I own nothing.
SO I was struggling with a very important fact and I just can't make it work, I've gone back to some of the other chapters and made small adjustments but big impacts. Elizabeth's fast growth only lasts till she is about 4 years old looking. So from now on she will age and grow as a normal human child. I know this is a small fact but a big impact, I just couldn't get over the ewe feeling of her looking 18 at the age of 7 and certain feelings being brought forward for anyone.
While I was writing the last chapter the story started to take an interesting turn, so we will be spending more time than expected with Elizabeth as a child… I hope you enjoy.
Edward POV:
The party on the beach was going well. Though I could tell my family overdid it on the gifts, I had quickly helped Jacob and my brothers take them inside the house for Jacob to open at another time. The house was cozy and comfortable feeling. Though Elizabeth didn't like the fact that Jacob's fridge didn't have any drawings on it. Just a single wedding invite was the only thing that decorated the front. She sat down pretty quickly to draw a picture, Jacob close by. I was contemplating going over to encourage him to go play with his friends when I hear Lizzy speak up, asking him why he wasn't out playing. She doesn't have to push much to get Jacob to get up and go join his friends.
"The time apart seems to be working out well for Jacob." Billy comments on "He seems more himself again."
Sam's thoughts show his agreement, but also that he was even more worried about Quil the only missing wolf from the party.
"Edward I probably should have asked but I invited Claire and her parents tonight. I was hoping you could talk to them? They have refused to even consider letting Quil have anything to do with their daughter. They know about the wolves, they even know about vampires. But they are human." Sams request catches me a little off guard.
"I can try Sam, but I have an upper hand that Claire's parents don't have. The main thing being I can read thoughts. I can easily allow Jacob around my child and his imprint because I know his thoughts are pure towards her."
"Please try." Sam stresses the words as he pushes thoughts of Quil to the front of his mind. Showing me how bad the young wolf had gotten. 'I fear we'll lose him in the next few months if things don't change.'
I give him a slight nod to let him know I hear his thoughts, while the conversation continues. We all get into a bit of a heated discussion on how to talk to Claire's parents, Carlisle, Billy, and even Jasper throwing in their own suggestions and thoughts on how to help.
'I hope she's not here to cause issues' I hear Jacob think. Just as I also pick up Leah's thoughts, we'd all been into such a heated discussion her approach had gone mostly unnoticed.
Suddenly all the wolf-boys minds freeze as they see their pack sister enter the beach, she had on a beautiful but simple green dress that she had picked out of the closet the other night, asking me if she could take it home and wear it to Jacobs party. It fit her perfectly, she had curled her shoulder length hair and had even put on makeup. I could tell from the wolves that she hadn't dressed up like this for a few years. I don't even notice that Myself along with Carlisle and Jasper had stood to greet her until Emmett calls out and comes running over.
I try to block out Jacob's study of us as I turn towards Leah.
"Leah you look beautiful." I say Jasper and Carlisle give their own greetings of hello and compliments.
"You look great!" Emmett says as he had gotten closer.
Our complements give Leah a bit more confidence in her choice to wear a dress as her hands smooth out some non-existent wrinkles, giving her a moment to compose herself. Though I'm sure all of us noticed the light blush covering her cheeks.
"Charmers, the lot of you." She says as Alice bounces over to us, asking Leah to join them, though not really waiting for a reply as she pulls her along. I sit back down to continue the conversation I was having with the guys when Jacob's thoughts intrude.
'What was that?' He projects towards me wondering why we all stood when Leah arrived.
"Excuse me please." I say as I again stand, this time to walk over to Jacob.
"We're from completely different times Jacob." I answer him simply. "When most of us were human manners were drilled into us. Now some of those manners are all but forgotten for humans or not wanted. But when I was human if a lady entered the room its only polite to stand and greet her. Often times that would have even included offering a hand to help her to a seat. Jasper, Carlise, even Emmett are much the same way. Guess you could say that old habits stick around."
"Guess that makes sense, we haven't seen Leah in a dress in years. I think a few of the pack members are still stunned." Jacob says as his thoughts start racing, replaying the picture of Leah in his mind.
"Sorry" was his quiet reply after I clear my thought to remind him I'm standing right there. He wasn't exactly thinking about anything inappropriate, but also not something I want to stand around and listen to.
"Edward, they've just arrived. It look a lot of convincing but they're here and they brought Clair. Let me introduce you." Sam's call pull me away from Jacob as I start to walk back over to where the others were.
I'm distracted by Sam until I hear Elizabeth practically yell Jacobs name. I turn and watch as she runs towards him, wagging her little finger at one of the shifters, Jared I believe. She was so close to pushing the young pup down, only Jacobs arm wrapped around her prevented it. "That was not nice, you can't go around hurting people. Its important to play nice." This was one of the lessons I've been drilling into her, not for her to use against a wolf but if she's going to be near humans she's going to need to know to be careful.
I watch them closely, though I know I don't have to intervene. Jared is completely in control of his wolf and Elizabeth did have Jacob right there with her. He wouldn't let any harm come to her. I'm also highly aware that the ladies have all stopped talking and were watching everything unfold.
"I'm so sorry Miss Lizzy. I thought Jake here was paying attention." Jared says. His thoughts fully aware that everyone was watching him. That was all I needed to see before I turned back to Sam and motioned for him to lead the way to Claire and her family that had just arrived.
"Chad, Marla I'm so glad you took me up on my offer and came." Sam says as we approach. "I'd like to introduce Edard Cullen to you. Edward this is Chad and Marla Young, Emily's Brother and sister-in-law and their daughter Claire."
We'll here it goes, and by the look of it if I can't convince the Youngs to let Quil see his imprint then Quil won't be with us much longer.
"It's nice to meet you both." Is all I'm able to get our before Elizabeth comes over to us practically dragging Jacob.
"Good evening Claire." Jacob says as they approach. "This is Elizabeth my imprint."
I watch as Jacob walks off with both girls. We had adult conversations to have and the life of a young wolf hangs in the balance.
"She's absolutely precious" Marla comments looking at Elizabeth gently holding her daughters hand and walking over to where her coloring books and a few toys where scattered along the beach.
"Thank you." I comment knowing maybe I should comment their own daughter, I really disliked idle chit chat. "Claire seems happy."
We go back and fourth on a few more random child related things. Until I can tell by their thoughts they're ready to hear my opinion about a wolf imprinting on my child.
Even while I talk with them about all my worries and issues about some of this stuff. I'm drawn to listening to the stories the girls are filling Leah's head with. Sometimes having sisters was just a bit much. "Marla, they've all told you the imprint is only a need to make sure Claire is happy and protected. I understand that you're trying to protect your child, but can you consider that by telling Quil he can never see Claire again that you are killing him?"
I know they're only trying to protect their child, so maybe it wasn't kind of me to flat out tell them that its killing Quil. But that's the main issue here, they're all trying to be too kind with their words. No one has bothered to actually say the truth out loud. He makes a good point, but how do we go about this?" Chad wonders. "I, well we. We don't want anything bad to happen to Quil, he seems like a wonderful kid. But this entire thing is so strange to us. The times we would bring Claire over, we did let Quil be around her. But that's ALL he wanted. He wouldn't leave her side. He ignored his friends in favor of just sitting next to her and playing with her Barbies. It just didn't look right. Like he was being pushed into becoming something he didn't really want." Of course I knew all these worries, I had the same ones regarding Jacob.
"Your words do make sense. I did have many of the same thoughts an issues. But we've been working on that. Jacob was sitting with Elizabeth for a bit before he went off and was actively playing with the other pack members. He's only now sitting with them because Elizabeth hasn't ever been near another child to play with. It's a safety precaution for now. Once we're done with our conversation I'll go make sure he can go off and enjoy his party. The main thing is you have to assure their wolf that their imprint isn't going anywhere. That she is safe. That was our biggest hurdle with Jacob. He was terrified that I would take her and disappear somewhere where he couldn't find her. Now he is doing just fine, back to work, doing school. Acting normal. Or at least as normal as a shifting teenage boy can." Our talks seem to go on forever but eventually they came around and decided maybe Quil could come around Claire every few weeks or so. At least they have agreed to try.
"Maybe we can all meet at a park. It would make me feel better if you'd be willing to just give us a view of his mind while he's with her?" Marla asked hesitantly, looking at her husband to see if he agreed with her words.
"I believe Elizabeth would love that idea. She has been asking to go to a park ever since we drove past one, is there any chance you're free to go tomorrow? Maybe we could call Quil and ask him to join us?" We spend the next few minutes working out how tomorrow should go. Sam was kind enough to call Quil with Chad so that they could see if he would join us. Obviously he said yes without any hesitation.
"Daddy this is my new friend Claire." Elizabeth said as I walk over to the girls.
"Hello Claire, are the two of you having fun?" I ask the unneeded question, anyone paying any attention could tell they were having a wonderful time. "Maybe we should all go to a park tomorrow, would you like that?" Elizabeth has been talking non-stop about wanting to go to a park, so I already knew the answer to my question.
Jacob give me a smile as he stands up to rejoin the boys still playing ball on the beach.
I can see it now, he doesn't have that overwhelming pull to just sit next to Elizabeth and keep her within reach at all times. He's comfortable enough to let her play and do her thing and he can go do his own thing.
Leah POV:
I'm late, I kept changing my mind from wearing my baggy t-shirts and shorts or the dress that I had swiped from Edwards guest closet. Eventually I decided to wear the dress, I just wish someone could have warned me about the response a simple dress would yield.
I was well aware of all the eyes on me as I walk into view, my eyes scanning for a friendly face. I don't get too many of those from my pack brothers, but I know the Cullen's are all supposed to be here and they've become friends of mine.
"Leah you look beautiful." Edward says, standing to greet me, Carlisle and Jasper close behind.
"My dear it is wonderful to see you." Carlisle always reminded me of a father with how he spoke. Always kind and reassuring. "You make that dress look exquisite."
"Leah you look wonderful, and thank you for wearing one of the dresses Alice bought. She'll be so happy." Jasper added his own words.
"You look great!" Emmett says as he walks over to us.
I can't help the blush creeping across my face, I'm also well aware the vampires nearby would be able to see it. I take a moment to smooth out the dress. I know none of them mean anything by their compliments, but it felt nice to receive them none the less. My packmates aren't the gentlemanly types. Sometimes a woman just wants to feel like a woman after all, even if the men giving the attention are unattainable.
"Charmers, the lot of you." I finally say, hoping the guy's mates don't take any offence to the compliments their husbands have given me. Alice practically flies over to me talking a mile a minute but I caught something about her loving the dress and knowing that it would be my color, to needing to come sit with her and the other lady's. I follow along without complaint. Trying to keep up with her chatter.
Movement from the corner of my eye causes me to look back over to where the guys were. Edward who had just sat back down was rising and walking over to Jacob who still hasn't moved since I arrived. I wonder what that's about. The Vamp annoyingly kept his voice down too low for anyone else to hear as he said something to Jacob. Edward no fair whispering. I know he hears me as I see that charming side smirk appear. NO, not charming. Annoying. I adjust my thoughts when his smirk only widened.
"Leah, you look wonderful. It's been too long since you wore a dress." Emily gave me a tight hug in greeting.
"Thank you Emily, I just thought maybe its time for some changes." How do I explain that I got one little complement from a guy, my first in roughly three years and now all I craved was to see if others would agree with his assessment of me.
"Well you look great. We were just discussing our upcoming trip to Paris Fashion Week in July. You should come with us. It's going to be so much fun. We make it purely a girls trip too." Alice is at least talking slower now that we've sat down with some humans so I'm able to actually understand all her words. "Of course since we're inviting you it would be our treat. Its only the polite thing to do."
"That dress does suit you Leah, but maybe you need to hang out with the wolf-boys less. We could see your blush from here." Rosalie says before I can reply to Alice. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be any malice in her words. So maybe she's not upset or mad her husband gave me a complement. "You've really been hanging out with the wrong crowd if a few guys standing and complementing you when you show up gets you to blush and act so flustered. When I was human all male eyes would turn towards me every time I walked into a room, would have been so embarrassing if I blushed every time that happened."
"Rose please be nice." Esme chastised. Though I wasn't sure if it was needed as I think in her own way she was being nice. "I remember meeting you for the first time."
"Wait Rose, you never told me this?" Alice said as she scooted closer to Esme, encouraging her to tell the story.
"It wasn't that bad. I was only human after all." Rose tried to say and steer the conversation elsewhere, but I could tell Alice wasn't letting her off so easy.
"Fine well, you know how I was changed in 1933, I was a bit obsessed with my looks. My family wasn't extremely wealthy. My looks, well they were my ticket to having an easier life. A life I thought I wanted. There were a few eligible bachelors in the town. They were a bit boring, but I could have lived with that. Royce did come from the right family, we had nothing in common, and I didn't particularly like him. But he had family money. Right before my engagement to him a new family came to town, becoming the most resent gossip even before most of us had laid eyes on them. Carlisle Cullen the new doctor and his wife Esme. Traveling with Esme's brother Edward Masen, the newest bachelor in town. Edward Masen they said didn't work, came from old money, others would add in. I wasn't sure at the time which rumors were true and which weren't but when I finally laid eyes on them. Oh I didn't like them. I mean the Doctor and his wife seemed well enough but being introduced to Edward Masen, he hardly even looked at me. He was polite. Oh he made sure to say all the right words, he was a perfect gentleman. But there wasn't a hint of any of that longing I've seen in other men. The men who would tell me I was beautiful and worthy of them. No this man, who I deemed handsome enough to match the beauty I myself had, wanted nothing to do with me. It would take a few months before I learned the truth of what they were."
Rose suddenly stops as I feel a presence behind me. I don't have to look to know it was Edward.
"Ladies, the food is ready." He doesn't have to add in the fact that we should hurry if we wanted to get some before the boys devoured it all. "And Rose you're leaving out the best part, you blushed before either Carlisle or I said anything to you and that blush stayed on your cheeks most of the night as you snuck glances at the three of us." I had a feeling Edward was being kind with his words by saying that she had snuck glances at the three of them. From the sound of it she had snuck glances at Edward every chance she got.
It's probably a good thing that vampires can't blush. I think as I watch Rose give a wonderful impression of a fish. Edward let out a slight laugh, making me wonder if he was laughing at what I said or possibly Blondies thoughts.
"Edward" Rose practically hisses out as Emmett walks over and practically drags her off, saying something about going for a walk on the beach.
I'm quick to load up my plate and take a seat on some of the beach blankets that have been laid out. My packmates join me all giving me strange looks.
"Lee, you look really nice." Seth finally says to break the silence. Using my childhood nickname. His words cause the other guys to snap out of whatever they were thinking and give their own complements. Though none of their complements cause me to blush, or felt half as sincere as the ones the Cullen guys had given me. But maybe that was the difference, my packmates were mostly just boys. The Cullens all acted as men, I mean yeah I know some of them were pretty young when turned and they did goof off occasionally, but overall they were just different. Edward was just different especially. He had told me he was 17 when he was changed, but he acted like no 17-year-old I had over met.
After I finish eating I decided to go walk along the beach only to be surprised that my feat had lead me to where Edward was kneeling down with Elizabeth to show her a seashell he had spotted by the waves.
"Leah!" Lizzy says as she hugs me tight, wet sand flying everywhere. "Aunt Ali" was the only warning I get before she lets go and goes flying down the beach to Alice.
"Maybe you shouldn't wear a dress around your pack." Edward says a smile on his face as he watches his daughter practically tackle Alice.
"Oh, are the boys being naughty?" I tease, not really caring to know the answer.
"They're a bunch of teenaged boys, what would you expect?" Was all the reply I received. But it was enough of a clue to let me know he had been listening to my thoughts as I ate. What no one else had anything interesting rolling around in their minds?
"Well to be fair they don't get out much. I'm sure a dress on a pig would get just as much attention." He looks like he is about to argue with me when we hear Lizzy call out to us that it's time for the cake she made.
I couldn't wait to see what kind of cake Jacob's imprint made for him. Quils imprint had made him a cake last year, it was a stacked cake with pink and purple frosting, sprinkles and dancing butterflies all over it. Poor Quil so enamored by the imprint pull just said thank you with a silly grin on his face.
"I frosted it all myself" I hear Lizzy say as I see Edward help her place a cake before Jacob. It's a stacked cake with white frosting a car cake topper decorated the top. Yeah the frosting was a bit wonky but she said she did it all herself. If we're being honest it looked pretty good and at least she decorated it to look like something Jacob enjoys and not something childish and girly.
All too soon the night ends and we say our goodbyes to The Cullens. I'm about to head home myself when Sam approaches me, asking to have a word and motioning away from the others.
"Leah what's up with the dress?" Sam spits the words out, practically accusing me of, we'll I wasn't really sure what he was thinking. "You don't wear dresses or makeup anymore."
"What's your problem Sam?" I spit out, matching his energy.
"Leah you show up looking like… Looking like that." He's now motioning at my outfit as if I could have accidentally put a dress on and not notice it.
"It's a dress Sam, plenty of women wear them. I used to wear them all the time before I was a wolf, even before I dated you." Gosh why is he acting like a jealous boyfriend all of a sudden?
"Yeah and you got the attention of everyone just like you wanted. Even the vamps all felt the need to stand when you walked onto the beach." Oh so he had noticed they had all stood when I got to the party. "And don't think I hadn't noticed you were practically flaunting yourself and flirting with them."
"Sam, they were just being polite." This conversation started to annoy me some. "You broke up with me, you chose Emily. You're about to Marry her. I'm not going to just stand around and be that sad looking wolf-girl. Especially since we recently learned that I'm immortal, the future I thought I would have will never come to me. I'll stay a wolf forever. Shouldn't you be happy that I'm trying to find myself, be normal again. Or did you prefer for me to be that sad heartbroken girl who lost her long-term boyfriend to a creepy wolf thing?"
This is the Sam I truly hated, the Sam who tossed me aside to be with his imprint but then acted jealous if I got any male attention. It's not like anything was going on with me and any of the guys. It's ok to compliment someone without there being other feelings involved. I saw it once, Sam expected to marry Emily and have a future and family with her and he just expected me to just always be around, Alone. The first time this jealous monster showed its face was after I had come back from visiting Seattle. He had demanded who I met there and accused me of going on a date with a human that wasn't my imprint.
"Leah I'm your Alpha again." His voice started to change; I could tell he was about to say some Alpha BS crap that I wasn't going to want to listen to.
"Sam, whatever you're thinking you better not." I don't give him a chance to say anything else as I left the shift overtake me and go for a run. Realizing a moment too late that I was going to end up shredding the dress, I'll have to apologize to Alice next time I see her.
I let myself run for hours, returning home in the early hours of the morning. Something I had noticed soon after shifting was that I really didn't need much sleep. My pack brothers have commented that they need about four hours of sleep and they're good. But I don't even need that much, let me grab an hour cat nap and I'm good, sometimes for days. I only really go to bed out of habit and a need to stay quiet and not wake my brother and mom.
Edwards POV:
The next day Elizabeth is practically bouncing off the walls as I try to get her ready to head to the park. I can't wait, is there a slide do you think? She asks as she starts to twirl around the room.
"I'm sure there is, but you'll never find out if you don't get your shoes on." She smiles at me as she stops her impromptu dancing to sit down in front of me so we could finish getting ready.
Finally we're in the car and heading to the park to meet with The Youngs and hopefully Quil, if Sam is able to convince him to come out.
"Elizabeth, you remember your friend Claire isn't as strong as you. She's a human. You need to go slow and gentle with her." I remind her for what is probably the 100th time today. It was important that she didn't forget.
My phone beeps with an incoming text, I look down quickly to read it. (AN: PLEASE no one text and drive. Edward is a vampire and can multitask like you won't believe)
Sam- Was able to convince Quil to come out. He's looking worse. I hope this works.
I choose not to reply, because honestly I wasn't sure if it would work.
"CLAIRE…." Elizabeth yells the moment she gets out of the car and she spots Claire swinging.
"Lizzy. I'm so glad you came!" Claire shouts her own greeting, jumping off of the swing.
The two girls run around, thankfully at human speed, while I go and join the other girls parents. Thankfully there's no one else here.
"We called Quil last night, after we got Claire to sleep. Told him he could come see Claire and that we could talk." Chad fills me as we sit, watching the girls play.
Sam arrives at the same time Quil and Jacob arrive. Looks like Jacob wanted to both give his support and be here just in case Quil actually lost it. I let them all work towards an agreement that worked for them, choosing instead to watch the girls play. Thankful that Elizabeth is behaving and that I haven't had to remind her to be careful.
I'm aware of an agreement being made with Quil just as something even Alice couldn't have seen happened, Claire tripped. She fell so fast not even Quil could reach her before she scrapped her knee. Time seemed to slow as I start to move towards the girls. I don't get far before Elizabeth runs into my arms, her thoughts a mix of wanting the blood and wanting to not scare and hurt her friend. I'm quick to move us a bit away as Claire is being cared for by Quil and her parents. Just as I had expected, Jacob follows us.
"Elizabeth, you did wonderful princess." I praise, so proud of her for moving away from the blood so quickly.
"I didn't want to hurt my friend." She whispers, as she peaks over my shoulder to watch Claire. "Is she ok?"
"Yes Lizzy she is perfectly fine, human children trip and get scrapes all the time. Just give her a moment to start feeling better and then I'm sure she'll want to start playing again soon." As if on que an ice cream truck pulls up, distracting Elizabeth from her worries for a moment.
"Whats that?" She asks pulling on Jacobs arm and pointing to the brightly decorated truck.
"Its an ice cream truck, should we get some?" We hadn't even had lunch yet, and here Jacob is pulling her off to get ice cream.
"Daddy, maybe it will help Claire feel better?" She asks, almost as if she knows what I am thinking.
"That is a wonderful idea." I add, I have cash so don't even bother trying to give me any more money. Jacobs thoughts ring in my head. And don't try to deny it, I know it was you somehow that put extra money in my bank accounts. We're going to have to have a talk about that at some point.
Yeah guilty as charged, but how could I let the young wolf and his family struggle so much financially when I had plenty of money. I don't answer Jacob out loud, he's busy helping Lizzy pick out ice cream anyways.
"Claire are you feeling better?" Elizabeth asks as the ice cream truck pulls away and we walk over to rejoin the others. "We got ice cream I picked you out this funny looking bunny one, but you could have this yellow bird one if you'd prefer. Jacob said they're Buggs Bunny and Tweety Bird."
"She handled herself wonderfully." Sam quietly comments noting that Elizabeth knew to move away right away when Claire's blood scent hit the air.
"Yes, she tries so hard to act as normal as possible." I respond back watching the two girls eat their ice cream and giggle about who knows what.
The rest of the visit goes wonderfully, Quil went from looking like a dying zombie to looking healthier. Not fully better, but on the mend instead of at death's door. The Youngs agreed to come around every other week so that Quil could see Claire, they have also asked for Lizzy and I to join many of these visits as the girls had so much fun at the park. After everything Quil found all of their requests to be fair. It's not like he felt the need to be alone with Claire, just a need to see her. To know she was ok.
~~Time Pass~~
The next two weeks are filled with schooling, more hunting trips, Jacob visits, and even visits with Claire. Leah doesn't come around, causing me to wonder if she was ok since we hadn't seen her since Jacobs Birthday. Annoyingly Jacob's thoughts were never on Leah, so I wasn't sure if she had even been around the pack.
Elizabeth is sleeping soundly when my phone rings. I stop playing piano wondering who could be calling, as we had spoken to most of the family earlier in the day.
"Edward, I'm sorry to call so late but I have a big favor to ask." Sam says as soon as I answer. "Paul and Jared were out riding their bikes, they crashed. Jared will be ok, but Paul. He's bad, not even Sue is sure what to do. He has a piece of the bike sticking through his side. Sue suggested we call you; Seth has mentioned to her that you have been to medical school."
He's talking so fast if I wasn't a vampire I would have missed most of what he said.
"Where do you have them?" I ask as I pull on shoes.
"We're at the Blacks house. And Edward, please hurry" Sam stresses the hurry part as I open Elizabeth's door.
"Princess I'm sorry, but we have to go help some of the pack." She sleepily wraps her arms around me as I tuck her into my side. Grabbing an emergency doctors kit I had I race out the door heading straight for the Blacks residence. Running would be way faster than driving.
Most of the pack are sitting around outside as I run up, slowing my speed only a bit to hand a sleeping Elizabeth off to Jacob.
"Edward, before you go in you should know there is some blood." Sam meets me his mind filling with images of Paul lying on a bed a piece of the bikes windshield sticking from his side, blood slowly dripping out of the wound.
"Keep Elizabeth out of the house please." I ask Jacob as I give Sam a reassuring nod. I stop breathing the moment I step into the house. At least everyone around knew what I was, so I didn't need to give any human pretenses of breathing.
I pass Jared who is sitting at the kitchen table, holding his arm. I could see he was in a significant amount of pain. But was putting on a brave face as Paul was worse off that him.
"Sue, walk me thought where we're at." I say in way of greeting as I open the medical kit and begin pulling items out. Grateful that Carlisle had suggested that I keep a med kit at the cabin.
"He wants to shift, the only thing stopping him is the Alpha's order not to. Rachel is trying to keep him calm, I'm afraid to pull this out, I can't be sure…" Sue's mind is clear as she goes over Paul's injury, professionally, like the nurse she is.
"Let's have a look then" I say as I step closer to examine him. If he was human, I would have demanded he be rushed to the hospital. But seeing as he was a wolf that wasn't an option. I do my best to clean away the wound, gently touching the protruding object. "I'm fairly sure it has missed anything vital, without equipment I can't be 100% sure. I'm pushing some morphine now, to help him with the pain."
Sue and I work well together as we gently and slowly remove the object. Fresh blood flowing out quicker, causing us to worry we were wrong in our assessment, but then thankfully the right amount of pressure is able to make it stop. Sue and I work well together stitching Paul up and checking the other injuries.
"These other wounds seem to be artificial. Once he wakes have him shift, that should finish the healing. If the blood starts to flow through the gauze provide more pressure and call me or Sue to check." I give the instructions to Sam and Rachel as I make my way out of the room, stopping to wash my hands in the bathroom.
"Jared, would you like some morphine to help with the pain too?" I ask as I sit in a chair next to him at the table.
"I think I can do without the meds, its not that bad." He's remembering the time Carlisle and I had to come onto the reservation and into this very house to help Jacob right after our fight with the newborns, when one of them had crushed his side.
I attempt to distract him with random questions and conversations as I rebreak a few of his bones to set his wrist right and either my talking distracted him or he was just really good with pain, he doesn't flinch or even cry out as I work. Thankfully it doesn't take long.
"Thank you, Edward." Sam says as I step out of the house, he had just finished telling the gathered pack members that Paul should be ok.
"I'm glad I was able to help. I don't often get to use my medical knowledge." I say as my eyes land on Elizabeth who was curled up in a nest of blankets on the beach. Jacob watching over her.
"Because of the blood?" Sam asks.
"No more like because of the not aging thing. Carlisle has a hard enough time looking old enough to be a doctor, I wouldn't be able to pull it off." Sam doesn't get a chance to reply as our conversation gets interrupted.
"Is Paul and Jared ok?" Leah asks as she appears out of the woods. "I felt their pain."
"Yeah Leah, they're going to be just fine, but where have you been. Your mom said you haven't been home in three days." I can see Sam's question has annoyed her.
"I'm fine, I'm not your responsibility any more Sam. I just wanted to make sure they were ok." She huffs out as she walks towards the beach to get away from Sam. Edward, hey. Sorry I just can't deal with Sam right now. Leah uses her thoughts to grab my attention. Suddenly I'm aware of the fight they had right after Jacob's birthday Sam accusing her of being flirtatious towards us. I can see how much their conversation had upset her. Just seeing it second hand was starting to make me angry. Who was Sam to have claim to an imprint and attempt to keep his claim on Leah. And to try to put her down, just when she was getting some of her confidence back.
"I better get Elizabeth home." I quickly make an excuse to leave and going to grab my sleeping girl, she looked comfortable, but she still should be in her own bed not out on the beach.
"Come by again soon." I whisper too low for the other wolves to even hear as I pass Leah. One horrible conversation with Sam and that tough girl, I don't give a damn, attitude that she had adopted over the last few years is back as a mask over the hurt and pain all of this ad caused.
Elizabeth doesn't even stir as I lay her back into bed.
I take a nice long shower to make sure no blood remains and to try to clear my mind. Why did it get under my skin so much the way Leah perceives the pack and the way they act about her? I wonder.