chapter six
Charlie is already gone the next morning, the only evidence left of him is the brewed coffee machine and a simple white coffee cup sitting next to it in case I decide I want coffee. I don't have the chance to see the said brewed coffee machine, even though I can smell it. I'm too distracted at the reminder of Seattle and that secluded coffee shop I had met Alec in for me to know how to properly go down the stairs. I should know better of myself when it comes to things like this, and my inability to focus on things that are important. I get distracted too easily, and it's apparent as I go toppling down the stairs still in my pajamas and my fuzzy, slip hazard ankle socks.
The moment I land at the bottom of the stairs in an awkward manner I know something is broken, and I gasp loudly at the cracking of the bone of my knee. Dragging myself in the direction of where the answering machine is, I've barely reached it to grab the phone cord that is dangling in front of me when the front door opens. I had forgotten Jacob has a copy of the house key, and it is the summer, so Billy most likely asked him to come and surprise me and most likely invite me to come hang out at their house instead of staying here alone.
Jacob had barely opened the front door, one of his hands was still holding the house key and his other hand in the pocket of his jeans. His obsidian hair is pulled in a high bun, masculine, and as his dark eyes flicker down to me they widen at the sight of me sprawled out on the flooring with one of my knees popped out of its socket. I peer up at him, reaching one of my hands up to wave at him warmly.
"Uh…hi…Jake. Could you possibly take me to the clinic? I fell down the stairs and I think I broke my kneecap…it's not the first time this has happened," I inform him, trying not to think about the pain that is starting to override my shock I just had. I hissed some and knew before long I'm going to pass out from the pain. My tolerance is higher than a normal tolerance, but it's been a while since I have broken my kneecap, yes it has happened before, but it was around a year ago.
The last thing I see is Jacob coming forward with more confidence and determination before the dark splotches begin to fill my sight. I fall backwards, too lost into my unconsciousness to sense the unusual warmth that comes from Jacob's skin. A type of warmth to him is unhealthy, a type of warmth in which would let me know there might be other creatures than just vampires out there. I have more important things to worry about, including the impact the fall will have on my knee permanently in the end. All because of that stupid staircase.
Slowly opening my eyes as I find myself slowly gaining consciousness, I flinch immediately at the white tiled ceiling above me. The harsh lighting of the fluorescents above me makes me groan and reach my hand up to cover my eyes. There is this kind of lightlessness that resonates around me, and I can't feel my knee, which lets me know I most likely have some pain medication going through my system to keep me from being in too much pain.
I can't help but appreciate the nurse or doctor that had the foresight to do this before I would wake up. Like I said, I have a higher tolerance when it comes to my pain scale, but this isn't just a bruised or twisted muscle that I've pulled. This is my kneecap due to being stupid and not thinking when I should have been. All because of that stupid coffee machine and the scent of the coffee grains.
Turning my head to the side, I note how Jacob is awkwardly sitting in a chair near me. He's too busy looking down at his phone, as if he's waiting for someone to call or text him. He most likely is waiting for one of his reservation friends to come and pick him up. Or he's waiting for Charlie to call him in order to get some updates on my condition, even if he's on his way to come and check me out.
I only tear my attention away from where Jacob is when there is the sound of footsteps heading in my direction. It's not the rushing of dress shoes, allowing me to know it's Charlie coming so he can make sure I'm okay. Instead, when I turn my attention away from Jacob to look at the person heading in my direction my heart stutters some at the beauty of the doctor coming to me.
The doctor reaches me with the same pale skin as Alec, and instead of his eyes being crimson they are instead the color of butterscotch (reminding me of the butterscotch disks some of the church goers would give me when I was small at Grandma Marie's church). He has high cheekbones and a smooth nose which fits perfectly on his face. His eyebrows are a dark golden hue, and his hair is a combed back style but is a matching color as his eyebrows. His eyelashes that frame his large and stunning eyes are obsidian and just as perfect as the rest of his face. He's wearing his white doctorate coat over dark green scrubs, his lanyard moving gently and not swaying too hard with his footsteps.
My mind briefly travels back to when Alec was telling me how there is a different diet than the one, he and the majority of the vampiric community drink. The only thing these vampires can drink other than humans would be animals, and with them living in Forks it would be perfect for them to travel through the national parks and drink whatever animal they want. Their eyes are obviously a product of their special liquid diet they prefer.
As the vampire doctor reaches me, I barely pay attention to him as he uses his melody-like voice on Jacob. He's most likely telling him he's thankful Jacob had brought me here. Jacob blushes and nods his head, shy, and dips his head down while pieces of his long hair fall in front of his face. He reaches one of his hands up and pushes his hair behind his ear. He only brings his head back up when the doctor turns and looks at me directly.
I can only imagine how Alec would react to having me in this stupid clinic with one of his 'lost' kind taking care of me. I'd imagine if this doctor did anything that could cause me pain, even by accident, Alec would be thinking about incapacitating him. It's just the bond between him and I, and with the distance still strong between us it's obvious he'll be even more protective when he is in my presence and able to physically see any threats around us.
"Hello, Miss Swan. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. You may call me Carlisle if you wish. Your friend, Jacob, informed me what had happened. We had checked your leg and saw signs of bones in the past healed on the same leg, so you've gone through this before," Carlisle says, his eyes landing on my knee where it is wrapped up in a medical cast.
"Yeah, I fell down the stairs at school in eighth grade. I had to wear a cast for months, get surgery. So yeah, I've gone through this before. I'd prefer a broken arm over this," I mutter, reaching up and pulling out the Volturi ring from underneath my shirt so I can play with it on its chain. A comfort for me, as if Alec is here with me (a present I had received the next morning after the townhouse incident).
A strangling of a throat, letting me know someone was swallowing the wrong way, makes me bring my eyes towards Carlisle. His eyes are frozen on my ring that is on the chain, as if letting him know I already know about his kind. I already know about vampires, and in his eyes, I was introduced to the wrong vampires first. His family is the one who should have been around me, slowly integrating me to the fantastical world of theirs.
The E.R. doors slam open, and Charlie starts rushing in my direction, and with this I drop my necklace back underneath my shirt. Charlie is by my side, fretting over me, his eyes studying every inch he can of me to make sure I'm not a mangled lump on the cot. We haven't gotten that far yet with my incoordination, but it wouldn't surprise me if I end up looking quite gnarly at the moment with this stupid cast over my knee.
"So, what's the verdict, Doc? Am I going to need another surgery? If so then it's a good thing I did this during the summer and not at Northwest," I joke, trying to give an awkward smile towards the whole thing. Charlie sighs next to me and sits down next to Jacob. He tells Jacob that Sue Clearwater is waiting for him in the lobby, and after Jacob mutters a goodbye to me, it's just me and the vampire doctor along with my dad, the cop.
"No, your body instinctively knew how to fall to cause less damage than before. You'll have to wear the medical brace for six weeks. You won't be driving for the time period; we don't want you causing any more wear and tear to the knee. I also have some medication, simple light pain medication, to help you through this all. You need to come in three weeks from now so I can have an idea of how your knee is healing also," Carlisle informs me, his fingers pressing against the medical clipboard in his hands, his eyes wanting to eagerly glance down at my neck to see if he can find Alec's ring on a chain around my neck, as if he can make sure he has the true knowledge I know about vampires.
Charlie helps me off of the cot and I am handed some stupid crutches. Giving dark looks at the men to let them know I can do this without their help, I adjust the sides of the crutches before easily moving forward. I'm glad the ring stays underneath my shirt, swinging that manner, instead of falling out. Charlie doesn't know about the ring; I don't need him thinking I've got a boyfriend when I said I didn't.
Alec is kind of more than a boyfriend, well he will be.
Leaving the corridor to the front lobby of the clinic I note how there are a few teenagers that are draping themselves in random positions in order to make themselves look natural. I'm not surprised with how small this town is. One of the nurses spilled something out about the chief daughter having to be here to get her knee checked out. Said nurse's child ended up deciding they would come to the clinic along with their friends to get an eye view of yours truly.
One of them being a blond haired spiky haired guy wearing a football jacket over his shoulders. He turns his head, his blue eyes landing on my brown ones. I had hoped I would be able to avoid seeing those familiar blue eyes here, I should have expected it would be Rich Newton's cousin who would find me out of anyone. He probably received information from Rich on how to approach me and have a better chance with me than Rich did.
"Dad, get me away from here, please. I don't want to talk to anyone," I whisper to him, my eyes flickering from where the blond-haired cousin is to the next guy that is in the lobby.
The second boy has Oriental features, his oil black hair is somewhat greasy and needs to be combed down. He's wearing a foreign band t-shirt from another country, jeans that have seen better days, some converse shoes, and a camera is slung around his neck by a black generic strap. He glances up at me and sends me a small smile, as if he's interested in me but he most likely is here because his friend wanted to drag him here to meet me.
The other side of the room is a girl sitting in an awkward manner on the couch, as if it's merely a show piece stand and she's the masterpiece on display. Her brown curly hair is piled high in ponytails, and she has on neon colored summer clothes. She's got her sidekick phone in her hands, and she's quickly tapping against the keyboard, even though she's not even looking down at it. She's too busy peering at me with that horribly done eye makeup, and mismatched clothes. Everything about her reminds me of the 80's, and I'm not surprised if she's wearing recycled retro clothes from her mom's closet.
The other girl that is on the other side of the couch sits normal, and she's got earbuds tucked neatly in her ears. She's a warm tan, the kind of tan which comes from someone going to the tanning salon. Her corn hue colored hair is pulled up in a high ponytail and she's wearing a white generic t-shirt, jogging sweats, and some high-end sneakers. She has very light makeup on when it comes to its volume, unlike her best friend the blonde is only highlighting a little bit of her. It's also because of the fact she's quite pretty.
"Newton, Yorkie, Stanley, and Mallory, I don't believe I had asked for some of the local teenagers to come and rally around my daughter," Charlie speaks, his voice calm and collected but still having this edge to it to let them know he has another side of him they don't want to see. He's also still wearing his uniform, his arms folded against his chest–while the slight sunlight rays come into the room and bounce off of his badge.
I don't listen to them as they try to make excuses to Charlie, hoping to appease their curiosity and most likely wondering if the chief's private school daughter will decide she will come and have her senior year here in Forks. I roll my eyes inwardly at that very thought, I've barely gotten okay with being at Northwest, I'm not going through all the whole new kid in school thing all over again. They won't have me graduating high school with them.
Once Charlie has managed to have the teenagers move away from us and he goes towards the front doors of the clinic to open them for me we are welcomed with someone already opening from the other side to enter the clinic. The inhuman pale skin with a tinge of blue to it, and small figure that comes into the lobby peers up at Charlie with a too sweet of a smile upon her stunning features.
As she enters the lobby, I note how the girl is shorter than me and her hair, the color of spilled black, blue ink, is a chopped mess upon her head. On anyone else it would look as if they were cutting their hair with their mother's scissors only for a horrid mess to be left. Her hair is too pretty and brings more attention to how her features are sharp in all the right places, her nose cute and tiny, and her small lips are painted a charcoal hue.
She's wearing a black lace trim crinkle cropped blouse with a deep gray ankle length skirt with many frayed layers of fabric. A pair of black slightly heeled shoes peek themselves out when she moves. She has on a deep green cotton shawl over her, draping over her for a fashion statement more than keeping her arms from being too cold. Her fingernails are black, and her makeup has this grunge aesthetic to it. She reminds me of the three girls in The Craft.
Her eyes are what draw you in, they are the same stunning golden hue as Carlisle's. So that means he must have a coven with him, possibly younger vampires that can be masqueraded as children. She shoots me a large smile, and I'm certain if it were possible this girl would have a tongue piercing and quite possibly tattoos. Yet those are two things' vampires aren't allowed to have due to how their skin is hard like marble and has no imperfections.
"Excuse me, Chief Swan! I was just coming to talk to Carlisle," the girl says, her soft and sweet voice almost soothing. Her eyes flicker over to the teenagers behind us and there doesn't seem as if there is any surprise upon her features at the sight of them. She merely turns towards Charlie and acknowledges him before going to move away.
"Don't worry about it, Alice. Tell the rest of your family I said hi. I have to take Bella back home," Charlie remarks, which in return draws Alice's attention to me. She studies me so fast it's almost as if I imagined her studying me before she says goodbye, moving away from us and going towards Carlisle's private office.
Shaking my head in bewilderment at all the social incidents that just happened, I move forward and head towards the police cruiser. I'm glad Mrs. Clearwater had come and picked up Jacob, the way he was sitting there he was acting as if it was his new home. There's a story behind that, but to be honest I already have enough piled on my plate to worry about superstitions of the town from the Natives. Wouldn't surprise me if they know about the Cullens being vampires, after all the Natives have been here far longer than anyone else.
Blushing some as Charlie helps me into the passenger seat of the cruiser, Charlie sits on the crutches in the backseats of the cruiser. My fingers reach up and begin to play with my hair, knowing my hands are always busy doing something whenever I am nervous. I will be able to play with the chained ring when I am back at the house without Charlie with me. It's the only thing that works really well when it comes to grounding me.
Charlie doesn't talk incessantly to me on the way back to his house, I merely turn my head and peer at the trees as we pass by them. All around me in Seattle there are skyscrapers and small businesses clinging on. Now there are large trees that soar the sky, along with moss clinging to them just like the small businesses cling to the community in the city. The sharp green and warm brown make me feel as if I am in the wrong place, this place isn't my home. I might have been born here but all around me I see things which make me feel even more alienated to it than connected.
It isn't until we get into the man-made driveway of the property, the gravel crunching and sending out dust from being disrupted, that Charlie taps his fingers against his steering wheel. He turns and looks at me, his mustache twitching. He takes a deep breath before he turns and looks at me. He's gaining courage on what he wants to say, and I have an idea of what it is he wants me to say.
"Stay here, Bells. I know that you are doing good at Northwest and I know you are safe there but please stay here. I miss you and I would like it if you would stay the whole school year next year. I know that private schools aren't for people like you and me."
My eyes turn away from looking at his tired and weary features, instead my eyes land on my knee. It got put through the shitter it feels like, and I'll be here long enough to heal a good bit.
Yet I can't imagine myself staying here, especially when it comes to being around the Cullens. I don't want to deal with having vampires on both sides of me. I know Alec has been nothing more than truthful this whole time, and I know there is no reason why he would want to lie to me. I also know the Cullens will want to have me turn away from the Volturi, they will want me to decide I would rather try out their diet when I become one. They might even ask for me to leave Alec, because there are others out there who could treat me better and care for me more than someone like he could.
Shaking my head, I know I am breaking my dad's heart. I know he thinks I don't care enough about him or being his daughter to stay with him. I need to stay out of my comfort zone and stay at the private school. I will be able to focus on my studies without having to worry about anything else, such as a family of golden eyed vampires taking in my every move.
"I don't think so, Dad. I just got settled into Northwest and I kind of like it there. You've always known I'm more of a city girl than a small town girl. They kind of just put up with me there, which isn't a bad thing. They don't ask questions or demand to know what life was like back before I came. I can't get that when it comes to Forks. I'll always be known as your daughter, and you are a wonderful dad, but I would like to be somewhere in which no one automatically thinks they have a right to know my whole life story just because we were born in the same town."
Unbuckling myself, I turn and open the car door, the awkwardness of the whole situation creating a thick unease in the air around us. I grab onto the side of the car and climb out, trying to steady myself and not fall onto my side in the gravel driveway. I slowly go to scoot towards the back doors of the cruiser only for Charlie to reach me and open the back doors for me. He hands me the crutches and I position my armpits upon them, ducking my head down a moment later.
"You don't need to look as if you kicked a puppy, Bells. I'm going to be okay. You're about to be eighteen, you have the right to make your own decisions. If you would rather graduate from Northwest instead of Forks High then that should be your right. I just got ahead of myself. All I've seen you in the past few years is in California. You being here in Forks got to my head," Charlie says as he reaches his hands up and rubs the nape of his neck.
I know what he really means to say.
He means to say that I'm much more like Renee than him.
At least when it comes to Forks.
I can't just move here and then Charlie expects me to fall in love with one of the boys here in town. I won't marry someone from this town and have children or move into the house that Charlie lives in. I can't do that, and I won't have to do that because I had the luck to meet Alec while still being in Seattle instead of here.
Entering the house I sigh some, at how I'm away from the clinic.
I don't want to think anymore about the Cullens than I have to. I already have a lot on my plate at the moment, one being knowing I only have so long with Charlie before I both have to go back to Seattle and not see him again. This will be the last time I will be in his presence, at least for months. I don't want to give a time of the day towards either subject.
Glaring at the stupid staircase that caused this whole thing to happen to begin with, I head towards the sofa instead. I'll probably end up staying on the sofa for the time being, until I get a better state than I am right now, and I can go up the staircase. At the moment it's nothing more than a death trap to me, and I'm lucky the only thing I had received was a broken knee and not a broken neck.
Once I settle myself on the sofa Charlie goes over to where the remote control is and hands it to me. I blush some when he kisses me on the forehead, a little sign he's grateful nothing worse happened to me. I'm still alive and I'm not begging to go back to Seattle.
Not that there is anything there for me, when it comes to where I could stay.
The boarding school wouldn't let me stay there and the thought of Principal Dwyer and Mitzie hosting me leaves an odd taste in my mouth. Phil would probably come up and spend time with his favorite aunt and uncle and Renee would be trying to brown nose them, acting as if she's a part of my life more than she is.
The blanket around me keeps me company, and after Charlie heads off to go to the high school I pull out my second phone Alec had given me. I'm tempted to call him and tell him what happened but I know he would drop everything in order to come see me, even if it means his parents would want him to stay in Volterra. Or they would make sure to come with him so they can see their son's mate in person instead of hearing about me.
Instead, I text Alec and tell him how I'm doing otherwise when it comes to staying in Forks. I want to talk to him about the Cullens too but I feel as if that's something I should tell him about when we are in front of each other and not through text messages. I smile as he responds to me almost immediately, allowing me to know he misses me as much as I miss him.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: we have about 9 or 10 chapters left when it comes to this story. The Cullens are more of a background family for Bella, she doesn't really form a relationship with them. I hope you have enjoyed this story so far. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite stories I'm writing. I do like 'Blood of the Divine' too.
as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me.
-it'semmynotemma