Jacob opened the cab door for me and climbed in the front again. This time he told the cabbie my address. We did not speak during the ride. When it pulled up in front of my building I rummaged in my purse for money. Jake dropped a twenty on the center console and climbed out. I frowned at him for paying but still didn't speak. There was a storm brewing and I didn't want it to erupt outside. The paparazzi were all around my stoop yet again.
My door swung open and Jake pulled out my crutches. I slid over and stood up carefully. He placed himself between the cameras and me and we made slow progress towards my stoop.
"Miss Swan, is it true you are in a relationship with Edward Cullen?"
"Miss Swan, who is this man?"
"Miss Swan, how many eligible bachelors do you plan on going through?" Questions bombarded us but I kept my head down. Instead of waiting for me to hop up the stairs one at a time Jake swung me into his arms. The cameras went wild as he pushed his way through the crowd and into my building. The door swung shut behind us and I expected him to put me down once the sounds and flashes were cut off but he didn't. He started up the stairs without a word.
"Jake you can put me down now."
"It will take a million years for you to hop up all these stairs and you're going to need your strength." He didn't look at me as he spoke. I was a mere six inches from his face so I noticed his jaws clench and his mouth become a determined line.
"What will I need my strength for?" He did not reply. I clutched my crutches and tried to not think about the impending explosion.
We reached my door much faster than I expected and he set me on my feet, well foot. I unlocked the door while balancing. Jake waited behind me and I could feel his breath on my shoulder. It took me three tries to get my key in the hole before we finally entered my apartment. I hopped into the living area and sat on my couch. My arms were exhausted already, the muscles quivered from exertion. Jake closed my door and took a seat in the chair next to the couch. Neither of us spoke.
My cell phone interrupted the silence after a minute. It was Edward. I bit my lip and glanced at Jake. His eyes were bright but he sat like a statue. I flipped open the phone before it could go to voicemail.
"Hi." I kept shooting nervous glances at Jacob. He watched me calmly.
"Hey is everything ok? I hadn't heard from you and I was getting worried."
"Yeah I just got back to my apartment from the hospital. I saw your father actually, he was my doctor."
"You couldn't have been in any better hands. So what's the damage?"
"I have a severe sprain in my left ankle and I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning. How's Charlie doing?"
"He seems alright. I took him out to lunch and then brought him back to his place. The media had dissipated at that point. I doubt he'll open his door to any knocks for a while."
"Good. He didn't give you any trouble did he? He is not very trusting of strangers." Edward coughed to clear his throat it gave me a strange feeling.
"He seemed to recognize me so everything went smoothly."
"I have a lot of things I need to explain to him. I think I want to black list Jessica and Tanya and then perhaps hire an assassin to finish the job. I don't understand why Tanya hates me so much." I sighed into the phone rubbing my temple wearily.
"Because you stole her chance at happiness perhaps." Jake supplied. I flinched at the ice in his words. I had forgotten he was there.
"Is there someone there with you?" Edward asked.
"Edward I need to call you back later."
"Is everything alright?" He sounded worried.
"It will be soon."
"I'm coming over."
"I don't think that is the best idea right now."
"I'm coming over." He repeated and hung up. I bit my lip and glanced at Jake again as I close my phone.
"You know I was hoping all those rumors were false. I was hoping I hadn't made an utter fool of myself. I was hoping that you weren't one of 'those' girls. But I guess I was wrong." His voice was hard as diamond and made me cringe. I wanted to deny his accusations but they were true. I wanted to say 'I'm not like that!' but to him I was.
"I'm sorry this happened this way Jake."
"What, and some other way would have been easier?" I flinched again. Tears burned my eyes but I held them at bay.
"I wanted to be the one to tell you in person. It was unfair for you to find out that way."
"Why tell me in person? So you could see the pain you have inflicted on my face? I don't get you Bella. I thought we really were something special. I have told you more about my life… I … thought you were different." He placed his face in his hands and become a statue once more. "How long have you been together?" He didn't need to elaborate.
"About a week." I watched him do the mental math. His shoulders slumped as he realized our little talk happened after Edward and I were official. "I honestly do like you Jacob, I wouldn't lie about that. I just figured out what I wanted. I did not even know you felt that way about me until Alice told me. I consider you a very dear friend Jacob, but as long as I'm with Edward we can be nothing more than that. Please understand." He raised his head and gave me a level look.
"You just figured out what you wanted? You didn't notice how I felt? God Bella the next excuse you'll use is 'I love you, but I'm not in love with you'. You should have just told me the truth. You were with Edward, that you don't care about me like that. Either of those would have saved us both this time and energy."
"That's what I was planning on saying; I just didn't want to hurt you." The tears brimmed the edge of my eyes and I pushed at them impatiently.
"Until you needed me to do you a favor." I felt my face flame.
"I was on my way to tell you when I received information from Rose about the media harassing my father. I'm sorry I fell and needed your help. I'm sorry for the confusion. Next time I'll call someone else. But for what it's worth Jacob Black, you were the first person I thought of who I trusted with this. I would have had you go and get my father while Edward took me to the hospital, but I figured Charlie might recognize Edward from Monday night football. My father means the world to me and I was ready to trust you with him. That means something. Maybe not what you're looking for, but Jacob, I can't offer you anything else except my friendship." My intercom buzzed. Jake and I sat staring at each other. We both knew who was down below.
It buzzed a few more times before Jake stood.
"Jake, please don't cut me out of your life." I could barely see him through my tears.
"Goodbye Bella. I need to think."
"Will you call me?"
"I can't promise anything." With that he exited. He left my door unlocked and a few minutes later Edward came in. He rushed to my side when he saw me from the doorway.
"What's wrong? Did he hurt you?" Edward's hands roamed my face checking for injuries while looking murderous.
"No, no, nothing like that." I hiccupped trying to calm myself for Edward's sake. "We just had a disagreement." Edward looked angry. He stood as if to leave. "Where are you going?!"
"He'll tell me what happened and then I'll kick his ass." He sounded menacing. I cringed at the thought.
"Edward please, just, leave it alone. Jacob didn't do anything wrong, it was my fault we had a misunderstanding." I pleaded. He hesitated and walked to the door. My heart sank until he shut and locked it. "Thank you." He came back over and crouched beside me.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" The anger left his face and only left concern for me.
"Not right now. They gave me pain meds at the hospital and I can fill my prescription tomorrow. I just want to sleep." My Vicodin was kicking in and fogging my mind. Edward scooped me up gently and moved me to my bedroom. Maurice poked his head out from under the bed where he was hiding. Edward set me down and chose some pajamas for me to wear.
"I'll be back in a second." Edward wandered away while I changed. He came back with an icepack and a hand towel. "We need to ice it for twenty minutes then off for twenty. Also, it needs to be up higher." He grabbed extra pillows from the linen closet and gently slid then under my leg. The ice numbed my skin and the pain medicine numbed my mind so I slipped off into a doze midsentence.
"Thank you Edwar…"
OOOOOOoo
I woke up the next morning to breakfast on a tray next to me. There were no sounds coming from my apartment so I assumed Edward had left for practice already. I stretched and inspected what he left me. My crutches had found their way to reaching distance of my bed, there was a small cooler with water bottles and icepacks to keep my hydrated and my swelling down. Also there was a thermos of milk to be poured over cereal and an apple juice box. I smiled at his thinking. I was almost surprised there was not food for the entire day.
After enjoying my Honey nut Cheerios I made my way to the bathroom. I frowned at the shower. There was no way I could wash myself balancing entirely on one foot so I sat on the toilet and wet a face cloth. I washed my face and neck but felt horribly awkward trying to wash anything else. Carefully I made my way back to my bed and lay down. My foot had started to throb quite horribly from being down so long.
The confusing wrap of Velcro and plastic took longer to remove then I expected. My skin was a deep purple color fading out into greens and blues underneath the contraption. It was also about three times its normal size. Tentatively, I placed the icepack so it wouldn't slide off before leaning back into my pillows. I tried to relax the muscles in my legs but my toes fidgeted despite my effort.
There was a sound in my front room that had me jerking back into wakefulness after I dozed off again. The rattling of keys. I grabbed a bottle of water ready to throw it at an intruder if they entered my bedroom. Alice poked her head around the corner and I sighed in relief.
"Call out next time Alice, I thought someone had broken in." She grinned.
"No, no just little old me. How are you doing?" She peeked at my ankle and made a disgusted face. "That looks awful."
"It doesn't feel so great either."
"Well I hope this makes you feel better. I brought you a perk package since I couldn't help you out yesterday. Can you believe those stupid lawyer guys? They took my phone! I was so mad. I wanted to yell something bigoted or anti-Semitic so they wouldn't choose me after that. Of course they decided not to choose me anyway, but they had some nerve interrupting our conversation." She fumed.
"So what's in the bag?" She carefully climbed onto my bed next to me to show me her bag of tricks.
"Ok, 1) pain medication. I filled the prescription for you. 2) Advil for when you don't want to take the good stuff anymore. 3) Word finds, to keep you busy so you don't go completely insane. 4) The new Jody Picoult book incase puzzles aren't your thing. 5) Candy and snacks to fill you with endorphin goodness. 6) Tube socks to keep the swelling from you foot. And finally 7) the final season of FRIENDS on DVD." I smiled at her.
"How long are you staying?"
"Until Edward gets back. We stole your keys FYI, so we could come and go as we please without you having to get up. I'm in charge of your meals, MRI, and entertainment today so tell me if you need anything." I bit my lip. "Do you have something you need already?" I nodded yes. "What is it?"
"Can you run to CVS and get me a shower bench? I can't balance and a sponge bath is out of the question."
"I don't know maybe Edward wants to play nurse." Alice smirked at me and I glared in return. "You can always pretend you don't have one and he can bath you later if you change your mind." She shrugged and stood. "I'll be back, need anything else?"
"My cell phone and charger would be good."
"Right you are."
"Thank you so much Alice you are a life saver." She smiled.
"You're basically family now, and I know for a fact you would do the same for me."
"I'm not giving you a sponge bath, ever."
"That's harsh Bella; I would empty a catheter bag for you!" I pretended to gag at the thought.
"I have something better. If I ever have need of a catheter where someone has to empty my urine bag, please by all means, shoot me."
"I'll be back." Alice chuckled. I wavered and leaned back again. Once Alice was gone a strange thought occurred to me. I had not thought about Jacob Black once last night. As soon as he was gone and I stopped crying he was pushed from my mind. Edward filled all my waking and dreaming thoughts. A small part of me relaxed, accepting the fact that I made the right decision. Well at least, hopefully.