Chapter 12: Waiting
(Alec's POV)
The long flight to Seattle felt like it would never end. The only people who talked during the trip were the ancients. I listened into their conversation from time to time and found out why Carlisle didn't change Violet. Apparently she was with Bella's dad at the police station when she passed out. Bella's dad rushed her to the hospital; Carlisle couldn't change her because it would cause suspicion. The last conversation Aro had with Carlisle was news that the Seattle hospital was allowing him to be her doctor and perform surgery on her. That was the last thing we heard; Violet went into surgery and our flight took off.
Jane sat by me on the plane and tucked herself under my arm. For once, Demetri and Felix didn't have anything to say and sat in the back of the plane just staring off into space. I haven't moved since I sat down, I just continued to stare out the window hoping that Violet was going to be ok.
After several more painful hours, the plane landed in Seattle. Aro had Demetri and Felix take our things to the hotel when Jane and I drove with them to the hospital. When we entered the huge building, we got several stares but I didn't really notice; I just wanted to see Violet. Carlisle was standing by the desk looking exhausted, if that was even possible.
"Aro," he said with a small smile, "Violet is this way."
"How is she?" Aro asked as we followed Carlisle into the critical unit area.
"The surgery was a success," he replied, "but she's not doing any better. Her heart has swollen form the stress of everything and I had to put her on a breathing tube a few hours ago." Carlisle stopped at a closed door and looked at us, "She's in a medical induced coma right now from the surgery; I'm not sure when she will wake up" Aro nodded and followed Carlisle into the room.
Violet was lying on a bed looked extremely pale. Her heart was beating too slowly for normal. Even if she was awake, she wouldn't be able to speak due to the tube that was helping her breath. Aro walked over to her and touched Violet's hand with a deep frown. I leaned against the wall while crossing my arms to keep from running over to her.
"Visiting hours will end in thirty minutes," Carlisle said, "but I will stay here with her all night and until she wakes up. I will keep you posted on her condition Aro."
"Why can't we stay here?" Caius demanded and Carlisle sighed deeply.
"It's the rules. I already had a hard time getting the hospital to make me her doctor. I don't want to push it any further."
"We understand." Aro said sitting on the edge of Violet's bed. Carlisle nodded and left the room saying he needs to get something for Violet.
"What do we do brother?" Caius asked.
"We wait." Aro responded, "if her condition worsens then we will find a way to change her."
"Why not just change her now?" I finally said and they looked at me.
"We will wait Alec." Aro said standing up as Carlisle walked back in.
"I was able to get permission for one of you to stay here each night." He said, "but only one person can stay." I wanted to be the one to stay, but I had a feeling Aro was in no mood to argue with me.
"Alec will stay." Marcus said softly and, to my surprise, Aro nodded.
"Keep your phone on you Alec," Aro said as everyone started to leave. He turned to Carlisle, "If I heard correctly, I believe your family is having issues with a vampire." Carlisle nodded.
"Victoria," he said, "Edward will explain. My family is staying at the same hotel you are, so you can talk to Edward." Aro nodded and left leaving me and Carlisle alone in the room. I watched as Carlisle scribbled some notes on a clipboard and examined the machines by Violet's bed.
"If she wakes up Alec," Carlisle said before leaving, "press the red button; we will need to know right away to make sure there was no damage to her brain."
"Damage?" I asked and he sighed.
"Yes. Anything can happen when it comes to brain surgery. She could've lost her memories, motor movement, sight, and so forth." He must have seen the worry on my face because he quickly continued, "Don't worry though; I was able to get to her quickly so she'll probably be ok."
"Probably." I muttered after he left. I picked up one of the chairs and set it by Violet's bed. I sat down and lightly touched her skin surprised to feel how cold she was. I sat there for hours listening to her shallow breathing and slow heart rate. Carlisle walked in around midnight to check up Violet.
"Pretend to sleep Alec," he said, "not many humans are awake at this time." With that he left while I glared at him. I laid my head down by Violet's hand and closed my eyes. My mind drifted off to when Violet was staying in the Castle.
"It's called having fun Alec." Violet said as we stood facing each other in the middle of the hall after I drug her back from town.
"Fun!" I hissed, "Last time I checked dancing in the town's fountain isn't fun. Epically when you have to run from the police." Violet waved her hand and swayed a little due to the one too many drinks she had at the bar where I found her.
"It's not like I was skinny dipping," she said, "I was just dancing; what's so bad about that?"
"One," I said catching her as she stumbled, "that fountain isn't a pool. Two: there was huge sign that said do not swim!"
"I wasn't swimming," she rolled her eyes, "I was dancing."
"You're drunk." I replied grabbing her wrist.
"I am not," she argued, "I'm just tipsy. There's a difference."
"Then walk in a straight line." I said letting her go.
"I can't even walk in a straight line when I'm sober." She said rolling her eyes.
"Which worries me." I replied catching her as she fell into my arms.
"You're a jerk." She muttered before she fell asleep in my arms and I carried her to her room.
"I know." I muttered even though she couldn't hear me.
My eyes snapped open when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Aro smiling a little at me.
"Go hunt Alec," he said, "then you need to help the others find Victoria." I nodded and reluctantly left the room.
(Aro's POV)
I could tell Alec was deep in thought because he didn't notice me enter the room. I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder making him quickly look up. I told him to go hunt and help find Victoria. After a moment of reluctance, he nodded and left the room. Carlisle entered a minute later.
"Kid's got it bad." He said with a smile.
"Excuse me?" I said sitting down in the chair and Carlisle laughed a little.
"It means he really loves her." He clarified and I chuckled a little.
"I think we all do." I replied and he nodded at me then left. When he was gone I grabbed Violet's hand wishing I could read her mind right now. I wondered if she was a shield like Bella...
"Check Mate." Violet smiled brightly as I leaned back in my seat with a frustrated sigh.
"You truly are amazing at this." I said and she smiled. Her cell phone rang and she took one look then silenced it.
"Don't you want to answer that?" I asked and she shrugged.
"No. It's just Harvard University." She said and I raised my eyebrows.
"That's a good college, why are they calling you."
"They want me to attend," she replied, "Them and Stanford have been spamming my phone since I graduated."
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, "those are some of the best colleges; how did you get their attention?"
"I go a perfect score on my ACT and SAT," she replied setting up the chess board, "I also graduated as a valedictorian."
"So why are you ignoring them?" I asked, "college is a very important thing in this time."
"College isn't going anywhere," she replied, "I want to live my dreams when I'm still young; not regretting my life because I spent time focusing on only one dream." I sat there thinking while she made the first move.
"In this age, it's hard to get a job without a degree." I said making my move.
"Which is sad," she replied, "a degree is just showing that you sat in a class, passed a few tests and that's it. Why would I want a degree in art when I'm already an amazing artist? Or why would you want a degree in music when you're an amazing singer. Everyone in this world are born with talents. We shouldn't need degrees to prove it."
Violet did have an opinion on everything and everything she said made me rethink my views on life. She was a very unusual human. Humans are bound by time and they know it, so they focus on the future and how they will be living. Violet was one of those rare people who focused on the present. She understood that she could die at any time and lived her life how she wanted to. Whenever I asked her about the future she would always tell me that God didn't allow humans to see the future for a reason; so she never bothered to think about it.
I arrived here at five in the morning and it is now ten in the morning. Caius walked in with a book in hand telling me he'd sit with Violet for a while. I kissed her on the forehead before leaving.
"Aro," Carlisle said as I walked out of the room, "I have a small amount of good news."
"Yes?"
"Violet's heart rate is slowly returning to normal; however, I can't guarantee that it will stay that way." I nodded and walked with him down the hall.
"Well it's a start." I muttered and he nodded.
(Caius's POV)
I sat in the seat that Aro had previously sat in and opened my book. The first thing I saw was little doodles that Violet drew because she got bored when we ran out of paint. I smiled as I noticed the majority of the drawings were flowers, animals, and random sketches.
"Violet what are you doing?" I demanded grabbing the book from her when I walked into the library.
"I'm bored." She complained throwing the pencil down on the table.
"That doesn't mean you can draw in our books." I said flipping through the pages and she shrugged.
"The books you have here are very old and I've met people who would pay millions for some of these books."
"And you go and draw in them?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.
"Take a closer look, that book was written last year; no harm done." I looked at the cover to see that she was right.
"But!" she yelled and I jumped a little at her outburst, "I have a project for us."
"And that would be?"
"Well you have a lot of ancient books here that you just can't find anywhere else; if something happens to them then they are lost forever. So I want to scan them onto a computer."
"What does that mean?" I asked confused and she rolled her eyes.
"It means that if something happened to the book, then the content isn't lost because it's saved onto a computer."
"And how would all those books fit into one of those things?" I asked confused. She stood up and walked out annoyed.
"And I thought my high school teachers were clueless when it came to technology." She said walking out of the library.
For the next week she showed me what she meant by scanning in the books. She had me buy five computers and ten scanners. We spent several days scanning in the books; well Violet scanned them, I watched because I had no idea what to do. During that time I read to her and we got into several discussions.
"I just don't understand why people take religion so seriously." She said after I read a book that analyzed ancient beliefs.
"Explain." I said watching her.
"All religions were written by humans, not some higher up spiritual person. I do believe that religion is a good thing to look to when you need hope, but I hate it when people let their religion control their lives. I just never understood why people believe something that other humans wrote."
"An interesting belief," I muttered, "so what do you believe in?" She smiled.
"I believe that humans fear the unknown, so they create these beliefs so they have some way to explain the unknown. I love the different views on religion, but I just don't like it when people center their lives on it. It's just not who I am."
"You are human, but you think like an ancient vampire." I muttered and she laughed.
"Or maybe I've just spent too much time with ancient vampires." I smirked and handed her another book to scan.
I didn't realize how much time had passed while I was deep in thought. It was five in the evening when Marcus walked in, pulling me out of my thoughts. He informed me that Jane and the others found Victoria and killed her. We discussed other things that were going on in the vampire world before I left.
(Marcus's POV)
After Caius left I sat by Violet and closed my eyes. Her heart sounded better than it did yesterday, but it was still beating too slowly. A heart beat is what separated Vampires and humans.
"Do you believe Vampires have souls?" I asked her while we sat in the garden.
"Sure," she said, "I mean I believe everyone has a soul."
"Even if their heart isn't beating?" I asked and she shrugged.
"To me; a heart is an organ and it's the same for everyone," she paused and looked at me, "Everyone has a soul. In my opinion a soul defines us. It's part of your personality and changes as you do. So yes I believe that Vampires have souls because you all have personalities."
"A very interesting theory." I muttered and she returned to her lunch.
"How is your wife Marcus?" Carlisle asked walking into the room to do his usual check up on Violet.
"She's well." I replied, "How is Esme?"
"She is doing well," he replied with a smile, "Violet and the rest of the kids has brought out the mother in her; epically Violet."
"Violet does bring out the human in all of us." I muttered and he sighed.
"She is an amazing woman," he replied then chuckled, "Rosalie even likes her and that's rare."
"So I've heard," I replied, "How is Bella and Edward?"
"Their..." he trailed off, "enjoying themselves." He laughed and I smiled clearly understanding.
"I bet." I chuckled and watched him inject something into Violet.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Pain killers." He replied and I nodded. We talked for a while about how his family lives with humans and he told me about his experience being a doctor. Carlisle left again to go 'take a nap,' so the humans wouldn't get suspicious. It was ten at night when Alec walked into the room.
"Master." He muttered and I stood up.
"How are you Alec?" I asked and he shrugged.
"Fine." He said looking at Violet.
"I believe Violet would say 'you're such a liar,'" I said as I walked out, "but I won't push the matter." I saw him relax a little before I left.
(Alec's POV)
I relaxed when Marcus walked out without any more questions. I sat by Violet and grabbed her hand again. All day people have been asking me how I was doing. By the time we found Victoria, I was beyond annoyed. Jasper was the one who kept me from doing something stupid because of his gift and I was a little grateful that he did that.
"I would ask how you're doing," Jasper said after we killed Victoria, "but I already know."
"Is that so?" I growled and he smirked.
"It is," he replied, "a talent that is both a gift and a curse."
"What do you mean?" I asked looking at him and he sighed.
"Imagine being able to sense all the emotions around you. Lust, depression, anger, happiness, jealously, and so forth. It gets tiring and overwhelming at times. However, it's nice to have when tempers run a little high in the family. I can help calm everyone down before a fight breaks out between my siblings."
"Lucky you," I muttered, "fights rarely break out in the Volturi."
"Really?" he asked a little shocked.
"Well they do," I replied then smirked, "Jane just doesn't allow it to get very far." Jasper chuckled a little.
"Sure glad I don't have a sibling that can cause that much pain." He said and I sighed.
"Jane doesn't use her gift on me," I said, "and I don't use mine on her."
"Makes sense." He replied and we fell into silence.
"I heard you got Victoria," Carlisle said walking in the room and I nodded. I watched him do his usual doctor stuff. When he was about to leave I spoke softly.
"Thank you," I murmured and he looked at me.
"For what?"
"For helping Violet." I replied and he sighed.
"I'm a doctor Alec," he said, "it's my job to save lives."
"A vampire saving lives." I muttered and heard him chuckle.
"Strange I know," he said, "but it makes me happy and that's all that matters."
"Violet always said to do what makes you happy," I said.
"She's a smart girl." He replied, "you should be lucky that you have her."
"She's not mine." I muttered.
"That's not what she told us." He said and I looked at him.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Violet told us that she was with you and only you." He smiled then left the room. I stared at the sleeping Violet in complete shock. I leaned up and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Thank you," I whispered even though she couldn't hear me. A couple hours went by before Carlisle came back in with a nurse.
"Good news," he smiled walking over to Violet, "we can take her off the breathing tube. Her condition is improving, slowly; but it is improving." I moved out of the way and watched them remove the breathing tube and replace it with the air tube that goes into the nose.
"Should I call Aro?" I asked when the nurse left and he shook his head.
"I've already called him." I nodded and sat back down. After he left, I lightly kissed her on the lips before laying my head on the bed again. I had released her hand and crossed my arms on the bed to lay my head down.
"You should let me dye you hair Alec." Violet said as we sat on a bench when I took her out shopping one day.
"Why would I let you touch my hair?" I asked glaring at her.
"Because I'm an artist." She smiled and I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks by I like my hair the way it is."
"You're no fun." She complained taking a bite into her apple.
"You've already said that before." I replied.
"Because it's true," she said, "have you ever actually gone out to a club?"
"Yes," I said, "but not to have fun."
"You're impossible." She sighed then jumped up smiling.
"Let's go out dancing tonight!" she said smiling brightly.
"Not going to happen," I hissed, "I hate that kind of dancing your generation does." Violet rolled her eyes then thought for a minute.
"Well then you choose the place." I sighed knowing that if I didn't go along with this she wouldn't stop bugging me.
"Fine." I muttered, "I'll take you out dancing tonight." She smiled then frowned.
"What should I wear?" she asked and I smirked.
"I'll have Jane get you a dress." I replied and she sighed as we walked back to the castle.
I waited by the castle entrance for Violet. I turned when the doors opened and froze in place. Jane had dressed Violet into an Italian ballroom dress and did up her hair. Her hair was curled up and had flowers in it.
(Hair: On profile page under HCTL Chapter 12)
(Dress: HCTL Chapter 12)
"Is this ok?" she asked spinning around and I just stared like an idiot. "Alec?" she said amused and I rolled my eyes.
"It's fine." I muttered.
"You're horrible with women." She laughed and took my hand. I took her to a large ballroom party where couples were dancing to all types of Waltz.
"I can't Waltz." Violet said worried as I led her to the dance floor.
"Jut follow my lead." I replied smirking at her. For the next couple hours we danced and I was surprised at how good she was. It took all my strength not to kill the guys who danced with her as well. I would admit that I was kind of enjoying myself, but I would still rather be in my room.
"Ok," Violet said as we walked back to the castle, "I'll admit that was fun." We walked by a flower shop and a little girl ran up to Violet with a red rose in her hand.
"Un fiore peruna bella ragazza." (A flower for a beauitful girl). She smiled handing Violet the flower. I was going to respond for Violet, but she shocked me when she responded.
"graziepiccolo.Quantocosta?" (Thank you little one. How much?) She said bending down to be level with the child. The little girl shook her head and gave the flower to Violet.
"Libero." (Free). She smiled then looked between me and Violet. "libero perlabella coppia." (Free for the beauitful couple). The child giggled and ran back into the shop. Violet stood up and I noticed the small blush on her face as she smiled at the Rose.
"Do you like Roses?" I asked as we walked back to the castle.
"sì," she repled with a smile, "io amole rose rosse." (Yes, I love red roses). I watched as she brought the flower to her lips and smelled it; that's when it hit me. Violet smelled like roses.
I was brought from my thought when I felt a movement. I snapped my eyes open and looked up to see Violet's eyes slowly open.
"Violet?" I whispered standing up and leaning closer to her. She blinked a couple times and it was in that moment when I remembered everying Carlisle told me about the effects of brain damage. I panicked when her eyes locked with my contact covered eyes.
'Does she remember?' the question came to my mind before I could stop it, 'does she remember me?'
Author's Note:
Cliffhanger! again :)