Branded: Epilogue
BUT, SHE WAS IN THE LIGHT NOW, OUT OF THE BASEMENT. Who knows if Edward would ever speak to her again, because she didn't show much gratitude, and she let Drake get away. But Drake was hers. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get the Cullens involved anyway. And maybe caring for Edward wasn't the best of all. He cared for her. And if he cared for her enough, he wouldn't take what happened down there seriously. The first Drake saga was over. She and Melissa were safe, but something was bound to happen. Drake was bound to return. And something deep in Bella's stomach told her that something else was coming, and something dangerous.
She sat in the back of the ambulance, Melissa strapped in onto the cart. Her mother was now walking up to the ambulance. She asked Bella what happened. Bella wasn't sure whether she wanted to tell the story again, the same story she told the police and the same story she told Charlie. It may have unsettled Melissa's mother.
"Thank you," her mother praised as Bella wrapped her blanket around her tighter and began off.
She wanted a shower. She needed one. The fog was so thick, she could barely see. She heard a honk of a horn. That reminded her. How did the Cullens move their cars so fast without getting caught? But she should have learned not to underestimate the Cullens by now. She smiled. She could see his shiny silver Volvo. She began towards it. He opened his door and stepped out and began towards her.
Once they reached one another, he spoke. "You've got some explaining to do…" he said.
"I know," she answered in a breaking voice. "But I need to get home."
But the last thing on anyone's mind was the pain searing through her arm. Of course no one ever knew of the pain, but it still should have been obvious, her wringing her wrists the way she did. But, Edward noticed. As he walked her over to her father to tell her she was leaving, he reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a packet of salt. "Here…" he caught her attention and she smiled at the gesture.
"Wow, first flirting while stealing text books, and now flirting by giving me salt," she laughed, as did he. "How traditional."
He placed his hand on her lower back. "Something tells me this relationship isn't going to be a traditional one." He smiled his crooked smile.