Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ Bette Noir ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

-Bette Noir

*~*Chapter 3*~*

“Bella,” Carlisle began slowly, choosing his words carefully. “There's something I need to tell you…It's about Charlie.”

Bella froze, her mind running through a hundred possibilities of what that statement could mean in only a three second pause. She clung to Carlisle's hand, her eyes wide in her pale face. Her heart beat madly in her chest and even though she could feel Jasper's calming influence - could feel him trying to chase away her fear - she wondered if it was really doing any good.

“Charlie?” she whispered her father's name, a coldness settling in her chest as tears pricked her eyes. “What happened to Charlie?”

Charlie drove carefully down the winding back roads that led from the Quileute reservation to the main highway turnoff. The pale yellow light of the cruiser's headlights guided his way through the darkness as he strained his eyes to see beyond the limited horizon of the high-beams. It was a long drive to get to his and Billy's favorite fishing hole and Charlie was beginning to regret his early morning, but the time spent with Bella before he had left for Billy's house had been worth it.

The corners of his lips turned up at the thought of spending the next five days on their secret lake. Fed by the rich waters of the Pacific Ocean, the small run-off lake - though only three acres wide and twenty feet deep at its very center, was always brimming with large trout and monstrous salmon. The hidden lake was in an area so remote that he had to pass through the edges of three small towns to get near the unnamed forest it was housed in, and still had to drive over an hour into no man's land.

The constant, low rhythm of Billy's snoring sounded much akin to an old dog growling and the police chief chuckled at his sleeping friend. He envied the old Indian the sleep he was getting, knowing that Billy would demand they unhook the boat and be out on the lake before the tent had even been taken out of the car. They both knew that to get the best fish you had to drop your line and bait just before dawn broke. To be able to do that, Charlie had to start out from Billy's house well before sunset and drive all night to get there.

He shook his head and dropped one hand to the FM radio control, turning it on and spinning the dial as he flipped through the stations. He blinked hard at the road ahead of him. An early morning with Bella before he had left for Billy's house, and then two days of baseball and bait gathering with Billy before they had left the man's house not two hours prior, made him realize that he was no longer as young as he liked to think he was. The sleepless nights and busy days were catching up to him with a vengeance as the sound of the tires against the road's surface and the wind tunneling around the sides of the car sang to him the driver's lullaby. It was only eight PM Charlie noticed as he took the east-bound highway exit onto the 101. It would be three AM before he came to the outskirts of the forest their lake was nestled in and he forgot to bring coffee.

“No one is entirely certain about exactly what happened,” Carlisle said, knowing that there was no easy way to tell Bella the news. “Apparently the fishing hole favored by Charlie and Billy is on Bainbridge Island, near Puget Sound. It's in a fairly unknown area just sixty miles inside of the most inland part of Eagle Harbor. Even most forest rangers won't go in there - no one ever goes into that part of the forest and it's heavily populated with bears and wolves.”

Bella watched Carlisle, confused and alarmed by what she thought to be unnecessary back story. His eyes were tight, the lines creasing his brow and at the edges of his lips made him appear older than his physical twenty-three years. His voice was quiet and cautious when he spoke, the tone of it frightening her, making her fear the worst. Oh god, how bad was this? What was he holding back? What was Carlisle trying not to tell her? What was it that they were all trying to protect her from? Bella felt her blood freeze in her veins as fear, so powerful it stole her breath and silenced her mind, took hold and nearly overwhelmed her. Was Charlie dead too? Had she lost all of her human family now?

Bella didn't hear the choked, painful whimpers that escaped her lips, her eyes wide and almost wild in her face, pale with fear. She felt Alice tighten her arms around her waist as her anxiety continued to grow. She couldn't understand the soothing words that Alice was speaking softly, so close to her ear. Nor did she know that she had begun to issue forth a constant string of nearly silent, high-pitched whimpers.

Until that moment Jasper had been content to simply sit back and monitor Bella's emotions as he toyed with her hair, letting his actions soothe her instead. When the sudden spike of fear ambushed her emotions - blocking out all others from her - and had him nearly doubled over with the force of its power, he took action. It took all the control and concentration Jasper had to escape the strength of her emotion and use his talent to calm her, soothing her fear down to a background noise. Her brown eyes were soon blinking slowly, heavily, as the rush of the emotional storm left her drained and weak. She could feel Jasper's calming influence over her emotions and was never more thankful for his talent than in that moment. She heard him whisper to her softly, answering the gratitude he could feel coming from her that was directed at him. Comforted as well by the feel of Esme's hand in the curve of her neck, slowly moving back and forth as the woman comforted her with just a touch, Bella wished that she could grasp the woman's hand in her own.

Bella looked to Edward, hoping she would see something in his expression that would tell her just how bad the coming news was. His eyes were sad, his face and posture set in stone - he was so tense - his expression, aside from concern, was completely unreadable. Looking back to Carlisle, she waited for him to continue, the man having paused in his tale while her attention was diverted. She wanted to scream at him, to shake him, and demand that he simply spit out whatever it was. Instead, she gripped his hand tighter, the smooth cold skin soft against her own, and his unbreakable skin like marble in her palm.

Jasper continued his methodical stroking of her hair as he monitored Bella's emotions. Carlisle had explained to the four of them what had happened when he had sent Rose and Emmett, Jacob trailing behind, to track down Charlie. Jasper knew that as bad and as tormenting as the events of the day before had been for Bella - the girl just barely maintaining control of her emotions - that it was going to get exponentially worse. He knew that once she was informed - fully informed - there were two possible outcomes that Alice had seen: Bella could become emotionally catatonic…or she could have a complete breakdown. Alice hadn't been able to see the future clearly enough to give a more accurate estimation then that, but neither options were favorable.

Carlisle waited until her attention was completely focused on him again before continuing. Lifting the hand she held, he stroked her cheek with the back of one finger, brushing away a tear. A sad grimace twisted his lips as he let the human girl tuck his hand once more to her chest, her brown eyes meeting his as she waited for him to continue.

“I sent Rosalie and Emmett down to the police station to let them know that you were alright and in my family's care. When the crash scene was investigated and your truck was found but you were not,” Carlisle explained in response to Bella's furrowed brow, “a search began. The officers were afraid that you may have wandered into the surrounding forest. Jacob followed after them; he's been too agitated to be still for very long…They only got the chance to tell Deputy Carrolson that you were safe before they were ushered into a private room and told about Charlie.”

Charlie could feel himself growing more tired by the moment as the dangerous phenomenon known as “highway hypnosis” began to set in. Breathing a sigh of relief when he caught sight of the lighted sign of a near-by twenty-four hour convenience store/gas station, he took the next exit off the highway and held his eyes open wide as he followed the signs. He yawned so hard that tears stung his eyes and he beat the heel of his hand against the steering wheel, trying to stay awake as he pulled into the parking lot of the convenience store.

Cutting the engine, Charlie stared through the large glass windows, covered in advertisements for various soft drinks and quick-serve combo meals. Blinking twice, he was instantly alert with the realization that something felt wrong. Shaking Billy's shoulder to wake his friend, Chief Swan reached into his glove compartment and retrieved his back-up weapon: a .32 caliber snub-nosed revolver.

“Stay out here,” Charlie ordered his groggy friend as he checked the revolver's drum to make certain it was loaded. “If I don't come out in five minutes - hit the red button on the radio controls,” he said indicating the red button with the black star in the center. “It's an emergency GPS bulletin. Any unit within a hundred mile radius will see our location lit up like a Christmas tree.”

Five rounds, Charlie assessed as he jerked the gun to the side and snapped the drum back into place. Looking up, his dark brows furrowed as he watched the clerk behind the counter take the bag that was thrown at her. Two black-clad, hooded figures stood waiting as the girl, who didn't look to be any older than Bella, emptied the contents of the cash register into the burlap sack.

Turning on the cruiser's radio, Charlie took up the handset and reported the robbery in progress along with his location before exiting the vehicle. Staying crouched low, Charlie kept his car door from closing to avoid making any noise that might alert the assailants inside.

“Charlie called in the robbery, but he knew that no uniformed officer would get there in time to do anything. He also knew that it was very likely the men would kill the clerk,” Carlisle told Bella, watching helplessly as tears rolled down over the bridge of her nose to pool beneath her right temple that lay on Jasper's denim-clad thigh. “Charlie didn't have any identifying clothing on him, and according to the report Deputy Carrolson received, he had left his credentials in the cruiser.”

Charlie slipped quietly into the convenience store, making certain not to jostle the bell hanging on the inside handle. The assailants had yet to see him, and putting a finger to his lips, he motioned for the girl to get down on the floor…If only she hadn't nodded.

The figure closest to him turned quickly, brandishing a sawed-off shot gun. Charlie took him down with a single round. His partner was quicker on the draw, however, and fired two rounds from his .9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol. The first shot his Charlie in the upper left shoulder, a through and through, just below his clavicle. The second round hit not a second later, ripping through his right pectoral muscle, burning like fire. As Charlie fell to the floor, he took the man down with a single, straight shot to the man's heart. The floor beneath him was cold and he could hear the young woman crying hysterically as she came around the counter, her face blurring as he tried to remained focused on her.

The girl held the store's cordless phone between her right shoulder and ear, talking to the 9-1-1 operator as she pressed her balled up apron into Charlie's wounds. How could it be possible that all of that had happened in just under a minute? she wondered, sniffling back tears as she fought to remain calm. Her hands were already covered in Charlie's blood and she could hear a man's voice calling from outside.

“They want to know your name,” she cried, tears pouring down her face as she applied more pressure to his wounds.

“Charles Swan,” Charlie coughed as he fought against the growing darkness surrounding the edges of his vision, he knew that falling asleep was dangerous when one had been shot, “Police Chief of Forks, Washington. Badge number…9-1-6-5-3.”

“Charlie was air-lifted to Seattle and taken to Steven's Memorial Hospital just after two AM this morning,” Carlisle said, lifting his free hand to wipe away Bella's tears. “Last we heard he was still in surgery. There was quite a bit of damage done, but the doctor's are hopeful. Emmett, Rose and Jacob are on their way to Seattle now. They'll stay with him until he can be transferred to the hospital here.”

“Can we go?” Bella asked as the same strange calm she had felt moments after finding her mother began to settle over her again. She could feel herself shaking, could feel as the trembling took over her whole body and she grasped onto Edward's hand with her braced hand as tightly as she could, fiery pain lancing up her arm as her injuries protested the movement.

“No, I'm sorry,” Carlisle said, his voice strained. “You've been injured too severely for me to be comfortable moving you that far. You've been fortunate so far, in that you don't need surgery to set your wrist. However, I do need to put a plaster cast on that,” he nodded to her braced hand that was weakly gripping Edward's hand. “I know that you can still feel and move your fingers, but it would be best if you didn't. Too much movement can aggravate the injury and complicate the fracture.”

Bella blinked slowly, the room around her beginning to blur as it spun wildly out of control. Up until that moment she had been able to feel her emotions for what they were - sort them out and keep some semblance of order over them. That concentrated task was impossible now, though, as they seemed to take on a life of their own, causing her world to tilt precariously on its splintering axis.

Edward reacted quickly to the vertigo and turmoil he read coming from Bella through Jasper's mind. Moments before, he had been wondering when his love would reach her breaking point. The news of her father's injury in the line of duty seemed far beyond what she was capable of dealing with, both mentally and emotionally. Sitting Bella up, with Alice and Jasper's guiding hands on her back and shoulders, Edward directed her to put her head between her knees and breathe deeply as he whispered to her words of love and encouragement.

“She's having a panic attack,” Jasper told Carlisle and Esme, his voice too quick and low for Bella to make out the words. “Her emotions are too jumbled and strong,” he said, straining as he tried to fight the power they had over him. “It's beyond my ability to help her.”

Carlisle nodded and watched his children, Bella included, as the human girl tried to gain control of her emotions. Esme came around to stand in front of Bella and took the younger girl into her arms, holding her tightly, but with the utmost care for her injuries as Bella sobbed into her shoulder. The girl was shaking so fiercely Esme thought she would rip apart if she wasn't holding her.

“Get the trash can,” Alice instructed quickly as she gathered Bella's hair in her hands and held it back.

Carlisle was suddenly in place of Esme in front of her, the round metal can in his hands, holding it beneath Bella, seconds before the girl vomited into it. Her tears increased as the bile rose in her throat once more and the headache she'd been largely ignoring began to feel as though someone were pouring acid inside her brain.

“Hush, Sweetheart,” she heard Carlisle's comforting voice through the haze of her sobs and the ringing in her ears. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Bella didn't even realize she'd been saying anything. She could hear Alice's trilling soprano in the background, but couldn't make out any words as the encroaching darkness suddenly overwhelmed her. Jasper and Edward caught her on either side as she passed out from the violent emotional reaction. Jasper was tense, his movements stiff as he fought against the punishing onslaught of Bella's unconscious emotional tirade.

“Go,” Edward told Jasper. “Get out of here for a few moments. You know how upset Bella would be if she knew she was hurting you like this.”

Jasper nodded silently, slipping out of the room without a sound. Alice looked after her husband in concern. Bella was hurting so badly, and Jasper - while trying to help Bella deal with the pain - was hurting himself just as terribly. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but the future was too blurred by unknown variables for her to get a clear picture. Sighing, she helped lay Bella back on the pillows while Carlisle and Esme cleaned her face.

“Put the cast on her while she's unconscious,” Alice told Carlisle. “She won't be able to hold still enough while awake for you to do it.”

The blond vampire nodded solemnly as he brushed Bella's hair back from her face. He closed his eyes, feeling his shoulders shake with silent, tearless sobs and soon felt his wife's arms surrounding him.

* * *

There was no sound to the growl he could feel rumbling deep within his chest. The off-white walls and dusty rose, stuffed couches and armchairs doing nothing to calm the irritation he felt. Even the sound of the soft background jazz made him more tense with each note that played - each step he took - as he paced back and forth across the surgical waiting room. Every two minutes his eyes would come to rest on the large sliding door that led to the OR suites beyond where visiting family and non-patients were not allowed. He wanted to burst through the automatic door, locked by a keycard-digital keypad lock, and demand that someone give him some kind of answer.

Stopping and bringing his hands to his face, Emmett rubbed his large palms over his cheeks and forehead, scrubbing the skin there before combing the fingers of one hand through his dark curls. He hated this…this waiting. It left him feeling helpless, and he hated to feel helpless. Emmett knew his limitations, knew that he may not be as smart as some of the others in his family, but he was a man of action. He was at his best when he could be fighting something, doing anything, comforting someone. Once again he felt his silent cell phone burn a hole in his jeans pocket. He wanted to call Edward, to hear Bella's voice, and know that his little sister was alright.

“You know, glaring at the door won't make the doctors come through it any faster,” Rosalie said beneath her breath from where she sat across the room idly flipping through a three-month old copy of Vogue magazine.

Emmett stopped cold, his entire body turning rigid, statuesque, as the silent growl sounded just loud enough for her to hear. Her huff of near-silent laughter made the irritation he felt burn viciously through his body, his muscles tingling as they tensed and relaxed so quickly and repeatedly it left him almost dizzy. He ignored his cell phone as it beeped in his pocket, signaling the incoming text message. How could Rosalie be so cold? It made no sense to him. Bella was their sister, didn't she understand that?

He wanted to cross the room, to shake his wife and yell at her for her callousness. Even if his emotions meant nothing to her at the moment, the worry and pain Bella was going through, so far away from them should mean something - anything. There weren't here for fun or because Carlisle had requested - even though he had - they were here because of Charlie. He was Bella's father, he had been shot, and it was quite possible that he could die on that surgical table. Bella had lost so much - gone through so much - already, couldn't Rose see that to lose Charlie had the power to break Bella completely?

“Mister?”

Emmett took in a calming breath at the sound of the child's voice behind him. He'd almost forgotten about the woman and child they shared the waiting area with - the only other occupants of the room. Blinking away the irritation, he turned and looked down at the child. She couldn't have been much more than five or six. Her raven's wing black hair shone with dark cherry undertones in the soft light of the end table lamps. Her snow white face and large ice-blue eyes gave her the appearance of a living China doll. He found her watching him, her eyes wide in her pale face as she stared up at him with trepidation.

The little girl watched as Emmett knelt down slowly in front of her, the massive man somehow folding his body so that he was able to look directly into her eyes. As large as the man was, the child wasn't afraid of him - he made her feel safe, just like her father always had. Raising one large hand to her face, Emmett tucked a lock of dark hair behind her perfectly rounded ear. His cool touch brought a soft smile to the child's face, though her worry didn't abate.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” Emmett greeted the child, his deep voice soft and gentle. “What can I do for you?”

Emmett watched as the child's brows furrowed, the anxiety in her eyes morphing into concern. He could hear her heart beating so fast, his enhanced vision catching the minute trembling she was trying to suppress. Taking in a deep breath, the child looked behind her to where her mother sat against the far wall across the room. Emmett's eyes followed the child's gaze. The woman looked to be at least six months pregnant and a perfectly aged progression of the child standing before him. As he focused on the woman he could hear a difference in her heartbeat and breathing, though he didn't know as much about medicine as the other members of his family, he enough to know that something wasn't quite right.

“Something's wrong with my mommy,” the little girl said, drawing his attention back to her face. Her voice trembled and Emmett had to resist the urge to pull the child against his chest, wanting to protect and comfort the girl. “She said the baby was kicking a lot and then she just…fell asleep,” she said, her shoulders shrugging. She didn't know how else to explain what had happened.

“Let's go check on her, shall we?” Emmett smiled comfortingly at the child as he held his hand out to her, the warmth of her hand wrapping around two of his fingers. “What's your name, little one?” he asked as they walked toward her mother and he crouched down in front of her rounded stomach.

“Bella,” the child said, surprising Emmett. “Well, it's really Bellaniece, but everyone calls me Bella.”

The insane urge to wrap the child up in his arms took hold of Emmett once more and he settled for brushing his hand gently over her silken hair. Telling the child to sit in the chair next to her mother, Emmett pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. Hitting the number two on his speed dial, he tucked the device between his ear and shoulder, waiting to hear Esme's voice and explaining the situation - his words too low for the child to hear - before passing the device to Bella.

“It's all right, sweetheart,” Emmett said as he waited for her to take his phone. “Why don't you talk to my mother while I make sure your mama is okay?”

Bella took the device and held to her small ear, her hair falling over her shoulder to hide the silver phone beneath a curtain of midnight cherry as she spoke into the phone. Emmett could feel Rose's irritated stare as she watched them from across the room. She had been disinterested, to say the least, when Carlisle had asked her and Emmett to come to Seattle and watch over Charlie. The task to her seemed tedious and unnecessary. So what if the man died? Humans died all the time, for a hundred different reasons. Bella wanted so badly to be one of them, she may as well get used to it now.

Rosalie didn't understand how everyone, especially her husband, could be so taken by one human girl. She was nothing. Nothing! It was her opinion that Edward should have just killed Bella when her blood first sang to him; it would've saved all of them so much trouble. Now here they were, sitting in this hospital, waiting for word on whether or not a human would live. She wasn't jealous of Bella as Alice had accused her of being. What did that little human have that she could possibly be jealous of? And for Bella to willing chose eternal life over her human existence - an existence where she could have children, true babies born of her very blood…Rosalie shook her head and stood. Enough was enough and she was tired of waiting here, pretending to care about a man she didn't know, who was a father to a girl that she really didn't know if she wanted as a sister.

Emmett signed soundlessly when he felt Rosalie leave the waiting room. He didn't know where she was going and at that point he wasn't too sure that he cared. He knew what bothered the blonde, even if she was unwilling to admit it herself. She was jealous - jealous that, although Bella held none of Rosalie's perfect beauty, she had been able to enchant every single member of their family without even trying. Rosalie had always been the center of attention and that was how she liked it, but with Bella - his little sister shined like a lighthouse in the darkness. Bella didn't care who or what you were, she wore her heart on her sleeve and cared strongly about those she loved. In doing so, Bella had endeared herself to every member of their family. Rosalie had never had that kind of silent power, and it irked her to no end.

Turning his attention back to he woman before him, Emmett rested his hands on her stomach, feeling for any kind of movement from the child within. Although he could hear the rapid beating of the unborn child's heart, it didn't sound quite as fast as he was used to hearing from other pregnant mothers he'd been around. The mother's heart as well seemed almost sluggish, her breathing shallow.

“Bella, sweetie,” Emmett said, gaining the child's attention, “I need to talk to my father.”

“Misses Esme, he wants to talk to his daddy,” Bella spoke into the phone before handing the device to Emmett.

He smiled at her as he took the phone, tucking her hair behind her ear again and letting the child take his hand and play with his fingers. He spoke quickly and softly to Carlisle, explaining the situation and his observations. The patriarch of their family kept throwing around words such as toxemia and gestational diabetes. Carlisle came to a halt in his spoken examination of Emmett's observations and his own thoughts on what the presenting characteristics could be describing. Taking a deep breath, he asked Emmett what the woman smelled like - if there was any one scent that stood out from the others.

“It's hard to pinpoint exactly,” Emmett said. “It's like…honey-coated citrus.”

“Get a doctor now, Emmett,” Carlisle commanded. “Tell them that she has toxemia and can't be woken. They'll take it from there. Keep the child with you…Don't let her worry too much.”

“I'll take care of Bella.” At Carlisle's pause Emmett chuckled. “Guess you didn't know that was her name, huh?”

“Take care of them, Emmett. Let us know any news on Charlie.”

“Will do.” Emmett closed the phone, ending the call, and tucked the device back in his pocket. “Stay here, Bella, I'll be right back.”

Moving quickly down the hall to the nearest nurse's station, he told them that the woman he was with had been diagnosed with preeclampsia earlier that week and now couldn't be woken. He watched as the blonde woman wearing a long white lab coat and reviewing a chart looked up sharply at him. Setting the metal folder down, she came around the desk, commanding the nurses to obtain a gurney.

“Where is this woman?” the doctor asked Emmett, her voice a soft, urgent alto.

“With her daughter in the surgical waiting room,” he answered, leading the woman back to the room, her stethoscope tapping against her shoulders as she jogged beside Emmett. “We thought she was just tired, but when she couldn't be woken, and the baby stopped kicking, I got worried.”

The doctor nodded and asked Emmett if there was any other information he could provide, nodding when he told her that was all he could tell her. Emmett stilled, his hand gripping the door frame when the scent of the woman's blood, though minimal, assaulted him.

“She's bleeding,” he choked out, “I forgot to tell you that.”

Not looking back at the man beside her, the doctor ran for the woman, pressing a hand to her forehead before donning her stethoscope and listening to what she could of the child's heartbeat. Bella ran to his side, frightened by the activity and the medical personnel that soon surrounded her mother. Crystalline tears shone in her eyes as Emmett lifted her in his arms and tucked her against his chest, the child burying her face in his shoulder. He watched, his body tense, while two orderlies gently lifted the woman onto a gurney, standing aside as nurses wheeled her through the OR doors to the closest medical room available. Rocking Bella in his arms, her little legs wrapped around his hips, he rubbed her back and assured her that everything would be all right.

Walking through the waiting room to sit on a long stuffed couch with her, he petted her hair and asked who she and her mother had been waiting for.

“My dad,” she said softly, and he could tell by the sound of her voice that she was growing tired. “Mommy said that he isn't as young as he likes to think he is and that he got hurt doing something stupid.”

Emmett chuckled at that, hugging the child closer as she yawned against his neck. Encouraging her to rest, he closed his eyes. Vampires didn't sleep, they had no need for it, but if they closed their eyes and allowed the stillness to overtake them, they could appear to be sleeping. Doing so allowed Emmett the time he needed to sort of his own thoughts and decide just how he would take care of this little Bella if things didn't turn out as well as he had told the child they would.

* * *

He could feel his breath hissing in through his teeth, cold and angry only to roll, turning into a deep snarl as it came to the back of his throat. Jacob tried to calm himself down; knowing that the rage he felt was by no means rational. The build up of emotions that had occurred, from the moment he had found Bella's truck, to just a few minutes prior when the doctor had told him that his father was going to be kept over night for observation had the wolf within him clawing desperately to be released.

He stood outside the hospital, inches away from the surrounding tree cover, looking up at the second story window that he knew to belong to his father's room. Billy had never told him about the secret lake so near the ocean - so far away from home - and it angered Jacob even more to know that he had never once asked his father, either. How many times had he been glad that his father would be gone for that one week time, simply so that he could selfishly have the small house to himself? When he had followed Emmett and Rosalie to the Forks Police Station, hearing that both he and Bella's fathers were in a hospital in Seattle was not something he had been prepared for.

Jacob clenched his fists at his sides, his arms trembling. He had nearly phased inside that small interrogation room, and surprise among surprises, it was Rosalie that had brought him back to his senses. The teen snorted as he thought of just how Rosalie had done that, his thigh still ached from where she had punched him unseen under the table. Looking up at the cloud-covered sun, Jacob was alarmed to note that he could feel tears escaping from the corners of his eyes. He could remember the last time he had cried - his mother's funeral.

The anger left him then and Jacob felt the earth rush up to meet him as his legs gave out beneath him. He realized then that he hadn't slept in five days. The night he had found Bella's truck he had been trying to run off all of the extra energy so that he could sleep, but then…Jacob sighed, leaning back against the thick oak behind him and feeling his body beginning to tremble with something other than anger. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he rested his forehead on them and curled his arms over his head in an effort to block out the world around him.

He didn't realize that he was crying, didn't hear the sound of sobs issuing forth from his dry and aching throat until he felt a strong pair of cold arms wrap around his shoulders and torso to hold him close. The sickening sweet scent burned his nose and throat, but instead of pulling away, Jacob turned into the embrace and wrapped his arms around the vampire holding him. He thought he recognized the distinct scent as belonging to Esme, but with his senses so clogged up by his emotions, he couldn't be certain.

“Shh,” Esme whispered to him, her brow furrowed in worry. The sound of his sobs and the scent of his tears had had her running for the sparse forest that surrounded the hospital before Alice had even parked the car. “Oh, Jacob honey, shh. It'll all be all right,” she assured him, stroking his short black hair as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist.

Instead of his tears calming as he wished for them to, Jacob felt the severity of the mixed fear and grief he felt become overwhelming. Soon his entire body was shaking uncontrollably with the hoarse, angry sobs that clawed at his heart and constricted his throat and lungs. He wanted the anger back. The anger was so much easier to deal with, easier to control than this - this…pain. When he opened his eyes, Jacob found that Esme was sitting on the ground and had somehow pulled him into her lap. As absurd as he thought it might look, he couldn't bring himself to move out of her embrace. The sobs just wouldn't stop, and the tears refused to be dried. It hurt. He hurt. Everything just damn well hurt.

Esme rocked him back and forth, nodding her head once at the hospital and instructing Alice to go inside. Without being able to see Esme's future for Jacob, Alice had stayed near them, standing on the sidewalk, not knowing what the right move was. Esme watched as Alice turned and reluctantly disappeared inside the hospital. She knew her daughter wished to stay, not knowing if she would be safe alone with such a distraught and young werewolf in her arms, but Esme wasn't worried, knowing that Jacob would never intentionally bring her harm.

She could feel Jacob calming, his sobs quieting as he grew lethargic in her arms and rested heavily against her chest. When she looked down on the young man that she held in her arms, she noticed for the first time the deep, dark circles beneath his eyes, nearly hidden by the bronze of his skin tone. Running her fingers through his hair and rocking him gently, slowly, Esme spoke to him softly.

“Jacob, how long has it been since you've slept?”

“…Five, maybe six days,” he answered, his voice painfully quiet and bone weary.

Esme released a soft sigh, tucking the boy closer to her shoulder. “Would you like to rest out here in the forest, or back at the hotel that Alice and I secured?” she asked, feeling his tired arms losing their fierce grip from around her slim waist as he grew closer to sleep.

He was quiet for a long moment, the hazy cloud of sleep dragging his conscious mind down into a deep fog and making it difficult for him to think clearly. “Out here,” he finally rasped, moving slowly out of Esme's arms only to curl up beside her in the leaves and grass, his head tucked into his folded arms. “They might release Billy early, if they think he's stable enough.”

“I thought he hadn't been hurt?” Esme questioned, combing her fingers through his hair in a motherly fashion.

“He heard the gunshots…threw himself out of the car and tried to drag himself to the store…Doctor said he gave himself a concussion and twisted his back. Stupid old fool.”

Esme smiled gently at his ending words, Jacob having fallen asleep next to her. “You rest; I'll come check on you in a little while.”

Esme rose slowly from the cool, damp earth beneath her, brushing leaves off the back of her mahogany cotton skirt. Jacob may be a werewolf, and yes, his scent may be rather…unpleasant to her delicate senses, but in a way he was part of their family. His relationship, first with Bella, and then the tentative one formed with Emmett and Jasper had secured a place for him in her heart. He was almost a son to her - albeit a rather foul-smelling son - but a son nonetheless. Looking back on him once more, Esme wished him pleasant dreams before disappearing into the hospital as the sky began to lighten above her head with the coming dawn.