Sam stayed with me while I grieved. I cuddled up to Charlie's cold pale body and hugged him, hoping he would hug me back. As the reality set in, my heart broke even more. He was no longer there to speak soft words of encouragement or love. He was no longer there to bring me comfort or happiness. He was gone and there was nothing I could do about it.

…or could i?

I sucked in a deep breath and sat up. Could I heal his body? Would it bring him back from the dead?

"Bella?" Sam asked carefully.

I turned back looking at my dad's body and stared at him for the longest time. Was I strong enough? Was it the right thing to do? Would he want to come back from the dead?

Just as Sam was about to say my name again, I opened my mouth and spoke up.

"Sam, I think I can bring him back." I croaked.

"Bella…" Sam said with a warning tone.

"I- I think I can Sam. I- I need to try. I have to." I said, running a hand through my hair. I needed to wake up and feel the energy around me.

"You think that this is the wisest idea Bella? How are we going to get him out of the hospital? How are we going to explain it to him? How-…"

His voice was rising and I couldn't take all of his questions and doubts. He was supposed to be there for me and support my decisions. He was supposed to help take away the pain.

As the hurt continued to burn my chest I let it all come out.

"He already knew!" I said blowing up at Sam. As hurt crossed Sam's face, I took a breath and closed my eyes to keep the tears from falling. I looked back at Charlie and bit my lip. How could he be gone?

"He promised he wouldn't leave me till I came back. He promised…and he just left" I said brokenly.

"I know Bells." Sam said coming to me.

"No." I said shaking away his hug. "It hurts Sam. It hurts so much. I can't breathe and I can barely move. All I can think about is him; all I want to do is be with him."

I let a tear roll down my cheek and I continued to look at Charlie. "I have so much power and I can do so many things, why can't I bring him back? Why can't I just do this one thing for myself?"

Sam remained silent and let me continue dealing with my thoughts.

After a few minutes, I fisted my hand and let the energy flow through my body. The shining light flowed around my hand and I moved closer to Charlie. I put a hand over his heart and waited for anything. A movement. A heartbeat. A big gasp of air.

As I waited and waited, and as the energy in my body continued to drain, nothing happened.

"Come on. Come on Charlie." I encouraged with tears in my eyes.

"Bella" Sam whispered coming closer.

"No, you gotta give it a few more minutes Sam" I commanded.

As we waited together for a sign, I felt myself getting overly weak.

"Bella, you need to stop. You are going to end up killing yourself."

"No, he's going to wake up. I can fix this. I can fix him." I said determined.

"Bells. It's over." He said to me while touching my arm. I let Sam's words sink in, and I knew he was right. I bit my lip and stopped my healing powers. I glanced at Charlie one last time and then cried in Sam's arms, as he held me tight, promising he would never let me go.

Sam ended up picking me up in his arms and carried me home with some of the pack members following us. Everyone was depressed and quite. No one spoke or let out a peep.

A while later we ended up at Sam's house for the night. He took me upstairs and laid me on the bed.

I didn't move or say anything. All I could do…all I could feel was nothing. I was numb, inside and out. It was like I was cold and I couldn't get warm. My thoughts were gone except for that voice in my head saying he's gone, he's really gone.

"Bella, I'm going to get you undressed and into your pajamas ok?" Sam said while kneeling down in front of me.

Still, I didn't speak. I just watched as his eyes faded into sadness as he watched me still as stone.

I was changed and tucked into bed in a matter of minutes with Sam hugging me to him.

Days went by like this. Every day I would get up and try to fight off the hovering darkness that seemed to consume me.

It was finally the day of the funeral. Without all the guys, I don't know how I would have gotten through this. They all came together; including the elders, and planned it all while I was in my catatonic state. I was up in my room, still trying to find the courage to come down to see everyone as the day begun. I was dressed in all black, standing in front of my window watching everyone congregate inside of my house to head over to the open meadow to say goodbye to my father.

Sam and the pack all picked out to bury him in a naturous area, not only so they could watch over him, but it just seemed to fit his personality.

There was a knock on my door and I looked up to see who it was.

In came my mother and I stood there beyond shocked.

"Bella" she said in a flat tone. I couldn't bring myself to say hi or ask what she was doing here, but that didn't affect her mood one bit.

"That's fine, you don't have to say anything." She said. I still couldn't tell if she was ticked off at me or not. She sat down on my bed and inspected my room.

"Not much decoration." She commented. A pain ripped through my heart as I felt like she was dissing Charlie.

"What do you want?" I asked, and surprisingly it came out just how it to sound in my head- venomously.

She looked at me shocked and then her game face came on.

"How's life Bella? Run into any troubles yet? I see you have found some guys to string along…"

I swallowed hard at the partial truth in her questions and kept my own game face.

"Gosh, Charlie's death was so sudden." She sighed as she stood up from my bed. "Wonder what happened? Was it the intense pressure of having another person around?" she questioned.

I swallowed hard again and let the question ponder into my thoughts.

"Could it have been the stress of caring for you? Or how about your departure and then return? It must have given him just a run for his money."

I closed my eyes and tried to drown out all the statements she was saying. "What do you want?" I asked weakly.

"Just to see how my daughter was doing." She smiled. "And to show you that you were better off with me."

"Oh really?" I questioned with tears in my eyes. I felt my heart continue to break even more and my breathing became shallow.

"Bella, when are you ever going to learn? People will die around you. It's bound to happen. I mean look at Charlie…"

"You were so selfish and…"

"Get out." A voice growled.

My head snapped over to the voice and I saw Sam standing in the doorway shaking.

"Get the hell out of Bella's room now." He commanded.

I let out a breath and bit my lip. Renee looked from me to Sam and then back.

"So this is him huh Bella?" she questioned.

I looked at her confused and she let out a small dry laugh.

"The man you think is your knight and shining armor? The one you think is going to save you from this terrible life you are living." She said, her voice filled with disgust and sarcasm.

I moved my head to hide my tears and she rolled her eyes. She walked closer to me, standing next to me. "Oh please Bella, you and I both know deep down inside that that is never going to happen."

"I'm no asking you again. Get out of Bella's room." Sam said, while the guys were now starting to huddle behind him in case something was to happen.

I let out a breath and looked at her. Renee gave me a raised eyebrow after taking in the rest of the pack.

"Some more of your 'friends' Bella?" she whispered in my ear in an implying tone. Sam let out a growl and Renee gave a smirk.

"Get out." I spoke up. "I don't ever want to see you again. You are no longer a mother to me and you are never welcome here."

Her face turned blank and the room went silent. Seconds later a smack was heard through the room and I put a hand to my cheek- It was burning.

Sam's growls filled the air and the guys held him back.

"Get out" I gritted. Renee let out a huff and quickly left the room.

Immediately Sam came running to me and hugged me tight.

"I'm okay." I sighed and hugged him back.

He pulled back and inspected the cheek where she slapped me.

"It's okay Sam." I whispered, putting a hand over his and smiling a bit.

He let out a breath and then kissed my head.

"Hey guys?" I asked. The pack was awkwardly standing there waiting for Sam and me to finish our moment and head downstairs.

"Can you make sure Renee makes it out? I just don't want her coming back and making a scene."

Jake nodded. "Of course Bells. We'll be right back."

After they left, Sam continued to hug me.

"You know all those things she said weren't true right?" he questioned.

"How long were you there for?" I asked avoiding his words.

"When she started trying to find reasons to blame you for Charlie's death. And Bella, those open ended questions she fed to you, they aren't true. You hear me?" he asked.

I bit my lip and just put my head on his chest.

"Charlie died of cancer. Not because of you. I know that when she was putting all those ideas out that you were starting to believe them. And don't tell me you haven't." he said as he saw me about to speak up. "Because i could feel how your heart began to break as she talked about your father, and how, with every word she spoke, you began to put the possibility in your head and blame yourself."

He bent down to look me in the eye. "I could feel it Bella." He stressed.

I bit my lip and wiped away a tear. "I just feel like that maybe if I hadn't…."

"What's done is done Bella, there is nothing you can change about that." He said. "Don't let a person like her influence you like that. You tried everything imaginable."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and just let him hug me close to his warm body.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." I said.