Chapter 25 — Waking

Jacob

The world came back to me in waves of color and sound. At first it was just flashes, then it was brief, beautiful glimpses of my angel, my Nessie. Her face was inches from mine, diamonds dancing on her cheeks. I couldn't make sense of it. Then I would fade away again.

The first time I finally woke up for any length of time, I found myself in the bloodsuckers house. I was sure I had slipped into an old nightmare. The white walls, the vampire stench stinging my nose, I could even hear the IV that Bella had to be hooked up to. Then I realized that the IV was attached to me. My other arm reached over to pull it out but I found I could barely lift it.

"Jacob?"

Her sweet, soft voice filled me with exaltation. I searched for a source, moving my aching head to the right. I saw Nessie lying beside me. She did not have diamonds on her cheeks. She had tears.

"Nessie," I croaked.

"Carlisle!" Nessie called, sitting up. "Carlisle, he's awake."

She moved from the narrow bed I was lying on and began to gather small objects from the medical-looking cart beside me. I realized suddenly that I was in a hospital bed. She stuck a thermometer in my mouth and strapped a blood pressure cuff to my arm.

"109.5, not bad," said Nessie to Carlisle. "Getting back to normal. Blood pressure is still a little high though."

"Not so high, for his kind," said Carlisle.

I was having trouble processing their speech into meaningful words. Every inch of me begged for sleep, and yet I could not bring myself to take my eyes off Nessie.

"Nessie," I said her name again.

"I'm here, Jacob," she said, coming to kneel by my bed, her face close to mine. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," I murmured. "Tired."

"Keep resting," Nessie insisted.

"No," I groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"I want to see you," I whispered.

Nessie let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"You can see me whenever you want. I'll be right here," she said. "I won't leave your side."

"Promise?" I mumbled, my eyes already falling closed.

"I promise," she said.

Renesmee

I laid beside him on the small hospital bed, watching him day and night. The first night after we'd gotten him back had been the worst. Carlisle had pumped Jacob with antibiotics but his heart rate continued to slow and his temperature continued to rise to staggering heights. His skin had broken out in hives that would heal, but come back just as fast. He vomited several times in his sleep and we had to watch him constantly so he wouldn't choke. He was dead to the world.

Carlisle hooked him up to an IV full of fluid and antibiotics. I wanted to help, but my hands wouldn't stop shaking and I couldn't manage the flow of tears that continuously blurred my vision. I thought for sure he would die that first night. I knew Carlisle felt that way too. I had worked with him in hospital settings many times before and I knew the look on his face when he felt a person was past hope. It never meant he stopped trying, though.

The next day, his fever went down slightly, but he did not wake. Carlisle insisted he needed rest and that he would wake when he was ready, but I began to worry about encephalopathy of the brain and organ function failure all the same. My parents tried to get me to sleep while Carlisle took care of Jacob, but I ignored them.

The second day, he stirred a couple of times, but said nothing. Carlisle said that if he didn't wake up soon, he'd have to be fed via a nasogastric tube. Ally paced outside with Nahuel by her side. She was in wolf-form keeping in contact with Nick and Jordan who were in La Push, keeping their parents informed of Jacob's condition.

Finally, on the third morning, Jacob woke up and spoke to me. To hear his voice, even as hoarse and weak as it was, was like a miracle and a fresh stream of tears began. He fell back asleep fairly quickly but woke up an hour later, his eyes clearer.

"What… what happened?" he groaned.

"What do you remember, Jacob?" asked Carlisle, who had brought over some broth and bland crackers for him to try.

"The last thing I remember was that crazy bloodsucker," said Jacob, slowly. "Injecting me with all sorts of stuff and…"

He shuddered, but didn't continue. I exchanged a glance with Carlisle. If he did remember being tortured, it wasn't something he should have to relive now.

"I know you're tired," I said, watching his eyes droop again. "But you have to try to eat something. It's the only way you'll get your strength back."

"Sure thing, Doc," he said, his lips pulling up in a weak smile.

I helped prop him up. I hated how thin he looked, how the color drained from his face even with this small movement. The body I loved so much was nothing but skin and bones now and it made my stomach turn to see him this way.

He took a few bites of broth and a few sips of water. Then he looked at me. He said nothing, but he looked into my face as though he would never get enough of it, as though he was afraid I would disappear.

"Keep eating, Jacob," I whispered.

He smiled and took a few more bites. My parents walked into the room. The relief on both of their faces was evident.

"I never thought the two of you would look so happy to see me," said Jacob, his voice a bit stronger with the sips of soup.

My mother looked hurt. "How can you say that, Jake? I was always happy to see you."

Jacob shrugged.

"Didn't know if it would be different now that you're a vamp," he paused. "And now that I'm in love with your daughter."

My mother smiled. "It only makes me more happy to see you. Less complicated. Everything is exactly as it should be now."

"And how about you, bloodsucker?" said Jacob, playfully, looking at my father. "Do you share Bella's feelings about all this?"

It was so wonderful to hear the strength returning to Jacob's voice that I didn't even care that he called my father a 'bloodsucker'. My father rolled his eyes, but there was a strange expression on his face as he looked at Jacob. It was something like… acceptance?

"Perhaps I don't feel exactly the same as Bella," said my father. "But I have to agree on one point. This is the way it's supposed to be."

My jaw dropped and Jacob dropped his spoon with a splash into his bowl of broth.

"I've been blind and prejudiced, my thoughts no doubt colored by the events of the past. The, uh, complications," said my father. "But, as you know, I couldn't help listening to your thoughts. Both of yours. Together. There's a harmony that you have with Renesmee that none of us have. An understanding. It reminds me of how you used to understand Bella on another level that I couldn't, except more intense, because you understand the whole and not just the part."

"Wow, Dad," I said, bewildered by this sudden change of heart.

"Yeah, wow," said Jacob, slightly glassy-eyed.

"You're tired," I said.

"A bit," Jacob replied, sheepishly.

"Then sleep," I said, lowering him back down. I could already feel how much the broth had helped as he was able to move himself more readily. "You can eat more later."