It had been hours. Hours of Bella pacing and cleaning, and pacing some more. At first, Annabelle had been a welcome distraction. Bella had made sure the little girl ate, they cuddled together while watching Beauty and the Beast, and finally the little girl seemed ready for a nap. Once she was asleep Bella's mind whirled. She faintly recalled the story Jacob had told her that day on the beach "descended from wolves" he had said. She chewed on her lip as she paced in front of the clock on the wall. Finally she shook herself out of it. "Okay, wolves. Big, terrifying wolves." She then remembered the night in the woods; the night Edward had left her. It was Sam that had found her. Had he been a wolf then? Had Jacob? She tried to think of any clues she had missed but her last moments in Forks had been clouded by depression so thick she could hardly get out of bed, much less notice the world around her. She frowned, again looking at the clock.
Just then a yip from the woods had her sprinting to the door, and she gasped as a bloody Sam carried an equally torn up Paul.
"Clear the table!" Sam shouted and Bella lurched into action. She scattered the remaining plates onto the floor with one sweep of her arm just before Sam deposited the man onto the hard surface. Paul groaned, eyes clenched shut.
"Jesus, what happened?" she shrieked and Sam seemed to wince at the tone of her voice.
"We got cornered." Sam huffed.
Bella had so many questions on the tip of her tongue but as she glanced at Paul's shaking form her training kicked in. Years ago she would have fainted outright at the sight of all the blood, but after working in childcare she had taken several first aid courses. She grabbed a towel from the kitchen and started wiping blood from his arms, trying to find the source. She glanced at Sam and saw him wide-eyed and afraid. Paul nearly lurched of the table as the rag ran over his wrist and Bella gasped at what she found.
"Oh god. He was bit!?" she gasped.
Sam let loose a deranged noise as he dropped to his knees next to Paul.
Without thought Bella did the only thing she could think of. Wiping a bit more blood from her wound she quickly lowered her head and wrapped her lips around the bite. She coughed and spat the blood onto the floor. Sam had jumped back to his feet.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" he shouted moving to pull her away, but she raised her hand and continued. She did this for several minutes. She had no way of telling when the venom was gone, but she watched as Paul's breathing became slower and more even. When she pulled her mouth away she ran to the kitchen just in time to empty the contents of her stomach into the sink. She looked up as Sam offered her a glass of water and she quickly swished the fluid around her mouth until she could no longer taste the blood and bile.
She sank to the floor, back against the kitchen counters and tried to catch her breath. Sam stood above her, shaking and casting glances between her and Paul. Finally he lowered himself down in front of her.
"I had to try." she murmured.
"I don't understand." Sam said. "He should…he should be dead already. Vampire bites are fatal."
Bella scoffed and twisted her wrist to show Sam the crescent shaped scar that had never fully healed. He was quick to grab her arm, running his warm finger across the mark. His wide eyes swung to her. "How? How are you alive? Did the Cullens do this?!"
"No. The Cullens, Edward, saved me. A nomad found us in the woods, smelled me and decided I was his next snack. They tried to hide me, took me all the way to Arizona but the crazy fucker found me anyways." she sighed. "Edward sucked it out" she gestured to Paul, who had seemed to regain some of the color to his skin.
"I wasn't sure it would work, still not really sure, but I had to try." she whispered.
Sam jumped to his feet again as Paul groaned on the table. Bella followed behind and they both watched closely as Paul started to wake. His eyes blinked open, before he was sitting up and frantically looking around. He looked down to the still lightly bleeding bite on his arm. "I…" He swung his head to Sam and then to Bella. Bella jolted backwards as he hopped off the table and stalked towards her, face blank. She gasped in surprise as he whipped his arms around her and crushed her into his chest. She felt his shoulders shake and warm tears dripped onto her head. "Thank you." he sobbed and Bella's wide eyes flew to Sams.