TW: Slight mention of graphic injury details.

Bella groaned and shoved her pillow over her head, blocking out the sunlight. It took a few minutes for her to remember she had not slept alone, and she reached over to where Jake should have been, but all she felt was empty space.

"Jake?" she called in a groggy voice. When no response came, she begrudgingly removed the pillow from over her head and sat up, rubbing her eyes. It was an uncharacteristically nice day outside, and Bella squinted against the sunlight. She got up slowly and checked the window, which had been left cracked open. On the window sill was a note from Jake: "Had to head out early for patrols, I'll be back before you know it." Bella smiled at the little heart Jake had drawn on the paper and set it back down.

Stretching her arms out, she left her room and walked down the hall to the bathroom. After using the bathroom, Bella glared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was an absolute mess, and she had sleep lines drawn across her cheeks. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and washed her face, flinching at the freezing water. As she pat her face dry, her stomach grumbled angrily. She made her way downstairs and started hunting around to find something to eat. After a thorough search, Bella concluded that there was absolutely nothing usable. The milk and eggs had gone bad, and Charlie's pantry was hardly stocked. Deciding a shopping trip was long overdue, she pulled out her phone and started a grocery list. Her stomach grumbled again and Bella sighed, she would have to grab breakfast out today. Heading upstairs to get properly dressed, Bella grabbed a pair of black leggings and a hoodie, and pulled on her converse. There was nothing much she could do about her unruly hair, and after grabbing her keys, she headed downstairs. Giving it a second thought, Bella grabbed her raincoat as well. Forks was never very reliable when it came to nice weather. She decided on the Carver Cafe for breakfast, as it was right on the way to the grocery store. As she sat in her car chewing on a breakfast sandwich, rain began to fall in a light mist, coating her windshield with a watery film. She bumped on her wipers and began the drive to the store. After merging onto the freeway, the rain started coming down harder, crashing against Bella's windshield and obstructing her view of the road. She pressed down slightly on the brake, as it was becoming harder to see. Bella squinted through the downpour and slowed down even more. The cars ahead of her were just blurry brake lights, and Bella bumped her windshield wipers to the fastest setting. She was almost at her exit, and she carefully made her way into the exiting lane. As she pulled up to the intersection, the light turned green and she pressed on the gas. Everything happened so fast, that by the time Bella saw the car careening towards her from the other lane, there was nothing she could do. Bang. There was the horrible crunching sound of metal on metal, and then everything went dark.

When Bella opened her eyes she was surprised to be met with a face she didn't recognize.

"She's awake," she heard one of the people say. "Honey, can you hear me?" the voice said. Someone was now standing over her, but their outline was blurry.

"Mmmph," Bella groaned, blinking her eyes. The picture started to clear up, and Bella could see the face of a concerned looking woman standing over her. "Where...am I?" Bella asked, her voice weak.

"We're gonna help you sweetie, just hang in there," the voice said. Looking at the woman's outfit, Bella could tell that she was a paramedic.

"What happened?" Bella asked groggily.

"You were in a pretty bad collision with a drunk driver," the woman said. Bella felt a pressure on her left leg, and when she looked down she immediately felt sick. The woman was pressing down on her leg to keep her bone in place, which was currently sticking through Bella's skin. Her head started to swim at the sight of her own blood, and once again Bella was pitched into darkness.

When she awoke the second time, Bella could tell she wasn't moving anymore. She slowly blinked her eyes as a pale blue room came into focus around her.

"Bells?" a familiar, concerned voice called. "Bells, you're awake. She's awake!" he shouted to a nearby nurse. Jake rushed to Bella's bedside, cupping her face in his hands. "Oh Bells," he said, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Where am I?" Bella asked, still unsure of everything that had happened in the last hour.

"We're at Saint Hope's hospital. You got into a pretty bad wreck. It looks like the truck was totaled."

"How did you get here so fast?" she asked, confused.

"I'm your emergency contact in your phone, they called me first. Charlie is also an emergency contact, and he's on his way home right now, though he could only get a flight home for tomorrow."

"Oh," Bella said, still processing what had happened. Her right leg was wrapped in a bulky cast covered with purple medical tape.

"I know purple's your favorite color, so I had them wrap it like that," Jake said. Bella grinned up at him.

"Of course you did."

She wiggled the fingers on her left hand only to realize that it too was wrapped in the same shell type cast.

"You broke your radius and your tibia, plus you have a major concussion," Jake said with a pained expression on his face. Watching Bella be so helpless with nothing he could do was killing him. He sat down on her bedside and gently took her good hand into his.

"How long have I been out?" Bella asked.

"Just about four hours now," Jake replied. Just then a nurse knocked on the door and then let herself in.

"It's good to see you up sweetie!" she said, walking over to Bella with a vitals cart. "I'm just gonna take your vitals really quick," she explained, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around Bella's upper arm.

"When do I get to go home?" Bella asked.

"Ideally we would want to keep you overnight to make sure you're feeling alright, but since there aren't any internal issues, you could be sent home tonight."

"Thank god," Bella muttered.

"Are you sure you wanna leave so soon?" Jake asked, concern coloring his voice.

"I'm fine, really," Bella insisted. She sat up in bed and slowly swung her legs over the side, first her good leg and then her bad one. She winced at the movement but hid it well.

"Are you sure honey?" the nurse asked skeptically.

"Absolutely," Bella said. She tried standing up, and Jake rushed to her side to help her. "See?" she said, toppling slightly. "I'm fine."

"If you insist," the nurse said. "I'll get your discharge plan ready."

She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her gently. Jake helped Bella back to the bed and sat down beside her.

"I need to call Charlie," Bella concluded. "Do you have my phone?"

"Yeah, they recovered it from the scene," Jake said, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Damn," Bella said, looking at the now cracked screen. She took the phone and dialed Charlie's number. The line had barely rung when Charlie picked up.

"Bells?" a concerned voice crackled through the phone.

"Hey dad," Bella started.

"Oh honey, how are you feeling? Jacob filled me in on what happened."

"I'm fine dad, really, just a little banged up. I'm going home tonight."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'll have Jacob there to take care of me. I'm fine."

"I booked a flight home but it's gonna take me a couple of days to get back."

"That's ok dad! I wish you didn't have to come home early."

"Nonsense Bells," he replied. "I'll see you soon, love you."

"Love you too dad!"

The line went dead and Bella clicked off her phone. Just then the nurse came back with a packet and a bottle in hand.

"You're cleared to go home." She handed the things to Jake and said, "Here's all the recovery information you'll need, plus some painkillers. I hope you feel better soon sweetie." And with that, she left the room.

.

.

.

By the time the two of them got to Bella's house it was eight at night, and the sky was a hazy indigo. Jake helped Bella inside and set her down on the couch in the living room.

"Can I get you anything?" Jake asked.

"I think I just wanna take a shower. Could you help me?" she asked, blushing.

"Of course," he responded, gently taking her into his arms again and carrying her upstairs to the bathroom. He set her down on the shower seat and started the water. Jake noticed Bella was struggling to take her shirt off, and he stepped in, gently taking her shirt and bra off. They had had to cut Bella's leggings off at the hospital, so she now wore bright teal scrubs, which Jacob gingerly took off, taking care to avoid bumping her leg. After taking her underwear off as well, Jake ran his hand under the water to test it's temperature. He detached the nozzle from it's holder on the wall, and slowly began running it over Bella. He started with her hair, and after wetting it he pumped her strawberry shampoo into his hand and started lathering it into Bella's hair. He then moved down her body, running the hot water over her bruised skin and letting the hot steam loosen up her muscles. After rinsing her hair, he took her puff and pumped body wash into it, and started scrubbing her body with it. He gently worked his way over her shoulders, and down to her breasts. She lifted her good arm so he could scrub her underarm as well. When he made it down to her legs, he carefully scrubbed around her thighs and hips, and over her good leg. Jacob ran the water over her hair to rinse out the soap, and then over her body to do the same. After thoroughly rinsing her, he switched off the water that was getting cold, and grabbed a fluffy, white towel from off the rack. Bella sat on the shower seat as he ran the towel over her, making sure not to miss a spot.

"Feel better?" he asked, scrunching her hair with the towel.

"Much," Bella said, sighing. "Thanks for helping me," she said shyly, looking down.

"Of course, anything for you my Bella," he replied, cupping her face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed her lightly, running his hand over her thigh.

"Ready for bed?" he asked, hanging her towel back up.

"Yeah, I'm dead tired," she said sleepily.

"I'll get you something to wear."

Bella waited while Jacob rooted through her drawers, looking for something she could wear. He found a loose pair of shorts that would fit over her cast, and one of his old t-shirts. When he came back into the bathroom, Bella was standing up, leaning against the shower door. Jake handed her the clothes and helped her change into them, going slowly to make sure he didn't hurt her. When she had changed, Jake took her in his arms and brought her to her bed. Laying her down gently, he went to get the pain medications and brought them to her with a glass of water.

"Thanks Jake, for everything," she said, bashfully. "I love you."

"I love you too," he crooned softly. Jake stripped off his jeans and climbed into bed next to her. He pulled the covers up and then brought her into his embrace, tucking her head gently under his chin.

"Goodnight my love," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Goodnight J," she replied, reaching up and kissing him softly.