The vinyl seat of Eliza's chair was cracked, and the rough bumps of the repair glue scratched against her thigh every time she shifted. It had been hours in this waiting room, and, unlike Sue, she couldn't be any help to anyone; all she could do was exist until someone spoke to her again. Well, that and try to get a hold of her mom. She wasn't answering her phone, which meant she was either on shift or had left it at home, which she had a bad habit of doing now and then. Eliza left a message with Flor at the desk, but there was no telling when Bella would receive it.

Until someone came back here again or her mom called, there wasn't much to pass the time. She'd messaged back and forth with Bri a bit, tried to play some games and watch some videos, but none of it made it easier. Watching the sunset through the window was alright, but now it was dark, and she couldn't see anything besides the cars illuminated by the floodlights in the parking lot. Her mind kept replaying the afternoon's events, and each time, she discovered something new she could have done differently if she'd just known more about this stuff.

She shivered as she thought again about the outcome if this had happened while she and Charlie were alone together. She wouldn't have caught him; she wouldn't have known what to do at all. Thank whatever gods were out there that Jacob Black got to him so fast and stopped his head from hitting that table as he went down. And for Sue, who jumped into nurse mode immediately, directing everyone on what to do and where to go. And everyone else, honestly.

Leah appeared in front of her, and Eliza swore she hadn't even made a sound as she approached. She was holding a giant, steaming cup of coffee toward her, which Eliza accepted gratefully.

"Any word yet?" Leah asked as she sat in the chair beside her.

Eliza shook her head. "Not since they took him in for surgery."

"It could be a while, and it's getting late. Do you want to go home and sleep?"

"I won't be able to; I have to see him first," she answered and then yawned. Leah laughed, and Eliza joined but caught herself and cringed.

"It doesn't make you bad to laugh. Otherwise, you'll go crazy," Leah said, a little more softly than Eliza was used to hearing from her. "My dad was gone before we even got here, so it's not the same, right? But I refused to be anything but angry for so long. If you can't laugh, you'll explode, trust me."

"Thanks," Eliza said, taking a sip of the coffee and savoring the flavor as it went down. "For everything."

Eliza's phone buzzed, and she hoped it would be her mother finally getting back, but it was just another text from Bri telling her that she loved her and would see her tomorrow. Eliza didn't have much energy left, so she replied with a heart and slumped back into her seat, pulling her knee up to her chin. She and Leah sat in a silence interrupted only by the slurps of their sips of coffee and the occasional buzz of Leah's phone as people checked in on the situation.

"People really care about Grandpa," Eliza said after a while. She wasn't even sure herself if it was a question or a statement.

Leah nodded and slipped her phone into her pocket. "They really do. They care about you, too. A lot of people are asking if you're OK and if you want a place to stay while he's in here."

Eliza smiled and tried to respond but felt a fullness in her throat as her eyes started to well up with tears. She sniffed, wiped her eyes hard, and shook her head.

"Ugh, why? Why am I crying?"

Leah snorted. "Probably because today sucked, and you're exhausted and emotional. And normal."

She opened her mouth, but her phone started to buzz, and her heart soared as she saw her mother's face on the screen. She answered immediately.

"Mom!" The relief in Eliza's voice was palpable.

"Sweetie, hey! I just got your messages. Are you OK? Do you have anyone with you?" Bella's voice sounded almost wet, and Eliza knew she'd probably been crying. After the first call and text went unanswered, she'd just come out and told her about the heart attack in the next one.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Leah's here right now, but I haven't been alone too much. Grandpa's still in surgery, and we don't know anything more yet."

Bella asked a few more questions about how she was handling things so far and what she needed, and then she asked to speak with Leah. After handing over the phone, Eliza tried to tune out the conversation as Leah was recounting the day's events, and she didn't feel the need to hear it all again. She picked up a magazine from a table a few feet away and thumbed through it.

"OK, Bella, I'll let her know…Yep…Yeah, sure…Alright, do you want to talk to her again?" Leah handed Eliza her phone back.

"Eliza?"

"Yeah, it's me." She yawned again.

"OK, I've got to start planning some stuff and moving things around, but I'm coming up there as soon as I can. I love you so much, sweetie. You take care of you. Charlie's in good hands, and I'll see you, OK?"

"OK, mom. I love you."

It was another hour before the surgeon came out with an update that it had gone well. Charlie was in recovery, and they could see him briefly before leaving for the night. As they followed him to the room, Eliza looked up at Leah.

"Thanks for staying," she told her.

Leah didn't respond; she just wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed as they continued toward Charlie's room.

Eliza chose to stay at Charlie's. The moment she walked into the house to pick some things up for him, the air itself felt like the warm hug she needed. He'd requested his brown slippers, his green robe, the book on his nightstand – some novel with a submarine on the cover that looked like it had been read about twenty times – and a six-pack of beer. She knew he was only half joking about that last one, and it took all her self-control to laugh instead of yell at him. Her instructors were understanding when she told them she'd be gone a few days and opened up early access to presentations and assignments so she could keep up on her own schedule.

She'd been with Charlie earlier that morning, but when it was time for some of his more personal care, she went back to his house with a plan. She would go through the fridge, pantry, and every cupboard to find all his junk food and anything that would be bad for him after he's home. She'd toss or donate it, eat it herself, or prepare it for anyone else helping out. So what if she wasn't the world's best cook? It wouldn't be too hard; Charlie's wasn't exactly an ingredients-only household. Besides, her mother's flight would be in later that evening, and she would make magic with whatever was available.

She was about thirty minutes into clearing and sorting the canned beans shelf – yes, an entire pantry shelf of various options, from weenies and beans to baked beans in tomato sauce to smoked ham and maple-glazed beans – when the doorbell rang. She figured it must be a parcel because, at this point, anyone else would have just let themselves in. She was going to just ignore it and keep going, but it rang again. Grumbling, she got up from the kitchen floor and headed toward the door, more annoyed at the interruption than she might normally have been, and opened it.

A man stood in the doorway. No, maybe a teenager? She wasn't quite sure. He was tall, oddly pale, even for a white kid in Washington this late into the fall, and he smelled of mud, bear scat, and – was that old blood? His clothes were filthy and in tatters, and she wasn't sure what color his hair would be if it weren't also muddy and full of leaves and twigs. He looked like he'd rolled along the forest floor from Alaska, she thought.

But when she looked into his eyes, she forgot all of that. They were blacker than any eyes she'd ever seen, devoid of all light or sparkle. Nothing alive about them. He leaned in toward her and sniffed, and she instinctively leaned back, trying to close the door as she did. His foot was in the way.

Breathe, she reminded herself. He was taller than her, probably stronger, too, and clearly not in a normal state of mind, so fighting probably wouldn't be a good idea. As much as she wanted to stomp on his foot and slam the door, she could see things going very poorly if it didn't work. Humanize yourself, she recalled from some show about predators she watched once.

"I'm Eliza," she said slowly and softly. "Are you looking for my grandpa Charlie?" She tried to hold a soft and neutral expression.

He looked down at her and cocked his head to one side. All her instincts were screaming to run, fast and hard, as far away as she possibly could, but her feet were frozen in place.

Faster than she could think, he whipped his head toward the road, back at her, and then took off so fast she couldn't even make out which direction he'd gone. Tires squealed in the driveway, and she turned to see a vaguely familiar car pulling in. Jacob Black jumped out of it and ran toward her. Before she'd even registered it, he'd grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Did he touch you? Did he do anything to you?" There was unfiltered panic in his voice. She couldn't respond other than to shake her head. Jacob's tone softened a little. "Just breathe. You're OK."

She nodded but was still holding her breath. He let go of one shoulder, placed that hand on his own chest, and breathed slowly and deeply until she followed suit. It did feel better.

"Thanks, Mr. Black," she said, still a bit shaky.

He nodded. "You go inside, lock all the doors, and call Leah. Right away. I'll be back."

She was about to answer, but then he was gone, too. The panic set in again, and she rushed inside, slamming the door and fumbling with the chain lock for too long, but she got it. She scanned the room and closed an open window before running to the back door to ensure it was locked and the kitchen window was also closed. As she looked out into the backyard, though, something odd at the tree line caught her eye. It looked almost like torn paper or rags, some of them the same gray as Jacob Black's tee shirt.

Leah arrived just over an hour later, though it felt much longer to Eliza. She'd felt almost crazy recounting what happened, and she expected Leah to be annoyed that she overreacted or that Jacob left her alone to chase the guy, but she was entirely unfazed. Not that she was one to work herself up into a tizzy over things, but it still struck Eliza as an odd response. She wasn't in the mood to overanalyze it, though. Something about that man terrified her. Even Jacob, who was probably one of the biggest guys she'd ever seen – bigger than Bri's dad, even – seemed freaked out by him, so she was more than OK having someone else around.

She checked her mom's flight—it was still on time—and replied to a few messages from Bri, Mallory, and Roger but didn't tell them what happened. That conversation was definitely meant for another day. Well, she told Bri and Mallory that something weird happened, but she was fine and told them to keep their doors locked. That prompted requests for more information, but all she could bring herself to say was that there were a lot of creeps out there.

Bella called from the Port Angeles airport to say she was on her way, and Eliza tried to tell her what happened.

"Leah's here, Mom. This super creepy guy showed up, and he was trying to come in, I think?" she started. She could hear her mother struggling with her luggage in the background. "It wasn't very long before he left, but it was so weird and, like, unsettling. He just stared at me with this dead look, and I think he smelled me."

A loud thump came through the line. "Eliza," Bella's voice was serious. "What did this man look like?"

"Umm, he was tall. Skinny, I guess? Not weak-looking, though. Maybe 'lanky' is better. He was really pale, and his eyes were black—like, black, black—not brown."

Bella was taking slow, deliberate breaths. "And it's only Leah with you?"

"Yeah."

"Did he say anything? Did he say where he was going?"

"No," she shook her head, even though her mother couldn't see it. "He ran off just before Mr. Black pulled in, and he–"

Bella cut her off. "Billy?"

"No, his son, Jacob. He made sure I was OK, told me to lock up and call Leah, and then chased him."

"Oh, my God." Bella's voice was starting to shake, and her breaths were louder. "Oh, no. He's out there with him? He's going to die. Oh, my God."

"Wait, Mom, what? Die?!"

Leah snatched the phone from Eliza before she could hear the answer, and was already heading toward the back door.

"Bella, chill the fuck out," she said forcefully but not unkindly. When Eliza stood to follow, she shook her head and pointed back at the couch. She could only catch snippets of the conversation: "under control…no…yes, that Jacob…he won't, trust me."

Leah came back into the living room, grabbed the backpack she'd brought with her, and left again. Eliza heard the back door open and close, Leah still speaking, "Jesus, of course, I'm worried…I do know. We all know, OK?" And then the door opened and closed again.

It was a few minutes before she realized that Leah had gone outside. She wanted to follow her into the backyard, but she also knew that she'd left for a reason, and it wasn't just to exclude her. Sitting there without her phone made her feel oddly vulnerable and alone, though, so she quickly turned on the TV for some noise. She should use this time to review the PowerPoint on CPR her Industrial First Aid instructor sent, but something about the timing – right after Charlie's heart attack – made her too annoyed with the universe to focus on it. Instead, she clicked through the channels, landing on a rerun of an old sitcom. She stared at the screen, missing most of what was happening.

Well into the next episode, she finally heard the door again, and this time, a man's voice; it sounded like Jacob Black.

"Yeah, well, it happened. We can't change it now…No, I can hear her, she's fine…Yeah, there's a lot to go over, but Seth will cover most of it." She heard slow, deliberate footsteps pacing around the kitchen and then coming toward the living room, and when he spoke again, she could tell he was just on the other side of the door.

"It's not your fault, Bella; this is on them. Just drive safe and slow, and he'll meet you along the way." His voice was softer and lower, but Eliza couldn't tell if it was from compassion, exhaustion, or both.

The door swung open, and he came into the living room barefoot and in different clothing than before. She decided that was another thing to worry about later. His eyes were heavy, and he was rubbing his neck.

"See you soon. I'll hand you to your daughter." His voice was beginning to strain.

He held Eliza's phone out for her, and she smiled and took it back.

"Mom?"

"I'm so sorry I scared you, honey. I was so worried that I didn't even think before I started going on like that," she said.

"It's fine, Mom," she snorted. "You're allowed to freak out sometimes."

Bella sniffled. "Listen, I'm so sorry that you've had so much thrown at you so fast. You're so strong. I'm going to be there soon. Are you going to be OK if I hang up so I can focus on the road?"

Her heart broke for her mother; Eliza could tell how badly she was beating herself up.

"Of course, mom. Drive safe, OK? I love you."

They hung up, and she turned to Jacob, who had settled into Charlie's recliner and put his feet up.

"Where is Leah?"

He stretched his arms with a groan before answering.

"She went back to Sue's for a bit, then they're going to go check in on Charlie. I'll stay here with you and wait for your mom if you're comfortable with that?"

She thought about it for a moment. She didn't really know Jacob well; he'd been around all her life, and he was never weird or anything, but they hadn't interacted much. Today was probably the most they'd spoken one-on-one, and it wouldn't fill a notebook page. Still, she trusted Leah's judgment and her mom's; neither would leave her alone with a man they didn't trust.

"Yeah, that's OK." She realized then that he was giving up his evening to essentially babysit her after chasing off a possibly dangerous weirdo. "I mean, um, thank you. For looking out for me."

He just shrugged and cracked a beer. She didn't even notice that he'd brought one in.

"'S'nothing." Closing his eyes, he took a sip and let out a long, weary sigh. He glanced up at the TV, now playing some reality show, and wrinkled his nose. Eliza stood and handed him the remote.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. He'd been gone for hours; he had to be, she thought.

He glanced back at the kitchen and smirked. "Yeah. You got any beans?"