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Chapter 183
Edward
"Thornton Academy High School. You're on with Cathlyn Turner," Brandon's mother called in.
"Edward Stone. Good morning, Mrs. Cathlyn," I greeted her in an exceedingly friendly manner, although I was unable to turn off the worry in my voice. Cathlyn Turner was the mother of Brandon, Jake's best friend since childhood, and thus had become a good friend of Bella's. At least until the day Bella had gotten involved with a seventeen-year-old immature brat. Me.
"Oh ... Edward?" the connections unmistakably came to her mind again. It had an affected overtone. "Are you trying to dodge the exams?"
"You can't really say that ... I have to excuse Leah, Jake and me for today."
"What's the matter? 'Play hookyitis' or exam phobia?"
I could not necessarily blame her for accusing me of such things. She didn't know me. But the fact that she accused Jake and Leah of trying to avoid the exams annoyed me a bit.
"An unexpected death," I therefore answered directly.
"Oh, God. I'm sorry!" she was startled.
That she was now sorry for her speculations could not be overheard.
"You couldn't have guessed that," I placated.
"Who ... I mean ..." she tried to ask.
Having been friends with Bella for years, she was naturally interested. In case of doubt, she would know the deceased at least by hearsay.
"Leah's boyfriend."
"Oh no. Marcus?" she was honestly dismayed.
"No, not Marcus. Another young man Leah had only recently but still very fiercely befriended. He was attacked by an animal in the woods last night and Leah almost witnessed it. She is in complete shock. Jake was not far away and saw the disfigured body as well. He's doing better than Leah, but he could hardly put a decent word to paper today."
"I can imagine that ... How is Bella?"
"Bella is so terrified by the situation overall that I don't want to leave her alone with the twins. It took a lot out of her that a young man - barely older than her children - was taken from his life so suddenly."
We talked for a moment.
Cathlyn expressed her regret and asked if there was anything she could do, but I wouldn't know what.
"But what are we going to do about the exams?" she began to think.
She would talk to the principal and call back.
That went easier than I had feared.
So I went back to my son and paid attention to his body.
He looked increasingly tired as he gradually emptied the tray.
Even though Jake was primarily trying to laugh, Ced of course noticed that something was wrong. It was, after all, a completely unusual situation that the twins were in the house, had not been sitting at the breakfast table, and were now lying in their beds as well. Ced did his part to help Jake. He had handed him his beloved Kraken to cheer him up, snuggled up to his big brother and babbled softly to himself.
I took advantage of the sibling togetherness to go with Bella to Leah.
Leah just lay there.
With open eyes, with closed eyes, without moving. She still did not react to being spoken to. Both her thoughts and the vision through her eyes remained an impenetrable black fog. Heart and breathing worked steadily, but her temperature had risen again.
She was still wearing the sweatpants and the sweater that Jasper had put on her in the woods last night. With the temperature steadily rising and due to her last diaphoretic outburst, we wanted to dress her in something more airy.
I could do this on my own and be far more expeditious, but Bella was happy when she could do anything at all.
Because she was quite right with what she had said to me. Bella alone would have a serious problem with the children. She simply wasn't in the physical condition to help the twins much. To prop Jake up on the short trips between bed and bathroom, to redress Leah on her own, or to hold her during her seizures.
With underwear, a pair of shorts and a top, we laid Leah in bed, who basically registered nothing of her environment.
Bella remained sitting with her, holding her hand, telling her some trivialities, shedding single tears that my angel could not hold back due to Leah's lethargy.
On the way back to Jake's, I looked at my watch.
By now eight o'clock had passed and I was counting on Carlisle every minute.
He had wanted to go to the Latham family first, unless I had called him here for the twins. But I didn't know if Carlisle could do anything medical here at all.
Jake was just about to fall asleep. Ced sat at his side and with a stern look told me to be quiet. Like he was watching over his big brother.
The picture touched me, even if it was a regrettable occasion.
I pulled Jake's comforter a little closer and gently brushed a few strands out of his forehead, on which I gave my son a kiss.
"If you need anything, you just shout," I said, and received an approving unintelligible murmur.
In the darkening thoughts, another 'Thanks, Dad!' wormed its way to the surface, which let me smile soulfully.
"Let's let him sleep in peace," I said to Ced and picked him up off the bed.
With my free hand I took the tray outside.
"So what are we going to do with you?", I asked my baby on the way to the kitchen, but I could already hear the answer approaching.
Carlisle and Esmé, who ran through the forest to us.
Esmé, of course, wanted to know how her grandchildren were doing, but had come along mainly to look after Ced. She would take him with her to the Stone estate so that he would not see the unspeakable suffering of his sister that Jasper had told everyone about. That was also the reason why none of my worried siblings had shown up here yet. They knew they couldn't do anything if even Jasper couldn't get through to Leah with his gift. Besides, I had forbidden all of them to come, since the twins needed rest first and foremost. Besides, they could take care of Becky at school by taking turns skipping a class, since there was a free period scheduled between each exam.
Ced was obviously delighted by the unexpected visit. He greeted the arrivals with a cheerful laugh.
I handed him over to Esmé, exchanged just a few words with her, and immediately went upstairs with Carlisle.
I quickly told my father how the night and the current morning had gone.
With Jake, he looked in only briefly.
We heard the steady vital signs, although they did not hold wolfish normality. His temperature was slightly elevated. He slept peacefully. And the way my son was smiling, he was certainly dreaming of his star, in whose T-shirt he had half-buried his face by now.
Leah was unchanged.
Bella immediately made room for Carlisle and we both watched with equal concern as the doctor examined our daughter.
It was now such a surreal situation for me again - like when Ced was born. With my two medical degrees, I could only stand by helplessly and hoping.
Even though our vampiric senses gave us quite a bit, Carlisle controlled everything in the conventional way. He did this in order to have concrete numbers that he could compare later on and illustrate more clearly to Bella.
He also addressed Leah, taking a rougher approach than we had. It almost bordered on a slap, with me tangling my hands in Bella's to keep myself from intervening.
Bella stroked the back of my hands with her thumbs so that I wouldn't intervene in the heat of the moment.
But my princess did not react. The fog in her head did not move a millimeter to the side.
"What are you giving her?" asked Bella as she recognized the paraphernalia for an IV she had come to know all too well during her pregnancy.
"Just a so-called 'Banana Bag'. It contains vitamins and other nutrients. As long as Leah isn't eating anything, we'll have to artificially supply her body with what it needs to live," Carlisle replied.
To live! To live? Was that even a life, the way my Little one lay there apathetically?
I shook that thought out of my head by myself.
Of course my princess would live again! One day, Leah would have coped with the loss enough to participate in life again. She was just truly in shock because Nanuk had passed away so suddenly. Also, with the omnipresent danger for the wolves in the background, this had not been expected at all. I had been able to gather from the thoughts of the two vampiresses that Nanuk had not made it easy for them, although he had far less experience in fighting with my kind. In addition, it was only yesterday that the love between Leah and Nanuk began to unfold freely and had simply gotten carried away with their imprint. I could not even begin to imagine how empty Leah must really feel. Without her perfect counterpart. Without the person who had now meant her world. And he would never return.
"There is nothing I can do for her. Physically, she is in great shape, except that she lacks independent food and fluid intake. We can compensate for this with appropriate transfusions. However, her fever is a result of her emotional torment. There's nothing I can do about that," Carlisle explained dejectedly.
He seemed very calm and confident. A doctor who was in the middle of his vocation and sincerely took an interest in Leah's fate.
Inside he felt ashamed that he could not help his granddaughter and was upset about Leah's condition. All possible and impossible ideas ran through his mind and all of them he immediately discarded. None of them would be able to help Leah. She wasn't hurt. She didn't need a doctor.
Carlisle had to leave again. He was on duty at the hospital and was already late, but he had announced this due to house calls in the morning hours. He would come by again after his late afternoon duty, provided he didn't hear from us by then.
Esmé did not stay in the house either. She took Ced with her so that he would by no means witness Leah's seizures.
Before they left, I asked Carlisle for his emergency contact lenses, which he always carried in his doctor's bag.
My father was by no means naive. He could not rule out the possibility that, despite his incredible self-control, he would suck someone dry in cold blood. He had not yet experienced firsthand that blood could sing for him, but this did not necessarily mean that he would be able to resist in this case. And should this happen, he had to be able to make the clear red of his eyes unrecognizable in front of other people. Usually, after all, one did not necessarily meet someone in the lonely forest whom one might find too irresistible.
Bella and I took turns keeping watch over our children.
Jake was starting to feel better.
Bella brought him food and drink and aired while I took him to the bathroom. He slept a lot that morning, but his shaky condition was subsiding more and more.
Leah continued to just lie there between her outbursts.
By late morning, the point had come where I was constantly lying down with Leah, perhaps to cool her down with my body temperature. It showed at least insofar effective in that Leah's fever did not rise further.
Bella periodically dabbed her forehead with a cool rag, wet her lips with water, and often just held her hand. She left Leah only to call La Push.
But no one had any advice for our suffering daughter. It had not happened to anyone to imprint on and then to be separated from that person by death. No experiences, no lore, no legends, nothing. Only Claire came to Emily's mind, but she had not been imprinted on, the wolf had imprinted on her. Moreover, the wolf had died when Claire was just three years young. She barely remembered him.
Around one o'clock in the afternoon, Becky came home.
She was tense and ran straight to Jake's room without greeting Bella in the kitchen. She had no time for that. It wasn't until she was in his doorway that she paused for a bit and just slowly and quietly stormed ahead. Jake was asleep. She sat down with him, stroked over his face lovingly, breathed a kiss on his lips. 'Becky,' my son whispered in his sleep. She put her hand on his heart, following the beat that had almost regained its wolfish strong nature. Reassured, she let him go back to sleep and came over to us. She was terribly worried about Leah. Becky had not seen Leah since last night, so she had no inkling of what to expect in this room.
Quietly she knocked on the door.
Maybe Leah was asleep, like Jake, or maybe she was awake.
"Come in, Becky," I called just loud enough.
She paused, startled, when she caught sight of us.
How I held Leah in my arms and Leah lay there catatonic. Just now with open eyes and without stirring.
Only hesitantly did she step closer and regain her composure the short way.
"Edward. How is she?" she asked.
So I told her about Leah's seizures, in which she sometimes hurt herself. How her fever had stopped rising since I had been lying with her. How she desperately called for Nanuk during her outbursts.
While doing so, Becky sat down on the edge of the bed, took Leah's hand, and squeezed it gently. She saw the bowl of water and the washcloth that hung over the edge. As if it were a matter of course, she washed the rag out and dabbed the beads of sweat from Leah's forehead.
She also asked me about Jake, but he had been getting better by the hour.
To distract her a bit from the obvious, I asked her about the exams.
She had made a few really stupid mistakes, she admitted, but overall it was definitely okay.
"Oh ... damn!" it escaped me as I recognized thoughts in the immediate vicinity. "Brandon and his mom are pulling up the driveway right now!", I commented, quickly standing up.
Becky's gaze lingered on my eyes at that.
On my red eyes.
"Don't worry," I winked at her and hurriedly ran downstairs. "Bella? We are getting a visitor," I said immediately when I arrived in the kitchen.
"Oh ...", my beloved merely made in surprise.
"Cathlyn and Brandon stand outside the door. Go up to the bedroom and change as if you were lying down," I instructed her, already putting in the contact lenses Carlisle had left for me. It had just been a feeling that Cathlyn would want to come over in person, which I was unmistakably not wrong about.
Hectically, Bella threw the wooden spoon aside and wanted to run off.
I stopped her after all, when my eyes were inconspicuously dark.
My little clumsy fellow would otherwise manage that I still have her indisposed in bed as well.
So I quickly brought her upstairs myself as the bell was already ringing.
I grabbed the wooden spoon in a flash and vividly opened the door with it.
"Mrs. Cathlyn?", I stated in surprise.
"Hello, Edward. I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you," she greeted me more graciously than she had been able to bring herself to do for the past few months. "How are the three of them?" she asked immediately.
Her words were not insincere, but she also wanted to verify my statement from the phone this morning. She couldn't imagine why Jake and Bella also suffered so much when Leah's boyfriend passed away unexpectedly.
"Jake is doing better already. His circulation isn't quite up to par yet," I answered truthfully and gestured to Brandon that he could wake Jake up slowly.
Lunch would be ready in a moment.
He nodded and went upstairs, mentally apologizing - as he had since the front door was open - for not being able to stop his mother. He knew from Becky how things actually stood here in the house today. That there was a supernatural reason for the twins' health.
I led Cathlyn into the dining room while I tried to explain Leah's condition to her.
I took a controlling look at the food.
Roast chicken. One of Jake's favorite dishes.
I stirred through the vegetables roasting away and added the warm potatoes to the salad dressing.
"You cook?" wondered Cathlyn.
She didn't expect that from me as a teenager. Rather, that Bella would cook for me. More precisely, that she would look after me like a third child, and that was exactly what I expected and wanted from Bella.
"Of course," I replied simply and began to set the table. "Would you like to eat with us? I've made way too much in the hope that Leah would sit at the table with us," I hospitably offered her. It wasn't a lie, except for the cook. That Bella must have hoped so, I could infer from the quantities of food Bella had prepared. For two full-grown predators and two normal eating ladies.
Cathlyn declined with thanks, though the smell made her mouth water as I arranged the food.
I excused myself briefly from Cathlyn to go get my family.
She was snacking in the meantime, by the way.
Jake's room door was open, and I saw three teenagers sitting in a bed.
Brandon teased his best friend that he was still lazily lying in bed in the middle of the day, while the others had to endure the exams. And if wolves also hibernated.
All three knew that he was just teasing Jake and that these statements were not serious.
"Hungry?", I asked, casually leaning into the door frame.
Jake clearly looked better, but I knew he was still feeling his sister's grief firsthand. He had been trying to detach himself emotionally from it since last night, but he wasn't really managing to do so.
He nodded steadily in response to my question, as I had expected.
"But let's take it slow!", I slowed my son down as he tried to stand up elated.
The advice came half a second too late.
Jake was already standing and staggering dazedly after he pushed Becky onto the bed looking for support and she practically landed on Brandon.
Immediately I stood with him.
It was just a brief dizziness from standing up too quickly, but wolves shouldn't really know that feeling.
Not wanting to take any chances, I supported Jake on his way to the dining room table.
"Hey, Mrs. T," he greeted Cathlyn, who looked thoroughly startled toward him.
She hadn't expected that Jake was actually in such poor health that it showed on his face.
Even though Jake was feeling much better overall than he had this morning, this walk had still strained him. He let himself fall sluggishly on his chair and was a little out of breath.
I was still squatting next to him, waiting for his lungs to settle down, while he looked gratefully towards me.
"Thanks, Dad!" said Jake emphatically.
"That's what you have a father for," I whispered with a smile, and he nodded with feeling.
I gave him a kiss on the forehead before going upstairs again.
"What do you want me to tell her?", Bella asked me nervously as soon as I entered the bedroom.
She sat jittery on the edge of the bed in baggy clothes and chewed on her lower lip.
First of all, I saved those perfect lips from this torture-like treatment. Then I went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and looked for a small bottle whose ingredients would burn in the eyes if you held it too close to your face.
It worked quickly and Bella, with her reddened and slightly watery eyes, looked like she had slept very poorly that night. Otherwise, she should just be nervous. With her fingers on any things overly playing. Being overprotective of Jake at the table. Things like that. She wouldn't have to name a specific symptom to her girlfriend, but just seem a little upset and taken away overall.
I carried her downstairs simply because I wanted to enjoy a little of my angel's warmth, but let her go largely alone on the first floor.
Just as I had said she would, she walked a little bumpily up to Jake and hugged our son, who was almost as tall sitting down as his mother was standing up.
Meanwhile, I was paying attention to Cathlyn, who was even more startled by the sight of her friend than she was by Jake's.
The meal went quietly, and we told Cathlyn a little about Nanuk.
How Leah and Nanuk had found each other, and it had been love at first sight. Also how the two had fought against this feeling, since they had both already been happily spoken for. How they had lost this fight in the end. That it was simply inconceivable that such a young and healthy man had met his end in such a cruel way. And that Leah could not cope with this situation at all.
I excused myself to check on Leah for a moment.
Her next outburst was imminent, and her heart was already beating faster. She seemed almost awake. She mumbled Nanuk's name and cried to herself with her eyes open.
I dabbed over her forehead. The tear-wet chocolate eyes thereupon looked directly at me.
"We're here for you, Leah," I whispered, gently stroking over her cheek.
"Dad?" she mumbled questioningly.
"Yes, Little one," I replied.
"Jake," she whispered weakly.
I repeated it, a little louder than she did, so Jake could hear me.
Immediately, he got up from the table below, still tipping the chair over as he noticed the dizziness in his head again.
Brandon accompanied him, as the latter had naturally noticed his friend's weakness.
The rest looked anxiously after the two. Except Cathlyn, who was more surprised and didn't know why the boys went up without a word.
"She was asking about you," I signified to my son, who sat down with his sister.
I had moved back a bit, but still had my hand on Leah's.
Brandon, meanwhile, remained standing in the doorway.
Dismayed to see Leah like this. Jake and he had been best friends since their first day of Elementary school , and Leah was part of that for him. The twins only came in a double pack. He had never had romantic feelings for Leah, but seeing her like this hurt him too. He didn't know what to do.
My twins seemed to be talking to each other in silence. They just looked at each other. Their hearts beat in slightly elevated unison.
"Nanuk," Leah murmured then, and it sounded hopeful.
But Jake just shook his head.
Nanuk would not show up here with her.
She then broke out. She pushed Jake roughly off the bed so that he was lying at Brandon's feet. She shrieked that the people in the dining room were frightened. She kicked and punched around her.
My reaction was a split second too delayed to prevent Leah from hitting against her headboard with one hand and breaking two fingers.
But I held her again. With gentle pressure I pressed her against me, whispered soothingly to her until the attack was over and she fell asleep crying in my arms.
"Oh God!", I heard behind me.
It was Cathlyn who had come upstairs with Bella and Becky.
Now she was completely finished. Apparently, I had told the truth on the phone and had not dramatized anything either, and she was ashamed that she had questioned that.
I laid Leah back in bed properly, tucked her in, and gently stroked over her cheek.
I wished so much that I could really help my little girl. But there was nothing I could do other than just be with her. Couldn't do any of us.
Bella was suddenly sitting next to me, tears running down her cheeks and she looked unhappily at our princess.
"It's getting worse," she muttered.
"Yes," I answered simply, brushing away my angel's tears.
I rose and turned to Jake. He was leaning against the wall next to the door and could do nothing but look at Leah.
He was afraid of losing his sister.
"I will not lose any of my children!", I sternly commanded into his thoughts.
He nodded seriously.
"Thanks, Dad!" he said, hugging me tightly as Cathlyn gasped quietly and in disbelief at this little scene between father and son.
Mentally, Jake explained it in a little more detail.
Thank you that I was there. Thank you that I took care of him and his sister. Thank you that I didn't recoil because something wasn't right. Thank you that I didn't leave his mother alone with it. Thank you that I fought for his sister when he or she couldn't do it themselves.
Jake retreated to his room with Becky after lingering briefly at Leah's side.
Bella stayed with Leah, and I went back down with Cathlyn and Brandon.
Brandon did not want to disturb the twins and would have preferred to leave immediately. However, he thought about what he might do for them as a sign that he was thinking of them. Just as he had brought Becky licorice to the hospital.
Cathlyn hadn't come here just for personal reasons, though.
Actually, she had wanted to talk to Bella, the mother and thus legal guardian of the twins, but the way she had taken things now, she made do with me. Topic: midterm exams and the schedule for the coming semester. Today the students were to indicate in which electives they wanted to take, so that the plans could be handed out Friday of next week with the report card.
We started with the schedules.
"Leah would like to deselect math," I began to say as I cleared the table.
Brandon agreed with that.
Both for Leah and for herself.
However, we all knew very well that math and English were required or major subjects that could not be deselected.
After that comment, though, Brandon drove.
An idea had come to him about what he could do for the twins.
"They both take physics, biology, and chemistry as college prep courses," I began, which Cathlyn noted without hesitation.
Since she knew the twins, she also knew about their career plans.
When the plans finally stood, I went to Jake to get my thoughts signed off, so to speak.
From Jake and from Becky.
They would continue to have four subjects together after that. Math, English, and History as before, and now Geography, where seemingly the entire group would meet. While Jake was taught in the sciences, Becky had business administration, taxation, and accounting. The plan was endorsed in Jake's bedroom after Becky had already brought home the message since Christmas that Jake didn't need to have every lesson together with her. He couldn't do anything with all the economics subjects anyway.
I also showed Bella the schedules, of course, but Bella didn't want to see them at all. She trusted me.
"Okay, with that, Jake wouldn't need to retake the English, math, chemistry, and bio exams if need be, since he will continue to take the subjects and take a corresponding final exam in the summer," Cathlyn then stated.
"The economics subjects are not of particular importance for Jake's professional career. Could one talk to the teachers about this if tomorrow I don't want to answer for sending him to school?", I inquired.
"YOU decide about that?" she asked, surprised.
Very well. Since she consistently addressed me as 'you' only to bring home the message that she had no respect for me and my relationship with Bella, I would now switch to this more personal form of address as well.
"Cathlyn. You got a little glimpse of what it's like in this house earlier. I love the twins like they are my own children, and they accept and respect me as a father, even though they are older than me. Even to Becky, I'm more like a father-in-law than a classmate. I can't explain to you exactly how that came about. A lot happened with us in the first few weeks that intensified this bond between us. Hostility because of our age difference. Becky's rape. The twins having problems with relatives from La Push. And so on ... I may only be seventeen years young, but my word has as much meaning here as Bella's. If I am of the opinion that Jake is in no condition to go to school, Bella will not doubt that opinion, but will support it," I explained meekly.
"That's exactly it," Bella spoke, leaning in the doorway between the living and dining rooms, and Becky also nodded affirmatively, standing next to her.
Cathlyn cringed a little bit.
She hadn't heard the two coming.
Bella came around the table to me, sat on my legs, looked lovingly into my eyes and gently kissed my lips.
My wife! In good days and in difficult days! These days were definitely among the difficult ones, but my heart did not want to be anywhere else but in the midst of my family.
Becky also came over to me, put an arm around my shoulders and gave me a kiss on the cheek, as I was now as used to from her as from the twins.
"And when we are married, Edward will officially become the twins' stepfather. Then there will be no more room for your concerns about whether or not Edward gets to decide anything without me," Bella added, not taking her eyes off me.
We smiled.
Yes, I might have struggled a bit at first with wanting - or rather having - to parent the kids. Especially when I had no opportunity to consult with Bella beforehand. But no matter what I had decided on my own responsibility in this house so far, Bella had always approved it in the end, even if it sometimes required an interpretation of my reasons. Only once had Bella cancelled my instructions. When I had grounded Jake for life in the Native American village and given him a Becky ban. Among other things. Admittedly, that had been an act of defiance on my part.
Cathlyn was a bit speechless and busy sorting out her opinion of us.
"What is Leah doing?" meanwhile, I asked my angel.
I heard the steady cardiovascular rhythm.
"She's completely calm," Bella countered.
"And how are you?", I asked anxiously.
Her eyes were reddened and that could no longer be the reaction to the cold medicine.
"Don't know yet," she replied, leaning her head against my shoulder.
I gave Becky a look that she thoroughly understood.
Jake had been a little beside himself after Leah's seizure. It had been the first one he had witnessed firsthand, but he lay in his bed, calm as a cucumber. I could hear him musing about his sister. And about what they would all be doing right now if I wasn't here. Yet I wasn't really doing anything.
Becky went back upstairs with a bottle of juice. She cared for her wolf.
"The exams," I now addressed Cathlyn, reminding her of our real topic.
She shook her head briefly to refocus.
She had seen Leah and doubted she would show up at school this week. She also questioned the coming week in that regard. She would certainly need psychological treatment, but Cathlyn had no idea about that and would not express a possibly hasty judgment in that regard. She knew, after all, that my father was a doctor. She was also sure that said doctor had already checked on the twins. She had noticed the utensils for the transfusion on Leah's dresser. In this respect, Dr. Stone would certainly take care of everything. But this also meant that Leah would not be able to pass a single exam.
"About Leah, I'll talk to Mr. Taylor and the appropriate teachers ... And what do we do with you?" she asked, pulling a sheet from the folder she had brought with her.
"You tell me, Carolyn" I prompted her.
I saw what she had in her hands, of course. My preliminary grades for the first semester.
She smiled, even though she had taken note of my disrespectful speech using only her first name.
"I guess it's unlikely you could improve your grades by taking the exams," she stated in a playedly matter-of-fact manner.
I nodded in agreement. Before she finally left again, however, I promised - as far as possible - to come to the exams on Thursday.
Bella and I continued to stay with Leah most of the time, but barely any change happened. The seizures were sometimes stronger, sometimes more brutal, sometimes louder, sometimes more desperate.
Brandon came by again.
For Jake, he had picked up his favorite donuts from a bakery at the end of town. For Leah, who was hardly aware of anything at the moment, a little music box with a nice soothing melody.
It was no match in quality for Bella's Christmas gift, but I thought it was a nice gesture and Leah would certainly crack a smile about it as she registered more of her surroundings.
Bella had called Professor Stewart that afternoon and signed off on seeing him this week because of a severe cold of the twins.
David had stopped by for a beer with Cookie in the evening, but that intention was quickly forgotten after he sat with Leah himself and thus understood our mood.
The next day brought no change.
Jake had wanted to get up and go to school, but when Leah threw a very violent seizure, I found my son sitting on the floor shivering in the shower afterwards.
Thus, he also spent most of Wednesday in bed. He slept a lot, but recovered much better and faster and even picked up his schoolbooks during his waking phases.
Well, he mostly fell asleep in the process again, but the good will counted.
Carlisle again gave Leah a Banana Bag.
We had already given her a liner in her underwear yesterday, but she did not excrete anything. The body kept everything for itself.
Esmé took Ced back over to their house.
Our baby was amazingly selfless for his four weeks. He didn't blame us at all for leaving him with Esmé during the day. The only thing he actually demanded was that Bella and I give him his bottle together in the morning and evening, while Esmé stayed with Leah. Thereby he showed us what he had done with Esmé during the many hours. Swimming, baking, strolling, playing, painting - as far as you could call it with Ced. Esmé came up with a lot to keep her grandson busy.
He said goodbye to his parents with the thought that we should make his big sister healthy again.
We promised to do everything in our power to make that happen.
Sonya stopped by for coffee late that morning and was dismayed to see how the twins were doing. She had thought her husband had exaggerated.
David came over again in the evening for an hour to see his foster children.
They too could not think of any help for Leah.
On Wednesday afternoon, I was just lying with Leah again, I heard a voice of thought approaching through the woods.
It was Akai.
But he just stuck an envelope on the patio door and disappeared again.
It was the invitation to the funeral. It would take place on Friday morning.
Then, on Thursday, I sat with Jake at school while the snow raged outside. I exchanged our works with him - unnoticed by the supervisor.
His thoughts were on Leah, and he did not solve a single problem flawlessly, although under different circumstances he would definitely know the solution. I mastered his writing and left believable mistakes in his exam.
Carlisle, meanwhile, was with Leah.
Her emotional state did not get any better. She had her attacks of different types and dimensions. In between she slept or lay apathetic. She did not react to anything or anyone. Neither to me, nor to Bella, nor to her twin.
As I learned between exams, there were no differences from Carlisle either.
We hurried home after exams, although Leah would not take note of this.
Even as I got out of my BMW, I was getting nervous.
From the house I heard a heartbeat too little, and a delicious flowery aroma was in the air.
Hastily I ran to the door ... and my heart would have stopped if it were still beating.
Bella lay unconscious between the hallway and the living room. Blood stuck to the door frame. A water bottle was lying next to her, the screw cap of which had obviously given way due to the pressure of the carbon dioxide. It was half empty and the surrounding area was soaked.
"BELLA!", I exclaimed in panic.
No reaction.
Carefully I turned her onto her back. Thereby I felt over the cervical vertebrae to control their position.
My life's purpose was bleeding. From the forehead down to the jawbone. Hyposphagma. Bloodshot eyes from burst capillaries.
"Mom!"
"Bella!"
Jake and Becky came through the door.
"Carlisle's bag. It must be upstairs with Leah," was all I said.
Jake ran off while I carried Bella to the sofa, which Becky cleared of various pillows.
"Bella, dearest?", I addressed her again.
She slowly stirred.
Jake came with the bag, but ...
"Leah's gone!" he said immediately.
Jake turned to the terrace, threw his jacket off him, and pulled his sweater over his head, even though I forbade him to phase.
The wolf in him would not let the last two days go uncommented upon, as while Jake was clearly doing much better today, it was still not normal for his usual wolfish unshakable body. However, Jake didn't care. His sister was gone. I couldn't forbid him to look for her!
Becky had taken the bag from him and placed it open so that I could easily reach the contents.
Saline solution and gauze to clean the wounds. Disinfectant and absorbent cotton to prevent infection.
At this, my angel twitched and hissingly sucked in the air between her teeth.
Meanwhile, my son was staggering on the terrace, but that interested him damn little. He staggered further into the forest.
I watched behind him worriedly for a few seconds before focusing on Bella.
"Bella, honey. What happened?", I asked as her chocolate eyes glared wickedly at me.
Wicked because of the burning on the injury, because her look was immediately changed. Paralyzed by fear, scared to death, filled with horror. I could not define it exactly.
She straightened up far too quickly, looking around irritably, holding a hand from pulling pain against her forehead.
Somewhat roughly, I took her face in my hands so that she would look at me.
"Bella, please! What happened?" I prompted her again.
"Leah. She pushed me aside. Against the door frame," she mumbled and somehow absent-mindedly pointed in the direction where she had been lying.
Her eyes widened and her gaze returned to me. All at once she shrieked hysterically and lashed out, like Leah during her outbursts.
"Get her back! Edward! Bring my baby home!" she demanded, screaming.
"Bella! Shh ...", I forcibly pulled her to me to calm her down. It worked after a moment, but Bella made the impression of being completely beside herself.
Gently, I laid her back on the cushion of our sofa.
"I promise you I will bring Leah home!", I vowed to my angel and kissed her on the forehead before disappearing across the patio as well.
Becky immediately took my place, spoke petty stuff in a forced even-tempered tone, assured that I would keep my word, and continued to dab at the wounds with the absorbent cotton.
Calm down Bella! Nothing bad has happened ... Until the opposite is proven!, it shot through Becky's head.
I loved this girl.
I followed my son, who in turn followed Leah's very clear track.
It was no wonder that Leah's smell was so penetrating and distinct to follow. She hadn't been in the woods since Monday. The staggering had apparently stopped with Jake. He had a considerable lead over me and was running fast, which was nevertheless not his usual speed. In this respect, I was slowly getting closer, as I recognized from his thoughts, which I soon heard.
Meanwhile, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called Carlisle.
I couldn't believe that he had apparently been out of the house for so long that this could happen now. How long had Bella been unconscious? How long had Leah been out? How could he even leave the house?
"Edward. I'm already at Bella's. I'm sorry!" he announced after the first ring.
"Where were you?" I asked angrily. My wife was injured, and my unstable daughter had disappeared.
"With Sonya. She was here to distract Bella a little. When she tried to go back over, she almost slipped on the porch. Leah had just come out of a seizure and was calm, so I walked Sonya home," he explained.
"How long were you gone?", I asked further. There was time for everything else later. For example, for my apology for my tone of voice. Under the circumstances, I would have taken Sonya home as well, since it was only eighty-seven yards. In addition, I would certainly have exchanged a few words with David and greeted Emma.
"Just a few minutes. Leah's lead can't be very big," he assured.
Or did he hope it more?
I hung up and concentrated.
On Leah's trail. On my son's thoughts before me. To all the possibilities I could think of that Leah might possibly have come up with. They were scary possibilities that drove me to hurry.
I ran as fast as I had probably ever run and eventually overtook Jake.
He, too, was running for his life.
We jumped over rivers and little canyons. Shot through the forest.
I left Jake behind pretty quickly, though.
His condition did not play along after the past two days as he had imagined, but he ran on and on, undeterred. In a northerly direction. I saw no reason for this direction, since we had already passed the lake or Cornish, where Nanuk had lived the past weeks. But then the realization hit me like a lightning bolt. At the exact moment I saw Leah through the trees. This was where we had passed when I was alone on the road with the kids. When we were in Canada. When Leah and Nanuk had first seen each other. It was a cliff in the middle of the forest, with about forty-three yards of steep drop behind it. Too deep a precipice for a wolf to survive it. It was a former quarry that held no water at the base to cushion an impact even a tiny bit. And my daughter stood at the highest point, her face stretched toward the snowflakes, her arms outstretched. Her thoughts were still the motionless dense fog.
"Nanuk!" whispered Leah.
She wanted only one thing. Go to him!
And she jumped off.
Behind me, there yowled somewhere agonizingly and threateningly at the same time.
Jake's connection to Leah was therefore working, despite the impenetrable fog in her head. A consideration I made just at the moment when I plunged unchecked over the cliff. Only fractions of a second after Leah. I did a quick recalculation: forty-three yards, taking into account the acceleration due to gravity, gives a terminal velocity of 29.045448 yards per second. 2.9608 seconds until my daughter would hit the ground. No time for error! No margin to compensate for lack of precision! Leah let herself fall simply, offering resistance to the air with her body. I, on the other hand, stretched not to do just that.
I reached my daughter, just managed to embrace her body before I also arrived on the ground.
For a moment I did not move.
I had not been able to cushion my own landing, there had been no time for that, which is why my legs felt as if they would burst. But my daughter was alive. She seemed to be looking at me.
"Why?" she asked, barely comprehensible, close to tears.
You could already see it glistening in the corners of her eyes.
"Because too many love you here, Little one!", I answered her.
Thanks for reading!
