Chapter Twenty Five: Broken
Seth and I were just ahead of the others coming from the clearing. Brady was already waiting for us with Billy. As Seth set me down on my feet the others broke through the tree line with Paul in the lead. All their faces held grimaces as Jacob groaned and cried out with every movement. I covered my mouth and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to spill down my face. I followed them inside as they laid Jake on his bed. The tears broke through when I could see the damage for myself. Along the whole right side of his body you could see some of the bones pressing out against his skin in a gruesome display of the pain Jake was in while others already held nasty looking bruises. As everyone but Sam and Billy left the room I made my way to Jake's side.
"Oh, Jake." I whispered as I brusheded his slightly shaggy hair out of his face.
"I'll be alright, Deen." Jake gasped out, cringing at the pain speaking caused.
"Of course you will be. You have to follow through with all those plans we made." I tried to smiled as I snuffed my nose and wiped at the tears on my face. Jake tried to laugh, but merely ended up groaning in pain as he clenched his eyes shut.
"I think we're going to have to postpone for a little while." Jake whispered, trying to joke.
"That's alright." I assured and kissed his forehead. It was even warmer than usual. How do you determine if someone with a abnormally high temperature has a fever?
"Sam could you get a bowl of cool water and a washcloth?" I asked. Sam nodded quickly before ducking out of the room. Billy seemed to be at a loss for what to do. He merely sat in his chair staring brokenly at his son who laid in agony on the bed.
"Billy, your presence will be needed outside when Dr. Cullen comes to help Jacob." Sam stated as he carried the large bowl into the room and handed me the washcloth. I smiled at him thankfully for the water and for giving Billy somewhere else to be.
"You're right. If you need me I'll be outside." Sam and I nodded as I soaked the cloth and rung it out before beginning to wash away the sweat and tears from Jacob's face. The cool water didn't seem to affect Jacob's temperature, but it seemed to bring Jake some relief at least.
"Why don't you join dad outside, Deen? I'll be fine until the doc comes." Jake murmured.
"You trying to get rid of me or something, Jacob Black?" I joked, but it came out a little strained.
"No, but you don't need to take care of me. I'll be good as new in a couple days." Jake tried to reach for my hand with his left, but I avoided his hand and continued to run the cool cloth across his face.
"You're right that I don't have to take care of you, but I'm going to. Now suck it up buttercup, I'm here for the long haul and you're going to have to hold for the ride." Sam chuckled from the door way.
"I'm going to step out. I'll come back in when the Cullen arrives. I nodded to Sam and he quickly ducked back out of the room. I heard the front door shut a few seconds later, the house was quiet with everyone else outside. No one seemed to be able to handle seeing Jake all banged up like this. Jacob had almost seemed to have fallen asleep when Sam and Dr. Cullen came into the house. The doctor gave me a grim smile before setting his bag on the edge of the bed. He pulled out a clear bag filled with some sort of fluid that had a long, coiled tube attached to it. He inserted an IV into Jacob's left arm and attached the tube.
"I'm giving him morphine to dull the pain. His temperature will burn it off quickly, but it should help some. I'm going to have to re-break all the bones that didn't set properly." Dr. Cullen stated as Sam and I eyed the IV and fluid.
"You may want to go outside with the others, Aideen. This isn't going to be pretty." Dr. Cullen suggested, but I merely shook my head.
"I'm staying right here." I sent a glare at the doctor.
"No one's going to think any less of you if you wait outside, Deen." Sam tried to coax, but I shook my head and leveled him with a glare, too.
"Except me. No doubt this is going to hurt and you're gonna have to hold him down. You'll be busy doing that while Dr. Cullen focuses on breaking and setting the bones right. Who does that leave to comfort him? I'm staying." I stated firmly and returned my attention to Jacob. The doctor looked to Sam questioningly, but Sam merely sighed and moved into place. He knew the only way to get my to leave was to carry me out and that wouldn't help anything.
"Let's get this over with as quickly as possible." Dr. Cullen nodded, but gave me one final glance before moving to Jake's arm. He moved his fingers around the area that a bone protruded from before he gave a quick twitch of his wrist. The bone gave a horrible snap making Jake's eyes pop open as he screamed in agony. I placed my hands on either side of Jake's head to try to pull him down while Sam grunted trying not to hurt Jake more while keeping him firmly laying on the bed.
"Jake, you have to try to hold still. Holding still will allow him to work faster and then you'll able to rest." I coaxed, gently as I drew circles with my thumbs on his temples. Jake was breathing hard as he groaned, but stopped fighting Sam.
"Hurts." Jake forced out.
"I know." I cringed as another bone was broken and Jacob screamed. The morphine was obviously not enough. When Dr. Cullen was about half way done he stopped to let Jacob rest for a minute before continuing.
"No more." Jacob whispered weakly, pleading as he looked up at me. His voice was raw from the screaming as tears ran down his face. My heart clenched with every snap and every plea for the pain to end, but I knew we couldn't stop now.
"He's almost done, Jake. Almost done. He can't stop now." I tried to comfort him, but I knew it did nothing as tears fell down my face. I kissed Jake's forehead and closed my eyes, thankfully for the short reprieve from the screaming. Dr. Cullen fiddled with the morphine bag for a second and Jacob seemed to relax a little.
"So tired, Deen." Jake whispered, his voice cracking.
"I know. Just a little longer and this'll all be over, I promise." Sam leaned his head against the wall as he too took a short break. Sweat was running down his face from holding Jacob still, he almost looked as tired and pained as Jacob. Dr. Cullen looked to Sam for the go ahead to continue, Sam nodded slowly and resumed his position over Jacob. The screaming and breaking resumed for what seemed like forever before it was finally over. More tears ran down my face in relief that it was finally over.
"It's over." I whispered, swallowing hard to clear my throat of the mass I could feel blocking it. Jake made a noise as he allowed his head to lull to the side. Dr. Cullen wrapped Jacob's side to hold the bones in their correct places to heal and replaced the bag of morphine.
"I'll come back later to with a new one and set up a drip." Sam nodded and lead him out. I stood to replace the now warm water in the bowl, but Jacob grabbed my arm.
"Stay." I kissed his forehead.
"I'm just going to replace the water. I'll be back in a minute." I stood, quickly walking to bathroom, dumping the warm water and placing the bowl under the faucet to collect the cooler water. As I waited for the bowl to fill I could hear a commotion beginning outside. I pulled aside the curtain from the window to see Bella barging up the walk to the door.
"I want to see, Jacob!" Bella shouted as Paul stepped in front of the door.
"Like hell you will." I mumbled, turning off the faucet and lifting the bowl from the sink to go back to Jacob. There was some more commotion before I heard the door slam open and Bella appeared in the doorway.
"What are you doing in here! I know you were told to leave!" I stood, glaring at the girl that was the cause of my Jacob laying on the bed broken and in pain.
"I want to see Jacob and I knew he'd want to see me." Bella sneered.
"Like hell he does! You're the reason this all happened!" I shouted and stepped closer. Bella took a step back before straightening her back and setting her jaw. She was afraid, but she didn't want to show it.
"Why don't you let him tell me that himself? He doesn't need you to speak for him." Bella spat, smirking as she thought she was gaining the upper hand.
"I believe he has. Remember the time he threw you off his property and told you he didn't want to see you again, to stay the hell away?" I took another step toward Bella, we were now completely out of the Jake's room.
"He didn't mean it. He came to my graduation party. He wouldn't have come if he didn't want to see me." Bella prodded. I smiled at her.
"Didn't you think that was a little strange? Radio silence for weeks and he suddenly shows up at your party, that he only wanted to talk to you and asked questions about the leeches hunting you? I got news for you, Bella. You were being played. I told him he should go to pump you for information that was being kept from the pack. He didn't go to the party for you, he went for the betterment of the pack. Stuff that in your peace pipe and smoke it." Bella glared at me and I smiled as her hand twitched at her side.
"Do it, Bella. Throw a punch. There's no teachers here to stop me after you throw the first punch. You'll get more than a bloody nose this time." I threatened taking another step forward as I forced Bella out of the hallway into the living room. I could see Sam and the others only a few steps away as they watched with rapt attention, glaring at Bella. Bella glanced at them too and knew she couldn't do anything. Paul was smiling as he watched. I was surprised that none of them had come barging in after her, especially Paul, he probably would have loved to haul her out of the house and throw her in her truck.
Bella gave an angry huff before she stormed passed the others and out the door. I glared after her and turned back down the hall to Jacob when she was no longer in my sight. I retook my seat and resumed washing away the sweat and tears from Jacob's face as I could hear her truck roar to life outside and leave.
"What happened?" Jacob questioned, weakly, barely conscious.
"Bella wanted to see you and she wasn't taking no for an answer." I replied.
"I don't want to see her."
"I had a feeling. Rest, Jake." I smiled, kissing his forehead as he closed his eyes again.
"Only if you join me." I chuckled and carefully shifted onto the mattress next to Jake.
"Love you, Deen."
"Love you, too, Jake. Sleep." I laid by Jake's side as he slept, relieved as I watched all the stress and pain melt away from his face. I had almost fallen asleep myself when Billy rolled into the doorway.
"I called Jack and explained that Jake was in a bike accident. Emily's going to collect some clothes from your house and bring them here. Jack said he's okay with you spending the night here to help me take care of Jake." I nodded and gave Billy a smile.
"Thank you, Billy." I whispered.
"It's been a chaotic day. Has anyone asked you how you are?" Billy questioned, surprising me. It was his son laying here broken in this bed and he was asking me how I am.
"I'm fine. Not even a scratch. It'll take a little more than some vampires to take me out." I joked, but Billy frowned.
"I know it may not seem like it, but I see you as another daughter, Deen. I know that it may not be the easiest thing to show weakness or that things like this affect you, but if you need anything, Deen, I'm here too. If you need to open up or need a way to cope, you can come to me." I gently climbed off the bed and walked over to Billy. He opened his arms and I leaned down into the hug.
"Thank you, Billy, that means a lot." I whispered, tearfully. Billy nodded and kissed my hair before pulling back.
"You should get some sleep, too. You're going to need it if we're going to have to deal with a bed bound Jake for a couple days. I chuckled softly as we glanced at the soundly sleeping boy laying on the bed.
"Yeah, I'll do that. Really, thank you, Billy." Billy gave me a small smile and nodded before he turning to roll himself back down the hall toward the living room. I rejoined Jacob for some much needed sleep.