Chapter 38: Rebirth

Bella's POV – Tuesday afternoon

I gulped and choked, and thought I might faint again. Ever since I've known Edward, it has been a given, a constant. He is indestructible. Now, all of the sudden, he had ten minutes – less, even – before he disappeared forever.

"What did you do to him?!" I screamed at Officer Black. Tears rolled down my face, and I cradled Edward's head close to me.

Black remained impassive. "Help me get him to the car," he instructed as if I weren't coming completely unhinged. I sat frozen. "Do you want to save his life or not?" Black asked calmly. He came beside me and grabbed Edward around the shoulders. I somehow found the strength to get up and pick up Edward's feet, even though I wanted to shriek and cry over him. Together, Black and I carried Edward to the cruiser and managed to put him in the backseat.

I couldn't help but keep count in my head. There went 30 seconds.

"Stay in the back with him. Keep him from jostling too much," Black told me as we got in the car. "This is going to be a bumpy ride." I put Edward's head in my lap, holding onto his shoulders for dear life as Black put the car into motion. He tore down the uneven road leading out from the Cullens' house at fifty miles an hour. I gritted my teeth together when my head hit the roof of the car, but I didn't say anything. The faster we got help, the better. When we finally made it to the main highway, I looked at the clock on the dash.

Two minutes, forty-five seconds.

As Black whipped out onto the road, he turned on his lights and siren, turning to the left and speeding along away from the town.

"Where are you going?" I asked, panicked. "The hospital is the other way!"

"The hospital can't do anything for him."

"But…but…where else…" I stuttered. We were now racing along at a hundred miles per hour. At least I'll die along with Edward when Black crashes on this wet highway.

"I'm taking him to my place, where he can get blood."

I didn't understand a thing, and time was ticking away much too fast. "What happened back there? Will you please explain what's going on?" Edward's pale face was still, and his entire body remained limp.

"I'll tell you when we get there."

"Why not now?" I knew I sounded like a little toddler, but I didn't care. Officer Black surely had to know that I was losing my mind, here.

"I have to concentrate on driving if I want to get there safely, and in time," he explained, as unreadable as ever.

I stayed silent, praying that Edward would come out of this alive, and that, wherever we were going, we would get there before Edward died. I thought long and hard about what might have happened, why Edward was now unconscious in my arms, and why Black knew where we were.

As we sped past the trees, all I could see was a green and brown blur. It reminded me so much of running with Edward that it hurt. Tears fell down my face, but I didn't wipe them off. I wanted to hold on to Edward for as long as I could just in case…

I tore my thoughts away from that. I couldn't bear to entertain the idea that Edward would cease to exist. Instead, I thought about the earlier events of that day. I tried to explain things to myself, search for answers to my million questions. The only thing I didn't wonder about was why Edward snapped in the first place. I knew the answer to that almost as soon at it had happened. Edward had cast-iron self-control around me, until I got too…flirty…romantic…seductive, even. He had been starving himself, and I just made it worse by wrapping myself around him, making him smell my blood. I'm sure it overwhelmed him when I got too close that way – and he'd even admitted that my blood was more potent than anyone else's. I kicked myself for being so selfish. But if he woke up…when he woke up, I knew part of me would be glad that Edward had some of my blood in him.

I felt the car decelerating, and I looked out of the window to see Officer Black driving into a tiny settlement, with wooden houses set haphazardly against the backdrop of the forest. "This is La Push," he said simply, pulling up to a tiny red house at the very end of the road. Alice had mentioned La Push when we were in Forks before, but we had never gone there. Under the gray, stormy sky, it looked downright grim. Or maybe that was just me.

Black parked the cruiser, and I forced myself to check how much time we had taken up already. Eight minutes.

I kicked the door open and ran to help Officer Black get Edward inside. I was too frantic to notice anything about the small house; I just propped Edward's head on a pillow when Black set him on the couch, pulling up a chair so I could sit next to Edward. Black left hurriedly to the back of the house, and I clutched Edward's hand as I waited. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I could all but see the sand falling through the hourglass as Edward lay there. If my count was correct, I maybe had a minute left to spend with him while he was alive.

From the back of the house, I heard a squeak and the sound of something rolling across the hardwood floor. Glancing up, I saw the strangest and most nauseating thing I've ever seen in my life. Black was pushing a cart toward the couch – a cart loaded with some tubes and medical-looking instruments…and a clear container holding a little over a gallon of blood.

The blood drained from my face and I bent over double. Without saying anything, Black handed me a paper tub, like the ones that movie theaters served popcorn in. I took it gratefully and proceeded to retch into it until my stomach was empty. I turned my chair so I couldn't see the strange apparatus that Black was assembling deftly.

"What is that?" I asked weakly.

"It's donors' blood. I have a connection with the clinic, and keep supply of it built up here just in case I do find a vampire that I want to rescue."

I failed to grasp what he was saying, but Black ignored me and inserted an IV needle into Edward's wrist.

I was floored. "How is that possible?! That can't be possible!" I shouted. How can a tiny needle pierce his rock-hard skin?

I looked at Black's face as red liquid flowed into the tube and, presumably, into Edward's body. The policeman looked at me evenly, not revealing anything in his black eyes. "Bella, isn't it?" he asked. I nodded slowly. "Bella, it's what the electricity does to vampires. It burns away the venom, and starts the heart again, like a defibrillator."

Gaping at him, I finally understood, everything clicked, and my response came out in a hoarse whisper. "You mean…he's a human again?"

Black gave a short nod, then went back to the cart to check the equipment. I just sat there, absolutely stupefied. Even as I tried to deny it, though, I knew it was true. Holding Edward's hand, I could feel that his skin was becoming fleshy and soft just like mine. It was cold, still, but not nearly the chilly temperature it had been. It was the same coolness as that of someone who was really sick…and about to die.

I dug my phone out of my pocket to look at the time. It was ten and a half minutes since we were in the meadow, so I drew a shaky breath before asking the inevitable question: "Did we make it in time?"

For the first time, Officer Black had a small, sympathetic smile. "I think so." He held two fingers against Edward's neck. "His pulse is very weak, but he seems to be accepting the blood. It's just a matter of how long it will take for him to get enough oxygen to his brain." Even as he was speaking, I could see Edward's chest rising and falling just slightly. I let out a loud sigh and put my head on Edward's human chest, crying in relief.

After a moment, I composed myself, wiping the wetness off of my face and taking a deep breath. I looked Officer Black dead in the eye. "Will you please explain all of this to me? I am…beyond confused."

Black opened his mouth to say something, but then we both heard a car pull up to the house. The front door opened, and five guys walked in – and I recognized them all. They were the Newborns. Jake walked to Officer Black, smiling broadly, white teeth blinding against his russet skin. "Hey, Dad. Heard you finally got him."

"Jake, it's good you got here," Black replied. "I need you to watch the equipment and monitor his progress. Call Carlisle if there are any problems. I have to go back to the station." Officer Black gave a hasty greeting to everyone else, and quickly left.

I stared at them all, while they made themselves at home on the well-worn furniture, chatting with each other like this was all completely normal. Jasper was the only one who looked at me sheepishly, trying to give me a silent apology.

"Jasper, where is Alice?" I asked quietly.

He glanced away. "She's…ah…still in Seattle, under the impression that I want her to put together an outfit for our album photo shoot." He gestured awkwardly. "Not that I don't want her to. Make the outfit, that is, but she doesn't know, I haven't told her where we are."

"Good." I said sternly. "Now will you please tell me what in the hell is going on here? You're all acting like this is no big deal. My vampire fiancé is suddenly turned into a human again, but he might die, and y'all are just sittin' there like nothing's wrong!" I shouted, my accent slipping into a bit of a drawl at the end. Everyone stared at me, and it was only after my tirade that I realized I had stood up. I sat back down quickly and looked at the floor.

"Easy, Bella," Jake said amiably. "We got time." He looked at Jasper. "Should I tell her or do you want to? You know her better."

Jasper shook his head. "You know more. You tell her."

Jake nodded and leaned back in his easy chair. "I s'pose I should start at the beginning."

"That would be nice," I said sardonically. I couldn't help the sarcasm; I was too frustrated, confused, and emotionally worn out to be polite.

"Well, it starts with Dad," he said, taking a deep breath for his long explanation. "He found out about the existence of vampires. Quileutes…" he gestured to indicate the entire town, "…have legends about them. Anyway, he believed the stories more than most, and did a lot of research when he was younger. He discovered that electricity is a kind of antidote to vampire venom. If you shock them in the heart, it burns away all the poison.

"So, he fixed up a weapon of sorts that could deliver the right amount of voltage and current to start the heart beating again."

"Okay," I said hesitantly. "But that doesn't tell me how this all happened to Edward."

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there," Jake said, trying to placate me. "Dad became a policeman so he could track down vampires, and kill them. See, if they don't have enough blood when they're turned human, they die from not having enough oxygen in their brains. Once I got old enough, he told me all about this, and I kept an eye out for anyone who fit the description of a vampire."

"Which is how all of us…" James interrupted, pointing around the room, "who were once vampires, are now human. We didn't like the lifestyle, so we willingly let Billy change us back."

"Yeah," Benji interjected quietly. "I don't know many vampires in the US who actually enjoy it. I sure didn't." He shuddered.

My mouth fell open, and turned my gaze to Jasper. "You…you were a vampire?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yes. And I even had the ability to affect people's emotions. Sometimes," he added, "vampires have extra abilities along with the speed and strength."

I answered numbly, "Yeah, I know." I scrutinized Jasper's face, and there was no clue that gave away what he had been. "How old are you?" I asked, suddenly intensely curious.

"I was an officer in the Civil War when I was changed. Those were some pretty terrible times."

"You're even older than Edward!" I exclaimed; my mind was blown by this new information. "He wasn't changed until World War One."

"I was actually a minuteman during the Revolution," Garrett offered, speaking for the first time.

"Yup," James said nonchalantly, "When I was turned, it was right before the Invasion of Normandy."

I looked at Benji, who followed suit. "1955," was all he said.

Jasper leaned forward in his chair clasping his hands under his chin. "You see, Bella, human governments aren't the only ones who recruit people in times of war…"

"Excuse me," Jake said impatiently. "But do you want to know how we came to find Edward, or not?"

My face reddened. The magnitude of what Jasper was saying fascinated me, and I wanted to hear more, but not until later. "Of course," I replied to Jake. "I do want to know about that."

"Where was I?" Jake muttered. "Oh yeah. Dad transformed Jasper and James, but he had to make sure they had just fed so that they had enough blood."

"But I thought you said he wanted to kill them?" I felt even more confused now than I was before.

"He did want to kill vampires, at first. But Carlisle talked him out of it."

I just gave him a puzzled look.

"When Dad found Carlisle, he was a doctor in a hospital in Portland. Dad was going to kill him, but he decided that since Carlisle was helping people, it would do more harm than good for Carlisle to die…"

"You mean Carlisle was a vampire too?" I wailed. "Is everyone in the Pacific Northwest a vampire?"

Jasper gave me a sympathetic smile. "The weather here is more conducive to being out in the daytime. They like cloud cover." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"I give up," I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "Next you're going to tell me that my Mom and Dad were werewolves."

"Nah," James said jokingly. "Werewolves like colder places. Besides, Texas is where you go to find diamondback basilisks."

"That's not funny." I whimpered.

"Shut up, James," Jake said. "Can't you see she's been through a lot?" James just shrugged. "Anyway," Jake continued, "Dad changed Carlisle, who convinced him that newborn humans – or reborn humans, whichever – should have the opportunity to live a better life. After all, how do you apply a human system of justice to another species? So then Dad found Jasper, then James, then Garrett, then Benji, and that led us to start a band together."

"And you decided to call yourselves the Newborns. Oh, the irony," I said without humor.

Jake shrugged. "It gives everyone an excuse to reminisce, and it helped Dad to have an extra five pairs of eyes looking out for vamps, which is how we recognized Edward. When you, Edward, and Alice started hanging out with Jasper, he recognized Edward at once. So we decided we could keep watch. He didn't seem to be killing unnecessarily, so Dad let him be for a while. Then he came across Edward at the scene of the shooting, and…"

"What!" I nearly fell off of my chair.

"Edward didn't tell you?"

"NO!" I shouted. Then I said more quietly, "He never really spoke to me about any of that."

"Well, it seems that Edward came across a shooting, and he killed the shooter, but he didn't make it in time to keep him from firing, and so after he disposed him, he called 911. Dad was the cop who went to investigate. Dad told me Edward had the perfect opportunity to quietly kill off both men – apparently the victim hadn't been killed, just wounded – but instead he called the ambulance and stopped the bleeding. He, in effect, saved the man from dying from blood loss, when he could have just had free food, basically.

"So Dad finally met Edward in person, and started tailing him, waiting for the right time. But he could never move in, because you were glued to Edward like dried gum."

I found Jake's joke somewhat funny, but I didn't laugh. He went on anyway. "So when you two came here, Carlisle recognized Edward, and called Dad, who came as soon as he could get away from the station."

"And he found Edward trying to drink my blood," I finished, to the collective horror of the group.

"He what!?" Jake yelled, starting forward.

I put a hand out toward him. "It doesn't matter. It was my fault anyway. Your dad even asked me if I wanted him to live, even after he tried to kill me, and I told him yes, of course." I looked at Edward's peaceful face, and I noticed his skin was the barest shade tanner. I sighed. "I couldn't live without him."

There was an awkward silence, until James announced loudly that he was going to go to town for pizza. Then everyone started shouting at him about what toppings they wanted, and I rolled my eyes. Guys will be guys, I thought.

"Oh, Bella," Jasper addressed me again. "Edward should be waking up in an hour or two, and he's going to be hungry."

"Really hungry," James added.

Jasper went on as if James hadn't said anything. "Probably for meat. So is there anything you want to cook for him?"

I looked at Jake. "Does your Dad have the fixings for an omelet?"

-X-X-

Edward's POV – Tuesday Evening

I might have ordinarily felt humiliated. But I was too overjoyed to care. All I knew was that Officer Black gave me the shock of my life back at the Cullens' house, and now I was lying on a couch in a strange house, and Bella was feeding me an omelet. She insisted that I eat before she answered any of my burning questions – like how I was so weak that I couldn't even feed myself. Not to mention how my skin was soft, how my heart was beating, how I could feel the heat of living blood rising to my face, how my vision had suddenly deteriorated, and why Jasper's band was here.

I had gathered, almost at once, that I was human again. Nothing else could explain the physical changes. But I had absolutely no idea as to how.

"Bella, please," I said, in between mouthfuls of human food, which felt incredibly odd to eat yet astoundingly delicious. "Tell me what's going on."

"No. Not until you regain some strength," she refused yet again. Since my vision had gotten blurry, if I measured by my normal standards, her face was not as clear as it used to be, but I could still see – well, sense – the relief and love radiating out of her eyes. And this is what made me so happy I wanted to dance, even though my legs wouldn't work.

I was alive, honest-to-goodness alive. All my worries about my future with Bella melted away, because now, we could live normal lives. And I wouldn't be tempted to kill her every second of the day.

Thinking about which, I felt a pang of remorse for my behavior in the field. But even that couldn't keep me down from my high. It was odd for me. I should have been overwhelmed by anger at myself, but what I felt was sheer happiness with streaks of confusion, guilt, and a bit of frustration – another indication of my human condition. I could feel multiple emotions at one time, and yet it made sense for me to feel this way.

As Bella shoved another mouthful of egg and sausage and cheese into my mouth, I chewed eagerly. In over a hundred years, I had never felt that twinge of hunger in my stomach until earlier today, and even then, it amazed me.

But now, I was absolutely ravenous. I feel like I haven't eaten in a hundred years. Even as I thought it, I had to laugh at myself. I finished the omelet, and despite my confusion about the whole situation, I started eyeballing a box of pepperoni pizza. It smelled delicious.

Bella, perceptive as usual, picked up a slice and I took a bite out of the end. I shouted in awe. "Wow! That is amazing!"

Bella smiled a laughed at my enthusiasm. "It's only the most widely accepted food on college campuses. Don't tell me you've never had pizza before!"

Even though my mother would have smacked me, I talked while I chewed another massive bite. "I was changed before it got really popular. The only time I'd ever eaten it were times when I had to pretend. I always thought it was this lumpy, chewy, greasy stuff of about cardboard consistency, but now…"

"It's still that way," Bella interjected, giggling. "I guess things don't change all that much when you turn from a vampire to a human."

I finished that slice and two more before Bella allowed me to ask questions. "How did this happen?" I asked, taking both of Bella's hands in mine. I reveled in the feel of her warm skin against my fingers. Unlike before, they didn't feel hot, just pleasantly warm.

Bella took a deep breath. "Long story short, Billy Black is a vampire hunter, and he uses a suped-up cattle prod to turn them back into humans. Jake is Billy's son, and all the rest of the Newborns are former vampires, along with Carlisle. They've been keeping an eye on you for a while."

I sat and listened to her as she expounded upon her explanation, while the Newborns were playing football in the yard outside. She and I sat together for half an hour as she told me everything that had happened while I was unconscious. Finally, I said, "I'm so sorry about what happened in the meadow. I don't know exactly what happened, but if Black hadn't come, I would have killed you. Can you please forgive me?"

She smiled softly and put my fingers over the small scab on her neck. I winced, knowing I had come that close to ending her life, and by relation, mine. "Edward, I already have forgiven you. I forgave you even as you were drinking my blood," she said quietly. "I love you too much to blame you for it. Besides, if you hadn't had my blood in your body, you would have died. And I couldn't live without you."

"I love you, Bella," I said fervently, stroking the emerald ring on her left hand.

"I love you, too."

It was all I needed to hear. I yawned, and Bella ran her fingers across my face before I leaned my head back to go to sleep. As I was drifting off, I had just enough time to realize that it was the first time in a hundred years that I would sleep, and I hoped I would dream.

And I did. I dreamt of Bella.