Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.
Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing.
A report came in about a missing hiker. Leah took the call from the guy's mother; she didn't sound particularly worried but she just wanted to let them know he was in the area. She rationalised that his phone battery had probably just gone dead. She just wanted to let the local police know that he had missed his appointed time to call in. As an experienced hiker, he had made a habit of phoning his mum or girlfriend to report in. He had been scheduled to contact them last night and had not done so. They hadn't heard from him for three days.
The last place he had been was on the edge of the Hoh River trail on the long walk up to Mount Olympus. She took down all the details and contact numbers for his family and a description. She asked his mother to email her a recent photo of him. She wrote down his cell number too, just in case they could use the built in GPS to triangulate his location.
She let Charlie know about the report but he said they really couldn't do anything for another 24 hrs. She had a bad gut feeling about it though.
She convinced Jake to check it out as part of the pack duties that night.
In her furry security uniform she, Seth, Jake and Paul loped along easily through the national park.
S: I can smell hiker, male, but it is a couple of days old. Could it be him?
J: maybe. Let's spread out and check it out. Maintain contact.
P: Seth and I will head to the west.
They found his campsite relatively quickly. It reeked of that sugar sweet vamp odour, but not as much of blood.
S: there's no body. He wouldn't have left all his stuff unless he ran away.
P: and didn't run back?
L: unless it happened just after he rang in to his mum; that would make it just over three days.
They all looked at each other. Three days was long enough for him to turn if he had been bitten and survived.
J: everyone be vigilant. We know newborns are extremely strong and we could be dealing with one. So until we know otherwise, everyone be really careful.
It was her fault; she knew it was, but things were working out in her life and she was imbued with a new sense of confidence; maybe it was arrogance. She found him first and she was so sure she could handle him on her own. She had enough time to flash them all the image of the newborn vampire before he went for her at a speed she just didn't anticipate. She panicked. Jake was suddenly there and he shoved his large body between them, pushing her out of the way. But because Jake was pushing and not attacking, the newborn got a grip around Jake's body and she heard the sickening crack of multiple bones before Paul and Seth pulled the vamp away. He fought them for a couple of minutes but the two of them together were more experienced and he wasn't much of a fighter. They finished him quickly by tearing his head off.
Jake was badly hurt. She was horrified. She kept apologising until Paul barked at her that she was supposed to be second in command and she should act like it. That snapped her out of it.
Paul had taken to wearing a phone tied to his leg and he phased back and used it now to call Bella. He told her to call Charles Eastman. He gave her a quick summary of the damage. He left it to Charles to decide if he came in the truck or waited for them at the house. Bella didn't panic the way she had. Leah felt bad about that too.
Then he phoned Embry and Quil to bring the emergency first aid kit and the red truck with the mattress in the back. Jake had phased back and lay passed out on the ground. His arm and leg on the same side looked broken; and badly broken.
They burnt the vampire body in his own campfire until he was ashes. They tried to cover any obvious signs that they had been there.
They carried him down to the road; supporting his weight across some branches they ripped off to make a basic litter. Paul took most of the weight on his side. Jake groaned and went grey; the pain must have been excruciating. They had taken it really slow through the woods in an effort to jolt the injured man as little as possible. They had tried to take the quickest path to the road, but it was a forest. They could hear the truck coming. They only had to wait for ten minutes or so before the truck reached them.
Quil jumped out and looked Jake over. "Holy fuck!" he swore vehemently.
Embry turned it around and they loaded Jake into the back. No one said anything to her; Quil and Embry didn't even ask how it happened. One point with the mind link, they would know everything the next time one of them phased and thought about it.
They were at least 15 miles south of Forks. Lucky it was late at night and they could probably drive right through town without anyone taking much notice of them. The truck bounced and jolted and with each jolt she felt more guilty. Her arrogance had allowed this to happen. She had made so many strides forward and this was a big backwards one and someone else had got hurt. Someone she cared about.
She was not sure she would ever forgive herself.
Embry was driving and Quil and Seth were in the front. Paul was holding Jake's body against him on the unbroken side, to try and stop him rolling. She was so worried about touching him anywhere. She couldn't even hold his hand. They had covered him with a blanket. He kept groaning and then passing out from the pain. Paul rang Bella when they got into La Push and warned her they were approaching. She said Charles was waiting at the house. Leah would lose her bed for the night. She didn't care.
Charles met them as the truck pulled up.
"Lift him out; gently does it. Straight to the guest room," he instructed.
Paul hugged Bella and followed them down the hallway. Leah stopped in front of Bella. She didn't know what to say.
"It's my fault; I made a mistake… he… he saved me…but…," her voice broke.
Bella hugged her. "Shhh… shhhh," she crooned. "We can't help him like this; come on Leah, snap out of it."
But then she heard a scream and a stream of swear words. They ran inside and met Seth coming out of the room. He had his arms out and stopped them going down the hall way.
"Don't!" he said. They both looked at him for an explanation. "Some of the bones have knitted too fast, and in the wrong way." There was another scream. "Paul is re-breaking them."
"Fuck," Leah breathed. Bella just leant against the wall like she was going to faint.
Leah was so glad she was not Paul; she didn't think she would have been strong enough to do that for someone. When Paul came out of the room he looked broken. Bella grabbed him and dragged him towards their bedroom.
Leah inhaled deeply and walked into the room. If there was one thing she could say, it was that she was not a coward. "Charles, what can I do to help?"
"Just pass me something when I ask for it, Leah."
She finally saw Jake. A tight bandage was around his chest; broken ribs probably. The whole left side of his body was a mass of bruises; where the tape around his ribs didn't cover. Charles hadn't worried about plastering the breaks; they were braced and loosely bandaged; held in a kind of a strut like a construction set. Jake's eyes focused on her and he gave her a small smile.
"I'm going to be okay Leah, don't look like that."
"Not for a couple of days," argued Charles, "At the very least. Pass me that pair of pliers."
She did. She put her hand on Jake's forehead and brushed his hair back. "Have you given him anything for the pain?"
"Yes, but he burns it off so fast."
"Can he have a drink?"
"Jake?" he asked, "You want a drink?"
"Please," he managed.
She hurried to the kitchen and got him an isotonic drink and a straw. Paul and Bella always had a heap of them. She held it for him and his big dark eyes watched her as he drank.
"What's broken?" she asked Charles.
He gave her a look but answered her, "Leg, arm and some ribs; luckily not his pelvis."
She passed a few more things to Charles; held parts of the construction set for him until he eventually announced that he could do no more. He said he would come back in two hours to check on Jake and that she should stay with him. He gave him a last shot just before he left. "He might be a bit spacey," he warned her.
She thanked him and watched him leave.
Jake's eyes were closed and he looked like he was sleeping.
"Stop it!" he said without opening his eyes.
"Stop what?"
"Feeling guilty." He lifted his unbroken arm. "Come here," he instructed.
She lay down carefully on the bed and slid under his arm. "Purely for healing purposes," she told him. She wanted to touch him but wasn't sure where to do so without hurting him. "I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, Jake."
"It's okay," he muttered, "Don't flatter yourself; would have done it for any wolf; would have done it for Seth; doesn't mean I want to fuck him," he rambled. He pulled her closer with his good arm and pressed his face against the top of her head. "You smell good," he slurred.
"And you are out of your tree," she told him.
He actually giggled; it was most unmanly.
She finally found a place that seemed undamaged to put her hand on; a patch on his hip. "Is this okay?" she asked him.
"…feels good…," he mumbled.
A warm flush passed through her as she thought where her hand was and how close it was to other obviously naked parts of him under that sheet.
"How is he?" she heard Bella ask.
Saved by the Bella? "He's out of his tree on whatever was in the last shot Charles gave him." She tried to move but he clutched her to him. "And now he won't let me move," she announced. "Charles said he would be back in about two hours to check on him. How's Paul?"
"He will be fine; he just felt like punching something but I convinced him a shower was a much better idea. He's gone to bed now. I will stay up and let Charles in later. Shout if you need anything."
"Sure, thanks Bella."
"…Bella…" Jake mumbled. She approached the bed and rubbed his face. He smiled at her in his lazy drugged state. "…love you…" he said.
She held the headboard and leant over him, and kissed him gently on the lips. "Love you too," she told him. "Now you go to sleep and heal. Can you do that for me?" She spoke as if he was a small child.
"Okay…" he agreed amiably as he shut his eyes.
Leah watched Bella's face; Paul was right, she did love him.
"Leah..." he breathed and pulled her impossibly tighter against him.
"Hey, go easy," she whined.
Bella chuckled as she left.
Leah decided she should just give up and go to sleep; he wasn't going to let her go. And clearly being near a pack person helped the healing and she owed him that too. The last thought through her head before she slept was that she rather didn't want him to let her go.
FF_2154210_ - 27/11/2010 12:46:00 PM