"What did you do?" Jacob demanded, by my side in a second.
"Please, wolf, now is not the time, I didn't do anything to her." Edward said, his voice full of emotion for me as he ran. I heard Jacob start to say something, but then all the lights went out.
I woke up to a symphony of beeping noises. I moved my hand and felt an IV needle attached to it. No, not again, I thought. I was in a hospital, but why? I racked my brain for any inkling of what led me to be here. It was hard, like trying to remember a dream but finally it all came back to me. Edward, the beach, the burning- I winced-, and then…Jacob? No, I must be imagining that, I hadn't seen Jacob in such a long time, he obviously didn't care about me anymore, and I had accepted that. Yes, I was hurt, but I had other things to worry about now. Suddenly, I felt an icy cold hand on my arm.
"Bella?" It was Carlisle.
"Carlisle. Where's-" I started, wanting to say, "Where's Edward?" because I couldn't see him, but he cut me off.
"Don't worry, Edward is here, Alice told me when you would wake up and I wanted to talk to you in private. Believe me, it was a struggle getting him away from you, but he had to go and talk to your dad, he'll be back in a moment." He responded. I realized that I didn't have much energy, so I just nodded, curious of what he wanted to talk to me in private about. "Can you tell me what you remember of before you got to the hospital?" He asked, tapping on tube or something in his hand, then scribbling something onto a clipboard.
"The beach. I asked Edward to take me to the beach. We were there for a while when my stomach started to burn." I gasped then, panic filling my voice. "The baby. Is the baby all right? What happened?" And then I couldn't help it, I was so scared that hot tears started to stream down my face. Moving my hand to my belly, I relaxed as I realized that it felt the same way it had before.
"I believe that the baby is fine, Bella. But I do have something very serious to talk to you about." He stopped, gauging my reaction. "Can you remember feeling that burning sensation every before?" he asked, sitting delicately on the bed, something that probably would have made any other patient ecstatic. I thought hard about his question, though it didn't take long before I had the answer.
"James." I whispered. "When James…" I gasped with realization. The only other time I had ever felt that burning was when I was being turned into a vampire. Reaching over, I gently stroked my crescent shaped scar, the only thing that remained from that horrible day. Was I turning into a vampire?
"Yes, you probably felt something similar when James bit you, but I think that this is different. I do not believe that you are turning into a vampire, but I do believe that your child might be like us, or at least partly like us." He said, leaving me speechless. Of course the though had crossed my mind, the possibility of my child being a vampire, but I couldn't see how that would work. I couldn't give birth to a vampire, vampires don't age, how could it ever develop into a human form an embryo?
"But vampires don't age. How could it develop into a child?" I asked.
"Like I said, it could be part vampire. I believe that you may feel that burning sensation every once and a while as your baby develops, as it turns into something like us." I groaned at this. "I can administer morphine or anesthesia when this happens to take the pain away." He offered. The light coming from the small window seemed to get sucked back outside as the sun went behind a cloud.
"What will happen to the baby?" I asked in a rather watery voice, tears gathering at my eyes once more. The beeping beside me seemed to speed up.
"I really cannot tell you. As Edward told you, this has never happened before. I really don't now what to expect." He replied. "Edward is about done talking to your father, and I feel we must warn you that he knows of your pregnancy. I know that you had not intended on telling him like this, but you are showing a bit, and when we were transferring you to your bed he was here and it…it became apparent. I'm very sorry but he would also like to talk to you now. I can bring Edward first though." He offered. I closed my eyes and nodded, Edward was what I needed more than anything right now.
When I opened my eyes, Carlisle was gone and Edward was by my side, kissing my face all over, then my mouth, as if he hadn't seen me in a long time.
"Edward." I said, fresh tears flowing.
"Bella. My Bella." He said, his voice thick with emotion. He set his hand on my tummy, watching it rise and fall as I breathed, then placed his head on my chest, wrapping his arms around me. I reached up and gingerly set my hand on the back of his head, burrowing my fingers into his gorgeous hair. "You're okay." He said, assuring himself more than me. "Our baby's okay." I nodded.
"Carlisle talked to me though. About what the burning meant." I said. It was his turn to nod.
"Yes, Carlisle talked to me too." He said quietly.
"I think it's going to be okay though." I said. "For some reason, I'm not that worried, I just have this feeling that it's going to be okay." It was the truth. I don't know why, but for some reason, it felt okay. I just seemed like everything was fine, and I held onto that feeling because I had a hunch that I was going to need it.
"It will be, Bella. It will be okay." He said, lifting his head to kiss me. "But Charlie knows."
"Yes, Carlisle told me that as well, but I guess that serves me right for waiting so long to tell him. Was he very mad?" I asked.
"Not exactly, but you should talk to him for yourself." Edward said, and with that, my dad entered the room.
"Bella, I'm so glad you're okay." He said, then abruptly changing his tone. "You really need to get more iron in your diet, passing out like that is really dangerous, especially now that…well Edward and Carlisle told me about…um how you're …expecting." He said quietly, his cheeks turning red, but I noticed that his eyes seemed rather red and puffy as well.
"Oh dad, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, I was afraid that you'd be upset. Dad I know that I'm young, but I'm married, and I think that-" I was ready to argue my case, but he stopped me.
"Bella, you are my daughter, and I love you more than anything, just like I will love my grandchild. I do think that you are rushing things a bit, but I also know that sometimes these things can't be helped. You are responsible Bella, sometimes even more so than myself. As your father, I am telling you that I know you will be a wonderful mother. And you," he said, gesturing towards Edward, who was watching me intently, "I know that you know I didn't trust you after what happened, but I've watched you around my Bella, and I must admit that you love her a great deal. I also know that you will make a great father. Please promise to take good care of them." Said Charlie, through- to my great amazement- tears.
"I promise, I will." Said Edward, looking like he would be crying as well if he could.
"Oh, dad." I said while the tears came streaming down. No screaming or yelling, or talks about how disappointed he was in me. He thought I would make a great mom, and that Edward would be a great dad! I loved my dad so much that I was overwhelmed with happiness. He walked over to the bed and hugged me gently. We then spent the next few minutes catching up on the past few months until he said he had to go back to work now that I was alright. He left with another hug and my promise to visit more often and to call him at least every two weeks.
"Bella?" said Edward. His tone had changed, as if he had just remembered something that he wished he hadn't. "There's actually someone else here to see you. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to, I tried to stop him from coming, but you were my priority and I didn't have time to stop him."
"Edward, just tell me who it is." I said, wanting him to stop stalling. But before he could utter a word the door to my room opened revealing what was no longer a figment of my imagination. Jacob was here.
"Jacob?" I asked, still unsure of what I was seeing.
"Um, hi Bella." He said quietly, as though he suddenly didn't want to be here. He ran his fingers nervously through his hair, which was long again, a little bit past his shoulders. He had a t-shirt on as well as his signature cut-off jeans.
"Please hurry and say what you want to say, she needs some rest." Said Edward sharply, taking a seat in the hard, black plastic chair beside my bed, and placing his hand on top of mine, probably doing his best to make Jacob feel unwelcome, This seemed to remind Jacob of how things were before and he seemed to find his strength, completely ignoring Edward.
"So, um…are you okay?" Asked Jacob, taking a few steps towards me, his tall form less than five feet from me.
"I'm alright now," I said, my voice cracking a bit, "and Carlisle thinks the baby will be fine." I said putting my hand on my belly once more. It only took half a second to realize that I had the wrong thing because Jacobs jaw seemed to drop to his knees as his eyes became as wide as dinner plates. I heard a quiet laugh come from Edward.
"I hadn't quite told him yet, my love." He said quietly. Oh crap. Did I really just say that? Oh no, oh no, oh no.
"Your…what?" said Jacob, taking a step back. What a great reunion this was, I hadn't seen him in so long, and now I finally get a chance to talk to him and I blow it.
"I'm so sorry…Jacob, I though Edward had told you already, I didn't mean to tell you like this." I gushed. His face seemed to lighten for a second.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"What do you mean 'who is it'?" I said, crinkling my eyebrows.
"Who is the father then." He said simply, but Edward was too quick for me.
"I am, of course." He replied, smiling, or possibly smirking at Jacob, I couldn't tell from the bed.
"That's impossible." Said Jacob.
"Oh, believe me, its possible." Said Edward insinuatingly.
"Edward!" I hissed, feeling a blush instantly fill my cheeks. Jacob just snorted.
"You know what I mean." He said.
"Jacob, it is Edwards. We're not exactly sure how it happened, but it did." I said, gazing at Edward, then at Jacob.
"Bella, your nineteen! What did your dad say? Does he even know?" He stressed.
"Yes, Charlie knows, he was actually very supportive, and I would appreciate it if you were to. If you're going to be rude you can just leave now." I said sternly, feeling the tingle incoming tears, but I tried to hold them back. This was most definitely not going the way I wanted it to. Jacob seemed to realize this.
"I'm sorry, it's just…hard. I can't see you…pregnant." He said "pregnant" as if it was a dirty word.
"Yea, well it hasn't been exactly peachy keen for me either, especially after today." I told him, turning my head away so he couldn't see the tear trickle down my cheek. It was then that Edward spoke up.
"Leave, please." He told Jacob. "Every time she sees you she ends up hurt. I would appreciate it if you would let my pregnant wife be." This seemed to hit home, Jacob became silent, and I slowly turned back towards him.
"Congratulations Bella." He forced, "Good luck with the kid." He said, slowly turning away.
"Thank you." I told him quietly, he was about to walk out the door, when I suddenly had incoming of flashbacks; us together talking while he worked on our bikes, walking on the beach, sitting around the fire while Billy told stories of his ancestors. I suddenly felt a rush of guilt fill me. He had a right to be mad at me, he had done so much, and I had left him.
"Wait." I said, he turned around, his face fallen, looking like he was going to cry as well. "Do you think, maybe…I mean we can still talk sometimes or…I don't know." I was suddenly embarrassed. "Never mind." I mumbled inaudibly.
"Maybe." He said, and walked out of the room.
Yay! I think this is one of my longer chapters. Please comment!!! Any suggestions of questions I'd be happy to answer! La-de-da. Anyways, hope you like it! Let me know what ya think! This is probably my last post for the next week or two, but I'll try to post faster if I get lots of comments- I swear, my teachers are secretly against me writing this with all the homework they give me! Anywho, Happy Writing!
Oh, and I
apologize for any spelling errors etc., etc…