Rosalie Hale's little sister

Chat between Carlisle, Jake, and me

Bella got worse overnight. She wasn't leaving the makeshift hospital bed in the living room.

I was in the living room when I heard the bell rang, it was Jake. Edward, who did not let go of Bella, stayed, so Carlisle went to answer the door, and I went with him.

"Hey, Jake." I greeted him.

"Are you all right, Jacob?" Carlisle asked him.

"Is Bella?" Jake choked out, he's noticed how exhausted Carlisle looked.

"She's... much the same as last night. Did I startle you? I'm sorry. Edward said you were coming in your human form, and I came out to greet you, as he didn't want to leave her. She's awake."

Edward didn't want to lose any second with her he knew Bella wouldn't have much time. Jake sat on the porch steps, I sat beside and Carlisle beside me.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you last night, Jacob. You don't know how much I appreciate your... compassion. I know your goal was to protect Bella, but I owe you the safety of the rest of my family as well. Edward told me what you had to do..." Carlisle spoke.

"Don't mention it," Jake murmured.

"If you prefer."

"She's family to you?" Jake asked.

"Yes. Bella is already a daughter to me. A beloved daughter." Carlisle answered.

"I've considered Bella my sister even before the wedding." I told him.

"But you're going to let her die."

"I can imagine what you think of me for that," Carlisle said. "But I can't ignore her will. It wouldn't be right to make such a choice for her, to force her."

"Do you think there's any chance she'll make it? I mean, as a vampire and all that. She told me about... about Esme." Jake said.

"I'd say there's an even chance at this point," he answered quietly. "I've seen vampire venom work miracles, but there are conditions that even venom cannot overcome. Her heart is working too hard now; if it should fail... there won't be anything for me to do."

"What is that thing doing to her? She was so much worse last night. I saw... the tubes and all that. Through the window."

"The fetus isn't compatible with her body. Too strong, for one thing, but she could probably endure that for a while. The bigger problem is that it won't allow her to get the sustenance she needs. Her body is rejecting every form of nutrition. I'm trying to feed her intravenously, but she's just not absorbing it. Everything about her condition is accelerated. I'm watching her—and not just her, but the fetus as well—starve to death by the hour. I can't stop it and I can't slow it down. I can't figure out what it wants."

"I wish I could get a better idea of what exactly it is. The fetus is well protected. I haven't been able to produce an ultrasonic image. I doubt there is any way to get a needle through the amniotic sac, but Rosalie won't agree to let me try, in any case." Carlisle continued.

"A needle? What good would that do?" Jake asked.

"The more I know about the fetus, the better I can estimate what it will be capable of. What I wouldn't give for even a little amniotic fluid. If I knew even the chromosomal count..." Carlisle said.

"You're losing me, Doc. Can you dumb it down?" Jake asked.

Carlisle and I chuckled.

"Okay. How much biology have you taken? Did you study chromosomal pairs?"

"Think so. We have twenty-three, right?"

"Humans do."

"How many do you have?" Jake asked him.

"Twenty-five." Carlisle answered.

"What does that mean?"

"I thought it meant that our species were almost completely different. Less related than a lion and a house cat. But this new life—well, it suggests that we're more genetically compatible than I'd thought, I didn't know to warn them."

Jake sighed.

"It might help to know what the count was—whether the fetus was closer to us or to her. To know what to expect."

"Wonder what my chromosomes are like," Jake murmured ramdonly.

"You have twenty-four pairs, Jacob." Carlisle said, embarrassed.

Jake turned to look at him, surprised that he knew.

"I was... curious. I took the liberty when I was treating you last June."

"I guess that should piss me off. But I don't really care."

"I promise you that I did not mean you any harm. It's just that... I find your species and Violet's as well really fascinating. I suppose that the elements of vampiric nature have come to seem commonplace to me over the centuries. Your family's divergence from humanity is much more interesting."

"And how many chromossomes does Violet have?" Jake asked curiously.

I already knew the answer. Carlisle, some time after I went to live with the Cullens, he made a fews tests and studied my DNA.

"Witches are a fascinating species. They have twenty fourt chromossomes, just like humans, but it's like each of them are modified, like there is a genetic mutation in every chromossome."