Chapter Four

Bella

"Dad...I...have something to tell you..."

"Bells..." His face contorted in such a way that I was sure this would kill him. He was pleading with me to just say it, his hand gesturing for me to come out with it. I would never forgive myself for having to destroy my dad's life. I took a deep breath and released it slowly. It's time. You have to tell him. Just say it. "Dad, because I didn't want you or Edward to...worry, I went to Port Angeles recently to have some blood work done and..."

"Wait, Bells, why were you getting blood work done in the first place?" he asked trying to be calm, yet his hands couldn't quite figure out where to permanently rest.

I stood, arguing with myself as I paced. Why would I have to put him through so much misery and pain? Dad became unraveled the longer I stayed silent. I paced with my head lowered trying not to look directly at him, but my eyes betrayed me and they swept in his direction more than once. I twisted my hands so tightly that they cramped up and sweat was rolling down my forehead. Just tell him Bella!

"Alright, dad, I haven't been feeling good and I knew it wasn't just a cold with aches and pains or anything like that. Something was really wrong and I knew the both of you would freak so that's why I went without telling you and..." as I paced towards the television; my dad sitting in his chair behind me, I heard the chair creak with the motion of him getting up. I turned to see my dad standing right in front of me, his eyes full of troubled thoughts. Dad held his hands out and reached for my arms in a comforting gesture to ease my anxiety, but I knew he wanted to scream at me to just say it. I composed myself as much as possible. I had to be strong for him because after I told him, he would no longer resemble the strong dad I had always known. This...this would break him. I took a deep breath and braced myself for the onset of horror and looked up at him.

"Dad, the blood work came back and...I have...Acute Leukemia." There it was, nothing but blank stares crippled us both. I waited for what he would say, but he didn't say anything, he just stood there. I could hear his deep breaths becoming more...panic-stricken by the second. His eyes were set off in a faraway place looking right through me. I began to say something, but dad's arm left mine and went for his stomach. I can't do this. I didn't want to hurt him. The abundance of tears that fell from my eyes obscured my vision as I said,

"D-a-d...please say something?"

"What does...acute mean Bells? Tell me it doesn't mean what I think it does?"

"I'm so...sorry dad, but it means that I have...limited time...left."

"No..." he whispered with hardly any air escaping him. A crease set between his eyes as his head tilted to one side and he began to...cry. I made my dad...cry. In one moment he managed to age ten or twenty years. I withered my dad down to that of a flower in the middle of winter in one horrible moment. Again he didn't speak and the silence was killing me. I had to know that he was somewhat alright when it came to his own health. A shaken leaf had nothing on my dad or I at this point. Dad took my face in his hands and asked me,

"Did they tell you how...long? I can't believe this, Bells. You're my baby girl. They have to be wrong. They have...too." he said the last part to himself in disbelief.

"Dad, at the most, I have maybe - two or three months, but they said that I may not get that much."

The look of death found its way into my dad's eyes then. If I were to die, he would surely die inside as well. That much was clear. A sense of...urgency trickled through his body as he once again held onto my arms, but this time I could feel the torment running through him. He pulled me into his protective bubble of an embrace; holding me there as if to keep me away from the illness that threatened to devour his baby girl's life. Dad hugged me over and over like he was gathering potatoes that tried to roll off of the table and put them all into his arms.

We didn't speak; I'm not sure how long. I felt like I couldn't breathe he held me so tight, but he needed this and I wasn't about to take this away from him. We cried and cried on one another until we literally couldn't form anymore tears and then I heard my dad whisper in my ear.

"I can't lose you Bells. There has to be something we can do."

I wasn't sure what possessed me to say what I said next, but it came out whether I wanted it to or not. "Dad, there is something we can do. Edward...you have to beg Edward to change me..." I couldn't breathe. It just came to a halt when I understood the meaning of my words aloud. Dad pulled me away from him only by an inch, his face twisted in confusion as he said,

"Bells, what does that mean? What are you trying to say?"

I was dying...what was the point in lying to him? If anyone could get Edward to change me, it would be my dad, but would he believe what I was about to say...?

I asked my dad to sit down because what I was about to tell him would be best told in a sitting position. He looked at me now with trepidation. My cheeks were crusted over with dry tears, my throat depleted of any moisture, but I held strong and began.

"Dad, this is going to sound like the strangest thing that you've ever heard, but..."

"Bells...let me say something before you go any further okay?" I was taken aback by his interruption, but nevertheless, I stayed quiet wondering what he had to say.

"Look Bells, I might not be a city cop and seen everything that there is out there, but I know when something isn't right about a person okay. The Cullen's...none of them are right. I know there's something different about them. I'm not one to believe in Super-natural like-things. I know there's something really off with the Cullen's even Alice. Speaking of Alice, if it weren't for her alone, I wouldn't allow you to be around the rest of them, but Alice, well she makes me think that they are good people even though something is wrong with them. So...you might be surprised to know that the story you are about to tell me may not shock me as much as you might think. So go ahead, I'm ready for it."

My mouth was gaping, I was sure of it. My dad was a very smart man indeed. Somehow I managed to put a smile on my face and proceeded in amazement of 'My dad.'

"Okay...uh...speaking of supernatural...do...you...believe...in..." the last word was hard to say only because I was saying this to my dad. I was a bit uncomfortable even though he just told me what he said. "Vampires…?" Dad sighed deeply almost with...dare I say...relief. I just sat there waiting impatiently. He lowered his head for a brief moment and then raised his head back up to look at me.

"So my assumption of the Cullen's was right?"

I couldn't believe it. He knew all this time, but never said a word. My enthusiasm didn't last long though. Dad's glare was nothing but pure solid ice as if hell had frozen over. He became confused and worried all at the same time. "Dad, what is it?"

"Bells, are they the ones that killed my friend?" Oh no, I couldn't pause on this one. I didn't want him to think that way about them.

"No dad..." I sighed heavily and explained everything to him even the things that happened to me at the ballet studio. Throughout my story, I wondered why Alice hadn't seen all this and had the whole family over to stop me, but then it became clear to me why that didn't happen; Alice wanted to help, she would not tell them about this because this may very well help Edward change his mind if he knew that my dad wanted this too, but the jury was still out on that verdict. I was too afraid to ask him if he would want that for me so I just sat there hoping that my silence would let him know what I wanted to know.

"Bells..." he paused...he kept looking at me, but never got past my name. Please dad, agree. This is my only option, the only option that I wanted even before finding out that I was dying.

Chapter Four...To be Continued...

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