Chapter 4: The Clock Is Ticking
Disclaimer: owns Twilight.
As they stood in the doorway, Embry turned to her. "Wait here, Bella. I'll get the car."
Embry ran out to the jeep, and started the engine. It took two tries, but it began purring, thank god. He swallowed hard; that would've been all he needed to round out this perfectly awful day.
He let it warm up a few minutes, then went back to his charge, parking the car as close to the cabin entrance as possible. Getting out, he helped Bella climb up into the Jeep, then seating himself, pulled onto the road which was swiftly being erased by the blizzard.
BPOV:
It was quiet in the car except for sudden gasps whenever Bella got assaulted by another contraction. Despite her pain, she was lost in thought. What did Embry mean when he said Jacob might've run into trouble? What kind of trouble?
Her brain waves made the connection with her mouth, and out it came. "Em, when you said Jake might've run into trouble, did you mean vampire trouble—that kind of trouble?'
Hemming and hawing, he cleared his throat, staring at the road ahead. "Uh … not necessarily, but that's always a possibility. Every now and then, we run across a nomad or two. But you know Jake … if anyone can handle himself, it's Jake."
She couldn't help it; a worried frown found its way onto her face.
Embry glanced at her for a second, noticing that look. "Hey, don't even go there," he chastised. "He'll be fine. You need to concentrate on yourself and having this baby. Jake wouldn't want you worrying about him. Think about holding your little baby in your arms, and how happy you'll make our Alpha."
Bella sucked in a deep breath. Embry was right; she needed to focus her attention on bearing her child. She cleared her mind, and peered out the window. The windshield wipers were struggling to keep the glass unobstructed from the constant barrage of snowflakes.
"Can you see all right?"
Pointing to his eyes, Embry boasted, "Yeah, wolf vision, remember?"
EPOV:
With his heightened senses, he could hear the thrumming of the baby's tiny heartbeat, which accelerated with each contraction. Unfortunately, he also smelled the fear emanating from her. The pains were getting worse, and more frequent. Embry could sense it, whether or not Bella groaned or said anything about it. She was so stoic, almost as if she was one of them, a Quileute.
The roadway appeared to be getting worse and worse. The poor guy wasn't even sure he was driving on the road. They were halfway to their destination when he heard a loud crack, followed by a rumbling noise. What the hell was that? Embry continued driving, when around a bend, the mystery was solved. An avalanche had thundered its way down, sliding along the mountainside, carrying with it, trees and boulders, and a ton of white powder. The road was cut off ... totally blocked.
If a tree had fallen across the way, Embry could have easily dispatched it, but man, there wasn't a shovel on the planet big enough to plough through this mess. He looked at Bella, a lump rising in his throat. Her eyes were closed. He realized that she was resigned to the fact that she would give birth back at the cabin with only Embry in attendance. It was up to the two of them to see this through.
QPOV:
Quil had only gone a few miles, when his mind linked with Jacob's. He was too late to give Jacob a warning. It was already a reality. He saw the desperate fight that was going on. Jacob was engaged in an all out war with a dark-headed, female tick that seemed determined to destroy his best friend.
Jacob howled a distress call, and Quil answered in kind. Jake, I'm coming!
Hurry, I can't hold on much longer. This leech keeps disappearing on me. I've gotta get out of here, Bella's in labor.
Letting another loud baying sound escape, Quil rushed forward toward his buddy.
JPOV:
At the sound of the other wolf boy's cry, Kendra looked startled and suddenly stopped her attack. She pivoted and began racing away from him. Jacob followed on her heels, not wanting her to get anywhere near the cabin, but she blinked-out once more, and he was running in circles searching for her.
I can't find her, Quil. She's vanished again.
No problem. You go on down the mountain; I'll track her, and bring back her ashes. Now go!
I've gotta burn the other's remains first, then I'll go.
Jacob hated what he had to do. It was one more obstacle in his way to joining Bella, but it was his duty, so he returned to his human form, and dug in the zippered pocket of his cutoffs for his lighter. He quickly scooped out a large circle of snow, under the shelter of a huge tree, and collected some kindling, hoping it was dry enough to burn.
He trotted across the ice covered stream to retrieve the female's head, then dragged the rest of her body, piling it on top of the wood. Thank goodness the flame from the lighter spread to the corpse, the canopy of the overhanging branches protecting the fire pit from the worst of the snow. Soon a sweet smelling purple smoke rose from the pyre. He had to stay, ensuring that the bloodsucker was completely consumed, and unable to resurrect herself.
When nothing but ash remained, he used a flat rock to dig in the soft dirt, being certain to cover every inch of the monster, as he buried her. Finally with the job done, he went wolf, and tore off like a jet toward the clinic.
BPOV:
The huge pile of snow and debris sat in the middle of the road. It looked like a giant bowl of white frosting had been dumped there. There was certainly no way around it. The fact remained, they had to turn back.
It was quite a job, getting the Jeep turned around, but somehow he pulled it off. Then there were several instances when the Jeep slid on some icy-slick areas, even with the snow-chains on. Luckily, Embry had such fast reflexes, that they didn't slam into any nearby trees.
She shot a sidelong glance at the wolf boy. His jaw was set in determination. Her safety was in his capable hands. But what about delivering her baby?
Bella made up her mind. She could do this. She was strong enough. Her own great grandmother had born six children, and two of them without any aid at all. Bella was not alone; at least she had Embry, and Jacob could trust him with her life. Poor Embry, what must he be thinking?
As her mind went round and round, her thoughts were interrupted by her cell's ringtone. It was Leah.
"Hey, Bella, I thought you'd be here by now. Where are you?"
"I'm almost back at the cabin."
"What? The cabin? Why are you going back there?"
"Embry tried to get us off the mountain, but the road got blocked by a ton of snow."
"Gawd—Murphy's Law.
"Okay, here's what we'll do. As soon as you get to Omni's, you call me, and I'll tell Embry what needs to be done. You got that?"
Bella sighed. "Yeah, I got it."
"You can do this, Bella. I know you can. It'll be just like I'm there in person."
Embry took his eyes off the road for a moment, and looked at her. "What did Leah say?"
"She wants us to call her when we get to Omni's. She'll tell you what to do."
In just a few more minutes, the cabin would be in sight. Bella was doing her breathing just like Leah taught her, but it didn't seem to be helping much anymore. God, how much stronger were these pains going to get? She was starting to get a little frightened, and through it all, her mind kept returning to the unanswered questions—where was Jake? What happened to him?
It was difficult, and she tried not to cry out when a contraction started; but sometimes it just escaped no matter what. The pains were now nearly coming one on top of another. Bella was in the middle of a long hard one, when the Jeep stopped in front of Omni's.
Embry ran to the passenger side, and took one look at her, with her face all contorted. He put an arm about her shoulders, and slipped the other one under her legs, carrying her into the cabin, and back to the bedroom.
When she caught her breath, she doffed her jacket, after retrieving the phone.
"Leah, we're back."
"Okay, Bella. Now put Embry on."
He took the cell from her and while listening, nodded his head. "I think I got it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw some in the bathroom. What about after? My hunting knife is pretty sharp, will that do? Shoelaces? Oh, I get it. I'll see if there're any in the kitchen drawers. Okay, I'll call you back if I have any questions. Thanks, Lee."
He smiled, giving Bella a thumbs up. "Peace of cake."
The smile faded when she began looking all business again. Her face normalized after a minute or so, and she began pulling off her pants. Embry's head jerked, his eyes bugged, and he quickly turned his back to her.
"He's gonna kill me."
"He's not going to kill you, Em, but I've got to get these jeans and my panties off. There's no way you can deliver this baby if they're still on. I need your help. I can't get them down far enough. Oh god, here comes another one."
Bella reached out to him, putting her arms tightly about his neck, her head against his chest, groaning into it. She hung there until the pain subsided. As she let go, Bella noticed that he had his eyes closed. Embry then proceeded to slide her Levis and her underpants the rest of the way down her legs.
"Okay, they're around your ankles; you can step out of them now."
He held her hands for balance while she kicked off what was left of them.
Turning away from her again, he tugged on the bedding, doubling it back so she could get in. Once tucked inside, her emotions erupted, and the tears began to fall. "Oh, Embry, I'm so sorry ... for all of this. It's all because of my own stubborn stupidity. I should have stayed home so Leah could take care of me. And now you're stuck here being a nursemaid to your best friend's woman."
She suddenly quit speaking, and sucked in a breath. "Nooo …" Bella clenched the sheets in her fists while another pain washed over her.
The mattress creaked as Embry sat beside her, rubbing his warm hands up and down her arms, in an attempt to soothe her. When Bella's breathing leveled out, Embry stood up. "I'm gonna go out to the Jeep and get the other blankets and pillows."
Bella grabbed his hand. "Oh god. Please don't leave me … Em, don't leave me."
"It'll be okay, Bella. I'll only be gone a minute."
EPOV:
Embry returned with his arms full. He placed two pillows behind her back. Bella took a blanket from him, and folding it, placed it underneath herself, and not a moment too soon. Her water broke, and the blanket was almost saturated. He pulled the rest of the bedding away from the foot, pushing it up toward her thighs in preparation for the delivery, and removed the sodden fabric from under her.
After dropping the soiled blanket into the shower stall. He washed off the blade of his knife, then Embry scrubbed his hands thoroughly, just like Leah had told him, and with a bottle of alcohol he found in a cabinet, drenched his hands in the stuff. Carrying it with him, he set it and the knife on a chair, moving it close to the bed.
Back at her side, he felt her heart speed up. "Oh, no—he's coming! I feel like I need to push. Embry, oh god, Embry, help me."
Oh sh** … this is it! She's pushing.