Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephenie Meyer and I don't own any of the Twilight series' characters or stories. I borrowed the dialogue and storyline from Breaking Dawn, but the rest is my own take on the story, as seen through Edward's eyes.
Chapter 16
Bargaining
I didn't know where to begin. I raked my hand nervously across my face. My mouth opened, but the words wouldn't come – lodged in my throat like insects trapped on flypaper. How do you plead to someone who has been, for all intents and purposes, your enemy? How could I ask him to save the life of the woman I love? And if he agreed, what would he expect in return?
He started at me expectantly; his urge for violence and the heat of transformation had cooled, giving way to true concern. He saw my weakness, saw me as an easy kill, but his lust for destruction waned with my own sanity. What satisfaction is there in destroying your enemy when they lie prostrate before you?
"It's killing her, right?" he asked. "She's dying." ...too fast...already lost her so many times...this is not my fault.
Jacobs's unspoken words were crippling. "My fault," I whispered. The weight of the admission forced me to the ground, the guilt crushing me, sinking me down into the rain–soaked earth. Jacob's presence only served to amplify my grief, reminding me that she would have been better off if she had chosen him instead. "Yes," I croaked. "Yes, it's killing her."
"So why hasn't Carlisle done anything? He's a doctor, right? Get it out of her." He said it like it was the simplest solution. His tone was one of disgust and irritation, unable to imagine why we hadn't thought of doing just that.
"She won't let us," I sighed.
He stared at me, mulling over the words. Of course, die for the monster spawn. That's so Bella.
"You know her so well," I murmured. It was something I had tried to ignore, but couldn't deny. He knew Bella so much better than I. Perhaps it was my dependency on my gift and her immunity to it that caused me to misunderstand her so often. I should have realized by now that she is not a typical human – that she doesn't follow the same patterns I've come to expect. With her, everything is unexpected.
"How quickly you see...I didn't see. Not in time. She wouldn't talk to me on the way home, not really. I thought she was frightened – that would be natural. I thought she was angry with me for putting her through this, for endangering her life. Again, I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving. Not until my family met us at the airport and she ran right into Rosalie's arms. Rosalie's! And then I heard what Rosalie was thinking. I didn't understand until I heard that. Yet you understand after one second..."
He held up his hands, shaking his head back and forth. "Just back up a second. She won't let you." Are you kidding me? "Did you ever notice that she's exactly as strong as a normal hundred–and–ten–pound human girl? How stupid are you vamps? Hold her down and knock her out with drugs."
"I wanted to," I sighed. "Carlisle would have..."
What, too noble?
"No. Not noble. Her bodyguard complicated things."
Wait, what...oh...so that's what Blondie's up to. But why? Does she want Bella to die so bad?
"Maybe," I answered his unspoken question. "Rosalie doesn't look at it quite that way."
Jacob shrugged, rolling his eyes. "So take out the blonde one first. Your kind can be put back together, right? Turn her into a jigsaw and take care of Bella." The gruesome images from Jacob's mind filtered into mine. I couldn't deny the satisfaction I would feel at seeing Rosalie in such a state. Although, with the level of anger I felt toward her, I may not stop until she was irreparable. But it would never work...not with the rest of them...
I shook my head sadly. "Emmett and Esme are backing her up. Emmett would never let us...and Carlisle won't help me with Esme against it..."
I knew something like this would happen. "You should have left Bella with me."
"Yes," I whispered as he voiced my own thoughts.
Too little, too late...should have thought of this before he knocked her up with a life-sucking monster.
He wasn't wrong. In hindsight, if I had known before all that know now, I may still be cowering on the dingy floor of a South American attic space. Ironic that, in both instances, it was Rosalie who struck the match, ignited the fire that spurned us forward. If I had never received that phone call, if Alice had never had her vision, Bella would have continued her life with Jacob, free of the damage my existence was destined to cause her.
"We didn't know." How foolish I had been. My own naïveté and arrogance were taking away my one reason for existing. I breathed a heavy sigh, feeling weak, as though my own body was dying along with hers. "I never dreamed. There's never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we know that a human was able to conceive a child with one of us –"
"When the human should get ripped to shreds in the process?" he finished.
"Yes." I closed my eyes, feeling every bit of the monster that Jacob saw me as. "They're out there, the sadistic ones, the incubus, the succubus. They exist. But the seduction is merely a prelude to the feast. No one survives."
Do you call what she's doing in there surviving? "I didn't realize they had a special name for what you are," he sneered.
"Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself."
The heat began rising again on the surface of his skin, his molecules vibrating and shifting, preparing for the emergence of the wolf. His fists clenched and unclenched and his nostrils flared. Wrong, he thought.
"Killing me now doesn't save her," I reminded him.
"So what does?"
Would he listen to me? Would he even give credence to the notion that, at this point, he was my last hope of saving her? "Jacob, you have to do something for me."
"The hell I do, parasite!"
"For her?" I pleaded.
"I did everything I could to keep her away from you," he spat. "Every single thing. It's too late." And you fought me every step of the way.
"You know her, Jacob. You connect to her on a level that I don't even understand. You are part of her, and she is part of you. She won't listen to me, because she thinks I'm underestimating her. She thinks she's strong enough for this..." I choked on the words, knowing full well that her body would give out before she could safely deliver whatever it was she carried. "She might listen to you."
She never has... "Why would she?"
Would he really deny me this? Was his hatred of me so strong that he would rather leave her to her fate rather than help me? I stood to my feet; my eyes level with his, pleading, begging that he help me.
Has he gone crazy? Can vampires lose their minds?
"Maybe," I snorted. "I don't know. It feels like it."
I shook my head and raked my fingers through my hair, the metal of my wedding band scraping against my scalp. The despair I kept hidden, the intensity of my concern was bubbling over after being held in for so long. I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I have to hide this in front of her, because stress makes her more ill," I explained. "She can't keep anything down as it is. I have to be composed; I can't make it harder. But that doesn't matter now. She has to listen to you!"
He stared at me as though he truly believed I had lost my mind. "I can't tell her anything you haven't," he argued, tossing his hands in the air in frustration. "What do you want me to do? Tell her she's stupid? She probably already knows that. Tell her she's going to die? I bet she knows that, too."
Nothing mattered anymore – not unless she could be saved. We were in the eleventh hour and the time for restraint and debate had passed. If we were going to do something – anything – it had to be now. "You can offer her what she wants," I blurted out.
He's not making any sense...crazy...
He didn't understand. He didn't see. "I don't care about anything but keeping her alive. If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants. She can have puppies, if that's what it takes."
I took in a steadying breath while I watched the look in Jacob's eyes shift from confusion to shock as the meaning of my words settled in his mind.
"But not this way!" I continued before he could reply, before he could deny my plea. "Not this thing that's sucking the life from her while I stand there helpless! Watching her sicken and waste away. Seeing it hurting her." The memory of the bruises, of her wincing and crying out in pain, surged through me, taking my breath away.
"You have to make her see reason, Jacob. She won't listen to me anymore. Rosalie's always there, feeding her insanity – encouraging her. Protecting her. No, protecting it. Bella's life means nothing to her."
He stood motionless as he attempted to absorb my words. Admittedly, it was a lot to swallow and I was more than likely overwhelming him, but this was the first time in a week that I had had an opportunity to plead my case to someone who may actually understand the dangers, who may take my side in the matter.
Wait...what? He's saying...Bella should have a baby with me? How? Is he giving her up? Or he thinks she wouldn't mind being shared?
"Whichever." I nodded. "Whatever keeps her alive."
He shook his head. "That's the craziest thing you've said yet."
"She loves you."
"Not enough."
"She's ready to die to have a child. Maybe she'd accept something less extreme." I could see the skepticism in his eyes and knew that my last hope was slipping through my fingers. I would have fallen to my knees and begged if I thought it would help my case.
"Don't you know her at all?" he scoffed.
"I know, I know. It's going to take a lot of convincing. That's why I need you. You know how she thinks. Make her see sense."
He turned his back to me and began pacing, fisting his hands in his hair. He didn't want to listen to me, didn't want to believe my offer. He couldn't understand how it had come to this – that I would so easily give her up, or share, as he put it. Wrong, he thought. Sick. But as much as I knew the idea would seem improbable to him, I also knew that he was still very much in love with her. Even now, even after she had made her decision and married me, the embers of his feelings for her still glowed, burning brighter with the thought of another chance.
I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my breaths, tried to ignore the images that now swirled in Jacob's mind, but try as I might, I couldn't block them out. I clenched my fists and grit my teeth, holding back my anger as his fantasies played out. When I opened my eyes, I could see the grimace of pain on his face – he too was trying to block out these thoughts, afraid to let himself hope, unwilling to allow his heart to be broken once again.
He spun on his heel to face me. "Make Bella see sense? What universe do you live in?"
"At least try," I begged. He was my last hope – my only hope.
He shook his head again. "Where is this psycho crap coming from? Are you making this up as you go?" His tone was biting.
"I've been thinking of nothing but ways to save her since I realized what she was planning to do. What she would die to do. But I didn't know how to contact you. I knew you wouldn't listen if I called. I would have come to find you soon, if you hadn't come today. But it's hard to leave her, even for a few minutes. Her condition...it changes so fast. The thing is...growing. Swiftly. I can't be away from her now."
I glanced back at the house, the ache in my chest pulsing with the need to go back to her. I had already been away from her side for too long and I was out of range. Anything could happen and I would be completely unaware. I turned back to Jacob, firmly planting my feet that were anxious to return to the house.
"What is it?" he asked.
"None of us have any idea. But it is stronger than she is. Already."
I clamped my hands over my eyes, but it was ineffective at blocking out the grotesque images that assaulted me. Jacob's imagination was nearly as vivid as my own as he pictured the monster's destructive path in its escape from the womb. Bella was merely a vessel, collateral damage, the creature feeling no attachment to the body that gave it life and sustained it. Blood, broken bones, torn flesh, Bella's lifeless form. I clutched a hand to my mouth as I fought the urge to scream.
Jacob stared at me, shaken by the images in his mind, by what could happen to Bella if we didn't stop it. "Help me stop it," I beseeched. "Help me stop this from happening."
"How?" he growled through clenched teeth. "By offering my stud services?" He scowled when he said the words. "You're really sick. She'll never listen to this."
"Try," I whispered. "There's nothing to lose now. How will it hurt?"
It would hurt me, he thought.
"A little pain to save her?" I reasoned. "Is it such a high cost?"
"But it won't work."
"Maybe not. Maybe it will confuse her, though. Maybe she'll falter in her resolve. One moment of doubt is all I need."
His eyes narrowed. "And then you pull the rug out from under the offer? 'Just kidding, Bella'?"
"If she wants a child, that's what she gets. I won't rescind."
He shook his head with disbelief and continued to pace. Why am I even thinking about this? Bella would punch me...again. I shouldn't let him put this in my head...should just kill him now.
"Not now," I whispered, answering the unspoken threat. "Not yet. Right or wrong, it would destroy her, and you know it. No need to be hasty. If she won't listen to you, you'll get your chance. The moment Bella's heart stops beating, I will be begging for you to kill me."
He scoffed. "You won't have to beg long."
"I'm very much counting in that."
He stared at me for several beats, trying to decide whether or not I was telling the truth. The chance to save Bella was something he didn't want to pass by, but the thought that I would willingly offer myself as a martyr to her death was not an opportunity to be squandered. With a shake of his head and a heavy sigh, he turned back to me. "Then we have a deal."
I nodded, holding out my hand to him, wanting to seal our agreement like gentlemen – with a firm handshake.
Ugh, he thought before he tentatively reached out and took my hand. "We have a deal," he agreed.
He shuddered after he released my hand, wiping it unceremoniously on his jeans. I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought as he began trudging back to the house. I walked several paces behind, listening to his inner turmoil and wondering all the while if it had been a mistake to ask for his help. No, I shook my head. We had reached the point of desperation and I was willing to do nearly anything to save her.
I won't do it, he thought. It's twisted and wrong. I'll talk to her, but...I just can't ask her that...not like she'll listen anyways. He hesitated just outside the door, his shoulders hunched under the weight of the task I had presented to him, his mind still warring with itself, trying to decide what he would say, how far he would go.
The door slowly creaked open and all eyes turned to us. Perplexed gazes met the both of us as we stood on the threshold.
Well, they're both still in one piece.
I know they're up to something...I don't trust him.
Thank goodness they came back unharmed.
How can I talk to her with all of them looking at me like that? They're going to think I'm crazier than he is.
I ignored the thoughts of my family and brushed past Jacob as he continued to hover just outside the door. Rosalie's eyes narrowed as she scanned my face, wary of what plans I may have concocted in my short absence. Bella eyed me warily, her face ashen and etched with concern. Her gaze flickered to Jacob and back to me.
"Were going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately," I said.
"Over my pile of ashes," Rosalie hissed.
That could be arranged, Jacob thought.
I ignored her, instead maintaining eye contact with Bella. "Bella, Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?"
Her gaze shifted to Jacob before turning to Rosalie. "Rose, it's fine. Jake's not going to hurt us. Go with Edward." It didn't go unnoticed that she was speaking in the plural.
"It might be a trick," Rosalie whispered urgently. I don't trust them. They're up to something.
Bella shrugged. "I don't see how."
"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie. We're the ones she's afraid of."
"No," Bella whispered, turning to me and reaching for my hand. "No, Edward. I'm not..."
"I didn't mean it that way, Bella," I interrupted, seeing how my words had upset her. I managed a small smile and lightly squeezed her fingers. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Not waiting for opportunity to pass, I broke her gaze and glanced around the room. "Everyone." I motioned toward the door with my free hand. "Please." They stared at me for a fraction of a second, hesitating to leave Bella with a wolf, even if that wolf was Jacob. The corners of my eyes pinched and my lip twitched as I fought to maintain my composure. This was my last chance, my last hope. Bella may not listen, but we still had to try.
Alice's eyes met mine and I could see her frustration. She wasn't used to being kept in the dark. For the first time, I was glad that Jacob's presence rendered her ability useless. With a shake if her head, she was the first to go, followed by Jasper. In the span of two heartbeats, they were all gone, save for Rosalie and myself. Rosalie hesitated, fearful of leaving Bella's side, of what might happen to the baby if she did.
"Rose," Bella whispered. "I want you to go."
This has better not be a trick, she thought as her gaze pierced through me. After you. She pointed toward the door. I gave Jacob one last pleading look before stepping out of the house. I walked several paces into the drive before Rosalie appeared, hesitating on the steps.
She huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder before she began walking toward me. Let's get this over with. The sooner we go, the sooner the mutt will say his peace and leave. She pointed a manicured finger in the direction that our family had taken. Together we ran several hundred yards, far enough that our sensitive hearing wouldn't impinge on the privacy of the conversation taking place back at the house.
Everyone was waiting in a small clearing. Jasper and Alice sat side by side on a high tree branch while Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett stood below. Carlisle glanced nervously between Rosalie and me. Are you okay? he thought.
I nodded infinitesimally before lowering myself onto a fallen tree. The rotting wood groaned under my weight, tiny splinters breaking off, littering the ground below. Wrapping my arms around myself, I tried to block out the thoughts around me, the curiosity and concern that swirled in their minds. Rosalie was suspicious, of course. It was a wonder we were able to get her out of the house at all. I almost wished I had had the foresight to give Jacob the means to sedate Bella and transfer her to a safe location out of Rosalie's grasp.
But looking at the faces of my family, looking at how fractured we had already become, I knew that such an action would have destroyed the bond that remained. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms and rested my elbows on my knees. I felt as though I was trapped in a nightmare with no means of escape, no power to awaken or to shift my course. How had everything gone so wrong? Was this retribution – punishment for all my past wrongdoings?
I felt a small hand glide along my back, the slender arm attached to it wrapping around my shoulders. I'm so sorry, Edward. I'll never forgive myself for not seeing, for being unable to warn you. I choked back a sob as Alice rubbed small circles on my back. She laid her head against my shoulder, doing her best to soothe the ache in my heart. I only heard one set of feet touch back down to earth, but I could feel Jasper reaching out to me in his own way from his perch above.
"So how long do we have to wait?" Rosalie complained.
As long as it takes, I thought to myself. Instead of voicing my hope, I chose to shrug my shoulders.
She bristled, her thoughts accusing and distrustful.
"Jacob is her friend and I'm sure he just wants to talk to her," Carlisle offered. Right, Edward? "It's likely that our presence makes him uncomfortable."
I shuddered, imagining what was going on back at the house in this moment, how Jacob would try to convince Bella to listen to reason. I had little hope that he would be successful, but I had to try. I groaned, burying my face in my hands with the sensation that my last hope of saving her was likely slipping away as I sat here.
"So melodramatic," Rosalie mumbled under her breath.
"Oh, give it a rest, Rose," Alice hissed.
"Me give it a rest? What about him! He's the one who can't see that what's happening here is a miracle. He's the one who's not happy about becoming a father."
My jaw clenched as anger coursed through me. "Can't you see that it's killing her?" I growled. "Or I guess that part of the equation doesn't matter to you."
"Of course it does," she countered. "She can do this. You just need to have a little faith. Oh wait, never mind, I forgot that trust was never really your strong suit." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she arched an eyebrow. Was she looking for a fight? She wouldn't have to push me very far.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" I seethed.
"It means that you've never really trusted her. You've always decided things without asking her what she wants. Well, guess what, she wants this baby and this is one decision you're not taking away from her."
"Rosalie," I growled, my muscles tensing, ready to spring. "Don't say another word."
"Or what?"
I jumped to my feet, but Emmett and Alice were faster. Alice's small arms wrapped around my waist and Emmett stood in front of Rosalie, his arms spread wide to shield her from me.
"That's enough," Carlisle bellowed. "From both of you." Edward, please.
Aww, did I strike a chord? Guess I'm right then...
My vision blurred in a haze of red as I pulled away from Alice's grip and barreled forward toward my sister. I had already lost my sanity. Now I had lost my temper. I was a hairsbreadth away from reaching Rosalie when Emmett's large hand made contact with my chest, knocking me backward into a nearby tree.
"Come on, bro. It's not worth it," he said, holding his palms up in a defensive posture. I don't want to hurt you.
"Rosalie, whatever it is you're doing, stop it this instant," Esme fumed.
"Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to solve anything," Carlisle reasoned as he stepped between us. "We should be taking this time to figure out how we can all move on from this." All of us, Edward.
"I know you're frightened for Bella, Edward, but fighting with Rosalie isn't the answer. You should be focusing your energy on developing a birth plan that involves saving both the mother and the child."
"Carlisle," I moaned. "I...can't..."
"And Rosalie, you need to stop egging him on. How would you feel if something was wrong with Emmett and no one would let you do anything to help him? Please, try to place yourself in his shoes and be a little more sympathetic."
Fine. Whatever. Rosalie crossed her arms and leaned against a tree, her gaze shifting back in the direction of the house. I could see in her thoughts that she was anxious to get back to Bella.
I returned to my place on the fallen log, once again feeling utterly helpless. Alice resumed her post at my right and Carlisle came to sit on my other side.
"Edward, we really should begin making plans for the birth. We are dealing with some unknown variables, so we may need to have several contingencies in place to accommodate any problems that may arise."
"Carlisle, please," I whispered, "not now."
You can't put it off much longer. With the accelerated growth, I'd wager that she'll be ready to deliver in a little over a week's time. "Soon," he said.
A week? Was that all the time I had left? After all the promises of eternity, all the dreams of forever, my time with Bella had been cut down to seven days. A thousand lifetimes would not be enough for me to spend with her, how could I possibly survive when given so little?
I resumed my posture, my head buried in my hands, my heart fracturing further. I could almost feel the icy splinters breaking off and scattering within my chest. Alice's small hand rubbed circles on my back, but it did little to comfort me. Although her thoughts were concerned for my current state, there was a strange peace about her that hadn't existed since we returned home.
I looked into her mind. There were still large empty spaces in her vision, but what was there was clearer, more focused. I looked up to see her knowing smile. "It's Jacob," she offered. "Things are…quieter when he's around."
I nodded, understanding that this small reprieve was due to the wolves. I still didn't understand entirely why her visions of Bella were so unclear, but was thankful that her discomfort could be eased, even for a brief segment of time.
Almost as though fate had heard my thoughts, as if everyone around me was fated to suffer as I was, Alice's face twisted into a grimace as the haziness in her mind made its resurgence. He's gone, she thought.
Without thinking, I jumped up from my place on the fallen log and began running toward the house. With so little time left, I couldn't bear to waste any more precious seconds away from her.
Where's he going?
What's going on?
Oh no, not on my watch!
I could hear the footfalls of my family as they followed behind me. I had always been the fastest, but today Rosalie was right on my heels. The house stood silent, save for the unsteady beat of the heart inside. I did my best to calm myself, to restore some measure of composure before I opened the door. And then I fell apart.
The door swung open, but Bella wasn't sitting on the couch as I expected her to be. I stepped into the center of the room, allowing the sound of her heart to lead me to her. I turned a corner and that's when I found her – sprawled on the floor, whimpering softly, clutching her abdomen.
"Bella," I gasped, running to her side. "Bella, what happened? Are you alright?"
"What happened?" Rosalie echoed. "If that dog did anything, I swear…"
"No," Bella wheezed, holding up a trembling hand as she tried to right herself. "All we did was talk. He left a few minutes ago." She cringed, squeezing her eyes tight as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her, her body convulsing in dry heaves as there was nothing left in her stomach to expel.
"Bella," I pleaded. "Bella?"
Her body shuddered as her head rolled to the side. I reached out in time to catch her head before it hit the floor. I pulled her up in my arms. "Carlisle," I yelled as I carried her back to the center of the living room. "Carlisle!"
"What happened?" he asked, appearing at my side. Rosalie hovered close by, watching vigilantly. "Did you find her like this?"
I shook my head. "She was on the floor. She must have been trying to go to the restroom and she fell. She was clearly in pain, dry heaving, and then she lost consciousness. Carlisle, please do something."
"She just needs rest," Rosalie hissed, reaching for Bella.
I took a step back, pulling Bella's body tightly to me. I wasn't letting Rosalie stand in the way, not this time. "Rosalie, can't you see that she is very ill. It's killing her. We have to do something."
"You're not killing that baby," she seethed.
"We may not have a choice," I yelled back. I turned to Carlisle, my eyes pleading for guidance. "What can we do?"
"You're not doing anything," Rosalie insisted. "Bella made her choice. You're not doing anything without her consent."
Carlisle held up his hands in surrender. "Rosalie, I understand that you're trying to help, but right now you're hurting her. If you want her to survive – if you want this baby to survive, you need to allow me to treat her. If we don't, they may both die."
Rosalie shuddered, visibly shaken by the idea that all she had been working to save may slip away. She took a hesitant step back, allowing Carlisle to approach. He worked quickly, checking Bella's vital signs. He pursed his lips and the furrow, now permanently etched in his brow, grew even deeper. She's dying, he thought.
"She needs nourishment," he said. "She'll starve to death if we don't do something soon."
"Do what?" Rosalie narrowed her eyes as she took a step forward.
"I think that our best course at this time is to offer some nutrition intravenously."
"Out of the question." She crossed her arms, shaking her head emphatically.
"Rosalie," Carlisle groaned, wiping his hand across his forehead. "If Bella isn't given some form of nourishment, not only will she be lacking in basic nutrients, but she will be dehydrated as well. She is already weak, but if this goes on much longer, her organs will begin to lose function. If her body can't sustain itself, how do you expect it to support the growing fetus?"
It's a trick, she thought.
"Rosalie, it is not a trick," I growled. "She's dying! You are blind if you can't see that. If you don't let Carlisle do this, the baby will die. Bella will die. And I will never forgive you if that happens."
"You've been bent on getting rid of the baby from the moment you knew she was pregnant. What guarantee do I have that Carlisle won't give her something to induce a miscarriage?"
"The only guarantee I can give you right now is that she will die if you don't get out of the way!"
"We need to act quickly," Carlisle interjected. "I don't have what we need here, but I can get it."
"If you're so concerned, go with him," I offered.
"And leave her alone with you? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Then let Esme go with him. Do you trust her?"
The space between Rosalie's brows puckered and her nostrils flared as she looked between me and Carlisle. Finally, she threw up her arms in surrender. "Fine," she breathed. "Esme, go with him."
"We'll need to run," Carlisle said, reaching for Esme's hand. "Time is of the essence and it will be much faster than taking the roads."
He turned to me, his eyes filled with grief and worry. "Call me if there are any changes."
I nodded and watched as he and Esme disappeared. I lowered myself to the couch, Bella still cradled in my arms. I rocked her gently, pressing light kisses to her temple as I waited for her to awaken. I knew that Carlisle would do what he could. I could only pray that we hadn't waited too long to act.
A/N: I know I sound like a broken record, but again, thank you all for your reviews, alerts, favorites, tweets, PM's, etc. I seriously couldn't do this without the support. If you're reading, but still lurking in the shadows, don't be afraid to speak up. I won't bite…promise.
And on another note...gold stars for those of you who picked up on the title reference in the last chapter.
Thanks to my beta, Nellybear85, for helping me along through these tough chapters. It's difficult to write Edward in such a state without feeling a bit depressed myself. But we're getting closer...I can feel it!