Chapter 5: Change
A/N: This is a story inspired by the many (wonderful) stories about Bella being torn between Edward and Jacob, as well as some others. Please remember that this is listed as humor/romance, and everything is meant in good fun!
This chapter requires some POV changes. I hope they flow OK, I haven't done them before.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. I just like having fun with the characters and world the wonderful Stephenie Meyer created.
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Bella POV:
I feel like I'm floating. I can see the two men I love here with me, together. I can see their faces, and want them to be smiling, but instead they both look so serious. I try to smile at them, but it isn't working - my body won't respond. I can see the love in both their eyes. It has ripped me apart inside to be forced to choose between them. I feel so peaceful being with them both. I feel a warm glow of happiness inside me. I think I'll rest now ...
Edward POV:
It felt like it happened in slow motion: one moment we were playing around, and then the next Bella started to slip. I couldn't get to her in time. She fell down onto the rocks in the creek, hitting just about every part of her body. The water started turning pink, and my heart broke to watch her lifeblood flow away through the icy water.
I tried talking to her, and so did ... Jacob, but she passed out very quickly. Instinct won out over medical training, and I picked her up and carried her out of the creek and up to the blanket. Mystic was right at my heels, and she curled right at Bella's feet when I laid her down on the blanket.
Jacob POV:
Could this day have gone any worse? First I see Bella so happy with ... Edward, while I was left to run with her dog. (Mystic is a way cool dog, though - I had a lot of fun running with her!) I was so surprised to find them playing in the creek when we got back - I always thought Bella's "fun" times were with me, but they were having a great splash fight. I was glad Bella invited me to join them, but I think she noticed I was trying to splash Edward more than her! She was too much of a distraction in a clinging wet white t-shirt anyhow.
Watching her slip and fall was like watching a train go off the tracks - there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I felt so helpless. I tried to talk to her, but she lost consciousness too fast. I couldn't look at the water turning pink, it turned my stomach. Edward picked her up, and I followed her, Mystic managing to push in front of me so she was closer to her human.
Edward laid her down on the blanket, and I Changed to lay next to her like Mystic, to use my body heat to keep her warm. The sun had gone behind a cloud, and the wind was making the meadow chilly.
Edward POV:
I never thought I'd be grateful to two dogs. Jacob changed into wolf form, and curled up along Bella's side. Mystic was curled at her feet, and I heard Jake say to me, "I can keep her warm, what can you do?"
"I don't know. I've been to medical school a couple times, but it doesn't look like there is anything we can do. She's losing blood in so many places, she's cold, and it looks like she has internal bleeding around her ribs. I'm going to have to poke and prod her to find out what's going on."
"I trust you... With keeping her safe."
That must have been hard for him to say. I nodded, then told him, "I'm going to have to take off her shirt to assess her injuries. I want to be able to wrap the blanket around her as quickly as we can. OK?"
Jake nodded his assent, and I ripped her shirt. I had never seen her topless before, and I had wanted it to happen under different circumstances. Her body was beautiful, it left me breathless. I shook my head, and concentrated on looking at her injuries.
The blood was quickly soaking the blanket - she had 2 head wounds which were bleeding hard. I touched them both, and found that a piece of her skull was wiggling beneath my fingers. I gently touched her ribs, and felt a few breaks there as well. I checked her legs too, but that looked like minor scraping. She might have an ankle injury, but nothing more than that.
I stared down at her, my heart unwilling to accept what the logical part of my brain was saying: Bella was dying. Her breathing started to become ragged - either the head wound was causing problems, or one of her broken ribs had pierced a lung.
I looked at Jake. "I need to talk to you as a human, and we need to wrap her in the blanket."
Jake nodded, Changed, then helped me wrap Bella's broken body in the picnic blanket.
Jacob POV:
I knew something was wrong. I knew something was deeply wrong. Edward's eyes held such pain, I never knew one of them could feel pain. I guess I never thought of them as anything other than rivals and enemies. He knelt down and just stared at her, as if in a daze.
"What did you find out?" I asked him. That broke him out of his reverie.
"She's dying. Her head ... Her ribs ... Both are severe injuries. Even if we could get her to the hospital in 5 minutes, they couldn't save her."
"No! That can't be true!" I yelled, not wanting to believe. But then I listened to Bella's breathing, which was growing ragged.
Edward POV:
I looked at Jacob. I didn't want to make this decision with him here. But there was no way of getting him to leave.
"There is one other way," I said.
"What? How can you save her?" He was quick to jump at the idea.
"It might not be saving her, but she wouldn't be dead. She's been asking me to Change her. If I bit her, she wouldn't die, she'd Change into a vampire."
"That would break the treaty." Jake said.
"Yes. I'd need your permission before I did it. But we need to decide soon, her breathing isn't getting any easier. She needs to be strong enough to survive the Change." I looked him in the eyes, both of us kneeling on either side of Bella - united together for once, for her.
Jacob POV:
I couldn't believe the choice he was giving me. Turn my best friend, a girl I loved, into my mortal enemy, or watch her die. But really, it wasn't a choice. There was only one answer.
"Change her. She is too wonderful to be lost."
Edward nodded, and leaned over to bite her. I forced myself to watch as he bit her in the neck, wrists, and ankles - briefly each time. He had the opportunity to suck her dry, but he didn't - it went against everything I had thought true about the Cold Ones. Maybe they aren't all evil bloodsuckers. Maybe some are special - like Stripes the tarantula!
Edward POV:
I felt so grateful Jacob didn't disagree with me. It felt like a huge weight was lifted from me: I was planning to bite her anyhow, but it was better to have his blessing than to try to sneak her off somehow.
I knew it was coming, but it still didn't prepare me for listening to Bella scream. It broke my heart to hear her in so much pain. I turned to Jake, "We need to take her to my house, get Carlisle to help." He nodded his assent, then changed back into wolf form, keeping Mystic with us.
Bella thrashed in my arms, screaming and calling out for me and for Jake. I couldn't keep him away from her - she wanted both of us at her side.
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A/N: This part wasn't actually funny. But this chapter needed to happen as part of the plot.