A/N: Look OMG! An update like two days after the last one! =O I couldn't leave you guys hanging like that. :)
Slower Than Stampeding Turtles: I had no idea what a dirty sanchez was until you told me to make Bella do it with her own arm. Thank you for that, um, interesting bit of information. XD
Stark-Raving-Mad-xD: See, that's exactly what I'm talking about! Bum-oley is a fine substitute for any other such words. XD
96: Bahaha, your 'oh my chocolate god' made me crack up! And made me have to run to get some Hershey's. :)
PocketPam: You're not creepy, I'm flattered! My friend does the same thing, so no need to worry, lol.
WARNING: Lots of fluff at the end. You thought I was going to say smut, weren't you? Naughty reader. XD Ah, there was something else I was going to say but I forgot. Oh! Incase you guys are wondering, the song Jake keeps singing to Ina is 'Pray at the Moon' by Anek. It's one of my favorites and fits Jake perfectly (probably because it was written for him lol). Thanks for the reviews/alerts/favorites! And of course for taking the time to read my story! Do enjoy!
PS: I just read over this and didn't spell check it. I think you'll forgive me. :) As it IS 11:45 and I have to wake up around 6:30 or so tomorrow because I have a THREE HOUR LAB at 8:15. Yes, I do love you guys more than sleep sometimes. You're welcome. :)
Chapter 20
Beep…beep…beep…
Boy, does that sound familiar, I thought, cracking my eyes open to reveal that I, once again, was in a hospital room. My entire body ached and my throat felt like it had been rubbed with a cheese grater. I attempted to sit up and instantly regretted it as my body retailiated. I groaned and leaned back against the bed, squeezing my eyes shut against the wave of pain that overcame me.
"H…hey kiddo," a husky voice whispered. I opened my eyes and turned my head a few inches to the right to see Jake lying on a bed beside me. His beautiful face was covered in scratches and scabs, his skin covered by a thin sheet of sweat. His hand reached out to me and I moved to take it, our fingers barely touching at the tips. Tears formed in my eyes as I glanced over his broken body.
From what I could see, his ribcage was heavily bandaged, his left leg held up in a sling and covered by a cast. His skin was slashed in quite a few places. The most noticable one was a deep cut above his heart that was sewn together with heavy stitching.
"Oh Jake," I croaked, willing my arm to be rubber so that I could stretch and touch him. His eyebrows scrunched together and he frowned, his chocolate eyes saddened.
"Aw honey, don't cry. We're both alive, that's all that matters, okay?" he whispered. He searched around for something with his free hand and eventually found it, then clicked the small button repeatedly. After a few seconds a nurse came rushing into the room, followed by a tall, pale, extremely handsome doctor.
"Everything okay, Jacob?" the doctor asked. His golden eyes flickered between the two of us and I scrambled back against the headboard as realization hit, my eyes wide with fear.
"Y-you're a v-v-v—" I stammered, looking around for something to throw. I caught Jake's eyes and he shook his head at me.
"You can trust Dr. Cullen," he said. I gulped and nodded, taking a deep breath before relaxing a little under my covers. Dr. Cullen motioned to the nurse, who nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. The blonde leaned against Jake's bed and crossed his arms, smiling gently at me.
"How are you feeling, Miss Call?" he asked, his voice smooth and calm.
"Okay, I guess," I answered, gazing at him in wonder. Jake chuckled and winked at me.
"She's a fighter. Getting beaten up by leeches is nothing new to her," he smiled. Dr. Cullen's face twitched slightly at the mention of the fight, but it was quickly smoothed back into a smiling mask.
"I'm sorry that happened to you. Do you mind if I check your wounds?," he asked, his voice sounding sincerely regretful. I glanced over at Jake, who seemed completely relaxed enough, and decided that Dr. Cullen really could be trusted. I nodded and he stood up, then carefully unwound the bandages around my arm and shoulder to reveal a particularly nasty looking bite mark. I saw Jake wince at the sight and he quickly moved his eyes to look up at my face instead.
"It's coming along quite well. You were lucky that Edward was trailing her, or you would have been, ah, indisposed for a very long time," Dr. Cullen chuckled. Jake gave him a dark look before looking back at me.
"Edward saved your life, Ina," he said. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion and Jake sighed, looking at Dr. Cullen for help. I jumped as his cold fingers grazed my skin.
"I apologize," he mumbled, reaching for a familiar looking jar. He dipped his gloved fingers in and slathered the gooey substance over the bite wound, which felt warm and soothing. He put the remainder of the wolf spit from his fingers on a cut above my eyebrow and cheek, then bandaged me back up with clean binding. He removed his gloves and leaned against Jake's bed again.
"Do you remember anything about what happened?" he asked. I thought for a moment before replying.
"I remember up until Bella grabbed me. Then it goes white after that."
He nodded in understanding.
"Ina, Bella bit you there—" he pointed to my shoulder, "and that whiteness was part of you turning into a vampire. You were dying."
My eyes widened and panic started to overwhelm me, but luckily reason shoved its way through my clouded brain and reminded me that I would probably know if I were dead.
"How am I alive now then?" I asked, my hands trembling slightly. Dr. Cullen smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the expression.
"Edward had been following Bella for some time. He knew what she was planning on doing based on the thoughts he had gleaned from the pack members, and was trying to keep it from happening. Unfortunately, Bella is the only person Edward cannot read, so she used that to her advantage and lost him on several occasions. He heard Jacob's thoughts screaming out to you and that's how he found you," Dr. Cullen explained.
I glanced over at Jake, who looked more than a little pale. He caught me staring at him, his eyes dark and pained.
"Worst experience I have ever gone through. I thought I was going to lose you," he said hoarsely. I reached out to him again and grazed his fingertips with my own, reassuring him that I was okay.
"What happened after that?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Jake.
"Well, Edward—"
"Edward got to her before I could. He ripped her apart with his own hands," Jake grunted. My eyes widened at this. From what I have seen and heard, Edward loves Bella more than anything in this world. I couldn't even imagine the strength it took for him to do what he did.
"Is she…?" I asked, trailing off at the end. Dr. Cullen shook his head.
"She's still alive, just dismantled. Edward took her parts far north, where no human could survive, so that she can get herself, ah, pulled together," Dr. Cullen answered, chuckling at his joke. Jake rolled his eyes.
"She tried to literally rip my heart out before Edward got there," Jake grumbled, poking at the stitches on his chest.
"So he saved both of our lives," I said, smiling at him. He shrugged and looked up at the ceiling with a slight blush on his cheeks. I turned back to Dr. Cullen and asked, "Will he be back?"
"Yes, eventually. He and Bella have a few things to take care of first," he answered, eyeing the covered bite mark.
"If there is any way to contact him…could you tell him that I say thank you? For me and Jake both. His kindness has actually saved me three times now," I mumbled.
"Three times?" Jake questioned, his head cocked to the side like a puppy. I nodded and grinned.
"Once in the forest, and then this," I gestured to my bite mark, "and once again for coming back after he left Bella, otherwise I wouldn't have you."
"You're so corny," Jake smirked, but I could hear the hum of happiness in his voice. Dr. Cullen clapped his hands together and smiled widely.
"So! What say you two about some dinner?" he asked cheerily.
"I'm starving," Jake groaned.
"Jake, you're always hungry," I mentioned politely.
"But I'm more hungry now. I haven't eaten since yesterday!" he moaned dramatically. Dr. Cullen chuckled and went to the door, poking his head back inside before it closed completely.
"I'll let your friends and family come visit for a few minutes when you're done eating, okay?" he smiled.
"Thank you, !" I called out.
"Please, just call me Carlisle." He waved and disappeared.
We were soon laden with trays of food. Apparently it was breakfast time, as Jake was given a pile of waffles, eggs, bacon, and toast. I frowned down at my measly oatmeal and chopped banana, making Jake chuckle.
"How kind of them to consider your jaw," he teased, his eyes sparkling with held-in laughter. I glared at him and that set him off into a laughing fit interrupted by loud exlamations of , "Ow!" every now and then.
"Jeez, Jake, put a sock in it before you break your ribs all over again," a voice grumbled from the door. Paul and May walked in and quickly shut the door behind them. They each got on the outsides of our beds and pushed them together, then plopped themselves down in the middle.
"Make yourselves at home, guys," Jake huffed. Paul shot him a glare.
"I though you weren't supposed to visit until later?" I asked. Paul and May exchanged mischievous glances, then smiled down at me.
"We thought we had waited long enough," Paul smirked. I rolled my eyes and May fist bumped Paul.
"We're better than Bonnie and Clyde. We're May and Paul, infamous ninja duo extraordinare!" May exlaimed, posing with karate chop hands.
"Alwaysh a rebel," Jake said through a mouthful of food while rolling his eyes. Paul chuckled and I took the opportunity to spear a waffle from Jake's plate, but he was faster than me and took my fork away.
"Nuh-uh! I'll only let you have some if you let me cut if up for you," he warned.
"Jake, I'm not a baby!" I cried, my voice cracking in the middle.
"But you're his baby," May grinned.
"Aw, how sweet," Paul said. They looked at each other and broke out into fits of giggles while elbowing each other in the sides, looking like a pair of third graders. I huffed and grudgingly allowed Jake to cut up a waffle into tiny pieces before spooning them back on my plate. He used my fork to spear a piece and held it up to my mouth expectantly. I stared at him.
"Come on, in goes the choo-choo train!" he said, grinning widely. I just continued staring.
"Ah, okay. Vroom! Here comes the airplane!" He waved the fork around in the air for a bit before making it stop in front of my lips. May whispered something to Paul, who got a suspicious look on his face as he crawled over to Jake and whispered something in his ear. A slow smile spread across his face and Paul gave him a thumbs up. Jake oh-so-slowly put the fork up to his lips and gently bit off the delectable piece of deliciousness, making exaggerated happy faces as he chewed. My right eye twitched as he brought another piece up to his mouth, and I lunged for the fork only to end up face down on Jake's half of the makeshift giant bed. May and Paul watched in amusement, their eyes sparkling with laughter and their hands covering their mouths to hold it in.
"Hey, that's mine!" I whined pathetically. I struggled to get up, unsuccessfully, and settled for glaring at Jake. He chuckled and speared another piece, letting the syrup drip down his smiling lips as he let the waffle dangle between his teeth. I rolled my eyes and glared up at him, but found myself craving his lips more than the waffle in between them. My glare slowly turned into a wide-eyed gape as he moved his head lower down to my face, the tempting waffle dangling from his syrup covered lips.
"Jacob Black instantly tames the ferocious Ina lion with a mere wave of a waffle. She is now entranced by his sticky lips, waffle place deliciously in between them," May commentated in a whispered Australian accent.
"Hey," Paul grumbled.
"Shh! Observe as the conflicted Ina lion fights between the urge to eat Jacob or the waffle. Which does she want more? The delectable hunk of flour and maple syrup or the delectable hunk who holds it precariously between his lips?"
I heard her teasing commentary but chose to ignore it, my eyes flickering between Jake's eyes and lips. He grinned and sucked the waffle in his mouth a little more, so that now only half of it stuck out.
"Jerk!" I hissed, finding that I couldn't take my eyes off of his lips. He leaned down a little more and I took the leap, using my teeth to bite off the remaining half of waffle.
"And the waffle wins out in the end!" May exclaimed.
"Oh my," a woman's voice said. I jerked my lips away from Jake's and glanced over at the door. My mother stood smiling coyly in the doorway, my brother behind her looking a little less than pleased.
He looked furious actually.
I watched him stomp away from my room and a bit of worry creeped into me. My mom rolled her eyes and brought a boquet of flowers out from behind her back, along with a giant bar of chocolate.
"Goodmorning to you! Hello Paul, dear. Who is this pretty young lady?" she asked, smiling at May. May beamed proudly and threw her arm around Paul's shoulders.
"I'm his girlfriend! The name is May, it's nice you meet you," she said, sticking her hand out. Mom handed the flowers to me and shook her hand, glancing at me with a bit of confusion. I shrugged and the two lovebirds scooted over so my mom could sit down.
"Where did Jathan go?" I asked anxiously. She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"Probably to search for that Leah girl. He has quite a thing for her," Mom chuckled. She tore the paper off the chocolate and handed it to me. "I thought you could let in melt in your mouth. I know how terrible hospital food is."
"Ish not sho bad," Jake said while shoveling more into his mouth. I handed him a napkin and he primly batted at the corners of his mouth before shoveling once more.
Mom asked a few questions every now and then, and talked about my homework and how worried my teachers were about my driving skills. I questioned her about it and she winked at Jake.
"We told them you got into a wreck again. Only this time you were trying to avoid a deer and ended up flipping your car into a ditch," she chuckled. She chatted for a while longer before a surprised Carlisle walked in, clipboard in hand.
"I wasn't expecting so many guests this early," he smiled. May grabbed Paul's hand and jumped off the bed.
"We've been found out! Quickly, let us make our escape!" she cried, pulling Paul out the door behind her. "Oh!" I heard her exclaim before footsteps ran back to the door. She poked her head in and gave me two thumbs up, smiling widely. "You're bad ass, Ina! See you later!" she said, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. Carlisle looked confused for a moment before he waved his hand in the air in dismissal. Mom glanced at his left hand, looking disheartened when she saw the gold ring shining brightly on it.
"Sorry for intruding, I hope it isn't a problem," she said carefully.
"Oh, not at all," Carlisle answered. "Just wanted to check temperatures and see how they're feeling in general." He stuck a thermometer in both mine and Jake's mouth, then wrote down the answers when they beeped. He questioned me for a little while before turning to Jake and checking his wounds.
"Well, Jacob, it seems as if your leg is almost healed. Your ribs should be okay by tomorrow, along with the rest of your cuts and bruises," he stated. I narrowed my eyes at Jake.
"What?" he asked, grinning. I shook my head at him and looked away. Once Carlisle was done, he chatted with my mom for a moment before waving at us and leaving. My mom pouted and I shook my head at her too.
"He's a vampire, Mom," I told her. She looked surprised for a moment before smiling.
"If you can date a werewolf, I can date a vampire," she grinned.
"Shapeshifter," Jake corrected. Mom chuckled and kissed me on the forehead, then gave Jake a hug before standing up.
"I guess I'm going to go find your brother and make him go grocery shopping with me," she sighed, giving my hand a squeeze. "I'll be back later with some better food," she whispered, winking at me before walking out. Jake and I sat awkwardly in silence for a few moments.
"So…" I said.
"So."
"…how's your wife?" I asked. Jake snorted and looked at me incredulously.
"What? I have a wife?" he laughed. I shrugged.
"It's what people always ask when it gets quiet," I mumbled, fiddling with the blanket.
"I've never heard of it," he chuckled. He set his tray on my lap and said, "Eat up!" It was my turn to look at him oddly.
"I know you're still hungry."
"I am. But I'll eat your nasty oatmeal instead so you can have something semi-good to eat," he smiled.
Did I mention that I love this boy?
I do.
"You don't have to do that," I said weakly, eyeing the plate in front of me. He chuckled and handed me a fork.
"I want to. Come on, it's the least I can do for getting you almost turned into a leech."
I shrugged and dug in (very carefully) while he sniffed the bowl of gray matter, then took a bite. He made a face and immediately spit it back into the bowl.
"Gross!" I squealed. He was too busy wiping his tongue off with a napkin to notice. I handed him the small bowl of strawberry gelatin they had given me and he gulped it down in one swig.
"That is THE most disgusting thing I have ever tasted!" he cried after swishing some apple juice around in his mouth for a while. I chuckled and handed him a piece of bacon, which he gladly scarfed down, then looked back up at me expectantly.
"Feed me," he said in a high pitched voice, making puppy eyes at me. I snorted and pushed the tray back over to ended up sharing what was left.
The rest of the day was spent making fun of people on television or sleeping. Sam and Emily visited after breakfast, along with Jared, Quil and Embry. They had to tease me, of course. Luckily Sam shooed them out when he left or I doubt we would have gotten any sleep.
Like Carlisle said, Jake was almost completely well the next day.
His only comment to me was, "Oh, well the wolf saliva seems to be keeping out infection alright."
Grr.
Jake was up and around in no time, and seemed to think it was his duty to be at my every beck and call. I had to literally push him out the door when I went to take a shower, because he was afraid I would fall. Not that I don't trust him or anything, I just…you know how it is.
Carlisle came to check on me at least three times a day, no matter how hectic his schedule was. Surprisingly, he was always cheerful and kind, and never said a bad word about anyone. His visits always cheered me up whenever I started feeling like I was being crushed by the stark white walls and antiseptic.
According to Carlisle, I had a few bruised ribs (how that is possible, I don't know) and a sprained ankle, but seemed alright other than a few scratches and the horrid bite mark, which grew less and less disgusting looking with each passing day. I was in the hospital for a total of a week and a day.
Jathan never came to see me again.
I finally, finally got to go home. Mom came to pick me up in her blue station wagon, and had even cleared out the back so I could ride in it if I wanted. Jake helped me crawl in through the trunk door and hopped in beside me, and away we went.
When we got home, Jathan was sitting on the front porch smoking, which was odd considering Jay never ever smoked in his life, that I knew of.
"Hey Jay!" I said, running over to give him a hug. He grunted in reply and patted my back. I picked the cigarette out of his hand and crushed it on the ground. "That's bad for you." I waggled a finger at him.
"Well being with him is bad for you, but I don't see you changing anything," he snapped, jerking his head in Jake's direction.
"Jathan Alan!" Mom called, standing with one hand on her hip as she gave him a disapproving look. He rolled his eyes and fished in his pocket for another cigarrette.
"I'm leaving. Bye," he mumbled.
"Since when do you smoke, Jay?" I asked, hurt. He turned around and looked at me, his hazel eyes half lidded.
"Since you stressed me out so bad I don't know what else to do," he said simply.
"It's not her fault," Jake said, eyeing him with his arms crossed. Jay looked him up and down, then snorted.
"No, it's yours actually."
"What is your problem, dude?"
Jay suddenly turned around and slammed Jake against the station wagon, the cigarrette still hanging out of the side of his mouth. Jake cocked an eyebrow at him.
"You are my problem, Jacob Black. You do nothing but put my little sister in trouble, and make her get hurt for it. Do you even think about anyone but yourself?" Jathan yelled. Jake's body trembled dangerously, his dark eyes flashing with anger.
"Yeah, I do actually. It is my fault she got hurt, but it's not like I did it intentionally. I don't see you tearing some vampire up for her sake," he said calmly, but his voice held a deadly edge to it.
"You don't think I would if I could? I work my ass off to keep her comfortable, I babysat her all her life, I help feed her, clothe her, and give her somewhere warm to sleep. She's my baby sister, and I'll be damned if I let some asshole like you kill her!"
"I'm NOT going to let that happen!"
"You haven't done anything beneficial for her!"
"Well you're not helping by yelling at me! Look, you're making her cry," Jake said angrily, shoving a finger in my direction. I hadn't even realized it was happening, and had just stood there in shock watching the two of them argue.
"Ina," Jay whispered, his face falling. I quickly wiped my tears away and sniffled, looking at the ground as I felt heat rising in my cheeks.
"Ina, I'm sorry," Jay said, coming over to stand in front of me. He held his arms out and I smacked them away, not caring if it was childish. "I'm sorry. Ina, don't do this."
"Do what, Jathan?" I said suddenly, glaring up at him. He winced at the sound of his full name and backed away a little.
"I was in the hospital for a week and you didn't come see me once—"
"I did! I was going to! But you and him were—"
"And you couldn't be an adult about it and ignore it or tell us off at least? You just left and didn't come back. I come home and find you smoking for Pete's sake. You! Smoking! It's disgusting!" I yelled furiously. I knew I wasn't being fair, but quite frankly did not care at the moment.
"I'll quit, I promise. Just take some time away from this guy so you can have a decent life, Ina!" he argued.
"My life is FINE, Jathan. It's you who has a problem with it."
He looked stricken, the cigarrette having long ago fallen out of his mouth. I glared at him for a moment before turning around and stalking into the house, Jake hot on my heels. I heard Jathan curse loudly from outside and the squeal of tires as he drove away.
"Honey, you shouldn't fight with your brother like that. He's just trying to look out for you," Mom said quietly as we ate dinner later on that night. Jake had gone home earlier to check on his father, but promised to be back.
I shrugged, pushing kernels of corn around on my plate for a while before I stood up.
"Dinner was great, Mom. Thank you. I'm glad to be home," I said in a deadpan voice. She looked worried, but I kissed her hair and hugged her before heading off to my room. After changing and doing all my nightly duties, I sat alone in my dark room, staring out into the moonlit night. With the fight with Jay hanging over me and the absence of Jake, I felt lonelier than I had in a while. I didn't want things to end like that.
Someone once told me that you should never go to bed mad at someone.
They never said why, just that it shouldn't happen. With that in mind, I picked up my phone and quickly texted Jay, not feeling like talking too much.
'Jay, I'm sorry for the way I acted. I forgive you. Love you, Ina.'
It seemed like seconds later that he replied.
'I'm sorry too, I was being a dick. I just don't want you to get hurt. Well, more than you already have been I guess. Talk to you tomorrow?'
'Sure. Goodnight Jay.'
'Night, sis. Love you too.'
I felt a little better after that, and leaned against the wall with my blanket pulled up around me. I stared outside into the yard, willing Jake's bulky form to appear at my window. I waited for a while before I got too tired to keep my eyes open and ended up dozing against the wall. I jumped as my window shot open, but relaxed when I saw Jake climbing in. He quickly shut it behind him and removed his shoes, then crawled up into bed beside me.
"Hey sweetheart, how you feeling?" he asked, pulling me down with him to rest our heads on the pillows. I snuggled into him and sighed, letting his warmth envelope me comfortingly.
"Much better now that you're here," I breathed. He chuckled and kissed the top of my head.
"You're so—"
"Corny, I know," I interrupted, smiling against his skin.
"Sweet," he finished, tipping my chin up with his finger. I closed my eyes as he kissed my eyelids, then my nose.
"Go to sleep, baby. I'm here now," he whispered. I felt his warm lips pressing against my own, tasting slightly of dew and frost and purely Jake before he pulled away. I fell asleep to the sound of his gently humming voice.