Chapter Five Notes: Originally, Chapter Five and Six were combined, but it became a bit epic, so I split up. Beware of the cliffhanger. However, I am not a sadist, so I am updating very, very soon; you won't have to wait long for Chapter Six. Plot-wise, things are picking up (I know, it's about time, right?). Enjoy!
CHAPTER FIVE: Break
I spent the entire next morning on edge, looking over my shoulder in the hallway and keeping my ears peeled for his name. Alice never glanced in my direction during Spanish, validating my theory that psychotic tendencies did not seem be a family trait. He, and he alone, found me intolerable.
At lunch, I crept into the cafeteria like I was trying to avoid landmines. I took a deep breath, shot a glance at his table… and he was nowhere in sight. I expected to feel relief, yet my stomach simply fell, the tension remaining, manifesting itself into something I couldn't identify.
When he failed to appear in English, I wondered if he had dropped out of school or ended up in jail somewhere. My uneasiness followed me home that night. I found myself ferociously butchering the onions I only intended to dice. I needed to get a grip. Once Jacob arrived, I placed the raw onion burgers in the fridge and asked him to go on a walk with me.
"Need to blow off some steam before dinner, eh?" he guessed. "This isn't about that nut job from school, is it?"
I rolled my eyes and supplied an indirect answer. "He wasn't there today."
We headed out to the woods that bordered the lawn. Miraculously, the ground was only mildly wet from the morning's brief rainfall. "So, what did you find out? Should we be wary of grizzlies?"
"Oh, that." He purposefully averted his eyes.
"Tell me!" I gave him my sweetest face. "No judgment, I promise."
"First, you have to know my dad's not crazy, I mean not really… He's just so wrapped up with old legends. I don't think he sees things clearly."
"I love your dad, Jake." Billy was a second father to me.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "There's a new family that moved in out by the Calawah River. Dad and some of the other tribal elders think they're… dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" My heart was in my throat. I knew exactly who just moved to a place near the river.
"He didn't really say." For once, I couldn't tell if he was lying. "He's just basing everything on legends that are, like, a million years old. It's ridiculous."
I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't, only adding, "I think he's just afraid of change or something. You know how he's always talking about 'the sake of the tribe,' 'the sense of community among the Quileutes.'" Jacob's thoughts seemed far away.
I felt the need to change the subject, despite my intense curiosity. I didn't like to see Jacob upset; insecurity didn't suit him. "So, we're starting Romeo & Juliet in English later this week."
"Ugh. Shakespeare. He makes my brain hurt." He let out a welcome laugh, but my spirits sunk ever so slightly; it was my absolute favorite play. Detecting my discomfort, he added, "but it has good parts, too. I mean, the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio had some great fight scenes. We should rent it sometime."
"We could do that." He was so accommodating… I was about to complement him on his open mind when my foot caught on the raised root of a tree. I went flying, landing hard on my right ankle. I knew too much time had passed since I paid one of my ritual visits to the ER.
"Fantastic," I muttered as sharp pains shot up my calf. Jacob knew the drill. He stood at my side and draped my right arm over his shoulder. Together, we made our way out of the forest and headed to his car.
"How bad?" he asked.
"Only a six this time. I would say more than the Fourth of July burn but less than the sledding incident." On our ten-point scale for rating my pain, I'd seen plenty of sixes, but familiarity didn't make my injury any more bearable.
He lovingly stroked the back of my hand during the drive. Unfortunately, it was not enough to distract me from the surging ache that I knew so well; my ankle was most certainly broken. We arrived at the hospital, and he gingerly helped me out of the car.
"Hey, Mrs. Stanley," I called as we approached the front desk.
"It's been a few months, Bella. We were beginning to take bets that you'd fallen under a bus." She had sense of humor her daughter lacked. She smiled warmly at me and handed me the usual paperwork. Jacob excused himself to call Charlie at work, offering to bring me a soda upon his return.
I settled myself onto the crisp paper that covered the examination table. Within minutes, before Jacob could return, the doctor arrived to assess my ankle. He was new, but I knew immediately who he was. I chastised myself for not foreseeing this earlier.
"Hello, Miss Swan," he said with an angel's smile, greeting me without first glancing at my chart. My reputation must have preceded me. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. What seems to be the problem?"
I pointed begrudgingly to my ankle.
He was already paging backward through the biblical tome that was my medical history. "You don't have to say it; I already know." I muttered.
To his credit, he simply smiled, refraining from making any of the numerous jokes available at my expense. As he reached the more recent entries toward front of the file, his smile faded. "How is your head? Did you hit it at all? Any spinning, sudden sleepiness, blackouts?"
"If you're referring to last January, I'm fine." His eyes searched my face in concern. "Really. I didn't hit my head at all this time. It's just the ankle." I shuddered at the memory, hoping he wouldn't probe further.
He shined a light into my eyes regardless but gratefully did not ask any questions. "Everything seems fine." His voice slid through the air like butter. I knew he and his children weren't related, now obvious due to his youthful appearance, but they shared the same intimidating beauty.
Dr. Cullen moved to my ankle, instructing a nurse to wheel me off to X-ray. An hour later, he was fitting me for a cast. "Sorry to say, Bella, but it looks like you're going to be on crutches for a few weeks. It's not too serious of a fracture, but it's broken nonetheless."
"Hey, no gym!" Jacob's enthusiastic voice boomed across the room. He'd been in and out along with Charlie in the short duration since my arrival, but this is the first time he shared the space with Dr. Cullen.
Jacob snuck a peak at the godlike doctor, looking almost guilty. I hoped he didn't feel somehow responsible for his father's inexplicable prejudice.
"Don't worry," Dr. Cullen said gently, "she's going to be just fine." He breezed out of the room, throwing a kind glance in Jacob's direction as he passed through the door.
I opted to ride home with Jake, even though Charlie waited to leave until I was released. In the car, Jacob eventually broke the silence he'd maintained since the exchange with Dr. Cullen. "I feel terrible, Bells." His voice was tinged with sadness. "That doctor, he's the one whose family my dad was talking about. He's completely normal, nice even." He rolled his eyes. "Dangerous… Yeah, right."
"Don't blame yourself, Jake. You can't feel guilty for something you have nothing to do with." He beamed at me, yet remained quiet for the duration of the drive. Thank god he doesn't know Dr. Cullen's son is the 'nut job' from school… Part of me questioned whether I should shed light on the connection between the Cullens and my odd experience yesterday, but another part told me I was justified in keeping this from Jacob; I had to protect him, although I wasn't exactly sure what I was protecting him from.
Charlie and Jacob both doted on me for the rest of the evening, a trend that others continued throughout the week at school, Mike Newton especially. As the weekend passed, my ankle continued to throb within the confines of the cast. Monday morning saw only slight improvement.
As he dropped me off at school, Charlie called out, "Don't forget to elevate it whenever you can!" I was unable to drive, so I received curbside chauffeuring from Charlie in the morning and Jacob in the afternoon. Mike kept up the ridiculous coddling by meeting me at the door after fourth period everyday and walking with me through the lunch line, filling my tray for me.
We made our way to the cafeteria, Mike excited about the Monday macaroni special and I very aware that an entire week had passed since I last laid eyes on a certain new addition to the senior class. I braced myself before I noticed Alice Cullen still ate alone at her table near the window.
"How's the macaroni, Mike?" I felt the urge to distract myself, needing to shake the antsy feeling that coursed through my veins.
"Awesome. More cheese than usual. This is the best day." He blissfully chewed on the noodles until Lauren felt the need to tell him he ate like a horse. The ensuing argument took up the entire hour. I felt like I was suffocating.
English could not come soon enough. After days of lengthy build up, Mr. Berty would finally be handing out copies of Romeo & Juliet today.
However, when I hobbled my way into the classroom, a substitute teacher sat at Mr. Berty's desk, her eyes already glazed over from a morning of babysitting obnoxious high school students. "You know what this means, don't you?" Mike whispered elatedly. "Free period!"
Connor made some remark to Mike across the room about "fantasy leagues" for whatever sports were going on in the fall, and they immersed themselves in conversation. I settled into my fortress in the back corner, angry that I had nothing to do with myself for the next hour; I carried as little as possible on me due to my cumbersome crutches. I still had three minutes before the period began, but a trip to my locker would be quite a feat and I didn't feel compelled to enlist anyone's help. I glanced over at Angela, envious that she had a paperback to keep her company.
As the clock ticked down to the beginning of class, I suddenly knew exactly what would occupy my mind for the next hour. Just as the bell began to toll, Edward Cullen strode into the room, his eyes immediately reaching mine.
Chapter End Notes: I know, I know, it's about friggin' time ;)