"Was it really necessary for her to call an ambulance?"

"It's probably school policy" Emily said trying to comfort me.

"But an ambulance? Emily, there were a bunch of people staring at me through the windows! Everyone's going to think I'm a freak!"

Emily shot me a look and raised her eyebrows. "You're a freak? Emma, our friends are," she glanced around us to make sure we're alone, "werewolves".

I laughed. Emily always knew how to make me feel better. "Thanks Emily."

"You're thanking me? I wasn't the one that carried you all the way to the nurse… in the rain" she added with a smile. I smiled as well with the memory. That had to have been the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Who does that? It's like he's straight out of romance movie.

There was a knock on the door but before either of us could get up, Sam had burst into the room moving faster than I've ever seen anyone enter a room. "I'm sorry it took me so long!" he apologized before I had even confronted him, not that I was planning to. "I had to let the pack know where we were" he told Emily.

"Wait" I said catching the meaning of those words. "You told them? The boys know I'm here? Sam! It's bad enough that the whole school knows but the pack?" I groaned and flopped back onto the hospital pillow.

Sam glanced at Emily who only shook her head. They're not even married yet and they're already reading each other's minds. Scary.

"I'm sorry?" Sam said but he sounded unsure.

I shook my head. "I'm not mad, just frustrated is all. I don't really understand why I need to be in a hospital. I only broke my arm. People do it all the time" I rationalized. The nurses and doctors refused to release me from the hospital just yet. I have a feeling it's because I walked in with all the mud and grass in my hair and clothes. I probably looked like I'd survived a hurricane rather than a football game.

Subconsciously, I ran my hand through my hair but it got stuck in the dried mud. I sighed feeling horrible and just wanting to go home. Or at least take a shower.

Sam walked over and sat on the side of the bed. He placed his hand on my knee and squeezed gently. "You're one tough girl" he said. "I'm proud to have you as my new little sister."

I smiled bright and felt one hundred thousand times better. Sam was probably from the same romance movie as Jacob; he just has that air about him.

"What happened? You look like you were in a tornado!"

And then there's Seth.

"Thanks Seth" I said sarcastically and turned slightly away from him. He walked over and dropped his backpack on the floor by the bed. "Did you come straight from school?"

He nodded and reached a hand out to touch my disgusting hair. "Where were you when I wanted to be a zombie for Halloween? Oh that should totally be your costume! Don't wash your hair!"

I wanted to smack Seth but unfortunately he was standing on my left and that arm wasn't exactly willing to fight. Thankfully, Emily did it for me.

"Seth! She just broke her arm! Can you try and show a little remorse?"

Seth smiled and ran his hand up my arm comfortingly. "Sorry Emma. I'm just teasing. How are you feeling? How's the arm?"

I pulled my arm out from under the blanket for him to see. "Nice cast! I like the blue. Can I sign it? Please!" he practically begged.

Laughing, I nodded and Seth dug through his backpack for a marker. He wrote his name in massive letters and added a smiley face.

I rolled my eyes at my cousin. "Seriously Seth?"

"What?" he laughed. "I have officially claimed that space as my own."

Sam and Emily also signed my cast. But with smaller letters than Seth who seemed too proud to have claimed the most space on my cast.

"I'm going to go see when the doctor will let you leave" Emily said seeing how anxious I was. Sam grabbed her hand lovingly and followed her out of the room.

"They're so adorable together" I said once the door closed.

Seth nodded. "So tell me, how did it feel to be run over by Jacob Black?" he asked.

"Like I got hit by a train" I laughed. Seth shared in my laughter and the door opened again. I hoped it was Emily telling me I was free to go. Or even a doctor with the same message. But it was only a mass of Quileute boys.

"Emma!"

"What happened?"

"Oh you look horrible!"

I felt claustrophobic with all the people in the room. I scanned the faces and caught sight of Jacob who managed to push past everyone to me. Seth began to explain what happened to everyone else.

"How are you doing?" Jacob asked. His eyes roamed my body looking for any other injuries and his eyes became clouded when he spotted the cast. Seeing how guilty it made him feel, I tried to nonchalantly hide it in the folds of the blanket but he caught my arm before I could. With feather light touches, he traced the edge of the cast and turned my arm over to see the names scrawled there. "I'm so sorry" he breathed.

I shook my head but he didn't see. "It's not your fault" I reminded him.

He wouldn't look at me and I couldn't reach over to lift his chin. "Jacob, stop blaming yourself" I begged and bit my lip. This time he looked up at me. His eyes were still sad but he must have seen how his constant guilt was eating me alive because he smiled.

"So how's hospital life?" he teased.

I moaned and just shook my head. "I hate it here. Everything is so depressing" I told him.

"How so?"

I thought for a moment. "Like when they told me my arm was broken after the x-rays. He could have said 'Yourarmisbrokenbutit'sonlygoingtotaketwomonthstoheal' but instead he told me 'YourarmisseverelyfracturedandIdoubtit'sgoingtohealveryquickly.ItmightbebetterbyDecemberifyou'relucky'" I mocked in my best professional voice.

Jacob laughed and the sadness left his eyes. "Two months isn't too bad" he said.

"Not at all. Thankfully this thing will be off before the wedding. But I asked Emily what color she wanted the cast to be just in case. She doesn't know it but she just gave me a hint to what the bridesmaid dresses look like."

Jacob smiled. "I highly doubt you'll still have this thing in April. But in case you do…" From behind his back, Jacob made a marker appear. He gently pulled my arm onto his lap and scrawled his name on the cast where it crossed my palm. I couldn't help the ever-growing smile stretching across my face.

"You make my day" I told him honestly.

He looked up at me and his eyes had a new light in them. "That's my job" he said with a small smile.

Emily and Sam were back shortly. I caught Emily's eyes and she smiled at me. "You're free to…"

"Yes!"

"… go" she finished. I yanked the blankets off and stood up, ready to get out of here. But then I realized I was still wearing the hospital gown. My gym uniform was on one of the chairs but it was absolutely disgusting and wet and I really didn't want to put that back on.

"Um…" There was really no easy way to phrase that question with a mass amount of boys in the room. Emily tilted her head, clearly not understanding what I wanted to ask. My cheeks flushed. My tongue refused to form the words.

Jacob stepped over to me and leaned down to my ear. "I have your clothes" he whispered noticing the color of my cheeks. I raised my eyebrows and he grabbed his backpack off the floor. He unzipped it and sure enough, there were my folded clothes.

"How…?"

Jacob shrugged. "When I got back to gym Ms. O'Malley was looking for someone to take them to you" he said.

"And Seth, my cousin, couldn't because…"

He rolled his eyes. "Seth took forever to get changed."

I nodded and smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much. I owe you one."

"I think we're even" he said with a smile. I smiled back and went to go change in the bathroom. Getting my shirt on was a bit more difficult than I had planned.

"Ok Emma" I said to myself. "Just move your arm up through the sleeve." If only it was that easy. My cast got caught in the sleeve and no matter which way I pulled my shirt, I couldn't free it. "Come on!" I tugged one last time and lost my balance. My back hit the door and my arm finally made it through the sleeve.

There was a knock on the door. "Are you ok?" It was Jacob.

"I fine" I called back.

There was a sink in the bathroom and I couldn't wait to get home to get the mud out of my hair. I flipped my hair over and into the sink before turning on the water. It wasn't the best way to wash my hair, but it did get rid of all the grass and dirt.

When I walked out of the bathroom most of the boys had left. Only Sam, Seth, Jacob, Embry, and Emily were left. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"They're meeting us back home" Sam said.

We all left the hospital together. Down the hall, there was a man in a doctor's coat and scrubs with extremely pale skin. He looked like he should be a patient and not a doctor. Something was definitely wrong.

When we got closer, I felt Jacob and Seth tense up next to me and Sam stepped protectively in front of Emily. Embry wrinkled his nose and was careful to stare down the doctor. The man turned and glanced at me. A low growl echoed in Jacob's throat and he moved his body to get between me and the doctor. The man continued to walk with a smile on his ghostly face and turned a corner.

"I hate them" Embry growled.

Seth relaxed but Jacob stayed rather tense. "Who was he?" I asked.

"Carlisle Cullen" Sam answered. "Stay away from him Emma."

A Cullen? One of the leeches? And in a hospital of all places? "But his eyes…"

Jacob shook his head. "The Cullen's have those weird colored eyes because they supposedly don't hunt humans." His words were sharp and venomous.

"And he's allowed in a hospital? He could kill anyone!" I exclaimed. I covered my mouth remembering we were still in public and glanced around to make sure no one heard.

"Apparently he's lived long enough to control himself" Embry mocked.

"And how long is that exactly?"

Sam replied. "Too long."