The next time I opened my eyes, I was looking into a bright, white light above me. I don't mean in the angels playing harps type sense; someone had put me under a freaking bright white lamp of some sort. I couldn't move and my eyes wouldn't focus on anything around the room. Before I could even put much thought into where I was exactly, a sickeningly sweet smell hit my nose and I heard the voice of Edward Cullen quietly say "You're at our home, Leah. In Carlisle's study. You're going to be alright." Alright? I was having trouble putting things together when the thought of Charlie popped into my head, causing me to sit up quickly. I needed to know what happened. Had I imagined hearing his voice?
"Charlie is fine, I assure you," Edward answered my unspoken question as he placed his cold hand on my shoulder, causing me to shiver as he pushed me back down. "He's downstairs with Jacob. I'll send him up as soon as Carlisle is done examining you." I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as tears freely fell down the sides of my face, soaking my hair. He was alive. "Where was he," I thought to myself, "why couldn't I hear him when I was at his house?" Edward again answered my thoughts, which normally would have annoyed the hell out of me, but with the pain I was in, I didn't mind the prospect of not having to talk. "Charlie was at his neighbor's house. Thankfully. The inside of his home reeked of the two… visitors. He came running when he heard you yelping and fortunately didn't get there before the other wolves did. He's still quite unnerved by everything he saw, but I think he was mostly affected by seeing you in such poor shape." Poor Charlie. I didn't even want to think about what he would have seen. "Seth is alright as well. Esme is feeding him as we speak." Shit. I hadn't even thought to ask about Seth. Truthfully, I didn't even remember that he had been injured until the leech brought it up. Talk about a guilt trip. "It's perfectly understandable with the physical head trauma you've been through, Leah. Things will likely be a little fuzzy until one of the other wolves can fill you in. Please excuse me," he added as I smelled Carlisle Cullen enter the room. The bright light was pulled away, allowing me to take in more of my surroundings. Dark paneling, paintings, medical equipment. I really didn't want to think of what kinds of things Dr. Fang got up to in this room. "Well, Leah," his voice broke through my train of thought; "you took one hell of a beating. But, I think you're going to be okay. Everything seems to be healing nicely now that we've re-set your broken bones." Thank God I was unconscious for that. The memories of Jake screaming in pain flooded my head and I involuntarily shuddered.
"I would like to keep you here for the rest of the night, though. Just to be sure. I'm keeping the morphine steady, just in case. I wouldn't want you to have to face any unnecessary pain. But, you may feel a little out of it on top of everything else, so I would like you to try and get some sleep." Now that he had mentioned it, I was feeling high as a kite. "But, Charlie," I managed to mumble. "Charlie will still be here when you wake up. He's made it very clear that he's not going anywhere. Now sleep, please." And with that, he turned out the lights in the room, leaving me in the dim light of evening.
I could hear things moving throughout the house, papers shuffling, chairs scraping. But what really interested me were the two male voices that I knew so well. "Charlie, man, you gotta relax. Leah will be fine. Now stop pacing and sit down." Jake said, sounding annoyed. Another chair scraped as I guessed my imprint had taken a seat, as ordered. "You know, for someone who doesn't really care about her, you seem pretty worried, Chief." Even I flinched at that one. I knew that Charlie's absence had upset Jake. He hated seeing me so hurt. Of course my pain meant everyone else's suffering, which I think was a big part of him hating it. "Don't you dare, Jake," I heard Charlie growl before he added "you have no idea how much I care about her." I heard Jake snort in a bitter way and frowned to myself. I didn't like the idea of him being cruel to Charlie, even if it was in my defense. "You have a shit way of showing it," Jake snapped. Before Charlie could respond, I managed to choke out "Jake, don't, please," as I again tried to sit up, only to lay right back down as my head went fuzzy. Stupid morphine.
I tried listening again, but the voices were gone, replaced by the sound of boots hiking up the stairs. I knew there was only one person in this house who would make that much noise and I held my breath, hoping that those footsteps would be heading towards me. I needed to see him. Despite everyone's claims that he was alright, despite hearing his voice, I needed to see it for myself. I had to know.
The door creaked open and I turned my head, bursting into tears as I saw him peeking in the door way. God, I was doing a lot of crying. I knew that Charlie was wary around tears, but I couldn't stop. I felt his hand on my face, trying to wipe some of the tears away. "Shhhh, Lee, you're okay. You're safe now," he whispered nervously. The nerves were probably from the fact that the tears weren't showing any signs of stopping. "You're okay," I blurted out. I can't believe the big idiot thought I was scared for myself. "Of course I'm okay. I'm not the one who got beaten to a bloody pulp." I had to wonder just what he had seen when he came home. I carefully lifted my hand, holding his against my cheek as I tried not to imagine it.
"Pretty sure you're supposed to be sleeping, you know," he quietly joked. I think he was just desperate for something to say at that point. I'm sure he wasn't expecting the reaction that he got once the words were out. "Please don't leave me," I begged, holding his hand tightly. I heard him sigh, but I wasn't sure why. "Don't worry, honey, I'm not going anywhere. But I will need to grab a chair if you want me to stay with you and I'll need my hand back for that." I finally opened my eyes, looking up at him as I reluctantly let go. I watched as he took a chair from in front of a desk that I guessed was Carlisle's and brought it back over to the hospital bed, setting it down before taking a seat. I reached my hand out and he took it in his. Whether he was just being kind or actually wanted to didn't really matter to me at that point. "You scared the hell out of me, kid. I thought we'd lost you." We. Not him. "I'm sorry," I whispered, closing my eyes again.
He got to his feet, keeping hold of my hand as he shushed me again. "Don't worry about it. Just get some sleep." I felt his lips press against my forehead and his mustache tickle my skin as the morphine pulled me back under.