Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Author's Note: Sorry for the huge delay... I've been busy getting ready for the school year and it's also been wicked hot where I am - despite the fact that it's now September ... I guess August wanted to go out with a bang. Anyway, I have finally written the chapter and am now going to post it.
And so, please read and review on your way out. I want to thank everybody who reviewed for the last chapter. It means a whole lot to me, and I hope you'll keep reviewing. Anyway, on with the chapter! Happy reading!
Chapter Nine: How Do I Know If You Care For Me?
Elizabeth Cullen
I wonder what it feels like when you're having a heart attack. I'm sure that you wouldn't be able to breathe, and it would feel like the world had stopped right where you were, right along with your heart.
That's what I felt like when I heard Grandpa Carlisle say the words that my parents had been in a car accident – I couldn't breathe and it had been like the whole world had stopped. Because I was in so much shock, I couldn't even cry. I managed to tell my grandfather that we would be right there, quickly hung up the phone and then told Nathan that we had to leave.
And then I remembered that we didn't have the car, since it was back at home.
"Come on. Let me drive you guys. I have the truck and it's pouring out – you shouldn't be walking in this rain," said Ian, throwing a twenty down on the table and standing up, grabbing his coat.
The ride to the hospital was quick, and before I knew where we were, we were running through the entrance to the hospital's ER, hurrying up the front desk.
"Excuse me, we're looking for Dr. Carlisle Cullen," I said. "Would you know where he is?"
Before the woman could answer, we heard a voice call out my name. We turned to see Grandpa Carlisle coming towards us.
"What happened? Are Mom and Dad alright?" I asked. Worry was lining my voice.
Carlisle placed each of his hands on my shoulder and Nathan's. "The rain just got a little too thick and heavy for your dad to see through, and the roads got a little too slick. They're both still unconscious right now, and we don't know a whole bunch, but we're pretty sure they'll be alright."
I felt a surge of relief go through my body, and I saw Nathan next to me let out a breath of relief as well. I wrapped my arm around my little brother with a comforting gesture.
Carlisle noticed Ian then. "Ian Dalton!" He held out his hand for Ian to shake. Ian took it, returning the smile Carlisle sent him. "It's very nice to see you again."
"And you, too, sir," Ian said.
"Can we go see them?" Nathan asked.
"Not yet. Why don't you go down to the waiting room and I'll get you some more information as soon as I know more, alright?"
The waiting room was nearly empty, with the only occupant two older ladies.
"Should I go, or would you like me to stay here with you two until you know more about your parents?" Ian offered.
I turned to him. There was a look on his face that surprised me – there was a look of compassion in his eyes … for me and Nathan. When I found my voice, I said, "Um … you don't have to … well, I mean …" – Shut up, Elizabeth, and quit babbling. You know you want him to stay – "… that would be nice."
I asked Ian if he wouldn't mind sitting with Nathan for a moment while I went and made a call. He said he didn't mind and the two of them went to go sit in a couple of leather covered chairs – you know, the ones that grow incredibly uncomfortable the more you sat in them.
As I walked away down the hall, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, flipped it open and dialed Ethan's home phone number. He had said he would be at home tonight, working on something.
Mrs. Barr answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi, Mrs. Barr. This is Elizabeth," I began.
"Ah, Elizabeth, my dear! Now, what have I told you about calling me Mrs. Barr? You're going to be Mrs. Barr soon, too! You need to start calling me Tilda!" she squealed, causing me to hold the phone away from my ear.
"Sorry, Tilda, I keep on forgetting. Um, listen, I'm looking for Ethan. Is he home?" I asked.
"No, honey. He left a couple of hours ago. Do you want me to take a message for him?" Tilda said.
He wasn't home? He told me that was going to be home. Did he … lie to me? Confusion filled my head, but I shook it aside.
"Um, no, thank you Tilda. I'll just try his cell. Bye," I said, and ended the call. I dialed Ethan's phone number and pressed send.
The phone rang the standard five times, then went straight to voicemail.
"This is Ethan Barr. Leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you."
"Ethan, it's Elizabeth. I don't know where you are or what you're doing, but you're not at home, where you said you'd be all night. Give me a call, please. My parents are in the hospital. They're going to be alright, but please call me back when you get this message. Bye."
I ended the call and flipped my phone shut. I brought my hands to my eyes and took two deep breaths to calm myself.
I walked back to the waiting room and sat down next to Nathan. He was looking pretty pale and worried. I wrapped my arm around him and gave him a one-armed hug. "They'll be okay, Nathan. You heard Grandpa Carlisle."
"I know. And I know for sure that if they are okay, I'll do my homework when I'm told," Nathan said.
A laugh surfaced in the back of my throat, and I couldn't help myself. Ian laughed as well, and Nathan gave a weak chuckle.
"I'm pretty sure you will," I said, ruffling the top of his head, like I used to do when we were younger and I was annoying him.
The next two hours were spent in anxious waiting. I tried Ethan's cell twelve more times during that time, but each time he didn't answer. I left numerous voice messages on his phone, but he hadn't yet call back. By the time two hours had expired, I was beginning to get a little ticked off – all originating from my worry for my parents.
I knew that they were going to be alright – Grandpa Carlisle had said that they were going to be fine – but how could I not worry? I loved them both so much.
Grandma Esme arrived shortly after we had sat down in the waiting room. I guess Grandpa Carlisle had called her to let her know what was happening.
Just as I was about to suggest that we call Grandpa Charlie to let him know that Mom and Dad had been in an accident, I remembered with a wave of sadness that he was no longer with us. He had died three years ago, shot on duty while he was answering a call about a robbery at the convenience store in town.
Mom had been sad for a long while after the funeral, but she had finally managed to pull herself out of the depression and come to terms with the fact that her father – whom she had loved very much – was dead.
And then, when we had been waiting – Ian being faithful all the while – for two hours and fifteen minutes, my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that Ethan was calling. I said I would be right back and walked down the hallway, answering my phone.
"Ethan, finally. I've been trying to call you for the past two hours," I said.
"I know. I've had my phone off. What were you trying to call me about?" he asked.
"Didn't you get the thirteen messages I left?" I asked.
"You left me messages?" There was silence and then he chuckled nervously and said, "Oh, yeah, I just now saw them. Sorry about that. You know I don't check my messages very often."
For some reason, my anger steadily grew. "Well, you should. I've been trying to get a hold of you, to tell you that my parents are in the hospital and I really need you here, Ethan."
"I've been busy."
And then, I heard over the phone a low giggle – a female sounding giggle that escalated into low laugh. A young female sounding voice said, "Come on, Ethan."
"Ethan, where are you?" I asked.
There was a short pause and then I heard him say, "At a café. I'm meeting a couple of co-workers."
"Co-workers?" I questioned. "Ethan, I need you to come. I need you to be here with me. I haven't seen you in a week, and now, when I really need you to be with me, you're meeting co-workers?"
"Lizzy, baby, honey –"
I interrupted him. "No, forget it, Ethan. If you're too busy with co-workers to come to your fiancee's side when she really needs you, then how am I supposed to know if you really care for me?"
"Liz, I care for you. I do."
I was too angry to believe him. "Bye, Ethan."
As I hung up, tears stung my eyes and threatened to overflow. I pushed the phone back in my pocket and leaned against a wall, tears beginning to leak down my face.
Just then, I heard footsteps and I looked up to see Ian standing in front of me. Immediately, I flushed a bright red and I brushed the tears from my face. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Not much of it. I politely tuned the conversation out." He looked at me carefully, and then added. "Your grandfather came out. Your parents are awake and you'll be able to see them in a moment."
I took a deep breath of relief. "Are they okay?" I asked.
"Your mother has a concussion, a broken wrist, and a minor cut on her forehead, and your father has a badly twisted ankle and a concussion as well. They'll both be okay, but they're going to have to stay overnight," Ian said.
"Thank you for staying," I said, giving him a small smile. "It was very kind of you."
"It was my pleasure, Liz. I wanted to make sure your parents were okay… and that you were okay, as well."
I paused. "Well, thank you."
"So, is, uh, Ethan coming or should I stay for a while longer?" he asked.
"Oh, you can … go. You don't have to stay here any longer. Nathan and I will be fine," I said. I looked down at the floor. "Ethan … he's busy. As usual."
I looked back up at Ian and found his face close to mine. And then, without thinking about what I was doing or what was happening, I found myself kissing Ian Dalton, my ex-boyfriend who was NOT my fiancée.
And surprisingly, I found myself enjoying it immensely – something that was not supposed to happen. It wasn't like my kisses with Ethan, which, compared to this, was just … kissing. No, this … this was what I remembered back from when we were in high school. It was full of feeling, full of …
No, no, I couldn't think of that. I couldn't.
I pulled away from him.
I was speechless, and I wasn't able to find my voice. Finally, I was able to say, "I'm sorry."
And then I walked away from him.
I managed to pull myself together by the time I got back to Nathan and Grandma Esme. They were waiting for me to join them again so we could go to see Mom and Dad.
They were in the same room in two separate beds. Both of them didn't look too, too bad, despite the fact that there were a couple of bruises here and there. Dad's foot was wrapped up and propped up on a pillow, and there was a large bump on his head. Mom's arm was wrapped up, and she as well had a large bump on her forehead.
Both of their faces lit up in smiles when we entered. Nathan and I went over and gave both of them hugs, and Esme followed along behind us, giving each of them a very tight hug.
"You had us so worried," I said, perching on the end of Mom's bed while Nathan perched at the end of Dad's. "What happened?"
"The rain got way to heavy to see through and the roads were getting very slick," Dad said.
"Well, we're glad that you managed to survive it," Esme said. "But don't you ever think about putting us through that again, young man."
We all laughed.
And then Dad said, "I hope the Volvo is alright …"
~~0~~
Nathan Cullen
Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme insisted that we stay at their house for the night, since they didn't want us to be alone in the apartment.
Mom and Dad were going to be alright. When my sister had said that they were in the hospital, my heart had almost stopped. I was filled with relief when we heard that they were going to be alright, and I had promised myself that I would always do my homework when they told me to, instead of reading comics.
It was that type of thing where you never really know how much you love your parents until you almost lose them, and then you realize that you'd never really known how grateful you were to them.
Boy was I glad that they were okay.
I laid on my back on the bed in one of the guestrooms at my grandparents house. As I stared up at the ceiling, I remembered that moment that I had witnessed back at the hospital. I had gone to see where Elizabeth was, and I saw her looking at Ian with a look of … sadness, was it? … on her face. I had quickly walked away after that.
I decided to get up and go ask her about it.
And so, I got out of bed, went down the hall and stopped in front of Elizabeth's door. I knocked on it quietly, then opened the door.
My sister was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She turned her head when I poked my head through the door. "Hey," she said. "What's up?"
"I had a question. What was going on between you and Ian over at the hospital?" I asked.
Elizabeth sat up. "Why?"
"You looked sad," I stated.
"I was worried about Mom and Dad," she replied.
"Oh, no, you weren't. I mean, I'm sure you were, but, it was a different sadness. Did he kiss you, or something?" I asked, taking a wild stab at what I was sure was none of my business.
"Nathan, it's none of your business," she said.
My eyes widened. "You kissed him?" I asked.
"Nathan!" Elizabeth said. Her tone sounded serious. "It's none of your business. You are way too young to understood the complications that love lives can bring someone. You need to go to bed. I'm talking about this with you, alright? End of discussion."
I couldn't help myself. "Are you really sure you're not still in love with Ian?"
"Nathan, I said end of discussion. I'm telling you to go to bed."
Elizabeth's tone was quieter, and I could tell that I had reached her nerve point. I quietly got up from where I had been sitting at the end of the bed and headed towards the door.
Before I went out the door, though, I turned around and said, "Goodnight, sis. I love you."
She smiled softly. "I love you, too, squirt."
I smiled and turned to go out the door. But then I turned back again as a thought popped into my head. "No matter who you choose, I want you to be happy."
My sister gave me a confused look, and then said in a stern voice but with a sad smile on her face, "Goodnight, Nate."
I walked back to my room, thinking all the way there, I'm going to be rooting for the ex.
Author's Note: So? What did you think? I hope it wasn't too too bad. Was anyone expecting the kiss? I thought I'd throw that in there for extra spice...
i'm not sure how many chapters there are going to be left, but I do know that it's not that many, maybe three or four, and then an epilogue. I really want to finish this story before I start school on the seventh, so I am going to be writing a whole lot for the next two days. Who knows, I might even surprise you with a new chapter tomorrow.
Next chapter: We'll discover what Ethan's been up to (but through the eyes of someone who you'd least expect), and will Nathan finally be able to get the girl of his dreams? Or, at least attempt to ask her out?
Until Next Time, eat Milano cookies! Lemonade Ninja.
