. Seth was silently looking on, afraid to say anything. He moved her hair away from her head and watched Carlisle. Bella had stopped throwing up and began to uncontrollably shake again.
Carlisle had put a hand to her forehead, feeling her temperature. I don't know if this is even going to work he said in a low voice, eyeing the sharp point of a needle. He had a syringe in hand which he checked and then injected in to her. After a few moments the shaking stopped and her body relaxed. Carlisle was watching her carefully. Emmett and Jasper had reappeared with a basin of water, bleach, and cleaning supplies. Seth grabbed one of the towels and soaked it in the water. He put it on her forehead and looked at her. She was a different kind of pale and very sweaty. She looked horrible. Carlisle checked another syringe and gave Bella another injection.
"What's wrong? Please" he begged Carlisle.
Carlisle looked at him and then looked past him back to the door where Jake and Edward had stepped through. Both had very tattered clothes and were covered in dirt and debris from the outside. He looked at Edward who was clearly reading his thoughts. Seth didn't appreciate the private conversation right at this very moment.
"Out loud" Seth implored him. Carlisle looked at Seth and then back at Edward.
"What was Bella doing right before this?" Carlisle asked.
"She was telling Edward to leave her alone" Jake said contemptuously. He looked disgusted. The doctor narrowed his eyes.
"Edward?" he questioned him. Edward ignored Jake and spoke.
"We were talking…I don't know what happened." Carlisle was trying to piece things together. He frowned at Edward.
"Was she upset at all?" he asked, thinking it might lead to something.
"Yes. We were talking…" he repeated again and then thought about it. "She told me she wanted me to understand. Bella took down her shield to show me something and then…passed out?" he answered, unsure.
"I didn't think vampires could do that?" Jake said looking perplexed. Carlisle looked at Bella again and then his eyes drifted to the ground. Hmmm he was saying, looking through his bag.
"They can't." he answered more to himself than anyone else in the room. Seth wiped away sweat from Bella's face and saw her, still looking awful, but now slightly better.
"What does that mean?" Seth asked.
Carlisle stopped rummaging around and found a scalpel. He approached Bella with it and Jake loudly said NO and stepped forward. Emmett and Jasper moved to block his way. Carlisle took one of Bella's hands and held it up in his. He took the scalpel and lightly sliced into Bella's finger. A little bit of blood came out.
"She's bleeding?" everyone seemed to ask at the same time.
"Yes." Carlisle answered. "The process is reversing itself." he concluded.
"Is that even possible?" Edward wondered. "Anything is possible." he answered. The words felt heavy.
"For now, she should stay here so I can do further tests to prove it. But I'm pretty sure that's what's happening."
"She is NOT staying here!" Jake practically yelled, still in utter shock.
"I would never do that" Edward said forcefully at Jake. He had, of course, heard his thoughts and knew Jake was afraid that Edward would somehow try to change her back. They were in each other's faces again.
"She's coming back with me, you bloodsucker" Jake growled.
"No one is going ANYWHERE just yet." Seth now raised his voice back at both of them.
Carlisle, always the sense of reason in the middle of chaos, stepped in between both of them.
"I do think it would be best to leave her here for now, Jacob." he said calmly. Jake was unhappy but he didn't have to suspect ulterior motives with the doctor like he did with Edward. Jake didn't take his eyes off of Edward.
"You can stay here as long as you want." Carlisle offered, hoping to take the tension down a notch.
"I will." he said, now coming to stand by Seth. The tension was starting to ebb slowly. Damnit Jasper someone griped. After a minute, everyone appeared less on edge. Another minute went by and a little more calm filled the room.
"Now, we wait. This seems to have been building up for quite some time so I don't think it will be too long. I expect she will probably feel sick for a few days though." Carlisle said, gathering up some things and putting them back in his bag.
Seth and Jacob took seats at the table where Bella was laying. Emmett and Jasper went into the living room. Edward sat in a chair by the doorway. Carlisle remained standing and began to pace back and forth. He was asking Seth all sorts of questions about Bella. He did this for awhile.
A long time passed and Carlisle stopped pacing. Jake and Seth turned to look at him, but he faced Edward instead.
"Do you remember that time, the first time Bella removed her shield so you could see what she was thinking?" he asked.
"Yes. That was the only time she ever did it." Edward answered.
"Bella did that back when she was still a newborn. Do you remember what I said about newborns?" he now looked at all three of them. It was Seth who answered.
"Back in the field, when you were teaching us how to fight them, you said that newborns are the strongest because they still had human blood and tissue in their system."
"Right. When Bella threw off her shield to you that first time, Edward, she must have suspended what was going on in her body for a short period of time. When she put it back on, it protected and sealed in that tissue and blood around her heart."
He paused, letting it sink in. Edward was looking incredulous, as was Jake. But it was starting to make sense to Seth. Carlisle continued.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Bella kept some of her human qualities during this time."
"I would have noticed. I would have known." Edward was shaking his head doubtfully. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What?" Jake asked, the same tone of disbelief. He wasn't getting it either, but he also knew he hadn't been around and wouldn't know if that was true.
"Like the way she smelled?" Seth asked. Edward and Jake both stared at him.
"Could be." Carlisle crossed the room and came to face him. Seth was thinking hard.
"She always smelled like the old Bella, especially any time she was really upset." He could feel both Jake's and Edward's eyes intently on his back.
"Yes, that would make sense. Any time she was in a situation where normally her blood pressure would have really gone up…" he trailed off. He was quiet for a minute.
"Each time, that must have strengthened her heart just a little bit more, it must have pushed the venom away just a little bit more."
"Her fever…?" Seth asked.
"Normally, a vampire wouldn't be affected whatsoever by human illnesses. But Bella must not have been fully a vampire anymore when you and everyone else got sick. She was affected somewhat, indicated by her changing temperature." He sounded confident in his reasoning, but turned around to look at Bella who was still laying on the table.
"So what happened to her back there?" it was Jake this time. He didn't dare to feel hopeful yet after taking another glance at Bella.
"As Bella threw off her shield again, that was finally the freedom her body needed to start reversing the process completely. She's still unconscious, her body is still working. It's trying to get rid of the venom." He glanced at the bleach and vomit soaked rags.
"So…so…" Seth tried to speak but his mind was still catching up.
"So when she wakes up?" it was Edward, breaking his silence. Carlisle put a new towel on Bella's head.
"When she wakes up, I expect she will be completely human again."
Three hours went by, no one said anything, nobody moved. You could have heard a pin drop a mile away. The sounds of daytime in the forest seemed to disappear. Just then Bella gasped. Seth and Jake both stood up at the same time, chairs falling away behind them. She gasped again, sounding like she was struggling to breathe. Edward was at the other side of the table instantly.
Bella was still looking really pale and sick. But she gasped again and this time she opened her eyes. There were no traces left of the amber color her eyes had been in her vampire days. Now, her eyes were dark chocolate brown - the way they were and always had been for the first 18 years of her life.