When I woke, both Sam and Paul were standing beside me and I deduced that I was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to several tubes and monitors with my left arm bandaged, and my right arm in a sling.
I attempted to move but I felt a pain in my collar bone, my ribs, as well as my head throbbing.
"Don't try to move, Bella." Sam told me quickly. I looked around when I noticed one of my imprints was missing. The one I'd ordered to hurt me in order to save me.
"Are the babies okay? Where's Jared? What happened?!" I asked worriedly.
"Jare's at home with the babies, Bella. They're all just fine." Paul told me.
"Is he okay? Tell me what happened." I demanded, worried about Jared.
"He's—he's dealing, honey, but not very well. Sue offered to watch the twins for him to come, but he just said he couldn't." Sam told me. I felt tears rushing to my eyes. "They killed Edward. Jared, Leah and the blonde girl vamp. He's gone for good now."
"Jared—He won't come because I ordered him. That's what it is, isn't it?" I asked as I felt the tears run down my cheeks.
"No, B, that's not why. He doesn't care that you alpha ordered him." Paul told me, though I didn't believe him.
"Then why does he not want to see me?" I cried.
Paul motioned to my bandaged arm.
I looked down at it, but I didn't care that it was hurt. He saved me.
"Jared won't come because he's the reason you're in here, and he's completely blaming himself. He couldn't bear to see you like this when he's the one who caused it." Sam explained.
"But I commanded him to! I told him to hurt me so that he could save me! It's not HIS FAULT! Not to mention, I clearly have more injuries that he didn't give me!" I yelled quietly because we were in a hospital.
"He doesn't see it that way, Bella. He only knows that he bit down on your arm hard to pull you out of sparkle boy's grasp and you ended up slamming into a tree which broke your collarbone." Sam said to me.
"I don't care! He did it to save me, and he did save me, eliminating the threat to me and our children. Why can't he understand that? I would never blame him for this." I pleaded.
"We know that, but he refuses to believe us, B." Paul replied.
"So he's just going to ignore me?" I asked them both.
"We tried to convince him, but he won't even phase. Flat out refuses to. He doesn't want to see himself as a wolf right now. He says he can't be the monster that hurt his own imprint." Sam explained to me.
"Are you guys mad that I ordered him, knowing I would get hurt in the process?" I asked them worriedly.
"I was at first, but I realized that you could've easily died if you hadn't. You made the best call and I can't blame you for that. I wouldn't have blamed you for it if it had been me instead of Jared. I would've been a wreck knowing that I'd hurt you, but it would have been to save your life." Sam replied to me, making me release a breath.
"I agree, princess. I would take you being hurt over dying any day. I can see why Jared's angry over it, I mean it would be different if it hadn't been your own imprint that you ordered to hurt you, but according to Leah's thoughts, he was the only one close enough to pull it off." Paul said as well.
I was about to respond when I saw Charlie walk in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee.
"One of you boys couldn't come and get me when she woke up?" He asked them.
"Sorry Charlie, she had questions that needed answered by both of us." Sam told him. He huffed and turned his attention back to me.
"How you feeling, Bells?" He asked as he sat in the chair next to Paul.
"My head's throbbing, but the other pains don't hurt nearly as bad as childbirth, so they aren't bothering me too bad." I told him honestly.
"That piece of shit Cullen gave you a concussion and broke nearly a third of your ribs, you're lucky one of 'em didn't puncture your lung." Charlie explained. Well that explained my head and my ribs. I knew what the other two injuries were. "They told me the rest of what happened. I don't blame Jared at all, he saved my daughter's life and I'm grateful as hell for that."
"I don't blame him either, dad. I wish he was here so that I could tell him that myself." I muttered.
"Well the doc said you'll be released home after they finish the paperwork as long as you woke up okay, so you'll be able to tell him when you get home." Charlie told me before taking a sip of his coffee.
"How long have I been here?" I asked them curiously.
"Two days. They kept you sedated until this morning." Paul responded.
"Can one of you go tell the doctor I'm awake so that I can go home sooner?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll go. At least Cullen's gone. I definitely prefer Dr. Gerandy over that damn leech." Paul said, standing up and walking out the door.
"Did the Cullen's say what happened?" I asked Sam.
"They told Embry that he escaped while the other four were here helping us with the newborns. He bounced around for the past week so that the pixie couldn't predict where he was going until it was too late. The doctor brought you here and made sure you were taken care of before him and the others left." He explained to me and I nodded, but I could tell he wasn't telling me everything.
"There's something else, isn't there?" I questioned.
"It's not your fault, Bella. It was that deranged pile of ashes." He growled.
"You better tell me now, Sam."
"Collin and Brady." He said defeatedly.
No… I was praying that our actions would keep them from phasing, but I'd failed in all of my goals that I'd made when I first came back. I looked down in shame. They were only 12 years old.
"Bella, I spoke with Old Quil. He told me it was always part of the plan that Leah and the boys phased. They were always meant to be part of the pack. You couldn't have changed it if you tried. He asked me to tell you that 'all has passed', though I don't know exactly what that means. He said you would." Sam spoke.
I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. Old Quil had told me that my troubles were not over before, and now he was saying that all had passed. I knew that didn't necessarily mean that there wouldn't be any more vampires that passed through, just that the ones after me and my family were finally done with.
A/N- Before I post the next chapter, let me preface it with saying that you have to remember that Jared is and has always been the most emotional of her three imprints. Things hit him much harder and he takes things much worse than they actually are (just like when he took off). He just has a different way of dealing with things, especially things that he thinks are morally wrong.
On another note, Edward's dead! Yay!
Thoughts?
