Too much is not enough

Nobody gave it up

I'm not the kind

To lay down and die

Adrenaline, keeps me in the game

Adrenaline, you don't even feel the pain

Wilder than your wildest dreams

When you're going to extremes

It takes adrenaline

"Adrenaline"

-Gavin Rossdale

Chapter 34:

Oh yeah, laugh at my pain...

I felt the vampire's pressure on me suddenly drop. I landed on the ground with a "thud." I winced in pain from my broken bones. I opened my eyes just in time to see a flying ball of fur knocking the vampire away from me.

Get OFF of her! Embry growled loudly. He was able to pry the vampire's other arm off. It was only a few seconds later that Sam and Jared pulled off his legs.

I saw the arm that had hit Cody crawling towards the vampire's flailing torso. A foot crushed down on it, and I saw Emmett. He and Edward were examining Cody, probably making sure that he was still breathing.

You might wanna take a step back, bloodsucker. That kid is an idiot. If he comes too and smells you, he might attack. I couldn't believe that I was giving Edward advice that would keep him from getting hurt. Since when did I care about him? All this pain must be making me delusional.

Seth and Jacob were next to me now. I was still laying on the ground, trying to catch my breath.

Seth whimpered and nudged me with his nose.

Ow, that hurts. Cut it out, I complained.

Seth breathed a sigh of relief. Sorry. I was afraid that you weren't alive.

Seth, you can still hear my thoughts. That's a pretty good indicator that I'm still breathing. I slowly got to my feet. I was a little wobbly.

How bad is it? Jacob questioned.

I'll heal. I tried to shrug. Stupid move on my part.

Jacob shook his head. I could hear all the emotions going through his mind. He was relieved that I was okay, but he was upset that I'd been hurt. He surprised me when he scolded me. You should have waited.

I laughed sarcastically. He was mad at me for saving Cody's ass? What the hell? What was I supposed to do? Watch the leech rip him to shreds?

I rolled my eyes. You're right. I should have just told the vampire to hang tight while I sat around and waited for backup. "Scuse me, can you not kill me for a few minutes? I've got a pack of wolves coming to help me rip you to shreds. Thaaanks." That would have gone over well.

I looked over and saw that everyone had a piece of the leech. Embry was shaking the thing's torso angrily. He looked like a dog ripping apart a stuffed toy, trying to find the tiny squeaker inside all of the stuffing.

I think you can ease up, Embry. I'm pretty sure he's dead, Seth suggested.

I could barely understand him through the snarls he was snapping at the lifeless body.

Stupid bastard…teach you to mess with…kill you…die, die, die, rot in hell!

Embry, dude! Jacob called to him.

He was still going to town. If the vampire had any blood flowing through his body, it probably would have been all over the forest like some horror movie.

God damn mother fucking leech.

You plan on kissing me with that mouth? I asked. That gained his attention. Embry lifted his head when he heard me laughing. Geeze, remind me never to piss you off.

Without saying anything, he tossed the torso in the pile with the rest of the vampire's parts. Emmett struck a match between his fingers and tossed it on to the stack of body parts. I think he mumbled something like, "Burn sucker, burn. Check out those flames," or something along those lines.

Embry trotted over to me. He looked down at his feet, as if he were ashamed.

I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner.

Was he kidding? He'd saved my butt! He had nothing to apologize for.

Hey, don't worry about it. Thanks for having my back.

He saw that I wasn't putting any weight on my front leg. How is it?

Fine. Healing already. They were going to see right through that lie. But I really didn't want to have to see someone about my broken bones.

Healing already, huh? Jacob questioned. He nodded his massive head and leaned in towards me. I didn't move because I wasn't sure what he was doing. He took the tip of his nose, and very gently put pressure on my broken ribs.

It hurt like hell, but I forced out a pained smile, Yep, see? Better already. My voice was about an octave higher than it normally was because I was straining so hard not to scream.

You're a really shitty liar, Leah. Embry shook his head.

Edward, Emmett, Sam, and Jared were over by us now. Ha, as if I didn't feel crowded enough. It was weird having seven pairs of eyes all staring at you.

"It might be beneficial for you to have Carlisle look at that, Leah. It's pretty badly broken," Edward suggested.

Carlisle's the best, Seth exclaimed with enthusiasm.

How much is he paying you for that endorsement? I asked sarcastically.

I saw Cody stirring in his unconsciousness. He was waking up. Jared said something to Sam and then trotted over to the recovering reckless idiot. Something told me the kid was in deep shit. I watched as Jared led Cody into the woods.

I looked at Jacob to ask Sam a question, He gonna be okay?

Jacob silently questioned Sam. I saw Sam nod his head and respond.

He'll be fine. Probably has a concussion, Jacob explained.

No shit. I rolled my eyes. Tell Sam to keep a tighter leash on his new puppies.

He's in for a hell of a talk, Jacob said surely. He and Sam had another short exchange. Sam wants you to go and see Carlisle, though. You're hurt pretty bad.

Nonsense. I shook my head. I can still run on three legs.

Fine, don't have Carlisle look at it. But when it heals wrong, and you're left with a flimsy limb that's useless and disfigured, don't come crying to me, Jacob shrugged.

You could have internal injuries. Embry disapproved of me not wanting to get medically cleared.

I morph into a giant wolf. If that doesn't mess up my insides, I highly doubt a little kick in the ribs will, I frowned.

Emmett looked at me, and then to Edward for an explanation, "What's going on?"

"She doesn't want Carlisle to treat her," Edward explained.

"Awww, is the big bad wolf afraid of going to the doctor?" Emmett harassed me.

Watch it. I can still fight with three legs you know. I snapped a warning at him.

Even though Emmett couldn't understand what I was saying, he understood that I was giving him a warning of some kind. He didn't care.

"Now if you behave like that, we might have to put a muzzle on you." He laughed. "Come on, it won't be that bad. If you have to get a shot, I'll just distract you with something shiny."

He's two seconds away from me biting him in the ass. I looked to Edward to translate.

"Um, Em, I don't think she's in the mood."

Let Carlisle look at you, Seth whined.

Why should I? I questioned.

You're hurt. He's a doctor. I'd say that's reason enough in itself, Seth frowned. Besides, if you don't, I'll bug the hell out of you for the rest of your life.

So? You bug me now. I still wasn't convinced.

I'll tell mom, he threatened.

Crap. Mom really didn't need to know that I had almost died today. And I could see from Seth's thoughts that he was serious about talking to her. God, my brother annoyed me sometimes.

Freaking pain my ass, I mumbled.

I didn't know you hurt that, too, Seth quipped.

Fine, I growled. I'll go see the damn doctor. Are you happy?

Thrilled. Seth had no excitement whatsoever in his voice. I could tell he was still on edge about what had just happened. I really couldn't see why. I was going to live, and no one was dead. Well, except the parasite.

I looked over and saw that Sam and Jacob were having a silent conversation. Sam asked Jacob something, and Jake responded by shaking his head from side to side. After a moment, he and Sam started to walk away from everyone else.

Where are you going? I questioned.

Alpha stuff. Apparently Jacob needed to talk to Sam. We need to redefine some perimeters. You guys go ahead. Tell Nessie I'll be back as soon as I can. He disappeared into the trees.

Great, not only was I injured and going to have to face Carlisle's freezing hands examining me, now Jake was using me as his own personal message service.

"I'll tell Carlisle what's going on." Edward raced ahead.

Emmett faced me with a stupid grin, "Don't be scared. Maybe you'll get a lollipop if you're a good girl."

This good girl is about to rip your good boy parts off, I snapped back. I knew he couldn't understand me, so I would have to remember that for when I was human again.

It felt like it took an eternity to get back to the mansion. Every step was like torture for me. I wasn't looking forward to phasing back. The bones twisting around in my shattered body was going to hurt. And if they were already set, then Carlisle would have to re-brake them. That was going to suck major ass.

Just as we reached the house, I felt Quil phase back. It didn't take him long to see what he had missed.

Holy shit. I felt his shock. Aw man, that sucks. I'm sorry, Leah. I should have been there. Maybe if I had come back when I said I was going to be back… His thoughts trailed off.

Wow, when had Quil become responsible? It was weird to hear him act like he actually cared.

I can be so damn dense sometimes.

I interrupted him, Well, you are an idiot. But it's not your fault, I assured him. And I'm fine. Everyone's making a fuss over nothing.

Didn't look like nothing to me, Quil disagreed.

I looked up and saw that Carlisle and Esme were waiting on me. I grunted. This was going to huuuuurt.

Seth, you and Quil continue to run the perimeters until I get back, or until Jake tells you to do otherwise. I didn't know how long his talk with Sam was going to go. Probably not very long considering he couldn't stand to be away from Nessie.

Sure you don't want me to stay with you? Seth questioned.

I think I can handle it, I nodded. I didn't need my little brother holding my hand and telling me that everything was going to be okay. In fact, if he did that, I might end up throwing him through a wall.

Seth ran off, but Embry planted his butt firmly on the ground next to me. I sighed. There was no way he was going to leave my side. Well, I guess it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I could teach him a few new swear words. I got pretty creative when I was in pain.

I went behind some trees to phase. I locked my jaw tightly as I got ready to twist my broken bones back to their natural shape. Damn it, son of…

"…a frickin bitch!" My thoughts became verbal mid-phase. I pulled my arm to my chest and held it there as I put my clothes on. Embry came through the trees a few minutes later, dressed and ready to go.

"You cuss more than anyone I've ever met," Embry laughed softly.

"That's what happens when a girl spends all her free time with all you filthy mouthed little teenagers." I laughed too. I chuckled a little too hard and one of my loose ribs twinged in pain. "Ow, shit." It even hurt to laugh. As I walked into the house, Embry followed me in.

I faced Carlisle. "Let's get this over with, Doc."

He nodded, "The first thing we're going to need to do is X-Ray you to see where the breaks actually are. Then I can set the bones correctly."

"If you want to have a seat in the living room, Charlie is watching the game with the others," Esme offered. "We'll get everything set up. It won't take very long."

Charlie was here? I glanced outside and saw that I had completely missed the fact that his car was sitting in the driveway. Great. So much for keeping this from my mother. I thought about trying to hide the fact that I was hurt from him. It probably wouldn't work. If anything, he would be worried about my sanity, because I never spent time here with the Cullens when I was human. I grumbled. It was best to just go in truthfully.

Embry looked warily at Esme, but after a moment, I saw him soften his stance a little.

"I smell chicken wings."

Esme laughed, "Charlie's favorite."

"Mine, too." He dashed into the living room to gobble up some food. With that insatiable werewolf appetite, he would probably eat just about anything.

I didn't say anything as I followed Esme into the living room. Charlie was sitting next to Emmett. Bella was sitting on the floor, playing with Nessie. Edward hovered above them and watched. I didn't see Rosalie or Alice anywhere. Jasper was huddled in the corner, watching the room with intense eyes.

"Hey, it's Wolfie." Emmett saw me. "Bout time you got here, gimpy."

"See how fast you can run with broken bones." I rolled my eyes.

Charlie's eyes got wide with concern. It was actually kind of sweet.

"You were hurt? What happened?"

"I think I'm going to have to refrain from telling you that. You did say you wanted to know as little as possible," I explained.

Charlie nodded his head. I could tell he wanted to say something back, but he held it in. I saw him tense up in worry, but he just stayed quiet.

"Don't worry, dad. Carlisle will take care of her." Bella looked up from the floor and forced a smile out at me. It was really weird to see her smiling at me. It was actually a little spooky.

Charlie excused himself to go to the bathroom. When he disappeared around the corner, I stuck my tongue out at Emmett childishly.

"That's for the lollipop remark you overgrown flea," I frowned.

"Did…you just call me a flea?" Emmett had a perplexed look on his face.

I just shrugged. I guess I was running out of clever names to call the leeches.

"Come on, you can do better than that, Lassie." He laughed.

"Why don't you go fall into a well and wait for me to rescue you?" I asked sarcastically.

We stopped our quipping when we heard Charlie coming back into the living room. He plopped back down on the couch and mumbled something about Carlisle just opening up a hospital here in the mansion. I laughed, because, though Charlie didn't know it, this place had once been a hospital for his ailing pregnant daughter. I could hear Carlisle and Esme flittering around upstairs. I heard the whirring of machinery.

My feet were so tired, and my head was throbbing. I wasn't having the easiest time breathing either. I pushed myself to sit down next to Charlie. Emmett moved away from me. I kind of appreciated the space. We waited for a few minutes in silence. I saw Jasper ease a little closer to us and felt my pain lessen just a little. He must be working that power thing he had. Thanks. I looked at Edward to tell his brother that I appreciated the short-term pain medication. Edward nodded at Jasper. The vampires communicated exceptionally well without speaking considering that Edward was the only mind-reader of the bunch.

Nessie looked at me from the floor curiously. She wasn't used to seeing me here. She knew who I was, but she didn't know much about me. She curiously toddled over to me. Well, I guess they weren't hiding Nessie's age advancements from Charlie anymore. I sat completely still. The last thing I wanted to do right now was lose control of my emotions and do something stupid in front of Charlie.

Nessie crawled on to the couch between Charlie and I. I saw Edward and Bella both inch forward nervously. I just rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to hurt their kid. They had to know I wouldn't take my aggression out on Jacob's future love.

She gently put her hands on my cheek. I flinched. I was startled when I felt how warm the palms of her hands were against my cheek. I had half-expected them to be cold and hard like any other vampire. I wasn't as tense as I thought I'd be. Jasper again. Normally, I would be pissed that someone else was controlling my emotions, but in this case, I was glad because Jasper was keeping some of my pain at bay. Man, I could get used to this.

I watched in curiosity as I saw Nessie's gift at work first-hand. The pictures flooded my mind. Apparently, Nessie wanted to gossip about her day, with me of all people. At first, I flinched away. When she showed me a memory of Seth and Jacob wrestling over the remote, I started to pay attention. Seth lost his grip on the remote when Jacob tugged too hard. Then the remote went flailing back and hit Jake in the mouth. It busted his lip. I laughed my ass off.

Nessie continued to tickle my funny bone when she showed me how her day had started out. Rosalie was trying to get her to eat something that looked like Oatmeal. Nessie refused, but Rosalie insisted that she eat it. She even brought Jacob in to try and convince her to take a bite. I watched as the two of them awkwardly tried to play nice and explain to her that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Nessie asked if that was true, then how come she was the only one eating it? Jacob and Rosalie couldn't answer that. A werewolf and a vampire were outsmarted by a three-month-old. Classic!

She finally got irritated and threw her bowl of oatmeal at them. The bowl hit Jake in the chest and splattered all over him and the annoying blonde. The look on both of their faces was priceless.

Jacob turned to Rosalie after a moment and snickered, "Hey Blondie, she got food in your hair..."

I was laughing so hard now that I was in hysterics. I probably sounded like a dying donkey or something. The laughter was not doing anything to help my pain, but I didn't care. I was just glad that Embry and Emmett were keeping Charlie occupied by talking about the game.

I glanced at Edward and Bella. Both of them had their mouths open in shock that I was laughing while Nessie was sitting in my lap. I don't know why Edward was so surprised. I'm sure he could tell what Nessie was showing me by reading my mind. With Jasper working his mojo, and Nessie showing me hilarious memories, I forgot that I was even here for medical treatment. But I was reminded a few seconds later when Carlisle came in and told me to follow him.

I saw Embry stand up. "I'm right behind you."

"No, I'll be right back. It's cool," I shrugged. It's. Cool. Was I really standing in the middle of the vampire's house saying It's cool? Damn, Jasper was like a giant bottle of Xanax.

I saw Edward laugh at my thought. Bella stared at him for an explanation. He just shrugged and mouthed "I'll explain later" to her.

I followed Carlisle to his make-shift X-Ray room. It was weird walking down the hallway alone with him. I felt like I should be saying "dead dog walking" or something.

He pulled a syringe out and drew up something from a bottle. I just watched him curiously. That better be some kind of pain medication. He confirmed that it was a few seconds later. I think he said it was morphine. Damn, he was bringing in the big guns. If he was giving me this, he must think the break was really bad. I didn't even feel him stick me with the needle.

"Now, as soon as we take these pictures, I'll be able to tell where the breaks are. Then we'll go from there," he explained. He motioned me over to the X-Ray table. I slowly climbed on the table and waited for more instructions. "First we'll do your chest." He had me lay down. I saw him maneuver a peddle with his foot and heard a clicking sound. The machine beeped.

I had only been X-Rayed one other time in my life. It was five years ago when I broke my ankle Ice-Skating with Sam. I had warned him that I was going to fall on my ass. I sighed. That was before our werewolf days. I remember after I tripped over my skates, Sam drove me to the hospital. He even tried to get the doctor to let him stay with me when they were doing my X-Rays. The Physician wouldn't allow it. I always found it incredibly contradicting that the doctor had assured me that getting X-Rays' was no big deal, and then he stepped behind this giant wall with incredibly thick windows while leaving me completely exposed to gamma rays, or whatever the hell is in X-Ray machines. I had said something like, "Way to make your patients feel safe, Dr. Pussypants."

"Okay, now we need to do your arm." Carlisle had me sit up. "It needs to be positioned right, so, may I?" He asked permission to maneuver my broken arm. I nodded. His hands were cold. I shivered. Once he got my arm positioned correctly, I heard the machine beeping again.

I found it odd that he didn't at least wear a protective lead gown or something. But then again, it's not like he had to worry about dying from too much exposure. I'm sure this machine had gotten a lot of use since he'd brought it home. Carlisle was constantly fixing up someone in the pack. He'd probably taken so many X-Rays that he'd been exposed to more radiation than someone who worked in a nuclear power plant. It's a good thing he was already sterile. All that constant radiation couldn't be good for anyone's reproductive organs.

I sat still on the X-Ray table while Carlisle examined the films. After a few minutes, he entered the room again with Esme right behind him. She was like his little nurse.

"Well, how bad is it, Doc? Give it to me straight."

"Your arm is broken in three places," he explained. "And, as expected, it's already healing."

"Let me guess. The bones need to be set?" I questioned. He nodded. "And the ribs?"

"Fortunately, nothing needs to be done with them. It's just the arm that I need to repair."

Repair. Sounds like he was working on a car.

"Do what you've gotta do," I frowned.

Esme faced her husband. "Did you already give her something for the pain?" It was kind of nice of her to be worried about me. Damn nice considering I hadn't ever treated any of the leeches with respect.

"It should already be taking effect," Carlisle assured Esme. He faced me again. "Of course, we could always opt for anesthesia."

There was no way in hell I was letting him put me completely unconscious for this procedure. I don't care how good he was, he was still a vampire. I tried not to let my aggression show. "No. Just...do your thing."

He placed his hands timidly on my arm. "This might hurt a bit, Leah," he warned me.

"Just get it over with." I ground my teeth together and waited for the agonizing pain. I saw Esme turn away. Ironically, I don't think the mommy vampire could stand to see anyone in pain, even if it was me.

I nearly bit through my tongue when Carlisle snapped the bone again. Damn it, damn it. Shit! Son of a cocksucking motherfucker! I screamed in my head. I managed not to shout out loud. I didn't want Charlie or Embry racing in here when they heard me screaming. When Carlisle finished, he quickly braced my arm in a sling.

"Are you okay, dear?" Esme questioned. I shook my head in confusion. Had the vampire mother hen just called me dear?

"Uh, yeah. The pain meds seem to be kicking in." It wasn't a complete lie. I felt more relaxed than when Jasper had been waving his magic hands over me.

We joined everyone in the living room again. They were all in pretty much the same places they had been before I'd gotten fixed up.

Carlisle smiled softly at me, "Well, the worst part is over. Now if you can manage not to phase for a few hours, you should be back to normal in no time."

"Doc, you just drugged me up. I highly doubt I'll be able to walk home without running into a telephone pole, or tripping over my own dopey feet." Like Bella. I added in thought. I looked at Carlisle to see if he had an idea of how to get me home. I sure as hell didn't want to spend anymore time here.

"I can drive you back home." Charlie suggested from across the room. He stood up and walked over to where Carlisle, Esme, and I were standing. "I told your mom I'd come by today, anyway. You can just ride with me."

That was nice of him. I had never been so happy that Charlie was sleeping with my mother.

"That would be awesome," I nodded. That had to be the drugs talking. Never mind the fact that I would be stuck in a car with the guy my mother was currently knocking boots with. The thought made me cringe a little, but I didn't have any other options. I looked in the corner and saw Jasper calmly watching me. Between the shot that Carlisle had given me, and his talented son keeping the atmosphere around me mellow, I felt like I was about to melt into the ground.

"How are you feeling, Leah?" When had Embry walked over to us? I hadn't even realized that he was standing next to me.

"Stoned as hell," I laughed. Crap, had I said that out loud? Ah, oh well. Whatever. I giggled a little bit more.

"I think I'd better get her home." Charlie shook Carlisle's hand. "As always, thanks for having me." He turned and faced Emmett. "You owe me twenty bucks." Apparently, Emmett's team had lost.

"I'll get you next time," Emmett shrugged.

"Bye, dad." Bella glided over to her father and embraced him in a very quick hug. I wondered how hard it was for her to smell his blood and not want to eat him.

"I think Nessie wants to say goodbye, too." Edward walked over cradling his daughter.

I was starting to feel a little crowded. There were too many vampires around. And everyone was talking. I felt like the entire room was spinning. There was a lot going on. I faced Embry and motioned for him to follow me outside.

"I think I'm going to wait in the car." I turned around and looked at the group of vampires staring at me. "Thank you so much for helping me, Carlisle. I owe you." Everyone looked blown away that I was actually being nice. I was surprised about that myself.

"Uh, exactly what kind of drugs did you give her?" I heard Esme whisper. Apparently, she was concerned about my sanity. Ha, yeah, that ship had already sailed.

"Just take it easy for a while," Carlisle advised me. I nodded in response, and Embry and I walked out of the big house. About half-way to Charlie's car, I could barely walk straight anymore. Embry had to catch me as I started to lose my balance.

"I think he might have overdone it a little on the pain meds," Embry mumbled.

Yeah. Probably on purpose. I had to wonder if they had doped me up this much intentionally. I can imagine that it would be hilarious for them to watch me stumble around drunkenly laughing. As Embry helped me into the car, part of me wanted to know if they were staring out the window and laughing at me.

Fortunately, the other part of me was so stoned that I really didn't care. I just closed my eyes and relaxed into the seat.

I had survived that idiot vampire in the clearing. Now, I just had to survive the ride home with Charlie...

Personally, the ride with Charlie frightened me more.