After a few more minutes Jake placed the phone back on the receiver with a shaky hand. I immediately sat down next to him as he just sat there, staring across the room at the wall. "What happened?" I finally asked, glancing sideways at him. There was a long silence.
I almost didn't want to know. I almost didn't want to know what happened. I didn't want to know the truth. Did someone die? Was it someone in my family or one of the wolves? As much as I hated myself for thinking it I was hoping Jake would name one of his friends, not one of my family. The silence was killing me. All I could head was the hum of the fridge.
"Well?" I asked, quietly, my voice cracking slightly.
"That was Edward." Jake said, his voice trembling.
"What happened?" I repeated. I didn't care who called. I needed to know what happened!
"It's Leah." Jake said. I almost sighed in relief but held it. Jake never really got along with Leah so why would he be so upset? I guess she was still one of his own.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, gently rubbing his back.
"She was bitten." My hand stopped. That was worse than dying. It's better to die than get bitten. "It was one of the Volturi and Carlisle is trying to take the venom out of her." He inhaled quickly. "But she also broke both legs and can't seem to change back into wolf form." There was another silence. "He doesn't know if she'll make it." I never really liked Leah. She always seemed jealous of all the time Jake spent with me instead of her. "I'm sorry." I said again. There was more silence, with humming as the only noise.
"Do you feel like you need to go back?" I said. "No. I promised Edward I would keep you safe. I will keep you safe until the day I die." "That was intense." I said, trying to laugh a little. Jacob cracked a smile. "Do you want to watch another movie and order some desert?" I asked, hoping I would cheer him up. "That sounds like a good idea." Jake said, getting up slowly.
I sprung up too. Jake grabbed me then, and pulled me into a bear hug. I laughed, trying desperately to get away. He slammed me on the ground. Oh, it was on. I fought and we wrestled until we heard someone ask outside if everything was okay. Jake got off of me declaring he won. "Whatever." I giggled, brushing myself off and adjusting my clothes. We ordered ice cream sundaes with whipped cream and cherries.
We watched some comedy, which was really stupid if you ask me, but Jake liked it, and the half of my ice cream he inhaled. As we each lay in our beds that night I asked, "Do you think the fight is getting physical?"
"Since Leah was hurt pretty badly, I would assume it is."
"I don't think anyone should have to fight for me like that." I said back. "I never want anyone to die for me. Ever." "I would die for you." Jake said in the darkness. My heart practically exploded. "I would die for you too." I said back as I drifted off into dream land. Something heavy landed on me. I opened my eyes to see a half naked Jacob Black sitting on top of me. "What are you doing?" I said, trying to push him off.
"You're not strong enough. And this morning I've decided you need to get stronger. In three days I want you to be able to push me off of you. For defense." "Jake, when am I going to have to push you off me?" "Well, now, if you want to eat breakfast." I could see the muffins and cereal on the table. "Please Jake." I whined. As much as I hated whining it got me what I wanted, with Jake.
"Nope." He said. So I shoved him in the chest as hard as I could. He moved backwards, wavering. This was my chance. I pushed him harder. He didn't move that time. "Okay. I get it. Let me eat." I said in protest. "Fine." He got off of me and tossed me a muffin. I ate it greedily, although I was hungry for some real food. Animals. I wanted to hunt. We spent most of the day doing strengthening exercises. By the end of day one I could push Jacob off of me. "You're good." He chuckled as I moved him a fifth time. "I don't get tired." I said.
The phone rang. Probably just Dad saying goodnight. Jake got to the phone first. "Hello?" "Yes." "How's Leah?" "Really?" "That's great!" My heart sank with jealousy. Jake and Leah had a connection. They were both wolves, something I wasn't. I had nothing to connect myself to Jacob and now maybe we would go back and he and Leah would date or something.
"See you then." Jake said then hung up the phone. "We can go home! The Volturi have left for now and will reassess how they want to deal with communicating with you. Which I don't like the sound of but it could be worse." I managed a wry smile. "That's good." I began packing, the second time in less than a week. "How's Leah?" I asked, not really caring to hear the answer. "She's doing better apparently. Much better." "Good." I repeated. "You okay?" Jake said, pausing his packing. "Just fine." I said back.
This was my chance. I had just had about four days to say something to him. To tell him how much I loved him. We got off the plane and Dad met us there. We each went to our own homes, with Jake promising to visit the next day. "How was everything?" Dad asked as we drove home. "Fine." I said looking straight at the windshield. "Just fine? What did you do?"
"Not much. I can show you when we get home." I said. We sat down on the couch and I placed my hand in his, showing him everything we did, minus the wrestling and the feelings I felt towards Jake.
"Are you hungry?" Alice chirped, skipping into the living room. "No. Just tired. But thanks anyways Alice." I walked upstairs and was almost asleep when I heard a rock hit my window. I opened the shade and saw Jake standing below. I unlocked and opened my window. As he jumped in my room he said "You do know you shouldn't let strangers in your room right?"
"I know, I know." I responded, locking the window behind him. I crawled back into bed as he sat down on the edge of it. Mom and Dad were fine with Jake spending the night as long as he just sat on my bed. "I was thinking we could visit Leah in the morning." Jake said. I sighed. Not this Leah thing again. "Maybe you should go alone. She doesn't seem to like me." I said.
"She doesn't like me either." Jake said defensively. "She doesn't like anyone." I laughed. "Please Nessie. It will be fun, I promise." I finally agreed and the next afternoon I was sitting in a hospital waiting room with Jake, and a huge bouquet of flowers from Alice, of course. "You can visit her now." A nurse said, looking Jake up and down. I glared at her.
"Thank you." I said. We walked in. Leah was lying on a bed, both legs up in slings, a huge black eye and a small bite mark on her collarbone. It musth have been a newborn, they clearly didn't know where to bite her.
"Hi Leah." I said. She kept staring at the ceiling. Jake offered me a seat and I sat closest to her bed.
"I'm so sorry this happened." I said, still awkwardly holding the flowers. "Alice wanted me to bring you these flowers." "You can put them there." She said, frailly pointing to an empty vase. I did. "How are you doing Leah?" Jake asked, looking a tad bit concerned for her. "Fine." "I never should have let this happen. I should have stopped it. I should have just handed myself-"
"Don't say that." Jake said interrupting me. He was trembling as if he was about to phase. "I need, some air." He finished. He couldn't leave me here. I shot him a glare as he excused himself, Leah still staring at the ceiling. I could hear the sound of a fan somewhere far off.
Finally, in order to break the silence I said, "how are you feeling?" "How do you think?" She shot back, transferring her stare at me. "Why do you hate me?" "Hate you?" She said. My heart raced. Why did I just say that? I didn't mean to. I was just so sick and tired of her being so evil to me.
"You have Jake. I have no one." I was confused. "Well, if you were nicer to him, maybe Jake would want to be your friend too." I was trying to sound reasonable but it seemed more like I was talking to a kindergartener. "You're not just friends." Leah said. Did she know he kissed me?
"What?" She said when she saw the look of shock on my face. "Did Jakey never tell you about imprinting?" It sounded weird.
"Imprinting?" I repeated. "Yes, imprinting. It's when-"
"I'm back!" Jacob said, making quite an entrance. "Jake what is-"
"I think you should probably go home Nessie. I called Edward. He's coming by." He shot Leah an evil stare. "Do you want to hang out on Saturday?" I asked Leah as Jake tried to push me out of the room.
"I'll be here!" She shouted back. She almost sounded happy, like she couldn't wait to see me. As I walked out of the hospital by myself in the pouring rain I couldn't wait until Saturday to see Leah. I needed to know about this whole imprinting thing.