.
Chapter 106
Edward
"... Please don't worry, dearest. I love you!", I ended the phone call with Bella.
Of course, she would still worry. So did I ... and I saw my children in the flesh before me. Saw that they were really not life-threateningly injured for wolves. Bella would immediately get in the car and drive to Carlisle, even though I said it really wasn't necessary. With Becky, of course. After all, she had noticed my stormy departure and was certainly just as worried.
Quickly I called Carlisle, who immediately prepared the medical examination room.
"You saw what those two can be?", I asked Marcus.
I was surprised at his thoughts. He had clearly seen that Jake and Leah were wolves. But he at the moment was just thinking about their state of health and worrying. Even reproached that they were hurt because of him and his little sister.
"Do you have the confidence to ride on Leah's back?"
"What?" Marcus almost shouted and I immediately suppressed a smirk.
Various reasons.
Jake mentally raged against Marcus as he crashed to the ground again and felt his weight on his battered pelvis. Then he should have left him there.
Marcus was afraid of hurting or humiliating Leah. He did not particularly help me to have something against him! He saw the picture with a human Leah in front of his eyes, which would only buckle under his weight and was mostly smeared with blood. She would not. Not even as a human being. But quickly he exchanged her female body for the graceful white wolf he had seen. The picture was even less to his liking. He was afraid of the animal. Marcus had not yet mentally acknowledged that it was actually his girlfriend.
Leah was embarrassed at the thought, letting her boyfriend ride her. She knew how natural it was for Becky, but things were different for the two of them. In addition, Leah had never carried anyone on her back before and was afraid of moving wrong in the process and throwing Marcus off her back. Not to mention that she was concerned that he might feel uncomfortable to ride on her.
But neither of the two would have a choice. I didn't have one either. Jake could not have a load on his back with his hip. I would prefer to carry him so he wouldn't phased before the wolfish healing was complete. But I had to take Jules. She was unconscious. Her heartbeat was weak but stable. I had had to drink a lot of her blood. It was truly delicious, even if it held no comparison to Bella's. The venom had flowed far through her veins, but the transformation had not yet begun. It had not yet reached her heart. And even though I suppressed a smirk, my anxiety outweighed it. My concern for Jake's physical condition.
The painkiller was working, or he wouldn't have tried to get up. Nevertheless, he felt the healing, how the bone splinters pulled themselves into the right places and the nerves and veins newly connected. In addition, due to this, his body lacked the strength that he was actually used to. He had other injuries, but they had already healed and were not worth mentioning from the start. They were only here and there still covered with small blood crusts or simply dirt. Just like Leah's.
My main concern was for Leah's wellbeing. Her boyfriend had witnessed what she was in reality, and she expected any second to hear the same insults that Ben had uttered. She cloaked this expectation in her thoughts with sarcasm, but I still heard the fear.
Marcus' health. He had actually wanted to start a fight with a vampire. The skin on his knuckles had been scraped off and blood was oozing out. In addition, he had been thrown across the ground and had numerous minor bruises on his hands and his face. How he would react to the situation in general, I could not yet grasp. He had not yet fully processed what he had seen. Jules had to see a doctor urgently. And lastly, my angel. I fervently hoped that Bella would drive carefully, despite her undeniable agitation.
"Unfortunately, we have no other choice," I began anyway. "Your sister has to get to Carlisle as quickly as possible before she bleeds to death after all. Leah and especially Jake need to rest and recover, but here in the forest is not the place for it. Your hands need to be taken care of. And with these eyes I cannot be seen by anyone!" I summarized the situation.
Marcus and Leah nodded hesitantly and wordlessly.
"Maggie," Marcus said suddenly.
I eavesdropped on his thoughts.
His older sister. She wanted to drive to Portland with him, but needed a few minutes to pack her things and say goodbye to her boyfriend. That was the only reason Marcus and Jules had been out for a walk. But his cell phone beeped before I could come up with a solution in that regard. Maggie couldn't seem to tear herself away from her boyfriend and would be going to Portland herself tomorrow. That worked out perfectly, didn't it?
Thus we set out.
Marcus looked at Leah stunned as she took off the sweatshirt, handed it to him, and then phased before his eyes. He hesitated to climb on her back, but Jake explained to him how he could best hold on and that he wouldn't hurt Leah by doing so. Jake staggered again for a moment as a wolf. He walked considerably slower than usual. So did Leah, who was more concerned with carrying Marcus as unharmed as possible, however.
Gently, I picked Jules up off the ground and ran quickly through the forest.
So, I arrived before my children.
I ran straight upstairs where Carlisle was already holding in his hand the IV for a blood transfusion.
Luckily, we had blood supplies in the house for emergencies since Leah and Jake had engaged themselves in a dangerous fight here in the garden.
I quickly told the details necessary for him.
"What are you bringing us that's delicious?" asked Em, as I made my way back downstairs.
"Marcus' little sister Jules got bit," was all I said and kept walking.
Then I remembered something else when I saw Rose approaching behind him.
I asked her to bring Marcus' Bus in.
She was the only one I could expect to drive that piece of junk on four wheels. In contrast, Bella's van had been in top condition at the time. Maggie would be surprised if the car remained in front of their house for much longer.
Rose and Em ran down with me.
I took the bathrobes, which by now were always hanging on the coat rack for the twins and went out.
I heard Leah already.
Marcus clung anxiously to her fur. Who would not feel the same way?
Leah slowed her pace so as not to come to a jerky halt and lay down on the ground for Marcus to dismount. She phased, rose, and swayed.
I had already expected that, and she was already leaning against me. She had lost a lot of blood and just felt limp because of it. It would take some time for the wolf genes to correct this again. Otherwise, her wounds had already healed, even if they were still smeared with blood.
I quickly put the robe over her shoulders and Emmett gently lifted her into his arms.
He got to her faster than Marcus, who had noticed Leah's swaying just as anxiously.
I took Leah's face in my hands, held her eyes open, and lifted her into my gaze.
"Leah, where's Jake?" I asked imploringly, suppressing my rising panic.
Leah felt weak and was about to fall into restful sleep. I didn't hear Jake and that didn't please me at all.
She looked at me and remembered.
She found it easier than speaking.
Carlisle's shots and the wolf shape were not a pleasant combination. We already knew that from the initial training of the two. In this form, the painkillers did not work, because they were tuned to the human. But also the wolfish healing basically did nothing, because they moved too much in it, so that something had the chance to heal. Thus he felt the full ruthlessness of his injuries and, in addition, the burning healing that wanted to set in but could not. Therefore, he had stopped at some point and had phased back.
I nodded, gave her another kiss on the forehead and Em immediately ran in with her.
"Marcus, your car keys!" I demanded.
"You must be in pain!" Rosalie calmly stated, but Marcus hadn't really noticed her yet, it seemed.
He had only been paying attention to Leah and hadn't noticed Rosalie examining his hands.
"Marcus!" I shook him a little until he looked at me.
I asked for the key again.
He nodded and pulled it out of his pants pocket. Silently, but with his face contorted in pain.
His thoughts were pure chaos.
In the meantime, Esmé, who had already heard from Carlisle and Emmett about what was going on, joined us. She put an arm around Marcus' shoulders and gently pulled him into the house.
Rose and I immediately started running.
We ran quickly, both equally worried.
"Where was the last time Leah caught his thoughts?", Rose asked me on the way.
"He must have almost reached highway five at Dayton," I explained.
We reached the highway, but no sign of my son anywhere.
Neither his pithy smell, except what still hung in the air from previous days, nor his thoughts.
We ran on, separated a bit, and single-mindedly searched the woods behind the expressway.
I found him. Lying on the ground as a human being. With a relaxed face and steady vital signs. I breathed a sigh of relief and informed Rose, who immediately ran on in the direction of Saco.
"Jake!" I addressed him.
Ponderously his eyes opened and his thoughts.
"Dad," he mumbled sleepily.
Yes, sleepy!
I narrowed my eyes in disbelief.
"Did you have to wake me up now of all times?" he asked offended, but he seemed rather taken along.
I saw some pictures of his dream in which I had disturbed him. A dream about Becky.
I rolled my eyes.
"I'm dying of fear and you're lying here dreaming?" I countered disguisedly upset, but really I was just reassured.
He chuckled, apologized almost believably, and stood up carefully. His hand immediately went to his groin, under the skin it vibrated. The healing was still going on and he felt it, even if it didn't hurt directly from the injection.
I helped him into the bathrobe I had brought with me, while he mentally showed me why he was just lying here in the area.
Asleep!
He was still crouching on all fours after he changed back. The pain almost unbearable. He had actually intended to move on after Carlisle's shot took effect, but it was such a liberating feeling when the pain subsided that he lay down for a moment. He was so relaxed after all the pain that he fell asleep.
I carried him back.
He actually fell asleep again.
At home one ran to me already worrying.
"He's just sleeping!" I said immediately though.
Leah was lying in one of the guest rooms near the treatment room and I laid Jake down with her. Instinctively, they sought each other's hand and held on to them.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at my children. Smirking, I shook my head at myself.
How much of an irrationally thinking concerned father I had become! When I had arrived at the twins in the forest, I had known that everything would be fine with them. They were both injured, but even though Jake was lying on the ground cursing in pain and Leah had been bleeding incessantly, they were consciousness, and it was clear to me that the wolf genes would fix everything. They just needed rest so their bodies could recover. Nevertheless, I had been going through mortal fears for the last thirteen minutes. For fear that I might lose one of them.
I walked to Carlisle in the treatment room.
I had already heard that Jules was out of any danger of dying. She was lying on the stretcher with the last drops of blood running through a blood transfusion and Carlisle was stitching up the bite wound. He had given her a sedative and assumed that she would wake up tomorrow morning.
Healthy and rested except for the wound.
Marcus sat silently with her on the stretcher and by now felt an unbearable throbbing in his fingers of his own accord.
Esmé stood beside him, speaking quietly to him, but Marcus remained silent.
He did not notice her at all. His gaze was on his sister and his thoughts were chaotically circling around everything that had happened in the last half hour. Sweat stood on his forehead and his heart raced.
I walked up to Marcus, carefully put a hand on his shoulder and sought his gaze.
"Is everything all right with you?" I asked him gently.
He nodded mechanically.
"Acute stress reaction?" I asked inhumanly softly.
Carlisle nodded.
Esmé asked in her mind how she could help, what she could do, since she was not getting anywhere with Marcus.
I asked her to take care of Jake and Leah. They were both asleep but were covered in blood under their bathrobes. If Bella saw them like that, my angel would have a heart attack and we could lay her to them.
I turned to Marcus' hands. Cleaned them, which actually caused an unpleasant burning sensation in humans, but Marcus hardly reacted.
I carefully felt his fingers.
Nothing broken, but as I had already noticed in the forest, some were slightly sprained. The skin abrasions were not so bad, so I just cleaned them thoroughly.
I bandaged his hands carefully, but still tightly, to immobilize the fingers a bit.
"What's your sister's name?" I asked gently as I tended to his hands.
Of course, I knew the answer, but I tried to gently break him out of his stupor and check his answers for accuracy, as far as I knew the correct answer.
"Jules."
"And how old is she?"
"Fifteen."
I kept on asking.
After his older sister. Her boyfriend. His car. His room at home. Which CD was currently in the player ...
He answered politely, but otherwise did not move.
I also disinfected his other small bruises as I kept asking. I saw the small scar on his eyebrow and a slight smile played around the corners of my mouth.
Leah liked that scar. As far as I realized, it was the first thing Leah touched.
"Where are Jazz and Alice?" I asked Carlisle.
I hadn't seen those two yet.
"They happened to be with me when your call came in and immediately ran to Bella's house so she wouldn't get behind the wheel herself," Carlisle smirked.
I smiled.
Already calmed down and relieved again. Would probably become my permanent condition today.
"You said you'd already notified her that Jake and Leah weren't in essential danger ..." he said.
"What about Leah?" suddenly Marcus raised his eyes to me.
Consternation was in his eyes, but it was the first own reaction from him..
"She's fine," I replied calmly. I had just finished bandaging and put everything aside. "Do you want to see her?" I asked him.
He hesitated, but nodded.
"I'll take you to her," I said, taking the small bottle of Cola that Esmé had already offered him, but his gaze immediately went back to his sister. "Don't worry about Jules. Your circulation is excellent and the injury on her hand will heal completely. There is a guest room next door. She will be able to rest there tonight," I explained, and he nodded again.
He stood up, carefully stroked over Jules' arm and followed me ... only two rooms away.
On the way there, Marcus finally opened the bottle and drank it empty in one go.
This was good for his blood sugar balance.
Esmé had in the meantime freed the twins from most of the blood and was just on her way to my house to get something for them to wear.
Marcus held his breath when he saw Leah.
"Is she ...?" he began.
The twins looked TOO peaceful for him.
"No, don't worry. She's just sleeping," I answered before he could finish his question.
His thoughts calmed down and his heartbeat slowed down again.
He stopped in front of the bed.
Undecided what he should make of it all. The images from earlier were clear and distinct in his mind. He was afraid of what he had seen. Even if he had understood nothing.
"The two just need to recover. It has strained them physically, but they won't retain anything from this evening. Neither of the two. There has to be a lot more going on," I clarified somewhat, but quietly.
"What happened there in the forest?" he now asked.
More focused, but not taking his eyes off Leah.
"You saw something you shouldn't have seen. Or in other words, what you shouldn't have survived. The woman who attacked Jules was a creature you weren't supposed to know about. A predator that usually leaves no witnesses. But you were lucky!"
"Luck?" Marcus doubted. He saw the maltreated twins in front of him, struggling against their pain in the forest. And, of course, his unconscious sister.
"Jules will have recovered by tomorrow ... And the two of them can take a lot. More than one can see on them."
"What's Leah?"
"I think she should explain that to you herself. She'll wake up in a minute," I smiled frugally.
"And what are you, Sir?" he now looked at me.
He had been paying so much attention to Leah that he had forgotten about my red eyes and now winced briefly.
I smiled.
"I'm sure Leah will explain that to you as well. But can you please stop with the 'Sir'?"
He eyed me indecisively for a moment.
"Sir ..." he began, and I raised an eyebrow admonishingly. "... Edward ... you ... are not seventeen," he stated more to himself.
"No. I'm not," I confirmed and sat down at my daughter's side.
She would open her eyes at any moment.
I took her hand, which had slipped off the bed a bit, put one hand to her cheek and waited patiently. Her breathing became bumpy, and her eyelids began to flutter slightly. She blinked and then looked at me.
"Dad!" she muttered.
"Hello, Princess!" I smiled reassuredly.
She squeezed her hand once, with which she still held Jake, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Jules?" she asked immediately.
"She's doing fine. Carlisle took care of her and she's sleeping peacefully over in the other room."
"Where's Marcus?" she then asked.
I pointed with my head behind me. I helped Leah sit upright, pulling the bathrobe back over her a little more, and her gaze immediately went to Marcus.
The blood loss was not yet completely eliminated, I felt it under my fingers on her wrist. Her heartbeat was still a bit weak for young wolves.
"Esmé get some clothes over here for both of you," I said, giving Leah a kiss on the forehead and leaving the room.
I looked at my wristwatch.
11:14 p.m. ... So slowly my angel should arrive.
But first Esmé appeared.
I told her that Leah had just woken up, and she said she would wait a moment.
I saw that Marcus and Leah indeed looked at each other but not saying a word.
His cell phone rang.
He mentally cursed as he recognized the caller on the display.
"My father," he said despondently, taking a deep breath and taking the call after he had left the room, thus standing between me and Carlisle.
Esmé took this opportunity to help Leah get dressed.
"Father ..." he didn't get any further.
"Marcus, damn it. Where are you? I don't give a shit if you can't tear yourself away from your new flame and that's why you're late for school tomorrow. But goddammit, Jules needs to go to bed too! ..."
"I'm with Jules at a doctor's ...," he began anew.
"What's happened now? Can't you even take care of your little sister?" his father continued to curse.
"It's not my fault!" defended Marcus' stammering, running a hand through his hair churning.
Marcus took me mentally into his past.
Whereas up to now it was always just the brief flickering of individual images that didn't allow me to form a final opinion, I now saw a little more context. He had told his father this sentence, that it was not his fault, many times in his life. But only rarely was he believed. And then came the day when Marcus didn't care what he was adjudged guilty of. The strict and sometimes even fisticuffs reprimands he received anyway, whether he had done something or not.
"Jules was ... bitten ... by an ... animal!" he explained, looking at Carlisle and me in turn.
I nodded.
I found it very remarkable how logical his answer was and matched to the actual events.
The father, of course, asked what kind of animal it was.
With the subliminal question of why Marcus would have apparently just stood by and watched.
"A dog. A pretty big one, actually. It was dark and he came running straight out of the forest. We didn't see him coming, and suddenly he was hanging on Jules' arm ... I'll give you the doctor," he said as Carlisle asked for the phone, gesturing.
"Mr. Carter," Carlisle began to say, "my name is Dr. Carlisle Stone. I am a physician at Saco Hospital, and both of your children are currently in my care ... Your children are fine. Jules was indeed bitten by an animal. The wound is cleaned and taken care of, but she is already sleeping. Marcus hurt his hands trying to tame the animal, but is otherwise unharmed ...," Carlisle explained to the father, answering more questions patiently.
But the latter angrily insisted that the children come home immediately.
"Listen, Mr. Carter. Jules and Marcus are staying here tonight! Your children need quiet right now and no one to yell at them for no reason! Marcus should also not be behind the wheel of a car in this condition," Carlisle determined and hung up.
Marcus looked at him suspiciously, but the mistrust was not of Carlisle.
His father would not let that stand. He was apparently used to the fact that his will counted and that everyone had to subordinate themselves to this will. Marcus hid his face in his hands and thought about how to explain this to his father. How he would react. What he would have to listen to him say tomorrow.
"Don't think about what he's going to say. You did absolutely nothing wrong. You wanted to help your sister, but no one would have had a chance against that woman. No one except Leah and Jake. Or any of us. You have nothing to blame yourself for!" I declared truthfully as Leah stepped out of the room.
Thank you for reading!
I would be happy about some reviews!
