Bella POV
To keep up the charade of my weekend in Seattle with the Cullen girls, Alice dropped me off at home. Charlie was in the front yard weeding the lawn when he saw me getting out of Alice's flashy yellow Porsche.
"You look beat kid." He said wiping the dirt from the grass on his pant legs and came over to the car to get my carry-on bag from the trunk.
"Thanks for noticing." I mumbled taking the bag from him.
"She was a real trooper, Charlie. Barely complained the whole weekend." Alice called out through the window with a grin.
Charlie? Since when was Alice on a first name basis with my father?
"So did you…..uh…get a lot accomplished?" Charlie asked us. I could tell he was still uncomfortable with the concept of wedding planning and all it entailed. After all my parents own wedding was a low key affair compared to what I knew Alice had up her sleeve.
"Oh, tons." Alice replied. It was a blatant lie, of course. At least I thought it was. She might have planned the whole thing over the weekend as far as I knew.
Charlie just nodded, not even bothering to pretend any more interest. I knew it was hard for him, even now to come to terms that not even 2 months after my high school graduation I would be a married woman. Come to think of it, it was kind of hard for me to come to terms with it. Marriage to Edward was what I wanted but it never would have occurred to me even two years ago that I would be travelling down the same path as my parents by getting married so young.
After Alice drove off, all I wanted to do was go in my room and crash. The exhaustion that had been creeping up on me finally hit with full force. Charlie followed me into the house probably to make sure I didn't fall flat on my face.
"Jake's been calling all weekend." He told me as he leaned against the banister watching my slow ascent up the stairs. My whole body stiffened as I halted and turned around. Charlie's expression was part sympathetic, part rueful.
"What did you tell him?"
"That you were in Seattle for the weekend with the Cullens."
Oh, Jacob must have loved that. "What did he want?"
Charlie shrugged. "Dunno, He didn't say but he has been persistent. Calling here nearly every damn hour. You should call him."
And incite a riot? I didn't think so. Whatever Jacob wanted to speak with me about, it was a moot point because I didn't want to speak to him.
As if on cue, the phone rang making me jump.
"Hello." Charlie said answering the phone. He looked at me a mouthed "Jake". I shook my head furiously. "Yeah, she right here." I gave my father the evilest look I could muster silently letting him know that I was not happy with this. Maybe I should cook him tofu every night for dinner as payback. Charlie paid no attention and handed me the phone.
"What do you want Jake?" I said impatiently into the receiver still glaring at Charlie. He smiled and walked back outside whistling.
"You don't sound any different." Jacob replied.
"I didn't realize I was supposed to." And then it hit me. ""Oh, you're checking aren't you? To see…?" I couldn't say anymore for fear that Charlie would overhear.
"Well it looked kind of suspicious when you just up and disappeared to Seattle."
"Don't' worry." I said acidly. "Your stupid treaty still stands."
"It's too bad. I would have loved to have had an excuse to kill some parasites." He sounded cheerful at the thought.
"If that's the case, I'm not sorry to disappoint you." I told him angrily and hung up the phone.
Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone? It was my choice, I thought grumbling, continuing up the stairs. But all thoughts of Jacob and treaties disappeared as soon as my head hit the pillow. Both my body and my mind were just too tired to with Jacob or the stupid wolf treaty.
I didn't know how long I had been asleep for when I felt a cool hand brushing my hair from my face. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Edward, his pale face nearly glowing in the darkened room.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He whispered close to my ear sending pleasurable shivers down my spine.
"Mmm, s'okay." I mumbled, scooting over to give him space on the bed. He sat down on top of the covers next to me, pulling me into his arms. "What time is it?" I asked him trying to make out the numbers on my alarm clock.
"It's 1 am." He answered. "You should go back to sleep." He said sliding his hand up and down my arm in a caressing touch.
I snuggled closer to him trying to let the soothing motion of his fingers on my arm lull me back to sleep but the memory of my earlier conversation with Jacob kept replaying in my head. There was no way we could stay here after the wedding. We would have to leave right away in order to prevent a fight that no one would recover from. My breath hitched as the full force of it hit me.
"What is it? Did you have a bad dream?" He asked noting my sudden anxiety.
"I wish." I replied. At least a dream was imagined. No matter how terrifying I could wake up. There was no waking up from this.
"That doesn't sound like you Bella. What's wrong?" He stopped his caressing motion and placed his finger under my chin making me look him in the eyes. Oh, he knew me too well.
"It's just that we'll have to leave before…you know. I don't think we can ever come back." I told him seriously trying to prevent myself from biting on my bottom lip as I usually did when I was nervous.
He sighed and held me closer. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. " I soothed. " It's not your fault the treaty doesn't have amendments for choice."
"Hmm. If I may ask, what made you think of this now?"
"Jacob." I said without thinking, cursing myself right after blurting it out. Edward was suddenly tense, sitting up as if trying to see if the threat was here in the room with us.
"He was here?" He asked, his tone suddenly seething in anger.
"No, he wasn't. I swear."
"Bella." He drew out the sound of my name.
"He called." Edward visibly relaxed slightly. "I think he wanted to check…you know...to make sure I was still…err…human. Charlie told him I went away with your family and he just assumed…"
"That I turned you into one of us. I understand." He said kissing my forehead as much to comfort him as well as me. "I won't lie to you, it bothers the hell out of me that he's still trying to contact you…but at least it was only a phone call."
"He's not going to let it go." I warned him. "And it frightens me…he frightens me."
"He doesn't want to let you go. A fact that I can relate to entirely but I will not let anything happen to you, I promise."
"It's not me so much that I'm worried about."
"Why does that not surprise me, my love? But don't worry. We have until the end of the summer to make all the arrangements and you can make your peace with Charlie. That is if you haven't changed your mind?"
I was tempted to swat him but it would hurt me more than it would him. "Of course, I haven't changed my mind. After what we just went through, how can you ask me that?" My tone was indignant as I sought to assure him.
He let out a breath. "Just making sure. I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you're not ready for."
I smoothed the frown from his face with tender fingers and kissed him. His arms tightened around me, rolling me onto his chest as he kissed me back.
"Does that tell you that I'm ready?" I asked when our lips parted.
"Hmmm, I think I may need some more convincing." He said innocently trying to hide a grin.
"I think I can do that." I said as I kissed him once more. Oh yeah, I could "convince" him all night long.
The next thing I knew, the blaring buzz of my alarm clock made me jump and fall of the bed.
"Ow!" I yelled feeling my knee pop as I rolled over. My knee was already starting to bruise and swell. Well, crap. Charlie must have left for work already otherwise he would have called out as soon as he heard the thump of my body hitting the floor, not that it was an unusual occurrence.
I used my mattress for leverage as I hoisted myself off the floor and soon discovered that walking would be problematic. I took a shower, letting the water cascade over my injured knee in the hopes that the swelling would go down and got dressed. By the time I finished getting ready, there was no time to put an ice pack on my knee, so after grabbing a strawberry Pop tart as a breakfast to go, I hobbled to my truck to drive to school, grateful that the injured knee wasn't on my driving leg.
My supposedly reliable truck decided to be not so reliable. The engine sounded like it was stuttering on the verge of a complete stall out every time I tried to accelerate.
"Don't do this to me now." I muttered, praying the whole way to school that it would not break down on me. I made a mental note to have Charlie look at it since I was no longer on friendly terms with my usual mechanic, Jacob, and I was still reluctant to ask Rosalie for any favors even though she had been nicer to me lately.
Slamming the door of my truck, I tried to make my way through the parking lot to the school entrance. The pain in my knee was so intense, I could barely walk. I could feel my fast twist into a grimace with each excruciating step. No doubt Edward would notice as soon as he saw me and ask what happened. How embarrassing would it be to tell him, I fell getting out of bed. I could just see his reaction…face down a bunch of powerful vampires out to suck my blood, no problem but getting out of bed…catastrophe.
Putting on my best face of indifference and willing myself not to limp and my knee not to give out as it felt like it would do any second, I walked as best as I could manage down the hall to my locker.
"You're late, Ms. Swan." Mr. Bilby said as I entered my first period class. I really hated being late but it couldn't be helped.
"Sorry." I mumbled head downcast as I made my way to my seat, trying to walk normally. I noted Edward's surprised look as I slid into the seat next to him.
"I thought you were staying home today. You're still exhausted." He said whispering so the teacher couldn't hear him.
I shook my head. "I decided to come in. We only have a few weeks left. I didn't want to miss anything."
He seemed to accept my answer. Wasn't he the one that said I should experience all the human experiences I had left while I still could?
All through class, I kept stretching out my leg, not wanting it to stiffen up. I caught Edward raising a questioning eyebrow at me. Smirking, I just shrugged hoping he wouldn't question me further about it.
Edward POV
Something was wrong with Bella. Oh, she tried to hide it, whatever it was but I saw the unusually pale pallor of her face and the fine sheen of perspiration on her forehead. She was in pain and I was bound and determined to find out why.
As soon as the bell rang signifying the end of the class, I grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her to her feet. Her gait was unusually slow as we followed the other students out of the class. Once in the hallway, I stopped and turned to her, my hand holding her arm to steady her.
"Okay, what's wrong?" I could hear the escalation of her heartbeat as she became aware that I knew something was off.
"I don't know what you mean." She replied taking the opportunity to lean against the wall. "I'm fine."
Fine…I hated that word whenever it was uttered out of Bella's mouth. It always meant the exact opposite.
I noticed her she was taking pressure off of her left leg, favoring it somehow. "You have this tendency of downplaying things when you think I'll worry so don't be offended if I don't believe you. You are very clearly not fine."
"I hurt my knee, okay? Are you satisfied now?" She said, her face flush from what I assumed was embarrassment. I was relieved it was nothing more serious.
"How?" I asked her musing over the various ways Bella had found to injure herself, most completely benign.
If possible, her face turned even redder. "I…err…kind of fell off the bed when my alarm clock went off." She explained looking away in mortification.
"Kind of fell off the bed?" I couldn't help the half smile that rose to my lips.
"Okay, there was no 'kind of' about it. I fell off the bed. Can we go to class now? We're going to be late."
"Show me." I said crouching down pulling her pant leg up. I heard a sharp intake of her breath when the fabric got to her knee.
"Holy hell, Bella!" I seethed all my amusement disappeared as soon as I saw the angry discoloration and swollenness of her knee. This was not a simple bump on the knee. "Did you even put ice on this?"
"No time. I was running late."
"You need to have this looked at." I told her getting to my feet, wanting to pick her up and carry her out of school but instead she started walking down the hall to our next class. I winced every time she did. Bella was trying so hard not to show any discomfort but I could tell what this was costing her.
"Again, no time. I have to work after school. I switched hours with Mike so I could have this past Saturday off."
"I'm sure he'll understand."
"Edward, I made a commitment. I can't break it."
I opened my mouth to argue wither her but quickly snapped it shut. Judging by stubborn tilt of her chin, I knew this was an argument I probably wouldn't win. "Okay, fine but right after work, I'm taking you to see Carlisle."
"It's a deal." She said as we walked into our next class. "In the meantime…do you think you could be my temporary icepack?"
"I think that can be arranged."
Alice agreed to take Bella's truck home while I took Bella to work. There was no way I was letting her drive with her injury. Despite her objections, I insisted on staying with Bella at work in case she needed assistance. Mrs. Newton wasn't too keen on the idea when it was obvious I wasn't leaving.
"This is not a social place, Mr. Cullen." She said imperiously.
"Bella is injured." I told her. "I would just like to help her out."
"Edward." Bella said in a warning tone.
"My goodness, why didn't you say so?" Her tone was all sympathy now. "If you're hurt dear, you need to go home."
"I promised Mike I'd cover for him since he covered for me on Saturday."
"Nonsense. It's not like we're bursting at the seams with customers. I can handle the store by myself. Don't you worry about me. Now get going."
"Thank you ma'am." I said giving Bella an "I told you so" look even though the woman cared more about a possible lawsuit if Bella should injure herself further at the store than her well being.
"No problem and please be sure to tell that father of yours I said hello." If I wasn't 10 years younger…mm, mm, mm.
"I will ma'am." I tried to suppress a grin. I needed to get Bella out of there before Mrs. Newton's thoughts turned x-rated. Now I knew where Mike Newton got his dirty mind from. All this time I thought it was the father.
As I escorted Bella to my Volvo, I could tell she wasn't too happy with me just by her stiff posture. I didn't mean to be domineering. I wish she could see that I was looking out for her own best interests especially when she wasn't doing it.
"Must you always get your way?" she fumed as she tentatively tried to get comfortable in the seat.
"When it comes to your health, yes." My answer was matter-of-fact.
"I can't afford not to work Edward. I need the money."
"No you don't. You don't even need to work there. You have me." Why couldn't she just accept that?
"It's not the same and you know it." She crossed her arms over her chest and a cute pout formed on her lips. I resisted the urge to kiss it away. It was obvious she wasn't in the mood to be "dazzled". "I like to be independent. I like having my own money. I do not like having to ask for it like an allowance for cleaning my room."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come across that way." I said instantly regretful. She was well and truly angry and I felt horrible for making her feel that way. Of course she wanted to work. She'd been independent for so long, never truly relying on anyone but herself. It would take her awhile to get used to the fact that she could rely on someone else for a change.
She blew out a breath. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have over reacted. I know you're just trying to be helpful."
"Not to mention you are in a great deal of pain which will affect your mood. Don't worry, you're forgiven." I told her leaning over to kiss her wanting to take the misery from her face.
XXX
"I must say I am surprised you have managed to walk on this at all." Carlisle said with a frown after examining Bella's knee in his home office. If anything, despite my ministrations throughout the day, her knee looked worse. Seriously, Edward, I am astounded she was able to make it through the day without collapsing.
I shouldn't have listened to her and just brought her to Carlisle when I first knew about it. No, she would have resented me for that. After all the enemies we faced, the ones that seemed to do the most damage were the internal ones.
"Let's just say that through the years I have developed a high threshold for pain." Bella replied.
"Yes, I can see that. Did you treat it with any ice?" Carlisle gave me a concerned look as I shook my head giving him the answer to that question.
"Does Edward's hand count?"
"Sadly, no." Even though I am sure to her it has some healing qualities. Really, Edward you should have brought her to me immediately. "Did you hear a popping noise when you banged it?"
"Yeah, then I saw stars."
"Hmm, well, it appears you have an acute anterior cruciate ligament injury or what is otherwise known as an ACL injury." At Bella's horrified expression, he continued. "It's not as serious as it sounds. What that basically means is you have a small tear in your knee ligament."
"Ouch." Bella said with a slight grin which Carlisle returned. "So how do we fix it?"
"First, I'll give you some NSAIDS to help alleviate the pain. Then, I am going to give you a real ice pack. You are to apply it 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off. I have a flexible brace you can wear on your knee to help keep it immobilized. You should keep it on for a week."
Bella made a face. "Do I have to wear one?"
"It's either that or it gets worse. Then I'm afraid you'll be walking down the aisle with crutches if you get my meaning."
"She'll wear the brace." I interceded. Carlisle nodded and left the room to get the supplies. "It's only temporary, love."
"I know. I just can't bear the thought of the extra attention. It's so embarrassing and mundane that I did this getting out of bed. It couldn't be something more interesting?"
I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped. Most of it was brought on by relief. Although painful as her injury was, I knew it could have been something far worse. Within a few weeks hopefully she would be completely healed.
Alice chose that moment to come bouncing in the room in her usual manner, jumping onto the examining table and crossing her legs. "Does your knee injury mean you can't go shopping?" Alice said with a frown.
"Yes!" Bella and I responded at the same time for completely different reasons.
"You don't have to sound so enthusiastic about it." Maybe I can get her a hot pink brace or maybe a blue one…oh, the possibilities.
"No Alice."
Bella looked back and forth at us, confused. "What?"
"Don't worry about it. Alice thinks she's funny." I told her brushing my lips along the back of her knuckles.
"Nice save, Cullen." Bella responded dryly.
"Speaking of saves." Alice said. "Were you aware that your truck was running funny, Bella? I noticed when I was driving it."
"Uh…yeah. I was going to have Charlie look at it."
"Oh, no need. I already asked Rosalie to check it out. You needed an oil change. There was barely anything left."
"That's odd. I just had that done last month."
Alice shrugged. "Well, there was no leak as far as Rose could see so maybe it's been longer than you thought." Maybe she'll let you get her a new car, Edward. The new Mercedes Guardian is missile proof…perhaps that would keep your overprotective tendencies under control…at least while she is in the car.
I didn't think so but after our previous conversation, I didn't want to bring it up. The Mercedes sounded interesting though. I would have to look it up and see if I could get my hands on it. If Bella did indeed replace her oil last month as she said, then her truck was slowly dying. If I could get her to agree to let me purchase her a car when hers finally goes, the Mercedes may be just the thing.