A/N: Hey look! I'm updating! I'm sorry if you just keeled over in shock :P

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To the guest who said they had never read my story because I never update – there are currently over 200,000 Twilight stories on this site. I am sorry that my own life took precedence over my story, but I am glad that you have now discovered my story!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my own characters.

Chapter 26: Heartbreak

Jake's POV

I stared at Paul in shock. He thought Maiyah was dead? How the hell did he come to that conclusion? Oh. Jared. I would talk to him later. Right now I needed to put Paul back together.

"Paul, she's not dead"

It came out as a whisper, but Paul heard me. He made a startled, whining, sound.

"Don't lie to me" he growled, before using all his strength to push me off him.

He stood snarling and shaking in the middle of the room. I held my hands up to show him I wasn't going to try anything.

"Paul, I wouldn't lie about this" I said firmly.

"You're lying" he screamed, his face contorted in pain, "you're lying to stop me from killing myself!"

"Paul, he's not lying. Maiyah is alive, I can promise you that" said Quil in a pleading tone.

Paul looked between Quil and I, his face a picture of confusion. Then he turned his gaze towards where Jared and Seth were standing.

"But, Jared said... he said... but I killed her" whispered Paul in a shaky voice, his gaze returning to me, "I heard you. You... you were talking... a funeral"

"I didn't say that. I didn't say she was dead" said Jared quickly, his face paling.

"Paul, there will be a funeral, but it won't be for Maiyah" I said, swallowing the lump in my throat, "Brady was murdered by the leeches"

I watched as the volatile wolf visibly relaxed. I couldn't ever imagine losing an imprint, but losing Brady, and almost Paul and Maiyah, was horrifying in itself. Brady hadn't deserved to die. He had been a puppet in the leeches' plan.

"Brady tried to warn us" said Paul, his voice full of pain, "he tried to tell us about them, and then they just killed him"

Paul's knees buckled and he dropped to the floor, sobs shaking his body. I immediately went to him. His emotions were everywhere right now and he needed support.

"I should have stopped them" he sobbed, "he would still be alive"

"Paul, nothing you could have done, would have saved Brady" said Quil, putting a hand on Paul's shoulder.

"I need Maiyah, oh god, please Jake, I need her" whimpered Paul.

I sighed and nodded. Of course Paul would want to see her. I just hoped he wouldn't blame himself for her injuries.

I managed to get Paul cleaned up before we left so that he didn't frighten anyone with his appearance. He was despondent and distant as Seth rang Sam to let him know we were heading out to see Maiyah. Jared and Quil tried to clear up Paul's house as best they could, but Paul had smashed so many things that piles of broken objects were just swept to the sides of the rooms.

Seth drove me and Paul to the hospital. Jared and Quil were going to see if Andrea had calmed down at all. I kept my eye on Paul just in case he started freaking out. He seemed to tense when he realised we were heading towards Forks Hospital.

"Why are we here?" he asked slowly, his fingers gripping the edge of the seat.

"Maiyah isn't very well" I said, choosing to say as little as possible while we were in such a confined space.

Paul didn't say anything else, but seemed to remember that he had been injured too as he rubbed at his chest. I had forced him to wear a long sleeved top to cover the worst of the injuries, just in case anyone asked or tried to take a look at him.

The walk through the hospital was tense. Sam met us at the front entrance and led us through the winding corridors until we reached the more secluded part of the hospital.

"Why the hell are we going to the locked wards?" ground out Paul, his jaw set, his fists clenched by his side. I exchanged a look with Sam.

"It's only to protect Maiyah," said Sam, his deep tones sounding reassuring, "so that no one can see her without permission from the Doc"

Sam's words didn't seem to have a calming effect on Paul. The wolf only seemed to tense up further, his shoulders hitched up, his nostrils flared with anxiety.

Carlisle buzzed us into the restricted area and met us at the reception desk. He looked pensive and slightly wary of Paul. He greeted us all and took us past various other wards that had locked doors and high security. I hated that Maiyah had been put into the locked psych ward, but if it was where she could get proper treatment without prying eyes, I would not argue.

"Just through here" said Carlisle, swiping a security card across the door lock to the single room.

Carlisle opened the door and stood back to let us in. Leah looked up from her place next to Maiyah, her arm wrapped tightly around Embry who didn't even seem to register the new arrivals to the room. I took my first look at Maiyah and felt the breath catch in my throat. She was barely recognisable. She looked so pale, her skin was a mess of cuts and bruises, and that was with only her arms and head exposed. Her injuries couldn't have been healing quickly, as Carlisle had put gauze over many wounds. Half of her face was bandaged, obscuring whatever injuries lay below. But what got me the most, was the number of tubes attached to Maiyah. There were many IV leads going into her arms, and worst of all, the tube that was her only hope. The life support machine whirred noisily, each manufactured breath pumped into Maiyah's lungs, echoing in the quiet room. The slow, steady beep of the heart monitor, a painful reminder of how fragile the little wolf really was.

I closed my eyes as I heard Paul choke on his screams, his rasping breaths ripping out between ragged sobs.

"I'll let you have some time together" said Carlisle quietly, silently stepping from the room and clicking the door shut behind him.

Seth was the first to move. He took cautious steps towards Maiyah, his eyes beginning to water. He reached out a shaking hand and touched Maiyah's hand. The reaction in the room was instant. Paul leapt forward and ripped Seth away from the bed, growling and snarling loudly. I had to take control of the situation.

"Paul, calm yourself down" I ordered, feeling guilty that I had to use an alpha order on him.

Paul seemed to struggle with himself before taking a few shuddering breaths and turning to face Maiyah. Embry moved suddenly, leaning forwards over Maiyah and growling at Paul.

"Embry, leave him alone" warned Leah, standing up and putting a hand on Embry's chest.

"He did this" hissed Embry, his eyes blazing.

"Embry, stop" I said, stepping forward, "Leah, take Embry outside for some air"

Leah nodded and gripped Embry's shoulders, pulling him out of the door. I was left with Seth and Paul. Seth shook his head and hurried out after his sister. Now just Paul remained. He had tears streaming down his face as he gazed down at his broken imprint. I took a seat in the corner of the room as a small way of showing Paul that he could have time on his own with Maiyah.

"What have I done?" he croaked, looking so lost and heartbroken.

"It wasn't you that did this. Blame the leeches" I said bitterly.

Paul didn't reply. He moved around the bed and dropped into the seat Embry had been sitting in. We stayed sat in silence for several minutes before Paul reached out his own injured hand, and carefully pushed a few loose strands of Maiyah's hair out of her face. He took a deep breath and, ever so gently, placed his hand against Maiyah's cheek.

"I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry" he whispered, carefully slipping his free hand into Maiyah's smaller, limp hand.

The pain in Paul's voice was like a bottomless pit; it was never ending, and for me, unfathomable. He kept repeating his words, whispering his apologies and pain. If I ever imprinted, I prayed that I would never hurt my imprint so much. I know none of this was really his fault, but it was painful to watch, I couldn't even begin to comprehend how much he was hurting. I looked up when I realised that the room was silent. Paul's shoulders were heaving with silent tears as he looked at Maiyah.

"I promise to never hurt you like this again, I'll keep you safe from everything" he whispered, resting his head next to hers and kissing her gauze covered ear, "you're still my beautiful angel. I love you so much baby, more than I can ever show you. Please come back to me, please, I need you. You're the best thing in my life, you can't leave me now, you just can't. We have so much to do together. I had plans of my own you know, I was going to wait until you were twenty one, then I was going to ask you to marry me. Even if you said no, I would ask every single day for the rest of my life. I want kids too, lots of them, and they would grow up to be just like you.

"I know you always wanted to go to Disneyland. I saved up all my spare wages. I wanted to surprise you for your eighteenth. You've got to wake up so that I can take you there. I'll make sure it's cleared with work and the pack so that no one can disturb us or call us back. I know you'd like that, meeting all of your Disney heroes. Hell, I'd buy you every stuffed toy in the place if it makes you happy! Just please come back to me, please"

Listening to Paul was heartbreaking. Every whispered word of love, every plan he wanted to have with Maiyah, every pleading word for her to wake up sounded so loud in the bleak hospital room. I couldn't take much more of it. The chair creaked noisily as I got up. Paul didn't seem to notice, he just kept talking to Maiyah.

As I walked back towards the front entrance, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Everything seemed to be going so well with the pack. But there's always something out there to knock us back.

"How's he doing?" asked Leah as I sat down with them in the little hospital cafe.

"He's talking to her" I said, nodding my thanks as Seth passed me a bottle of water.

"I should be in there" said Embry, his face pale with worry and large bags under his eyes.

"Embry, you need to rest. Let Paul be with her now" I said, taking a gulp of water.

"But she's my sister" whined Embry, trying to get out of his chair. Leah stopped him.

"Yeah and she's my best friend, but Paul is her imprint. They need to be with each other. It might help with the healing" said Leah, her words seeming to calm Embry slightly.

I looked up as Sam joined the table. He looked worn out. I knew he'd had very little sleep in the past few days, splitting his time between the hospital and his own family.

"Matt and Jenny keep asking about Maiyah and Paul. I don't know what to tell them anymore" he sighed.

That was a new problem we had found over the years. Pack children asked lots of questions about lots of things. Lily and Ryan weren't so bad as they were too young to understand much, but Matt and especially Jenny were very inquisitive and didn't miss much.

A few days passed and still there was no change with Maiyah. Paul's wounds had mostly disappeared, but there were some scars that would never go. Two jagged red lines would always remain on Paul's back and a few deeper cuts on his arms, but apart from that there was no other visible damage. He still had difficulty breathing from time to time, but never once complained. I had to alpha order him into seeing Carlisle about it. The only explanation for the problems, were a combination of the ribs taking longer to heal, and the pain in his chest that he felt for Maiyah.

Maiyah was a completely different story. Carlisle admitted that due to some fractured vertebrae in her spine, there was the possibility that Maiyah could be paralysed. The Doc was also concerned about the head injuries Maiyah had received. The likelihood of even a small amount of brain damage, was high. And that was the prognosis if Maiyah ever actually woke up.

Paul was, naturally, devastated. He blamed himself for everything. Every day, he went to the hospital and sat talking to Maiyah for hours on end until another pack member had to literally drag him out to eat or sleep.

I was waiting outside Maiyah's room almost a week after the accident when suddenly, I heard Paul shouting and he burst out of the room.

"Carlisle, Carlisle, help" he yelled before darting back into the room.

Carlisle was there in seconds and I rushed in after him. Maiyah was choking around the tube in her throat, her hands clutching the blankets and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Paul, step back please, I need to remove the tube" said Carlisle, holding his hand up.

Paul immediately moved away from the bed and stood next to me. Carlisle held Maiyah down as she tried to choke out the tube, and carefully pulled the pipe from her throat. I held my breath as he moved the machine away and turned to check Maiyah over. After an eternity, Carlisle looked up and gave us both a reassuring smile.

"She's back with us" he said softly.

I could hear Paul's heart beating at around a mile a minute. It was only now that we would know about any other problems.

I watched as Maiyah's eyes slowly opened and she stared up at the ceiling through bleary eyes. Her mouth opened and closed.

"Paul" she croaked, her voice dry and cracking.

Paul was by her side in an instant, cradling her hands, face, anything he dared to touch.

"I'm here Maiyah, everything's going to be ok now, I promise" he said, smiling brightly at Maiyah, relief evident in his voice, "I love you Maiyah"

"Love... Paul" murmured Maiyah, turning her face ever so slightly into Paul's touch.

Paul laughed through his tears of happiness. I was so glad that Maiyah had woken up. She was back where she belonged; the land of the living, and in Paul's arms.

A/N: Well, there we go! I couldn't ever have killed off Maiyah, she's like my best character ever! So I hope you liked it. I found it quite difficult to write this.

Oh and I saw Breaking Dawn Part 2 in the week... if anyone wants to talk about it, PM me... I have a lot to rant about!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yes it's that time of year again! Hope you all have a good one and get what you wish for!

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