Chapter Sixteen

I was dying.

That was obvious.

But my body didn't feel like it was about to shut down. In fact, everything just seemed magnified. I felt something being pumped into me from my inner elbow, and guessed that Carlisle was giving me medicine. At least - if it was him - he was alive. It probably also meant that the vampires had beaten the odds, and defeated the witches. I could be happy about that at least.

Now, when medicine was given, I thought that it was supposed to be a good thing. So, why did it hurt so much? Where the medicine was being inserted, an almost intolerable burning sensation was occurring. It spread slowly, moving down from my elbow, to my wrist, my hand and all the way down to my fingertips. It hurt, but I'd felt worst. Actually, I appreciated the pain. It kept me going, letting me know that I was alive, and like the Cullens, I was beating the odds. If that wasn't a challenge I could accept, than I don't know what was.

A few hours later – or at least, what felt like a few hours later – when my mind was becoming bored of imagining new, surreal things (mostly induced by all of the drugs I assumed were getting pumped into me) to keep me entertained, I heard a voice. It was faint, but unmistakeable. Jasper. So he was alive too. My body was too tired for emotion though, otherwise I would have been screaming at him through them, telling him that I was alive and alright. I may not be an empath like him, but I could still sense the defeat, the sadness, in the room. They thought I was dead.

I tried to push against my eyelids, my fingers, my lips, anything, but I couldn't make anything move. The ice cold touch on my cheek sent a – sadly imagined – shiver through me. I knew that touch, as well as I knew his voice, and for once I wished that my body would just respond to it. But there was nothing. His fingers stroked my eyelids softly, and smoothed my hair away from my face. Every nerve in my body fought past the burning to touch him back. Every cell and atom was joining the battle, pushing against the heavy blanket that was pressing me down within my body. The effort it took just to open my eyelids almost plunged me back to Death's door, but it was enough. Jasper was stood close to me, his eyes dead, as if his life had been sucked out of them. I wondered whether this from guilt for what he'd done to me, and found the irony in the whole 'life-sucking' part of it. When he saw me though, looking back up at him, it was as if the light in him had been switched back on. "Morgana..."

I couldn't speak yet, but I smiled weakly. As soon as Jasper said my name, there was a faint movement in the air, and Carlisle was beside him, his expression hopeful. When he realized that I was alright, his face broke into happiness. He didn't dwell near me long however, instead rushing around, checking my vitals, before darting from the room in a flurry. Jasper's hands pressed in on my face, as if he was making sure that I was there, solid and real and alive in his grip. "You're alive...I thought...I...I'm so...sorry, Morgana...I..."

Even with weakness, I felt my expression turn confused. He didn't really need to be sorry. What had happened wasn't his fault at all. If anyone's it was mine and my father's. Even the thought of him sent a chill through me. "Hey, what's a bite between friends?" I croaked.

Despite the almost inaudibility of my comment, there was a ghost of a smile on Jasper's lips. Poor guy. He was obviously still under my 'spell' as it were. The sooner I left this place, the better. At that moment, Carlisle came rushing back in, followed by his – surprisingly keen – family. I was glad to see that they'd all survived, but it was a little uncomfortable still to be in such a weak state around them all. Carlisle stepped forward, as Jasper stepped back to stand beside Alice. When I caught her eye, I was surprised to see the warmth there. It wasn't an open expression, but in her eyes, I could see how much my saving her meant. I nodded a little in acknowledgement, and she smiled a little. So she still didn't know. I couldn't help but give Edward a glance,

Thank you, I thought, hoping that he could hear me. He shifted his head slightly, to show that he did.

Don't worry; I'm leaving as soon as I can. I won't make any more trouble for you or your family. I just want you to know that this wasn't Jasper's doing, and trust me; I'm not just saying that for his sake. I tried to show him how seductive a Bait had to be, and to what lengths that seduction could go to. What obstacles it could weave around. His eyes narrowed a little, but it was in confusion, not hostility. I didn't blame him; it was a rather far-fetched idea – numbing the bonds between soul mates. Carlisle pulled my attention away from the mind-reader, but I hoped that he could understand. "You were injured in many places. Externally, you had a shallow cut across your stomach, and both of your wrists were slit, as was your throat." I noticed how he avoided the bite, "You had an arrow had penetrated through your right shoulder, and there was another deep wound in the back of your thigh, where you'd tied fabric to halt the bleeding. Other than that you had a few cuts from falling rubble and things like that. Your internal injuries were surprisingly minimal, with just a few cracked ribs and injury in your right shoulder. None of your vital organs received any damage. Still, your injuries were too severe for a human to survive, but you're obviously more resilient that a human, and you could probably have lived through worse, if not for the amount of blood you lost. Due to the fact that I don't have a supply of witch blood, I had to give you human blood. I don't know what effect that will have in the long term, but for now it's keeping you alive. Hopefully your body will continue to accept the new blood, without you antibodies rejecting them,"

"Fingers crossed," I mumbled,

He smiled, "Full recovery may take a week or more, but at the rate you're healing you should be able to move around before then."

"Hell, you're strong I'll give you that!" Emmett boomed. The difference between his voice and Carlisle's made my fragile ears hurt. I smiled up at him. He looked pretty much unharmed, and when I looked around them, I was amazed at how fine they all looked. Even little Alice, motherly Esme and beauty queen Rosalie barely looked liked they'd been in a fight at all. I couldn't see anything of Alice's near fatal wound.

"You too," I said, raising an eyebrow at the giant vampire. He guffawed, and made as if to give me a high five, but Jasper's hand on his arm stopped him short.

"Oh...right, yeah," He grinned stupidly,

"Thank you," Alice simpered, as she stood tucked under Jasper's arm, "You nearly died to save me."

I had an almost overwhelming urge to nod and say, "Yeah, I did." But instead I smiled again.

"Don't mention it," I muttered, but not unkindly.

"Thank you from all of us," Esme said, smiling, "We couldn't have done it without you,"

I gave a pitiful salute, but before my hand had even dropped, Carlisle was ushering everybody out of the room. Apparently I needed my rest. He stayed with me though, and after writing down some notes onto a notepad by my bed, he turned to me, "Morgana, did you experience any burning when you were recovering?"

I blinked, "Yeah, I did,"

He stopped, and his forehead creased, "You did?"

"Yes. Where you inserted the blood, it started to burn around my arm."

"Did it reach past your arm?" He asked, his voice a little more urgent,

"I...I don't know...I can't remember...why?"

He shook his head a little, "I need to take a blood sample,"

The tube had already been removed from my arm, and it was here that he brought the needle. Slowly, he pressed it against the skin of my arm. It snapped.

I blinked, I'd had injections before, and usually they didn't break. "What does that mean?" I asked, my voice betraying my nerves. Carlisle looked up at me, his eyes betraying his confusion.

"Carlisle!" My voice had a hysterical edge to it now. What was going on?

...

Ooh, bad way to end a chapter, I'm sorry D:

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