A/N: To all of my treasured readers out there, I want to start this long overdue chapter tonight with an authors note. So, here it goes, in all the time I have been writing for Fanfiction, I've never written a chapter where my chest is so heavy with the palpable anxiety in the air as I am doing right now. It's hard to take a deep breath with all the chaos surrounding us at every turn these days, but somehow writing is a comfort to me and I hope that reading this chapter will prove to take your mind off things. If only for a little while. I went back and forth on whether or not to incorporate the current events of our time into this plot and in the end, I decided it could add to the overall storyline without feeling too heavy for you my valued readers. So with all that being said, I want you to know that I'm always here if any of you need someone to PM just to talk to. Also, I will be diligently working to put up three more chapters between now and Sunday, so look for those to be posted. Now on with the chapter.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
(BPOV)
We secured one of the last remaining flights to Maine and by the time we landed, I was already full of a nervous energy that made my heart pound and my skin crawl. The airport was so overwhelmingly packed, you could barely move around all the many people jammed between terminals and waiting in endless lines that went on forever. Everyone was engaged in their own separate conversations and the madness made it hard for me to draw in a breath. It was pure chaos. There was shouting and swearing. Grown men throwing fits at the front desk over not being able to get a flight out. Never before had I seen such pandemoneum. What the hell was going on? How had this happened so fast?
I'd only been gone a few weeks and everything felt turned upside down.
"Bells, this way." Jake called from beside me, his hand slipping through mine as he tugged me out of the crowd and toward the exit. "Come on."
Clarissa had been a real trooper through it all, and I inwardly cringed at the thought of her being exposed to all these people, the mass of them large and with us not knowing just what we were dealing with here and who was most susceptible to it's harm. The only calm that came to me was from the knowledge that given Jacobs genetic makeup, he'd passed some of that healing ability onto his little girl, and that gave her an extra line of defense that worked in her favor. I could only hope for as much.
"This is freaking insane. What the hell."
"Stay close." Jake hedged to me in reply.
It was dark when we finally made it to my quaint home on Swan Lake, the untouched pile of mail at my door making me sigh heavily when I picked it up and rifled through the endless bills. I unlocked the front door and tossed my bags down as I helped Jacob inside with Clarissa and their things.
"Your phone is ringing. Again."
"I got it." I quipped, reaching in my Jacket pocket and answering Tina's fifth call.
"Have you landed?" She worriedly asked.
"Yes, we just got to the house. I have to unpack and-"
"You don't have time for that. Get in here." Tina argued, her stressed tone evident.
"Alright, I'll be right in."
Jacob looked toward the empty fireplace and gestured to the logs stacked next to it, his gaze briefly lingering on Clarissa in her carseat before he hunkered down in front of it.
"I'm sorry, it's been a while since I even used that thing. I know it's freezing in here."
"It's okay, Bella. I'll get it going. Should put off some heat before too long."
"Thank you. Tina needs me to go in right away. She's been saying it's getting bad there. They need help. I hate to leave you already-"
"I understand."
"There's still some food that should be good in the fridge and pantry. I'll stop at the market before I come back and get some things. I'm really sorry."
"Don't be. They need you. I get it. Clarissa and I will be just fine here." Jake sincerely replied.
"Thank you for coming here with me." I softly stated, seeing him turn my way with a nod.
"I wanted to be here with you. Thank you for letting me come. I know it was last minute and all."
"To be honest, I'm really glad that you're here. I'll be back soon. Feel free to make yourself at home. What's mine is yours. You know that."
He offered me half a smile and a wave then, as I headed back out into the cold and quickly drove to Pen Bay.
I wasn't all the way in the door before Natalie saw me coming and nearly dropped her clipboard and came running my way. The emergency room was plum full. Shoulder to shoulder with people who all wore masks and looked anxiously in our direction.
"You're here! Thank goodness."
"What the hell is happening!?" I exclaimed, whirling around to see her wide eyed stare as she thrusted a clipboard into my hands.
"These are all check ins and the number is quickly growing! Bella, the whole damn state is threatening to shut down. It's some strain of a new virus and everyone is panicking. Our rooms and beds are already eighty percent full and there's many more still waiting to be seen! Dr. Niles is in trauma room one with a head wound and four of the other scheduled nurses have called out from this. We are more than just a little short staffed."
Her hurried explanation made my head spin as I dropped my things behind the nurses desk and got to work.
"We're doing a quarantine on grant four!" Dr. Niles declared from behind me then. "Nurse swan is good to have you back. Thanks for coming in on such short notice."
"Of course. Where do you need me most?"
"Stay here in the E.R. and start charting as many of these patients as you can. We've been keck deep in this for four days now. Its only getting worse. Do what you can." He replied, before rapidly disappearing down the hall with his critical patient and the team of nurses following right alongside him.
I saw one patient after the other, assessing their symptoms and doing the needed swabs for testing of influenza on nearly all of them. The charts were stacking high and I struggled to keep up as we got more buried with every passing hour. By the time dawn broke, I looked to an exhausted Tina as she jogged my way after another drop off.
"You made it! I'm so glad to see you here! You have no idea." She sighed, wrapping me in a hug. "I've never seen anything like this."
"We need to keep our heads about us, Tina. Panicking won't help anyone. Especially the patients who need us most. Have you even eaten in the last twelve hours?"
"No, but I probably should. I just haven't had time." She admitted, pulling me aside. "Listen, Bella. We brought in two more animal attack victims this morning. One of them didn't survive."
I paused with the half filled out chart in my hand and met her alarmed gaze.
"Another one?"
"Yeah, guy poor didn't stand a chance. Whatever attacked him, went for the jugular first. His fiancé is still in critical care. She may not make it. They were the last of the hikers on that mountain."
I tried to form a response but couldn't find the right words. The sinking feeling in my gut grew worse when she got another call to head back out in the rig. I reached out for her arm before she could sprint for the bay.
"Tina, be careful out there. Things are maddening right now." I warned her.
"I will, Bella. See you in a bit. Good to have you back. Did Jake come with you?"
"Yes, he's at my house with Clarissa. Hopefully, he's comfortable. I didn't give him much time to adjust before leaving."
"I'm sure he's okay and that he understands. Watch your back in here. People are acting crazy."
I watched her signal to her shoe in partner then, who looked more scared than some of the patients in here right about now, as he followed her out into the awaiting ambulance.
"Excuse me?" A small voice then spoke from behind me.
"Yes?" I replied, looking to the middle aged woman with blood smeared heavily across her sweater. she looked dazed and confused as she glanced around the ER. "Ma'am? Are you alright? Have you been hurt?"
"No, I-I- I think I'm in the wrong place- Do you know where the coffee shop is? It used to be just down the street." She stammered, turning her head as the blood dripped down her face from the deep gash above her temple. "Can you help me find it?"
"Why don't you come over here and sit down with me?"
I took her by the hand and sat her down on one of the empty stretchers that lined the hallway, my eyes narrowing to get a better look at the gash she had.
"What's wrong with me?" She worriedly asked.
"Take a few deep breaths for me. What's your name?"
"Jennifer Simmons." She calmly stated to me in return.
"It's nice to meet you Jennifer. My name is Bella and I'm going to help you find what you're looking for. Just as soon as we tend to that gash first. Can I ask what happened here? Where did you get this?"
"My husband has a bit of a temper. It's not his fault, really." She timidly explained.
"I see." I replied, firmly swallowing down the stomach churning acid from the anger that made my skin flush from it. "I'm sorry to hear that. Did he hit you, Jennifer?"
"No, I just lost my balance. I do it all the time."
Her sudden change in story made me note her confusion as I stitched her wound and hurriedly ordered a CT for her.
"We can sit in here and wait for the doctor to come in. He'll check you over and then we can take a closer look to be sure we're not missing anything. Do you know what year this is?"
"Yes, it's um... well-..." She struggled.
"It's alright."
"I know I'm all mixed up."
"We all have those days." I assured her.
"Are you married?" She thoughtfully inquired while I placed the last few notes in her chart.
"No, I'm not married."
"Well, if you were then you would know how men can be difficult. I was taught from an early age to do what I was told. I just didn't think love was meant to be this way."
I drew in a breath and turned my head sharply in her direction at the sound of her quavering tone.
"Jennifer, we have people here who can talk to you. People who genuinely care and who would love to help you."
"I've heard that before." She cried and I handed her a tissue. "You don't understand. Men are not easy to please."
"Does your husband do this a lot?"
"No, and I've already said too much." She sighed, getting to her feet and grabbing her coat.
"Wait, please. You don't have to leave. The Doctor will be in shortly. I assure you." I replied.
"It won't do any good, but thank you. I hope that when you find love one day, it won't look like this for you."
She didn't bother to say anything else as she left despite my offer to help her. There were parts of this job I hated and this was certainly one of them.
