Jacob laid there and let Bella sob into his chest. She had moved from under the blankets and flounced her head into his chest. He stared at the ceiling as so many lines of thought ran through his brain.
What did the vampire have that he didn't? She is so completely devastated by this and yet she drove away from me like a piece of trash on the side of the highway?
What do I do to make this better? Is there anything I can say? I can't bring him back, even if I wanted to. Jacob huffed at the thought and Bella didn't seem to notice.
Can I get her to eat? How? What will she eat? Can I give her a shower? Or a bath? This is really unhealthy and if she won't take care of herself, I'll have to do it. But how do I convince her?Jacob had too many things rattling around in his head and decided to start with the easiest and the second most important.
"Bells?" Jacob looked down at her. She looked like she was sleeping, but he knew she wasn't because she would convulse into another sob every few minutes.
"Bella, you need a shower. You smell." Jacob tried a smile thinking it would help and still got no response.
"Okay." He started to move. "Let's go." Jacob started to lift her up and was surprised that she didn't protest. He cradled her over his arms and carried her to the bathroom.
He set her down on the counter and Bella sat up, but didn't move otherwise. It's like she was petrified. Jacob got the water going and made sure it was nice and hot. When steam was rolling from the curtain, he decided it was ready.
Jacob was about to lift her up again when he caught sight of Charlie in the hall. There was a stunned look on his face and Jacob wasn't sure if it was because he couldn't believe that Jacob had gotten her out of the bedroom or because he was clearly about to shower her. Either way, Charlie said nothing. He dropped the look and turned around to go back downstairs.
Jacob lifted Bella from the sink. "Ok, Bells. I need you to stand. I can do this with or without you, but it would be much easier with your cooperation." He gently placed her feet on the floor and began standing up.
Bella stood, but Jacob could tell that her legs and her knees were weak and didn't want to hold her. Jacob flipped Bella's shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. He searched her face for some sort of protest. He saw nothing, absolutely nothing.
Jacob moved on to her pants. He unbuttoned them and pushed them down to her knees. That was when Bella moved for the first time on her own. She placed her hand on Jacob's shoulder and began pulling her legs from them.
Bella was down to her underwear and Jacob averted his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do next. So he pushed her toward the shower. "Get in, and remove your underwear. I won't look, but I can't do this part."
Jacob helped her step over the side of the tub and pulled the curtain closed. He bit his lip as he waited to hear her fall or even move.
A couple of seconds later she poked her hand out and dropped her soaked panties to the floor next to the tub with a schlop.
Jacob placed both hands on the counter and peered at himself in the mirror and sighed. This was much harder than he thought. Maybe he should have tried to feed her first.
"Do you need help?" Jacob called from the sink still starting at his reflection.
He heard a very soft, "Mhm." Jacob looked around the room and then down at his own clothes. He made a decision and moved the shower curtain just enough to step in, clothes and all.
Bella was facing the faucet with her back to him. She looked over her shoulder and saw him standing there, his tshirt collecting water. For a split second, Jacob could swear he saw the shadow of a smile flash across Bella's face.
"I'm going to turn around. Just hold onto to me and bathe what you can." He turned to face the back wall of the shower and felt the slight pressure of Bella's weak hand grasp his shoulder. He could hear the pattern of the water changing as she moved around under the stream. He could smell her body wash. He waited for a while and then she let go.
Before he turned around and before he could say anything, Bella squeaked, "Jake, my hair."
Jacob's heart was racing and he was glad she couldn't hear it. "Turn around and face the faucet again. I'll do it."
He waited a couple of seconds and turned around. Bella's hair was still half dry so he moved her under the stream to saturate it first. He heard her sigh as he reached over her to grab her strawberry scented shampoo.
The scent reminded him of better days. It was one of his favorite smells in the entire world. He silently hoped the smell would do the same for her.
Jacob squeezed a glob into his hand, closed the bottle and put it back. He slowly rubbed it between both hands and then touched her head. Jacob felt her flinch at the sudden pressure, and then she relaxed under his touch.
Bella didn't make a single sound while Jacob lathered her hair in the strawberry scented suds and then moved her into the water to rinse it out.
When Jacob was finished, he let his hands drop to his sides and watched the water flow through her hair and down her back.
"I'm okay." She almost whispered. Jacob took that as his hint to get out. He stepped over the side of the tub and closed the curtain behind him.
Jacob peered around and realized that Charlie had been back. There were three fresh and folded towels on the counter and Charlie was nowhere in sight. Jacob grabbed one of the towels and began drying his face and hair.
"Bells? You okay?" He said, still drying his face.
"Mhm." He heard her turn off the water. He grabbed one of the fresh towels and poked his arm past the curtain to hand it to her. When the towel was removed from his grasp, he waited.
"Should I wait in your room? Or do you need me?"
"Go," was all she could manage. Jacob took in a long breath, partly to savor the strawberry scent and partly because he was nervous to leave her.
"I'll wait in your room then," he said and he walked back down the hall trailing the remnants of the shower behind him. He was sure Charlie wouldn't mind, but he made a vow to himself to clean it up when she was comfortable.