Chapter 10
I let loose a feral growl that shook the trees surrounding the house, and my first response was to attack. The werewolf was on our territory, and he had hurt Bella. Everything in my vampire nature said that he was going to have to suffer for that. But as I became overpowered by the scent of Bella's blood, I understood that saving her was infinitely more important than exacting my revenge at this point.
"Alice!" I yelled toward the house as I moved instinctively toward Bella. I needed to be with her, to hold her, to save her. I needed her to know that I loved her, that I was still here, that I would always be here. I had failed her so many times before; if she died while I was standing there with the power to save her, I would willingly sacrifice myself to the wolf. And the punishment would not be half what I deserved.
Jacob realized immediately what had happened, and I could read the horror and self-loathing in his thoughts. This had been his greatest fear, that his existence as a werewolf would put Bella in danger. And he hated himself. He wanted to run; he wanted to phase back and hold her in his arms; but in the end, he understood that he must stay in his wolf form and defend her. He knew that her blood was the strongest temptation I could possibly face, and he didn't trust me to not kill her.
He positioned himself between us, glancing back toward Bella with tormented eyes. She lay unmoving on the ground, unconscious. We could both hear her shallow breathing, but we also knew the grave danger that she was in. I feinted toward her several times, but Jacob's reflexes were quick. He was designed to handle anything I could throw at him. If I hadn't been grateful to him for saving her life just two days before; if I hadn't instinctively known that killing him would have hurt Bella beyond repair, I would have committed to ending his life. But no matter how much I wanted to, I could not hurt Jacob Black. So we found ourselves at an impasse.
After what seemed like an eternity, Alice appeared. Jacob's presence had prevented her from seeing what was going on outside, and she gasped in horror at the scene. She didn't have time to react to the surprise of seeing me there, or to give in to the alluring smell of Bella's blood. She knew in an instant that Bella's life was in danger, and she also knew that had Bella's life not been hanging in the balance, Jacob and I would have welcomed the opportunity to tear each other to shreds.
So she moved to diffuse the situation. She knew that Bella's life was more important to me than my own, and she sensed instinctively that Jacob Black loved Bella as well.
"Edward. Jacob. Focus. Bella's life is in serious danger. We have to get her help immediately."
Through Jacob's thoughts I heard him growl, "Call an ambulance. I'm not letting either of you blood-suckers anywhere near her."
"Jacob," I said, trying to convince him to let me get close to her, but his growls interrupted, sharp and menacing, cutting me off immediately. He wasn't going to listen to anything I had to say, so I relayed his message to Alice.
Thankfully, she and I were on the same wavelength. "The hospital is too far away," she said evenly, trying to help Jacob see reason. "I don't know how serious her condition is, but she's losing blood. I don't know if she can make it, especially if we have to wait for an ambulance."
Jacob eyed her suspiciously, but I knew that he was considering her words.
"Jacob," she pleaded, "Edward is the fastest of all of us. He can have Bella to the hospital in seconds. He's not going to hurt her. You have to trust him."
Jacob deliberated. He knew what Alice said was true, and he wanted nothing more than to have Bella in the hands of the doctors at the hospital. But he didn't trust me. He feared that I would be overcome by my desire for Bella's blood. Add to the fact that he just plain didn't like me, and his intense displeasure at finding me back in Bella's life was clouding his judgment.
I could understand why he wavered, but I was growing impatient. We didn't know how much time Bella had left. She had lost a lot of blood.
Alice gave one last effort. "I know you love her, Jacob. We love her, too." She added a bit of steel to her voice to finish, "If you don't move aside, we will fight for her. Or we can work together. It's up to you."
I sensed a moment of indecision in Jacob's thoughts, and I moved forward. He growled a primal growl as I moved quickly toward Bella. He shadowed my every move as I assessed the situation, trying to decide how to carry Bella without doing further damage. Under any other circumstances we would not have been able to maintain such close proximity without coming to blows, but our love and concern for Bella brought us above our instincts and tolerate one another.
Bella's back had been badly damaged, vicious claw marks marking her pale skin from her right shoulder to her left hip. Jacob had tried to push her away, but he phased too quickly and despite his efforts, his hand had left its mark. I heard him whimper as he took in the damage he had inflicted, and a strangled sob escaped his throat.
At the sight of her wounds, I was sorely tempted once again to rip Jacob's head from his body, but I didn't dare waste a second. I pulled Bella into my arms, my right arm under her knees and my left arm underneath her head. I pulled her close to me so that nothing would be touching her wounds. I whispered into her ear, "It's okay. I'm here, love. It's going to be okay." And I was off.
Jacob trailed me, keeping my frenzied pace. He wasn't going to leave me alone with Bella for a second, and he was going to make sure he was in a position to kill me if I showed any signs of succumbing to the sweet allure of Bella's blood.
I ran faster than I had ever run in my life, arriving at the hospital in seconds. I slowed to a human pace at the last second and walked Bella into the emergency room. She had not regained consciousness; her breathing was still shallow and labored, and I could feel the weak beating of her heart right next to where my heart used to be.
The staff, who had appeared bored just seconds before, leapt into action. A young man in blue scrubs grabbed a gurney and pulled it forward, while the nurse at the desk picked up the phone and notified the doctor on call that there was an emergency. When she said there had been a bear attack, I sensed that everyone there had been waiting for something like this to happen. And then my Bella was gone. I tried to follow, but the nurse put up a hand to stop me and the automatic doors closed, blocking my entrance. I almost threw the nurse aside and crashed through the doors, my desire to stay at Bella's side at war with the logic that warned that in my emotional frenzy I was dangerously close to revealing our true nature.
Alice had a flash of the outcome of the decision I had made, and she put a firm hand on my arm to restrain me. "Edward, don't," she warned. She brought me back to reality, and her presence calmed me enough to root me in place as I stood helplessly as Bella was wheeled away.
Alice and Jacob had followed me to the edge of the forest surrounding the hospital, but Jacob could not enter until he phased back into his human form and found some clothes. I had a feeling that his anger would prevent him from phasing back as quickly as he would like.
Alice took my hand and led me to the hard plastic waiting room chairs. She tried to reassure me with her thoughts, but I could see the panic behind her eyes. She was worried for both of us, and there was nothing we could do but wait.
I strained to pick up the sound of Bella's heartbeat, and I longed to hear anything about her in the thoughts of any of the doctors or nurses. But there was too much activity, too much interference. The waiting room was nearly full of people, all waiting and worrying. I finally had to tune out the din of their thoughts in order to have a few moments of peace.
In an attempt to block out the images of Bella's lifeless form that were assaulting my thoughts, I tried to concentrate on the fun times Bella and I had spent together. I tried without much success to call back the hope I had been feeling just moments before as I was on my way to Bella's house.
Then the vibration of my cell phone cut through my reverie. I almost silenced it without even looking at it, but Alice grabbed it out of my hand too quickly. After looking at the message, she smiled and turned the phone so I could see. It was a message from Carlisle: "She's going to be OK. We're going into surgery." Then I remembered that today was Carlisle's first day back at the hospital.
Relief washed over me in waves. If I couldn't be with Bella, having her in Carlisle's hands was the next best thing. I trusted him implicitly, and I knew there was no better doctor in all of Washington. He had put Bella back together more than once before, and I knew that he would care for her like a member of our family. He would not have told me that she was going to be OK if it wasn't true.
I began to breathe more easily, only frustrated by the minutes that were ticking by until I could behold Bella with my own eyes.
My peace was broken again as Jacob burst through the emergency room door, Charlie following close behind, winded and struggling to keep up. Jacob halted immediately inside the doorway, shaking slightly as we found ourselves face-to-face for the second time in a matter of hours. Charlie didn't even pause as he flew past me to the admissions desk. He was not happy to see me, but I was the least of his concerns at the moment. The nurse recognized him and immediately sent him through to the surgical waiting area.
Alice understood the tension between Jacob and myself, and she moved between us to diffuse any possible altercation.
"How is she?" Jacob asked through gritted teeth.
"Carlisle says she's going to be OK," I replied. "They're in surgery."
Jacob's eyes went flat black at the knowledge that a "leech" was performing surgery on Bella, and he began breathing deeply, trying to get control of his anger. His thoughts were full of anger and self-loathing, and he didn't want to share those with me. So he strode back outside and began pacing around the hospital as we waited for news of the woman we all loved.
*****
The next twenty-four hours became the longest of my existence. Everyone bought the story of the bear attack, so the townspeople were on high alert. Charlie was torn between staying with Bella and hunting down the creature that had hurt her. The irony of the situation was not lost on us, as neither Jacob nor I was ever very far from Bella's hospital room.
Charlie wasn't happy to see me; that was an understatement. After Bella's surgery, he had come down to update us on her situation. I saw the anger in his eyes when he saw me there in the waiting room, and I knew he was not going to forgive me easily for the pain I had inflicted on his only daughter. Charlie was also a smart man; it did not escape his notice that I always seemed to be around when Bella was hurt – in Phoenix with James, at Bella's birthday party, and then again today. But I could sense underneath the anger and suspicion that he hoped that my presence would bring back the daughter that he had been missing for the last six months. He knew that her happiness was somehow tied to me, and I was surprised by the depth of his understanding.
Jacob and I managed an uncomfortable truce. Neither of us was willing to leave the hospital, but we weren't exactly friendly either. Jacob didn't want to spend any more time with me than necessary, knowing that I could read his thoughts. And I didn't particularly want to be in the same room with his thoughts either. So, Alice mediated. She was extremely helpful when it came to Charlie, and she got him to agree to a sort of shared custody. In deference to Charlie's decision, we split our time with Bella. We switched off every four hours.
Bella had lost a lot of blood and required several blood transfusions. I didn't like it, but this wasn't the first time. Only this time, Jacob donated blood for the cause. Apparently his wolf genes went undetected by the screening process and nothing in his blood was harmful to Bella. I knew Carlisle would never have allowed anything that he thought might be the least bit dangerous. The disgusting smell of his blood inside her body nauseated me at first, but the stench lessened over time and I had another reason to be grateful to the mongrel since Bella's blood type was in low supply.
Most of the damage was to Bella's skin and muscles, and the doctor said that he had lost count concerning the number of stitches. She had to be stitched up from the inside out, first the muscles and then the outer skin. The doctor said she was lucky that her spine had not been damaged and that the wound to her liver would heal itself in time. They kept her heavily sedated for her own benefit. The pain would have been excruciating.
During that first day, Jacob and I split our time with Bella, both of us refusing to leave the hospital. We tortured ourselves over the pain we had inflicted on her. And we both wondered which of us had done the most damage. Would the mental and emotional anguish that I caused her leave a deeper scar than the physical wounds she would carry with her for the rest of her life?
My time with her passed too quickly, even though each second was tortuous. She lie on her stomach on her hospital bed so that the dressings on her wounds could be cleaned easily. Her right hand was tied up with tubes and needles, so I held on to her left hand and laid my head next to hers on the pillow. I talked to her, apologizing endlessly, hoping that some of what I was saying would sink into her subconscious. I recited poetry; I prattled on about what the rest of the family was up to. But mostly I just told her how much I loved her. How my life had no meaning without her. Occasionally I would run my hands through her hair and kiss her eyelids, longing to be able to hold her body securely in my arms.
I wasn't sure how Jacob spent his time with Bella. Truthfully, I didn't want to know. The thought of someone else's hands on her tortured me. I didn't want to know what he said to her. I didn't want to know if his lips touched her. I could smell his repulsive scent on her, but it was better to not know.
On the second day of Bella's stay in the hospital, Alice convinced me to go home, shower and change clothes during Jacob's shift. She promised to stay at the hospital and call me right away if there was any change in Bella's condition. The doctors were keeping Bella sedated for the time being, and truth be told I longed to get away, if only briefly, from the confines of the hospital.
So I raced home, intent on accomplishing my mundane tasks as quickly as possible. What I didn't expect to find was a red sports car pulling into the drive as I made my way to the house. Rosalie. Great. She was the last person I wanted to deal with right now…
A/N: Thanks for being patient with me and for not lynching me after the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter. I hope you're enjoying the story! This chapter is a bit shorter, but I wanted to assure everyone that Bella is indeed still alive. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think.