Bella POV
Fear flooded my body as the van came barreling toward me. I wanted to move out of the way. The smart thing to do was to move out of the way. But I couldn't. I felt paralyzed.
My eyes darted across the parking lot. A few stared in horror as the van slid closer to me. Finally, my eyes settled on the Cullens.
The smallest one, Alice I think her name was, look equally horrified. The two older males, Jasper and Emmett, looked unaffected by what was happening. The two that really caught my attention were Edward and the other sister, Rosalie if I remembered right.
I was certain this was the first time Edward had looked at me since my first day at school. But instead of the usual hostility he showed me he looked terrified. The same went for Rosalie, although it wasn't as noticeable on her.
I swear I saw Rosalie move toward me slightly. Before I couldn't even begin to process why, or if I actually saw it, Edward was next to me and so was the van.
Edward was staring at me. His eyes looked unnaturally black. It took all my willpower to look away from him. What I saw stunned me. In the side of the can was an indent and in the middle of the indent was his hand.
"Wha… h… how?" I stuttered out. This wasn't possible. There was no way he stopped a van with his hand and there was no mark on him. Things like this didn't happen.
Edward turned so his face was inches from mine. "Not here," Edward breathed. His cool breath washed over me and my thoughts became hazy.
Edward pushed away the van and got up. No one else seemed to notice him as they allowed surrounded me. "Bella," Tyler exclaimed climbing out of the van. There was a cut on his forehead. Made me wonder if he was wearing a seatbelt. "I'm so sorry Bella. I hit some ice and lost control. I'm sorry."
"It's okay Tyler," I said quickly before he could say he was sorry again. This whole incident was embarrassing and I wanted it over as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately luck was not on my side. The sound of sirens were getting closer and closer and I knew someone had called an ambulance. I crossed my arms over my chest and vowed to stay in this spot until the paramedics left.
I wondered if Edward knew what I was thinking because he grabbed me by the arm and lifted me off the ground. I glared at him. "I am not going in that ambulance," I informed him as two ambulances pulled in the parking lot.
"Please," Edward said, his sweet scent hit me again.
"Fine," I agreed although I have no idea why. "But no gurney."
Edward laughed. "Deal," he said.
"How did you get to me so quick?" I questioned.
"I was standing right next to you Bella," Edward said as the paramedics started piling out of their vehicles.
"No." I shook my head. "You were by your car. I saw you."
"I was right next to you," Edward said again, staring at me.
The paramedics loaded Tyler in the ambulance first. He had the most severe injuries out of the two of us. I felt bad for him as they forced him onto the gurney, complete with the neck brace. It made sense considering he was in a car accident.
Edward followed me to the ambulance. "Sir are you related?" one of the paramedics asked.
"No," Edward replied.
"Then you can't go in there," he said. "You can meet us at the hospital."
Edward's now dark gold eyes seemed to darken more. He looked like he was ready to protest. Before any words came out, he cocked his head to the side. He sighed and nodded. "Very well," he agreed. "Please take care of her."
The ride to the hospital was anything but quiet. Question after question came from the paramedics. They seemed to buy my answers, despite how vague the answers were when it came to how I managed not to get crushed. I was told I would still have to see the doctor just in case.
Which was why I was currently sitting on a bed in the emergency room, waiting for the doctor to arrive. Tyler was a few beds down, constantly apologizing. It was starting to get frustrating.
"Bella," Charlie exclaimed. I looked up and saw Charlie speed walking over to me. He was still in his police uniform. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Charlie," I sighed. Of course they told Charlie. As if this day couldn't get any worse.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Tyler's van hit ice and he lost control," I explained. Charlie turned and scanned the room. His eyes locked on Tyler. "Dad it was an accident."
Charlie waved a finger at Tyler. "You're lucky no one got hurt Tyler," Charlie told him. "Be more careful or you won't be driving anymore."
"Yes sir," Tyler gulped. I could see how relieved he was to not be arrested or lose his license. He turned his attention to me. "I really am sorry."
"I know. I'm not mad at you," I assured him.
"Isabella Swan," another voice said.
"Bella," I corrected automatically. I looked in the direction of the new voice and saw a young, blonde doctor. His eyes were a light gold, similar to Edward's. This must be doctor Cullen, Edward's adoptive father. But that made no sense. They looked too much alike for Edward to be adoptive and Dr. Cullen was too young for Edward to be his son by blood.
"Bella," Dr. Cullen said with a smile. "I'm Dr. Cullen. I apologize for the delay. Charlie, good to see you again. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances."
"Carlisle," Charlie greeted with a nod. "How is she?"
Dr. Cullen flipped through my chart briefly and put it back. He pulled out a small flashlight from his pocket. He shined it in my eye and moved his finger back and forth. "Everything looks fine. Any dizziness or nausea?" I shook my head. "Good. I'll have the nurse get the discharge papers together. Keep an on her Charlie, just in case."
"Dr. Cullen can you thank Edward for me?" I asked. "He pushed me out of the way."
"Edward," Charlie repeated. "Your boy?"
"Yes, it sounds like you were very lucky Bella," Dr. Cullen said. He refused to look at me, almost as if he was hiding something.
While I waited for Charlie to sign the papers I wandered through the ER. I passed by the nurses' station for the third time when I heard Edward's familiar voice. I moved closer to try and hear what he was saying.
"It's too dangerous Carlisle, for us and for her," Edward said.
"She will have questions," Carlisle insisted. "We…"
They both stopped and turned to look at me. Edward took one look at me and walked away. Carlisle sighed. "I'm sorry," I told him. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"It's fine," Carlisle said. "We were done."
"Bella," Charlie called. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," I said relived to finally be getting out of the hospital. I hated hospitals. There was too many needles and too much blood.
The drive home was quiet. It was a comfortable silence since Charlie and I never talked much. We did stop at the diner to pick up lunch.
Charlie was taking his role as protective father a little too seriously. He helped me get settled in my room. I had my lunch, a garden burger and fries, and Wuthering Heights to keep me company. Every twenty minutes or so Charlie would come by to see if I needed anything. I knew he was taking Dr. Cullens words to heart and keeping an eye on me.
The next day at school was torture. I think almost everyone in the school asked me how I was. Tyler started following me around and trying to carry my books. One of the Cullens, Emmett, had walked over to me the first time he tried. Tyler was so scared of him that he practically ran away. He had been avoiding me since.
"Bella right?" Emmett asked. I nodded. Why was a Cullen talking to me? They all ignored me. It was rather frustrating. And why Emmett of all people? Alice I would understand as we had a couple of classes together. But Emmett was a year older than me. I had never interacted with him. "I'm Emmett."
"Hi." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to him. He seemed so… cheerful. It wasn't normal.
"Here, let me get that," Emmett said taking my backpack before I had a chance to protest. "What class do you have?"
"Why are you doing this?" I asked ignoring his question. This made no sense. I saw his face when the van was coming toward me. He didn't care.
Emmett looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I saw you and your family when the van was coming toward me," I informed him. "You and your brother didn't care then so why do you care now?"
I couldn't make out the expression on Emmett's face. He looked guilty but that couldn't be right. "I did care… do care," he corrected. "Me and Jasper, we're just not good at showing emotions. I'm glad you're okay."
I sighed. Maybe I was letting this thing with Edward get to my head. Now I was suspicious of everyone. "Fine, I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," he said cheerfully.
"Where is Edward?" I asked once I realized I didn't see him with the rest of his family.
"He wasn't feeling well," Emmett answered. Somehow I didn't believe that. It was a little too convenient that the day after he saved my life, he was too sick to go to school.
We walked through the halls in silence. I got the feeling Emmett wasn't used to be being this quiet. But for me it was nice. After a couple of minutes, we stopped in front of my classroom. "Is this your class?" he asked.
It was but I had no idea how he figured that out. "Yes, it is. How did you know?"
Emmett ignored my question, much like I ignored his. To my surprise Emmett went inside the classroom with me. Once he figured out where my seat was, he carefully put my backpack down. "If you need anything let me know." With those final words he was gone.
Apparently Emmett's appearance was only enough to scare off Tyler. By the end of first period more than a dozen people had asked me how I was. By the end of second hour it was a lot less. I figured it had to do with Jessica being one of the people that asked. I'm sure she told anyone that would listen all about what happened. I doubt any of what she said was the truth.
I have never been happier than when the bell rang signifying that school was over for the day. I loved school but today was terrible. I had slipped on the ice twice. Both times Emmett had magically been around to catch me before I hit the ground. The gossiping had slowed down by the end of the day. No one asked anymore questions about the van incident.
"How was school?" Charlie asked over dinner.
"Fine," I answered. "A lot of people were talking about the accident yesterday."
Two more days passed before Edward showed up at school. A part of me was thrilled he returned. The other part was sick of him avoiding me. His siblings were much more welcoming than him. Well some of them at least.
Emmett had walked me to class every morning and for some reason Alice took over in the afternoon. Jasper would come once in a while but he seemed to be uncomfortable around me. The only one that seemed to actively avoid me was Rosalie.
I wondered if she regretted trying to save me. Granted she really didn't do anything but that saw that step in my direction. She planned on doing something. Unless she was planning on letting the van crush me. My stomach dropped, that had to be it.
"Hello Bella," Edward greeted as I sat down at our shared table.
"You're back," I stated.
"Yes, I was home sick for a few days," Edward said. He either didn't notice or didn't care that I didn't return his greeting. "How are you?"
I stared at him in disbelief. "Really? You come back after saving my life and then lying about it and that's what you ask?"
"You're mad at me," Edward noted.
I shook my head. "No, I'm not anything with you."
Edward didn't have a chance to say anything since Mr. Banner began his lecture for the day. While I took notes I could feel Edward's eyes on me. I ignored it. I was mad at him, mad he was ignoring me and mad he was trying to act like he didn't do anything.
Biology seemed to go on and on. Edward stared at me most of the time. Every time I would get the courage to tell him to stop he would do his crooked half-smile and I would forget everything I was going to say.
"Bella," Mike exclaimed when I walked over to the table. "We are heading to La Push Saturday, you in?"
I looked to Angela for help. "La Push?" the name was vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it.
"Quileute Rez not far from here," Angela explained. "We like to go there and surf."
"Are you in?" Eric pressed.
"Yeah I'll go," I agreed. I needed a break from the drama here. "But I'm not surfing."
