Author's Note: Hello everyone and Welcome to ICFY! I am still not Stephanie Meyer so Twilight isnt mine in reality, in my dreams its a different story though :D Okay so, just as a warning to anyone who reads this, this chapter and the next two, or three havent decided yet, they are going to be on the sad side. I promise you I wont make you suffer for long, and I promise you its for the best. Anyways, with that said, onto chapter 38! As always Read, Review, and Enjoy :)
Chapter 38: This Can't Be Happening
" It's been said that the saddest thing a man will ever face is what might have been. But what of the man who's faced with what was? Or what may never be? Or what can no longer be? Choosing the right path is never easy. It's a decision we make with only our hearts to guide us. But sometimes we find our way to something better. Sometimes we fight through the regret and remorse of our mistakes, our malice and our jealousy and the shame we feel for not being the people we were meant to be. And that's when we find our way to something better or something better finds its way to us," - Dan Scott, One Tree Hill.
Jade's POV
" Jade, are you sure your okay about driving back with me? I'm sure that Alice and I will be fine, you should ride with Edward," Ana says to me as she puts her bag in the backseat.
" I want to ride with my best friend, besides it will be fun. Me, you, Alice, gossiping about the men in our lives and loud music," I say grabbing her shoulders as she tries to walk past me. " Ana, please just relax. We're headed home early, and we're going to have a kick ass New Years Party."
" I know, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be such a Sad Susie, its just, ugh never mind," she says as she casts a look over my shoulder. I follow her gaze and see Jasper looking over at us. I don't know exactly what happened between those two, since Ana has been uncharacteristically quiet about it, but I'm pretty sure that I'll get it out of her, eventually.
" Okay everyone ready to go?" Rosalie calls out and I nod my head.
" Are you sure you guys are going to be okay driving alone?" Emmett asks leaning against Ana's door.
" Yes Emmy, don't worry so much," Ana says pinching his cheek through the open window.
" Who me, worry? About you guys? Never happen. All right, so we will see you back home. Drive safe. If you guys decide you cant drive just call me, love you girls" he says walking towards his own car. I smile when Ana and Alice yell back at him through the open window as I start the car.
" Wait I almost forgot," Emmett yells running towards our car with a grin on his face. Ana rolls the window down and Emmett hands her three of his newest rubber duck family members, one orange, one pink, and light blue one. " So you have a little piece of me with you on the ride home, ya know? So you dont miss me too much," he says with a wicked grin and a wink before turning and running back to his car."Remember, if you need to pull over just call me and I'll drive," he yells through his car window once he is buckled in. I wave him off with a soft giggle while Ana and Alice start talking about what to name their ducks. I wont need him to drive, how hard could driving in snow be anyways?
Ana's POV
" God, would you look at this snow?" Alice says, sitting forward to look out of the windshield.
" I know, its getting pretty bad," I say, pulling my knees up to my chest.I reach over and roll my window up, my heart is pounding in my chest as we are driving through a pure white wall of snow.
" We'll be all right you guys," Jade says, and I look over as she tightens her hands on the steering wheel. I take a deep breath as we approach the
" I don't know Jade maybe we should call Emmett, have him drive," I suggest fishing in my purse for my phone.
" Ana we don't need," Jade starts saying but her thoughts are cut off as the car starts swerving uncontrollably.
" Jade," I scream out grabbing the dashboard. Then it comes, the sickening sound of grinding metal as we hit the guard rail separating travelers from the cold river below. It feels like we're falling forever until I open my eyes and feel the water rising around us. I fight to open the door.
" I cant get the door, Jade, I cant get the door," I say panicking as my fingers slip from the door handle and my heart hammers against my ribs.
" Ana," Jade says flashing a look at me. Alice screams out as the water gets higher and the cold starts setting in. I unbuckle my seat belt and try to kick at the window, fighting hard to keep a hold on the fear. I shiver uncontrollably and start crying.
" Jade, I don't want to die, not like this," I say sputtering as the water rises and starts filling my mouth.
" You listen to me Ana, we aren't going to die, not today," Jade says and I nod my head. Then something comes over all of us, and we start screaming out.
" Help, someone help," I scream loudly, or so it seems loud. I take a deep breath as the water rises to the maximum level and pray that someone comes to help. My lungs start burning and I gasp for air dragging water into my lungs. I start panicking, eyes growing wide even as I swear someone's face flashes in the window before everything goes black. Everything goes quiet, and still.
Jade's POV
I always thought that I was a pretty good driver, after all I learned in California, I've tackled five o'clock rush hour, so how hard could driving a back woods road in Forks, Washington be? I have been asking myself that question for the last half an hour, as the snow falls thickly around us in a blinding wall of white. Alice murmurs in my ear and I try and tune her out as I concentrate on the road ahead of me.
" We'll be all right you guys," I say, tightening my hands on the steering wheel. I catch Ana looking at me, as she starts digging in her purse.
" I don't know Jade, maybe we should call Emmett, let him drive," Ana says looking at me panicked.
" Ana we don't need," I say, cutting off what I was saying as I feel the car start to swerve uncontrollably. I tighten my hold, but it doesn't matter, because before my brain kicks in to tell me what to do the sound of the car scraping against the guard rail invades my thoughts and all but stops my heart. 'We're going to go in,' my mind screams at me and a horrified scream locks in my throat as we free fall through the air and into the icy river. Ana screams out my name as she grabs hold on the dashboard. The water starts pouring into the car and I look over as Ana starts trying to open her door. I follow suit and quickly realize that the doors wont budge.
" I cant get the door, Jade, I cant get the door," Ana says and I look at her, her eyes swimming with panic and fear.
" Ana," I say and Alice screams out as the water keeps rising around us. Ana unbuckles her seat belt and kicks at the window furiously but nothing happens. I can hear her shivering and I fight against my own body which is frozen.
" Jade, I don't want to die, not like this" Ana says sputtering as the water fills her mouth.
" You listen to me Ana, we aren't going to die, not today," I say looking at her until she nods her head. Fear over takes us all as we start yelling and screaming for help. As if someone is going to hear us as we sink further and further into the river. I take a final deep breath as the water fills the car all the way and I reach out for Ana's hand. ' Please, don't let us die, don't let her die,' I think to myself even as my lungs start burning and I fight the urge to take a deep breath. I flash a final look at Ana and see her eyes closing as I fight to keep mine open. Then everything is silent, everything is still, and I fear that we wont be coming back from this one.
Jasper's POV
I sit next to Edward and a content silence fills the air.
" So, are you going to tell me what happened between you and Ana, or are you going to make me search your head for the answers?" Edward asks suddenly and I groan.
" What is there to tell? I screwed up, yet again," I say my voice growing frustrated. Not because he is asking, but because I have got to be the worlds biggest idiot.
" Jasper, can I give you a word of advice," Edward asks looking over at me.
" Sure," I say turning to look at him.
" Stop being an idiot. You love Ana right?" He asks and I nod at him in agreement. " Can you imagine your life without her?" I shake my head, because the honest truth is that I cant picture my future, hell I cant picture the next day without Ana. " Then why are you holding yourself back from her?"
" I don't know. Its like there is this wall, whenever I am around her all I want to do is tell her exactly how I feel and that I want to be with her, and then these flags go up in my head. Screaming at me, telling me that there is no way in hell that I will be any good for her," I say letting out a breath.
" Hold that thought, do you see that car?" Edward asks pointing out of the windshield. I look out and see what Edward is talking about. Through the furious wiper blades I see the car swerving and hitting the guard rail.
" Oh my god, that's the girls' car," I say my heart racing inside my chest. " Ana" I yell out as it goes over and plunges into the river below. Edward pushes the car to go as fast as it can safely, in our given situation, as my head screams out that there is no way that they can survive this. We come to a screeching halt and I bolt out of the car and run to the broken guard rail to see the girls' car sinking, and sinking fast. The sound of footsteps approaching makes me turn in time to see Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie running towards me.
" Rosalie call nine one-one," I say even as I start pulling off my shoes.
" Jasper what are you doing?" Rosalie asks even as she pulls out her cell phone.
" I'm not leaving them down there," I say, as I turn and jump. The fall seems like an eternity even as I hit the icy water. I come up gasping for air, feeling as if a thousand knifes are stabbing into me at once. I hear two more splashes behind me and see Edward and Emmett swimming behind me, as the sound of Rosalie screaming into the phone that our friends are sinking into the river and possibly dying motivates me to fight the cold and keep swimming. I take a deep breath and go under surface of the water and catch sight of the car. I come back up and look around for Emmett and Edward.
" I found them," I say quickly before taking another deep breath and dive back down under the surface. I swim to the car, my lungs burning from the cold. I grab hold of the door handle and try to pull it open but it doesn't budge. I push back up to the surface and yell in frustration.
" The door wont open," I say trying hard not to panic.
" We have to get them out," Emmett says sounding furious and scared. I simply nod and watch as Emmett dives down to give it a shot. I start to worry when he doesn't come up, until the sound of someone gasping for air sends a renewed sense of hope through me. I look over at him and see that he has Alice in his arms.
" The back door gave way, get Jade and Ana," he says grunting as he starts pulling Alice to shore. I don't think twice as I dive down again, following behind Edward. I watch as he grabs Jade and makes his way too towards the surface and I pray that I'm not too late. I swim through the backdoor and see Ana floating, so pale and her lips so blue. I grab her by the waist and pull her out and swim as fast as I can to the top. I break the surface and gasp for air and fight the urge to cry as I start making my way to safety with Ana in tow. I drag her to the shore and turn her over to look at her. She looks so peaceful, but her chest doesn't rise and fall in rhythmic breathing.
" Ana, baby, wake up, please wake up," I scream pulling her to my chest holding her close. " You cant leave not now, not yet." The sound of Rosalie crying and the sirens erupt into my head and I don't want to let Ana go even as the paramedics pull her limp body from my arms to work on her.
" How long where they down there?" one of the medics ask and I just stare at him dazed. " Son, how long where they down there?"
" I, I don't know, ten minutes, fifteen tops," I say, wrapping my arms around myself even as another medic wraps a warm blanket around my shoulders. I watch as everyone rushes around me, though it seems like my world is moving in slow motion. I watch helplessly as they load the girls one by one into ambulances, working furiously to bring them all back to us.
" Jasper, come on," Rosalie says dragging me with her towards Emmetts car. Still I cant take my eyes off the whirling lights of the ambulances as they race away, taking my heart with them.
" I called Ana's mom, she is getting on the next available flight," Rosalie whispers to me as she pushes a cup of hot coffee into my hands. I stare at the cup, watching the steam rise and circle above the rim.
" This is all my fault Rose," I whisper back tears clouding my eyes.
" Jasper don't be stupid, it was an accident," she says running a hand down my back.
" No, this would have never happened, it should have been Ana and me in that car, but because I was stupid, Jesus Rose, what if she doesn't wake up? What if Jade or Alice don't wake up?" I ask, barely able to finish a thought, scrubbing a hand over my face.
" Jasper, nothing you did or didn't do can change what happened," she says looking at me, her eyes swimming with tears. I wish that I could believe her. I wish that those words would click something on in my head that could take away this oppressive guilt. I sit back staring at the ceiling counting my heart beats as the time creeps by slowly.
" We should have heard something by now," Emmett says and I look up at him, as he paces back and forth in front of me.
" I know," Edward says, and I look over at him. He looks hollow, like his life force has been drained away and all that is left is a shell of his former self.
" I'm going to find out what's going on," Emmett says striding to the nurses desk. I watch as he animatedly talks to the nurse, demanding to know what is going on with the girls we all love so much. Ana. I close my eyes and I can picture her so clearly like she is standing right in front of me. Her long blondhair, beautiful green eyes. I sigh heavily trying to take deep breaths to stave off the inevitable tears and Rosalie reaches over taking my hand, squeezing it until I look at her.
" They are going to be okay," Rosalie says her eyes swimming even as tears fall steadily down her pale cheeks. I open my mouth to say something, anything, when one of the doctors who was working to save them comes out of the double doors.
" Doc, please tell me they are all right," Emmett says wrapping an arm around Rosalie holding her close to him.
" If you could just follow me into a more private room, I will be able to tell you what's going on, and to answer any questions you may have," he says, turning around and leading us to a family waiting room. This is never a good a sign. When they ask to talk to you privately its usually almost always bad news. My stomach sinks even as I lower myself unsteadily into a chair. I take a deep breath as the doctor opens his mouth to talk.
" I'm sorry," he starts saying and after that I don't hear much. There's a rushing in my head. Like the ocean when its storming, the waves crashing loudly against jagged rocks. The worst part of all of this is having to face what might have been, what should have been.