Chapter 11
Jacob POV
"Meet us back at the house in an hour Jacob and give Grandma Inola our best" Sam said.
"Yep will do Sam".
The pack meeting starting in an hour and it was an important one because this would be Colin's first one. He had phased as soon as I got back to my Aunt Connie's after sitting with Paul, so he's had 2 months to train and learn to fight. I must admit, my little cousin wasn't so little anymore. He was filling out! Who knew 13-year olds had that much muscle hiding inside? I was making my way to Grandma Inola's house just to keep Paul updated on what was going on with the pack. It did feel strange talking to an unconscious body, but I knew he could hear me, wherever he was. And I thought strongly that my theory was correct, and he was indeed stuck in the spirit world. The only problem was trying to get him to come back to his body, which we were still trying to figure out. We had spoken to Old Quil and he thought Paul was also stuck in the spirit world, as there have been written accounts of such things happening in our past.
How were we supposed to get him back if none of us knew how to spirit walk? We weren't born with the ability to do it, for obvious wolf reasons. Grandma Inola thinks that ever since our ancestors were born with the shifting gene, we had no need to travel back into the spirit world for tribal protection, since they could now do that in this world.
So why could Paul do it and how long had he been doing it for? Surely he would have mentioned something to us. Unless he didn't know what he was doing.
I knocked on Grandma Inola's door "Grandma, it's me, Jacob" I let myself in, to save her the journey. She was sitting at the table, staring into the fire.
"Hello Jacob, dear, how are you?" she asked.
"I'm good Grandma, how are you holding up?" I sat myself down in the chair opposite her. I was boiling hot sat next to this fire. Add that and my insanely high body temp, I was surprised I hadn't melted.
"As best as I can dear, as best as I can"
"Has there been any change at all?" I asked, with high hopes. I knew what her answer would be before she said it, but I always hoped for the better answer.
"No dear, nothing at all"
"Is Bella in there?" I asked, gesturing to the room where Paul was.
"No, she's at a, uh, friend's house, you know, hanging out after school-"
"-a friend's house? Which friend?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. I was curious which friend Bella was hanging out with, because the last I hear, she didn't want to hang out with her Forks' friends at all.
Grandma closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the chair "Oh what was his name? Edward I think-" her eyes snapped open and she turned to stare at me "-oh my, uh, did I say Edward? Silly me! I meant to say Angela, you know the dear that always picks Bella up for school. Jacob, where are you going?" she called out, but I had already left.
Why the hell was Bella suddenly hanging out with vampires? What was she playing at? Did she not know how we all felt about that? Not only us, but Paul. He hated them. He wouldn't want his imprint around those bloodsuckers, and I was going to stop it, right now. I followed her scent to the treaty line just as I saw a silver Volvo pull up with Jerk-ward inside with Bella. She was laughing at something he had said, and it was making me frustrated. Did she think our treaty was just a joke? Did she think we weren't enough for her?
"See you later vampire" she said, closing the car door. I was grinding my teeth, trying to control the urge to phase and go after that bloodsucker.
"What's with you?" she asked as she approached me.
"Why the hell were you with him?" I asked, through gritted teeth just as Edward drove off.
A look crossed her face which told me angry Bella was coming. Her eyes were getting wider and her jaw was set.
"Okay. First, don't take that tone with me. And second, I'm doing it for Paul-"
"-oh what? You think Paul would want you consorting with vampires?"
"I'm not doing it for a joke Jacob! Carlisle Cullen is the doctor we need! You know we can't take Paul to a hospital! Carlisle is the only doctor that knows about the wolves, he said he can help-"
"-oh I bet he did-" I couldn't stop myself from retorting. I was plain pissed off.
"-he wants Paul to go to his house so he can monitor him there-"
"-you may be imprinted to him Bella but there's no way in hell I'm letting my pack brother move in with a bunch of blood sucking-"
"-I'm done Jacob. You can be the friend that talks about helping him and I'll be the one to actually help him" she said, and without another word, she stormed off back up the road.
What did she think was going to happen? Whisk Paul off into the hands of our mortal enemies and what, magically fix him and wake him up? Did she not know that spirit walking was tribe business only? Vampires could do NOTHING for him!
I ran into the woods and phased. My wolf was mad that one of the imprints would even think that vampires could help someone from our tribe. I ran all the way to Sam's. He deserved to know what Bella was doing, but maybe after the pack meeting. I saw Sam's house come into view, so I phased back, threw my shorts back on and walked into the house to see most of the pack already sat around the table with snacks. Colin looked so small compared to the rest of us, and I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. My kid cousin didn't ask for any of this, I guess like the rest of us.
"Hey little cousin, first pack meeting! How are you feeling?" I said.
Colin let out a nervous breath "I'm still trying to get used to all of this. I thought I'd have to drop out of school and everything but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be" he said. School had gotten a lot easier for us. With the new patrol schedule and help from Mr Newick and Principal Myers, we were finally getting our grades back up and making time for study. Colin was a good kid, and a straight A student. At first I thought I'd have to tackle Sam and tell him not to put him on the patrol schedule, but so far, Sam's been pretty good about it. He understands Colin is younger than the rest of us when we first phased, and this is a lot for him to take in. So he's only scheduled Colin in for a couple of patrol shifts, just to tail whoever else was on shift to help him learn the routes we take and what needs to be done during patrol. He seemed to be getting the hang of it too, though he got tired faster than the rest of us.
Sam quietened us all "Okay, let's get the meeting started. Colin, this is your first meeting so before we start, I'll just highlight a few things these meetings are usually for. So, we usually try and hold pack meetings every couple of months or whenever we need to, depending on what we pick up during patrol, and it's a time for the pack to get together as one, because you'll be surprised how separated you guys get once you're on different patrol schedules. But I want to officially welcome you to the Pack Colin, our new brother!" Sam clapped Colin on the shoulder as we whooped and hollered.
Sam continued "Now we all know we've had nothing in terms of scents and personally I find that both frightening and relieving. But, with that being said Colin, it'll make training you up a whole lot easier for us, so when the time comes and a vampire comes onto our land, you can help defend the tribe, like we are all born to do. Colin, do you have any questions so far?"
"Yeah, why is the lack of vampire activity scaring you?" he said.
Sam sighed "You can see it all the time in nature. A scent that was once prominent and strong suddenly disappears overnight and doesn't reappear for months? We can't be sure of course, but we have to be ready for some sort of attack, because that's what it feels like to me. You all know how often we were picking up vamp scents all over the reservation and now they've suddenly disappeared? It can't be a coincidence. I think somewhere out there, there are nomads planning an attack on the tribe, biding their time. It's what I would do if I were wanting to attack somewhere-"
"-what so you think the nomads will attack the tribe? -" Embry asked.
"-it can't be ruled out Em, we've got to think of the worst-case scenarios because we have to be ready for anything".
"It's what I would do if I wanted to attack somewhere" Jared added and the rest of us agreed. It was the perfect attack plan. Lay low to throw off the scent and then attack when your enemies guard was down. It was smart, and if it was going to happen, we needed to be smarter to defeat them.
"Sam, this is serious. If what you're saying is true, we need to start preparations. Even if they don't attack and we're just being over the top, it's always best to be ready" I chimed in.
"You're right Jacob. The Easter Holidays are coming up soon and I've devised a training schedule for all of us, I'm sorry that this has come up but at this point, the lives on this reservation are dependent on us. I'm going to have a word with your Principal so he can understand why you won't be going to some of your classes over the next few weeks. But don't worry- " he added, seeing the look tat crossed my face "-I'll make sure to schedule in study time for all of you and I'll have your schoolwork sent to you so you don't miss anything. Is that okay with everyone?" he asked.
"Yep, that's cool with me" I said.
"Yeah, we'd better get started as soon as. Colin still has a long way to go before he's ready to take on a vamp" Jared said.
"How am I going to learn how to fight without any vampires to practise on?" he asked.
"Don't worry Colin, we're all trained up enough to teach you basic fighting manoeuvres" Sam reassured him, though I wasn't too sure that would be enough. Colin was right. Sure, we all taught ourselves to fight but fighting the vamps came naturally because of the gene. But Colin was the youngest to phase in history, I think. Wouldn't that make him more vulnerable?
"Okay, get yourself some food and we'll talk more about the training schedule" Sam said, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I knew Sam was doing the best he could, but we didn't know if there was going to be an attack at all.
But I knew someone who would know.
Edward POV
Paul was much worse than we initially thought. He was skin and bones, and even as a vampire, I knew that wasn't normal for the wolves. In the 2 months that he'd been in the coma, his body muscle and fat had completely vanished. His face was sallow, and his eyes had sunken in- classic signs of dehydration. But even Carlisle couldn't understand why the coma had made him use up his fat stores and taken his muscle. It was as if someone were using them up and because Paul was stuck in this coma, he couldn't replace what was being taken. We had him set up in Carlisle's examining room and I was currently sitting with him until Carlisle got back from the hospital. He had gone to get supplies that he didn't have here.
"You know Bella's description of him was a lot kinder than what's in front of us" Rosalie said from behind me. I had to agree with her.
"I find it fascinating though, don't you?"
"Why would I find this fascinating? It's just another patient-"
"Yes but he isn't fully human. I mean the guy shares half of his soul with a wolf-"
"-don't tell me you don't have a problem with this Edward. I know you wanted Bella-"
"-don't say wanted as if she's property I can just take, Rose".
"Fine. You desired her. If you're feeling like a romantic. Why her anyway? What's so special about her?" she asked with bitterness.
"I don't desire her; I just feel calm when I'm around her. She's the first person I've met that I can't hear, and it's just nice"
"You can't hear her thoughts?"
"Not at all, and I don't care for the reason why, I'll take it the silence without complaint".
Rosalie was the first sister I had, but that wasn't Carlisle's intention at first. He thought I was lonely and needed someone to spend the rest of my days with, however many of those I had. But I never saw her in a romantic way, and she held her bitterness towards me for a long time after I rejected her. Until she found Emmett. She thinks it's romantic that she found her true love, but I don't think Emmet would agree, I didn't think the bear agreed either.
"Where's Alice and Jas?" I asked her.
"In the mountains. I told them not to come back until they're not tempted-"
"- I doubt they'd be tempted by his blood. Have you smelt it? Ugh, revolting"
"I know, but you know what Jasper is like, if it wasn't for Carlisle being here, I think he might just have had a piece out of Paul already, no matter what his blood smelled like" she said. An alarm on the monitor starting beeping rapidly and Rose was there in a flash to examine it. She cursed under her breath before taking an oxygen mask and placing it over Paul's mouth and nose.
"What's happening?" I said, going to take a look at the monitors myself. His oxygen levels were dropping fast, I mean really fast. This is what you would see in a marathon runner that keeps on running without taking a breath. This was dangerous.
"His oxygen levels are dropping, but I can't understand why. It's like his body is constantly on the move or something-" she checked his pulse and wrote something down on a chart "- and his heartbeat has got worse since coming here. Honestly, is it a good idea to have him here?"
"He's better off here than rotting back in La Push".
"I hate to agree with you, but he wasn't going to get any better in that hovel, I mean they live like that?" she said, turning her nose up.
"Rose don't offend their way of life" I scolded her. It was an annoying and rather disrespectful habit of hers, constantly comparing others to herself.
"Well it wasn't healthy for him to be stuck in that house for a whole 2 months in this condition, I mean look at him Edward, he's skin and bones. There's nothing to him" she pulled the blanket off of his body and it was clear to me she was absolutely correct in her evaluation. Even if Paul did wake up, he'd have a long recovery period. I doubted very much he'd be able to walk for a while let alone phase into his giant dog.
"Have you seen this?" I asked her, holding up Paul's heart report. She took it from me and held it up.
"Edward, this is not good. He should have come to us sooner-"
"-yeah but look at this-" my words were drowned by an ear-splitting alarm coming from the heart monitor.
"Oh God-" Rosalie said.
"Is it-?"
"Call Carlisle! He's having a heart attack".
Jacob POV
"Sam, I really need to talk to you about Paul".
He stopped walking and turned to face me. The meeting had just ended, and I knew he was late picking Emily up from her parents' house "What about Paul, is he okay?"
"Listen, Bella met with the Cullen's-"
"-she what? -"
"-you heard me. She met with the Cullen's. She wants the doc's help for Paul and she said the doc wants Paul at their house so he can keep an eye on him there-"
"-well that's not going to happen. Not whilst I'm Alpha-"
"-I thought you'd say that. We need to go to Grandma Inola's right now and talk to her about it, because if Bella has arranged this with the Cullen's, I don't think she's told Grandma about it at all".
"Uh, okay, hang on, just let me call Em".
I didn't want to believe it of Bella, that she could be this… this selfish. Did she honestly think we didn't care about Paul? Asking the vampire doc for help was the last thing we would ever do, but she seems to think it's the greatest idea in the world. Grandma will agree with us, she has too.
"Emily's dad is going to drive her home. Let's go" he said and we ran straight to Grandma Inola's house. When we got there, I knocked on the front door and heard her voice carry through the bolted door.
"Who's there?"
"It's Jacob and Sam, Grandma. Can we come in?"
"Oh, very well. But not for too long, it's getting late you know-" she unbolted the door and held it open for us "-you should be in bed sleeping!"
I sniffed the air. Something had changed. I couldn't smell Bella in the house at all and Paul's scent was fainter than the last time I was here.
"So should Bella" I said, and Grandma sighed.
"That girl has been through enough these past few months without you two checking up on her whereabouts-"
"-Grandma, we promise we aren't doing that, I just can't smell her in the house-"
"-that's because she's at her father's house. She thought she had been neglecting him even though I told her she was being silly for even thinking-" Grandma stopped talking when she heard Sam coming out of Paul's room, with a look of total fear and anger.
"Grandma, where is Paul?" he asked. Grandma closed her eyes and shook her head, battling with herself. I held a hand up to Sam and told him to wait outside. It wasn't fair of him to startle Grandma like that and make her upset, no matter what she's done.
Once Sam was outside, I knelt down and took her hands in mine "Grandma-" I waited until she looked at me "-she's taken him, hasn't she?"
Grandma Inola nodded.
She next spoke with a voice thick with emotion "I've lost my son, my daughter and finally my husband. I will not lose my grandson too. Please don't be angry with me-"
"-don't talk like that, I could never be angry at you Grandma. Never ever. But why did she do it?"
"Jacob, you're an intelligent boy. Paul cannot go to a hospital, if they found out what he was, they'd start running all sorts of tests on him and it would be the end of the secrecy. This doctor is our only hope of bringing my grandson back, you have to understand the urgency dear. If we left Paul lying in that bed any longer, he would die-" at that word, I dropped my head and squeezed my eyes shut but Grandma's hand comforted me "-he would have dear, Sue said it herself. Without proper treatment from a qualified doctor, he will die".
I thought for a while on what she said. Being angry at Bella's decision to involve the Cullen's had suddenly dissolved. I couldn't be angry at Grandma Inola. She was obviously worried enough to involve vampires to help Paul and if Paul died because I refused help from Carlisle, then I'd never forgive myself. I didn't think Sam, or the others would either.
We were a Pack, and we did anything to protect our brothers. Even if it meant involving our enemy.
"If it's alright with you, it's alright with me too. I could never live with myself if he died" Grandma kissed me on the forehead just as an idea formed in my head.
"Tell you what, why don't I stay here with you tonight and then we'll go and see Paul first thing in the morning, how does that sound?"
"Oh Jacob, I think it sounds wonderful. You can take the spare room; it's all made up".
"Shall we have some tea before bedtime?" I suggested and she smiled and patted my cheek.
"Such a good boy" she said. I got up and started on the tea. I should probably call my Dad and tell him I'd be out tonight.
"Jacob, would you mind tucking me in tonight? Paul usually does it and I can't sleep without being tucked in" Grandma called from her seat. I smiled to myself.
"Of course I can Grandma" I handed her tea and sat down next to her.
One thing was for sure, without Grandma Inola in our lives, we'd all turn into monsters. Real monsters.
Bella POV
We had just arrived at the Cullen's home and were rushing into the house. Carlisle's wife, Esme, greeted us at the door and after hurried introductions, took us to Paul.
Oh Paul. He looked even worse in this light! He'd lost even more weight since bringing him here.
"Carlisle, how is he doing?" I asked with a shaky voice. Sue put her hands on my shoulders, grounding me.
"We've stabilised him for now, but you must know Bella, he has suffered a heart attack-"
My heart stopped "- a heart attack?!-"
"-yes. We're guessing this isn't his first one either. He has to have oxygen around the clock now and we're giving him regular aspirin IV to keep the heart from going off the rails again-"
"-but, but I thought his body burned off the medications?" I asked.
"He would be burning the medications off, with his normal 108 body temperature. Right now, he averages around 89 Fahrenheit, so he is actually hypothermic, but we've got him on a heating mat so our goal at the moment is to get his body temperature back up to what is should be, and then hopefully his metabolism will return to normal and the heart attacks should stop"
I was screaming on the inside. Why didn't we get him here sooner? We had failed him! The people he needed the most right now, the people he needed to take care of him, and we couldn't even do that properly! He had been having heart attacks back at the house.
If he gotany worse, I'd never forgive myself.
"What are his chances?" Sue asked and I let out a sob. I couldn't, I wouldn't think about it. If Paul died because of our sloppy neglect back at the reservation, I couldn't go on. Not without him.
"The aspirin is doing a good job at keeping his heart rate steady and the heating mat is slowly starting to improve his oxygen intake, but it's too soon to take him off of the oxygen and if that fails, we'll have to intubate him" he said solemnly, and Sue squeezed my shoulders hard.
"Thank you for what you're doing sir-"
"-please. Call me Carlisle" he said, and Sue smiled thoughtfully.
"Bella, how about you go and sit with Edward in the other room. Sue and I can take over for a little bit, if that is okay with you of course?" he asked Sue.
"Of course it's okay. I've told the family I was working tonight" she said, and started rolling her sleeves up. I, however, was trying to get my breathing under control. Was it possible to give Paul some of my breath?
"Bella?" Edward's voice said from behind me. I followed him out of the room, with a backward glance at my Paul, who probably didn't even know where he was.
Where was he? Was he in this very room right now, but in the spirit plain?
"Come on Bella, I'll make you some hot chocolate" he said, putting a gentle hand on my back. I let him lead me to the couch and sat down.
"This is all my fault Edward".
He handed me a mug of hot chocolate "How can it possibly be your fault Bella? If anything, you've saved him-"
"-saved him?! I almost killed him! The whole time he was lying helpless in that bed at the house, having heart attacks and turning hypothermic-"
"-you wouldn't have noticed the symptoms Bella-"
"-but I should have! I'm his imprint! I should have noticed!" I put the hot chocolate on the table in front of me and started to cry. The tears had been a ticking time bomb ever since we first put Paul on the gurney to get him here, but now, seeing him in this state, and knowing part of it was my fault – I hated myself right now. Trying to be as normal as I could and hanging out with my friends at the movies all the while Paul was slowly dying! How selfish had I been?
"Bella. You've made the impossible, possible. You delivered Paul into the hands of his mortal enemies because you thought it was the best thing for him. You brought him to us and in doing that, you've saved his life. It's no good thinking about the 'what if's'. The most important thing that you need to focus on right now is that Paul is getting better, and he truly is. Sure, he's on oxygen now but that's nothing we can't handle. And looking at him now compared to the mess he was in when he arrived, there's definite improvement. But his weight loss and the heart attacks, that's not down to you. Wherever Paul is right now, he's using his body's energy, warmth, and muscle, which is why he's lost all of that weight. It's nothing to do with neglecting him, okay?"
"But what about the heart attacks? Why are they happening?" I sniffed, wiping my eyes with my sleeve.
"His body is under a lot of strain; it has been for months. The heart attacks were caused by a lack of oxygen in his blood, there was no way for you to notice it, not unless you were a qualified doctor"
"I just can't stop thinking about the worse-case scenario".
"Looking at him right now, I can tell you the worst-case scenario is he'll wake up and be in a wheelchair for a while. He certainly won't die, not now. He's getting the treatment he needs, it's just a matter of finding him-"
"-finding him?" I asked, looking at him.
"You said you believe Paul is spirit walking. I think you're right. It seems to me that Paul is stuck in the spirit world, and if he can't come back on his own, then someone needs to go and find him and bring him back that way-"
"-wait, that would work? If one of the guys could spirit walk and find him, they could bring him back?" I asked desperately.
"it's possible, but it would also require one of the wolves to have to ability to spirit walk, or to learn quickly. If he's stuck there any longer, the damage to his body might be irreversible".
After that, Edward insisted I drink my hot chocolate and get some sleep, with the promise he'd wake me if anything happened to Paul whilst I was sleeping. Esme led me to a guest room down the hall from where Paul was, and I entered the room to find a brand-new bed in the centre of the room.
"It was Edward's idea. He said that you would need to sleep so we went and bought this for you-"
"-you didn't need to do that! I would have been happy on the couch" I would have been happy sleeping on the cold tiled floor in Pauls room, but I didn't mention that to her. After waving off my many excuses, I finally relented and climbed into the bed. It was really cosy, and I found myself drifting off in no time. The talk with Edward had soothed me somewhat. I no longer blamed myself for Pauls condition, because like he said, there was no noticing it from the outside. I was a mere human after all. I'd save the superpowers for Paul – when he woke up.
"Goodnight Paul, I love you" I mumbled sleepily into the air, like I did every night without fail. A cold evening breeze blew in from the window and circled me, and I suddenly felt comforted. I was asleep within seconds.
Paul POV
"Goodnight Paul, I love you".
I stared at her beautiful face as she drifted into a deep sleep, wishing desperately that I could hold her. I leaned into her face and pressed my lips against hers, hoping she could feel me, hoping she knew I had never left her, not once.
"Goodnight Bella. I love you too" I whispered into her ear and I watched as a small smile crept onto her sleepy face.
I left the room and wandered around the halls. Where was I? Wherever it was, I'd never been here before. I could hear talking from a couple doors down the hall, and as I entered the room, the usual shock that greeted me on seeing my lifeless body hooked up the machines, didn't arrive this time. Instead, I rose up into the air and circled the room, watching as Sue and the doctor vampire tried started doing chest compressions on my body. I rubbed my chest, wanting to feel something. But I felt nothing here. I never felt anything. Because the thing was, I was alone. I had been for a long time and I didn't know how long this was going to go on for. My Mom and Grandpa had completely vanished. I had given up calling for them; I knew they'd not come back.
Because I knew that wherever my Mom and Grandpa were now, it was a much better place than here. Being stuck in this hell.
Listening to Bella cry over my body's condition broke my heart. I didn't hold any sort of anger or frustration towards her for turning to the Cullen's for help. It was the most logical thing to do, seeing as I couldn't go to a regular hospital. She hadn't given up on me, but I had given up hope that I'd ever return to my body.
"Mom, you there?" I tried again, and I was met with the usual silence. But I kept hope that she was still here somewhere, that maybe she wanted to see how I could cope in this world on my own. If that's what she was doing, I was about ready for her to come out of her hiding spot now and help me. I was getting desperate.
But returning to my body meant I would never see her again. I couldn't let her go. Not again.
"Sue, can you check his vitals? I'm going to start up some more TPN in his IV line" Carlisle said.
"Do you think the TPN will help with his weight?" she asked.
"I'm certain of it. This is the best I could get my hands on, I'm almost certain he'll start gaining weight once his body has got used to this new nutrition".
Listening to the two people I'd never thought would work together to save my life was touching. We had always been told to fear the Cullen's, never get to close to them and to be ready to attack them if they ever came onto our lands. The treaty was originally made to protect our tribe. The Cullen's never came onto our lands again. They stuck to the treaty when they have the strength and the power to override it If they wanted to. I knew Carlisle knew how important our traditions and our culture was to us, and seeing him now, trying his best to keep me alive. I felt proud to be able to watch this man save a life. Save my life.
I left the room and went back into Bella's room. I climbed onto the bed and simply led next to her, not touching her. I didn't need to sleep here but being close to her was the only comfort I got. This was the only time when I had her all to myself, and I couldn't even be around to enjoy it.
I heard her and Edward talking about getting one of the guys to learn how to spirit walk to come find me.
I hope they did it soon because I wanted to come home now.
A/N: A couple of POV's in this chapter but I hope it made a good read! For anyone wondering, TPN is short for Total Parenteral Nutrition and it's basically a big ol' bag of nutrients that can give everything a human being needs to survive, without having to eat.
I hope you enjoyed and leave me your reviews! Much love x