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Chapter 44

Accident

Emmett

Bella swung her leg over the bike and revved the engine. She laughed in my direction, and I got on my bike.

She looked so sexy. How could clumsy little Bella look so good on a piece of sports equipment?

"Ready? Go!", she shouted, and we both drove off.

I was a little behind her - she was really good. Of course, I could go faster, but the view from back here was nothing to sneeze at.

She looked back at me and laughed.

I wish she could still have so much fun as a vampire and hang out with the wolves. They were like family to her.

We did five laps as usual and before we crossed the finish line, I stepped on the gas and passed her. I stopped behind the finish, turned around and stuck my tongue out at her.

She gave me an evil look - or rather - she tried to. Bella couldn't really look angry if she wasn't really angry.

"I'll never race you again if you always do that in the same way!", she said and stuck her tongue out at me.

Bella was just so incredibly sweet. I was glad she was still having some fun with the wolves. Hopefully Sam wouldn't make a fuss, but I highly doubted that, even with Carlisle around.

"Jake, are you up for a race?", Bella asked him.

Already he was sitting on his bike.

"One round, all or nothing, Belly! We'll take the long route," he said deadly serious.

She laughed with anticipation and nodded.

She preferred to ride with Jake because he didn't follow her around staring at her ass. Should be fine with me, then I'll wait here with Angela.

She ran up to them and stood a few feet in front of them between the motorcycles.

"Attention ... ready ... GO!", she shouted and the two gave full throttle.

Bella was in front first, her hair blowing in the wind, and I could hear her laughing all the way over here. But Jacob caught up and left her behind.

They turned at a junction and took the longer route by the cliffs. They disappeared behind some rocks.

"Emmett?" I heard Angela's voice.

I turned around and looked at her. She made a serious face.

"Umm ...?"

"Vampires don't get older and they don't die, right?", she asked a little uncertainly.

I wondered what she was getting at.

"Yep ...", I said.

That was one of the best things about being a vampire. I kept my well-toned twenty-year-old body forever and ever without spending an hour in the gym.

"So, I was just thinking ... because it's the same thing with Jake, so as long as he turns into a wolf. But I'm getting older and so is Bella. I was just wondering how you think abou …"

My body froze.

Not because of Angela, but because I had just heard a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. Bella!

"Fuck!" was the only thing I said before I started running.

With the bike I would have been too slow.

"BELLA! No ... Bella! Bella! Please! No!", I heard Jacob scream.

Damn, what had happened.

I arrived at Jacob's motorcycle, but the voices were coming from the cliffs.

I froze into a pillar of ice as I looked down.

Bella had rolled her motorcycle down the slope - at least thirty meters - and was lying with her back against a large rock. She was not moving. The smell of her blood went through me like an electric shock. NO! She was not breathing, and I saw all the blood on the rock and the sandy ground.

Jake noticed I was here but that I didn't move.

"EMMETT! SHIT! DO SOMETHING!"

His hands were covered with blood and his face with tears.

I descended the slope and was with her within a second.

Her blood didn't have the effect it should have. But I could think of nothing but my Bella - dead.

"DO SOMETHING!" screamed Jake. "Damn it, help her! She's dying!"

I heard a scream from above.

Angela arrived on the motorcycle and saw us.

"Even at vampire speed, it wouldn't be enough to get her to the hospital," I said.

"SAVE HER!"

It sounded like a command.

I had a complete blackout. The only thing I saw was Bella.

Jake punched me in the face.

"Change her!", he demanded.

It was the only way to save her, but it shocked me to hear it from his mouth.

I still did not move.

I felt my eyes burning. No tears were coming. But if I were human, my face would be streaming with tears - just like Jake's. She died - Bella died right before my eyes.

"Sam ...", I wanted to say. If I bit her now and broke the contract - and on his land at that - we'd both be dead in a minute anyway.

"SCREW SAM. I ALLOW YOU! NOW DO IT, DAMN IT!" he screamed desperately.

Jake couldn't allow me to do it.

You ...", I started, but he interrupted me.

"I am the heir of the last alpha. I CAN allow you to do it. God, do something already. I almost can't hear her heart anymore!", he pleaded.

Still I felt only emptiness and despair inside me. Jacob's words seeped too slowly into my consciousness.

When he saw that I didn't react, he slapped me again in the face.

It helped. I could think clearly again and thought about a thousand things at once. I had to save them.

"GO!", I commanded. "Alice can't see anything if you're there," I explained when he didn't go at first.

But then he ran away as fast as he could when he understood what I meant.

We were alone and I lowered my head to Bella's carotid artery, then to her wrists, elbows and restraints. I injected the poison without tasting even a hint of her blood. Then I searched for the injuries that caused so much blood.

The back of her head was full of blood, but the skull bone was still intact.

I tore my T-shirt to shreds and tried to apply a tourniquet.

If she lost any more blood, even all the poison was useless. Her back was also bleeding, and I saw that her spine was broken. Damn. Should I move her?

I made a bandage to stop the bleeding on her back.

The venom should repair the spine.

I laid her flat on the floor, as much as was possible on this slope, and began CPR.

The whole thing lasted less than two minutes since Jake had hit me and brought me out of my blackout.

I probably broke a few ribs while doing CPR, but the only thing that mattered was the venom that had to be pumped through her veins.

You have to live, Bella, damn it! Bella, don't die, hang on, I pleaded in my head. God, don't let her die, please! Oh God, Bella!

Finally - after ten minutes - Carlisle and Alice arrived.

I was pretty sure that the venom had spread throughout her body. Alice tried to reassure me and said she would be fine and that she would make it. Carlisle assured me that I had done everything right.

After Carlisle was sure we could transport her, I took her in my arms, and we ran north.