Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.
Chapter 7
Carlisle walked toward me and I held my hand out for him to shake.
He took it hesitantly.
Cold… ice cold.
With a careful look, he dropped my hand and walked to a computer beside the bed. "I'm taking over Edward's case. I have heard a lot about you Bella from the rest of the staff. Edward is lucky to have such a devoted girlfriend."
"Yeah, real lucky," I mumbled under my breath. I had heard this kind of thing a lot. And I always sort of scoffed at the idea. I mean he drowned, was in a fucking coma, and had a father itching to send him to heaven a.s.a.p.
I consider that seriously unlucky.
Dr. Cullen turned from the computer. "Sorry, I suppose that was not the most appropriate choice of words. What I meant to say is that Edward seems to be very well supported and loved, that's all. I apologize."
Dr. Cullen was sincere, that much I could tell. "It's ok," I whispered with a lump in my throat. I didn't want to have a meltdown in front of him. I had used my quota for the day. So I swallowed the lump, and returned my attention to Edward. His socks were sliding down his shins, and he had a sore on his left thigh that needed my attention.
As I was slipping the blankets from Edward's legs, Dr. Cullen came up behind me and gently placed his hands on my shoulders. "Bella?" he asked. His touch was light like a feather, but I could still feel the chilliness of his fingers through the cotton of my shirt. His tone? Well, it scared me.
I swallowed the lump down even further. "Y-ea-h," I stuttered.
He used his hand to coerce me to face him. "Have the Masen's discussed with you the possibility of taking Edward off of life support?"
I looked into his face. It was flawless…perfect…not a single visible pore…or scar…or stray whisker. Nothing could compare to the perfect beauty of Dr. Cullen's face, not even Edward.
"Bella? Have they told you or not?" Dr. Cullen prodded me further, shaking me from my fixation.
That feeling? The one where I felt like I might swallow my tongue, while my insides were twisted in a blender, and my lungs begin to inhale chlorine?
It came back.
The room was flecked with red spots, and every hair on my body standing on end.
"Bella?"
You know that feeling after you've had too much to drink and there is about a thirty second window to make it to the nearest toilet or trashcan before you barf all over your friends brand new sweater?
"Bella?"
Suddenly and without warning, tears began to gush from my eyes. "Yes!" I cried directly into Dr. Cullen's face, fearing the room might explode if he said my name in that pathetic sympathetic tone one more time. "Fucking yes! Ok? They have discussed it with me. And just so you are aware, you will have to pry my cold dead body off of him before you go anywhere near him," I hissed weakly through my tears, barely able to form the words. I was feigning strength and determination, but it came out the same way as everything else. I was a mess.
Dr. Cullen took a step back, but his face remained calm. "I understand that Bella, but you need to understand that you have no say in this matter, it is entirely up to his parents. Perhaps you should prepare yourself for their decision," Dr. Cullen replied softly as he turned to leave the room. "And they have decided," he said more sternly. "It's only a matter of time."
All at once, my body collapsed onto Edward, my head began to spin, and the sensation that I was going to pass out cold was creeping up on me. My heart was racing out of my chest and the room became spotted red and blurry. I was having a panic attack…a full blown panic attack. My chest was heaving in and out and I couldn't seem to get enough air, only chlorine…
Seemingly hearing my gasps, Dr. Cullen turned back toward me.
"I CAN"T BREATHE!" I was able to wheeze out.
He rushed to my side and pulled me slowly from Edward's bed and sat me down on a nearby stool
"Breathe Bella…in and out…deep cleansing breaths," he coached me.
Through my gasping breaths I kept repeating the only thing that seemed real or true in that moment. I clasped the hole in my chest. "It hurts," gasp "It hurts," gasp. "It hurts," gasp. "It hurts SO BAD!!"
Dr. Cullen's frozen hands grasped my cheeks. "Breathe Bella…slow in and out."
His breath was sweet like honey in my nose and his golden eyes glowed with a vibrancy and brilliance I had never seen in any human before.
Vampire?
I don't know what came over me. But in that moment…that moment of pure desperation and insanity, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I looked up at Dr. Cullen and grabbed his collar tightly with both of my hands and stared him straight in the eyes.
"Save him," I cried beseechingly
"Bella I can't. He is comatose, and unable to breathe on his own. You are a smart girl Bella you know there is nothing more I can do."
He wasn't getting it.
"Didn't you hear me damn it? I said SAVE HIM!"
Dr. Cullen looked confused, and turned towards the phone on the wall. I grabbed for the receiver in his hand, surely stopping his call for a psych consult.
"Please! Listen to me…Please!" I begged, sobs ripping from my heaving chest, as I threw the receiver onto the floor.
"Bella please calm down and explain to me what you want," Dr. Cullen pleaded with me, trying to gain control over my flailing body with his hands.
"I WANT YOU TO MAKE HIM LIKE YOU!" I cried out. My knees fell to the floor and I wrapped my arms around Dr. Cullen's legs like a beggar in the street.
At that moment Jake burst through the door. My eyes shot toward him, burning and deranged. Seemingly panicked, he ran towards me and wrapped his hands around my waist tightly, pulling me off the floor and unwinding my arms from around Dr. Cullen's legs.
"Bells what in the hell are you doing?" Jake cried.
"I'm desperate Jake! I can't live without him! I need him to live Jake!"
"So what are you doing on the floor with your arms wrapped around a doctor?" Through my blurry vision I could see Jacob was crying. Like Charlie, I couldn't bring myself to care. I was too selfish. I needed Edward to live.
"It's Dr. Cullen Jake! Dr. Carlisle Cullen! He can make Edward like him; just like you said!" I wailed, manic and unhinged.
Jake shot a look over at Dr. Cullen. His body began to tremble violently like mine, but Jake looked worse.
"Whoa there Jake take it easy now…Calm down a minute and we can all talk about this." Dr. Cullen's arm reached out toward Jake, but Jake swatted it away.
"I know what you are bloodsucker," Jake spat. "And you are not touching my friend." He looked at me with panicked eyes. "Gah, Bella what have you done?!" He cried and pulled me toward the door by my arm, hurting me in the process. I tried to struggle, but he was too strong.
"No Jake!" I cried, pulling back toward the room. I still wasn't done with Dr. Cullen; I needed him to help me. Whatever I had done, couldn't be worse than losing Edward.
I turned to Dr. Cullen, pleading with him with my eyes to help Jake see reason. Jakes hand was leaving bruises on my arm, but I remained where I was.
By the look Dr. Cullen gave me back I could tell that he seemed to get it. For the first time in months someone seemed to get it.
Carlisle walked calmly over to Jake and effortlessly pried his hand from around my arm.
The look on Jake's face was indescribable…Awestruck, baffled, like someone had just told him the meaning of life.
Dr. Cullen stepped back a bit, and held a defensive hand out to Jake. "Nobody is touching anybody Jake. I was just discussing with Bella how the Masen's have decided to take Edward off of life support and she became upset. How she is aware of what I am? Well that is another question entirely."
Jake's jaw was hanging down and he looked intimidated. He was quick to answer. "I told her a while ago. Actually, it was the night that Edward drowned. I had no idea it was true," Jacob replied in a stutter. "I didn't really know for sure until just now when you pried my hand off of her…"
"I see," Dr. Cullen answered calmly.
"You're strength," Jake offered with a gulp, it sounded almost like a question.
"Yes," Dr. Cullen answered.
"And your hand was so cold…" Jake shook his head and the bewildered look in his eyes increased even more. "Yes?" He asked, and all in the room knew why.
"Yes," Dr. Cullen assured.
"Oh."
The room was silent, the only noises coming from the monitors beside Edward's bed. It occurred to me that I should have probably been afraid, or doubtful even…But I was none of those things. I realized that I always knew the Cullen's were different. Somewhere deep down, I never really thought they were human at all.
Dr. Cullen was the first to move. Very slowly, his eyes shifted to Edward. So subtly, that Jake didn't even notice, but I did.
So I looked as well.
"Save him," I sort of moaned to Dr. Cullen, trying once again to swallow the lump in my throat.
I looked again to Edward lying helplessly in his bed. His muscles had atrophied and his skin was gray and lifeless. His bronze hair was now a dingy brown. He was dying whether it was today or a few months from now…He was dying…
"Please!" I moaned a little louder, catching my balance on the side of Edward's bed.
Dr. Cullen looked to Jake then. Jake's face was still wearing a dumbfounded expression.
"Jacob?" Dr. Cullen asked in a whisper.
Suddenly Jake came to, and an alert awareness filled his eyes. "No way in hell," he sneered in a cold low whisper. "No fucking way in hell!"
AN- Ruh Roh… Jacob is not having this!
This will be my last chapter until Monday. I am taking the weekend off to be young and stupid. So, please, please, please review. I am a little on edge about where I am taking this and I need to be reassured, or told I'm freaking crazy…No response at all doesn't help!
And I realize my writing is really angsty and overdramatic…that fact is certainly not lost on me. But I figure this is fanfiction right? This is a perfect medium for future soap opera writers!
