Chapter 7: The Great Escape:
" Bella! Bella! You gotta come back to the hospital! It's Charlie! He's awake!" Paul exclaimed when he got to her.
Without thinking, Bella took Paul's hand in her own and began to run back to his truck.
" come on embry! Dad's awake!" she shouted over her shoulder
…
Embry and Bella panted as they burst through Charlie's hospital door.
Carlisle and another doctor stood over her father while Tiffany stood in a corner with her arms folded. A look of anger on her face.
The look softened however when she saw them.
"Oh Bella, Embry" she greeted as she pulled the duo into a hug.
Bella was the first one to pull back as she tried to look over Tiffany's shoulder.
"Is he awake? What did he say?"Bella asked.
"We don't know much at the moment. The doctor pushed me out of the way as soon as he opened his eyes. I tried to tell them I was his wife but whose going to believe me?"
"I'll handle this," Bella told her stepmother with determination "Carlisle? What's going on?"
The latter was giving a nurse instructions before he turned to her.
"Bella, hello. I am glad you were able to get here so fast. Charlie did wake up but it didn't last. he was only alert for five minutes before he went back under. This is a rare occurrence but it has happened before."
"so what does that mean Carlisle?" she demanded. She needed clarification and he wasn't being clear. "it means for now we wait and see. Maybe he will come out of it again, or maybe he won't. we just have to wait."
"wait! We don't have time to just wait! My father is dying! There has to be something you can do! Why would he just wake up suddenly and then fall back into a coma? It doesn't make sense. Did…did Alice see anything? Did you do something to my father?!"
"Bella you being hysterical." Carisile accused. " we may need to sedate her."
Before Bella could accuse Carlisle of anything else, hot hands were pulling her away and into a chiseled chest.
It was then she realized was crying.
"hush now, ya helo. It's going to be alright." Paul calmed her.
Bella sobbed into his chest.
"but they're doing something to him, Paul. I just know it. I don't trust them."
"then as Charlie's daughter, you have the right to ask for another doctor." He stated firmly.
Her eyes widened at the realization. That was right, she could request another doctor! Carsile didn't have to be her father's doctor! She didn't have to worry about the Cullens hovering over her family any longer.
Turning herself around, so that her back was to Paul's chest, Bella stared at Carlisle.
His golden eyes were bright from just feeding. His hair smoothed back and his face stone-like. And that's just what he was.
A rock.
A rock who happened to occasionally blink and yet deep in those golden irises, Bella saw the truth. There was danger lurking in those eyes.
Suddenly it felt as if the room was closing in on her.
Edward was right, they were the predators and she was their prey. She had always been their prey and right now they were losing her. therefore they had to do anything they could to keep her in their clutches.
That included messing with her father.
Bella gasped as an idea came to her.
With urgency, she grabbed Tiffany by the hand. Ordering Paul and embry to stay in the room.
….
"Bella, what's going on?" Tiffany asked.
"We are transferring Dad to the reservation hospital. We are not safe here."
"but-but…the reservation clinic isn't that big and we don't have the specialist doctors needed," Tiffany argued.
"just trust me, Tiffany. I believe being in tribal land will be better for Dad than anything else. Parts of me don't think his heart attack was just stress-related. Parts of me feel like it was done on purpose and I think I know who. So, I need you to call Uncle Quil and I am going to talk to the chief of staff."
"wait what are you going to say?" Tiffany asked.
"Don't worry, I have just the right words."
…..
Bella collapsed on the clinic stairs as mental fatigue filled her body.
It was finally done, and after five hours of debate and arguments, she was able to convince the Forks hospital to discharge her father to the reservation clinic. She might have used some manipulation on her part, but it was done.
The tribal elders even backed her up and so did the pack. They knew what the Cullens were and didn't surprise them when Bella told them her theory.
Her father had been fine on the day of the wedding however, once they got down the aisle his heart attack happened.
Bella was convinced that Jasper was the one who started her father's heart attack. Anything to get her out of their lives. at least that was what she thought Jaspers's motives were. Bella had been a danger to their family ever since the day she and Edward met and with the threat of the Volturi at their doorstep, Jasper would do anything to get rid of her. but he couldn't have done it alone. It couldn't be Alice cause she wouldn't want that, if anything Alice wanted Bella in the family, so allowing Charlie to have a heart attack wasn't on her agenda. But, what if Alice knew that Bella would fall apart if Charlie died, that she would be easier to manipulate? So why not use Charlie's heart attack to her advantage? Make her father sicker so that Bella could become putty in their hands?
"argh, I don't know!" she grunted aloud.
Right now. It was all just hearsay and she had no evidence to back it up.
She groaned again.
She would have to get some evidence, but that would require talking to one of the Cullens. And that was something she didn't want to do right now. She wanted to stay as far away from them as possible.
But maybe it was time to end things.
She couldn't keep hiding from Edward anyway.
"hey. There you are." A voice said behind her.
Bella turned to see Paul looking down at her with a soft smile.
"want to get out of here?"
She hesitated as she looked back at the clinic door.
"I don't know… I don't want to leave dad. What if he wakes up again?"
"Well, Embry and his mom are in there. alongside the chief. Maybe it will be good for you to sneak away. you fought pretty hard today. Im proud of you."
A blush crept up her face, as Paul held a hand out for her.
"come on ya helo, let's get out of here."
…
Paul felt his wolf pur in contentment, as Bella buried herself in his side. She felt safe with them. They had driven an hour out of town just to get here.
His arm was slung around her shoulder as they entered the loud building.
"Where are we?" she shouted over the music.
"It is called a café disco! My aunt owns it! it's an alcohol and drug-free café! It has three levels. Level 3 is for board games. level 2 is the dance floor, and level 1 is the diner. Come on, I'll take you where it's quieter."
Paul's wolf wanted to howl in delight when he felt Bella cling to him as they moved through the crowd.
Her scent was mind-blowing and gave him so much peace. It calmed his wolf from the mountain of anger that liked to sneak up on him.
He led her down the stairs to what looked like a diner with a jukebox. A small dance floor in the corner.
"have a seat. Want a milkshake or a soda?" he questioned as he went behind the counter.
" salted caramel malt would be nice."
Paul laughed and said "One salted caramel malt coming up."
Once he made her drink and got himself a soda, Paul sat beside her, allowing the soft music of the jukebox to fill in the silence.
" I don't know how many times I can say this but thank you again. you have been such a big help. I hope you don't think im taking advantage of your kindness. I made that mistake with Jacob. I don't want to be that person anymore. Using people when im broke."
Paul growled as he tilted Bella's chin. Causing her to look him in the eyes.
"Listen here, and listen well ya helo. I am not Jacob black and don't let people use me. I offered you help because I empathized with you, not because I was trying to fix you for my own selfish gain. You are not some broken porcelain doll that needs to be coddled and wrapped in bubble wrap. You're a strong beautiful woman, who I am glad to get to know. And you are not broken, if anything you're a strong warrior trying to fight her way through the monsters that keep trying to hold you back. "
Paul couldn't look away when Bella's brown eyes dilated as he spoke.
"I don't get it. you talk to me like you've known me for years."
Without thinking, Paul reached out and tucked hair behind her ear.
"maybe our souls have." He said softly.
"tell me what you do outside the pack?"
This was the part Paul dreaded. Would she look at him any differently if he told her what he did at night?
"so two days out the week, I work here for my aunt. I take extra shifts when I can. And then the rest of the time, I box. I started off in underground fights before my cousin saw how good I was. Now I'm in the amateurs. I win all my fights and then every three months, I lose a few, just to keep the officials from sniffing around too much. It takes a lot of control for me not to accidentally kill someone with just one punch. That's my boxing name by the way. they call me one punch Hamza."
"Hamza?" Bella questioned
"It's Arabic for strong, my mother was Arabic. Does any of this surprise you?" he asked. He was ready to hear her complaints that he a supernatural creature, beating on humans.
"It's actually really smart. You get to practice your self-control and get out your anger without hurting anyone too much. Does the pack know?"
Paul snorted, as he downed his drink and stood.
"yeah, right. Sam would have my head. Not to mention the uproar of the elders. Let's just call it our little secret. Come on we are going to play pool."
"I've never played." She told him.
"don't worry I'll teach you. ya helwa"
"you keep calling me that. What does it mean?" she asked.
Paul stepped closer to her, bending down so that their foreheads were touching.
"it means my beautiful…"
To his surprise, when he looked back on it years later. He realized, that Bella kissed him first.