Wolverine

Chapter-22

Victor's POV

I stood near the television, looking out the window.

"Grandpa, you better stop scratching your chin. I can hear your fingernails scraping bone," Bella said. I realized that my fingernails were extended, and indeed, I was scratching my chin. It was time for a shave.

"Yeah, no problem," I murmured, putting my hands in my pockets. I tried not to look at her, but I caught a glimpse of her stomach out of the corner of my eye. I shuddered and turned back to the window.

I sniffed.

"Jake's coming," I said mildly. I could hear his wolf-feet padding on the ground.

Edward groaned. That guy was a mess. If nothing else, that should have been enough to convince Bella to stop this, but of course, she always was stubborn.

"I'll send him away," Carlisle said.

"Why?" Bella asked. I heard the couch groan as she shifted. "Are we keeping secrets from him, too?"

Well, it's not as if we could tell Charlie or Renée, or anyone really.

This sucked. This really sucked.

I heard Jacob walk in. Esme tapped my shoulder. I looked at her, seeing Bella clutching her swollen stomach off to the side. "Here's something to eat, Victor." She held out two baloney sandwiches.

I took them slowly, like my hands were moving through water. "Thank you, ma'am." I began to eat. My mouth moved automatically. I couldn't even taste the food anymore, but I needed it if I wanted to keep healing.

That's what was wrong with Bella. She couldn't eat. That damned thing made her throw up everything. How was she supposed to heal if she couldn't eat? How did she expect to survive this if she couldn't heal?

"Bella?" Jacob's voice was shocked. I didn't turn around. I was a coward.

"Hi, Jake."

God, she sounded so weak.

I heard a cracking sound and flinched. Bella gasped in pain. For a moment, she breathed deeply through her mouth before settling down. "It's okay, Jacob. I'm alright." I could sense her smiling at him. Of course, she would want to reassure her friend. "I heal fast, remember?"

But more slowly every day.

She had been home for a week and a half. She had been pregnant for at least two. This thing was killing her. No matter how fast she healed now, she wouldn't be able to survive the trauma the thing would inflict when it was time to be born.

Carlisle had researched these things. They clawed their way out through their mothers' stomachs.

She wouldn't survive that; not when she was so weak and healed so slowly. She would bleed out, or her heart would stop, or her organs would fail before any of that happened. Her bones were strong, but she was still squishy and human on the inside. She wouldn't be able to eat with a rock hard digestive tract.

"You-you son of a-" I felt a shiver go up my spine and realized that Jacob was about to phase. Before he could even get out the last word, I had him by the throat.