Chapter 38:

How did I end up here?

Jacob's point of view:

Carlisle explained what was going on to Leah. I knew that she wouldn't be happy about letting a vampire cut into her brain, but I was hoping that she would have been a little more cooperative. I chuckled to myself. It was Leah. She never cooperated. Why should I expect anything different? It's why I loved the crazy bitch.

"So, if I let you hack my brain to pieces, you'll let me go home?" Leah questioned.

"After you've recovered," Carlisle nodded.

"Fully recovered," I added. "No running away two hours after the surgery." I knew Leah. And I knew that as soon as she felt well enough, she would bolt out of here and probably rupture a brain vessel or something.

"Great," she sighed heavily and closed her eyes. I wasn't sure whether she was in pain or whether she was just incredibly annoyed. "I'm in a house full of our sworn enemies and I'm going to let one of them come at me with a weapon."

So, she was annoyed. Better than in pain. When she was in pain, I couldn't stand it. Because I couldn't fix it. And like most guys, I got really pissed when I couldn't fix something.

Besides, Leah was really cute when she was annoyed. She usually got hot under the surface, so her cheeks flushed with color and her eyes glistened over and they really sparkled. I was a complete sissy for thinking that way, but her eyes really drew me in. I think it's particularly because I could read everything about her through her eyes. Leah wasn't always honest, but her eyes were. That's why I always made her look at me when I really needed her to tell me the truth.

"Sure? Why not? I let everyone else I know beat the crap out of me." She frowned and then looked at Carlisle. "Just one request. Don't kill me."

"Leah!" Seth exclaimed.

We already knew that Carlisle would blame himself if something went wrong with Leah, and I'm sure that statement didn't help matters. Great, Lee. No pressure. I grumbled silently.

"This really blows," she complained.

"That's not the only thing in this room that blows," Emmett chuckled suggestively.

"Don't you have something better to do?" I grumbled at the giant retard.

"Nope."

"Good thing the walking drugstore is here." Leah glanced at Jasper and then glared angrily at Emmett.

She bitched at Emmett for a few minutes and then she took a quick breather. It made me tense up. I wasn't used to her having to pause between insults. But I knew that she needed to get it out of her system.

Leah asked Carlisle if she could see his medical license. I knew she was joking, but Carlisle still went to the trouble of getting it to show her.

"Looks like a fake," Leah laughed.

"Speaking of fake—you planning on getting anything else done while you're under anesthesia? I mean…I'm just curious," Emmett smirked at Leah.

"You will die. You will die a very painful death." Leah threatened Emmett. She looked at me. "This idiot is not allowed anywhere near me while I'm unconscious."

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it," Emmett shrugged. "I think you're sexy. I'd totally tap that if we weren't a different species."

I finally lost control of my temper and punched Emmett in the chest. I knew it wouldn't hurt him, but I figured that it would get my message across. Leave my girl the hell alone. Leah obviously remembered something that could hurt him.

"I'm telling Rosalie," she said with a grin.

"Hell, Rose would probably join in," Emmett said. "She's always been curious…"

It was at this point that Carlisle excused himself from the room. He said something about double checking some of Leah's lab work, but I think he just wanted a reason to get out of the room so he wouldn't have to listen to the swear words that Leah called Emmett.

Leah shook her head. I couldn't tell whether she was pissed or impressed. No one had ever been able to keep up with her attitude before. Usually, I was pretty good at it, but some of the stuff that Emmett spouted out even I couldn't come up with. I think underneath it all, Emmett was just trying to help Leah forget about everything she was going through. He wanted to give her a reason to live. And her kicking his ass seemed to be what he was aiming for. And while I was thankful that he didn't want anything happening to her, he was starting to get on my nerves.

"You are a pig," Leah scoffed. "No, you are a flea on a pig."

"I don't think pigs get fleas."

"Fine, you're a big, fat-ass tick on the balls of a pig," Leah frowned.

"Nice one Dances with Wolves—or should I say sleeps with wolves?" Emmett raised his eyebrows and winked at me.

Emmett was bothering my girlfriend, making completely inappropriate comments, and being a complete dumbass. And yet...he was still less annoying than Paul.

I thought about Sam's crappy little pack and wondered how much they really knew. Sam told me something about giving Jared the Alpha position, but how much did they really know? I'm sure that Sam hadn't been completely honest with them. Because the phrase "My ex is dying because of me, so I donated some of my crappy blood to save her" would make him look like a total douche. I really needed to finish kicking his ass. I left Leah to argue with Emmett.

"Get out before I throw something at you," Leah snapped at Emmett.

"Oh no, a pillow fight. I just don't think that I can handle that much violence," Emmett laughed.

I knew I didn't have anything to worry about. Seth would be able to hold Leah back since she was injured, and I was pretty certain that Jasper could contain Emmett if he got out of control. I wondered how his mood manipulation worked. Would Jasper just stick out his hands like some creepy, mutant X-men character, causing Emmett to fall into the floor in a stupor with a big smile on his face? I would love to see that. Emmett drooling on himself would cause me to double over in laughter.

After about ten minutes of roaming the mansion, I ended up lost after making a wrong turn down one of the many hallways in this place. Some Bloodhound I was. Where the hell was my sixth sense when I needed it? Man, I would have sucked as one of those rescue dogs.

"Follow me to safety. I won't let you down. I…wait a second, where am I? Crap. Do I make a right or a left here? Hmm…have I passed that tree before? Sorry, looks like you're going to die out here after all. But on the plus side, I have a ball we can play with to pass the time!"

"I am a loser. A loser with no sense of direction." I grumbled to myself. Finally, I ran across Carlisle. Edward was with him. They were doing some kind of experiment with Leah's blood. It was a very distinguished smell. I am so weird. Most guys can't SMELL their girlfriend's blood…

I saw Edward look at me. Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that. He'd inhaled so much of Bella's scent when she was human that I'm surprised the leech wasn't on a permanent high. I laughed. Would that be the next drug craze? Sniffing blood? All the little druggies in high school would be hiding out in the stalls and huffing a vial of their crush's blood with their buddies.

"This is from the chick that sits in front of me in Biology."

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and then looked at Carlisle. "Is that Leah's blood?" I knew it was. But I wanted to know why he was experimenting with it. Was there something else that he wasn't telling me?

I sniffed the air. I cringed when I smelled Sam's blood. I had wanted to shed some of his blood today, but not like this.

"Hmm? Oh, yes." Carlisle looked up from what he was doing. It looked like a science lab in here. "I just need to run a few more tests before we can do the surgery."

I frowned, "I get that this is necessary, but is it safe to keep cutting on her like this?"

"Time is of the essence here," Carlisle said.

And now I felt like Leah's assumption that we were turning into a crappy medical TV show was mostly correct. Who said that kind of stuff in real life?

Carlisle darted out of the lab to do something else…probably medically.

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't want to be standing in the room with the guy I hated the most in this world. Well, maybe Edward had moved down on the list. He had helped save Leah's life. Plus, Sam was number one on my shit list at the moment. Even if Leah did go and do something crazy like forgive him, I never would. He could donate every damn organ in his body to save Leah, and I would still want to watch him die.

"You hate me less than Sam Uley? I'm flattered," Edward said dryly.

And that's why I hated Edward so much.

Stay in your own mind, fucker.

Carlisle dashed back in the room to grab something else and then disappeared again.

I shook my head. "Does he do that a lot?"

"In this house, we all do," Edward admitted.

I looked to where Carlisle had disappeared to. It's a good thing that he was a vampire that never needed any sleep. Because I don't think that even twelve cups of coffee could keep me from crashing if I was doing half of the work that Carlisle was doing. The poor guy couldn't even escape from work in the comfort of his own home.

"So…does he ever work at the hospital anymore?" I asked Edward.

"Usually he works night shifts." Since the freaks never slept. Edward rolled his eyes at my thoughts and continued, "But he's taken a few days off."

"Ah, so we interrupted a vacation. Leah will be so pleased," I laughed.

"Carlisle just felt that in order to treat Leah properly, he needed to be here."

And that was downright impressive. That is why I didn't have a problem letting Carlisle treat Leah. He had more heart than any human I'd ever met.

"He cares a great deal about others' well-being," Edward nodded in agreement.

"And apparently he's got excellent self-control. If I was the one taking Sam's blood, I would have drained him dry." The asshole deserved to die. Speaking of which…where the hell was he? He'd just donated blood. Did Carlisle just give him a Band-Aid, a cookie and some juice, and then send him on his way?

"Sam did leave after he donated the blood."

Did I ask you for your input? I growled in thought. I paused and then asked, Where'd he go?

Now I was asking him for his input.

"He said something about doing some tribal research," Edward shrugged. "He didn't say much else. And his thoughts were a bit cloudy from the blood loss."

"You knew he was woozy, and you let him leave anyway?" Damn, Edward did have a vengeful side.

"As you so kindly pointed out, he did come after my daughter," Edward said. "I am even less comfortable with him here than you are."

I guess I would just have to finish kicking his ass later. Maybe I would get lucky. Maybe he would be so dazed from donating blood today that he would get lost and collapse in the woods. I grinned at the thought of Sam stumbling around the forest drunkenly and asking a tree for directions. If he did pass out, maybe a rabid squirrel would tear his ear off.

"I'm sure Leah would be amused by that." Edward smiled at my thoughts.

Again with the thought invasion?

I frowned at Edward, "Why don't you go annoy your wife?"

"Believe me, I would love nothing more than spending time with my wife and child. But I know that Carlisle needs help here. And seeing as how Emmett basically slept his way through med school while I actually studied some medicine, I would say that I'm more capable to assist Carlisle."

"You went to med school?" Wait, Emmett went to med school? God, I would be horrified if that crazy psycho was my doctor. I could see him doing rhinoplasty and giggling to the patient, playing a game of "whose got your nose?"

That's something I didn't know about the leeches. I always knew that they had been through college several times—because they had no lives and were immortal. But medical school for vampires?

"We've all actually studied it at one point in time," Edward said. "Of course, we didn't all graduate. It was mostly pre-medical studies. Actually working on humans is out of the question. Carlisle is the only one with enough self control…"

That would suck to have a vampire for a doctor. Well, one other than Carlisle. I pictured Blondie in the ER completely losing control of herself after some idiot teenager came in with a cut on his head from a skateboarding accident.

"Uh, yeah…I'm a dumbass who wasn't wearing a helmet while I jumped on a board with wheels down this really steep incline..."

I could see Rosalie's eyes going red with hunger and rage, "Must suck the blood off of this little moron's head!"

"Dude, I must've hit my head harder than I thought. This blonde bitch is sucking on my face…"

I could see why none of them would have made it through the actual hospital rounds with all of those injured, bleeding people. As far as I knew, Carlisle is the only one who'd never had human blood. I'm actually not sure how half of them had managed to stay around Bella when she was human. She was a total klutz. Always hurt and bleeding. Yet, none of them ever slipped up and bit her…though there was apparently one close call with Jasper.

And for such an asshole, Edward always seemed to control his thirst when he was with Bella before she turned.

"So, why didn't the perfect Edward Cullen choose to become a doctor and follow in his daddy's footsteps?" I sneered.

"Well, first of all…look at me."

Why? Are you trying to make me sick to my stomach? Looking at him always made me want to throw up.

"Would you want to be treated by a seventeen-year-old physician?"

"I wouldn't want to be treated by you, but not because of your age. I just wouldn't want to be treated by you because you're a douchebag."

"I studied the more psychological aspect of medicine."

"You're a fucking shrink?" I gasped. Actually, that was kind of brilliant in a way. A psychologist's job was to get their patients to talk to them honestly. No one could lie in their thoughts. Edward could have made a shitload of money doing that. But instead, he was wasting his time repeating high school over and over again. What a moron. Maybe he just got off by watching all of the little girls swoon over him like idiots.

"Oh, that Edward Cullen is so dreamy. He's so mysterious and brooding. I MUST have him…"

"No, ladies. I'm off limits. You see, I'm an evil creature that spends all of my time reading romance novels, playing classical music and pieces by Elton John on the piano, and glittering in the sunlight. I am a monster…"

"Oh. My. God. I want you MORE!"

I was convinced that today's society was breeding all of the girls on the planet to fall in love with the most ridiculous asshole in the world. I still didn't see what Bella saw in him. Of course, that was probably a good thing. Because if I did, then I would be a gay dog.

I saw Edward flitter his eyes in irritation, but he managed to stay on the subject.

"Psychology is one of my many degrees." His mouth twitched into a dark smile. "And, as a psychologist, I must say…your gender confusion and idealization of me could just be your way of subconsciously dealing with your homosexuality."

God, you're a dick. I growled in thought.

"Notice how you said the word 'dick'? Now, why do you think that is?" he smirked.

No wonder you annoy the shit out of me. I hated therapists. My dad insisted on taking me and my sisters to one when our mom died. The crazy psycho bitch made my sisters cry and then called me emotionally disturbed. So I picked up her box of toys she had in her office for kids and started pelting her with her stupid little finger puppets. "You can put this on your finger and shove it up your butt!" I exclaimed as I threw the last puppet at her. Rachel and Rebecca never did tell me what it is that she'd said to make them cry, but that didn't matter. Because we had just lost our mother, so that "protective" brother stuff started to kick on. And even though I was younger than them, I still wanted to take care of them. I never let my sisters see how much I really missed my mom. But I did miss her. A lot.

I didn't realize how silent the room had become. Edward was still working on something for Carlisle.

"I am sorry to hear about your mother, Jacob. She's in your thoughts a lot."

"Stay the hell out of my thoughts," I snarled. These were not images that I wanted to share with anyone, let alone the dicksucker…I mean…bloodsucker. I looked at Edward. "Why are you even here? You hate us." Especially me. I frowned at Edward.

"We have not gotten along in the past." He stated the obvious. "But over time, I like to think that we've come to grow and understand each other."

"Did they teach you that load of crap in psychology?" I snorted.

"Anthropology," Edward shrugged.

"Whatever. I know you still hate me," I said.

"As much as you irritate me, I do feel gratuitous for everything you have done for Bella," Edward admitted. "Though you did it for Bella's sake, you were there when my wife was slipping away. I am only trying to return the favor." He shook his head. "Though I will never understand why—Bella still speaks very highly of you." I could see that that annoyed him. I grinned smugly. "You were everything her best friend could have been."

That stung me, because I knew that the relationship between me and Bella would never be the same again. I still loved her because she was my best friend, but it was hard for me to see her as a vampire. I knew that she was happy with Edward and Nessie…no matter how incredibly fucked up her life was now.

I still couldn't believe that she was a leech. But I guess that's one of the things that helped me let her go. After she changed, I really didn't see her in the same light anymore. But I promised her that I would be her friend no matter what she was. She could have turned into the offspring of a snail and a cockroach, and I'd still want to be her friend. Besides, if it weren't for her, I probably never would have admitted my feelings for Leah.

After I revealed to the pack that Bella was a vampire with a child, Leah had blown a fuse and run off. I was bitching about her immaturity. Bella is the one that caught on to how much I cared about her.

"She had the freaking nerve to tell me that I was unhappy." I'd snarled to myself. When I explained to Bella what was going on, I saw something in her eyes light up. "Great, what'd I say to piss you off this time?"

"She only said the things she said because she cares about you." Bella tried to smile through her discomfort. Was she…was she jealous?

"No. She said them because she's a bitch."

"Jake, you always were terrible at reading signals." Bella shook her head and looked at the ground. I saw Emmett laughing at me from across the room.

"What are you talking about?" I'd asked.

"Dude, the she-wolf is so into you," Emmett laughed.

"How would you know? You don't even know Leah," I'd frowned.

"Don't have to. From the way you talk about her, you're into her too."

"All we do is fight," I'd grumbled.

"Makes the make-up sex even better," Emmett grinned.

"Emmett, do you think you could refrain from talking about that right now? Renesmee is in the next room." Bella scolded Emmett.

"So…you and my brother are allowed to boink while your daughter is in the next room, but I'm not allowed to say the word "sex" because she might be within earshot?" He had a point. Where was the logic in that?

I saw Bella fuming. But she didn't get the chance to say anything to him. Edward had stomped in...all dad-like...and folded his arms across his chest. Emmett just stared at him. Edward pointed to the front door.

"May I have a word with you outside?" Edward grumbled.

I'm not really sure what happened after that, but I'm pretty sure that Emmett got thrashed because I heard him cussing at Edward.

"C'mon man, it was just a joke! Ow, Edward…stop! You suck..." He had to add, "...on your wife's boobs…" There was a loud crash. After a moment, Edward came back in and disappeared into the kitchen again.

"Are you really happy with—that?" I glanced into the kitchen where the angry little vampire had gone. That stuffy, uptight, overbearing, overprotective, controlling jackass? So, I was a little bitter at Edward.

"You find love in all kinds of strange ways." Bella had smiled at me and taken my hands in hers. I shivered. She was so cold. She pulled back after a moment and then stiffened up. "I'm not the person you should be having this conversation with. You should find Leah."

"For the last time, I do not have feelings for Leah Clearwater!"

Bella silently glanced at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"You care about her," she had said. I'd scoffed at that at first, but as I let it fester, I realized that maybe Bella was right. "You just haven't been able to see anyone else since me, have you?"

I really hadn't. Though I'd told Leah that I let Bella go the day she gave birth to Nessie, I think the actual moment that I was able to let her go was at that very moment. At the moment that I realized that I actually cared for Leah more than I cared for Bella.

I loved Leah. And it wasn't until I was losing her a week ago to the vampire venom that I understood just how much she actually meant to me. As storybook as it sounded, I don't think I could live without her.

I stared at the floor as Edward watched me moping.

"Jacob, Carlisle is very good at what he does," Edward said reassuringly.

"Unfortunately, not good enough." I heard a voice from behind me. Carlisle had snuck back into the room at some point. "We might not be doing surgery after all."

Crap. What was wrong now?

A/N: Had to go back and revamp this chapter a bit. A lot more mistakes slipped through and a lot of my wording was off (somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning, words stop making sense to me). My apologies. Life has been hectic lately. Hopefully the chapter is less confusing now. And thank you guys for responding with all of your votes for the ending. I hope to surpass your expectations.