AN: So, so, so very sorry it's been so long since the last update! Grad school is kind of kicking my ass. Anyone that knows anything about proofs of conservation of energy, PM me! LOL.
Anyway, I'm posting this chapter without beta reading, so I apologize up front for any grammatical errors. Chapter 12 is done, I just need to type it and refine it so hopefully it'll be up next week.
If you haven't read my first fic Dark Angel, you should go read it. It gets more and more "favorite story" alerts every week. :o)
Okay, enough of my rambling. Enjoy chapter 11.
In case you forgot, we ended Chapter 10 with Bella standing at the top of the cliff at La Push, someone came up behind her and her foot slipped... That Moment
Chapter 11 – Over the Edge
EPOV
I had tried to catch her all day. I called. I texted. I called again. She finally sent me a message telling me she was okay. Other than that I hadn't heard from her. I still had no idea why she had been trying to reach me last night. I had a really bad feeling about it though. Her words from my dream kept echoing through my mind. "Either we're together or we aren't. I can't go halfway."
I was a nervous wreck. I couldn't wait to see her. I needed to tell her that I didn't want to go halfway either. Alice was having a cookout this evening and she was going to be there.
I arrived forty-five minutes early. Jasper was busy slicing tomatoes and onions for the hamburgers. Alice was chopping lettuce for the salad. And Charlie was building an immaculate racetrack for his hot wheels out of any materials he could get his hands on. I stepped carefully through the maze of pens and pencils scattered strategically across the floor.
"Edward!" Alice squealed from the kitchen. "I'm so glad you came to help! Can you get Charlie to clean up the Daytona 500 please?"
"But I'm in the middle of my race!" The little boy hit the floor with his hand and pouted in the general direction of the kitchen. It lasted only a moment before he was back to pushing the race cars through the maze.
"Did you build that track all by yourself?" I knelt down beside him and let my eyes wander over the track. It took up the whole living room floor and looked pretty complex. He had probably been working on it for awhile.
"Yeah. You want to see how it goes?" His eyes lit up with excitement and he grabbed one of the little cars. Standing up, he skillfully stepped through the intricate pattern without disturbing any of the pieces and declared "This is the starting line."
He walked me through the whole track, from start to finish. There were sharp turns, high jumps and even portals that transported the car from one area of the track to another. When he finished showing me the track he said "So it looks like this." Then he went through the track again with the little car in his hand. This time through the demonstration was complete with sound effects like screeching tires.
"So what do you think?" He was so proud of his creation that I had to tell him how very awesome it was. Then I asked him if I could try. He spent the next twenty minutes helping me maneuver my Hot Wheel through the track.
"Edward, you were supposed to get him to clean it up. Not sit here and play with him for an hour." Alice stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Charlie pouted again and I imitated him.
"But it's so much more fun to play than it is to clean up." I stuck my bottom lip out and got rewarded with Alice throwing her dish towel at me. Charlie laughed. "Okay, what do you say we demolish this here racetrack Charlie?" He looked up at me with an evil little grin and shook his head yes. Then he turned around and started kicking all the pieces of his beautiful racetrack into a big pile in the middle of the floor. He was growling and acting like a big dinosaur. Alice and I both cracked up laughing as he finished the complete demolition. He even picked up all the pieces and put them away. It wasn't until after we had Alice's living room back to the way it should be that I realized how late it had gotten. Rose and Emmett had gotten there a little while back and were currently manning the grill out back. Bella, however, was nowhere to be found.
"Charlie. Where's your mom?" I asked him as we headed into the kitchen. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. She was in a bad mood today. I think she has PMS."
Did he really just say that? I had to laugh.
"Charlie!" Alice chastised him and smacked my arm for laughing.
"You better watch it, man." Emmett chuckled. "You say that to the wrong person and you're liable to get hurt."
"What?" He looked up at Emmett with innocent eyes. "That's what Dad says whenever she's in a bad mood."
"Really?" Emmett laughed again. "Maybe that's why she doesn't want to live with your dad anymore, you know? Because he would say stuff like that to her."
Charlie shrugged his shoulders and opened the refrigerator to get a cup of orange juice.
"Nah," he said. "That's because he had sex with Vicky in the shower."
We all froze. Emmett, Alice, Jasper and I watched as he poured his juice and put the jug back in the fridge, like nothing had happened at all. Then he got this puzzled look on his face and stared right at me.
"What's that mean anyway?" he asked.
I blanched. Surely Bella's nine year old son was not asking me what having sex in the shower meant. Was he?
"What does what mean?" I asked, seeking clarification before I gave my answer. Emmett and Jasper were trying to keep straight faces. Alice's face was bright red and she was hiding it behind her hands. Rose was standing in the doorway. The look of shock on her face mimicked my own.
"PMS. What's it mean? Is that like puberty for women or something? Or does it have something to do with their, you know, thingies." He cupped his hands in front of his chest to imitate boobs, then bounced them up and down making this 'boom boom' noise.
I couldn't even breath I was laughing so hard. Alice had tears running down her face. Emmett was smiling as he swooped down and picked Charlie up. Rose and I both breathed a sigh of relief.
"I love this kid! Hey Rose! When we decide to have kids, I want one just like this!"
As the evening wore on, I became more and more anxious. The rain was starting to fall harder outside and the sun would be setting soon. No one had heard from Bella and she wasn't answering her phone. No one else seemed to even notice that she wasn't there.
I noticed.
After dinner I excused myself and left. I couldn't just sit around waiting anymore. I had to go find her. The first place I checked was her house. She wasn't there. I started driving around aimlessly, looking for her car in every parking lot I could find. I had almost given up and headed back to Alice's house when a thought struck me.
Charlie had said she was in a bad mood.
A light bulb went on over my head.
I knew where she was.
I made a U-turn and drove towards the ocean. Her car was sitting in the small gravel lot along the side of the road. I didn't know whether to be relieved because I had found her or to be terrified because I had found her here. I practically sprinted down the path towards the clearing at the top of the cliff. Rain was falling steadily now and my feet slipped in the mud more than once. I forced myself to slow to a walk as I neared the clearing. Honestly, I was afraid to even look. What if she wasn't there? I took a deep breath before stepping into the clearing.
She was there. Her feet were on the bottom rung of the fence and she was watching the waves crash against the cliffs below. She was soaked from head to toe. How long had she been standing here in the rain? I watched her for several minutes. She seemed to be mesmerized by the ocean and I was mesmerized by her.
I stepped forward slowly. I didn't want to scare her. I was only a few feet away when she seemed to hear my footsteps.
"Bella?" I asked her quietly.
Her head snapped up and her eyes met mine. Her foot slipped. She fell forward, over the railing.
"NO!" I tried to grab her before she went over the edge. My hands grabbed only empty air. I watched in horror as she tumbled helplessly over the edge of the cliff.
It took about two seconds for my brain to compute what had just happened. It took less time than that for me to climb over the fence and jump.
I bungee jumped once. It was one of those metal crane things where you paid twenty-five bucks, climbed to the top of the tower and strapped on a safety harness that was attached to a big fucking rubber band. Below the tower was a gigantic air bag, like the ones they use for fire rescues. So even if the giant rubber band broke, you would land on this big air bag, roll to safety and be good to go. Honestly, I was scared shitless to do it. Why would I want to willingly jump off a metal tower that had a perfectly good staircase? Bella, that's why. She jumped first and swore it was amazing. Then she told me I was a pussy if I didn't jump. A seventeen-year-old boy cannot let his almost-a-girlfriend show him up in front of his friends and call him a pussy. I had to prove to everyone that I was a manly man, you know?
Ice-cold water enveloped me, sending a shock through my bloodstream. I kicked toward the surface and was able to pull in some much needed air. Then I ducked back under the water, searching for any sign of her. The current was trying to pull me out away from the cliffs. Swimming had always been a strong point of mine. I was captain of the swim team in high school. Of course, that was fifteen years ago.
A wave was coming right for me, so I took in a deep breath and ducked under the surface. That's when I saw her. She was about ten yards away from me and she wasn't moving. Her arms and legs were limp in the water. She was obviously unconscious. Adrenaline coursed through my body as I swam through the water and wrapped my arms around her lifeless body. I started swimming towards the beach, being careful to keep her head above water. The current was still trying to pull me in the other direction. My muscles were aching and my lungs were burning and we were only half the distance to the shore.
Then I heard water splashing in front of me. I looked up to see two men swimming out to meet me. As they got closer to me, I was able to recognize them. It was Sam Uley and Jacob Black. Jacob took Bella and swam towards the shore. I was able to keep swimming on my own, barely, but Sam stayed by my side until we had reached the beach. I had never been so happy for solid ground before in my life.
"We called 911. The ambulance should be here any minute." Jacob said as I collapsed to the ground. I watched him lie Bella on her back. He swept the dark hair away from her face and immediately started doing CPR compressions. He was in his second cycle of compressions when he looked down at her. His rhythm faltered. "Fuck me." His eyes met mine briefly before returning to her face. "It's Bella Swan."
Yeah. No shit. I had regained some of my strength so I pushed him out of the way and continued the CPR compressions. I could hear the sirens as Sam directed the ambulance down to the beach.
"What do we have?" The EMT came up beside me. "Edward?" I looked up to see that Jasper was the one standing next to me.
"Jazz. I thought you were off tonight?" I moved out of the way and let him and his partner take over.
"Yeah. I got beeped. I guess there was a multiple car accident a little while ago. It has everyone tied up. I think they're trying to beep you right about now too."
"I'll just ride in with you. She fell from the top of the cliff. She hit her head in the fall. I'm pretty sure she was unconscious before she ever hit the water." He went back to the ambulance and grabbed the backboard and the neck brace.
"How long was she under water?"
"I jumped as soon as I saw her go over. She couldn't have been under very long. Forty-five seconds? A minute? I don't know. It happened fast, but seemed to take forever at the same time."
He stared at me for a moment, then looked at the top of the cliff and back at me again.
"You jumped off that cliff? I'm impressed." Yeah, well, Jasper had been present for the bungee jumping incident. He was also the only person in our group that knew the truth. I had never actually jumped off that damned tower. After twenty minutes of staring over the ledge, the frustrated attendant had pushed me, rather forcefully.
Jasper's partner had finished monitoring her vitals and told him to get the AED out of the truck. By this time a crowd was starting to form around the ambulance. Jacob and Sam did a great job pushing the crowd back while Jasper applied the AED patches to her chest.
It only took one shock to establish a rhythm. After that they quickly loaded her into the ambulance and we were off. I took the time while I was sitting with her to prepare myself for what I would need to do at the hospital. I didn't let myself think about what had happened or about the possible outcomes. Once we had arrived at the hospital I was in full out doctor mode. I had to be able to care for Bella impartially, as I would with any other patient. She had a nasty gash on the back of her head and a concussion.
By the time she was out of surgery Alice, Charlie, Rose, Emmett and the Chief were all sitting out in the waiting room, along with Sam and Jacob, waiting for the diagnosis. I told them that the surgery went fine, she had a mild concussion, and we would continue to monitor her closely. It was nearing midnight by then, so visiting hours were over. There really wasn't any reason for any of them to stay at the hospital. They all agreed and started collecting their stuff. I had just finished thanking Sam and Jacob for their help when I felt a small hand tugging on my lab coat. I looked down into tear-filled blue eyes.
"Can I stay here with mommy?" Charlie asked me.
I had held myself together very well until that point. There was something about the teary eyes of an innocent child that made me want to cry right along with him. I picked him up and glanced around quickly so he would think I didn't want anyone to hear me.
"I'll tell you what, Charlie. If you can promise me that you'll be very quiet, then I'll let you stay in your mom's room until my shift is over. Can you do that?" His eyes widened and he nodded his head quickly.
"I promise, Edward. I'll be really good."
Alice snorted.
"I've heard that one before. Good luck Edward." She winked at me before she left with Rose and Emmett.
Then it was just me, Charlie and the Chief.
He was watching me intently and I realized too late that I was still holding Charlie in my arms. He had his little hands wrapped around my neck and he was leaning against my shoulder. It was probably the quietest and most subdued that I had ever seen him.
"Cullen, it seems like I owe you an apology." The Chief's gruff voice surprised me and I looked up quickly.
"Sir?"
"I've always believed in admitting when you're wrong, Cullen, and when it comes to you it seems I was wrong more than once. How many times did I tell you to stay away from my daughter? Hell, I threatened to put you in jail for stalking her if you tried to find her after she moved away." He shook his head and ran his fingers through his thick black hair. "I could see the spark between you two. You'd be a damned blind fool if you didn't."
"That was a long time ago, sir. Water under the bridge, you know?" Charlie was looking back and forth between his grandfather and I curiously. From what Bella had told me about him, I suppose he was trying to figure out what we were talking about.
"Why were you there tonight, Edward?" The Chief's eyes pierced through me. I didn't have to answer. He already knew. I was there because Bella was in trouble, and because I love her too much to let anything happen to her. He nodded in understanding before stepping close enough to ruffle Charlie's hair while still maintaining eye contact with me. "Take care of them." He said pointedly. Then he turned to leave.
He was almost out the door when I found my voice.
"You didn't just threaten, sir. You did put me in jail, remember? The day she left town." He turned around and glared at me, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"That one I'm not apologizing for, Cullen." We stared each other down for a long moment before we both cracked up laughing.
"What's so funny?" Charlie asked me. I set him down and took his hand and we both waved to the Chief as he left.
"I'll tell you when you're older." I promised. "Let's go find your mom, okay?"
We made our way through the maze of hospital rooms until we found the one with Bella sleeping peacefully inside. The monitor was beeping steadily and everything seemed to be normal. Charlie approached the bed quietly. I watched him to make sure he didn't pull on any tubes or push any buttons. I was impressed by how well he was acting.
There was a small couch in one corner. It wasn't the most comfortable seat, but it was better than nothing. All of a sudden I seemed to be exhausted. It had been such a long day, and an even longer night. I sat on the couch and watched Charlie. He saw me sit down and came over only a few minutes later to sit with me. We didn't talk. We just sat there and listened to the monitors and watched Bella sleep. A small snoring sound to my left told me that Charlie had fallen asleep. I let my head fall back against the couch and my eyes drifted closed.
AN: So what do you guys think? Give me a review and let me know. Love it? Hate it? BTW, the conversation w/Charlie about PMS was taken word for word from a conversation I had with my son. Seriously, that kid cracks me up sometimes. Does anyone have any funny kid conversations like that?
