VIII.
The ride to school was a quiet one. Alice had seen my decision to go and was too torn between sorrow and anger to want to speak to me. She had respected my request not to let anyone else know, though. I would tell Esme in the evening, which would give us the whole night, and maybe even part of tomorrow, to say our goodbyes.
I had only just come back. She was going to be so unhappy.
In my mind, Esme's face kept shifting to another one, though. I knew Isobel Swan would never look heartbroken because I was leaving. I knew Isobel Swan's warm brown eyes - and brown was such a drab word for such a compelling color - would never fill with tears because of anything I did or didn't do. And that was part of the reason that I was leaving, so that she would never, ever be hurt by me in any conceivable way.
It was the right thing to do.
I pulled into our usual parking spot and we all got out.
Even though I was leaving - even though it was irrevocably decided - I couldn't quite rob myself of an extra look at her, so I found an excuse to loiter by the car while Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett headed to class. The pavement, I realized, was icy. Glancing around the parking lot, I could see students driving and walking with exaggerated care. I had been too preoccupied to notice, and my perfectly tuned coordination had compensated while I was driving without any conscious input from me.
Alice stayed beside me, debating whether or not to try reasoning with me one more time.
"Alice," I sighed. She looked away, almost as hurt as we both knew Esme would be.
You're the only one like me, she complained. No one else understands - not even Jazz.
"What's two years? It won't be very long." Her lower lip pushed out slightly in an adorable pout. I was lying - two years was more than long enough for me to miss her terribly. But several spots away, Isobel was parking her truck. I didn't want to kill her, and I didn't want it more than I wanted to remain with Alice, or Esme, or any of them. The only one capable of making me waver right now - was Isobel herself. It was pathetic how fixated on this one human girl I had become, but it was probably natural. After nearly a century of nothing ever really changing, discovering a truly new experience - two truly new experiences, in fact, both embodied within the same person - was bound to attract and hold my interest, even to the point of obsession. "Will you help me?" I asked Alice in my most beguiling tone. "I need to see how the day is likely to play out."
She blew an annoyed breath out through her nose, but cast her mind forward, searching my future. Images spun through her head, strangely hazy - much less clear than normal. That was odd. It was as though the next several hours depended on some pivotal decision that had not yet been made. I heard Isobel's door slam shut and instantly a single picture began to solidify, becoming increasingly clear each second.
Isobel - crushed and mangled, her blood staining the front of a car - and me - bent over her corpse - red-eyed -
I gasped and took a step away from Alice.
"What are you waiting for?" she demanded, her voice shrill. "Go!"
I was in motion before her words had entirely registered. I kept my mind tightly bound to hers, monitoring the way every action I took changed the future she saw. Tyler Crowley - that wretched bastard - was driving inadvisably fast. In a moment he would hit a patch of ice as he attempted to make the turn into the parking lot. His car would head straight for Isobel as he tried and failed to regain control. Isobel needed to not be where he would be.
I wasn't running at full speed. It wasn't enough of an emergency to require that kind of exposure. I modulated my pace to Alice's vision, keeping just on the right side of fast enough. An Olympic sprinter probably could have matched my speed - a gold medalist would have outstripped me. With all eyes focused on Tyler's now-careening Sentra, it was enough not to draw undue attention.
Isobel had only just noticed that something was wrong. She looked up from her back tire, where she had been examining something - and then I slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. I heard her head crack against the pavement. I had hit her a little harder than intended, but there was no time. Quickly sorting through the possibilities and matching them to the outcomes Alice saw, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her underneath her truck. There was a very, very small chance that Tyler would manage to hit it in such a way as to put her in danger as it moved, but his little Sentra was much less massive than her hulking iron monstrosity. As far as I could tell, it was the safest place for her to be.
His car hit hers with a crunch and a screech as I wrapped my body around hers, trying to offer her some small protection should the worst come to pass. The tires lifted an inch - and then the whole thing dropped again, less than half a foot from where it had been resting before.
Safe. She was safe.
The whole world seemed to hang silent as Isobel craned her neck to look up at me. "Edward," she said, sounding dazed. I loved the way she said my name, even when she was confused with the aftermath of trauma. Her brow furrowed. "My head."
Outside, beyond our unlikely shelter, the screaming began. Isobel's eyes abruptly filled with tears. "Ow."
Suddenly the tears spilled over and she was sobbing uncontrollably. I pulled her closer and she took two handfuls of my shirt, hanging on like her life depended on it. She was so warm and soft, and she felt so right nestled against me.
I could have stayed there for eternity.
That, alas, was not an option. So far I had avoided breathing, but we needed to make our presence known before anyone tried to move Tyler's car. If she remained hysterical, I would have to breathe in order to speak. I ran one hand up her back and probed her head with the most delicate touch. My fingers came away dry. No blood. That was good.
I took a small, experimental breath through my mouth. God. This close I could taste her. My throat was instantly on fire, but for once I had no particular desire to alleviate my pain. I was happy to burn if it meant that she lived.
"Isobel," I whispered - but she was already wiping her eyes.
"Sorry," she gulped. "I don't know - I'm sorry."
"It's just shock," I reassured her. "Hey!" I called out as I heard Mr. Varner - the only teacher on the scene so far - mention trying to back Tyler's car up once they got him out. If the two vehicles were entangled in any way, moving his might put Isobel in danger again. I should have warned them not to move Tyler, either, but I was severely out of charity with him at the moment. As far as I could tell from the way he felt, he didn't have any symptoms of a severe spinal injury, so pulling him out probably wouldn't do irrevocable damage.
I wrapped my arm around Isobel's waist and edged us both out from under the truck. "Hey!" I called again. "We're under here!"
This time I was heard. Someone pointed and in a moment there were a dozen hands reaching to help us out and off the ground. Isobel took one, but I ignored them. "Don't let Isobel stand," I ordered. "She hit her head and she might be dizzy."
She looked at me, her eyes still wide, and slowly sank back toward the ground from the kneeling position she had managed to attain. "Hold on," I said, shrugging out of my coat. I spread it on the ground so that she wouldn't have to sit directly on the ice. It wasn't as though I would mind the cold.
I spared a moment for relief. She was safe. We were both safe. I had saved her.
In the distance I heard sirens.
Angela and Jessica managed to push through the group surrounding us at that moment. In general I wasn't much impressed with Jessica, but both girls radiated considerable concern for their friend. They both got down beside her, ignoring the ice, and tried, simultaneously, to question, reassure and get reassurance from her. Isobel looked back and forth between them, bewildered at first, but then with growing humor. It hardly seemed possible, but it looked like her shock was already fading. "I don't think I'm going to be able to help you study this morning," she told Angela, breaking through their babble. "Maybe they'll let me come back to school and we'll be able to spend lunch on it."
I crossed my arms but forebore commenting. After the kind of head injury I knew she had sustained, even if the x-rays came back fine, she definitely wasn't coming back to school today.
Angela was quick to assure her that it didn't matter.
Edward. My head swiveled toward Alice. Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie had rejoined her, all of them watching me with expressions of disbelief. Rosalie was annoyed, Emmett confused and incredulous, and Jasper - I growled in a low undertone, knowing that he would be able to hear it even though no one human could. Jasper was trying to decide whether I was drawing too much attention to us, and whether he ought to simply eliminate Isobel. You had no choice, Alice went on thinking at me. If you hadn't…
If I hadn't - yes, there would be no question of exposure. It would be thoroughly accomplished.
Go with her - talk to Carlisle, she suggested. I'm sure he'll support your decision.
The first ambulance arrived, followed closely by a second. Tyler was taken away in the first. The paramedics from the second - both of whom I recognized - approached us a moment later. One of them - Brett Warner - greeted me. "You involved in this, kid?"
I gave a sharp nod. "I'm fine, though," I added. "Isobel, however," I indicated her with a jerk of my head, "might have a concussion. I didn't have time to be gentle when I pulled her out of the way, and she hit her head."
"Hmmm. Did she retain consciousness?"
"Yes," I answered. "No blood, either, and she's been talking with her friends without trouble."
"Good signs," he said, pulling out a little flashlight and going to check the reaction of her pupils.
The other paramedic, Peter Ames, tried to insist on examining me, but I promised to let Carlisle look me over when we got to the hospital, and he let it go.
In the distance another set of sirens was approaching, and I could dimly feel a tide of panic riding alongside them. I had wanted a chance to find out what Isobel had told her father about me - if anything. It seemed I was about to get it.
