Chapter 55: Bite Down

Alice POV:

Watching the jet Bella was on leave was agonizing. I don't care what she says, I'll always worry about her safety, especially when the name Volturi is involved.

"She'll be fine Alice. That girl of yours is a tough one." I jumped at the sound of Colt's voice behind me. How long had he been watching me look like a lost puppy? I turned and smiled to him, he really wasn't the type to say such comforting things.

"Thank you. I know that. But one can never worry too much about their mate." He chuckled and scratched his head.

"Come on, follow me. I know what will make you feel better." I was confused but did as I was told and followed him willingly. He was leading me into rooms I had never been in before, only ever seen Bella and Liam enter under security. But Colt was waiving me through all that, eventually stopping in a large, what appeared to be mission control room. There were screens everywhere and multiple people talking on headsets. It looked like a modern version of what the mission control rooms were like during the space race.

"Carlisle?" My eyes were drawn to my father sitting in one of the chairs, over a monitor and some charts.

"Alice! What are you doing here?" Carlisle looked surprised and glanced up at Colt.

"She seemed a little preoccupied over Bella's safety. I thought this might ease her stress." He explained to my befuddled father.

"Ah. Don't worry one bit sweetheart. Your fiancée is as solid as a rock." Carlisle said gently to me before continuing his work.

"And once the big show starts, we'll be able to hear everything." Colt said, pointing to a nearby cluster of desks that seemed to have the most amount of people on headsets.

"Wow. This is amazing!" I exclaimed, taking everything in.

"Here have a seat next to Carlisle." Colt pulled a chair out for me so I could observe. Carlisle seemed to have both Bella and Liam's vitals on the screen in front of him and was recording them every once in a while. Everything from heart rate and blood pressure, to body temperature and oxygen levels.

"How do you have all that?" I asked curiously. Bella tried not to talk about her more dangerous missions in front of me because she knew I was bothered by it. But now I'm realizing how little I actually know about what goes on during them.

"Special wristbands. S.T.E. designed them and I suggested a few features for my benefit. Makes my job much easier." Carlisle explained while still taking notes.

"Alright radios look alive. ETA is fifteen minutes." Colt called out, aiming his voice at the previous cluster of tables. I scooted my way over towards them. That seems to be where I want to be when the time comes.

Time flew by impossibly fast. I watched the big screen above with their locations as small dots. The small dots were getting closer and closer to a large red circle, I assumed the objective. Everyone was all business and honestly it was making me more nervous. Carlisle noticed this and went over to put a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax Alice. Everything will be fine. And if it isn't, that's why I'm here."

"Thank you Carlisle." He did make me feel slightly better. But suddenly everyone started moving and talking fast. They had landed.

"How's it looking down there?" Colt asked into a receiver.

"Not too bad sir. Got some vampires here and there but nothing horrific." Bella's wonderful voice answered through the other end. Almost all my worries were melted away.

"Sounds good. Try not to get hurt. Your girl is listening in eagerly." He said smiling my way.

"Hey Al! I'll keep my shenanigans to a minimum now." I giggled in spite of the situation. Bella always knew how to make me laugh.

She couldn't talk much during a lot of the fighting, but checked in every once in a while with their progress. Pretty soon they were down to the last guards.

"Nice and easy Swan. No time for mistakes now." I was watching their heartrates increase steadily with each minute of fighting. It was almost over.

"Three more!" Bella was panting hard and it also sounded like she was ordering someone in the background. "Liam I got this one can you get-LIAM NO!" There was a loud crashing sound and the receiver went out. My stomach dropped to the floor in fear.

"Swan? Hey what's going on? Can you read me? Are you receiving? Swan can you-?"

"Bella's down." Liam's fatigued voice finally answered. My mouth went completely dry.

"She's dead?" Colt stuttered out, confused on how everything changed so quickly. I clutched at my necklace. She didn't feel dead, but there was something definitely wrong.

"No. I-I tried to take two at the same time and-and Bella stopped them be-before they killed me. But Bella got bit. Bit really really badly." Colt swore aloud and Carlisle began to work frantically. "Colt I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." Liam whispered in defeat. Oh no. Not again. Please not again.

"Do you have control of the post?"

"Yes sir. They're all dead now."

"Ok. The rest of the unit will stay there for some time while we get our supplies in. I need you to rush her back as fast as you possibly can. I'll contact the pilot and tell him to spare nothing. Hopefully we can get her back before anything starts."

"Yes sir. But please be aware she is bleeding a lot. I'm not sure how much longer she can go at this rate." Liam's voice was getting shakier and shakier. I could tell he had picked Bella up now and was running. Carlisle took over the radio now.

"I can take care of it Liam. Just get her home. Try to put pressure on the wound with some cloth or something."

"Copy that."

"Alright Carlisle how is she looking?" Colt had gotten off the radio and went over to Carlisle's station to assess how Bella was doing.

"Well her heartrate is pretty steady, she's probably a little out of it from the rate of blood loss and shock. Her body temperature is getting higher from it trying to combat the wound. Those are my main concerns right now until she gets here. Do you have an ETA on that?"

"Flight planners are working on it. I also sent a message down to medical so they can bring your bag and supplies up. I take it you want her in her room?"

"Yes. That would be best. Alice, do you think you can be here this time?" Carlisle asked me sternly. I deserved that after what happened last time. But this was not going to be a repeat. If I even want to try to be her wife, I need to know how to take care of her during the worst. I took a deep breath and nodded up at him.

"Yes sir. I can do this."

"Ok then. Let's go to the flight line and wait for their plane. I'm going to need to work on her right away, and you'll need to keep her steady." He got up and I followed him on his heels.

"Is something wrong honey?" Esme noticed something was awry right away when we walked past the lounge.

"Bella got bit." Carlisle said shortly before continuing his fast walk towards outside. Esme gasped and Rosalie looked sick. "Jasper you should probably go hunting now." He called right before exiting the room. Jasper didn't need to be told twice. He got up quickly and ran for the forest.

"Alice? Are you going to be ok?" Emmett asked, obviously wondering if he should drag me out now.

"Yes. I'm not leaving her side." I followed Carlisle's tracks and met up with him on the flight line.

"ETA is two minutes doc." A young man with a headset called out. I began to search the skies for the incoming plane. Exactly two minutes later a jet landed and Liam jumped out of it with my mate in his arms almost the second it finally stopped moving.

"She's fading fast Carlisle. I tried to stop the bleeding as much as I could, but the bite is absolutely brutal." Liam explained as he showed her the wound on her neck. I gasped in horror. Half of her neck was almost completely ripped to shreds.

"Jesus it is. This vampire was going for the damage." Carlisle said while motioning Liam to follow him inside. I jogged trying to keep up. "Alright set her down on the bed Liam." A nurse had already dropped off all of Carlisle's tools and an IV drip. Once Liam had gently laid her down, I positioned myself right behind her as her backrest. Her heartbeat was barely even audible to my ears now.

"Carlisle." I said with gritted teeth, trying not to panic.

"I know Alice. Just stay calm." He leaned over and began his work on her neck right away. "Alice can you take off her jacket please?" Her outer coat was covered in blood and I removed it gently to reveal a blood soaked under shirt. Fuck that's not good. "Liam can you get me some fluids as well? They only gave me morphine." He nodded and ran out the room. Bella was beginning to stir and whimper. I held her tighter against my chest.

"I'm right here love. I'm not going anywhere ok? Just stay with me. Keep fighting. You're doing so well." Carlisle stepped back and I saw her neck was already stitched. I had never been so grateful that my father was an excellent doctor. He began to work on attaching the IV to her arm. By now Bella was really starting to struggle and cry out in pain.

"Keep doing what you're doing Alice. It's only just starting." Liam finally ran back in with the fluids and handed them to Carlisle, who put them up on the drip system right away.

"No! No get away!" Bella mumbled as she thrashed in my arms. "Please. Go away. Don't. Don't touch me. Please stop." It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was hallucinating. I clutched onto her and whispered loving words into her hair, cursing Caius for everything he'd done to her in my mind. Carlisle looked up at us from his work miserably, obviously bothered by it was well.

Bella's muttering turned to growling, which turned to screams and yells. But I kept my promise and held her through it all. I was crying and praying for it to end, and eventually it did. But it had taken all her energy with it. She was fading to sleep in my arms pretty fast.

"Alice I set her up with enough morphine to last through the night. Call me if you need anything." I nodded and mouthed a 'thank you' to him as he left us.

"I thought you had a promise to keep Bella." I whispered to her softly. A small rumble of a laugh went through her chest and she croaked out at me weakly.

"I did come back didn't I?"