𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 ━ j. hale [✓]

four

Angel; Chapter Four

The sight that Lauren was met with when she walked towards the truck took her breath away; her sister was in between her truck and a blue van that belonged to Tyler. Edward Cullen jumped out from in between them and walked back towards his Volvo. Lauren looked at him, stuck in place, as he walked back. She felt as if her throat was closing up - her sister could have been seriously injured and Lauren was just standing there.

Lauren tried to move, she really did, but she was stuck in her thoughts until a voice snapped her out of it. "Are you okay?" A soft, musical voice made the dark - haired girl snap her head up.

Rosalie Hale continued to look at her and she stammered out a response and mumbled an excuse as she tried to walk towards where her sister was being loaded into an ambulance. The sight made Lauren's throat close up again and Rosalie was joined by the other Hale.

Both Hales stared at the Swan in concern as she tried to calm herself. Her hands shook as she reached into her bag to call her father. Her phone dropped out of her hands when she tried to dial his number and she swore and went to grab it but a pale hand was already there.

Jasper handed her the phone and tried to decipher her emotions. She took a deep breath and called her dad, ready to explain the situation to the best of her abilities.

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Rosalie had offered to drive Lauren to the hospital and since she was in no state to drive, she accepted. So, the Swan sat in the back seat with Alice in the passenger seat and Jasper in the back with her. The ride was spent in silence except for the soft music coming from the radio. Lauren was so sure that it was quiet enough that they could hear her heart beat.

When they arrived at the hospital, Lauren jumped out so quickly that the remaining passengers were worried that she would end up injured as well. She had to restrain herself from sprinting to where Bella resided as she let Rosalie guide her to Bella.

"Bella!" Lauren cried when she saw her twin sitting on the hospital bed. Lauren almost tackled Bella but stopped short when she saw how shaken up she looked and settled for a hug. They didn't release each other until Charlie showed up and even then, they wouldn't move too far away from each other.

"Bella, you okay?" Charlie asked when he arrived and turned around to glare at Tyler, "You and I are gonna talk."

"I'm fine, Dad. Calm down," Bella says as a nurse checks her blood pressure. Lauren turns around to glare at Tyler who looks away guiltily at his friends.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I tried to stop," Tyler explains and Charlie glares at him again. "I know. It's okay," Bella responds.

"No, it sure as hell is not okay," Charlie says and look back at Tyler as Lauren seats herself next to Bella again.

"Dad, it wasn't his fault," Bella sighs as Tyler tries to make eye contact with the other Swan girl who is looking down at her hands.

Lauren tunes out the rest of the conversation and when her dad brings up taking away Tyler's license, she almost feels bad but then she remembers the Bella could've died and it goes away.

"I hear the Chief's daughter was here," A pale, blond doctor walks through the door and towards Bella as Charlie turns to greet him.

"I've got this one, Jackie," Dr. Cullen says as he pats Charlie on the back as he passes by. He takes the chart back from the nurse and Lauren studies the man she's heard so much about. He looks just like his adoptive children, pale and strangely beautiful in a dangerous sort of way. Lauren looks over to see Bella staring at the man also.

"Well, Bella, looks like you took quite a spill. How do you feel?" Dr. Cullen asks as he looks over her chart. "Good," Bella replies and Lauren holds back a sigh because no matter how her sister actually felt, she would always reply with "good".

Dr. Cullen goes through a quick examination and explains that Bella will be just fine. Lauren lets out a sigh of relief that draws the attention of the young doctor as she latches on to her sister's hand.

Tyler starts to apologize again and this time Lauren storms off the bed and slides the curtain shut with so much force that they almost fall off. She sits back down and avoids eye contact with any adults as she stares at her hands again.

"You know, it would have been a lot worse if Edward wasn't there. Her knocked me out of the way," Bella explains and Charlie looks over at the doctor, "Edward? Your boy?"

"Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, he got to me so fast," Bella elaborates, "he was nowhere near me."

"Sounds like you were very lucky." Dr. Cullen replies and Lauren makes a noise of agreement. He smiles at all of them before excusing himself out.

The walk out of the Emergency Room was filled with Bella and Lauren arguing because Lauren had called their mom in her state of panic.

"Look, I don't understand what the big deal is. I called mom because you could have been seriously injured and she deserved to know," Lauren said as she tried to be as calm as possible, knowing that Bella was frustrated and she wasn't trying to pick a fight.

The two had argued more until they stopped when they saw the Cullens arguing. Bella went to walk towards them and Lauren grabbed her arm, ready to apologize when Bella turned around, "Just leave me alone! Haven't you done enough?"

Lauren pulled back her arm, hurt obvious on her face as she watched her sister walk away from her and towards Edward, not knowing that it wouldn't be the first time her sister chose him over her.

Lauren watched as Bella argued with the Cullen boy and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop herself from turning Bella's remark into something more. She exhaled shakily and tried to push away the intruding thoughts as she looked over and saw Edward looking over at her.

She didn't look away, instead she took time to study the boy Bella chose over her. After a few minutes she looked away and chose to stare out the window, waiting for her dad to finish signing paperwork.

Laurens heart hammered and her palms became sweaty as she started to confront her sister when she stormed past and watched her go, defeated. Lauren clenched her jaw and moved to stand against the wall next to one of the hospital doors.

She was joined by the Hale boy moments later. They didn't speak but they were both okay with that because in that moment, words weren't needed; they calmed each other with their presences. Lauren took a deep breath and looked over at Jasper and found him already staring at her and she wished she could live in this moment forever, but that wasn't possible so instead she settled for a small smile and received one in return. They returned to looking out the window and Lauren couldn't stop the butterflies that were floating around in her stomach. Their moment would keep Lauren up for many nights and it would stay in Jasper's head for weeks.

Neither of them knew that at the time so they settled for staying there, sitting peacefully.

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AN: Not edited.