AN ~ Wow. Nearly 3 months since my last update. Is it bad that I feel inclined to say ONLY three months? I'M SORRY! But I've got the next chapter ready; do you want it now or later?
Chapter Sixty Two: Transformation
Esme POV:
As horses harnessed to a cart, each racing at their fastest pace yet always as one, Carlisle and I sprinted through the forest, through the open door and up the stairs. We could hear a baby crying, but nothing else, and when we seemed at last to reach Bella's new room, we saw why.
I jarred to a halt the instant I saw it. Edward was still bowed over her, blood near-drenching his clothing and slowly dripping from his lip. Carlisle took two extra, tentative, hopeful steps.
"I was too late," Edward growled.
I crept up to Carlisle's side. From here, I could almost see Bella's face. She looked strangely peaceful – she was even smiling between all the blood and bruises. I looked up at the side of Carlisle's face: his eyes were fixed on Edward, his expression somewhere between horror, fear and faithful hope. I tugged on his sleeve, and he glanced down at Bella.
"She saw her baby," I breathed, a smile touching my lips though I wanted to cry. If there was one thing I was glad to have experienced before I jumped, it was to have held my little boy.
Edward groaned, and I realised what I had just thought. I tried to take it back, but I could not erase the thought from my head, even as Bella's heart gave a fragile thud like a failing engine.
"Esme," Edward moaned. "Go downstairs. Rose has it. Her. Renesmee."
I was only making things worse up here, so I backed away, praying that Bella would pull through despite that haunting expression. Carlisle approached Edward, and as I turned and descended the stair well, still shaking at the horrific vision of Bella's prone form, I heard him say to Edward;
"Her injuries are not so much worse than Esme's. Listen to her heart, Edward. This is going to work."
My fingers gouged the railing. Not so much worse. Worse. My next thought was stolen by Edward's lips:
"Then why isn't she screaming?"
.o.o.o.
Carlisle:
Bella has been lying like a statue for two days now, and if it weren't for her heartbeat – now reassuringly strong - we would be mourning her loss by now. Edward loses hope with every passing hour, and he hasn't once left Bella's side.
For the third time today, I slipped up to the library and carefully, quietly entered the room. Edward watched me with dark, dreary eyes as I put my fingers to Bella's wrist. Her skin was feverishly hot, and covered in a cold sweat. The fire was spreading, apparently: she probably couldn't even feel my cold hands through the burn.
"Still no change?" There was barely any inflection in the question as he stared at Bella's face.
"None," I confessed. Why wasn't Bella reacting? Maybe the morphine had done some good. I leant down and sniffed at Bella's wrist, searching for the tiniest remnants of morphine. She didn't so much as twitch when I exhaled over her hand. I told myself this was a good thing, that the morphine must therefore be working, but there were too many doubts for Edward. And for me.
Edward's eyes narrowed, barely perceptibly, into a glare.
"There's no scent of the morphine left," I told him.
"I know."
"Bella? Can you hear me?" I asked. A strand of hair blew across her face. Bella remained as still as a corpse. Please say something, I begged. Anything. Scream, I don't care, he needs to hear you.
"Bella? Bella love?" Edward didn't bother to glare at me. He was too panicked; he knew I was right. He needed to hear her. He had long steeled himself for the fact that it might be an unpleasant sound. "Can you open your eyes? Can you squeeze my hand?" He picked up one of her hands and lightly squeezed her fingers. Again, Bella did not respond.
"Maybe…Carlisle, maybe I was too late," he said, his voice cracking with the same despair that had plagued his expression for the last 50 or so hours. His eyes finally dropped from Bella's face, flitting over the ground, which had been cleared of medical implements, as if to locate me, though he knew exactly where I was standing.
"Edward, listen to her heart," I suggested, reaching across Bella to put a hand on his hunched shoulder. He half-heartedly tried to shrug it off, but I was resolved. "It's stronger than even Emmett's was. I've never heard anything so vital. She'll be perfect."
"And her- her spine?" Edward choked.
"Her injuries weren't so much worse than Esme's," I repeated. "The venom will heal her as it did Esme."
"But she's so still. I must have done something wrong."
"Or something right, Edward."
I removed my hand from his shoulder. Edward slowly raised his eyes to meed mine.
"Son," I sighed gently. "You did everything I could have and more. I'm not sure I would have had the persistence, the faith it took to save her. Stop berating yourself. Bella is going to be fine."
Edward didn't believe me, but his attention was back on Bella now.
"She must be in agony," he whispered hoarsely.
"We don't know that," I pointed out. "She had so much morphine in her system. We don't know the effect that will have on her experience."
Edward groaned silently, wishing he could ignore my frustrating optimism, but knowing it was the only thing keeping him sane...if his condition could even be called so. He took Bella's arm by the elbow, resisting the urge to rest his head on her almost still chest.
"Bella, I love you," he murmured. "Bella, I'm sorry."
I felt awkward listening to their private – albeit one-sided – conversation, so I turned my thoughts to the situation downstairs. Emmett was outside with Renesmee, and Rosalie and Jacob would occasionally break out into vicious fights in the living room. Alice, Esme and Jasper were on guard, of course, and often broke the two apart when the battle became too heated, but they were not enough to put a stopper in the fights all together. Edward was the only one who might be able to clear the air.
"No, I'm staying right here," Edward whispered his objection. "They'll sort it out."
"An interesting situation," I mused: a vampire and a werewolf, fighting it out for the affection of a half-vampire child. "And I'd thought I'd seen just about everything…"
"I'll deal with it later. We'll deal with it later," Edward insisted.
"I'm sure, between the five of us, we can keep it from turning into bloodshed," I assured him. Emmett would fight on Rosalie's side, but the rest of us should be able to keep those two under control. Edward sighed.
"I don't know which side to take. I'd love to flog them both. Well, later."
"I wonder what Bella will think – whose side she'll take." I pondered the thought, but no answer came up. Edward gave a low, strained chuckle as I had often heard him do to the things Bella said.
"I'm sure she'll surprise me," he replied. "She always does."
.o.o.o.
"How's Bella?" Esme murmured when I returned downstairs.
"No response yet," I replied. "She hasn't even moved. All the morphine is gone, but her heart's still pumping strongly, so that's a good sign."
"Good," Esme breathed, her eyes flicking back to Jacob momentarily.
"Not long," Alice breathed, dancing up the stairs to inform Edward. Jasper was still leaning against the wall, his eyes lazily flicking from Rosalie to Jacob. He didn't seem to notice the worry and anger that must be flooding him right now. Maybe he had just grown used to it: the house had been a seething mass of anxiety for the last few days, if not months. Esme settled back into my arms, and a slight smile crept onto Jasper's face, his eyes lingering on us for a moment before resuming their switching between Rose and Jake.
"Can you take over?" Esme asked. "I want to go see Renesmee."
"Sure." I smiled and kissed her hand as she glided towards the door.
.o.o.o.
Just over six hours later, Edward called my name. Alice and I flew upstairs, and I was first through the door.
"Listen," Edward instructed, stopping Alice and I in our tracks. The loudest sound in the room was Bella's galloping heart, thrumming loudly against her chest.
"Ah, it's almost over," I murmured. A smile touched my lips and widened when I saw it reflected, if only for a moment, in Edward's.
"Soon," Alice agreed eagerly, a smile lighting her eyes. "I'll get the others. Should I have Rosalie…?"
"Yes," I decided reluctantly. "Keep the baby away." The last thing we wanted was for Bella to attack her child. It would break all our hearts – especially hers.
Bella's fingers twitched, and the world seemed to shift around that simple action. Edward squeezed her fingers, desperate for a response at last.
"Bella? Bella love?"
"I'll bring them right up," Alice offered, an urgent edge to her excitement, darting off downstairs before she shot through the roof.
Bella's heart took off then; roaring like someone had just pulled the ripcord on a propeller blade. Her expression contorted just the slightest bit as her back arched. She was controlling herself, forcing her face to hold its emotionless pose, forcing her hands to remain still, though she must want to tear up the bed by now.
Holding our breath, we were both leaning forward in anticipation as the others filed into the room. Someone's phone buzzed, but it didn't get through one ring before Esme flicked it open.
"It's Charlie," she murmured, heading for the door.
"I'll take it," I offered, striding across the room so I could have the speaker downstairs quickly: we didn't know what Bella would do when she woke up, and I didn't want Esme to miss out on meeting the new Bella for the first time. She had been so looking forward to it.
"No, it's all right," Esme said with an earnest smile as she looked back at me and Bella. "Charlie's a parent too. We have to tell him something – he must have noticed by now."
She disappeared before I could object, but just before I chased her, Bella's heart stuttered twice and then failed. There was a sharp intake of breath from the bed in the center of the room, and then her bright red eyes snapped open.