Elizabeth Rain Swan || A Paul Lahote Love Story

Chapter 23

The next morning, Emily woke me up at 7:00 so I could leave and get ready for the funeral. She had my dress with her, and said "if they don't let you leave I will personally break you out."

"Em," I said. "You don't have to do all this for me."

"Yes I do. Now suck it up because I'm doing it for free too," she said. "So you better get used to having me around."

"Thanks, Em," I said. She nodded before my dad and Dr. Cullen walked in.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Beyond," I said.

"I've gone over everything extensively with Emily," Dr. Cullen said. "And your father has copies of all the paperwork. I will see you in two weeks to check the stitches."

"How long am I wheelchair bound?" I asked.

"Probably close to a month. I want to make sure you are healthy before you start walking again. You will however have physical therapy sessions at least twice a week," Dr. Cullen said.

My dad finished signing the papers as Em helped me into my wheel chair. Emily and my dad wheeled me out to the car where Paul met us, already dressed in a suit.

"I've gotta run, and you two better take care of her," my dad said. Paul picked me up and sat me in the back seat of the car, refusing to let me do anything for myself.

"We wouldn't dream of anything different, sir," Paul said.

"Charlie, don't worry," Emily said.

"It's useless Em," I said. "He's gonna worry no matter what you say."

"She's got a point," my dad said. We all left, going our almost separate ways.  Paul drove my Jeep back to Emily's house, and my dad took off for the Clearwater's.

"So, did I miss anything?" I asked as we were sitting in Emily's kitchen while she made food for the dinner they were having tonight.

"Nope," Paul said. Emily smacked him upside the head.

"Don't lie to her," Emily said. "Your sister knows about the pack. Jake got around Sam's gag order."

"Sounds about right," I said.

"And, the Clearwaters both phased," Paul said.

"Seth and Leah?" I asked. They both only nodded, and it wass quiet for a few minutes until Sam and Jared came running in.

"We were just running one last patrol," Sam said, kissing Emily's cheek. He sent Jared to get ready, and shortly there after, Kim showed up to help me get ready.

"How you feeling hon?" She asked as she started my makeup.

"Like I need to sleep for five years and never eat again," I said.

The great thing about Kim is that, so long as she knows you, she can talk for hours on end. So, she talked away while she did my makeup for the funeral. Emily braided my hair over my shoulder, and way too soon, we were all piled into two cars and headed to the funeral.

"Have you figured out the secrets yet?" Billy asked, nodding towards the wheelchair.

"Not quite, but I'm working on it," I said.

"It'll get easier with practice," he said. "Sam told me what happened. Did you forgive him?"

"I never blamed him for it," I said. "I shoved Bella out of the way. I could have let her get hurt, but I didn't."

"What was her problem that day?" He asked.

"She found out about the guys," I said.

"Jake got around the gag order," he said, shaking his head.

"Would you expect anything else from your son?" I asked.

"Not really," he said, looking over my shoulder at someone. I turned and met Paul's eyes as he walked up.

"You better take care of her," Billy said to Paul.

"I plan on it, sir," he said. "Her sister is just a little aggravating."

"You're lucky Sam let's us see each other anymore," I said.

"I tried to break up with you," he said. "But, you refused to let me."

"Because we'd both just fall into depression and get really sick from not seeing each other. I'm not putting my dad through that again," I said.

Pretty soon, the service started, and about five minutes into it Emily, Kim, Sue, and I were all in tears. Leah looked pissed at the world, but you could see the pain in both the eyes of her and her brother. All of the guys in the pack were hurt, although they'd never tell anyone that.

The rest of the day was an emotional blur. There were a lot of tears shed, and a lot of empty apologies shared. The guys were all quiet and somber, which made Em and I nervous because those boys never shut up. I guess that's what losing one of your only mentors does to you.