Chapter Forty Six

Bella

The pain I felt wasn't as bad as I thought but Jasper was with me, I felt his love and his pain at what he'd been forced to do before we'd even discussed it properly. He was channelling my pain into his own body which I knew would be screaming its outrage. I heard Charlies voice and others I could no longer distinguish but all I cared about was surviving for my Jasper. The pain of the gunshot wound faded quickly as other pain took its place in my consciousness. Every fibre felt like it was burning away and I guess it was, my human flesh changing to a kind of stone, cold and hard, and much less vulnerable which was a good thing for me. I had no idea of the passage of time only that the pain got steadily worse until I couldn't hold back my cries any longer even though I knew each one would cut into Jasper like a knife to the heart. I couldn't think about anything except his face although I knew he'd told me to remember any human memories I wanted to keep or they would become misty and confused. When I tried to think of Renee all I saw was a confused looking face glancing at me for guidance And Charlie? Well I saw him with the rifle to his shoulder, sighting in on Jasper. I would never forgive him for that and if he were still here when I woke I wasn't sure I could stop myself from attacking. He'd tried to kill my mate and for what? So he could exert his influence over me as long as possible, he had no right.

Jasper

I could smell fresh blood and knew if I didn't stop it Bella wouldn't make it so I reluctantly pulled free of her pain to concentrate on her wound. Peter was watching Charlie who had come to see if his daughter, the daughter he'd shot, would survive and I felt my anger boil up as he felt so sorry for what he'd done. He would pay one way or another for Bella's torment. Charlotte came in with a bowl of warm water and a towel and laid Bella's poor stricken body on the bed so she could strip off her shirt and examine the wound.

"Shouldn't you cover her up instead of leaving her exposed to anyone who comes in?"

Before I could react Peter had and he bundled Charlie out of the room but I heard his reply,

"Charlie if you don't shut up I'll kill you myself. Its your fault she's like this and how exactly are we supposed to stop the bleeding if we can't see the wound?"

"Charlotte could do it alone, she doesn't need you or Jasper in there".

"Sometimes Charlie I think you open your mouth and shit pours out so shut the fuck up or I swear I'll ram that rifle up your ass so far you'll be spitting bullets"

Charlotte looked at me concerned,

"It's still bleeding and the venom hasn't got far enough round to heal the tear. If we don't stop the loss she's going to die Jasper."

"How Char? Tell me how"

I was terrified of the very thought of losing my mate.

Charlotte tried her venom but it was useless, Bella's tissues were already reacting and any further venom was wasted.

"Well we can't use a tourniquet it's in the wrong place, so I guess quarterizing it is the only option, just keep your fingers crossed the flesh is still human enough to withstand the heat without bursting into flame."

It was a gamble but the only one we had so I nodded and she placed the poker in the fire Peter had lit in the bedroom waiting until it was glowing red before taking it out and with a quick,

"Sorry Bella"

Thrust it into her wound where there was a horrible sizzling and Bella screamed loudly. My guts were clenched at the thought of giving Bella more pain to deal with but if not she would die and I couldn't bear the thought of that. Life without Bella was too horrifying to contemplate.

The others crowded round the door to see what had happened and I saw Garrett nod his approval, He was the only one of us with any experience of medicine and he thought we'd done the right thing which made me feel better. Charlie was trying to fight his way through but Garrett stopped him with an arm across the throat,

"What the hell have you done to Bella you animal"

I was in his face in an instant a snarl loud in my chest and one finger shaking as I pointed at him,

"You better shut up and get the hell out of my sight or I will kill you now Chief Swan and thank your lucky stars that I'm more interested in helping Bella with the pain or you and I would have "spoken" before now. Garrett..."

He nodded and curled the arm around Charlies throat choking him as he dragged him outside,

"Charlie you better shut your mouth before it's too late. You stay with me for now and pray that Bella makes it or we'll all be looking for a piece of you."

Bella

Why were they torturing me? Or was this pain all part of the transformation? However bad it got I was still glad because Jasper needed me and I'd vowed never to let him be hurt again, I would survive this. I was getting worried because the terrible pain wasn't in my toes or fingers, had I lost too much blood to pump the venom into my extremities? If I had was there anything I could do about it? I thought of the power of my gift that had blasted the wolf away earlier and I tried to concentrate through the agony to use it to push the venom into these areas. At first I had no success, I couldn't concentrate long enough for the pain but then I felt it ease just enough, Jasper was with me again taking some of the pain away. A thought occurred to me, if I could push some of my pain into him for just a few seconds then maybe I could use it to push the venom until the cells it was missing now, before the pain shot back into my body. I couldn't tell Jasper what I needed to do and apologised silently for what I was about to do and hoped he would forgive me when I explained.

Peter

Suddenly things seemed to go very wrong, Bella gasped audibly and The Major jerked, a scream erupting from his lips and I ran forward to catch his rigid body which had been thrown in the air with force. Charlotte looked at me frightened too as his torment went on for several seconds before he collapsed in my arms dragging air into his lungs in great breaths. Bella seemed to relax into herself again and I helped him back to her side where he pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"What the fuck was all that about?"

"She's still thinking Peter, even through the pain she's analysing what's happening. I think she knew there was something wrong, I think she used her gift to force venom into the cells that didn't get any, where her blood could no longer force it."

"You mean she saved her own life?"

"Yes but to do so she needed to be clear-headed for just a few seconds so she pushed her pain into me."

"Fuck, well if she's gonna do it again I wish she give some warning, I almost shit myself."