Chapter 15: Unwell
Nessie
I was so tired that night and yet, I still struggled to fall and stay asleep. I kept thinking about Jacob and the way that he made me feel. I remembered how his hot skin made me feel more alive when I came in contact with it. It was amazing, better than Ethan even.
I instantly felt a pang of guilt when I thought about Ethan. I tried to shove those thoughts out of my head. But it was impossible. I missed Ethan and I couldn't help but feel like I was cheating on him. Despite the fact that he had been missing for several months already. He was dead. The words echoed in my head out of nowhere. I fought as hard as I could to shove them out of my head. Without a body I wouldn't believe that he was dead. Not then, not now, and not ever.
When I finally did manage to fall asleep it didn't last very long. I was awoken by the sound of Hunter crying. I got out of bed feeling very grumpy, tired, and groggy. "What now?" I grumbled as I walked over to his crib. Then I felt guilty for feeling grumpy when I saw his tear stained little face. I picked him up carefully. His diaper was dry. He wasn't interested in food either. But his body did feel warm, way too warm. I was sure that he had a fever. Though I had no idea what was causing it. I was scared. I didn't know what to do.
"Shh, it's okay baby. It'll be okay," I tried rocking him and singing to him. All the while frantically thinking about what to do next. Then I remembered that Carlisle was a doctor. If I was lucky he would still be awake. I sighed when I saw the time. It was just past three o clock in the morning. He was probably asleep. I debated in my head whether I should wake him up and trouble him with my worries or not. Maybe I could just wait until morning. No, I couldn't.
I was surprised when I walked past Carlisle's study and saw that the light was on. Was he really awake this late at night/early in the morning? Well, whatever the reason for that was I was super relieved that he was already awake and I didn't have to wake him up.
I knocked on the door.
"Come in," I heard Carlisle's voice say.
I hesitated before pushing the door in. Carlisle looked surprised to see me there. "What's wrong Nessie?"
"I'm sorry to bother you so late Carlisle but it's Hunter, I think he has a fever. He feels really hot and he won't stop crying,"
"Let me see him," I passed my son over to Carlisle.
"It's bronchitis. I'm sure of it. A pretty bad case of it also,"
"How can you tell?" I asked him. I was shocked that he was able to come to that conclusion after barely examining him for a few seconds.
"I can hear the fluid that has built up in his lungs,"
"He was fine just a few hours ago," I was one hell of a nerve wrecked mother right now. But it didn't escape my notice that Carlisle had avoided my question. But I was not going to press him on it further. At least not right now.
"Sometimes it progresses fast from the time of exposure. I'll get him started on some medication to bring down the fever and to help him clear his lungs,"
"Is he going to be okay?"
"It will take a few days but I anticipate that he will make a full recovery without any complications. But, as this is contagious I would like to examine you and Faith as well to see if you contracted the disease,"
I took a deep breath. This was not what I had planned for tonight. "I'll go get her,"
My daughter protested with her cries when I woke her up. "I'm sorry sweet girl," I murmured. "But I have to do this,"
Carlisle was still waiting patiently for us. I felt a stab of guilt that I had disturbed him like this at this hour of the night. He examined my daughter first and then he examined me. "Unfortunately it seems that all three of you have contracted bronchitis,"
"But I feel fine,"
"For now,"
"I'm really sorry about this," I felt bad for bothering him like this.
"What are you apologizing for?" he looked confused.
"For bothering you at this hour like this,"
"Renesmee, do not apologize for coming to me when you are concerned about your health or the health of your babies. I'm glad that you came to me when you did. If you had waited he would have gotten much worse as would you and Faith as well. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is more important than your health and their health as well. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. You know, you remind me a lot of my parents. They used to say things like that to me all the time,"
"It sounds like your parents were very wise,"
"They were. I miss them," there was an ache of sadness in my heart as I said those words out loud. I could feel tears in my eyes forming.
It was a long night. Thanks to the medicine that Carlisle gave him Hunter's fever went down quickly. Hunter fell asleep soon afterwards but I couldn't go to sleep at first. I was worried that my babies would suddenly get worse and I wanted to watch over them for any signs of just that.
Soon though it became impossible to fight my eyelids and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. I woke up a little while later and didn't feel like I slept much at all. My heart stopped beating when I saw a reddish brown wolf pup in my son's crib. The very same one that I had seen in the forest. She was snuggled up next to my son. He had his head leaned against her body. I screamed.