Chapter 11 – Sleeping While Awake

I was wet, but warm and rocking back and forth. I could hear Seth. He sounded like he was crying.

"Come on Nessie. Wake up. Please." He kept repeating it over and over.

Then I remembered the accident. I tried to look at him but my eyes wouldn't open. I couldn't move.

Seth I'm here. I'm fine. I was trying to will him to take my hand. I hoped that I could communicate with him at least to let him know I could hear him.

He was holding me tight in his arms and then I suddenly felt one hand move away from me. I heard the sound of my cell phone being turned on. He was calling someone. Please Seth be smart about this and call my Dad and not Jake.

"Edward. Nessie won't wake up." He was crying harder now and I heard him take a deep ragged breath. "There was a deer in the road. Nessie didn't see it and we hit it going about 120. She lost control and we ended up in Crescent Lake. I heard her hit her head the steering wheel and she swallowed some water before I could get her out of the car." He paused; listening to what I was sure was barrage of questions. "I got the water out of her lungs, and she is breathing, but nothing else." Another pause. "We are about halfway around the lake. You will see our skid marks. The car is completely submerged and I am below the road out of sight." Seth took another deep breath. "Edward could you get word to Jake?" I couldn't even imagine what would be going through Jacob's mind when he found out. I just hoped he wouldn't kill the messenger. "I didn't think about that. I will. Hurry Edward." And then I heard the phone disconnect and slowly Seth took my hand.

Took you long enough. I teased trying to make him calm down a little.

"Nessie. Thank God. Can you move anything? Do you hurt anywhere?" His grip on my hand became stronger and he held me tighter.

My head is killing me, but other than that I feel fine. I can't move anything though. Are you ok?

Seth let out a soft laugh, brought my hand up and kissed it. "I'm a hell of a lot better now that you're talking to me." Suddenly the light through my eyelids was very bright. Seth must have moved his head so that he was no longer blocking the sun. "Are you cold?"

No. I'm not cold. Is Dad on his way? Now that I knew Seth was ok, I could worry about the next thing, my car.

"Yeah, Bella was going to call Doc and get a hold of Jake. They will be waiting for us at the house when we get there." I could hear cars drive by on the road above us.

My car? Seth, where is my car? He was quiet for a really long time and then squeezed me a little tighter again.

"It's at the bottom of the lake Sweetie. It's gone." I felt him shift under me and I was now lying with my head on his lap and he still had one hand holding mine and the other was softly running through my hair. "But it is just a car. As long as we get you back to 100% do you really think anybody's going to be caring about that?"

Do you think Jake will be mad at me? Of course he will be mad at me. I was going way too fast and I almost got one of his pack killed. Every time I make progress on the maturity scale, I seem to slide back down just as fast.

Seth lightly laughed. "No, Jake won't be made at you Nessie. Me on the other hand, well I have a feeling that Doc better keep his schedule open for me for a while. I might need to have a few bones set."

Of course Jake would hold Seth responsible even though it was by no means his fault. I would have to put that fire out before it had a time to flare.

I continued to try to make some form of movement, but nothing. I was starting to get frustrated and screamed in my head.

Seth pulled his hand away for a second and then grabbed it again. "What the hell was that? Are you hurting somewhere?"

No just frustrated. Damn it. Why can't I move? And my head really hurts. Did I hit it on something?

"The steering wheel. You're lucky you are so hard headed." He laughed. There was a long stretch of silence between us and then Seth let out a sigh. "So what do you want to do now? I guess charades is out of the question."

I laughed and sent him an image of me smacking him in the back of the head. I figured I had Seth as a captive audience. Why not take advantage of it and ask him some real questions. What would you be Seth if this life had not been chosen for you? What does Seth Clearwater want to be when he grows up?

He laughed and squeezed my hand. "So now we are going to get all introspective and shit. Pardon my language." I think was the first time I had ever heard him use a word harsher that shucks. "Hey at least you can still blush. That is good to know." He paused again and I could tell he was gathering his thoughts. "I guess above all, I want to be a good husband and father like my dad." That surprised me a little. Seth didn't talk about his father ever. "As far as if I could do any kind of job, I think I would want to be a cop. I think I'm pretty good at this serve and protect stuff." We laughed at that together. I had a question to ask him, but I was afraid of upsetting him. I decided that having a near death experience gave me the right to throw caution to the wind. I could always blame the head injury if he got upset.

Were you upset when your Mom married Grandpa Charlie?

Seth squeezed my hand again. "No. In a way it seemed kind of fitting. Dad and Charlie were best friends. He and Billy were like extra Dads to me when I was little. I think my Dad would be happy to know that Mom is with a good man who loves her and Leah and me." I heard something in his voice. Not really sadness, but more of the sound of a son missing his father.

Would you tell me about him? Your Dad. Seth proceeded to tell me stories about his early childhood. As he told me of fishing trips and birthdays, I would ask questions and while I listened, I was trying to get anything on my body to move. Just as I was starting to lose hope, my big toe on my right foot slightly rubbed across the inside of my shoe. Thank God. I didn't tell Seth though because I wanted to have more progress before I got his hopes up.

I am not sure how much time passed, but Seth made it fly by with his animated storytelling. He stopped mid-sentence suddenly and said "Your Dad's here." He no more got the word out than Dad was grabbing my hand.

Hi Daddy. And I heard a sigh of relief escape him.

"She still can't move or anything." Seth let the worry paint his voice again.

"From the looks of the bruise on her forehead, I would guess she has a brain injury that is affecting her neurologically. Unfortunately it is one of those injures that will only heal it time. We'll just need to be patient." There was a pause as I felt my Father's hand on my cheek. "Seth are you ok? I'm so sorry. Thank you for taking care of her."

"I'm fine. I'm just sorry that I didn't do a better job." Why was he blaming himself? I was driving and he saved my life. But of course I would have expected no different of a response from any one of Jake's pack. "Does Jake know?"

"Bella was trying to get in touch with him when I left. I need to call her and give her an update before we leave." There was no sound and then I could tell that Dad was talking to Mom.

"I'm with them Bella. Mentally she is fine and communicating with me." He paused while listening. "I think she has a closed head injury that is affecting her. I won't know more until Carlisle looks at her. Have you been able to get in touch with him?" Again another pause. "He is fine. Worrying himself sick about Nessie and Jake, but other than that he seems to be fine. I'll tell Nessie you love her and we will be there soon." I felt Dad's hand brush my cheek again. "Bye my love."

Dad, is Grandpa coming?

"He's on his way. Seth, I'm parked on the other side of the lake by the boat slip next to the trees. I didn't want attention when we put Nessie in the car. I'll carry her, you phase and we will meet you there." My Dad lifted me into his arms and took off at full speed. In what seemed like seconds he stopped and I heard the sound of clothes rustling next to me. Seth must have been getting dressed.

The arms around me felt warm again as Dad passed me back to Seth, who I now assumed was setting in the back seat.

On the drive home, I continued to try to move more. I could now move all my toes slightly and was discreetly trying to move my fingers. I didn't want to give Seth and Dad any false hope. Dad would ask me questions and Seth would relay the answers, even though Dad heard them before he did. My head still hurt, but the pain seemed to be dulling. Either that or I was getting used to it. The car ride was long and I was getting impatient.

I heard the car tires hit gravel. Are we home? I asked.

"Yup, looks like it's going to be a full house. Everyone is here." Dad chuckled slightly, but worry still filled his voice.

As the car rolled to a stop I heard the door open and felt myself gently being lifted from the car.

"Grab her hand Jake. She'll talk to you." I heard Seth call from the car.

I felt his familiar hand take mine. I'm going to be fine. I love you.

And then his warm lips were on mine as he carried me into the house.