A product of quarantine and the Twilight Renassaince.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, plot points, and backgrounds do not belong to me.
Long delay, but not quite as long as the last one. Forgive me?
Bella was back on the Cullen's couch. Carlisle suggested moving to a more comfortable location to have a conversation about "moving forward as a group".
Esme and Alice sat on either side of the couch with Bella. Both sat much closer to her than she preferred, but Bella assumed this was meant to signal to the others that they would be on her side in whatever discussion was about to take place.
Carlisle had introduced the last of the Cullens after Bella hobbled in. And they really were the last ones. Bella had checked.
Emmett was the giant, casually draped over an armchair. The one with the hair like an autumn leaf and a seemingly permanent frown was Edward. He was standing next to Emmett and glaring with great passion at, from what Bella could tell, a lamp. And, as she'd deduced after the yelling, the blonde woman was called Rosalie.
Rosalie was also standing, arms crossed over her chest. Unlike Edward, she was directing her glare directly at Bella.
Bella liked to think she was pretty tough when she wanted to be. She had even taken on two werewolves fairly recently. That sort of behavior belied toughness, in here opinion.
That being said, Rosalie's stare was effectively intimidating. In any other situation, Bella may have even cowered in the presence of such unabashed disapproval. The pain radiating throughout her body, though, left her little else to focus on but breathing. Bella's leg only seemed to ache worse with each passing moment. Then there was the pounding headache and overall exhaustion she felt down to her very bones. Not that anyone, especially Rosalie, needed to know that.
Carlisle walked into the room with a notebook in his hand. Rather than taking the seat next to Emmett, he approached Bella on the couch, holding the notebook out to her with a small smile.
"These are notes I've been taking on your vitals since you arrived," he said. "Considering I don't know what the normal measurements for your body are, I thought you could take a look for yourself."
Bella pursed her lips as she took the small leather notebook from him. God, even reaching for his hand took concerted energy. She flipped through the pages, scanning hour-by-hour readings of her heart rate, respiration, temperature. Bella wasn't an expert in the medical field by any stretch of the imagination, but even she could see that her early readings (for her at least) were incredibly alarming. Even without the memories or the pain, these numbers told her how close to death she'd truly been. That knowledge left her deeply unsettled. Her most recent measurements assured her that everything had circled back to near normal, at least.
"Everything looks pretty standard for me," Bella said. "My resting heart rate is still pretty elevated, though."
Carlisle's eyebrows shot up. Unsurprising, considering he was a doctor and Bella's current heart rate would be a sign of peak health for a human.
"It will likely go back down once your body has healed completely," he said.
Rosalie scoffed. "Now that we've established she won't drop dead in the next five minutes, can we please get to the matter at hand?"
Carlisle sighed, taking the vacant seat next to Emmett. Bella idly wondered where Jasper was. Was it to make her feel more comfortable? Because really, what was one more vampire? "We should first establish what is most pressing."
"How about what to do with the human Esme and Alice brought home like a stray from the pound," Rosalie hissed. "Or has everyone forgotten that a human knowing about our family puts us all in danger?"
"She's not a stray," Esme said. "I don't know why I have to say this again Rosalie, but she saved our lives. We didn't happen upon her randomly."
"And she's not dangerous," Alice chided. "Even if she was at one point, until she can walk faster than two miles an hour, she can't do much to us." She turned to Bella with her wide, strange grin. "No offense."
Bella gave her a bemused smile back. None taken.
"She also isn't a human," Carlisle said, eyes bouncing in Bella's direction.
"Right, not a human," Rosalie agreed, albeit sarcastically. "What a relief."
"Nothing has proven she isn't a danger to this family," Edward said. He almost sounded bored. He didn't even look up when he spoke, seemingly more interested in his staring contest with the furniture.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Edward. She can barely move for God's sake."
Edward's eyes flashed to Alice, his gaze hard. "You should know better than anyone that doesn't necessarily mean she isn't a danger."
Rosalie turned her glare toward Carlisle. "If she's not a human, then what is she? She has a goddamn heartbeat."
"And yet her skin is nearly impenetrable," Carlisle answered calmly. "Just like ours."
Bella wondered when everyone would remember that the "she" in question was also in the room.
This didn't satisfy the blonde vampire in the least. "She also has blood."
"Yeah Rosie," Emmett shrugged. "But it doesn't even smell good to us."
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "How can you even know that? She still smells like a dog."
"Would rather smell like a bitch than act like one," Bella muttered.
Six pairs of eyes flew to her. The Cullens had expressions ranging from shock (Edward) to amusement (Alice) to outright disgust (one guess).
"Then you explain it," Rosalie stalked toward the couch. She towered over Bella, her face now breaking into a smile that was more wicked than welcoming. "Explain to me why I can hear your heartbeat yet can see the strength in your skin."
"Rosalie," Carlisle said, a warning in his voice.
"No, let the stray speak for herself." Rosalie's voice was now saccharine sweet, her deep gold eyes practically on fire. "You can fight off a werewolf, yet you can't stop me from doing this." She leaned in front of Bella slowly, her hand suddenly shooting out to Bella's leg. Bella gasped as Rosalie's cool hand wrapped around the bandaged area of her leg and squeezed. She dug her nails into Bella's flesh, and Bella heard something tear. For half a second all she felt was shock. Then shock gave way to a pain so sharp her vision blurred.
Rosalie's hand was gone. Alice now stood in front of Bella in a protective crouch, a low growl coming from her throat.
"Rosalie!" Esme snapped. She reached for Bella, maybe to help, but Bella flinched away. Why was she suddenly feeling faint?
"No, Esme," Rosalie said. Bella barely heard her, the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. "I want answers. If you aren't a human, little girl, then what are you?"
It felt like her leg was burning from the inside. Despite Rosalie's touch being cool, the place she had applied pressure felt as if it were on fire. Bella started to roll up the leg of her pants, desperate for relief. She saw Esme reach for her again. Bella jerked away harder, throwing herself off the couch and onto the floor with a thump.
She'd gotten the pants over her calf and saw, for the first time, the bloodied bandage that Carlisle had put on her while she'd been unconscious. Most of the gauze was stained dark red, like spilled wine. In the middle, however, where Bella had felt Rosalie's nails, the red was brighter, fresher. Bella began clawing mindlessly at the gauze, just wanting the burning to stop. Carlisle was suddenly crouched next to her, calling her name, telling her to stop.
"How can you do that, in a house full of vampires, without immediately being attacked?" Rosalie continued despite Bella's obvious distress, her voice dripping with cruelty. "Why doesn't your blood smell tasty?"
Carlisle grasped one of Bella's hands in an effort to stop her from removing any more of the bandage. While the movement did make Bella stop clawing at her wound, it startled her so badly that she used the last of the strength in her pain addled body to throw herself farther away from the vampires. Bella stared blankly at her burning leg, now bleeding profusely. The wound across her calf was so deep, she realized, watching her blood drip onto the floor. She vaguely heard yelling amongst the Cullens, though couldn't hear anything clearly over the sound of her own heaving breaths.
It was at this moment, as she watched herself bleed, that everything seemed to come crashing down on her: stress and exhaustion and confusion and pain, pain, pain. And another feeling, one Bella had been steadily pushing down since she realized what a dangerous situation she'd found herself in.
Pure unadulterated fear. Tears formed in her eyes and Bella blearily stared up at the room of vampires. The need to survive plus the resignation at her circumstances had kept her from realizing just how fucking scared she'd been. How scared she was, especially at this moment.
Fear cleared her mind for a moment, and in another world, she would laugh. What a sight this scene would be to an outsider.
Alice shouting at Rosalie, Emmett standing between them. Esme not able to choose which situation needed more of her concern. Carlisle calling Bella's name, easing toward her, eyes trained on her wound. Edward, really looking at her for the first time, expression caught between fascination and alarm, standing closer to her than ever as if even he felt the need to comfort the not-human.
And then Bella, on the floor, blood running down her hands, wondering if it would be the pain, the onslaught of emotions, or the sight of her own blood that would drive her out of her mind.
Suddenly, though, as quickly as everything had come crashing down on her, everything stopped. A wave of calm as heavy as a wall crashed over her. Bella began to relax from her tense position. Her leg was still hurting (still bleeding, too), but it was as if her body was relaxing against her will.
Carlisle took advantage of her relaxation, applying pressure to her bleeding leg. Alice appeared next to him, a medical bag in hand. His hands flew over her, quick and light as a hummingbird as he tried to undo the damage she'd inflicted.
He spared her an assuring glance. "Just relax Bella, we'll get you bandaged back up." Without turning away from her leg, he murmured, "Thank you, Jasper."
Bella looked up. She wondered when Jasper, now standing next to Alice with a perfectly serene expression on his face, had arrived. And why was Carlisle thanking him?
She noted that only Esme and Edward remained with them. Rosalie and Emmett had vanished.
They didn't breathe as they watched Carlisle work over Bella, which just made her own breathing seem obnoxiously loud. Carlisle cleaned the wound and administered some sort of balm. The burning feeling started to morph into a dull throb.
The pants she wore were now soaked in her blood. A puddle was also forming a wide circle around her on the floor.
No one but Carlisle spoke or moved for a few minutes. When he directed questions toward Bella about her leg, she responded with a nod or a shake of her head. Bella reached up to pull her hair away from her face, only to realize that her hand was also covered in her blood.
Edward must have noticed this because he disappeared only to reappear beside Bella. He kept a respectable distance, holding his hand toward her. He'd gotten her a towel.
"Thank you," she murmured, taking the soft fabric from him. He merely nodded at her, frowning slightly as he met her eyes. He darted away again. Bella wiped at her hands.
After a few moments of quiet, Bella sighed.
"It's a biological fail-safe," she said. Her voice was so soft, had the Cullens been humans they likely wouldn't have heard it. As it was, all eyes turned to her. "The reason my blood doesn't smell appetizing to you."
Carlisle tilted his head. "Biological fail-safe?"
Now that the pain was back to a manageable level, the tiredness returned. She hoped this pattern would stop soon. Pain and exhaustion fighting each other to see which one would reign champion over Bella's body.
She pulled her lips into her mouth, brow furrowing. "That's the best I could come up with, anyway. Mother nature or God or whoever decided that while many species might eat their young, vampires were not meant to be one of them." She smiled halfheartedly. "Which is kind of ironic."
In the short time Bella had known Carlisle Cullen, he had always been extraordinarily calm and collected. Not now though. The look currently on his face could only be described as flabbergasted.
"Eat their young?"
Some characteristics about the kind of not-humans in this story I am altering because they didn't make sense to me in the books. Or just irritated me. A big one being that the half-vamps still smelled appetizing. If wolves can have a non-appetizing scent, so can the children of vampires. But I also didn't write Twilight, so what do I know?
Grammatical errors brought to you by writer's block broken by the full moon and late-night posting.
Let me know what you think!