Ninth Chapter.

What was wrong with me? This was really scaring me- and Jake- and Charlie, apparently, since he called the hospital.

Just then, Charlie walked in saying, "The hospital says that I should try to bring her in..." He stopped when he saw that I was looking at him.

He came over to me, carefully avoiding the piles of junk, clothes and fur that looked like dust bunnies and sat next to me.

"You okay, Bella? You kinda scared us there."

I looked at him and opened my mouth to say something, when I heard a car door slam outside.

I looked towards the window, and Jake walked towards it, looking out. When he turned around again, he looked slightly angry, and a little afraid.

"Who is it?" I didn't recognize my own voice, it was so defeated and cracked.

Charlie stared at me, pity in his eyes. I looked away- I didn't deserve his pity- I was the one that wasn't good enough for him.

"It's..." I saw Jacob struggle with words, and I suddenly knew it was a Cullen.

So I stood up, startling Charlie and Jake for some reason, and went to the window.

I almost died when I saw who was outside. I immediately ran down the stairs and opened the door to find she was already there.

I grinned at her, momentarily forgetting my hole.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" I said, happier for a moment- until I saw her black eyes, so like Edward's that first day.

She grabbed my arm before I could sink down.

"No, Bella," she whispered fiercely, "Don't give in- the Cullen will never be the same if you do."

I stared at her, uncomprehending.

"What do you mean?" I whispered back, really confused.

"Bella!" I heard Jake again, and I opened my eyes- what? why were they closed?- to see that he was hovering over me.

He looked relieved. "Bella, are you all right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, getting up from the sofa- when did I get there?- and stretching. I felt stiff, but it hadn't been very long- had it?

"I mean, Bella, that you just sat in the middle of the hallway and started muttering to yourself- just like last time." Jake said, really worried now.

Alice turned sharply to him. "This has happened before?"

Jake nodded at her, and immediately turned back to me.

"Oh, shit," whispered Alice, earning a disapproving look from Charlie, "That isn't good."

"How long this time?" I asked Jake, feeling the same as Alice.

"Two hours or so- you fell asleep about an hour ago." he said.

Then Alice said, "I'm getting you to the hospital. Now."

"Why? I feel fine now," I argued. It was bad enough to go to the hospital normally, but this... I didn't know if they could do anything about it.

"Because we want to know why this is happening," now she was looking at me funny. I sighed.

"I know- but must we go to the hospital now?" I asked, desperate not to go to the hospital for some odd reason- it seemed urgent that I didn't go to the hospital.

Now everyone was looking at me strangely- I could tell that they thought there was something seriously wrong with me.

I couldn't blame them- I could only blame myself.

Then Alice got that blank look on her face, and she turned away.

Jake and I stared at her back until she turned around, and said, "Bella, you are going to the hospital."

I was surprised how venomous she sounded, and apparently, so was Charlie, since he backed away from her- slowly, which was slightly funny.

I knew that you could only give in to Alice when she was like this, so I stood up and went to the door. Alice was right behind me, and Jake trailed behind.

Eventually, as we were walking out to the car, he turned to me and asked, "Will you be okay without me? I need to tell the pack that she's here."

I sighed and nodded- it wasn't like I could do anything about it. His pack needed that information; to deny them that would be to risk a war.

So he ran into the woods, and Charlie came out.

"Where did Jacob go?" he asked.

"Home," I answered, quite truthfully, "He thought Billy might get worried."

Charlie seemed to accept that, and we got into Alice's car- actually, Carlisle's, but that isn't the most important detail.

Alice let Charlie drive- probably to keep him from freaking out and arresting her- and she sat next to me in the back.

"Bella," she whispered, soft enough that Charlie probably couldn't hear, "You need to try to stay as alert as possible- I saw you slipping into a coma the next time- and not coming out."

"Sure, Alice," I said, not bothering to keep my voice down- it was a normal enough reply.

Then Alice smiled and engaged me in a conversation- making sure that I was always talking, so I couldn't go into a trance. We talked about how my studies were going, how everyone was, and about what had happened in the months she hadn't been there. I really couldn't say all that much, but somehow Alice kept me alert until we arrived at the hospital.

When we got out of the car, my black hole suddenly started troubling me again- it was like I couldn't breathe, I had been hit in the stomach.

I hunched over, trying not to make it obvious that I was gasping for breath, but Alice- being Alice- noticed, and immediately started pulling me along as quickly as humanly possible- no vampire speed here, and I was grateful- to get inside before something happened.

When we got inside, Dr. Snow greeted me and said, "What's wrong this time, Bella?"

But I couldn't speak- I couldn't breathe- I felt like I was dying inside- so I glanced at Alice, who said, "She's been spacing out, and not remembering afterwards."

"How long are these black-outs?"

"The last one lasted for three hours." My breath wooshed back in, and I could breathe again.

Immediately, the doctor looked serious. "How long ago was this?"

"About ten or twenty minutes ago."

The doctor nodded and said, "All right, Bella, I need you to come with me."

I had a really bad feeling. I glanced at Alice, and she looked back encouragingly.

And then I stopped breathing, and forogt how to start again.

After a minute of no breathing, I dimly felt myself crumble to the ground, and heard Alice, Charlie, and Dr. Snow talking somewhere far away.

All I could think about was how much I wanted the pain to end.

And I knew no more.


All of you probably hate me right now- don't worry, there's more. It'll be up soon.