Being There
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you so much for the reviews. This chapter made me cry as I wrote it, sighs...
Part Thirty Eight
Bella was scared; petrified in fact as the labour pains increased with voracity, making her small frame shake with each one. She had expected pain but not on this scale. All the breathing and yoga exercises she had been practising over the past months flew out of her head as she fell forward onto her hands and knees. "Jacob." She cried out.
"I'm here, honey. I'm here." He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, even though he was just as alarmed as she was. Bella wasn't due for another three weeks, the baby was early. He rubbed her lower back in soothing circles.
Sue Clearwater, who was a nurse, rushed over. She knelt down beside Bella and examined her as much as she could. "Sweetheart how long have you had the pains?"
Bella gave a low moan as her body trembled. "Since this morning on and off." She confessed.
"Why didn't you say something?" Jacob asked.
"I thought they were fake ones. They eased off as we were heading for the party. I'm sorry." She mumbled.
Sue gently touched Bella's flushed cheek. "It's okay. We need to get you back to the house. Do you feel up to Jake carrying you? I can do a more thorough examination there."
Bella nodded. With as much gentleness as he could Jacob lifted Bella up and cradled her in his arms and walked as fast as he could back to the house. The others watched them go, apprehensive looks on their faces.
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"Jake, I'm so scared." Bella wept, her tears running down his bare chest.
"It's going to be alright, Bells. I promise." Jacob hugged her closer to his body as she cried out with pain again.
Sue walked next to them, Charlie, Sam and Leah were following behind. Harry had promised to bring Billy and Renee up to the house. Everyone remained silent and the air was thick with tension. It seemed forever to Jacob and Bella before the house came into view. Jacob quickly carried Bella into their room and Sue set about examining her. She timed the contractions and ordered Leah and Sam to go to her house to get her medical supplies, especially the blood pressure monitor. She wrote down a quick list of what she needed and the two of them disappeared, glad to have something to do.
Jacob knelt by the side of the bed as Bella cried out again. "It hurts."
"I know." He stroked the tendrils of hair back from her sweat soaked face and tried to keep himself calm. The last thing Bella needed was to see how worried he was. He glanced to the side at Sue, his stomach plummeted when he saw the concerned look on her face. She was monitoring Bella's vital signs again and biting her lip.
Bella's body shuddered again and her nails dug into the palm of his hand as she screamed. "He's coming."
Sue looked at her in alarm. "No, Bella you must not push just yet. Please try and hold back."
"I can't. It hurts." She screamed again and took a deep breath as she struggled in vain not to give into her body's urges.
"Please, Bells. Try." Jacob begged her.
Bella turned her brown eyes onto his, they looked huge against her pale skin. The fear and pain were shining in them and Jacob wished he could take it all away. "I love you." She said tremulously before her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she slumped back on the bed.
"No, Bella." Jacob begged her. He looked toward Sue who stared back at him in horror.
"She haemorrhaged." She said brokenly. It was then that Jacob saw the blood soaking the white sheets.
"What do we do? What can we do?" Jacob pleaded, his hand still holding onto Bella's lifeless one.
"I...I..don't..." Sue's words were interrupted as there was a loud knock on the door. "I'll get that. Maybe it's Sam and Leah with the supplies." She fled the room.
Jacob turned back to Bella, her usually pale skin was deathly white, all the colour had been leached away. He lay his head on her chest and heard the faint beat of her heart and he begged her to listen to him. "Stay with me, honey. Just keep your heart beating. I love you, please."
His head suddenly shot up as a smell invaded his nostrils that made his inner wolf growl. He stared toward the door as Sue Clearwater entered first, followed by a tall, blonde individual. His golden eyes gazed upon Bella with extreme sympathy.
Jacob was on his feet in an instant. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He yelled, his spirit wolf was clawing to get out but he had to maintain control.
Carlisle Cullen turned his eyes onto Jacob and he held up one hand in a sign of peace. "I know I have broken the treaty Jacob Black but I assure you it was only because there was no time. I am here to help."
"Help?" Jacob's voice was full of despair. He glanced back at Bella. "How did you even know?"
"I will explain all afterwards but please Bella's time is short. You have to let me operate if you want both your child and Bella to live. Please allow me to help." Carlisle Cullen locked eyes with the Alpha of the La Push wolf pack and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him nod his assent.
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The pack were all gathered outside. Some where pacing, others talked quietly amongst themselves. Billy, Charlie and Renee were inside the house waiting in the living room; their anxious faces giving away their fears. They could hear movement coming from Jacob and Bella's room where they were locked away with Carlisle and Sue Clearwater, who was acting as his nurse.
"I can't take much more of this." Charlie stood up and began to head toward the room. "I need to know what's happening."
Renee reached out and caught his hand before he walked too far. "You have to let the Doctor do his job, Charlie."
"That's our little girl in there." He yelled back at her. Renee did not flinch under the force of his anger.
"I know. I am just as desperate as you for some news, but barging in there will only make matters worse. Jake is with her, let them be." She said gently.
Charlie took a deep breath and wiped a hand across his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"I know." Renee patted his hand as Charlie knelt down beside her and gave her a hug.
Billy watched them with tear filled eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening. Only this morning everyone had been happy and looking forward to the future and now they were plunged back into darkness. He worried about Jacob and how he would cope if fate took Bella away from him.
Time continued to tick slowly by as they all waited. Forty minutes had passed before they heard the loud wail of a baby. Renee gripped Charlie's hand. "The baby."
He nodded and all eyes turned toward the hall as Sue emerged from the room, an exhausted expression on her face. She was carrying a small bundle in her arms. "It's a boy." She told them gently. "A strong, healthy baby boy."
"Bella?" Charlie asked as Sue approached Renee and carefully placed the wriggling bundle in her lap.
"She's still unconscious." Sue said sadly. "Carlisle performed an emergency caesarean. The baby was too big to be born naturally. Bella lost a lot of blood. He wants to transfer her to Fork's hospital. I've called an ambulance. We'll be leaving as soon as it arrives."
"I can't believe this is happening." Charlie clutched at his greying hair.
"We need to keep strong for our baby girl." Renee looked down at the small infant she held in her arms. He had a shock of black hair and skin the same colour as Jacob. But when he opened his eyes, they were the same shade as his mothers.
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Jacob sat in the waiting room of the hospital; his head in his hands. He refused to look at anyone or be comforted. Embry and Quil sat either side of him, giving him their silent support. Renee and Charlie were in the children's ward with the baby, getting him checked over and preparing him for his first feed. Billy and Harry sat near Jacob, talking in low voices. The other pack members were scattered about the waiting room.
An hour passed in this way before Carlisle Cullen finally reappeared. Jacob was on his feet in an instant. "How is she?"
"She is stable. I have managed to stem the internal bleeding and she is breathing on her own without a ventilator which is a good sign. For now I am afraid it's a waiting game." Carlisle informed him. "You can sit with her if you would like, but only you for the moment."
Jacob nodded. He stared at Carlisle for a moment before he strode off toward the room where Bella was being kept. Billy rolled his chair over to Carlisle and looked up at the man, no vampire, who had violated the treaty just so he could come and save his grandson and Bella. "Thank you for what you have done today. My son is still processing things but he would be saying the same."
"My pleasure. My family hold a special affection for Bella, she brought light into our lives for the short time we were allowed to share her life. We never totally abandoned her as she must have thought and to be honest, we were not happy at having to break all contact. But it was my son's wish, he had come to feel that out interference in her life, even from afar was detrimental to her safety." Carlisle responded in his gentle tones. "My daughter Alice has the gift of sight and she would sometimes still check on Bella's future. Very recently it has been extremely hazy, we could only put it down to the fact that she cannot see past the wolves."
"You knew they had phased?" Billy questioned him.
"Yes. Alice and Emmet did venture back this way three months ago to check on Bella from afar. They smelled the wolves and managed to catch sight of Bella and your son together from a distance when they were coming out of the Swan house. They were amazed and delighted to see that Bella was pregnant. Of course they left immediately after seeing she was happy and glowing with health. They made sure to cover their tracks in order not to cause any alarm to the pack." Carlisle informed him.
"So how did Alice know about all this if she is having trouble seeing past the pack?" Billy was intrigued. He could feel the pack surrounding Carlisle in a semi-circle as they listened to his story. The coven leader was not alarmed in the least.
"She pushed herself past her normal limits. She had a vague vision of something happening when Bella gave birth, but it wasn't quite clear. She forced her mind to concentrate hard and it became somewhat clearer, the only downside is she couldn't see the outcome of my intervention." Carlisle sounded frustrated as he said the last part.
"Did you travel back here alone?" Billy asked.
"No. Alice and Emmet came back with me."
"Why only those two?"
Carlisle gave him a wry smile. "They are the only ones who have complete control over themselves. Even my wife struggles on occasion. Although she asked me to give you her best wishes."
"And what about Ed...your son?" Billy couldn't say his name.
"Edward has no knowledge of this. We kept him out of it. He tends to overreact when Bella is in danger and we all felt it was better to keep him away. He is somewhere in Europe at the moment, travelling."
"You chose wisely." Billy admitted. "I don't think my son would have been able to control himself if he came here."
"My thought's exactly." Carlisle agreed. "I apologise once again for breaking the terms of the treaty and venturing onto your lands. It was a once in a lifetime occurrence, I assure you."
"It doesn't matter. Thank you." Billy said for the second time.
Carlisle nodded and disappeared back down the hospital corridor to check once again on Bella's progress.
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Jacob sat by Bella's bed and held her limp hand tightly in his own. She was hooked up to all kinds of monitors and they sounded loud to his ears. He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. He lay his head beside hers and closed his eyes. "Wake up, honey. Please just wake up." He whispered. "I can't do this without you."
A/N-thanks for reading!
