And So The Lamb Became the Wolf

28. And Then? Forever. (Epilogue 1)

Emily smiled at Sam, a hand on his shoulder. He stood up slowly. His human body was much thinner than it had been, but his upper body had regained much of its previous strength. Emily remained on one side of Sam, Esme on the other, and Carlisle behind him. The thick belt around his midsection looked out of place, but it wasn't for fashion. "Alright Sam," Carlisle said, "let's see what we can do."

Sam gripped the parallel bars tightly and lifted his right foot. It moved slowly like it had forgotten how exactly to make these motions. In fact, Sam's entire body was being retrained. After spending so long in his wolf form his human muscles had needed to be retaught. Sam's foot moved forward a few inches, then settled on the ground.

"Good!" Carlisle said happily, one hand still on the PT belt. "Next foot!"

Sam grimaced, then repeated the motion with his left leg. He moved forward a few inches. "This is insane," he grumbled between clenched teeth. "Who knew walking would be so hard?" Sam's thin legs didn't match the upper body of the man attached to them. While his arms had recovered, his legs had healed slowly. They had been immobile for far longer than his upper body. Nerves heal slowly, Carlisle had said. Sam grit his teeth and kept going.

Sam managed a few more steps before his strength failed him. He was disappointed when he had to sit back in his wheelchair. Carlisle came around to Sam's front and beamed at him. "Sam, you have no idea how amazing this is."

"What?" He asked angrily.

"You had a complete and total T12 injury. The bones were separated. The spinal cord was severed. No one in the world has ever recovered from that kind of injury." Carlisle continued to smile as he went over to the desk in the physical therapy office. "These are your new scans." He put the pages up on the lightbox. "Not only have the bones healed, but the nerves have rebuilt themselves."

"That's good," Emily said while barely containing her joy.

"That's amazing. Sam," Carlisle looked back down at him, "The only problems you're having now are muscular. It will take time, but we will rebuild that. You will have absolutely no long-term deficiencies."

Sam's eyes watered as he looked at him and Emily's interlocked fingers. "Thank you."

"Don't thank us," Esme smiled. "We're family."

Sam allowed himself a small smile after that. They were, in fact, going to be family now, literally and figuratively.

Charlie walked Bella down the aisle to the small raised platform in front of the crowd. He hugged Bella who then stood awkwardly in front of everyone. She tugged at her sleeves and locked eyes with her mom. Renee was crying. Edward stood next to Bella, Bible in his hands. He had a pin of the Cullen crest on his chest. He straightened Bella's tie for her. He wore a black suit with a black bowtie. Bella had refused to wear a bowtie, saying they were only for nerds and assholes. Edward's scowl had been enough for the whole family to laugh. Alice had tried to get Bella into a beautiful white dress, and Bella wasn't having it. Bella had wanted to wear jeans, but everyone she knew, from her mother to Rosalie, refused to accept that. Bella did win one argument though: she had a brand-new pair of Chuck Taylor's on. They matched her suit so no one could be angry at her.

"Mom, this is Rosalie Hale."

Renee's sharp intake of breath escaped the senses of neither Bella nor Rosalie. Bella smirked. "Wow, you are beautiful." Renee looked between the two of them. "I know Bella told me, but she didn't do you justice."

"Oh, is that right?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow at Bella.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Renee laughed awkwardly. "Hi, I'm Renee. It's very nice to meet you, Rosalie."