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Chapter 82
Accomplishments
Edward
"All right, then. If Becky insists, of course you may stay," Dr. Bennett now said to Jake in a considerably friendlier manner, as she noted that this was Becky's express wish.
She had not expected that.
Cindy had had to brace herself against the wall to keep from being knocked over by Jake, but she had already forgiven him. She nodded understandingly to Carlisle and closed the door.
"Cindy knows what she's doing!" Carlisle assured me after we walked down the hall to his office. "She's been caring for rape victims since she was in medical school and even augmented it with a few semesters of psychology. There's no one right now who could help Becky better than her."
I just nodded.
That had already been clear to me when I had captured her thoughts in the parking lot. She had gone through a kind of checklist of her years of experience for these cases to make sure she would not forget anything whereby she would have to adjust to the girl's needs. She had already told her assistant to cancel all of her appointments for today and emphatically said she would not be available to anyone at least until noon.
"There's nothing we can do for them now. Neither for Becky nor for Jake," Carlisle added, feeling dissatisfied himself. But he had other patients to which he could attend.
I had to do something. Keep myself busy. I just couldn't stand being around Becky's thoughts, which I could hardly escape. Again and again the images of abuse surfaced. In a veritable endless loop. I saw how Michael Hanks had attacked her from behind, dragged her across the ground and torn her clothes, violently taking what he craved.
I shook my head vigorously, but it was no use.
The thoughts stayed with me. The images, the pain, the fear, the despair. But also, a little spark that Mike could not destroy. Her love for Jake. It was still there and Becky clung to it, together with the fear of losing that spark.
"How long is Cindy going to examine her?" I asked Carlisle.
"She's going to be very deliberate with her and take her time. I don't know how badly Becky is hurt. I've only seen her face. If the rest of her looks like that too, I'm guessing it will take at least two hours," he considered bitterly.
"Are you going to keep Becky here overnight?" I asked further.
"One night in any case," Carlisle said immediately.
He considered that he had the leverage here to simply kick visitors out so that Becky could get the rest she probably needed. But everything else he would depend on Dr. Bennett's assessment.
I nodded and turned toward the door.
"You are not going to that Michael and liquidate him!" my father threatened me, already standing in front of me.
In his eyes there was much to recognize.
The events of the morning so far had not passed him by without leaving a trace. He was shaken. But I also saw the disappointment in them. The disappointment in my behavior when guys like Mike Hanks once made up my diet. The disappointment when I rebelled against Carlisle because he curbed my thirst and I later returned to him - tormented by the cries of my victims. Screams that I also heard inside me today, if I paid attention to them. However, that time was behind me.
"No. I won't," I gave him my word and left the hospital.
I was already driving off when I pulled out my cell phone.
Hello, my heart.
Can you take a short break and come out?
I wrote to Bella.
I needed my angel now, even if only briefly, to really keep my word.
Do you miss me that much or did something happen?
she asked quickly.
Both. But Jake and Leah are fine!
I answered immediately.
When will you be here?
was no longer answered quite so quickly.
I'm waiting for you.
I wrote as I was already turning the car off again.
I didn't have to wait long, which I also didn't expect.
Bella quickly ran toward me.
"What happened?" she asked immediately, breathing frantically.
I pulled her tightly into my arms.
That's exactly what I needed now. Her closeness, so that I could think clearly again. So that I wouldn't get carried away and touch Mike.
I breathed deeply and sucked in her scent.
Bella repeated her question, but with a little less panic in her voice.
"Becky was raped by Mike," I said calmly.
Bella's eyes widened as she tried to comprehend my words, and she disengaged herself somewhat from my arms in dismay.
I took her face in my hands.
"She is doing reasonably well. She's in the hospital being cared for by a very good doctor. And Jake is with her," I continued.
Bella was stunned, shocked at the brutality I was even beginning to mention, concerned for Becky's health, and wondering how Elizabeth and Henry Young would take it.
"How's Jake?" she then murmured.
"I'm not sure. He's worried about Becky and scared for her, which is understandable. But other than that, I don't think he's quite realized it yet ... Remember that time in Port Angeles? When I secretly followed you?" I asked her.
She looked at me for a moment, confused, until realization flashed in her almond eyes.
"I was supposed to distract you so you wouldn't drive back," she recalled.
"If you hadn't been with me, I would have killed those guys. And all they were thinking about was to hurt you ... Now I need you again not to lose my temper," I said, looking at Bella in the depths of the chocolate ocean. Only she was able to make me pay no attention to my own desire and at the moment everything in me was thinking of satisfaction - for the desecration of my daughter-in-law and thereby the torture of my son.
But I breathed deeply again and let Bella's sweet scent and her sensual hands on my neck distract me from it.
Nothing was more important than my family! An attempt on Mike's life would immediately cast suspicion on Jake or on me - since he was in the hospital and thus had an alibi - which would have dampened the harmony of my family. I was left only with the hope that Becky would press charges and trust in the judiciary, which tended to be very harsh in punishments for such crimes.
Bella even almost distracted me from her question. The question of how Jake was doing at the moment.
"There's not a bit of anger in Jake or thought of revenge," I spoke, stroking over my angel's head.
"You'll make sure it stays that way?" Bella asked me cautiously.
"I think he will lose his temper as soon as he lets Becky out of his sight. It will only be a matter of time ..." I reflected. He was focused only on Becky, but as soon as that attention dwindled even for a moment, he would explode. Possibly literally. And he needed this outburst to really internalize it all. On the other hand, of course, I agreed with Bella. "I'll keep an eye on Jake to make sure he doesn't mess with Michael himself," I therefore promised.
So, we stood there for some time until I remembered that Bella was supposed to be working.
She already wanted to run back and ask her boss for the day off, but I thought that was unnecessary.
"Carlisle says the doctor, Dr. Bennett, is going to take a long time and Jake won't leave Becky's side for that long. So, there's nothing either of us can do right now except stare at the walls in his office. You can better distract yourself with work ... I'll be in touch if anything changes," I assured her and gave my angel a long kiss before she really went back to her job.
I watched after her until she was through the door.
If it were Bella being cared for in the hospital right now, I'd be freaking out.
I got back into my BMW and drove on.
Directly to the factory area.
I took out my cell phone and dialed Becky's number. I heard her ringtone and followed the melody of the song I had composed for the two of them.
With my jaw clenched, I walked down the same path Becky had been dragged along so recently. It might have been just an hour ago.
Again and again I saw some small blood stains on the hard floor. However, I took care not to cover any traces or to leave new ones. If charges were filed, this was considered a crime scene and would be investigated forensically.
I followed the song to Becky's school bag.
It was lying in the small courtyard where we had found her. Mike had carelessly thrown it into an alcove with all its contents. Her headphones were also lying there.
I shook my head at myself reprovingly.
If I hadn't been completely taken over by my concern and dismay for Becky, I would have seen the bag earlier and also taken it with me. That it served as evidence, I could exclude. Both were Becky's, they were almost undamaged, and the remaining evidence weighed many times heavier. The skin under her fingernails, for example.
Then I went to the walkway where Mike had attacked Becky from behind.
My eyes slid over the old and dilapidated cobblestones.
Here, too, I found what I was looking for based on Becky's memories. Her necklace had snapped and slipped down into a joint.
I drove to the school and walked purposefully toward the secretary's office, endeavored not to be provoked by Mike's repulsive thoughts.
He thought back about it triumphantly.
I clenched my hands into fists and concentrated stubbornly on the linoleum floor, which showed clear run marks.
A neutral white with invigorating small geometric patterns in various shades of gray. On average, sixty-seven patterns per square. Six squares with a side length of forty centimeters, plus a joint of five millimeters each made a corridor width of exactly two meters, forty-two centimeters and five millimeters. Plus/minus eight millimeters for imprecise - human - work.
Before I moved to the ceiling paneling - I'd probably take care of that on the way back - I finally reached the door.
"Hello, Edward," Cathlyn greeted me in surprise. "Are you skipping school? Your teachers have already missed you!" she announced to me somewhat snootily.
Even though she had stood up for Bella and me in front of the principal the Friday before last, she had something against us. She did not accept our love and was also not capable of tolerating it - despite their years of friendship. Moreover, she did not trust me, but this was only a natural reaction to my being a vampire.
"That's why I'm here. To excuse Jake, Becky, and me. Becky's in the hospital," I said.
"Oh my God, what happened?" asked Cathlyn, concerned.
With anyone else, I would probably limit myself to what was necessary, but since Cathlyn was Brandon's mother and so would definitely learn the truth, I saw no reason to keep anything from her.
"Becky was raped ... We were a little worried because Becky wasn't here yet, so we drove back her usual way a bit in case she was just late. Behind by the old factory we then found her and immediately took her to my father in the hospital," I explained as Mr. Taylor came storming out of his office, their door wide open.
He nodded forcedly in greeting.
"I don't expect Becky to show up for class this week. There's no way Jake will leave Becky alone, and I himself have some things to settle in that regard ... If you insist, my father will provide the appropriate certificates," I added.
"Of course, all three of you are excused, Mr. Stone," Mr. Taylor replied more quickly and sympathetically than I would have expected. "Do one already knows who the culprit is?" he then asked tensely, however, already having an applicable apprehension in mind for himself.
Michael Hanks. If he were, he would have a not-so-simple job to do. Expel him from school. On the one hand, he was just waiting for the day when he could finally do that. He knew how much trouble Mike was causing at this school, but so far nothing had been enough to definitively justify a reprimand. On the other side stood his father, for whom Mr. Taylor had real respect.
I was a little surprised.
The two knew each other. Not only did they seem to speak to each other many a time when Mike had screwed up again and again - for example the fight with Jake. They knew each other privately. From before. They had gone to school here together and were on the football team together. That's probably how the comparatively lenient punishments for Mike's numerous offenses came about.
"Of course. If Becky decides to pursue criminal charges, you will certainly be one of the first to know," I noncommittally confirmed his assumption and Cathlyn had also understood this hint.
The principal gulped and Cathlyn had a contemptuously satisfied smile on her face.
I said farewell with a request for utmost discretion, when the school bell just rang, ending second period.
I walked briskly to Leah's classroom and waved her out of the room before the bell rang for the second time.
Jasper had seen me in the hallway and joined us.
Quickly and quietly, so that Leah still understood, I told them both what had happened.
Leah was horrified and tears immediately ran down her cheeks.
I comforted her with Jasper's help.
I admonished both that Michael was not to be touched.
Jasper was more insightful than Leah, who was hopping mad after the initial consternation.
I held her tightly in my arms so she wouldn't go looking for Mike right away.
"Leah. Who will everyone suspect if Mike doesn't live very long, after Becky has just been a victim of his?" I asked her insistently.
"Jake!" she noted, startled herself.
I nodded and loosened my arms around her a bit while she realized that immediate revenge would only bring trouble.
"Please don't tell any of your friends. Becky certainly won't be thrilled if everyone already knows. She has hardly said anything so far and is completely scared. I don't want everyone to show up at her today. It won't help her if your friends literally attack her today and possibly also question her," I said still.
For that, Leah was sympathetic, but she would drive to the hospital after school to at least check on Jake if Becky wasn't in shape for a visit yet.
I gave Leah a kiss on the temple before sending her off to class.
"I'd like to stand by Becky," Jasper meant sympathetically as I was about to leave.
One corner of my mouth twitched upward.
"You're already doing that by reassuring Leah and me right now ... I'd love to drag him out of class and turn him into dust!" I growled.
Fortunately, class had already started, and the hallway was empty to that extent.
"Love and the resulting desire for revenge are stronger than my gift!" remarked Jazz to my simply unending rage.
"What do we need you for then?" I teased him.
I actually avoided a direct answer, but finally had to admit defeat to his gaze.
"A hospital. You trust yourself to do that?" so I asked.
The past twenty years had not changed the fact that Jazz was now as before the weakest of us when it came to controlling his thirst. However, he had practiced self-control. He had never been able to forgive himself for attacking Bella. This was not to be repeated under any circumstances, which is why he had deliberately - but in a controlled manner - exposed himself to blood. With moderate success. Fortunately, he had never tried it alone, which was why there were no victims to cover up.
"Yes!" he said immediately, convinced of it himself. "Thanks to you, our family has become bigger. I still can't understand how you could drink from Bella without losing yourself in it, but that you basically don't kill her because you love her, I understand that now. I don't think I could do anything to Becky even if the blood drained from her body!" he said firmly.
"I'm afraid that puts you pretty close to reality," I countered contemptuously. Just thinking of the image of Becky as we had found her, the venom gathered in my mouth in joyful anticipation of retribution.
Jazz swallowed noticeably.
Also poison.
"I'm not going to stop you from coming to the hospital. You know best what you can trust yourself to do. Like that time with Bella at the ballet studio. You didn't think about it then either, to misappropriate her", I said in conclusion and went on my way again.
This time I drove to Becky's home.
If she stayed overnight in the hospital, she would need, or rather want, to have some things. The usual hospital clothing for patients might be too revealing for her, for what she had to experience.
I searched Becky's school bag and quickly found the front door key.
In Becky's room, I saw the small bag she always showed up at our house with on weekends. I endeavored not to invade Becky's privacy too much and only packed things that I didn't have to look for too much.
I smirked a bit when I saw some clothes hanging over a chair.
A pair of Jake's sweatpants and T-shirt, in case he came by as a wolf.
I wrapped it up.
In the closet I took the same again, but this time in Becky's size.
Since I didn't know how much she was hurting at her femininity but could certainly imagine that a supposedly tight pair of pants might make her uncomfortable, I packed a pair of loose-fitting pajamas. A nightgown - the compartment with nightwear was overflowing with them - might again be too open-minded for her. Added to that was some underwear as well as socks and a set of normal street clothes, since hers from this morning were only rags.
In the adjacent bathroom, which she apparently shared with her brother, I packed more. On a dresser were some hair ties, one of which I also threw into the bag.
But I almost forgot the most important thing. On her bed was a stuffed animal, a wolf, which she had tinkered and sewn together with Jake in Alice's studio. With Alice's help, of course, otherwise it would certainly not have been recognizable as a wolf, as she herself had laughingly admitted. Instead, it was now, by the standards of a stuffed animal, an exact likeness of Jake. Inside was a small cloth heart containing a ring from a gumball machine. Jake had made a promise to Becky with this ring that one day, when they were both old enough, he would propose to her.
On the way to the hospital, I stopped at a jeweler.
Becky's chain had broken, and dirt had collected in the settings of the stones.
While the jeweler cleaned and polished the pendant, I saw in a showcase the different ways to engrave jewelry.
I considered.
Jake's feelings would not change because of this shameful act, but Becky's feelings might well change. She had clung to Jake earlier, but that could also have just been an instinctive reaction. When during the physical examination she became aware of what had happened to her, the picture could change quickly. Fear of any men could take her. That would include Jake. She had even looked at Carlisle in fright when he had come into the car. The last spark of trust in her must not be extinguished under any circumstances. A small gesture of attachment could save her from that.
So, I asked the jeweler to make an engraving in the heart of Becky's pendant.
I was in the hospital cafeteria when Carlisle notified me via text message that Becky really wanted to report the crime and that the police had been notified.
Good girl, I thought to myself. The disgusting guy could not go unpunished.
My vengeful side resurfaced a bit again.
There was no way he would get away scot-free! But now was not the right time to think about such things.
I wrote back to Carlisle that I was already back and asked if he had yet had a room prepared for Becky since I had brought her some things.
His answer almost made me smirk.
I should have guessed that she got the room right next to his office.
I brought the bag into the room and there I met a young student nurse who was just preparing the bed.
She knew what kind of patient was about to move in here, but didn't quite know how to meet me based on this act. Friendly, sympathetic, sad, taken back, or maybe even encouraging?
I just put the bag down before she had to decide on something.
I sat down in Carlisle's office and waited.
I concentrated on Jake's thoughts, who continually looked Becky in her shocked blue eyes. I didn't want to see anything else of Becky. Jake already thought about Becky way too often and out of nowhere anyway, so I also knew her three tattoos by now. Amongst others.
I smiled faintly as a question from Rosalie slipped into my mind as I did so, 'You wouldn't happen to be related? You and Jake?'
I had the same 'slips' of my thoughts happen to me, only I saw his mother in them. Were Jake and I so similar that at times I really thought I recognized myself in him, or were Jacob Black and I more like-minded people than I had ever seen before?
Before I could ponder about it, however, there was a knock at the door.
Two police officers who were looking for Carlisle or Cindy.
"You're here for the girl who was raped?" I asked after introducing myself as Dr. Stone's son.
The thirtyish male police officer raised an eyebrow suspiciously, harshly condemning Carlisle's breach of confidentiality in his thoughts.
However, the already somewhat older policewoman nodded.
"The girl's name is Becky Young. I go to school along with her. Together with her boyfriend I found her and brought her here immediately," I explained.
The officers visibly relaxed that a doctor apparently did not just share such confidential matters with his son.
I was to report in more detail and told them that we had happened to see her necklace on the walkway. Then we followed the ringing of her cell phone and made our way into the courtyard, where Becky laid unconscious.
I pointed to the school bag lying on one of the chairs.
I had already heard at Becky's on the way here this morning that she couldn't remember what had happened between the crime itself and the drive to the hospital or how much time had passed. In that respect, my statement would not stand in any contradiction to hers.
"I think you shouldn't question Jake as a witness. Since he was with her during Becky's medical exam and, more importantly, is her boyfriend, testifying would follow his emotions more than the objective facts," I said afterwards when they asked me about Jake.
The man considered my hint and finally thought it was logical after realizing for himself that he would not have thought at it.
They took my data as a witness.
I then led the officers to the treatment room and waited in the hallway for Jake, since he was not allowed to be there during Becky's testimony.
Jake didn't even perceive me as he stepped out into the hallway, lost in thought, and drove his hands through his hair erratically. I pushed him across the hall to Carlisle's room.
"You're still here!" murmured Jake tonelessly to me as he then walked past me.
He looked numb, as if he was just functioning, as he walked straight toward Becky's school bag and began to rummage through it. It wasn't good for his soul if he didn't face his emotions and it might rub off on Becky.
I walked close to him, put a hand on his shoulder and asked how HE was doing.
That Becky was not well, was unfortunately obvious. I didn't need to ask about that.
What had to happen happened.
He freaked out.
He now realized what had happened to Becky. That it was not an unfortunate coincidence, but that there was a culprit. That someone had done it knowingly and intentionally. Rage and anger overcame him. The bitter taste of vengeance and satisfaction dominated him. But not for very long. Jake broke down into a helpless child who didn't know what to do. He thought he was shedding tears of anger, but he sobbed out of fear and dismay.
I held my son tightly in my arms and talked gently until he calmed down.
While we waited for Jake to be allowed to go back to Becky, he devoured the sandwiches I had brought him from the cafeteria.
"I'm not hungry!" he had said stubbornly though, but I knew Jake well enough in that regard. As soon as they were in his hands, his stomach growled.
"What about Becky's parents?" Carlisle then asked when we were alone again.
As the treating physician, it was his duty to inform the parents of his minor patient.
"We have already called her mother. I'll pick her up as soon as she can leave work and call in," I explained, but it didn't come to that.
Shortly after noon, the shocked parents stood in Carlisle's office, beside themselves.
Thank you for reading!
