December Prompt #17: Poinsettias

Jake bounced into the house like a six-foot-tall baby on a sugar rush. He made his way straight to Bella, his hands hiding something behind his back. Bella placed the box of Christmas decorations down on the table and squinted at him suspiciously.

Jake only grinned and said, "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you! I've got a surprise for you!"

Bella couldn't help but smile at her best friend's exuberance. She sighed dramatically before closing her eyes and even covering them with her hands. "Okay, my eyes are closed."

"No peeking!" Jake said in a sing-song voice.

Bella rolled her eyes, but she knew he couldn't see her. She remained silent as the sound of ruffling and then something heavy being placed on the table in front of her reached her ears. Jake's footsteps came closer to her, and for a moment, Bella panicked that he was going to kiss her—then, she remembered he had imprinted on Angela already, and she relaxed.

Jake tucked her hair behind her ear and hummed a little tune as he placed something over her ear. It felt like a long stick, but it seemed soft and pliable as it molded around the back of her ear. It also had a heavier top, which caused Bella to deduce that it was either a very large earring or a flower.

Her nose twitched as it stuffed up, and her eyes began to itch and water. Something tickled her nose, and she let out a loud sneeze, her eyes snapping open at the ticklish sensation at the back of her throat. Her chest began to tighten up, and her breathing came out in loud gasps.

"Oh, shit, what's wrong?" Jake cried, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

'No, I'm not okay!' Bella thought, panicking as her throat constricted and she couldn't even breathe properly. She didn't know what Jake had given her—she hadn't even been able to see it yet. 'I'm going to die!'

Jake was panicking in front of her. He was wringing his hands, his eyes were wide with fear, and he looked ready to cry. If Bella hadn't been in the middle of having a severe allergic reaction to whatever the hell Jake had brought for her, she would have laughed at him.

"H-help," Bella managed to choke out, her eyesight blurring and her head swaying from side to side just before she fell backward onto the ground.

Everything went black.

Jake panicked.

The moment Bella hit the ground with a loud thud, Jake's body began to shake and tremble, and he hopped away from Bella just in time to feel his bones cracking and setting as the change began to set in. He phased and howled, terrified of what had just happened to Bella in front of his very eyes, and tripped over his tail as he began to back away from her prone form.

'What happened?' Embry's terrified voice yelled in his head.

Jake couldn't look away from Bella's unconscious form. He couldn't even think back to explain anything, his mind only repeating, 'She's dying, she's dying.'

'She's not dying, you fool! I won't let her!' Embry's voice screamed in his head before there was a soft pop and he was gone.

Just a few seconds later, Embry barged in through the backdoor, buck ass naked. Jake darted towards him, barking and yipping in an attempt to convey to his best friend how terrified he was about Bella when Embry shoved him away and sprinted up the stairs. Jake barked and hurried over to Bella, nudging her with his nose and whimpering when she didn't even twitch.

There was a soft thump outside the house, and Jake lifted his head and found Embry crouched on the grass near the door. He looked like he had just leaped out of Bella's window. Still naked—not that it mattered to Jake, who had seen Embry naked a million times before—Embry came running into the living room, clutching onto a strange pen in his trembling hand.

Jake barked, trying to ask him what Embry intended on doing with it. He received his answer not a minute later.

Embry fell onto his knees beside Bella, yanked the red poinsettia Jake had gone to Seattle to buy, and then, he tossed the flower over his shoulder carelessly. His hands trembled as he tried to rip open the pen's cap, dropping the pen a few times and crying in pain and anger. Finally, he uncapped the pen, and to Jake's horror, Embry slammed the tip of it into Bella's thigh.

Jake howled and scrambled towards Embry, who turned his head and actually bared his teeth at him. Jake was so surprised by Embry's uncharacteristic aggressiveness that he tripped over his large paws and faceplanted into the table. It went down with a crash that rattled Jake's brain, spilling the pot of poinsettias all over the floor, but Embry didn't even twitch.

Embry's full attention was on Bella, whose face was almost purple and her lips swollen. There was a disgusting rash on her right ear, which was the same ear Jake had slipped the poinsettia behind.

'Maybe it's just a coincidence,' Jake thought worriedly, shifting from paw to paw, his tail drooping in between his legs.

"Didn't you know she's allergic to poinsettias, you idiot?" Embry demanded, pulling the pen away from Bella's thigh and placing it on the floor beside him. He swung her up in his arms and got to his feet before making his way towards the door. "I'm taking her to the hospital. Phase back and tell Chief Swan where we are."

'She's what?' Jake thought with disbelief. 'How was I supposed to know that? I just thought the flower looked pretty and that she'd like to decorate her Christmas tree with it.'

Jared had just phased in at the moment. He thought, 'The important question here is… how does Embry know something about Bella that you don't?'

Jake's mind went blank. It was a pretty good question… How did Embry know that?

Embry had never been this panicked in his entire life. Oh, he easily panicked about little things like getting anything less than 98 marks in his exam, meeting new people and wondering if they would like him, and even talking to others. He had even panicked about imprinting on Bella the day she came over to meet Jake and how he was supposed to tell her that. Fortunately for him, Bella was quite understanding of his situation, and they had agreed to start out as friends.

As the days had passed, Embry had soon realized he was head over heels for her—and it wasn't even because of the imprint. His wolf had only nudged him towards Bella, and Embry had been the one to move things forward on his own.

He had been terrified about holding hands with her. He had panicked when she had first asked him if he would ever kiss her, and he had burst through his clothes, phasing into a giant grey wolf the moment their first kiss had ended.

Bella had only laughed at his sudden phasing and stepped closer to wrap her arms around his large head, bringing his snout in close proximity to her chest. He had panicked about that too, fearing that she might call him a pervert for inhaling her scent or burying his face in between her tits.

Fortunately for him, his imprint was the kindest and sweetest girl on the planet. She had tipped his head up to look him in the eyes, and then, she had said, "It's okay. Just follow your instincts. What does your wolf want to do?"

His wolf had only wanted to lie down and curl up with his mate, nuzzle against her chest and lick her all over until she reeked of him and only him. And he did just that.

From that moment on, Embry had gradually started to come out of his shell. He was still shy and didn't speak much in front of the others in the pack, but he did stop panicking too much about the little things he had no control over.

But now, Embry was having a severe panic attack.

His imprint was having a severe allergic reaction to Jake's stupid poinsettias, and Embry couldn't do anything about it except use her EpiPen and take her to the hospital's emergency room. The moment he had seen Bella unconscious in Jake's mind, fear and terror had taken hold of him. He didn't even know how he managed to remember where her EpiPen was or how to even use it.

As he sprinted at full speed towards Forks General Hospital, he conveniently forgot the fact that he was still naked—if he hadn't been panicking about Bella so much, Embry would have died of embarrassment.

Bursting in through the doors, Embry yelled for a stretcher. The on-duty nurses gasped and yelled at him for coming inside naked, but Embry ignored them all. Someone brought over a stretcher, and Embry quickly placed Bella on it, clutching onto her hand and trying to follow her inside the emergency room.

The moment the nurse stopped him, Embry began to tremble from head to toe. "Let me go! I need to be with her! She's in pain! I—"

He had nearly phased on the spot if it hadn't been for Sam's authoritative voice calling out from behind, "Embry, calm down."

Embry stopped trembling, but his wolf raged in his head to phase and take his rightful place by his imprint's side. How dare they keep him away from his mate? She was so vulnerable right now!

Embry clenched his fists and closed his eyes, breathing in and out rhythmically to relax his tense muscles. Sam shoved a pair of jeans in his hands and said in a low tone, "The nurses will kick you out if you don't get dressed."

Embry's face warmed when he finally realized he was still naked. He could have combusted on the spot! He stammered out a weak, "thank you," as he tugged on the jeans, his face reddening even more at the thought of everyone around him having seen his bits.

His hands shook while he tried to pull the zipper up, but he finally managed to do it. He looked up at Sam and asked, "How did you get here so fast?"

"I was helping Chief Swan out with the missing hiker reports when Jake came running in," Sam explained. He scowled and added, "He hadn't even phased back properly! He still had his back paws, and I'm pretty sure his tail was tucked inside his pants."

Embry would have laughed at the mental image if he hadn't still been worried about Bella. He fell down on the chair behind him with a soft thump and dropped his head in his hands. "I could have lost her, Sam," he whispered, his throat constricting at the thought.

"She'll be fine," Sam said, placing his hand on Embry's shoulder. He lowered his voice and murmured, "She's a tough one. She's survived attacks from leeches and she runs with wolves—there's no way she's dying of a simple allergic reaction."

"I felt it, Sam," Embry whispered brokenly. He rubbed his chest and let out a soft sob. "I could feel her reaction to the flowers. I phased on the spot and—and she had already fainted. I was so scared…"

"The good thing is that you were close by," Sam reminded him gently, still rubbing Embry's bare shoulder.

Embry shakily nodded, but he couldn't get the image of her unconscious form out of his mind. His hands trembled as he ran his fingers through his hair, and he dropped them into his lap. "You really think she'll be okay?"

"She'll be fine," Sam repeated confidently, but Embry couldn't relax. His Alpha had never steered him wrong before, and Embry should be able to trust Bella would be fine, but it was still so difficult.

All he wanted to do was sprint into Bella's room and sit by her bedside and hold her hand to make sure she could feel his presence.

Jake barged into the hospital and sprinted after Embry's scent. He found Sam and Embry seated on the hard hospital chairs, Sam's hand on Embry's shoulder. Jake dropped down in the chair beside Embry's, grimacing at the twinge of pain in his ass. In his panic to get to Charlie, his tail had still not vanished, and he had done his best to hide it in the back of his jeans. It felt funny sitting on a chair with a furry tail trying to poke out from the bottom of his cutoffs.

"Is Bells okay? What did the doctor say?" he demanded, shifting on the chair to find a more comfortable position.

"They're keeping her stable," Sam said when Embry didn't answer. "She'll be fine. Don't worry."

"She's my best friend—of course, I'm going to worry!" Jake cried, getting to his feet. Sitting down was a terrible idea; his tail was getting bushier by the second. He looked over at Embry, who was still silent and his gaze a bit vacant. "What's gotten into you, Em?"

"He's worried about Bella," Sam explained carefully.

"What was that thing you poked her with?" Jake asked, watching Embry for a reaction. Something didn't seem right about Embry's behavior. Jake knew Embry was sensitive when it came to things like these, but there was something off about his current reaction.

Just then, Quil waltzed down the hospital's corridor, carrying a large cup of coffee in one hand and a smoothie in the other. He sauntered over to Embry's side and sat down, shoving the coffee into Embry's hand. "He's been poking Bella with different things for quite some time now, so you'll have to be specific," Quil explained, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Jake demanded. He was unable to comprehend Quil's words, his mind refusing to accept them.

"Quil," Sam warned, staring at Quil pointedly.

"Sorry, Sam," Quil said, but he didn't sound the least bit apologetic. He looked up at Jake and asked, "What did Em poke her with this time? Was it big and thick and did something stick out from one end?"

Sam reached over Embry's shoulder to smack Quil's head. "Behave!"

Jake ignored them and focused on Embry. He noticed Embry's hands were shaking, his vacant eyes were brimming with tears, and his lower lip was trembling as if he were about to cry. Jake frowned, wondering why Embry was reacting this—

Oh, no.

No.

Nope.

Jake refused to believe the suggestion his mind had offered him.

There was no way—

But the signs were all there, weren't they?

Embry's increasing confidence, the way he always sat near or around Bella at every bonfire, those little touches on her arm and back that Jake had just assumed were friendly enough… The way Embry thought of Bella every time he phased…

"You think of Bella as your sister, don't you?" Jake cried, covering his mouth in shock.

There was absolute silence after his exclamation.

And then, Embry's head slowly swiveled up to look at Jake and he blinked once.

Quil scoffed and leaned back in his chair to drawl, "Brilliant, Jake—once again you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task, and as usual, come to the wrong conclusion."

"Did you just quote Harry Potter?" Jake scowled, crossing his arms.

"I quoted Sirius—not Harry," Quil stated without hesitation. "But the point is…"

"You're wrong," Embry breathed out, his eyes still trained on Jake.

Jake was confused. "What?"

"She's not his sister," Quil explained, rolling his eyes. "God, Jake, get with the program!"

"She's my imprint."

Jake's ears rang as if something had just exploded. He couldn't believe his ears; something was definitely wrong with them. "What?"

"She's his imprint, Jake," Quil repeated, reaching over to smack Jake's hip. "Have you gone deaf?"

"Quil," Sam warned again.

"She's your what?" Jake choked out, unable to believe them. It couldn't be true; how was it even possible?

"She's my imprint," Embry repeated, slowly getting to his feet and moving closer to Jake.

Jake blinked once, twice, and then thrice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we didn't tell anyone except for Sam," Embry replied.

"Then how does Quil know about this?"

"I found Embry poking her with something in the kitchen," Quil said with a snicker. "They both turned so red it was hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing."

Jake grimaced at the mental image that had popped into his mind. "I didn't need to know that—I'm just annoyed you guys didn't tell me! I would have understood—I wouldn't have gotten mad or anything."

"You hadn't imprinted on Angela back then," Sam said. "It's why they were a bit worried about informing you."

Jake hesitated, but he knew they were right. He definitely would have thrown a temper tantrum to rival a wailing baby's if he had found out Embry had imprinted on Bella—whom he used to consider his. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I get it. It's fine, I'll get over this betrayal."

"You're so dramatic. All you need now are black robes and longer hair—and we'll have our very own Professor Snape!" Quil teased.

Jake punched him in the ribs. He wasn't really insulted because he knew Quil was trying to distract Embry.

Quil pretended to bend over double and cry out in pain before he tried to tug Jake's pants down.

"Hey—" Jake dragged his jeans up before his tail could make its appearance.

"Why am I always surrounded by children?" Sam muttered loud enough for them all to hear, walking away from them just as Quil and Jake began wrestling on the hospital floor in an obvious attempt to distract Embry.

Bella woke to find herself in a dimly lit hospital room. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, surprised to find herself alive once again.

The door swung open and Embry hurried into the room. Bella blinked sleepily and gave him a small smile as she mumbled, "Hey, Embry."

"How are you feeling?" Embry asked softly, sitting down beside her bed. He took her hand in his and pressed a soft kiss to her palm.

Bella was about to answer him when Jake and Quil barged into the room, shoving and elbowing each other out of the way. Sam rushed in after them, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry, I tried to stop them, but they're both idiots," Sam said apologetically, which made Bella giggle.

"It's okay," Bella murmured, trying to sit up. Embry helped her up, placing his hand on the back of her head to steady her. She smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Embry."

"Bells!" Jake cried, escaping Quil's headlock and hurrying over to Bella's bed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were allergic to the flowers—I just thought you'd like them and maybe you could decorate the Christmas tree with it. They would have looked really nice, too—I went to buy them from Seattle, damn it!"

"It's okay, Jake. You didn't know—it's not your fault," Bella said and sniffled as something tickled the back of her throat.

She hated having allergic reactions to the flowers. The last time she'd had one, she'd been six years old, and her mother had been the cause of it. Fortunately, Bella had reached the hospital on time. She'd mentioned the story to Embry a few weeks ago when they had been snuggling on the beach on one of their weekly dates.

"Your dad's a bit busy at the station, but I met the doctor outside," Sam said, standing by the foot of her bed. "He said they need to keep you under observation for the next couple of hours, but you'll be fine soon."

"Oh, thank God!" Jake breathed out, sagging in relief. He draped his arm around Embry's shoulder and said, "I'll forgive you for not telling me about Embry if you forgive me for this whole thing."

"That's not fair," Embry started to say, but Bella interrupted him.

"We'll take that offer," she said smoothly and coughed into her hand. "We really did want to tell you, you know…"

"Sure, sure," Jake said with a grin. He looked over at Quil and then back at Bella. "Quil told me Embry's been poking you with a few things these days…"

"Quil!" Bella cried out, aghast at Quil's crassness. Her chest clenched when she tried to sit up straight. "Seriously? Why would you—"

"I'll deal with him later, Bella," Embry murmured, tugging her back down on the bed. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed deeply. He whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I lost you…"

"I'm like an annoying little flea—you can't get rid of me that easily," Bella teased weakly, still feeling a bit dazed. Her nose was clogged up, and her throat itched something terrible due to the allergic reaction. She really wanted to go back to sleep but didn't want to seem rude to the pack.

Embry sensed her emotions like he always did. He kissed her temple and whispered, "I'm right here. Go to sleep."

"But—"

"It's okay, we all understand," Embry said gently in her hair. His breath caressed her jaw as he kissed her cheek, his lips soft and warm. "Sleep now."

Bella smiled and rested her head on Embry's shoulder, inhaling her wolf's woodsy yet minty scent. and instinctively, her muscles relaxed and her eyes fluttered shut.

She was so lucky to have her wolf by her side. Sure, he was a bit nervous most of the time, but he was doing his best, and Bella couldn't help but fall more in love with him each day.