Chapter Thirty-Seven: Death Rattles
Bella (POV)
I was keeping my distance, making sure no human spotted me. Then I heard the tearing of metal, and the screeching of tires. Shattering glass, and the gut wrenching screams of pain and death. Without much thought I tore through the streets to the twisted hulk of metal. The Weber's smashed SUV was laying on its side at the bottom of the two-foot ditch meant for drainage. I ripped the rear door nearly off its hinges and ducked into the wreckage. I wasn't expecting the blood, it was overwhelming. But I reigned in my control and stopped breathing, which helped immensely.
Angela was sandwiched between her brothers, which seemed to be a bit of a blessing. Until I caught sight of the right side of her head. Fearing the worst but knowing there was no way she could be seen by a normal doctor, I momentarily waffled about what to do. Then as gently as I could manage, which was immeasurably more delicate then I would've been capable of as a human, I pulled her out of her seat and into my arms. I glanced at the rest of the family, debating briefly about what I should do for them.
As I was about to get out and attempt to right their vehicle, I heard sirens in the distance. I listened closely for any indication that I was being watched, but the only voice I could hear was the truck driver on his cell phone. I scanned the area and quickly located the driver, thankfully his back was turned towards me. Then with total focus on keeping Angela as still as possible, I began to run towards home. Once I reached the natural limits of hearing for anyone in the house, I called out.
"Help, I need help!" I hadn't realized how frantic I was until I heard my voice. Carlisle was there in less than ten seconds and his curious expression turned deadly serious.
"God, Angela. What happened?" He looked at her and then carefully checked her vitals.
"She was in a massive car crash with her entire family. I didn't think she should be seen by doctors, so I brought her here. I know I shouldn't have moved her, but I wasn't sure what to do." He shook his head and flashed me a soft smile.
"No, you probably did the right thing. How are the rest of them?" He was leading me back to the house at this point, and then quickly towards his office. The medical rig was still in place from earlier, and he had me lay Angela down as carefully as I could manage. Then moving at a pace that would make any nurse or doctor's head spin he went setting up Angela with every kind of monitoring equipment and intravenous tube I could imagine. She looked so broken, her face was puffy, and her lips were cracked. Both of her eyes were blackening, and her right shoulder was hanging loose from its socket and her chest was moving unevenly with a deep and scary wheezing sound escaping her every time she breathed in or out.
"Bella! Tell me everything as quickly as you can." Carlisle shouted at me, it startled me and brought me back to the moment.
"Sorry, okay they were hit on the left side by a semi-truck. I don't think they were going very fast, but the truck was moving at around forty miles per hour. The truck pushed them into a ditch and onto its side. Angela was in the back seat, wedged between the twin's car seats. I glanced at each of the others, but I wasn't sure what to do. I was almost at the point of relenting to my thirst, because there was a lot of blood. But I managed to reign in my control and stop breathing. After that I disengaged her seat belt and made sure I didn't move her neck. Then I got her out of the truck as best I could without jostling her and brought her here as fast as I dared run." Carlisle was already at work; he had her clothes removed and had set her shoulder within seconds. After that he inserted a tube into her side, between a couple of ribs and a whooshing sound was immediately heard. After that her breathing got better.
"She is stabilized for now, but I need to get her into surgery. Without x-rays I have no idea the extent of her injuries. Rose, bring around Emmett's truck were taking her to the hospital. At the very least there I can check on her family as well." Carlisle's beeper went off as he finished speaking. "Speaking of which. Bella there isn't anything more you could've done, but right now I need to make a call and coordinate Angela's travel to the hospital."
"I thought you had an x-ray machine in here?" He was picking up his office phone and then slammed it down in frustration.
"Bella, she needs to be in a hospital!" I shook my head, and suddenly I realized why he was so adamant about taking her there.
"Oh, you want to get rid of the baby." He shot me a look of minor disappointment, and then shook his head in disgust.
"No, never. She made her decision, and I will always respect her wishes. But the baby can't be the primary concern here, and at the moment that is the only reason why she isn't in a hospital right now. Precious seconds are wasting as we debate this. We don't have the time to be cavalier about her health." I squared my shoulders at him and stood my ground.
"You are forgetting that she chooses this life too. We have a solution for her right here, if she takes a turn the worse, we change her into one of us." Carlisle closed his eyes and sat down defeated. Then he picked up the phone and called the hospital.
"This is Dr. Cullen checking in. Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can." He slammed down the phone in a show of uncharacteristic anger.
"I'll do what I can here, it will never be a clean environment, but I'll do my best. If I can stabilize her I'll let her stay. Then I'm going to pull her family through this. Alice come with me, if Angela's condition changes at all call her and I'll be here as quickly as I can." He started to move to organize the room. "Esme?" He said with more meaning than just her name. My adoptive mother glided in and pulled me into a great hug. I buried my face in her chest and let myself cry, despite the lack of tears.
"I'll do what I can Carlisle, but you know that I'll need you here if anything happens." Esme was firm, but compassionate towards her husband. Then she released me. Alice and Rosalie came up next to me, and we watched as they moved around creating as sterile a workspace as possible. Within minutes it looked like a scene out of M.A.S.H., with the odd juxtaposition of a surgical area created in a normal office environment. Then he began his work, unhampered by human witnesses, what would normally have been a six- or seven-hour surgery took him only half an hour. Esme was the perfect nurse, anticipating his needs before he even asked her.
Without a word of her prognosis Carlisle was off to the hospital, not even bothering to use his car. Alice followed behind, in his car to keep up appearances, and to act as a relay. Esme took off her surgical gown and gloves, then she took the time to make sure things were functioning properly. Then she turned met my eyes, her expression lost and grief stricken.
"We caught every bleeder we could find, and her blood pressure and heart-rate are normal, so we're confidant she won't succumb to her internal injuries. Unfortunately, she suffered major head trauma and cerebral swelling. We relieved the pressure, which means there is a good chance she'll recover, if she wakes up in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. If she doesn't wake up, it means she's brain dead." Esme wasn't clinical or detached, her voice was wavering and her body trembling from the overwhelmed emotions. Rose and I both took an arm and helped her into a nearby chair, holding onto her as she continued. I looked at my friend, sister, hooked up to machines that were keeping her alive. The ventilator from Alice's vision rhythmically pumping away along with the steady beat of her heart.
"Did you check on the baby?" I said not looking away from Angela.
"We couldn't get a heart monitor to read, and Carlisle was focused on saving Angela. Assuming the child is like us, I can imagine it is doing much better than its mother. If things turn out for the worst, we can keep her alive to bring the baby to term" I pressed myself into her again and felt her reassuring hug, the kind of hug only a mother could give. It felt right, and utterly wrong at the same time.
"Thanks Esme, I don't know what I would do without all of you." Esme looked at me curiously as I said this. "I mean that I'm thankful, happy to be a part of your lives." She smiled and nodded in agreement. "Do you think that our venom could fix her?" Esme nodded again and sighed wistfully at Angela.
"Venom can reverse the damage done to her body, but I don't know what will happen with her mind. That kind of trauma, brain damage and losing her entire family. We'll need to be patient with her, she may be an incredibly volatile newborn." Esme said thoughtfully, but I could see a twinge of doubt in her eyes.
"I'll do whatever I can to help her." Rose said from across the room. She had moved next to Angela, and took hold of her hand.
"I'll help too." Charlie said from the corner of the room. I had been so focused on Angela I hadn't even heard him come in. Yet in the back of my mind I knew he had been there since the beginning watching in his bizarrely detached way. I felt guilty that my shield let me be myself, whereas he had to literally cut off the physiological process of emotions to curb his impulses.
"Are you sure?" I asked Esme, worried about the brain damage.
"I was remarkably close to death when Carlisle found me. The injuries I had sustained were worse that Angela's, so yes I'm confidant we can bring her back." Esme said with a sad smile, I wanted to know more but wasn't sure now was the time.
"Will you tell me your story one day?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes, but not right now. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that you may not be able to talk to her until her baby comes to term. I know it wouldn't survive that process." The sympathy and sorrow in her voice was hard to hear but comforting at the same time.
I hugged her one last time and headed downstairs. I felt something brewing inside, a turmoil that I couldn't describe. Then it hit me, Angela had done the exact same thing for me. She had run in to save me when no one else would, and now she was even worse off than I was. I felt a serious well of pain surging up my spine, something major was about to hit me emotionally and all I could do was fall into the couch and wait. The dry tears came so thickly that I was practically inconsolable, until a familiar and welcome arm wrapped around my shoulders. Charlie pulled me into his strong arms and held me tightly for as long as I needed to get over my crying jag. I had no concept of time, but eventually I was just content to let him hold me. I had been worried that he would always be lost to the thirst, and almost forgot that he was still my father. Sitting there, curled in his arms, not needing to move or breath I had found a peace I had never felt before.
Then my cell phone rang, its bouncy music signified that Alice was on the other end. I pulled the fragile plastic out of my pocket and answered. "Alice, how are they doing?" She stifled a sob and sniffed slightly. It was a bizarrely human sound, but it somehow sounded right for the situation.
"Mr. Weber and little Isaac are both dead. Mrs. Weber and Joshua are both clinging to life, but they are still in surgery. How's Angela, Carlisle was already busy when I got here, and I've been running into roadblocks to even get that much information." Alice sounded heartbroken, her voice was strained with emotion.
"She's unconscious. Esme said that if she didn't wake up, and soon, she probably wouldn't. I wish you were here; Charlie is an utter mess." I looked up as Charlie scowled at me, and Alice let out a sad sounding chuckle on the other end.
"Tell him I'm here if he needs someone to talk to." Alice manged, despite the obvious pain in her voice.
"I think I'm going to check on Angela, it's been a while and I've left her alone too long." I said and untangled myself from my father's hug.
"Kk, I'll be here if you need me, and I'll call if anything changes." Alice sounded almost chipper, which was easy for her to fake. But it did brighten my mood a little, which after a moment of thought, was probably her intention.
"Talk to you soon, love you." I could almost hear her smiling on the other end, and a second later there was a click ending the call. I got up and whispered a 'thank you' to Charlie who just nodded somberly at me. Then I moved quickly up to Carlisle's office. When I opened the door, I was surprised to find Rose there, cradling Angela's hand and rubbing her stomach slightly. I took stock of the room and made a mental note to thank her for being there when she didn't have to be.
"Hey Rose, how's she doing?" Rose looked up at me startled, and then smiled the warmest smile I had ever seen her make.
"Angela is pretty much the same, at least her vitals are steady. But I did manage to get the fetal monitor to read, and I have some great news." Her smile had grown even wider, and she was almost bouncing with anticipation to tell me. "Not only is the baby alive, but it isn't one baby... it's two!" I looked at Rose dumbfounded for a moment, and then I rushed to Angela's side and pressed an ear softly onto her exposed belly.
"I can hear them; they really are alive in there. Angela would be ecstatic to find out she was going to have twins." Rose and I shared a happy moment, until a strange sound broke our silent celebration. I looked up to see her blood bag empty out. "Do we have more?" Rose nodded and went about fitting another bag to the IV.
I leaned forward and kissed Angela on the forehead, "Now all you need to do is rest, and wake up if you can." We sat by her side for several hours, waiting. When finally, my cell phone rang. Both of us jumped slightly and laughed together as we realized what the noise was.
"Alice, I got some good news!" I said feeling optimistic about the future. "Tell me you do too."
"They're all gone, Angela's family is all gone. Carlisle just left destroyed. I've never seen him so upset. I'm on my way back now, please tell me Angela is awake." I have never heard Alice so distraught; it was rough to even think about her so upset. I choked back involuntary sobs and managed to get my voice back enough to talk again.
"No, but Rose figured out that the baby is not only alive, but there is more than one. Angela's going to have twins." My voice was severely uneven, broken and wavering. But Alice sounded worse and she took a deep breath and swallowed hard to recover.
"I'm going to feed before I get there, I need some time alone. That is great news, but somehow, I can't sum up the happiness. I'll be home soon; I don't suppose Edward and Emmett have checked in?" That brought up another pain that I had been blocking out. I looked up at Rose who had her eyes closed in that shared pain.
"Not yet, but I'm not worried. Our boys will be alright, I know it. Because I can't... I can't even think about an alternative." I closed the phone without thinking, the possibility of losing Edward was something that I simply didn't think about, but losing Emmett as well, without a doubt would destroy our family.
Author's Note: I was originally going to post the next Mason chapter here, but I thought I would hold off and place it where it belongs chronologically. The events in that upcoming chapter take place after this one and chapter 38 which will be a Carlisle one-off and 39 which is an Alice focused story about her own emotional journey.
Please take a moment to leave your comments on this chapter, I'm hoping the darkness of these chapters doesn't turn you off the story. This is the first week where I am dropping the chapter releases down to 2. That doesn't mean I will not occasionally publish something in between, but for now two feels like enough. I will keep my profile updated as always with updates and release dates.
Thank you for reading!