Oh no
Author's Note: Some sections may be medically inaccurate. I did a lot of research for this, don't complain. Not edited much.
Disclaimer: Twilight is not mine and never will be, unless I publish a book with a similar name.
--
Bella's skin was burning with pain and for a minute, she almost thought that perhaps Edward had consented to biting her, but he was so firm in his decision, she doubted that he would have. Then she remembered what had happened.
She forced her eyelids open and stared up blearily into the face of Charlie as he watched me anxiously. Bella shifted her gaze to see Edward sitting, equally anxious, yet keeping a respectable distance away because of Charlie's close proximity. The look in his eyes was intense, however, and spoke volumes that her brain, even in its exhausted and numb state, could process.
She realised she was wearing an oxygen mask, coughed a little, and tried to raised a hand, but winced. It burned with a slightly numbed pain. Edward was beside her in seconds, even as Charlie jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance. He patted Bella's bandaged hand and leaned a little closer to her face.
"Go to sleep, Bella." Edward murmured to her.
Bella needed no more encouragement and her eyelids drooped. She slipped off, back into the darkness of sleep and unconsciousness, where the pain could not follow.
--
"You look alright." Carlisle commented when Edward climbed out of the back of the ambulance. "A little singed, but otherwise fine."
"Yes, thank you." He waved his hand toward the ambulance where Bella and another girl were being unloaded from the back.
"The burns were the worst on the people who were actually trapped in the first explosion, but the burns of the students in the corridor were also bad." Edward reported. "The second explosion was inside a classroom, but caused many of the scratches. The fire went down the corridor so many of the students who were in the corridor might have gotten burned." He finished.
Charlie gave Edward a funny look. He had no idea that Edward had done medical courses, of course, but Carlisle nodded, knowing that Edward had more than enough knowledge to analyse the situation. He frowned at Edward for a minute.
How are you?
Edward nodded his head once at Carlisle and murmured, so that other people could not hear, "I can handle the blood, but you need to take a good look at Bella. Her burns don't look good and she's woken up once for only a few minutes."
Carlisle nodded in return and went alongside as the paramedics began to wheel Bella and the second patient into the hospital which was in a state of chaos. Doctors ran around and ambulances went out and returned at a steady rate. The hospital parking lot and emergency area were swamped with people. Edward tried to follow behind Bella's stretcher and inside, but was stopped by one of the doctors.
"You can't come this way, sorry."
Edward glared at him, but didn't follow, glancing at Carlisle who looked back once.
I'll keep you posted.
Edward turned around and walked into another doctor who insisted on checking him over. Edward shook him off, telling the doctor he was fine and his father had checked him, and went outside. Might as well make himself useful.
--
"So how is she?" Charlie asked as Carlisle emerged once again, pulling off his rubber gloves and face mask.
Carlisle sighed as he tossed the gloves in a nearby bin and turned back to Charlie again, sitting down on the bench in the corridor.
"The burns are bad, but not as bad in comparison to some of the other students." His brow furrowed. "We had to treat her for shock first but some of the burns have gotten infected." He shook his head. "We gave her an injection and that should help."
"So she will be okay?"
"Her condition is close to critical, but she is stable."
As he finished talking, Edward trudged in from outside, a dark look in his eyes, but his face was composed. Carlisle knew that he had read Bella's condition and that he was angry at himself, but Edward had done a good thing today and saved the lives of many students who had been trapped in the classroom. They had been extremely lucky.
But Edward still blamed himself even if he hadn't caused it – any of it.
Carlisle lips twitched once again as he realised that they had placed themselves in the centre of attention once again. The Cullens tried to remain as out of attention as possible, however, Edward's recent feat of rescuing a bunch of students armed with only a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket was amazing.
Edward sat down on Carlisle's other side – as Charlie was on the other side – and leaned against the wall behind, closing his eyes. On Carlisle's other side, Charlie did the same wearily. Carlisle sighed as he got to his feet again and moved to the next patient waiting for him
It was going to be a long night.
--
"She should be awake by now."
"What do you mean?" Edward's voice was sharp and urgent.
"We sedated her before, but it should have worn off by now. It should have worn off long ago…" Carlisle frowned at Bella's sleeping form.
"So something has gone wrong?"
"I can't be sure, but her temperature is higher than normal. She may have a fever."
Edward frowned even more as he racked his extensive brain to see what could have gone wrong and what was happening. Carlisle looked over the monitors which beeped steadily and the chart of results at the end of her bed. Finally, while fiddling with Bella's IV, he spoke to Edward, who was still engrossed in his own thoughts.
"If worst comes to worst, you need to make a decision."
"No."
"You need to think about it more. You know what I believe, you know what you believe, you know what Bella thinks. She would want it."
Carlisle could still see Edward's agony over the matter. He wasn't saying all that he was thinking, it was true, but what he had said was true enough. What he hadn't said was that Edward would not be happy without Bella though. If worst did come to worst and Bella's life was at risk, he would either need to let her go or to save her by turning her into a vampire.
It was a hard decision, but necessary.
- -- - -- -
Alice glared at Edward over the bed.
"Do it, Edward! Or I'll do it!" her voice was pleading, desperate.
Still, Edward hesitated. The precious seconds ticked away as Bella's breathing slowed and her heartbeat slowed as well. He put a hand on her forehead where it burned with the heat of her fever.
"Don't you want to hear her speak again? You know you can't just let her go. Save her!"
Still he shook his head, and whispered, "If she dies, I will soon follow."
Alice sneered at him in disgust. "Why do you keep thinking that way?"
"Wouldn't you do that too if, say, Jasper died?" Edward snapped back at her, exaggerating the name.
Alice's face paled even more that vampire pallour, but she replied with just as much fire, "I would try to save him first, at least. You do nothing, then speak of dying so easily."
Edward didn't reply to this, but stared down at Bella's still figure silently. Alice frowned at him now, not in anger or frustration, but pleading for him to understand. She had seen it in a vision and she knew that it would happen. Her visions were not infallible, but this was one of the things she was most certain about. The outcome remained positive and she had already swayed Edward, if only a little bit.
"Alright." Edward said finally, quietly.
"I will do what you say."
--
Author's Note: Sorry if the ending was a bit quick compared to the rest of it. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible – because it was so annoying.
Ugh. Will someone read and review already? Otherwise, I'm not bothering…. I'm in a bad mood, 'cos I'm sick.