Bella:

I don't remember much about being carried back to the house. Maybe it was a blur because it was so quick. It seemed like only seconds until we were walking through the door.

I was feeling kind of floaty, like when you are coming off an adrenaline high. Which I suppose I was, given the scare I had had. My legs and arms felt like Jello. I didn't think I would be able to stand even if my ankle didn't hurt like hell.

When Edward gently put me down in one of the armchairs in front of the fire place, lifting my legs up onto an ottoman, I started shaking. He began seeing to my care, moving so quickly he was making my head spin. I had to close my eyes and lay my head back to keep myself from being nauseous. He disappeared to get a blanket to cover me, got the fire going in the fireplace and then went to get the first aid kit out of the Volvo. Somewhere in there he also managed to make me a cup of very hot, sweet tea, which I had been instructed to drink with no arguments.

"What am I going to do with you, Bella?" he murmured, starting to inspect and clean my various cuts and scrapes.

"You are going to turn me into a vampire," I said firmly, watching his face for a reaction. I didn't get the one I was expecting.

"Yes," he said quietly, not looking at me. "That would seem to be the only logical solution."

My jaw dropped. "Uh…what?" I croaked. "Are you finally agreeing to it?"

He looked at me then, his eyes hard. "I don't like it," he said bluntly, "but I realized I can't lose you over something as trivial as your humanity. You are more important to me than your scent, or the way you blush, or your endearing clumsiness, or all of your adorable human traits put together, for that matter." He paused. "I won't stand in your way, Bella, but neither can I be the one to do it. I'm sorry, I just can't."

Oddly enough, it didn't matter as much as I thought it would. I was so relieved to have his blessing, and also, I felt safest with Carlisle doing it anyway. He was the only one who had said with absolute confidence that he would have no problem doing the deed without killing me. Before I could say anything, Edward continued.

"If you have no objections, I would like Carlisle to do it. I would feel better about him doing it than Alice."

I noticed that he was asking me politely instead of telling me. My accident must have been a life-changing experience for him. "I have no objections," I said, still stunned at how quickly the tides had turned in my favor.

"Speaking of Carlisle…" I stopped, afraid to confess to having successfully outwitted Edward and gotten to a phone in spite of him. "He wanted you to call him as soon as you got back."

He froze in the middle of taping a square of gauze to a particularly nasty scrape on my shin, and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" he said politely. "And how is it you came to be talking to Carlisle today?"

Oh, Hell. "I…uh…" I stammered, grasping for a plausible story. Edward let me flounder for a bit, and then took pity on me.

"I can smell when a motorcycle has been used, Bella, even hours later," he said acerbically. "So, you took my bike out for a joy ride, without a helmet no doubt," - I blushed at that - "and then what happened?"

"I met your caretakers, and borrowed their phone to call Carlisle. He sounded pretty mad, by the way."

"Never mind that," he waved it off. "Isn't there something else you are not telling me?" He raised his eyebrows.

I tried to look innocent. "No, there isn't," I said.

"You ran out of gas, Bella," he countered severely.

"Oh. That." I took a long swallow of my tea.

"Yes, that. Did you even check before you went out?"

"Obviously not," I said tartly, "or I wouldn't have gotten myself into that particular pickle. You really should call Carlisle," I continued smoothly. "He was most insistent that you do it immediately."

"I'll just bet he was," he muttered darkly, digging his phone out of his pocket. "I am guessing he knows I took you against your will and why?"

I had the grace to look embarrassed. "Yes. He does. I told you I'd fight dirty to get what I wanted."

"Yes," he mused, eyeing me with an unreadable expression. "You did mention that in passing a couple of times." He dialed the number, and waited.

"Carlisle," he said after a moment. He didn't speak for the next minute or so, gradually squaring his shoulders and stiffening. His jaw tightened. He looked like a young man getting a dressing down and not liking it one bit. "Yes, sir," he finally said respectfully. After another short silence, he was giving Carlisle precise directions on how to find the house. Then, in response to question from Carlisle, he started telling him about me, never once looking in my direction.

"Bella is ok, but she had an accident. It was Alice's vision, Carlisle. Everything except for the…" He looked at me briefly, and continued. "Everything but the head trauma…I did, but I didn't feel anything…ok, hold on a second."

He went to one of the kitchen drawers and took out a small flashlight, coming back over to me. He put the cell phone down on the side table next to me, and started performing a series of examinations, probably making sure I didn't have a concussion. No doubt prompted by Carlisle on the phone, he shone the flashlight in my eyes, did the follow-my-finger test, and asked me a few questions, not bothering to relay the answers to Carlisle as he was quite obviously able to hear everything. It was interesting watching Edward carrying on this one sided conversation with someone the phone, and not holding it to his ear. He then picked it up and handed it to me.

"Carlisle wants to speak to you."

I reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Bella, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Shaken, but ok," I replied. He proceeded to asked me a bunch of questions about blurry vision, dizziness and headaches, and finally, satisfied with my answers, told me he thought I was ok.

"As soon as you get off the phone, Edward is going to take you up to bed. I am pretty sure you have suffered no head injury, but just to be on the safe side, I am having him wake you up every hour to make sure. I want you to do as he says until I get there. I have taken emergency family leave, and will get there as soon as I can. We are leaving in a few hours; we will be driving straight through, and should be there by tomorrow evening, ok?"

"Thanks," I said, relieved.

"You are welcome, sweetheart. Now you mind Edward, understood? I have instructed him to make you take it easy, and I don't want you giving him any trouble, do you hear me?"

"Yes," I muttered, a little put out at the thought of having to obey Edward. "Carlisle, what was that about Alice's vision and head trauma?"

"It's a long story, Bella. We will talk about it when I get there. I want you to rest now."

I decided against insisting for an answer, and said goodbye. I ended the call, handing the phone back to Edward, who in turn handed me a small bowl of oatmeal with cream and brown sugar on top. I wasn't hungry, but I ate it dutifully and handed the empty bowl back to him.

"Was it really bad?" I asked him when he picked me up to carry me upstairs. He knew immediately that I was referring to the initial part of his phone call with Carlisle.

"Yes," he said, "but it is nothing compared to the tongue-lashing I am going to get when he gets here."

"How nice of him to give you a preview," I joked. "It helps build up the anticipation for more."

Edward grinned ruefully. "Yes, that is one of his tactics. I'll be so wound up by the time he gets here, I'll be begging for chastisement."

"You don't sound too worried," I said, as he placed me on the bed and propped my bandaged ankle on a pillow.

"I am scared silly," he admitted, pulling the sheet over me. "Think of how you would be feeling right now, if Charlie was taking a leave of absence to drive twenty-plus hours away, because of something you did."

Well, when he put it that way…and Charlie was a pussycat compared to Carlisle, if what I had already witnessed was any indication. "What will he do?" I asked apprehensively. "He won't hit you, will he? He doesn't strike me as being a 'spare the rod, spoil the child' kind of guy."

He stretched out on top of the bed next to me. "He's not; which is surprising, given that he is a preacher's son, not to mention born in a time when that sort of thing was common," he said. "Thrashing me wouldn't help, anyway. I don't exactly feel that kind of pain. No, Carlisle has a way with words that you wouldn't believe. He'll probably make me wish I could be hurt physically."

I chewed on my lip, trying to picture it. "Wow. "I'm glad I am not you."

"Gee thanks," he responded sarcastically. "Remember, Bella, you're going to be joining the family. You'll be where I am right now, sooner or later. Probably sooner, knowing you," he added as an afterthought.

"Hey!" I protested, cuffing him playfully.

I was laughing, but the mere thought of being in Edward's position made the bottom fall out of my stomach.

We were both quite subdued the next day. Edward was obviously preoccupied with thoughts of his impending confrontation with Carlisle, so much so that he wasn't even making the effort to appear human. He was staring into space, and hadn't moved at all in the last twenty five minutes. Not a muscle.

As for me, I had worries of my own. I called Charlie and Renee, letting them know where we were, and telling them about my accident. Both were reassured by the fact that Carlisle was coming down to check on me; he had let Charlie know what had happened before he left. I was very aware as I spoke to my parents that it might be at least a year before I could see them again, if at all. It was a sobering thought.

Before the day got too hot, Edward carried me to the hot spring for a long dip to soothe my aching muscles. We stayed in until I was a sweating prune (Edward was, of course, still irritatingly perfect), and then went back to the house. The soak helped, and I was feeling much better.

I tried to quiz Edward on the vision he and Carlisle had been talking about, but Edward, taking Carlisle's instructions to the extreme, refused to even talk about it.

"Nuh-uh," he said firmly as I wheedled. "I am in enough trouble as it is. Carlisle said you would talk about it when he got here, and that you needed to rest, and that is what you are going to do."

"He meant that for yesterday, Edward!" I argued. "That vision was about me, and I have the right to know what it is about!"

"That's enough, Bella," he snapped. "Carlisle gets in tonight, it can wait until then."

"But…"

"Do you want me to tell him that you went against his instructions and gave me trouble?" he threatened.

"You wouldn't!" I hissed.

"Try me," he said, daring me.

I stuck out my tongue at him. He stuck his out right back at me, and we collapsed into nervous giggles. We spent the next half hour alleviating the tension by coming up with increasingly unrealistic and unpleasant ways in which Carlisle could punish Edward, and laughing immoderately.

We were in the den, me with my nose in a book and Edward playing the same tune on an old upright piano over and over again, when he suddenly froze, his hands poised over the keys.

"They are close," he said, his tone even. "They will be here in about ten minutes."

"Who is with him?" I asked, sitting up.

"Jasper and Emmett," he replied.

I was overjoyed to be seeing Jasper and Emmett, but disappointed that Esme and Alice were not with them. Edward rose, lifted me into his arms, and took me back into the front room, settling me in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. He then backed against the wall across from me, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, to wait. I tried to read, but Edward just stood motionless, his eyes on the door.

It felt like forever until we heard a car pull up to the house. I had been reading the same paragraph over and over, going back to the beginning again when I realized I hadn't taken in a word. I was quite happy to give up the attempt. I marked my page with a bookmark, and set the book aside, folding my hands in my lap. Edward looked at me and then back at the door. Car doors slammed; then came the crunch of footsteps.

The door opened, and Carlisle swept in, carrying his medical bag, followed by a subdued Emmett and Jasper. His patrician features were hard, and his incandescent eyes swept the room, searching for and settling on me. His features softened immediately, hardening again when he sought Edward out.

Father and son locked eyes, neither one of them blinking. Of course, they didn't have to. They didn't say a word, either. The stand-off continued so long, I began to get uncomfortable. Finally, Edward surrendered and dropped his eyes.

"I am going to take Bella upstairs to examine her," Carlisle said, keeping his eyes on Edward. "Go outside and help Emmett and Jasper with our things, and then bring my medical bag up to the bedroom."

The three boys filed wordlessly outside, and Carlisle turned to me again, smiling at my surprised expression. "How are you feeling, Bella?" he asked, moving toward me and gathering me up into his arms. "Which way?" he added.

I motioned toward the stairs, and he started up them. "I am fine. Much better now that Edward has decided not to stand in my way."

"That's good," he said. "We will talk about it tomorrow," he continued, refusing to be drawn into that discussion right then. "This is a big decision, and I want to be absolutely sure you know what you are getting into, insofar as it is possible for someone to know."

"Actually, I have already made up my mind," I insisted as he set me down on the bed. "I want to do this as soon as possible."

"That's fine," he said, unwrapping my bandaged foot to look at it. "Nevertheless, we need to talk, and we'll do it tomorrow. There is a condition I would like you to meet, before we go through with changing you."

"What? What condition? You promised! You said after graduation!" My voice was rising with every word.

"Bella!" he reprimanded me firmly but gently. "Settle down. I will keep my promise to you. I just want you to visit your mother one last time before we do it. Is that too much to ask?"

"No," I said reluctantly. I should visit her before I did this. This additional delay was frustrating, but it was a tiny price to pay.

"No," I repeated, with more certainty. "It isn't too much to ask at all."

To be continued...