AVitD- Chapter 22

Chapter 22~A Change of Plans

“Stay back or I will end her!” Victoria warned.

Bella finally opened her eyes to see a decapitated Riley at Jasper’s feet and Carlisle crouched into an attack stance directly in front of her and Victoria.  His eyes were as black as night.

Pain and adrenaline flooded her system.  Her heartbeat drummed loudly in her ears, but even amongst it all, she could make out Carlisle’s voice as he raged.

“I GUARANTEE IT WILL BE THE VERY LAST THING YOU EVER DO.” He ground out as his fists clenched tighter with barely restrained fury.

It was killing him to see the fear and pain on Bella’s face.  Her lip quivered while the tears poured from her eyes.  Her right cheek was swollen and darkening into a fairly profound welt.  The sound of her blood dripping to the wooden floor was a horrible cadence for him to hear; each drip cut right into the center of his chest.  He had seen the pool over to his left and with what she was currently losing through the open gash on her arm, he began to calculate how much she had actually lost; a pint-no, closer to two.

Bella whimpered as Victoria curled her fingers around her collar bone and squeezed.  Bella’s pain reflected on Carlisle’s face as Victoria’s nails punctured the skin.  With a quick twist of her wrist, she dislocated Bella’s shoulder causing her right arm to fall limp at her side.  Bella’s scream matched by Carlisle’s wince confirmed her suspicion.  A cruel smile slithered across Victoria’s mouth.

“Well, well, well, I guess that answers the question of whose ring you wear.” She mocked as she released Bella’s hair to reach down for her broken arm, eliciting another anguished scream from her as Victoria shook her arm back and forth in a waving motion.  Carlisle and Jasper could hear the bone fragments rubbing against each other inside of her arm.

“Oh God, please stop!” Bella begged.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry.  Does that hurt?” Victoria cooed as if to an infant before shaking Bella’s arm again.

It was all too much.  Bella fought against unconsciousness.  She was so afraid if she let go of her tenuous hold on reality that she would never wake up again.  She had been so close to her happily ever after; so close to having it all.  Things felt like they slowed down and got very, very quiet.  She no longer heard Victoria’s whiney voice or Carlisle’s near constant growl.  She couldn’t even hear the blood pounding in her head.  She tried desperately to hang on, but she was only human after all.  Between the blood loss and the excruciating pain, she lost the battle.  She looked to Carlisle one last time before her vision of him blurred.  She was sad that the last time she would see his eyes that they were black.  She had always loved his particular shade of gold.  Her lips moved to say his name, but no sound could be heard from them.  Then the blurring became worse as the edges of her view darkened until there was nothing.

Bella slumped against Victoria as her muscles gave out.  Carlisle shook as he felt his inner demon break free, letting lose a roar so feral, so immensely guttural that it came from the deepest, darkest place within him.  It shook the ground with its force; distracting Victoria from the limp form in her arms.  Without warning, she felt a weight on her back and a sharp tearing sensation at her neck.  Her knees buckled causing her body to fall where it was, still grasping onto Bella’s shoulder.  Rosalie ripped her head clear off and turned it to look into the shocked black/red eyes.

“YOU WILL NEVER HURT MY SISTER AGAIN!” she shouted at the bodiless head before tossing it to Emmett who had just now materialized from the tree line with Alice.

In all their years together, Rosalie had never out run him…until today.  When Alice’s vision hit, her, Carlisle and Jasper did not wait for the outcome.  They had dropped their respective kills and began a desperate race back to the house.  They had no idea what they would find, but they knew instinctually that Bella was in danger.  Alice’s text message seconds later confirmed their worst fear as they neared the house.

Jasper and Carlisle pulled ahead of Rosalie from the beginning, but she never broke her stride.  Bella, her little sister, needed her and she would not fail her. 

Bella’s cries of pain could be heard for over a mile; striking fear in Carlisle’s soul.  He could not stand to lose her. Jasper was the first to reach them.  Lunging through the air he grabbed hold of Riley’s head pulling him away from Bella then effectively separating his head from his body.

Carlisle caught Bella as she fell to the ground.  He worked feverishly to disengage Victoria’s death grip on her; tossing her out to Jasper and Emmett.

“Oh God!  Please no!  Please God!”  Carlisle pleaded as he hovered over Bella’s broken and unconscious form.

He quickly assessed her injuries before deciding how to proceed.  Three broken ribs, bruised lung-no puncture, laceration to the chest-minor, deep laceration to the arm-major, dislocated shoulder, shattered radius and ulna, four puncture wounds, fractured cheek bone, a bloody nose and lip.

“Oh My Bella, what did they do to you?” he asked as he quickly tore a piece off his shirt to make a tourniquet above her elbow.

He steadied himself as he very carefully lifted her from the ground to carry her into the house.  Rosalie held her head and supported her dislocated arm.  Carlisle’s eyes shot to hers in question.

“I’m okay.  And you may need the extra set of hands.”

He saw all the love and concern that she had for the woman in his arms and nodded as they ran back to the house in tandem.  The others gave them a wide birth.  Bella was still bleeding profusely and none of them wanted to endanger her life further.  Alice started a fire as Emmett and Jasper shared the task of tearing the remnants of the two vampires into smaller pieces.  It was not necessary, but it allowed them to exact a small measure of revenge on those who would have killed Bella.  The distinct keening sound echoed off of the surrounding woods.

For a moment, Jasper contemplated not burning the heads, but burying them deep underground to suffer till the end of time.  Alice had seen his future based on this decision and saw the disastrous impact it would have not only on him, but on the whole family.  She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.  He felt her need to connect and he turned her way.  She very subtlety shook her head and Jasper knew.  He gave her a small nod then went back to the task at hand.

Once in the house, Rosalie helped Carlisle to lay Bella’s body in a prone position on the bed.  She looked to him as he stood staring down at her for a moment.

“What are you going to do, Carlisle?  Can you repair the damage, or are you going to change her?” Rosalie asked in earnest.

“This is not how she wanted this to happen.” He stated the obvious as if speaking only to himself, “We had a plan.” He whispered.

Carlisle and Bella were walking around the property and stopped in the gazebo.  He sat down and pulled Bella sideways onto his lap.  Her breath blew out in the chilly February air.  She leaned in and kissed his forehead as it sparkled in the sunlight.

“Can we talk about my makeover?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course sweetheart.  Did you have more questions?” he asked as he pulled her beanie cap down over her ears before twirling a lock of her hair around his finger.

“No…not really.  I was just wondering how…I mean when…you know…howwereyouplanningonbitingme?” she asked quickly; blending her words together.

Had he not been a vampire, he was sure he would have missed half of the words she just said.

“Are you asking me where I am going to bite you on your body?”

Bella blushed a little, “Well yeah, and when were you going to do it.  Are you going to bite me after I eat or in front of the fireplace or sneak up on me and ‘chomp’?” she asked as she made an exaggerated biting motion with her teeth.

He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, “First off, I would never sneak up on you, or bite you when you were not expecting it.” He paused to kiss her chastely. “Secondly, I have thought a great deal about this.  I would like to start you on a morphine drip to try and lessen the pain of the venom as much as possible.  Then I will collect some of my venom in a syringe to inject it into your vein.”

Bella sat and listened, but it sounded a bit too clinical for her.  She knew it was an act that would essentially end her life, but in all honestly, she really wanted him to bite her. 

Carlisle could see she was holding back as she simply nodded and chewed on her lower lip.  He used his thumb to free her abused lip.

“Please tell me what you are thinking, My Bella?”

She sighed, “It is just that I had a different vision of you changing me.”

“Go on.” He encouraged.

She fidgeted a bit and Carlisle had to fight his more carnal urges to focus on what Bella was saying.

“I know it may sound morbid and masochistic, but I really wanted you to bite me.” She whispered the last part as she looked away.

He grabbed her chin directing her gaze back at him, “I do not think that your request is morbid or masochistic.  But Bella, a vampire bite is a very painful thing.  You know this.” He said as his finger traced over her bite mark from James. “The total absence of pain in the transformation is am impossible goal, but I hoped to lessen it as much as possible.”

Her gloved hand reached up to cup his cheek, “And I appreciate you thinking of my comfort.  It is just that,” she took a deep breath, “having your mouth on me-to have it be your teeth that pierce my skin…it is a very intimate connection and I want that.  I will endure whatever pain I have to with it.”

Carlisle leaned in and kissed her gently.  Their tongues danced inside her mouth for a few minutes before he pulled away to allow Bella to breathe.

“So, no medical equipment?  No morphine?” he asked.

Bella shook her head, “No, I really hate needles.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that one.

She slapped him teasingly, knowing that she would only hurt herself if she hit him harder.  He grabbed her hand and kissed her exposed inner wrist.

“As for the time of day,” she went on, “I like the idea of spending the day with the family.  I know Emmett wants to have a ‘Bye-bye Breakable Bella Bash’, so we will let him have his fun.  But then I want it to just be you and me.  I want to make love and then have you bite me at sunset.  It is kinda poetic.  Don’t ya think?” she asked as she turned in his lap to face him head on.

“In a saturnine kind of way, yes.”

He laughed at the scowl his teasing elicited.  Then he kissed her as he dipped her back.  He pulled away and smiled.

“I think your plan is much better than mine, so I think that is the way this should play out.  It is, after all, your ‘makeover’.” 

He kissed her again and again and again till she was giggling at his playfulness.

Bella’s heart rate was weaker than its normal rhythm.  Carlisle knew he did not have enough blood on hand to replace all that she had lost, but what he had may be enough to get her stable until her body replenished its own supply.  Her arm however was a more complicated issue.  The bones were shattered; setting it was not enough.  It would require major surgery to correct the damage and he did not have the tools nor the additional blood needed to do it.

Rosalie had raced to the cabinet where Carlisle kept a small arsenal of medical supplies.  She came back to the bed armed with gauze, a splint and compression bandages.  She reached across Bella’s body and quickly pressed the gauze over the puncture holes gently so as to not damage the nerves in the separated shoulder.  Carlisle wrapped the right arm with the compression bandage to try and slow the bleeding.

Bella’s heartbeat sputtered and she gasped for air as her eyes shot wide open.  She screamed out as the pain came with the consciousness.  Her body became fully aware of all the damage it had incurred.  Carlisle leaned over so she could see him.

“Shhh, my love.  I know you are in unimaginable discomfort right now.  I am so sorry for that.” He said as he cupped the undamaged side of her face.

Bella whimpered trying to fight against the pain; her eyes overflowed with tears.  Her shortened breathes sent spikes of pain through her chest.  It didn’t seem that anyone could hurt this bad and still be living.  She focused on Carlisle’s eyes trying to center her thoughts enough to speak.

“D-Don’t let me die.” She gasped, “Change me now.  Please Car-Carlisle.” She pleaded with a raspy voice.

Carlisle nodded and pressed his lips to hers ever so gently.  Her returning kiss was weak.  He leaned in to her ear.

“Never.  I will never let you go.  I am going to love you forever My Isabella.” He whispered.

She nodded slightly in acknowledgement of his promise.

Rosalie backed away towards the door.  She did not want to test her willpower knowing that Carlisle would need to feed off of Bella in order to change her.  But at the same time, she would go no further until she knew that he was not in danger of losing control and failing to stop in time.  He may have more control than any other family member, but he was still a vampire.  She stayed for Bella as well as Carlisle.  He would never forgive himself if he slipped at such a crucial moment.

Carlisle pushed the sweat and blood soaked hair away from Bella’s neck.  Her pulse beat out from the vein calling him home.  He kissed it one last time; saying a prayer to God to please give him the strength to save the love of his existence.  He allowed the venom to pool in his mouth, relaxed his jaw and let his teeth puncture her delicate skin.  The gush of hot blood that hit his tongue was like nothing he had ever tasted before.  It was the sweetest, most delectable ambrosia he had ever encountered in all his years on this earth.  He could have imbibed from her for days and still not had his fill.  He secured his lips around the bite so as to not spill a drop.  Bella’s whimper grounded him in his task; never allowing himself to lose focus.  After three long pulls of her incredible elixir, he pushed his venom back into the open vein before sealing it with his tongue.

He kissed his mark before moving down to her lacerated arm.  He tore a hole in the binding and bit her wrist.  Once again taking several deep pulls before replacing her blood with his venom, then licking the wound to seal it; finally placing a chaste kiss where he had just bitten.  He did the same to her other wrist, biting over top the mark that James had left on her.  Carlisle would make sure that he was the only one to leave his mark on Bella for eternity.

Bella’s whimpers turned to groans as the venom began its trek through her circulatory system.  Carlisle used his finger nail to slice an opening into her jeans at her inner thigh.  He would have stripped them off, but with Rosalie still nearby, he knew that Bella would not want that.  He exposed the femoral artery in her leg.  It was his favorite of hers as he had rested his head there on more than one occasion just to hear her heartbeat better.  He felt a tightening in his chest as the reality of the situation hit him.  He would not have that beyond today.  Even now, her heart beat’s pace was changing as it pumped the venom through her.  He kissed the pliable skin and then let his teeth do what he had always denied them.

Once he sealed the wound and kissed the damaged skin, he moved back up to her upper body.  Now that her body had a sufficient amount of venom injected into it, he needed to set her injured forearm and shoulder.  If he did not, she may heal incorrectly and it would not be able to be corrected.  The cracked ribs remained in their proper position so they were fine.  He took her right shoulder in both hands.  He pulled the bone forward and over the shoulder blade to let it slide back into the socket.  The motion brought out another groan of pain from Bella.

“I am so sorry, my love.” He offered in consolation for causing her more pain.

He gingerly took her left forearm and set it with the splints that Rosalie had taken out earlier.  He quickly wrapped it and placed it by her side.

After all of that, he fell to his knees next to the bed.  He entwined his fingers with hers and cried tearless sobs.  Rosalie held her place at the door as she did something she had not even thought to do in years; she prayed.  She begged God to save her sister.  She prayed that He would be merciful on her family; to not take her away too.

Carlisle knelt in quiet observation as he watched everything Bella’s body did.  Though she remained completely still, he began to see subtle changes.  Her nose and lip stopped bleeding nearly immediately and the wound on her arm had slowed in its blood loss.  Within the first six hours it had sealed itself shut.

Alice was the first to join them.  She brought in a basin of water and a washcloth to clean up the dried blood.  A bath would have been better, but she saw that Carlisle would refuse to move her until he knew her arm bones had set properly.

Carlisle stood up and took the basin from Alice.  She gave him a soft smile.  She looked down at the bruised and bloodied figure that barely resembled Bella.  She looked like an extra for a slasher movie.  Carlisle had to steel himself against breaking down at the sight of his mate.

Bella moved slightly and screamed out in pain before clamping her mouth shut.  It had been the same over the last three hundred and eighty-three minutes.  Considering the extent of her injuries in conjunction with the fierce fire burning through her, she was very composed.  It killed Carlisle not to be able to do anything to make the process easier on her.  Her pain was his pain.

She whimpered softly eliciting a low growl to slip from his lips as he thought about the monsters who did this to her.  Thank God they were nothing but ash by now because his mind was taking him to a very dark place.  Actions that were more depraved than anything he had ever considered before, stalked through his head.  They were lucky the others destroyed them.  If he had been given the opportunity to have a hand in it, he would most assuredly have forfeited his soul.

Carlisle wet the washcloth in the water, wrung it out and began to gently clean the dried blood from Bella’s face.  He worked to her neck then her chest where he noticed that the cut there had sealed itself.  Thank you God.  He mentally prayed; grateful that the venom was working to heal her.  He wiped the blood from her hands and saw that her cut from that morning was no longer visible furthering his assurance that she would be okay.

Without moving her, he cut the bandage away to reveal a slightly pink line where the angry gash had once been.  He gingerly cleaned the blood off her skin which had hardened some over the past several hours.  He set the basin on the nightstand when he finished.  This was the best he could do until he could safely move her to the bathtub.

Emmett and Jasper had now joined the rest of the family in Carlisle and Bella’s room.

“How is she?” Emmett asked Rosalie quietly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Rosalie leaned into his embrace to deepen her contact with her husband as she pulled his arms tighter at her waist.

“Her superficial wounds are healing.  We can hear the broken bones begin to fuse back together.” She explained.

Just then, Bella screamed out in agony.  She began to blindly claw at the brace on her crushed arm.  The burning she was prepared for.  Well, not prepared, but aware of.  No one can prepare for that kind of fiery hell.  It literally felt like someone had started a lake on fire and threw her in the middle of it.  The flames licked at every inch of her on both the inside and out.  If she didn’t know better, she would swear that she resembled a charcoal briquette by now.  But she did know.  And as much as it hurt her, she knew there would be an end to the agony and she would have her life with Carlisle.  What she didn’t expect were the sharp excruciating pains that kept hitting her sporadically.  She felt them in her face and chest, but the worst were coming from her arm.  The pain would blast through her causing her to scream out loud.  The screaming gave her no relief, but she couldn’t hold it in.  The shooting shards of torture were now hitting faster and only on her arm.  It was like nothing she had ever felt.  It made the lake of fire seem like bath water.

Carlisle did his best to restrain her as gently as he could.  Bella continued to thrash around on the bed as she screamed out.

“AHHHHHH, KILL ME!!!  JUST KILL ME!!!!”

The anguish in her voice cut Carlisle to the core.  I did this to her.  I am a monster; soul or not, I will be damned for what I have done.

Alice and Rosalie came over and helped to hold Bella down until the thrashing stopped.  The screaming continued for another forty-six minutes; each shriek a strike to Carlisle’s soul.  Jasper wanted to help him, but he knew that Carlisle would never accept it.  Jasper understood the penance one paid for changing someone.  For Carlisle, this would be worse than any of the others given that Bella was his mate.  Rather than focus on him, Jasper attempted to send comfort to Bella.  It seemed to help in that her cries eventually turned to whimpers.

~*~

Carlisle gently examined Bella’s shattered arm an hour later and was pleased to find the bones seemed to have completely mended.  Alice went to the washroom and ran an ice cold bath.  The temperature made no difference to Carlisle, but it would hopefully give Bella some reprieve from the heat of the venom.  She walked back into the bedroom to find that the others had quietly taken their leave.  She went to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of capris and a soft violet colored peasant shirt.  As much as she wanted to set out a dress for her sister, she knew Bella would appreciate this outfit more and she had been through enough that Alice wanted to make her awakening as easy on her as possible.

“Thank you Alice.” Carlisle’s soft voice called out to her.

“Of course.  Give me a call if you need anything.  We will come back in when you are finished.” Alice replied as she went to leave.

He nodded and began to tear the remnants of Bella’s clothing away from her body.  Once he removed his own clothes, he pulled her body up into his arms as she whimpered again.  He apologized for causing her any discomfort as he carried her to the washroom.  He could feel her body temperature had dropped by six degrees.  Just one more sign of the change taking place within her.

Carlisle stepped into the water and lowered himself along with Bella into it.  Her body stiffened when he set her down between his legs, but then she went limp once more.  He propped her up against his chest and began to wash her hair tenderly.  The water tinged pink as the remaining dried blood ran down her body.  He reached for the bath sponge and lovingly washed her body from her shoulders down to her waist.  He could not reach her legs without moving her, which he wanted to avoid doing.

Once she was clean, he let the water out of the tub and wrapped them both in a large bath sheet.  Her skin was less absorbent causing most of the moisture to roll off of her.  Carlisle carried her back to the bedroom to find that the bed linens had been changed and their bloodied clothes were gone.

He carefully redressed Bella before throwing on a pair of jeans and a polo shirt.  He brushed her hair out for her and allowed himself to smile as he remembered how she had once told him how much she loved to have that done for her.

Alice knocked on the door before opening it and walking in.  Rosalie and the guys followed close behind.  They all stood in silence; none of them quite sure what to do, but knowing they wanted to be there for both Carlisle and Bella.  It was dinner time and Emmett felt compelled to make Bella something to eat, but stopped; realizing that he would never cook for her again.  He felt a pang of sorrow.  He really was going to miss human Bella. Jasper put his hand on Emmett’s shoulder sensing his brother’s sadness.

Bella was aware of her body being moved around, but the fire was blazing now and it dominated her focus.  She remembered the one time she was about nine or ten when she tripped and fell into a campfire at La Push.  Charlie was right there to pull her out of the flames; only burning her hand slightly.  She wished he was here to pull her out of this fire.

I miss him so much.  I hope he is okay now.  He must have been so hurt when he thought I went to kill myself.  I hope he didn’t blame himself.  Oh God!  How can it be getting hotter?  I don’t understand.

“Please?  Someone help me?”

Oh God, it is too much.  I want to die.  I can’t do this.  I was wrong.  I am not strong enough to survive this.  Please God, let me die.  I can’t even remember why I wanted this.  Did I really ask for this?  What have I done to deserve to suffer this way?

“Daddy, please save me!  Someone?  Anyone?”

Bella began to pant and the others moved closer.  Carlisle had positioned her to lie in the center of the bed with her head resting on his crossed legs in front of him.  He tried to talk to her to comfort her as he stroked her hair, but it did not seem to make a difference.  Her heart rate accelerated and her body seized up as she screamed louder than any other time since her change began.  Then her screaming cut off abruptly as Jasper fell back against the wall.

“No!  No!  No!” he chanted, “Damn it!  Not again!” he groaned.

Everyone looked over towards him, but it was Carlisle who spoke up first.

“What is it?  Is the pain worse?” he frantically asked.

“I don’t know.  Her emotions are…gone.  I felt pain, helplessness and finally resignation…and then nothing.  It was like she shut a door on her emotions.” He explained as he tried to push past the block.

Carlisle turned his gaze towards his omniscient daughter. “Can you still see her future?  When will the change be complete?”

Alice closed her eyes to ‘look’ for Bella but then quickly gasped as her eyes went wide with fear.  She shook her head, “I can’t see her.” She whispered, but didn’t tell him the rest.  That horrific vision of a despondent Carlisle sitting on the front porch was there again until he wasn’t.

Carlisle looked down at Bella’s face which no longer held the strained expression that had been there throughout the transformation.

“Bella?  Bella sweetheart?  Can you hear me?” he pleaded.

There was no reaction other than her heart began to beat in an erratic pattern.  In the hospital it would have been called ventricular fibrillation.  He would have used the defibrillator, but it would not work since it would be unable to penetrate past her skin which was now as hard as his.  She was dying and he couldn’t stop her.  She would not wake from the change.  He was losing her.

“It is too soon for her heart to stop.  She is going to die if the venom cannot be pumped by her heart.” He spoke in a strained voice.

“My Bella!” He cried out.

“Help please!” I called out once more.  “Please? Can anyone help me?  Please get me out of this fire?”

Then the strangest thing happened.  The fire and all the pain were gone.  It didn’t leave me gradually, but more like someone had flipped a switch.  I was able to open my eyes, but when I did, I saw nothing.  I was submerged in pitch black.  Everywhere I turned I was confronted by black nothingness.  I reached up to touch my eyelids to be sure they were really open.  They were.

“Hello?  Is anyone there?” I called out.

I turned around again and saw a soft light glowing to my left.  I walked towards it slowly.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was better than the nothingness I was in.  There was someone standing there.  I stepped closer and couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face.

“Edward?”

“Hello Bella.” He greeted me with a soft crooked smile.

“But, you are dead.  What?  What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you, love.” He said as he offered his hand for me to take.

I looked at his beautiful face.  It has been so long since I had seen him.  He was still youthful, still perfectly frozen at seventeen and still had the untamable bronze hair.  He smiled at me reassuringly, but said nothing more.

I could feel the peace that came with his presence.  There was no pain here; no blackness; no fire.  I lifted my hand to take his.  I watched as our fingers reached for each other when I stopped just short.  There on my left hand was a beautiful diamond ring.  Memories flew at me like a movie on fast forward.  There I was walking with my arm looped with someone else’s.  I looked up and saw Carlisle.  Then we were in the snow, kissing.  He was on his knees offering me this ring.  He was above me in bed; kissing me; making love to me.  He was dancing with me by candlelight.  I heard his voice whisper, “My Bella.’

I looked back at the hand being offered and realized that it was not the hand that I wanted to hold for all of eternity.  I looked back at Edward and he nodded as if he knew.

“You know where you belong.”  He said and turned to walk back into the light.

And just like that I was thrust back into the blackness once more.  Alone.  And that is when I heard it.  A voice in the darkness.  But it was not the voice I expected to hear.

Rosalie saw Carlisle’s mouth move, but couldn’t believe what he said.  Bella was dying?  That can’t be.  It won’t be. Hell no!

Without warning Rosalie jumped onto the bed straddling Bella’s still form; grabbing her upper arms as she spoke directly to her.

“Isabella Marie, don’t you DARE leave us!  Do you hear me?  I do not care what you see or who you are with.  You get you skinny ass back here this instant, or I swear I will find a way to cross over and kick your ass from now till the end of time!”

No one moved.  No one breathed as Rosalie berated Bella.

“You belong here with us.  You are one of us.  You are a Cullen.  Don’t give up.  Fight through the burn.  I know it is a bitch, but you have to.  We will be here for you when you wake up.” She looked up into the eyes of her creator as her voice adopted a softer tone, “Carlisle is right here waiting for you.” She looked back down, “We are all her with you.  You are not alone.”

She said this last part as she backed off the bed and laid her hand on Carlisle’s shoulder and reached down to hold Bella’s hand.  Emmett came over and stood by her side.  He kissed her temple and then put his hand over the one that held Bella’s while placing his left hand on Bella’s exposed ankle.

Alice came over and put her hand on Bella’s right ankle and gave Rosalie a loving smile.  Rosalie had confided in Alice about her feelings towards Bella from the beginning.  So Alice knew better than most how much Bella really meant to her.

Though it was uncomfortable for him to be so close to Bella when her emotions were blocked off, Jasper stepped up to stand by Alice’s side to hold Bella’s hand.  That was when he felt it.  Love.  And it wasn’t just coming from the vampires standing around him; it was coming from Bella as well.

I couldn’t recognize the voice, but felt compelled to walk towards it as it called from the darkness.  I felt the heat of the fire the more I walked until I could no longer hold myself upright and I fell.  The fire took me, all of me.  It devoured my legs and arms.  It consumed my body and mind.  I couldn’t remember why I was here, but I knew there was a part of me that wanted this.  I heard this terrible gut-wrenching sound and realized that it was me screaming.

The love that Jasper felt radiating off of everyone only lasted a few seconds before Bella screamed out in pain.  Pain that blasted into Jasper.  He stood still and absorbed everything that she gave him.  He swore that he could feel the burn of the venom.  Alice saw him struggling to hold it together so she reached one hand up to cup his cheek.  She focused all her love for him as well as her love for the rest of the family and pushed it towards him.

Jasper took a shaky breath as he worked to keep the balance of emotions within himself.  The others seemed to understand what Alice was doing and focused their love on him as well.  If feelings were visible to the naked eye, what one would have seen in that room was a bubble surrounding the five of them comprised of the purest love while a freeway of pain from Bella straight into Jasper as it was replaced with peace and contentment.

Bella’s screaming stopped and her heart began to beat a steady (albeit faster) cadence.  Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief, confident that Bella’s transformation was continuing.  Thank you God.  Thank you for the family You have blessed me with.  They are more than I ever deserved.

The five vampires kept their steadfast vigil for the next fifty-nine hours until Alice smiled as a vision came to her.

“It’s time.”