Chapter 6: Of Injuries and Threats

BPOV

Peter and I spent the next few weeks getting to know each other slowly. Neither of us wanted to jump into things and rush them just because we were mates. We knew we would be together for the rest of our existences without a doubt but we wanted to love each other because of who we were. Even though I knew I could trust him with my life, it was still hard for me to put everything I am out there because of how Fuckward-pire treated me.

When I got home from the Cullen house the weekend I met Peter, I told my dad that Edward and I weren't together anymore. After a lot of coaxing from Charlie and the approval and support from Peter, the Cullens, and the Quileutes, we gradually told him what was going on based upon a "need to know" basis.

All he knew was that there were supernatural creatures lurking around Forks. The Cullens and the Quileutes were the good guys and that there were others of the same genetic make-up as the Cullens that weren't so good. We emphasized that Edward was most likely harmless but, just to be sure, there would always be someone or something around Charlie to protect him so he shouldn't be alarmed if he saw Esme lurking in the shadows or a horse-sized wolf just past the tree line.

Of course, Dad started to worry about me immediately. He thought that I should have just as much protection that he had. So, here we are, sitting in the living room waiting for my Peter to get here so Charlie could meet him as not only my protection but my mate as well.

"Bella, shouldn't we, um, I don't know, have some food or drinks or something ready for when he gets here? I want to be polite and everything…" my dad questioned.

An image of Peter eating human food popped into my mind and I started laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. "Dad, Peter and the Cullens don't need food to survive. Just trust me, he doesn't need food."

Charlie nodded his head just as there was a knock at the door. In my excitement I jumped off of the couch and ran through the house. Unfortunately for me (and in a very Bella-like fashion), I forgot that the socks on my feet did not like to grip the tiled floor in the kitchen and I went sliding across the floor and ran straight into the front door, slamming my face on the window that's in the middle of it.

With a resounding 'oof' I landed right on my butt, slightly disoriented and more than a little embarrassed. The look on Peter's face, however, was priceless and had me giggling like a maniac. I managed to gasp out that the door was unlocked and Peter opened it and knelt beside me as Charlie rounded the corner to check on me as well.

"Peter, this is my father, Charlie Swan. Dad, this is Peter Whitlock, my permanent protector and, while the term doesn't fit the magnitude of the relationship, my boyfriend. Before you start with the Spanish inquisition, he won't leave me like Dumbward did, it's physically impossible for him to distance himself from me in any way for any length of time."

My dad stretched his hand out to shake Peter's while he was shaking his head and laughing at my clumsiness. Peter ignored it, however, as he was busy checking me for injury. As soon as he made sure that there wasn't a scratch on me, he shook Charlie's hand and apologized for the delay.

"As a part of my nature, sir, when my, shall we say, partner, appears to be injured, my instincts take over and I have to make sure that she's unharmed. I do apologize for the impropriety of my measures," Peter said.

"Son, if that's how you're going to treat her when she falls, you're going to be doing that a whole lot more because she's the clumsiest person I've ever seen in my life," Charlie chuckled.

Peter hauled me to my feet and, as soon as I took a step forward, I fell again. I guess I was injured after all.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Peter asked in alarm.

"I don't know, I think I twisted my ankle. I'll have to have Carlisle look at it for me later," I responded and Peter started shaking his head.

"I think we should get you over there so he can look at it now. Charlie, would you like to join us? I'd like the opportunity to talk to you and get to know you better but I have to make sure that Bella is OK. Carlisle is on duty in the emergency room at the moment."

"Sure, I'll go but I'll drive my car. Bella, why don't you pack a bag with a few days' worth of stuff in it? That way you can just stay with the Cullens. I'll be working the night shift for the next few days and would feel better if you were closer to more than just one person that can protect you."

I nodded in confirmation and looked to Peter. "Do you mind carrying me up? I don't want to do any more damage than has already been done and it's probably safer this way anyway." He smiled and scooped me up effortlessly, carried me up the stairs, and sat me on the bed before grabbing my duffle bag from underneath my bed and waiting for orders.

I scooted against the wall and put two pillows under my ankle so that it would stay elevated although the swelling and bruising was already extremely noticeable.

"I'll tell you what all needs to be packed as far as clothing and stuff but you're not seeing my skivvies this early in the game mister." He began pouting and I chuckled as I told him what sets of pajamas to pack and what jeans, tops, sock and shoes I needed as well. After all of those items were packed as well as my school books, I shooed him out into the hallway while I hopped over to my dresser to grab some panties, bras, and a couple of cuter, more revealing sets of pajamas.

As soon as I got over to the dresser my phone buzzed in my pocket and, when I opened it, I saw a text from Alice.

B-Don't worry about the bathroom stuff, pajamas, panties, or bras. Got you covered. Ordered from VS a week ago, arrived today. Knew this would happen. See you soon. Lu, -A

I smiled and called Peter back in. When he looked at the unchanged duffle bag, I smiled and told him that Alice texted me and told me she had me covered so we were good to go. He scooped me up bridal style, sat the duffle bag on my belly, and carried me to the car.

He put my bag in the trunk and buckled me into the passenger seat and, after waiting for Charlie to back into the street, took off for the hospital to get my ankle X-Rayed.

Peter POV

I never thought I'd laugh at my mate's pain but, while I don't find the fact that she's hurt funny, the manner in which it happened was just downright hilarious. Emmett was right, she is clumsy. Almost as if she was reading my mind, Bella looked at me with those big, brown, doe eyes and asked:

"Peter, would you please not tell Emmett about this? He'll never let me live it down. He already makes fun of me as it is."

I smirked and replied, "I won't tell him outright but, if you get put in a cast or brace, you know he's gonna ask and I'm not gonna lie to him darlin'. Don't worry; I'll protect you from the big, bad prankster known as Emmett."

She groaned and leaned her head back against the seat. Unfortunately for me, that groan went straight to Peter Junior and he perked his self up and tried to introduce himself to Bella. I began my mantra that I'd been using for the past few weeks:

"Calm down, you'll meet her soon. Calm down, you'll meet her soon. Calm down, you'll meet her soon."

We got to the hospital and parked in a spot close to the door. Charlie parked a couple of spots away and I picked her up, pretending to struggle slightly in order to keep up the human charade. I sat her in a seat and sat next to her as Charlie went to check her in. We were through triage and in a room waiting for Carlisle within minutes.

Her dad and I were talking as I sat on the end of the bed and rubbed her tiny feet that were draped across my lap. I was mindful of the pressure I used on her injured foot so I wouldn't hurt her more; instead, I just lightly wrapped my fingers around her bare ankle, hoping that the coolness of my hand would help keep the swelling down.

Carlisle came in a moment later tsking and shaking his head. "You know, Bella, if you want to see me all you have to do is come by the house. There's no need to injure yourself in order to visit me."

She chuckled and explained the situation which, in turn, caused all of us to start laughing again. Only Bella could pull a move straight out of "Risky Business", smash her face on a door window, fall on her butt, and come out with nothing more than an injured ankle. She was really lucky that she didn't break her nose and start bleeding; I'm not sure that I could have controlled myself if that had happened.

"Peter, I'm glad you thought to hold her ankle like that. I'm assuming that you're using your temperature to help keep the swelling down?" I nodded with a small smile.

"Alright Bella, we're going to put you through a full body X-Ray. I want to make sure that you didn't do anything to injure your tailbone or your wrists when you fell. Your ankle just looks like it's a bad sprain but, in light of the severity of the sprain, I want to make sure that it's not fractured."

She nodded and Carlisle wheeled her towards X-Ray in a wheelchair, leaving Charlie and I to our own devices for a bit.

"Peter, I know you say that what you and Bella have is more than feelings, that's it's more of a strong physical pull. I also know that nothing that I can do to you could ever cause damage to you and hurt you. However, I feel that I have to say this anyway: if you hurt her, I will have you killed. Since I can't do it myself, I will not hesitate to call in Jacob and the boys from the reservation."

I nodded and smiled appreciatively. "I completely understand your concern, Charlie, especially after everything that happened with Edward. I promise that I will never hurt her. Not only would I be physically unable to injure her, I wouldn't even know where to begin. We're taking things very slow and getting to know each other as any two humans would do. I don't know her very well yet but I plan to know everything that she's willing to share with me and then some. I also plan to tell her every detail about me."

Charlie smiled and accepted my answer. Carlisle and Bella came back about an hour later with her X-Rays and they confirmed that the only thing wrong was that she tore a couple of tendons in her ankle. There was nothing that Carlisle could do for it except to wrap it in a bandage and give her an ankle brace, crutches, and a prescription for low-dose pain killers.

As we were leaving, Charlie checked with Carlisle to make sure that it was OK for Bella to stay with us and he said that it was fine and that she was welcome any time. In the parking lot, Bella hugged her father and we got in the car and headed to La Casa de Cullen.

A/N: I am sooooo sorry for the long delay in updating! I am loading this chapter and another will be up shortly after I hope. I got caught up in holiday travels and the start of a new semester. Now that I have my schedule down, I'll hopefully be able to get my updating schedule back on track. I hope that this longer-than-normal chapter is a good enough peace offering for y'all!

Thanks, as always, to 01katie for pre-reading this for me! Also, I am still in need of a beta so, if you're interested, please PM me.

Also, many thanks to those of you who reviewed and added me to your alerts and favorite author and favorite story. I don't usually respond to reviews unless you ask me a question, then I will respond privately. However, if you ask me a question about what is to come, I will NOT answer that question for many reasons. The two main reasons are: Number one, it's not fair to the other readers if I tell you what's going to happen before I tell everyone else and, number two, I'm not even exactly sure what's going to happen since this story has been writing itself. :-)

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