Defenseless
He was alone and he was lost. The roots that kept him on this earth was lying next to him in the hospital bed. He listened to the sound of her heartbeat, echoed by the machine she was attached to. It was strong and steady, but he feared the coma she was in now. She hadn't moved for twenty-four hours. Too close had she come to her death and it suffocated him.
'Please, be alright.' He whispered, choking on his words.
She will pull through, Edward.
Carlisle had joined him in the room.
'Is that your professional opinion or is it what you hope?' He asked.
'It is what I believe.' Carlisle said the words aloud to emphasize the meaning.
Bella has unbelievable healing capacities. Remember?
He did remember, but it didn't relief him of his anxiety. Carlisle had explained to everybody exactly what condition Bella was in. She had strained her body to the point of overachievement when she shielded them all. Carlisle explained it as running the marathon in a winning time without training. Edward knew that could definitely kill a human. Her high blood pressure caused some veins in her eyes to tear, hence the bleeding of her eyes. Her body's natural defenses caused her to shut down. It was the only way to protect the brain.
Alice came into the room holding Jasper's hand. She beamed while she darted closer.
'Bella is going to be fine.' She said with a broad smile.
Edward arched his eyebrow at her.
You'll see, Edward. Trust me.
He did trust Alice and felt some of his anxiety go away. He studied Bella intently, looking for changes in her condition.
'Emmett, Rose and Esme are on their way back here. I called them.'
They had left an hour ago to arrange some things at home, but Edward knew they would be rushing back as fast as possible.
Any minute now... Alice thought.
Edward braced himself, his eyes only on Bella. The minutes passed and they seemed hours. He held his breath and waited some more, until he saw her fingers twitch. Her breathing was irregular for a few breaths and then she opened her eyes. Everyone around her sighed in relief.
'Bella.' Edward said softly, his voice thick with emotion.
She looked around her in confusion and opened her mouth to speak, but Alice kissed her face in multiple places. Bella smiled.
'Hi Alice.' She said happy.
Edward had never felt this relieved in his entire life. Jasper explained to Bella what had happened and why she was in the hospital, while Carlisle checked her out. Edward followed Carlisle's thoughts.
Blood pressure is back to normal, heartbeat is steady. Her eyes are healed, incredible! I wonder...
Carlisle began to undress her bloody cuts from their bandages and inspected the wounds.
Exactly as I thought. This is amazing!
Edward checked the wounds for himself and saw the perfectly normal human skin. It was as if they were never there, as if she was never wounded at all. Carlisle caught his eyes.
Like I said, incredible healing capacities.
Regeneration of her perfect human form was perhaps a better term. The extent of Bella's gifts impressed Edward and Carlisle alike. Was there anything she couldn't do?
A month had passed and Bella was back to herself again. Bella and the boys were the only ones home. Alice, Esme, Rosalie and Carlisle had gone hunting. Emmett of course was bored. He sneaked up on Jasper from behind and tried to grab him. Jasper spun around lightning fast and hissed at him.
'Ah come on, Jazz. Let's wrestle. It is been too long since I beat your ass.'
Jasper gave him an incredulous look.
In his dreams!
Edward laughed.
'You have never beaten me.'
'Prove it!' Emmett smiled enthusiastic. 'We will play a match outside and Bella will be the judge. Right, little one?'
Bella nodded, indulging Emmett in his childlike behavior as she mostly did.
'You're on.' Jasper answered.
Edward! Jasper called out in his thoughts. Would you please distract Emmett for a moment? I want to ask Bella something. Emmett deserves a lesson.
It was easy for Edward to choose a side in this particular situation. Jasper was right. He nodded infinitesimal to Jasper and rushed towards Emmett, grabbing his arm and dragging him outside.
'Why don't you warm-up with me?' He suggested.
Alright! Two fights for one, this is my lucky day.
Edward playfully fought Emmett, where he mostly just stayed out of Emmett's way, listening to his intentions. In the corner of his eyes he was looking at Jasper and Bella talking inside the house. He couldn't hear them with his hearing, but he could read Jasper's thoughts and he smiled at the plan. Emmett used his distraction to pin him to the ground, but Edward threw him off easily, using his own weight against him. They fought on until Jasper came outside with Bella. This was his queue to leave the fight, so he stopped and simply sidestepped all of Emmett's attacks, frustrating Emmett immensely in the process.
The only reason I haven't beaten you many times is because of your mindreading. It is so unfair.
Edward just shook his head. He was going to enjoy this.
Jasper and Emmett started their fight. They moved in their environmental destructing dance, making an immense amount of noise. Esme was not going to be pleased when she was going to arrive home and find her garden in shambles. Jasper outmatched Emmett slightly, although Emmett would never admit that. Jasper lost his patience with the fight quickly and gave Bella a short nod. She took two steps closer and froze Emmett. Jasper smiled mischievously towards Bella and feigned a few jumps towards Emmett. He was about to jump for real, when Edward tensed and Jasper hesitated.
No!
Edward was the only one who heard Emmett's silent scream, but Jasper felt Emmett's fear building up in his body. Edward suddenly realized that although Bella had frozen all of them many times, she had never frozen Emmett. He had carefully stayed away from her gift and apparently with good reason.
'Bella!' Edward called in alarm. 'Let him go.'
Bella immediately did so, but Emmett's face was hardly controlled. Fear still seeped out of him and Jasper tried to help him with waves of calm. Bella was shocked by what had happened and she stood frozen on her spot. Edward rushed to her, fearing what was going to happen now. His phone rang, confirming his fear, in that exact moment.
'Hey Mom!' He said smiling, while he walked down the stairs.
'Hello my man!' She answered, smiling proudly. 'First day of high school, are you excited?'
'Absolutely. Only four years of school left and I am free.'
She walked towards him and shuffled her hand over his short-cut hair.
'You'll be fine. You always are.'
She kissed his cheek and sent him off with his lunch.
He walked towards his new school. He was not afraid. His outgoing nature, his self-confidence and well-placed humor always ensured him a spot in the group of the popular boys. This time would be no different.
The school was bigger than he expected, but still not enough to intimidate him. He walked straight up towards the entrance and looked around the main hall. It was the place he was going to see almost every day of his life for the next four years. He was already bored. He should really make friends quickly, so he could spice things up a little bit. He was thinking about multiple pranks he could use for making his reputation. In his last school he had spent more time in the punishment corner than he had behind his desk. He never really cared about punishments, not even the physical ones, which they gave out regularly. The other kids admired him for his courage and it was all he needed.
A few hours, some smart remarks and jokes later and he was "the man" in the eyes of his classmates. He also got the first punishment of the year from one of his teachers. Nothing ever changes.
He walked the hallway during classes with one of his new buddies, when he saw them. They were big and much older than he was and they had an air of complete control around them. Four boys, tough and strong stood in the hallway and watched their surroundings.
'Who are they?' He asked.
'Haven't you heard?' His friend explained. 'They control this school. Everybody is afraid of them. I would stay out of their way if I were you.'
He stopped in his tracks and studied them. He was a tall boy for his age, but these boys still were at least a head taller than he was. He called them "the four" in his mind. Their arrogant looks and sufficient attitude challenged him, but he stopped himself. Maybe this was a bit out of his league. He was not afraid, but it probably got him nowhere if he pissed them off. He shrugged and passed them without fear. They ignored him, not even glancing in his direction. He walked on slowly, showing them they didn't scare him.
'You there!' A harsh voice made him stop.
He turned around, expecting them to mean him, but he was surprised when they looked at a boy, who was walking behind him. The boy was small, slender and with low self-esteem, a complete opposite from himself. The boy flinched away in fear. Wrong response, he knew immediately. He was right.
The four walked towards the small boy and pushed him.
'What do we have here? Are you even old enough to be here?' The other boys laughed.
One of the four ripped his bag from the small boy's hands and rummaged through it.
'Nothing worthy in his bag, this squirming rat is really useless.'
He saw them throwing the bag away and grabbing the small boy's face. They were going to hurt him.
'Aren't you going to call for your mommy now? Or maybe we can make you cry?'
He had watched until now, but he had to do something. His pranks were far from innocent, but they were never cruel. They needed to learn a lesson and he was the one to teach them. This was his school now. He thought of a long-term solution, but that wasn't going to help the small boy right now. No, he had to stand up to them. He walked closer.
'Why don't you go pick on somebody your own size?' He said loud and clear.
They looked up, incredulously at first, but recovered quickly. They sized him up and were unimpressed.
'Does that include you?' One of them asked sarcastically.
'Do I look like your size?' He retorted immediately. 'How did you manage to stay in this school when you can't even measure someone's length correctly?'
Around him the audience started to laugh, but they stopped quickly when they saw the angry looks from the four.
'Four against one, really brave.' He gave them a smug smile. 'Oh, maybe you can't count either.'
He held up his hand.
'You know, one, two, three, four.' He stuck up a finger with each count.
He had gone far, but was still unafraid. He never ran away from a good fight. The four threw the other boy to the side and started to advance towards him. He braced himself and held up his fists when one of his teachers rounded the corner. The four stopped their advance. The teacher watched them warily.
'You are lucky we are not alone. You won't be so lucky next time.'
The threat was apparent, but he simply shrugged and walked away. He couldn't be touched. They could hurt him, but they couldn't really hurt him.
He followed the rest of his classes and started to walk home at the end of the day. When he rounded the corner, he suddenly felt four pair of strong hands grab him from multiple sides. They pulled him into an alley and threw him into the wall. He struggled, but he was outnumbered and outsized. They had surprised him and he was struck by how much of a difference that made. They held his arms against the wall and he couldn't move an inch. His breath caught and he felt fear fill his body for the very first time in his life. He wasn't afraid of the pain that was undoubtedly coming and he wasn't even afraid for his life. He knew the moment he stood up against them that he was going to be fighting them not long after, but he never expected this to happen.
He never stood a chance against them, but he needed to be able to defend himself. He would have fought to the best of his ability and be able to get out of the fight with his head held high.
'Not so tough now, are you?' One of them asked smugly.
He struggled with all his might. If he could just free one arm or move his head far enough to give the nearest a headbutt. He would use anything as a weapon, even his teeth. The first punches rained on his body, but he didn't feel them. All he could think about was releasing some part of him, anything if it meant he was able to fight back. He tasted his own blood when his face was the target of the next couple of punches. He felt the strength seep out of his body and with every inch of strength he lost, he felt his fear double. He was running out of chances. With his last resolve he did one ultimate attempt to get free. It was to no avail, he was not strong enough. His heartbeat thumped loudly in his ears, his out of control shallow panting filled his lungs with too little oxygen. Black spots muddled his sight. His fear crippled him out of his last bit of strength.
He fell to the ground a broken boy.
They spat on him and ran away. He didn't care. All he cared about was the complete lack of control he had just experienced. He clutched his fists, until his nails drove into the skin of his own hands. Never was he going to let this happen to him again. He swore it on his own blood. He was going to be the strongest and the biggest. He would never allow anyone to cripple him like this, to make him defenseless. It was going to be the greatest challenge in his life.
He spat out his own blood and finally felt the pain of his bruised body. His mother had been wrong for the first time.
He was not fine.