AN: Hi! So here's the next chapter. It's the first of two parts, it was originally supposed to be just one chapter but then it got over 20, 000 words and I still wasn't done, so I decided to split it and edit and post this part so you'd all get a chapter and not have to wait any longer. So with that in mind, if all of your questions aren't answered in this chapter, which they probably won't be, they should be answered in Part Two. And thank you to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter. Also, if you find the beginning of this chapter confusing at first, don't worry because it goes back to normal soon.
CH-34: The End- Part One
I blinked once.
Twice.
Three times.
There's a bright light.
I blinked and it's gone.
I heard voices…I think.
I saw the light again but it went away just as quickly as it came.
I think maybe I'm dreaming, but I don't know about what.
I felt something poke into my hand.
I think maybe someone's talking to me.
Maybe.
I don't know.
I felt heavy.
I blinked again.
One more time.
I can't help it.
I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me.
**********V**********
"Megan? Megan can you hear me?" A high female voice asked.
I think I tried to nod or something.
"Its Meg, she goes by Meg," Another female voice said, this one familiar.
I knew that voice.
It's….
It's….
Kim….
I go deeper into the darkness.
**********V**********
"Meg? Can you hear me? My names Darcy and I'm going to have to put this mask over your mouth okay? So don't worry when you feel it," The first voice from earlier said.
I tried to move my hand in acknowledgement.
"Okay, I'm putting the mask on now," Darcy said.
I felt something slide over my mouth and nose and then feel air rushing into me and to my lungs.
I tried to cough, but it hurt too much.
I blinked again and saw a blurry face hovering above me.
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
The face was still there.
"Meg, can you see me?" The face asked.
I think it's a woman.
I tried to nod, but my head hurt and so did the rest of me.
"Can you understand me?"
I tried to give her a thumbs up but the movement sent a jolting pain threw me.
I felt tears well up in my eyes.
"Are you in pain right now?" Darcy asked.
I tried to move my lips but the mask made it hard.
Darcy took that as an affirmative and then I felt a heavy sense of sleep come over me.
I blinked.
And then my eyes stayed closed.
**********V**********
The first thing I think when I come to is that I still hurt. My whole body aches, from my head all the way down to my toes. My eyes felt heavy and dry but I pried them open anyways and was met with a large white room that was unfamiliar to me. I was in a small, bed with scratchy sheets in a cold, sterile environment. I turned my head to the right and see a door, half-way open. And then to the left to see some machines, one that was making an incessant beeping noise. Gazing around at the rest of my surrounding, I concluded that I was in the hospital, but how I got here I have no clue about.
I look down at myself and see that I'm no longer in my red dress but in a blue hospital gown, one of those papery thin things that are open in the back. I also see that there's a blue cast on my left arm, going from my knuckles to right before my elbow, my casted arm is also in a deep blue sling, tied around my opposite shoulder. What the hell happened to me? I wondered. I tried to think back, tried to remember something, anything. I remembered the senior ball, then being rushed to Sam and Emily's house because of the vampires coming back, then I remember my dad as a vampire, but he's actually not my dad because my mom had an affair.
That's when I remembered the rest-
Kyle wanting to take Matt.
Me holding him to the ground hoping to protect him any way I can.
Kyle grabbing my arm.
My head falling to the ground.
Having trouble breathing.
Screaming.
Matt's little body being taken away from me.
I started to panic then when I couldn't remember anything else about Matt, I don't know if my dad succeeded and took him or what the hell happened. My heart rate increased and I know that because the beeping on the monitor got faster, but I couldn't calm down, I needed to know that Matt was okay. Someone rushed into the room, throwing the door open, I saw that it was Haley, holding Matt securely in her arms, followed by Jay and someone wearing light pink scrubs.
They all rushed over to me, but my heart was still beating faster than it should, even though I could see Matt right in front of me, seemingly safe and sound. They couldn't get me to stop hyperventilating with their calm words so they made a choice and when the nurse plunged something into the IV line that's connected to my hand, the one not in the sling and cast, I felt myself relax and then my mind got fuzzy and my eyes drooped until they were closed and I was asleep.
**********V**********
The next time I woke up I was calmer and still a little groggy from the medicine they gave me. My eyes fluttered open and closed numerous times before I could get them to stay open. I noticed that the room was now dark, with the exception of a small amount of light coming from the hallway where the door was still half-way open, sending light into the room, casting part of the room into a soft glow of yellow light. I saw that the curtains the covered the windows were now open and showing a night sky. I wondered how long I'd been here and what day it is. I shifted slightly to get more comfortable, but only actually sent pain ripping through my body, causing me to tense and stop all movement. I realized then that my arm hurt, so did my ribs, and I had a headache.
I groaned softly, the sound prompting a whimper from another person in the room. It was then that I realized someone's hand was holding mine, the one not in the sling. I looked down and saw that it was Paul. He was sitting in a hard plastic chair near the heart monitor, one arm was folded onto the bed with his head resting on it and the other gripped my hand tightly, like he was afraid to ever let me go again. I squeezed his hand gently, just wanting to move a piece of me that didn't hurt and to see if he was really sleeping or not.
Paul's head and body snapped up and tensed at the movement and he looked over at me with disbelief. Seeing that my eyes were open and that I was alert and not freaking out, I could visibly see Paul relax, before he let out a big breathe and sighed deeply. I looked at him closer then and saw that his eyes were misted over with unshed tears.
"Paul," I said softly, trying to give him a smile that probably looked more like a grimace.
Paul broke then leaning forward and pulling my hand to his mouth as he kissed it over and over again in between mumbling my name. I could see his shoulders shaking and it wasn't until I felt the moist on my hand that I realized that Paul was crying. I pulled my hand gently, causing him to look up so I could see the tear tracks on his dark, russet cheeks and confirm what I had thought before.
My boy was crying.
"I love you," I said, feeling very relieved that he was here and the he was okay.
Paul chuckled softly through his tears. "I love you too Meg, so, so much," He said, getting off his chair and sitting down on the side of my hospital bed by my hip.
I let go of his hand and brought it to his cheek and wiped away the wetness.
"God, I love you baby. You had me so worried. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't okay," He croaked, leaning into my touch.
I looked at him sadly, and blinked away tears of my own. Thinking about how I would feel if our roles were reversed, I'd probably feel about as bad as Paul did right now.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
Paul looked at me in disbelief.
"You're the one in the hospital yet you're asking me if I'm okay?" He asked incredulously.
"Umm…Yeah." I answered shyly.
Paul shook his head at me.
"I'm okay. And now that you're awake I'm even better." He told me.
I smiled at that and pulled Paul's head down, planting a soft kiss on his lips.
"How's everyone else? I mean, everyone's okay right? What about Matt?" I asked.
Paul gave me a small smile, taking my hand and intertwining our hands.
"Everyone is fine. Matt's okay too. We got him checked out by the doctor though, just in case. But they say he's perfectly fine, he just has a couple of bruises that's it."
"So…What really happened? I mean with the…" I lowered my voice, "Vampires,"
Paul looked around the room awkwardly. "They're both dead, that's all you need to know right now. Can we talk more about this later? You just woke up, I don't want to give you all the sordid details this soon," He said. I sighed but agreed.
"Well then can you tell me what the story is then?" I asked.
"Story?" Paul looked confused.
"Yeah, the one were telling all the doctors and other people, as to why I'm like this," I said, "I mean we can't tell them a vampire did it,"
"Yeah." Paul nodded. "Sam and Emily came up with a story. Said that we left the Senior Ball early to hang out with everyone else, the girls were at the house and us guys were out doing something, and someone broke into the house when you and Matt were in the kitchen, the person was shocked to see you and did all this to you," He waved toward me. "Emily, Kim, and Claire were on the porch and didn't know anything was wrong until they heard you scream, and by the time they got there all they saw was the back of some guy running away."
"Hmmm, good story," I said, thinking that nobody should find that suspicious, it sounded pretty believable to me.
"Yeah, I guess," Paul shrugged.
"What's wrong?" I asked him, knowing there's something off about him.
"What's wrong?" Paul echoed, his voice rising slightly.
"Meg," his voice was low and soft now, he leaned closer to me. "The vampire could have killed you. And I was supposed to protect you and I failed. You're in this hospital because of me. Because I couldn't protect you." Paul looked at me his eyes sad and devastated.
"Paul Tanner, you stop thinking like that right now," I said, my voice stern.
"But-," He started.
"No," I ripped my hand away from his and used it to point at him.
"This is not your fault. This is Kyle's fault. You protected me the best you could and in no way are my injuries your fault, so you better get that through your thick skull before I go all mental on your ass," I said.
Paul looked at me, a mix between contrite and amusement.
"You do realize that even if you weren't injured that you still couldn't kick my ass right?" He teased, giving me a smile.
I rolled my eyes.
"I can get someone to do my dirty work for me," I reasoned.
"Of course," he laughed, easing the tension from the room.
"But, hey wait what did you mean by it was Kyle's fault? Did the vamp tell you his name or something? Did he tell you why he was even here?" Paul asked a look of confusion and curiosity on his face. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"You don't know?" I asked, and then thought back trying to figure out how he would have known to begin with.
"What?" Paul asked, encouraging me to continue.
"Kyle was the vampire. But he was also my…dad." I told him.
Paul's face was one of surprise. He opened his mouth to speak twice but closed it when he lost the words.
"What?" Paul asked his voice on of disbelief.
"Yeah, it was my-" I halted in my explanation as someone walked into the room and turned on the over head light, sending the room to be filled with bright lights instantly. Squinting slightly from the sudden light, I saw that the person who came in was Jay.
"Meg," he breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly walked closer.
He looked ragged and worn down, wearing the same clothes I had seen him in when we left for the dance. His eyes were rimmed in red like he, too, had been crying and around his face you could see the start of a beard, he hasn't shaven in a few days.
"Oh, thank God," he said, as he leaned forward and cupped my right cheek in one hand and kissed me on my forehead.
"Hi," I said softly.
Jay pulled back and removed his hand from my cheek and pointed firmly at me, like I had done to Paul minutes before.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, do you hear me?" he said.
"I'll try not to," I said sheepishly. Jay gave me a smile then.
"When did you wake up?" Jay questioned, "This one," He gestured toward Paul, "Was supposed to call me if you woke up while I was gone,"
"Sorry," Paul said to him, smiling impishly, "I kind of got distracted,"
Jay rolled his eyes. "I bet you did. So how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"
"I'm okay," I said, "And as for the pain, only a little," It was a lie, the pain was very bad but they were already fawning over me, I didn't need anymore of that.
Both men looked at me calculatingly.
"Liar," Paul sang just as Jay said.
"You're lying,"
Those two know me too well.
"I'm okay," I insisted. "The pain meds will put me to sleep won't they? I don't want to sleep yet,"
"But Meg, if you're in a lot of pain, you need the meds," Jay said, concern lacing his voice.
"Please? I don't want to sleep, I want to stay up and talk to you and find out what happened," I pleaded.
"How about this, we get a nurse to give you the pain meds, you sleep, and right when you wake up tomorrow, if you feel better, we can have the doctor come in and tell you about your injuries and everyone else can come see you and fill in the rest of the blanks okay?" Jay bargained.
It seemed like the best I was going to get so I conceded and Jay pressed a button sending a nurse to come into my room. She smiled brightly at me, her blonde hair bouncing in her ponytail as she walked forward. Jay walked over to her and said something before she came closer.
"Hi Megan," She said, flipping through my chart that hung of the rail at the end of my bed. "I'm Paisley and I'll be your nurse during the nights, and until six o'clock in the morning,"
"Hi," I said. Paisley smiled wider and then walked over to me.
"Excuse me, I need to be right where you are," Paisley said to Paul.
"Sorry," He apologized, moving off the bed to stand a few feet behind her as she adjusted my IV drip.
"Don't be." She said to him brightly. I wondered how anyone had this much energy at night.
"So I hear you're ready for more pain meds right?" she asked.
I nodded causing a sharp pain to erupt in the side of my head, making me grimace. Seeing my face she smiled sadly down at me.
"I think we better hurry with these. It'll put you to sleep but the pain will be gone. And I'll make sure to tell the doctor you woke up when he comes to see you tomorrow," She told me, injecting something into my IV.
After she was finished with that, she smiled at me once more before pulling up another chair for Jay on the other side of me,
"You should start to feel the effects of the medicine in just a few minutes," She told me then she left.
And she was right, because a few minutes later my eyes felt heavy and I was having trouble concentrating on Paul and Jay's conversation. A moment later I was over come with sleep.
**********V**********
"Okay Meg, you ready to hear why you feel like shit?" Doctor Collins said as he entered my room.
It was mid-morning the next day, two days after I'd gotten hurt. I'd woken up this morning to see Haley and Paul at my side. I'd met Dr. Collins briefly earlier; he introduced himself then said he'd be back later to talk to me more in depth. Dr. Collins was young; maybe in his late 20's or early 30's, he was tall and lanky and had sandy blonde hair that was cut short. And he cussed.
When his interns had woken me up this morning the words that came out of my mouth were not pretty, and once I was fully awake I'd apologized, not wanting to offend anyone with my bad language. Dr. Collins had laughed as told me that he 'didn't fucking care what kind of shit came out of my mouth.' I'd laughed and since then I'd gotten along with Dr. Collins just fine.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I answered his question.
Paul squeezed my hand from where he was standing near my bed, Haley was seated in front of him in a chair and then Jay was on my other side, also in a chair, with Matt babbling happily on his lap.
"Well as you can see you broke your arm, it was a pretty bad break but we set the bone then put it in the cast and you should get that off in about six weeks. You're wearing the sling because it looks like you pulled some muscles in your upper arm and shoulder, but you should be able to get that off before you leave the hospital." Dr. Collins said, taking a deep breathe before continuing.
"Your ribs are bruised and they will be sore for a long while. When the ribs get bruised its muscle damage we're talking about and we can't do anything to fix that or speed the recovery, so it all has to heal on its own, which means that at first you'll see swelling in that area as well as bruising, and it will hurt. We're going to get you fitted for a chest wrap which should help. And I want you to ice it twice a day, okay?" He said, pausing to make sure I understood.
"Okay," I agreed.
He nodded then carried on.
"You hit your head and we think you have a concussion, we took a CAT scan and it looks good but you might have a headache or some pain in your head for the next few days. Also, you have artificial damage on your face and knees which should heal perfectly fine on its own," Dr. Collins finished.
"What do you mean by artificial damage?" I asked.
"Nobody's given you a mirror have they?" He laughed.
I scowled.
The doctor walked out of the room and to the nurse's station before returning with a medium sized hand held mirror. He gave it to Paul and then Paul held it in front of me so I could see myself.
I cringed at what I saw.
I had a black eye on my left eye and then scratches and bruises up and down that side of my face. My hair was stringy and dirty, tangled in every which way around my head.
"Damn! I look awful," I said, my shocked face reflecting back at me from the mirrors.
"And what's wrong with my knees?" I asked, remembering the doctor said something about that.
"They're just bruised like your face. You'll be fine in no time," He promised, smiling at me.
I sighed, disgusted with my looks and pushed the mirror away from me. In my peripheral vision I could see Paul frown before walking over and giving the doctor back the mirror.
"When can she be released?" Jay asked, bouncing Matt on his knee.
"We're gonna hold her for a few more days. We're still a little concerned about the head injury. We want to take a few more scans to make sure we didn't miss anything and that there's not internal bleeding or anything. The next few days after head injuries occur are critical. But if everything is fine I'm thinking she can go home early Wednesday morning." Dr. Collins said.
This meant that I was stuck her for about two more days, but on the plus side I get to miss three days of school, including today.
"Do you guys have anymore questions?" Dr. Collins asked, putting my chart back on the end of my bed.
"I have two actually," I said.
"Go ahead," He laughed.
"One, can I take a shower? And two, do I have to eat the nasty hospital food or can they bring me other stuff," I pointed specifically at Haley, causing her to laugh. But I wasn't kidding, I had to eat the hospital provided breakfast and it was terrible, no offense to Fork's hospital or anything.
"Yes, you can take a shower. You'll need to wrap your cast first and I'd encourage you to let someone help you, a nurse or your aunt, or even your boyfriend if you feeling a little rebellious," Dr. Collins joked.
I blushed, along with Paul and Jay made a noise indicating that, that was in fact, not an option. Haley just laughed at our visible embarrassment.
"Sorry, bad joke," Dr. Collins shrugged. "And as to your question about the food, you do not need to eat the hospital food, but you do need to eat something,"
"Okay thanks," I said, still flushed from his earlier comment.
"If you're up to taking a shower now I can send a nurse in on my way out," He told me.
"That'd be good, thanks," I said softly.
Dr. Collins nodded then left the room, a nurse came in almost immediately afterwards. I asked Haley if she'd help me in the shower and she agreed, sending the boys out to get me some clean underwear and some socks, the nurse said I'd still have to wear the hospital gown but now that the catheter is out I could wear underwear again.
Paul had smirked at that, and then had gotten slapped over the head by Jay. Paul apologized looking sheepish but then shot me a wink which I rolled my eyes at. I also asked them to get me some food, while they were out. I kissed Paul lightly on the lips, then Matt on his little chubby cheeks, and gave Jay a hug before they all left.
The nurse, who introduced herself as Reagan, my daytime nurse, turned on the shower and showed us how to fasten and unfasten my sling and then how to properly wrap my cast. Haley helped me in the shower and since I was still in a lot of pain it took a while with all my slow movements. I had just gotten out of the shower and dried off when the guys came back. Haley brought me back my clothes as well as a new hospital gown and after helping me dress she brushed my hair for me. When I was done the nurse came back in and she made sure we un-wrapped my cast and that I put the sling on right, I had and she praised me for my fast learning skills.
Haley walked behind me to keep my gown shut as I walked back to bed. I sat down and leaned back, letting my aching body relax on the up righted bed. Paul smoothed my wet hair away from my face then kissed the top of my head, folded my small hand into his, and then showed me the food they got. I ate the greasy food and talked to everyone until my stomach was full and I was in pain. Jay called the nurse back in and I was given more pain medicine which made me fall asleep almost instantly, Paul's hand still held securely in mine.
**********V**********
"You're so lucky," Claire said, coming into my hospital room.
I raised my eyebrows at her wondering if she was serious.
"Not with the whole being the hospital thing," She back tracked, "But with getting to miss school,"
"Oh, yeah. Lucky me. I get to miss a whole bunch of weeks of school in my last year," I said sarcastically. Claire's smile fell from her face.
"Sorry," I apologized. "I've been cranky today,"
"It's okay," Claire said.
The doctors were trying to wean me off of the powerful medication they were giving me for the pain, the one that made me fall asleep, so I'd been awake most of the day and it had been really boring. There was nothing to do at the hospital especially since they wouldn't let me walk around because it was bad for my ribs, and also kind of painful for me. So I'd been stuck in bed all day, flipping through television channels stopping on the occasional daytime soap opera or a re-run of a crime show. Paul had been here this morning but when Haley came to bring me lunch with Matt in tow she made him go home and shower and change and try to get some sleep. Paul tried to fight her but after Haley called his mom, Paul had trudged out of the room glaring at Haley. Jay went to work today and Haley left a couple hours after lunch to go home and put Matt down for a nap, and everyone else was at school like the normal people they were.
Claire and Kim had stopped by after school to come see me. Paul had earlier told me that everyone else would visit once I got home, that would be tomorrow, because they didn't want to overwhelm me here. Kim was getting snacks from the vending machine and Claire was left to entertain me.
"Anything interesting happening at school?" I asked her, hoping the conversation would make up for me snapping at her.
"Not really. Everybody's talking about you and the 'accident' though," Claire said, using air quotes.
I snorted out a laugh which jarred my ribs, causing me to let out a pained noise.
"Everything okay in here?" Reagan, the day nurse asked, coming into the room to check on me.
"Yeah," I said, "I just laughed,"
"Well then don't do that," she smiled at me.
After checking my vitals and making sure everything was fine she walked out leaving Claire and I alone again.
"So they're gossiping about me still? I guess nothing changes," I said.
"Some people are worried," Claire told me.
"Yeah? Who?"
"Tara and Abby, for one. Oh, and Alexa. They all wanted to know how you were doing," Claire told me.
"Well that's nice of them. You should tell them to stop by once I get home,' I said.
"I will," Claire smiled. "Your getting out of here tomorrow right?"
"Yep, if all goes well," I told her. My mood brightening at the thought of getting to leave this dreary place.
"That good. I bet you can't wait to get out of here," She laughed.
"You have no idea," I said seriously. Claire opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by her phone ringing.
"Hello?" She answered. "Mom? I can't hear you. You're breaking up on me,"
"The reception is bad in here. You might want to go outside to take that," I whispered to her.
Claire nodded at me and softly told me she'd be right back. She left right before Kim breezed back into the room.
"Where'd Claire go?" She asked, looking around the room confused, like maybe Claire was hiding somewhere.
"She went outside to take a phone call." I said.
"Oh. So I didn't know what kind of M&Ms you wanted so I just got all they had,"
"Which was?" I prompted.
"Regular, peanut, and peanut butter. They didn't have the new pretzel kind, I like those ones," Kim told me.
"Give me the peanut ones," I said.
Kim smiled and walked over and set the small yellow packet on my lap.
"You can't eat those," Reagan said, coming into my room once again, this time a wheel chair with her.
"Why not?" I challenged, not liking the thought of the colored shell covered chocolate peanuts being kept from me.
"You have another CAT scan scheduled soon, you can eat your candy when you get back," She told me patiently.
I sighed light, not wanting to disturb my ribs. Reagan helped me sit up and get into the chair then she told me she'd be back to get me when they were ready. I leaned back in my chair and tried to relax.
"This whole thing really sucks for you doesn't it?" Kim asked, pulling the plastic hospital chair that was near my bed over so she could sit down and be eyelevel with me.
"Yeah," I told her honestly.
"Have you and Paul talked about it? I mean what happened?" Kim questioned.
"No," I said.
"I still can't believe it. I mean even when Jared told me I still could not believe that was your dad." Kim said, still astonished by that fact.
"Yeah," I drawled.
"How'd we not know? How did none of us know it was your dad? Not even Paul or anybody." Kim wondered out loud.
"It's simple really." I told her.
"Explain," She demanded.
"None of you guys have ever seen him, I mean before this whole shit storm. I've showed you pictures of my mom and the few friends I had in Monterey, Paul too, I've showed him. But I never showed anyone a picture of my dad. He was a dick, why would I keep a picture of him around to show my friends?" I asked rhetorically.
"The only ones who could have indentified him would have been me, Jay, or Haley," I said.
It all made perfect sense to me. If they were all beating themselves up about it, then they shouldn't be, because it was not their fault. If it was anybody's it would mine for not letting them see what my dad looked liked.
"I guess, that makes sense," Kim agreed with a shrug.
"But, hey, why haven't you and Paul talked about everything?" She asked, reverting back to her earlier question.
"He says we'll talk once I get home." I told her.
"Why?"
"Are you ready, Meg?" Reagan asked, pocking her head into my room.
"Too many interruptions and people to over hear us," I explained, gesturing with my head toward Reagan, who was now in front of us.
"Oh, yeah, smart," Kim nodded.
"Its time to go, Meg," Reagan told me.
"I guess I'll see you later." Kim said, standing up. "I'll stop by tomorrow if your home."
"Okay," I said, "Oh, and tell Claire bye for me okay?"
"Sure," Kim smiled, before disappearing out the door.
"Ready?" Reagan said happily.
"Yeah, let's get this over with," I sighed.
"That's the spirit," Reagan cheered, pushing me out the door and down the hall.
**********V**********
"He never leaves does he?" Paisley, the night nurse, said as she came in to check my blood pressure.
I looked down at Paul who was slumped in the little hospital chair, his head resting on an extra pillow on the side of my hospital bed.
"He left earlier," I told her.
She smiled at me. I don't know how long Paul had actually been gone because he was here with Jay, who brought me dinner, when I got back from taking my CAT scan.
"He's just been really worried about me," I said, smiling sadly down at his sleeping form.
"I can tell," Paisley said. "I can also tell that he loves you a lot."
"Yeah?" I asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah," She nodded.
"How long have you been together?" Paisley asked.
"About ten months or so," I answered, do the math quickly in my head. Paisley nodded.
"Don't let this one go." She pointed at Paul.
"I don't plan on it," I said, running my hands through Paul's short, clean dark hair.
"Good, cause guy's like that don't come around often," She told me, "Trust me,"
"I do. I'm not letting him go. I love him a lot," I commented.
"I can see that too," She replied with a smirk when I looked up at her. I rolled my eyes.
"What are you? All seeing or something?" I joked.
"Yeah," She snorted bemused. "Now give me your arm because I can see that if you don't, we'll both get in trouble." She joked.
I scoffed at her but let my hand slip out of Paul's hair and held my arm out of her.
"Your blood pressure's good," she told me when she was finished.
"That might be the only part of me that is," I quipped.
"Not true," Paisley pointed a finger at me. "You have this one arm that is perfectly fine," her finger moved to point to said arm.
"Yeah I guess I do," I said.
"See? You doing great," She said, smiling widely at me.
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes at her.
"I'm gonna leave now. I have other more cooperative patients to attend to,"
"I'm cooperative," I remarked.
"Sure you are," She laughed. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Now try to get some sleep. It's late." Paisley told me, before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
**********V**********
"Meg? You awake?" Paul asked.
I made a noncommittal sound.
"You're awake," He sang.
I groaned and fought back a smile.
"You're smiling! I knew it your awake," He teased.
Apparently I wasn't fighting hard enough.
"Open your eyes, gorgeous," he said, leaning closer, his lips brushing against my ear as he spoke.
I waited a moment before slowly opening my eyes, I stared at the ceiling for a second before turning my head toward Paul. I was lying on the living room couch at home. I'd been let out of the hospital early this morning, I was home by noon. The CAT scan I had taken the day before came back clean, the fall I took did nothing to my head, I might have a lump and a headache for a few days but that was it. They also let me take off the sling on my arm. Jay, Haley, and Matt had showed up this morning to check me out of the hospital and take me home.
Paul would have been there too, but his mom came by early this morning, just a little after Paul had woken up, and had dragged him out of the hospital and demanded he go to school. Her argument was that I'd be getting checked out today and then going home to rest, which he didn't not need to be there for. Paul could see me after school. I assumed that's what he did because this was the first time I've seen him since this morning. His mom had been right though, I got out of the hospital and then went immediately home.
Haley helped me put on some comfortable clothes- a pair of pink, blue, and white plaid pajama pants and Paul's gray Harvard shirt. I wore that shirt because it was big and wouldn't be tight around my ribs, which were still hurting, even with me moving minimally and keeping them wrapped and icing them twice a day. Once I was changed Haley had settled me on the couch with a blanket, a pillow, the remotes, a glass of juice, and my cell phone. I had turned on the TV but I guess I had fallen asleep.
"Hi," I said to Paul, my voice hoarse with sleep.
Paul smiled, he was kneeling down so he was eyelevel with me as I laid, his arms were folded together on the end of the couch and his chin was resting on them.
"Hi," Paul said back. I smiled.
"How was school?" I asked.
"Boring. Not nearly as interesting without you there. I don't think I learned anything," he told me.
"Do even learn anything when I am there?" I laughed, wincing afterwards at the pain it caused my ribs.
"Yes," Paul said, "I've learned that you chew on the end of your pen when you concentrate. That you bounce your leg when you're nervous. And that you smile with one side of your mouth curved up just a little bit more then the other side when you finally understand something you've been struggling with," Paul finished, uncrossing his arms and tugging my lips up into a smile. I melted.
"Your like, perfect you know that?" I commented.
"Yeah, I really am," Paul said smugly.
"You also have a pretty big ego," I quipped.
"I have something else that big too," He retorted. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"You have to turn everything dirty don't you?" I said, suppressing a laugh.
"Hey," Paul raised his hands like he was surrendering, "I was talking about my truck, you're the one whose mind went to the gutter,"
"Oh, yeah right," I rolled my eyes.
"I was. My truck is huge. You're the one who turned it dirty, so don't blame this on me,"
"Uh huh, cause I totally believe you," I scoffed.
"You should, I'm totally trust worthy," Paul beamed.
I shook my head at him.
"You know this whole accident thing is totally going to ruin our sex life," I stated.
"Oh?" his eyebrows raised in question.
"Yeah," I nodded lightly, "Since it hurts to move let alone breathe because of my ribs there's no way I could get through sex. And my face is so torn up, I'm looking less then attractive right now,"
Paul frowned, then said, "Okay, first, your ribs will get better and we can have lots of sex to make up for the time we lost," I smiled, "Secondly, I don't care how bad you think you look, because to me you look gorgeous, you always look gorgeous."
I smiled at him, "I'm totally seconding the statement I made earlier about you being perfect," I said. Paul smiled.
"Oh, hey. I brought you something," Paul told me smiling impishly.
"What?" I asked excitedly.
Paul moved back a little before reaching into his jean pocket and coming back up with a black sharpie held by the tips of his fingers.
"Really?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah. That's the only good part about breaking something, you get to have all your friends sign the cast," Paul told me, nodding eagerly.
He took off the cap and gently reached for my hand and drew a smiley face on the area by my thumb. It was cute, two vertical lines for the eyes and a semi-circle for the mouth, even a little dot in the middle for a nose. I smiled.
"Help me sit up and you can be the first to sign it." I bargained.
"Isn't that what I just did?" He asked.
"Not really," I told him.
Paul smiled and stood up and helped me adjust myself so I was sitting up right on the couch. When I was settled Paul sat down next to me and took my casted arm and laid it across his lap, my upper body was leaning into his side and I rested my chin on his shoulder as he hunched down slightly.
"Don't peak," He warned before pulling the cap of the pen with his teeth, still watching me.
I sighed and closed my eyes dramatically.
"Good, now stay that way until I tell you to open then," he mumbled through the cap in his mouth.
When I heard the sound of the pen on my cast I peaked my eyes open a little, trying to get a view but a moment later, Paul glance back at me and narrowed his eyes. He spat the cap out so it landed on the couch.
"Don't make me blindfold you," he threatened sarcastically.
I wasn't totally sure if he was serious or not so I gave in and shut my eyes for real this time until he told me to open them.
"Okay, I'm done," Paul announced.
I opened my eyes and leaned away from Paul, brining my casted arm up into view. My cast went up to the knuckles in the middle of my fingers and just under that on each of my fingers, save my thumb where the smiley face was, Paul had written a letter. P. A. U. L.
My knuckles read Paul, I raised my eyebrows at him before he laughed and told me to keep looking.
I glanced back down at my hand as saw that under that he'd written 'loves Meg.' So it read- Paul loves Meg. It was cute and I loved it, so I told him so.
"I love it," I said, leaning over to kiss him lightly on the mouth.
"Good, that's what I was going for," He teased, peaking my lips once more before I pulled back.
"So what have you been doing all day?" He asked when I turned and leaned my back against the end of the couch, swinging my legs into Paul's lap.
"Not much," I shrugged lightly. "While you were going the mundane act of going to school I was sleeping."
"That sounds so much funner than what I was going," Paul told me with a nod of his head.
"Funners not a word," I pointed out.
"See? I told you I didn't learn anything at school," He joked. I rolled my eyes.
"You should have already known that. How the hell are you even graduating this year?" I inquired rhetorically with a small laugh, trying not to hurt my ribs.
"I bribed the teachers," Paul said playfully.
"Bullshit," I called out. Paul laughed.
"Meg, you're the smart one in this relationship, you just need to accept that,"
"I have accepted that,"
"Good. Now that, that's settled, what do you wanna do?" Paul asked happily, running his large, rough hands up and down my pajama covered legs, being careful to not touch my knees where I was bruised and tender.
"Well since I can't do much, I was hoping maybe we could talk?" I said after a moment, my voice small and quiet. Paul's smile faltered.
"About what?" He asked.
"Paul," I said, giving him a pointed look even though he wasn't looking at me.
"Do we have to do this now?"
"We have to do it sometime, now's better than later,"
Paul sighed again and his hold on my legs tightened slightly.
"Why's this so hard for you?" I questioned curiously.
"Its not," He argued, "Its just that…what happened…I hate it. I hate that you got hurt and that I didn't protect you and that a vampire got close to so many imprints and that he got passed us and that…that…the vampire…it was your dad. What the hell was that about anyways?"
Paul and I hadn't talked about any of this especially my dad's, Kyle's, I had to keep reminding myself that he was Kyle now, not my dad. Never my dad. We hadn't talked about the Kyle bombshell I threw at him when I had woken up in the hospital. I knew he had to be curious, so did everyone else in the pack. I was the only one who knew what happened, knew what Kyle said and what he told me and what he really did to me.
"If I tell you my side of the story will you tell me yours?" I asked, nudging him lightly with my foot.
"Yeah," Paul said.
"Promise?" I persisted.
"I promise," he copied, turning to look me straight in the eyes.
I looked at him for a moment then took a breath and started my story.
I told Paul about how worried I was for him when he dropped me off at Emily's, then how Kyle just suddenly appeared, what Kyle said about his vampire friend distracting the wolves. Then what Kyle said about being here for Matt, and then me not being his biological daughter, then what happened with him and my mom, and then how I got hurt and everything in between.
I could tell it was hard for Paul to hear this, hard for him to accept the fact that I had gotten hurt and that he hadn't been able to protect me. I could see the fire in his eyes, the anger and hatred he had for Kyle when I talked about him. I could tell that he'd probably give anything to go back to that night and have a do-over so he could protect me. But for me? I think that in the long run I wouldn't do it over.
I think I ultimately needed to hear what Kyle had to say, I needed to learn those things about myself and my mother that nobody else had told me. I needed that closure with Kyle. The one thing I could have done without though was the injuries, because those really hurt.
"Is it fucked up that I'm really glad he's not your actual father?" Paul asked when I was done.
"No," I shook my head, wincing afterwards at the small pounding it brought to my head.
"I'm kind of glad too," I told him.
"Now your turn," I said, before Paul could say anything else or comment on any other part of my story.
"You promised," I reminded him, when he stayed quiet.
"I know," He said, "I'm just…gathering my thoughts,"
I waited for a moment and when Paul turned his head down, staring at my legs and started rubbing them again, he started speaking.
"Embry sent us a text when we were at the dance, telling us they caught the scent of one of the vampire and of course you heard the howl, that was Brady. Jared and I had devised a plan a while ago if something like this would happen. He'd go help the guys and I'd get you and Kim or whoever was around over to Emily's house where you'd all wait until we got back. After I dropped you guys off I ran into the forest and phased. I caught up with the guys and they were pretty close to catching the other vampire, the one that wasn't your dad, what did he say his name was?"
"John," I supplied softly. Paul nodded.
"Yeah. We were after him. We only found his scent so we didn't really think about the other one, we just kind of figure they'd gotten into a fight and John had killed him, because the other one, you dad. Sorry, Kyle. He was a newborn, that's what we call newly made vampires. And lots of time they get killed. So, like I said, we just really didn't think much of it. We eventually got John cornered and then we killed him and burned the pieces then we ran back to Sam and Emily's house to get back to you all.
"About half-way there we caught the other scent, we all basically took off like a bat out of hell. Once we realized where the scent was leading we ran even faster, at least Jared, Sam, Quil, and I did, because we had imprints we needed to protect. We could hear you screaming once we got to the tree line outside the house." Paul paused for a second and took a deep breathe. I could see the muscles in his arm tighten and he let go of my legs long enough to flex his hands before resuming what they were doing before.
"When we got there you were on the floor," Paul choked out. "You had Matt in one arm and it looked like your dad was reaching over you, I guess to take him, but we got there just in time. We burst in and Jared and Quil were the first to get to Kyle, he was so distracted by you and Matt he didn't even smell us or anything. I was distracted by you, just the image of you one the floor, one of your arms bent around your back in a totally misshapen form. And your screams became quiet but I could tell you were in pain. Sam and Collin went around the house to look for the other girls; they were hiding in my truck. And Embry helped Jared and Quil get Kyle outside and I ran after them and helped them tear him apart.
"I was so mad. This was the guy who had hurt you; I stayed with them long enough to rip his head off before I let the rest of them have at it and finish killing him. You could tell they were enjoying it, especially Jared, who saw you too, and Leah who saw you through our mind. They wanted revenge just like me, but the image of you on the floor was still burned in my mind and I needed to get to you." Paul took a breath and then breathed it out slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly.
I pressed my lips together so I wouldn't let out a sad noise.
"I ran back inside, I was screaming you name, just trying to get back to you as fast as I could. Matt was screaming when I got there, the girls were still outside but Sam was inside with you, seeing how badly you were injured. You were quiet just letting out an occasionally whimper now and then, the EMT later said you had probably passed out. I knelt down by you and then took Matt away, I didn't want you to squish him and I wanted to make sure he was okay.
"You screamed when I did that. You screamed so loud, louder then when the vampire was over you. It killed me when you did that. I handed Matt over to Seth, I hadn't even noticed that he was there. Leah had gone with Collin, Brady, and Embry deeper into the woods to set the vamps body parts on fire, because we needed to call an ambulance and we didn't want to have to answer questions about the weird smoke coming from out backyard. Quil and Jared were on the porch consoling their girls. Sam and Seth were with me and you. Sam was calling 911 and Seth was getting Matt out of there, he didn't need to hear you screaming. And I was just beside myself.
"Your eyes kept fluttering open a little but then they'd close and I just kept saying your name over and over again, begging you to hear me, to stay with me. I was holding your hand, your good hand because we didn't want to move your head or anything else incase you were seriously hurt. And I just couldn't let you go. The ambulance came pretty quickly and they made me let go, it took Sam and Jared to hold me back when they drove away with you. Kim had to go in the ambulance with you because I couldn't fit and just bawling and yelling and...it was bad," Paul said. I frowned when I saw a tear fall down his face, my eyes started to water then, in turn.
"Once I clamed down Jared, Seth, and Leah took me to the hospital. Sam and Emily stayed to talk to the police. Kim was there, she was on the phone with Jay and Haley. You were in the ER getting fixed. I was still freaking out. Leah and Seth went and got Matt checked over, just to make sure he was okay. When they finally placed you in a room, they let Jared go see you, cause he was family, your cousin. They wouldn't let me in until Jay and Haley came and gave permission, they were your emergency contact. They told me you woke up, for just a little bit, but you were freaking out, hyperventilating. So they had to sedate you. They let me see you after that. I tired my hardest to not leave after that." Paul had tears streaming down his face and so did I.
I scooted closer to him, taking my legs off of his and sitting beside him. My hands brushing away his tears as his hands cupped my face and brushed away mine. I was crying because of Paul, not because I was sad for myself but because it was breaking my heart to hear what Paul was saying. How broken he sounded talking about finding me and not being able to see me at first and I couldn't imagine what he went through. If it had been him in that hospital, if he had been the one seriously injured, I don't know if I could have handled it.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"For what?" He asked, "Getting hurt? Because that wasn't your fault."
"And it wasn't yours either. But no, I'm not sorry for that, but for making you tell me what happened. I could tell it was hard for you; it would have been hard for me, so I'm sorry for that. For making you relive it." I told him.
"Its okay," he sighed. "You needed to hear what happened. How we failed you,"
"Paul Tanner!" I yelled. "I told you not to talk like that. This is not your fault and it never will be. The only thing you did that day was save me from being killed by a vampire. I'm alive because of you so stop dwelling on the bad and focus on the good."
"Okay," he said softly, his nose brushing against mine as his face came closer.
"Tell me you believe it? That this isn't your fault?" I whispered, lowering my hand from his face and using it to clutch his shirt tightly.
"I wish I could but I can't. Maybe in time. Just not now," Paul told me sadly.
"It'll be easier when my injuries are fully healed." I informed him. "Then you don't have this glaring reminder to look at everyday,"
"Hmm," Paul hummed softly before kissing me slowly.
Just as the kiss got too heated I was reminded of my physical predicament by a pain in my ribs and on my face, causing me to pull back sharply. My ribs were extremely sensitive to a lot of things, like breathing, laughing, and sighing. My face was still pretty bruised and scratched up though, my black eye was looking better everyday.
"Sorry," Paul whispered.
"Not your fault, remember?"
"You just gonna keep saying that until I agree with you, aren't you baby?"
"As many times as I need to, to get it through your thick skull," I said, letting go of his shirt and lightly knocking my knuckles against the side of his head.
Paul laughed and I leaned away from him, relaxing back onto the couch again.
"Can I asked you a question?" I asked after a moment.
"Sure," Paul said, turning so his arm was draped over the back of the couch and his body was facing me.
I smiled and once again put my legs over him, this time though they went over his legs then over his hip with the position he was in.
"Why's my cast blue?" I questioned.
"Wow, that was random," Paul commented, his brows furrowing.
"Not really, I've been meaning to ask someone that for a while. I just kept getting sidetracked,"
"After the doctors had gotten it casted and they came out to see us, Kim, Jared and me, they asked if we thought you'd like the color. We all basically said blue at the same time, cause its your favorite. So I guess the doctors just went with that." Paul said, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's nice. I like it, so thanks," I said.
Paul smiled and Haley came in then with Matt. She handed him over to Paul then asked if we'd mind watching him while she made us dinner, because I needed to get some sustenance in me soon. We told her we didn't mind and she left with a smile.
"Are you gonna talk to Jay?" Paul asked, tickling Matt lightly on the belly.
"About what?"
"Uh…Your dad," He said it like it was obvious.
"Kyle?" I clarified. I'd been trying to get into the habit of referring to my dad or Kyle as well, Kyle, since he wasn't actually my dad.
"No, well actually yeah, kinda. I meant are you gonna talk to him about what he told you, Kyle made is seem like Jay knew things about the affair." Paul told me, looking away from Matt and into my eyes.
"I guess I will, just not know." I replied.
"Why not now?"
"Because," I sighed.
Paul raised his eyebrows at me, silently asking for more of an explanation.
"Because…" I drawled the word out before continuing on, "last time we had a big talk it was weird and awkward for days after that. And I don't need awkward and weird right now, especially with me being hurt. I don't feel like getting into past things right now,"
"Then when is it going to be a good time, Meg? You shouldn't put it off too long, the curiosity and anxiety will eat you up," Paul warned, giving me a concerned look.
I suppressed a sigh, not wanting to hurt myself, and just looked at Paul with Matt, who was smiling as he held on tightly to Paul's pinky finger, Matt couldn't get his whole hand around any other ones. I twisted my lips to the side in thought.
"How the hell am I even going to explain things to Jay anyways? You think he'll believe me that I just somehow knew about all this shit? Or should I make up some excuse about Kyle coming back from the dead to haunt me and fill me in on my mother's past discretions?" I asked him.
"You know you really shouldn't curse in front of the baby," Paul said.
I gave him a look and he smirked for a second before looking sheepish.
"And as for Jay, he'll um…he'll understand," Paul said.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, not letting him get away with his cryptic answer.
"I mean that…Jay and Haley…they um…they kind of know about um…vampires and us wolves," Paul stuttered.
"They know?" I shrieked after a bout of silence.
"Yeah," Paul said slowly.
"How long have they known?"
"A while?" He made it sound like a question.
"Before or after me?"
"Before," Paul said, giving me an impish grin.
"What the hel…heck? What the heck?" I said, changing my wording when I remembered Matt was still around. Paul sighed.
"You can't get mad okay?" He told me.
"I'm won't."
"You already are," Paul scoffed.
"I'm not," I insisted, "I'm just wondering why I never knew this,"
"We didn't keep if from you intentionally. It just kind of slipped all of our minds. Haley's known for a while, since around the time Jared first phased, he accidently did it in his backyard once, not knowing Haley was watching through the backdoor. So we had to explain everything to her. And once she married Jay we let her tell him, which ended up coming in handy when I imprinted on you. They understand everything, which is why they're so supportive of me and you." Paul told me.
I just looked at him and listened while he talked.
"So they always knew about the imprint?" I questioned.
"Yeah," Paul nodded.
"And they know about the vampires? About what happened with my dad?"
"They know what happened to you. How you really got the injuries, not what the police told them what happened when they got to the hospital. They knew something wasn't right, so Jared filled them in on what happened when I was in your room with you."
"So they don't know about the Kyle part of it?"
"No, none of us really knew about that part until like, just now, since we finally talked about everything," Paul said, reminding me that just today we hashed everything out.
"Oh, right," I said dumbly.
"But I can tell them if you want me to. So you don't have to explain everything again," Paul offered sweetly.
I looked at him and smiled.
"When you phase, you'll replay our conversation won't you? For the other guy's to hear and know what's going on?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah," Paul answered hesitantly, probably wondering where I was going with this.
"Could you have Jared or maybe Sam tell him?" I asked.
"Why not me?" Paul asked confused, his eyes showing his bewilderment.
"Paul," I started softly, "I saw how you looked, how sad and angry you got when I talked and you talked. I don't want you to have to go through that again, even if this time your telling my point of view of all this. I don't want you to have to think about it or imagine it ever again. You'll already have to go through it once more when you show the pack, you don't need to keeping reliving it, just because I can't get up the guts to tell Jay myself," I explained.
"Oh," Paul sighed, shifting his gaze down to Matt who was curled up contently in Paul's arms. Paul's warm body was relaxing him and keeping him warm like a human blanket.
"That does make sense," Paul said after a moment. "It's kind of how I'm feeling about you. Not wanting you to have to keep going over it again and again. Its why I want to tell the pack not you. Why I offered to tell Jay, not because I don't think you can or whatever. I just want to save you from the hurt," Paul said.
I nodded in understanding.
"So, you'll have Jared or Sam or somebody tell them right?" I checked, trying to make sure we were on the same page here.
"Yeah. I'll have Jared do it," Paul said.
"Good," I replied simply.
After a moment of silence and a failed attempt at trying to find something decent to watch on TV, Paul moved to the floor to play with Matt. Paul sat with his back leaning on the front of the couch, in front of me while Matt squirmed on a little blanket in front of him. I sighed softly, contentedly as I ran my hand through Paul's hair.
"Hey, did the police ever come and talk to you?" Paul asked, turning his head in my direction and causing my fingers to slip from his head.
"Yeah," I answered.
The police that Sam and Emily had talked to came and saw me the day I talked to my doctor and learned about my injuries. The officers told me they'd spoken to Claire and Kim as well and even Haley and Jay, who were in Port Angeles at the time and had come rushing to the hospital when Kim had called them. They asked me what I remembered and thinking back to the cover story Paul told me that Emily had concocted I told them that I don't remember much. Dr. Collins later assured them that a small amount of memory loss was normal with my head injury, also since it was probably a traumatic memory my mind could have just suppressed it for now.
The police asked me what I did remember and I told them that I remembered leaving the dance to go to Sam and Emily's house, then tying to get Matt to sleep then being pushed to the ground and just trying to keep Matt safe and being in pain and that was it, the next thing I remember after that was waking up in the hospital. They nodded their heads and asked if I got a look at the 'guy who attacked me.' I told them no, that I didn't even know someone was there until I was on the ground. They wrote everything down then handed me a card and told me to call them if I remembered anything else and then they left.
"And everything went okay right?" Paul inquired.
"Yep," I popped the P.
"Good. Just making sure you didn't screw up our awesome cover story," Paul teased.
I made a face at him and lightly pushed his head. Paul laughed loudly and turned back to watch Matt wiggle on the floor. I watched them both with a smile on my face until Haley brought us dinner.
AN: So what did you think? I hope you liked it. Part Two should be up in about two days, I have most of it written I just need to add a few things then edit it. Also, in case the title of the chapter didn't clue you in, this story's coming to an end. Part Two will be the last normal chapter then will be followed by an epilogue and then we'll be done. Like always Meg's outfits are on my profile. And thank you to everyone for reading!
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