Chapter Fourteen

Carlisle

With Darius' help, I had managed to get Bella away from the forest alive but she was certainly not out of danger. Colliding with Emmett was akin to having a stone wall fall on you and for a human that was often fatal and if not then catastrophically harmful. Even without an X-ray machine it was plain that most of Bella's ribs were crushed and it seemed likely both her neck and spine were damaged and that was without all the internal injuries she had obviously sustained. The fact she lived to reach the hospital was nothing short of a miracle, we were pumping blood into her as fast as we could and even then her pressure was dropping, she was bleeding internally and needed emergency surgery if she were to have any chance whatsoever of a recovery.

Unfortunately although it would have been far safer to call one of my colleagues to assist me with the surgery along with a theatre team I couldn't without some background story and there just wasn't time to fabricate one so it would be down to Rosalie and myself to save her life if we could. Anesthetics were out of the question, she was far too weak to take it, so it would be up to Jasper to keep her deeply asleep while we worked to stabilize her.

Luckily the others weren't far behind, having run all the way but now I had to get Bella from the helicopter into the private operating theatre I had managed to book at a moment's notice. Even then eyebrows had been raised when I said I was bringing in my own medical staff for the procedure. Only the fact that I had paid for most of the facilities in the building allowed me to get away with such things and I was relieved when we finally shut the doors and were alone with Bella.

Rose agreed reluctantly to help me and only then after I had shown her the full body suits we would be wearing. I had acquired these after hearing about Bella's peculiarities, usually, they are worn by doctors dealing with such infectious diseases as Hanta virus or Ebola but they were perfect for our needs. While Rose arranged and took the Xrays I picked up supplies of plasma and whole blood hoping we would have enough.

As it was Bella crashed on the table four times and I really thought we had lost her at one point but something in this delicate form wasn't going without a fight and she rallied if only weakly. Jasper stood leaning back against the door safely out of the splash zone watching my every move intently while Rosalie and I fought to repair the damage Emmett had wrought on the frail human body. I suspected that she must have some vampire in her genes, just enough to prevent her death, and only with the help of our surgery, otherwise she would have bled out in the clearing.

By the time we were finished and Bella cleaned up, stitched, and bandaged I was almost confident she would survive but her recovery would be long and painful. Whether she would ever walk again was something I couldn't tell nor if her blood loss would lead to permanent brain damage even with the help of the vampire genes but Rosalie and I had done all that we could, the rest was up to her. With drips in place, an oxygen supply, and still deeply unconscious care of Jasper's gift we moved Bella into an ambulance and drove her back to the house where I had my own state of the art facilities which Esme and the others had prepared ready for their special patient.

We disrobed very carefully and showered meticulously before going back, the slightest amount of Bella's bodily fluids were fatal, we couldn't take any chances and the blood and other samples I had taken were locked in a special cooler for the journey. Any tests and examinations would be done under strictest hygiene rules. I had never had a patient who could cough and kill me before and found the idea rather daunting but at the same time, it was also highly interesting.

I was fascinated to find out what had caused Bella's peculiarity. I didn't believe it was a gift, this had some biological root and I would find it but first came Bella's welfare and a part of that would be finding out her origin. Had she been kidnapped? Were her parents still alive? Did she have any living relatives at all? How long had she been a "guest" of my friend? And of course, why? Why had he taken her if not for this toxicity and that wasn't the reason or he would have been prepared for it, found a way to contain her. There was much more to this story than I had been told, I had barely scraped the surface yet.

Once home and in her room I went to speak to the others leaving Rosalie and Jasper to watch over Bella and found Darius had been on the phone.

"He rang while you were en route home, apparently Peter has been on the phone wanting to know what's going on with The Major. Darius didn't know what he meant but according to Peter, Jasper was involved in something dangerous and Peter knew Darius knew something about it."

I rolled ,my eyes, my friend would not be happy at the thought of more people knowing his secret but keeping Peter Whitlock in the dark would probably be even more dangerous. He wasn't going to take "don't worry about it, it's all under control" for an answer.

I explained that no one was allowed into Bella's room unless fully dressed in a decontamination suit and accompanied by Rosalie or myself,

"It's just too dangerous, besides once we allow her to wake up she's going to be disorientated and frightened without seeing too many strangers around her. Esme will start cooking for her as soon as she is strong enough to eat and Jasper will keep her calm."

"What exactly is going to happen to her? Once she's well again? I mean do we have any idea why she ended up where she did or why she is so determined to kill vampires?"

"Not yet, but we will, I'll be looking for answers to those questions very soon but let's make sure she'll pull through first."

Rosalie

Bella looked so frail, so very fragile and I wondered how she had survived so long killing member after member of our species. Looking into her white face I wondered what had turned her into a female Van Helsing, what had happened to her and why was she at least a little vampire in her own makeup? How was it possible to be part vampire? And how could she be part vampire yet deadly to all vampires? Carlisle had said that she could turn a vampire human again, a wish I had long ago abandoned and even here there was a sting in the tail. I could become human once more but I would also age to my human years which in my case would mean I would die of old age in the space of minutes or hours and die in excruciating agony too.

I glanced over at Jasper who had remained silent since we wheeled Bella in here but hadn't taken his eyes off her. It had been the same in the operating theatre, he seemed mesmerized by her. I supposed it could be the effort of keeping her deeply unconscious, I had very little experience with his gift although of course I understood it. Sometimes I wondered if he would ever find a companion, he was always so aloof, so quiet around strangers although within the family he could joke and rough and tumble to equal Emmett.

When he and Alice had arrived at the house declaring they wanted to learn to live like us I had thought they might be mates, they seemed relaxed in each other's company and fond of each other but then Alice and Edward had met and I knew immediately that the two were meant for each other. I hoped one day to see the same spark between Jazz and a woman but so far love had eluded him.