A/N: Thank you for the reviews :)

COLBY THOMAS BLACK

After I heard Sarah tell me the news about Alison's father - that he died, and she knew - I stood up and went to her empty hospital room, shutting the door behind me, wanting to be alone. Since Sarah had communicated with me through my mind, and Edward was at the house with the others, none of them knew yet. I sank down to the floor, burying my head between my knees, praying that this was all just a humorless dream, that I would wake up and everything would be fine and Alison would be peacefully sleeping next to me.

But it wasn't, and she wasn't.

She was still in surgery, having her brain drilled through - a part of her skull removed. The pressure wouldn't have built up on her brain if her wound didn't heal so fast, but at the same time, she would've definitely bled out and died on the spot. None of my family ever got sick, and, despite the casual injuries, the most serious case we had within our circle was Sarah when her bones were shattered, and it still wasn't as bad as this. If she was human, there would've been a chance to turn her, to have one of the Cullens bite her, so she could heal, no matter how controversial it was. But, she wasn't. She was part wolf - nobody knew if the venom would actually kill her on the spot, or turn her.

Every inch of me ached for her - for her pain, for her loss. No matter what happened, I barely knew loss. I barely knew what it felt like to lose someone who was part of who you were - I never had to imagine it, seeing I had immortal parents and none of my pack members had even aged that much or died. I had no idea what it must have been like for her - that one final straw. She'd been eager to meet her father again, to make up with him. The only thing preventing her was her fear that she might accidentally hurt him or his imprint, whom she hadn't even seen. All she knew was that she was human, and Allie couldn't be around humans yet without wanting to sink her teeth into their throats.

I remembered the day I'd first met her - the moment I spotted her at the supermarket while going through cooking magazines because Emily had dared me to try and help out with Mary's party. She was so tiny, so angelic - as angelic as someone whose face screamed "Are you fucking kidding me?" at everything and everyone around her anyway. I'd seen how it was like to imprint in other guys' heads, but I never imagined I would feel this strongly. It was beyond earth-shattering - like everything I had gone through in my entire life was to prepare me for this one particular moment.

It was fun being around her, teasing her, even when she'd called me a stalker - which, to be truthful, I totally was - or said I sucked. Even in her worst states, she seemed so light, like a breeze on a hot summer day. At first I thought I imprinted on her at that particular moment in her life because she was having troubles with her parents and their divorce, but I was wrong. I was destined to be there for her, to help her, to protect her, while her whole world shifted and came crashing all over her head. I was destined to keep her safe.

I was destined to keep this from happening.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the door was opening again. I jumped to my feet, still registering my surroundings, seeing the nurses roll her bed back into the room, carefully transferring her onto the other one. Her head was wrapped completely and she was attached to every kind of monitor known to modern medicine. Her face was still as pale as it was before the surgery, her hands cold. Carlisle went in and dismissed the nurses, looking at me with soft eyes.

"The surgery went really well," he said, "Everyone needs to be extremely careful with her head though; we did cover the part we removed from her skull with a temporary implant, but it's extremely vulnerable," he noted, "That being said, once she heals, we'll be able to restore the part we've removed, and after that it shouldn't take her very long to heal."

I nodded, not looking away from her, tracing my fingers on the side of her face. "When should we expect her to wake up?"

"An hour, more or less," he said, "She's very weak, and I can tell she hasn't been feeding much, if at all, which is going to make her reactions and healing rate closer to that of a human until this changes."

Goddammit, Alison. "Will the IV be enough for her?" I asked as I heard my parents, Paul and Embry walk into the room, "Wouldn't it be better if she had blood in her system?"

He sighed. "There's nothing we can do about that until she wakes up. She has to drink the blood, it can't be broken down and inserted into her own blood stream."

"Okay," I breathed and pulled a chair towards me, sitting in front of her, resting my head on the bed beside her, watching her expressions, waiting for her to wake up. Carlisle excused himself, saying he had paperwork to attend to. Since Embry was here, I assumed they all knew about her father passing away - I just didn't know one thing - "Did you find out how her father died?" Her father, the wolf.

Embry cleared his throat. "Venom."

I turned to him, sitting up. "What?"

He grimaced. "It was a vampire bite," he explained, "After I explained who I was and how we were related, in a way, his imprint said it was venom that did it. Some vampire bit him knowing it would kill him. He had no other injuries."

Not many vampires knew that much about us. Sure, it could have been a coincidence, but it was a tough shot; we smelled differently - they knew not to drink our blood, and since he had no other injuries I doubted it was self defense. This vampire knew what they were doing. If it was some sort of a personal vendetta against John, we'd have a problem, especially if they knew who Allie was and where she lived. A voice in the back of my head said, if she woke up anyway, but I pushed it away. I didn't need this right now.

I looked at Alison, then at Embry again, sighing. "Arrange for a pack meeting tonight."

"I'll handle this, Colby," Dad said with finality.

Normally, I would have objected. I would have said that I needed to be there to brainstorm with everyone else, but I couldn't. I knew where I belonged, and it wasn't away from Alison. I nodded. "Fine. Keep me updated."

He patted my back and motioned to Embry and Paul, getting out of the room. Mom stood next to me, her hand on the top of my head. "Have you had anything to eat today, Colby?"

"Mom.."

"I know you don't feel like eating, or talking, or doing anything," she said, "But, if not for you, then you have to eat for her. You've been weak, and tired, for a long time. You need every bit of strength if you're going to properly be there for her through this."

She had a point. "Okay," I said, "But I'm not leaving." Allie might wake up any time now.

She kissed my forehead. "I'll bring you something."

I attempted a smile at her, which probably looked more pathetic than friendly, but I didn't care much. I refocused my attention to Allie as Mom left. What have you done to yourself, Alison?

Moments later, I felt her vibrate ever-so-slightly beneath my touch. I looked up at her face to find her lips quivering, her tongue tiredly trying to lick them. Her eyes were still closed shut but her throat was rumbling. She coughed lightly and I held on to her hand more tightly. Come on, Allie. Wake up, I spoke into her mind, Open your eyes, sweetie.

Her eyelids fluttered, very heavily, until they were just the tiniest bit open. My heart was racing in my chest, eager for her to finally wake up. She opened her eyes a little more, until I could see her ocean blue irises. She looked dazed and disoriented. She pursed her lips together and darted her eyes to me, moving her fingers to hold my hand weakly. "Colby.." she breathed, her voice ragged.

I grinned as wide as my cheeks could possibly allow me to, breathing a long sigh of relief. She woke up. She actually woke up. She could see, she could feel my hand, she could move, she could remember me. She woke up. She actually woke up. I couldn't believe it, I couldn't wrap my mind around it. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and thrown into a volcano. Her breaths, her heartbeat, her voice, her eyes - everything about her, I cherished. I thanked God more times than I ever had for this one, little moment. "Finally." As much as I wanted to grab her and kiss her beautiful lips in celebration, I knew I couldn't, seeing I could hurt her fragile skull, so I kissed her palms instead, breathing in her scent.

She frowned. "Wha- what happened?" she breathed, clearing her throat, her eyelids drooping. Before I could speak, she tried to move her braced arm, groaning in pain as she did. She looked really confused, like she was trying to concentrate on something really hard. I gently held her arms down.

"Please don't move," I said, "You're at the hospital, you've broken a lot of bones," I explained. I didn't want to add anything else, for the sake of her confusion,
but I had to, so she would be careful how she moved her head, "You've also just had major brain surgery, so be very gentle with the way you move your head." I had no idea if her surgery was major, but even if it wasn't, a little exaggeration wouldn't hurt anyone.

Her face turned from confusion to complete and utter freak-out. She was shaking a little, and I could hear her heart pounding in her chest without the monitors that went crazy. "What?" she breathed, "How -" She stopped herself, freezing. Her face fell and she broke eye contact with me. "Oh."

She realized.

She remembered.

I wanted so much to deny it, to say nothing happened - her father didn't die, she wasn't depressed, and she didn't jump off a cliff - but I couldn't. I knew as well as she did how true it was. The spark that was just present in her semi-open eyes dulled out, and she got paler by the second. She was thinking about it, she was remembering. She was falling back. "Allie, it's okay."

"No," she breathed, her volume way too low; I wouldn't have caught it if I was a couple of inches away, even with my superhuman hearing.

I kissed her palm again. "It is. We'll talk, we'll figure it out," I said, "Right now, just focus on getting better." I heard Carlisle approach, but he stayed behind
the door, giving us some space. Maybe not privacy, but space.

She paused for a while, considering, before she looked up at me again, her look almost ashamed. Her voice was low the entire time, her heartbeat erratic. "I don't remember anything," she breathed, "A-After I - I -"

"Jumped?" My voice was cold. As much as I wanted to comfort her, to make it better for her, it hurt. What she did hurt, and hurt bad.

She nodded, looking away. "Tell me what happened."

"I felt it," I said, gently turning her head towards me with my fingers, "I felt your pain. We followed your scent to the cliffs," I said, "And I-" I took a deep breath, "I found you there, in the water. You'd hit the rocks before you slipped into it."

At that point, I expected her to ask how we got her here, or how bad it was for her body. Instead, she asked, "Why didn't I die?"

I blinked, my mouth set in a hard line. It was taking all my energy to convert the anger I felt rise within me towards her question into compassion. I tried to understand. I knew getting angry at that point would only do more damage - make her feel more lonely. "You weren't meant to," I said, "I got there in time because you weren't meant to die yet, Alison - you aren't."

It's a miracle you're alive, Alison. It's a miracle and I will be eternally thankful to God and the forces, the spirits, fate. I don't know what I would've done without you - if I'd lost you, I thought, but I didn't project those thoughts into her mind. She needed someone held together, not another person to worry about. All she needed to worry about was herself. She needed to.

"Colby, I -" she licked her lips, now fully conscious, "I - I just feel so -" she winced, "Empty. Useless," she said, "All I've been to you was a burden. I tried to get better - to feel better - I was trying, Colby, though it might not seem like it," she said, "I tried to have goals, to have something to look forward to - to have a plan. But the only thing I looked forward to was seeing Dad - making things better with him. I needed him to reassure me that my life didn't actually crash down and crumble to pieces but it was okay and it was - it was just a rushed phase and I would be able to get my life back, but -"

"But he passed away today." She looked down. "Alison, you can't give up on your life so easily. It's worth so much more than that. You're not a burden, you're never a burden - not to me, not to our family. I love you. We love you," I whispered.

Tears trickled down her cheek, silently. She snapped her eyes up to mine again. "Help me," she breathed, "Please." Her voice broke.

I stood up and kissed her lips - a featherly peck. "Always."

She smiled a little - a restrained smile. "Colby, I lo-"

But she didn't finish her sentence. She closed her eyes and her body convulsed violently, her breathing beyond erratic. The monitors beeped violently. I froze, not knowing what was going on, or what to do. Carlisle pushed through the door. "Get out! She's having a seizure."

I stepped back to allow the herd of nurses and residents helping out Carlisle, but I didn't get out, my eyes fixed on Allie, frozen in my place. I could hear my own breath turn into a pant and my surroundings were shaking violently. I had her! I had her for two minutes - two blissful minutes - awake, and talking, and moving. I had her but, snap, she was out again, seizing violently, convulsing roughly even though her most crucial bones were broken and braced.

I fucking had her!

I noticed her shaky image was zooming out, but the ice cold, marble hands grabbing me by the arms and pulling me, roughly, out of the whole hospital turned my attention to a very worried-looking Emmett. I must have looked dangerous, or like I was just about to phase - which was basically the same thing. He glanced sideways, before pulling me farther, sprinting towards the woods - so fast humans could barely see us. Once we were there he let go of me. "Phase, now!"

I wasn't in the right state of mind, I couldn't comprehend anything beyond what my instinct told me, and right now his words fit my needs perfectly. I didn't even bother stripping, I leapt back and exploded, every nerve in me relishing the raw, unadulterated sensation of being in the mind and body of a simple wolf. I had been fighting this all day - which was a new record for me. As soon as I phased, I ran, not even glancing back, not knowing where I was headed - nothing.

I let the pain from all the events that had happened today surge through my body, making me howl, louder than ever before. The center of my being shook, weakened. I couldn't let that happen, I couldn't let her go. For two amazing minutes, all my worries and all my fears had been erased just by the sight of her waking up. It wasn't rational, I shouldn't have let myself hope. She was far worse than it looked, and it already looked bad enough.

Maybe a seizure would've been expected of a human after that kind of surgery. A human, but not her. She, whose body had gone through miraculous transformations - she whose spine had burned to its core while she was still standing, was under the utter control of her weakness, of her illness. And the fact that her emotional state was the reason behind her current physical one only made it worse for me.

She wasn't fighting.

And it broke my very core.

Emmett was following me the entire time, joined by Jasper and Rosalie. I had no idea when they got there, or when they even flew down from Vancouver. Rosalie's golden eyes were yelling worry more than anyone else and she stood in front of me, holding my wolf head between her hands, sobbing dryly, as a vampire would. Rosie had always cared about me like a second mother - maybe even more than Bella, who was actually blood-related to me. "My baby," she cooed, her velvet voice breaking.

Please, Rosalie, stay back. I was as strong as a vampire in my 'human' form, and ten times stronger in my wolf form. She shouldn't be near me. I shouldn't be near me.

"Do you love her?"

What kind of question was that? Of course I love her. I breathe her. She's the center of my universe - my heart beats for her. I exist for her, with her, by her. She's the one thing I would truly die for in a blink. She completes me.

She is me.

Her face was unreadable - somewhere between pride and hurt. "Then breathe. It's going to be fine. Breathe." As soon as she said that, a wave of calmness went through my body - the doing of Jasper. "Embrace her weakness. Out of all our transformations," she said, "And our losses, throughout the decades, hers hit the hardest," she whispered, caressing my fur, which was saying a lot seeing she was disgusted by anything and everything wolf. "I had Emmett. Esme had Carlisle. Jasper had Alice," she said, "Alison has you."

What if I can't help her? What if I just add to her depression?

"You won't." This time, it was Jasper who spoke, approaching me, rolling up his sleeves, showing his scars, "Some wounds never heal all the way through," he said, "No matter how powerful you are, they'll exist. They're memories," he said, "But it's up to you to help her see that they don't necessarily have to bleed out."

"She has you," Emmett repeated, wrapping an arm around Rosalie, "She has us. We're her family now. So is everyone related to the pack. You know it, she doesn't. From what Edward said, she still thinks of her as an addition, as a burden. The one person whom she believed would truly accept her was her father, and he's gone," he said, "We'll help. You'll help. She's going to be okay, safe."

Alice also joined them all, running towards Jasper, burying her head into his chest, looking at me. "We'll move back to Forks, Colby. It's settled. We won't be mingling with humans, but we'll live here. We've taken a vote, and it's unanimous."

I was actually taken aback by all the support from the side of the family that seemed less likely to want that much to help, seeing they weren't bound by rules saying they had to protect imprints. But again, everyone from the Rez genuinely cared about Alison, no matter who she was. They cared and they loved her as well.

Thank you.

They smiled and Alice threw a bag - that I just knew contained clothes - at me. "Hurry up, she's waiting for you."

There you go!

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