A/N: Again, thank you all for the replies. They mean so much. Also, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a day or two. I've been writing a lot and, well, having family time. I hope you like this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
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Chapter 12
The family arrived home at eleven on the dot. With lightning speed, they removed the wedding decorations from the inside and outside of the home. Charlie would be there within the hour, and he was never late.
While they worked, Edward explained about Jacob's visit. Jasper stopped cleaning and went into full defensive mode, making plans for dealing with the wolves. Emmett finished up, while Rosalie watched. Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Edward, and Bella; the people who would have the most contact with Charlie when he arrived; all congregated in the kitchen, filling their stomach's with blood. It was easier for the rest of the family, Carlisle especially, to be around a human. He didn't feel the need to feed anymore, but this would be the first time Bella would be left alone with a human, and she needed to be well fed beforehand. Morphine would not work now that she had transformed, neither would the baseball bat. Since she couldn't sleep, she couldn't be knocked out. As a newborn, she would be a slave to the hunger. Want it more than anything, and forget friends and even family to get it. It would be a very delicate situation when Charlie arrived, and the family wanted Bella to be prepared.
Edward suggested opening the window in the room, to delute the scent. They all looked to Alice and she saw no problems occuring with the visit. Everyone, except Bella, relaxed a bit and made preparations for Charlie's visit. Alice wished they wouldn't rely so heavily on her visions.
After drinking her fill, Edward led Bella upstairs to help her get changed for Charlie. Bella put her on a pair of pink and brown plaid flannel pajamas with a matching brown camisole and crawled into bed. The story would be that Alice bathed her and fixed her hair in a low pony tail in the back so she would be more comfortable.
They placed a brace on her left arm and her right leg. Then Edward placed the bandages back on her head. She looked like she had when she left the hospital.
She eased down into the covers and snuggled under them. It actually did feel good--the feeling of cotton on silk. It was like being at home, except at home the sheets weren't silk.
Edward tucked her in and kissed his 'sleeping beauty', as he called her. "Remember, Bella." he warned. "This will be extremely hard for you. It is the first time you've been around a human that wasn't also a werewolf." his eye twitched at the thought of Jacob coming the night before. He knew Bella didn't need to think on that right now, so he continued. "You will want it more than anything. You have to be careful."
Her brow furrowed. "It's my father, Edward."
"The monster won't care." he said bluntly. The way he said it sent chills up her spine. It made her second guess this entire plan.
"I don't want to kill my father."
"Then see that you don't." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "His car just pulled up." Carefully, he sat down on the bed with her and firmly held her hand. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
"It's how it has to be." she said sadly, but forcing herself not to frown.
He nodded and patted her hand lovingly. "Be careful, love. If you can't take anymore, scream like you are in pain. Carlisle will run in and give you 'morphine', and ask Charlie to leave. Understand?"
"Yes." she replied as she looked up to the ceiling and took a deep steadying breath.
He smiled at her then took his seat in the antique chair next to the door. "He's coming up the stairs now." he whispered.
Bella nodded and took one more deep-cleansing breath. She closed her eyes and focused on the sound of the rain through the open window. The wind blew ever so slightly causing the curtains to billow out. A few drops of rain sprinkled on her braced arm she held above the covers. It felt good to the skin of her hand. All of her senses had been heightened after becoming a vampire. Touch was her favorite.
I can do this. I can do this. She thought over and over in her head. She tried to zone out and relax.
"Oh, no. No."
The sound of Edward's frantic whisper made her eyes jump back open. Edward saw her frantic expression and cursed to himself. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. "What?" she mouthed, not wanting Charlie to hear her talking.
Edward's eyes widened. "Jacob got to him."
Bella froze for a second, unable to move. All of the air left the room and time stood still, just for a second. Her mind raced. What had Jacob told him? How much did he know?
Her calm, relaxed state vanished. The stress tightened her stomach. If she really needed breath, she thought she would have hyperventilated. "Calm down, now." Edward mouthed slowly. He had fierceness in his eyes. Bella didn't know if it was directed at her, Charlie, or Jacob, but she decided to do as he said. She got one more steadying breath in before the door opened.
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"Edward." Charlie greeted as he entered the room. "How is she today?"
Edward stood and shook his outstretched hand. He tried to read his thoughts about Jacob, but Charlie wasn't thinking about it anymore. He was thinking about Bella.
Charlie noticed that for the first time in days, Edward had changed clothes. He had on a dark gray, long-sleeved shirt made of light fabric with dark wash blue jeans. Edward heard Charlie wonder if him taking the time to leave and change meant that Bella had improved. Sometimes Edward hated reading minds.
"Charlie." he replied back. "Bella's had no change, I'm sorry to say. In fact, Carlisle's had to give her extra morphine this morning." He watched as Charlie's face fell. "Yeah, Carlisle said I might not want to stay long." He paused a minute to look at his sleeping daughter. "You know, I have a question about all of this. How can she feel pain if she is in a coma?" Edward had heard him form that question before he asked it, and he still had no answer for him. "Um- I don't know. You'd have to ask Carlisle." He did know the answer. If she was 'really' in a coma, then more times than not she probably wouldn't need the morphine, but they had to stick to some kind of story and that was what Carlisle came up with. It worked as long as Charlie played along.
"Well," Edward reached for the doorhandel., not wanting Charlie to think on that anymore. "I'll leave you two alone then. Yell if you need anything." he added for both Charlie and Bella's benefit. He didn't want her to feel alone.
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The smell hit her from the moment Charlie entered the room. It smelled so warm. It called to her. Her teeth coated with venum well before Edward had left them.
The feeling only intensified after Charlie pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. The open window allowed some relief, but, she imagined, not much.
Oh, God. This is bad. she thought, mentally rolling her eyes at herself.
He was so close, she could hear his heartbeat, and it was driving her mad.
It's my dad. It's my dad. She repeated over and over in her mind as kind of a chant to steady and gain control of herself. I can not kill my dad.
"Morning, Bella" Charlie began, oblivious to what was happening right in front of him. He never knew what to say to her, but Carlisle told him anything would be good. "You're looking better this morning. I mean, I think you do."
He paused, mulling over what to say next. "Trudy sends her love. You remember Trudy, right? My secretary. Anyway, she's been sending home food with me. She said that I had actually started looking better after you came and started cooking for me." he laughed. "I think she's hitting on me, to tell you the truth. Of course her husband, the mayor, probably wouldn't like that much." he smiled for a brief second, then it faded. He had no idea why he was trying to make her laugh. Like she was going to miraculously laugh herself out of a coma. Why didn't I talk more, make her laugh more when she actually could, he mentally reprimanded himself. But he knew why. He was never a man to share his emotions. It just wasn't in him. And he knew Bella was just like him. The pain in hit his heart again. He couldn't stand seeing her like this.
For Bella's part, she was just trying to hold on. He smelled so good. Blood didn't disgust her like it had before. It was drawing her in.
The monster was getting louder. It was demanding, but she kept repeating "It's my dad. It's my dad." over and over in her mind.
Charlie didn't notice her gripping the sheets under the covers. He did, however, notice that the rain was picking up, and the wind was blowing it inside the open window forming slick spots on the wood floor. He got up from Bella's side and walk to it. He worked with the latch a bit before it finally released and the window fell down.
Bella's stomach lurched violently. She clutched the sheets tighter, holding herself back. Without the fresh air, the room began to saturate with the smell of his blood. She was readying herself to 'scream in pain', when Charlie's words grabbed her attention. "Jacob Black came to see me this morning."
She willed herself to fight the thirst and listen. Jacob might have told her father something useful. Something that could help Edward.
"See, Jacob came back when he heard about you," he continued while staring out the window. His hands fell in his pockets. "He said he saw you last night," Bella's stomach jumped again, but not from hunger. She feared that Jacob might have told Charlie the truth. But wouldn't the 'truth' be better than this lie? she thought, not really knowing what to believe.
A smile crooked on Charlie's lips as he went on, "He said that Edward ran him off. I don't get that Bella. I mean, Jacob said that the two of them had an argument, but it still-- You need as many people here to talk to you as you can get. Seems to me, it would help a great deal having Jacob come and talk to you." He looked over at her slowly. His chest tightened. "Anyway, he told me to give you a message, in case you could hear me. He wanted to me to tell you that no matter what, he was coming tonight and talk to Edward. He wants to see you again. He said, 'Tell her I'll come see her tonight, ya know, hold her hand, tell her stories. Legends. Tell here there are different ones, much more interesting ones than the ones she heard at La Push.'" Charlie grinned. "He said you liked vampire stories most of all, and there was one in particular he couldn't wait to share with you."
It took everything Bella had not to open her eyes and question her father. "What did he mean 'different stories'? What 'story' did he want to share?" she wondered frantically. She also wanted to know why Jacob had mentioned vampires to Charlie. Maybe he was playing some sort of mind game with her, she reasoned.
But she couldn't focus anymore. Charlie's heartbeat started filling her ears. All of her thoughts were sounding farther and farther away. Like she was drowning. She fought with everything she had to listen. To fight back the monster.
Things happened at that moment that would stick in her mind forever. Venom dripped into her mouth, and she knew she had waited too long. All she could hear now was thump, thump, thump. The sweat smell of his blood consumed her. In that moment, Bella was gone and the monster had taken her place. She released the bed sheet. She felt like the hunter with her pray.
Her eyes flashed open just in time to see his hand grab the window frame hard and the other one curl at his chest.
She could hear his heart. And it didn't sound like it had before.
"No. No." he gasped as he fell to his knees in pain.
Easy pickings, the monster told her. And the thought made her sick. She got grip of herself, and fought back.
Charlie collapsed down the wall, leaning himself against it. He held his chest with his right hand, his left arm laid useless beside him.
It was then that his eyes met Bella's. Shock overcame the pain and he gasped, "Bella! Bella! Oh God! You're--You're--" he couldn't finish. His breath became ragged.
"Carlisle!!" Bella screamed as, without thinking, she jumped out of bed and ran to her father. She was a child running to her hurting Daddy, until the thirst punched her in the stomach again.
Carlisle and Edward ran into the room before Bella could reach him. The first thing Edward saw was Bella's black eyes. In a blur, he ran over to raise the window and let the fresh air clear the room. She continued to her father's side. Carlisle was already there, assessing the situation.
"Bella, my Bella." he kept repeating, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes filling with tears.
Without hesitating, she held his hand to calm him. At first he flinched at the coldness of it, then he took it and held it tightly. "Happy." he said as a bright smile filled his face. For him, the pain went away. Even though he knew he was having a heart attack, he didn't feel it. He just kept looking at his little girl's face and smiling. But once he saw her black eyes, his face shifted to a look of puzzlement. "Bella--what? What. Happened? What?"
"We have to get him to a hospital now." Carlisle ordered. "Call 9-1-1."
"I can drive him there faster than an ambulance." Edward replied, looking down at them.
"It will be best for him to be stabilized before transport. Call the ambulance, now please."
"Already taken care of." Alice answered walking in the door. "They will be here in 5 minutes, 23 seconds."
Behind her the rest of the family filed in. Emmett stood beside the bed, his arm wrapped tightly around Rosalie's shoulders. Jasper used his abilities to try to calm Charlie down. But he knew there was only so much he could do, seeing that to Charlie, he had just witnessed a miracle.
"Help me move him downstairs, Emmett." Carlisle said. "Bella, stay here."
She shook her head venamently. "No, I'm coming with you!"
"You can't, Bella. Too many questions." Jasper reminded her easily, not wanting to agitate her more.
"But he's my father!"
"And I'll take care of him." Carlisle replied, his tone very authoritative. "But Jasper is right. If you went, there would be too many questions. I'm sorry. I truly am."
Edward held Bella as Emmett and Carlisle carried Charlie out of her room. "Bella. No. Wait. Please. Bella." Charlie called out, though barely whispering.
"Shhhh.. Mr. Swan. It's ok. Everything will be ok." Jasper comforted.
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When everyone left the room, Bella collapsed into Edward's arms. She was terrified beyond reason. He had been cold and clammy. She was scared that he was going to die.
She heard sirens in the distance and clung to Edward. Tearlessly weeping.
