Ch. 20 Wits End

Her wild mane of curly red matched her ruby irises perfectly. She stalked toward me with her mate not far behind, and I cowered, heart pounding, into the side of the Volvo behind my only protector. I kept my eyes on Matt. One breath in six seconds, better but it was labored.

A feral roar rose from Edward's chest as he growled, "You'll never get to her."

"Those are confident words for someone who's outnumbered. It looks like we will have no problem at all getting to her from where I'm standing." Victoria stopped to look at her nails and spoke in a dismissive tone like she had no care in the world. James waited mere feet behind her with his arms folded casually across his chest and a smirk. They were toying with us. As much a I loved Edward and trusted him, there was a very good chance that we would not walk away from this, especially not me.

"Well, if you're here for the girl, come get her. Go ahead." Edward announced as he straightened himself to stand erect. What? No! Stop egging them on. What the hell happened to five seconds ago when you said they would never get me?! Did he really give up that quickly? He must have gone through all his viable options and realized that there was only one...to hand me over, and save himself. Oh God...

Tears began streaming down my face. I had loved this man since before I had even come to this world, had been willing to sacrifice myself so he could have his mate back—the stupid plan blew up in my face, but still the intent was there—and this is how he repaid me? Maybe he lied before and had been harboring this animosity toward me ever since I told him I had replaced Bella. Perhaps I deserved to go this way after ruining his and his family's future. I stole their happy ending.

"Is that a challenge? I live for a good game." James smiled widely, exposing all of his sharp, pointed teeth. Victoria just continued to giggle dangerously. Oh, I'm so dead this time...

Each of the predators crouched low to the ground and slowly began to circle the car, leaving Matt on the ground alone.

"Edward..." I spoke through my teeth.

His only response was a slight turn of his head in my direction with a brush of his hand against mine. Then he was also lowered back into a protective crouch. What the hell was happening?!

I needed to get to Matt. He was still losing blood. His once blue shirt was now soaked in garnet. His breathing looked like it was getting faster, but shallower. He was close to his end. I'd seen this happen to so many patients before. I looked back between Victoria and James. They wouldn't hold back much longer. I could see Victoria's eyes shift between Edward, me, and the blood oozing from Matt. I couldn't tell where the wound was from here, but I needed to get to him. I needed to save him.

"End this. Now." Edward spat. Holy shit! Don't you see that this situation is not in our favor? You couldn't stall a little bit longer? Where the hell was everyone else anyway?! Where were the Cullens?

Then Victoria's head shot to the left toward the woods, and she began to run.

"Oh no you don't!" Edward said as he left me to go after her.

"Edward!" I screamed. Had that bastard just left me alone with James?! Just as I had the thought, James mouth curled into a wicked grin, and he pounced. I squeezed my eyes closed, not willing to watch my own death unfurl. Feeling it would be bad enough.

But there was never any contact made. Instead I heard the loud, thunderous crashing of stone followed by the piercing screech of metal shredding. Just as soon as the awful sound began, it was gone. I opened my eyes to see Emmett standing holding James head, and smiling. "Told you I'd get him." He shrugged and nonchalantly picked up the rest of James which had fallen to the ground, and he ran off in the same direction Edward had gone. What the fucking hell?

I stood shell-shocked, heart still pounding and breathing erratic, for approximately 2 seconds. Then all my training kicked in. I didn't know where the hell Victoria was, or what the other vampires were up to, but I had my own responsibility here. I needed to get to Matt. I needed to save him if I could.

I fell on my knees to sit beside the broken boy. "Matt?" No answer. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. "It's Bella. I'm going to do what I can. I'm so sorry you got caught up in this..."

I ripped his shirt open, exposing his chest and where the blood was coming from. Blood trickled from a huge gash in his right shoulder. I felt for his pulse at the carotid, and it was racing. Good. He still has a beating heart. I had to stop the bleeding. I removed my coat and shoved the material into his chest, holding pressure over the wound. I needed help. Where the hell was everyone?

Another shriek of ripping metal echoed from the forest, but I couldn't think about the implications of the noise. Shit. Was that one of the Cullens? Was Victoria coming for me now too? No, focus on Matt. I had to save Matt.

He was gasping for breath now. I released one of my hands from holding pressure to feel for his pulse again. Still there. Ok. He's still got oxygen circulation...barely but it's there...oh who am I kidding? He's going to die without more help. I couldn't save him like I couldn't save her.

•PTaT•

The light was bright, and everywhere, all-consuming. It was warm. I could finally feel something. Is this what dying felt like? Was this the part that everyone describes after surviving a near-death experience. This didn't feel like near-death...this felt like the real deal...final.

Even as I realized this was the end, a sense of peace overwhelmed me.

"Iris, welcome." A female voice echoed from far away, yet I could hear it clearly as if she were standing beside me. What a strange sensation to experience.

"Where am I? What happened?" I asked in awe.

"She shouldn't be here." A man's voice cut through this time. He seemed calm, but confused, a question in his tone. I shouldn't be here? Then where should I be? Then everything was dark again.

"Iris?! She's crashing! Get that saline wide open! Get the crash cart ready!" These voices were harsher, not as peaceful as the others. I wanted to tell them to send me back. And that annoying beeping! God, make it stop!

"Oh my God...He didn't want her. It was me. It was me. Iris, I'm so sorry. He wasn't after her. This is all my fault." A female wailed from somewhere across the room. Sandy? What was she talking about? How could this be her fault?

"Get her out of here!" A male voice called, Dr. Powell, I realized.

"B-P eighty-two over forty-seven, heart rate one forty-two." Oh shit. That was bad. It was bad, and yet, somehow I couldn't seem to care enough. I could feel my time here ending.

"No, she saved me! Please! Iris!"

"I said get her out!"

Saved her? Yes...I needed to save her. She was everything to him, and I didn't save her. I should have saved her...

•PTaT•

"Iris?" I heard someone behind me, but I couldn't move. I needed to save him. "Iris, I need to take the boy to the hospital. It's over. Victoria's dead. You've done well. You may have given us just enough time to save him, but I need to run him there now." Carlisle spoke urgently. Carlisle? Yes. Carlisle.

I fell back on my heels just enough for him to push past me to get to Matt. He proceeded to slide his one hand under both of mine to replace them holding pressure, scoop the boy up in the same fluid motion, and they were gone.

Victoria was dead? James was dead? I exhaled a sigh of relief, laying my face in my hands.

A light wind blew around me. "Iris?" I involuntarily shivered at the velvet sound. No! You're pissed at him. He was going to let you die!

"What?" I spat. What the hell could he possibly have to say right now?

"You're angry." Pfft. That's all?

"No shit." I sat back on the grass, refusing to look Edward in the eyes, but he kneeled down in front of me, ignoring my obvious attempts to block him out.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't explain to you properly before because that would have tipped them off. I needed to stall long enough for Emmett to get here. When I left you, he was already mid-air to meet James. Please, you have to believe me. I would never leave you unprotected..." I continued to glare at him. Yeah, I'd heard this all before...'I will protect you...' blah blah blah, and as if he could read my mind he said. "Never again. I'll never forgive myself for allowing you to get hurt by that monster." He reached out to place his finger beneath my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. Intense sincerity was burning in his eyes. He was obviously wrecked with guilt.

"Why do you care?" I asked. His words and the look in his eyes reminded me of all the times he and his family had intervened since I had been here, and a thought occurred to me.

"What?" He frowned, dropping my chin as bewilderment replaced the remorse from moments before.

"Why do you act like you care so much? I don't get it. I'm a human. Yes, I know your secret, but why am I involved in this?"

"James—"

"No, not just now. Why did Alice stop the van before? Why did you both stop me from leaving town? You didn't know me then. If you had left me alone, I wouldn't be here. This wouldn't have happened. Your family wouldn't have been in danger. I would have probably died somewhere along the way, but still, your family wouldn't have had to worry about it. I mean, people die everyday around you, and you don't stop to save them." I was totally confounded about everything. None of this made sense.

"I would never let you die. Do you want to die?" He velvet voice had a roughness to it now.

"Don't you turn this on me! Answer the question! Why me?"

"I told you! You were so vulnerable...We had to save you from yourself so many times—"

"No, shut up. That's bullshit. Why? Why did you guys get involved?!" He was going to tell me. I was done with being left out of the loop.

"Why can't you just thank me and get over it?!" He was yelling now too, but I didn't care. I wasn't afraid of him. Ok, maybe a little, but surely he wouldn't kill me after all that?

"Why can't you answer the question?!" I countered. Why did he have to be so stubborn?! Why couldn't he just tell me what I needed to hear, release me from this hell I was in, fawning over him, following him around, lost in all that was Edward Cullen.

"You want to know why I saved you? Why we have all stopped everything to keep you alive?" He stalked forward slowly, gracefully. The anger still evident. This was it. I would finally get the answer. "Are you that unobservant? Can you not see anything?" Excuse me?

"Are you really taking this opportunity to tell me what a daft human I am? Great!Thanks a lot!" I hollered sarcastically. He was shredding my heart into pieces. Tears were brimming into my eyes. My face felt flushed, and a knot was rising in my throat.

He laughed bitterly shaking his head and running his hands through his hair. "I can't believe this. You don't get it. You really can't see it." He mumbled almost to himself.

"SEE WHAT?!" I cried. I was way past my wits end with him. I wanted this conversation over, and, yet, I feared what would happen when it did end.

He finally closed the short distance between us, grasping my shoulders in his firm grip, but not so tightly as to bruise me, and bent to look me in the eyes. My heart skipped a beat from his nearness, and I gasped, inhaling his saccharine, honey-filled scent.

"All this time...all these conversations, and you still can't tell. You are totally clueless, obtuse, to what's right in front of you..."

"Wait just one—" Now he was just being an ass.

"Iris," I closed my mouth when I heard the broken desperation in his voice. "I love you."

What? He...Oh.My.God.

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