Bella's Little Sister

Chapter 55

Carlisle moved to my side, feeling the rhythm of my heartbeat beneath his fingers. "Your pulse is already getting stronger."

At first, I was worried about Rosalie, Edward and Esme being in the room, but they assured me they were fine. Jacob, however, looked thoroughly disgusted, choosing to keep his gaze away from my general direction. After a few days, when I had begun to regain my strength, I spoke briefly with Carlisle about calling my father and Bella.

"You sound better," dad said.

"I am," I told him, taking slow, measured movements as I adjusted my position on the couch. "I feel much better."

"The whole thing must have put a kink in the honeymoon, huh?"

I didn't answer that question. Slowly, I ran the fabric of my shirt beneath my fingers as I waited for him to continue.

"Otherwise, married life treating you okay? Edward still walk on water and all that?"

"Yeah," I responded slowly. "But it is different now." After a moment, I opted for asking how he and Bella had been.

"The important thing is that you're better." When dad began to question if I was coming home soon, I hesitated.

"Okay, dad, I don't want you or Bella to freak out." I knew, however, that once my father heard what I was about to tell him, he would do just that. "but I'm going to a medical center in Switzerland."

I faintly heard Bella's voice in the background. "What? She's going where?"

"You're not going to Switzerland," dad spoke up again, sounding almost panicked. "You said you were better."

Bella's voice was louder now as she spoke to me. "I'm getting on a plane."

As much as I would have loved to see my sister, I knew now was not the best time for her to visit. She still had yet to know that I was actually home; I had struggled with wanting to confide in her, and tell her everything that had happened. But I knew it was better if she remained in the dark. If I were to tell her what exactly would happen, she would not take the situation very well.

"No, you're not," I responded, my tone firm. "I want you to stay home with dad. He needs you, and..." I trailed off, fighting to keep my breaths and tone even as I continued. "I'm sure that I'd be better by the time you got there anyway."

I could sense that Bella wanted very much to protest, so I quickly claimed that I needed to go and promptly hung up the phone before she could say anything further.

My gaze found Edward's as he entered the room, placing another cup on the coffee table. He watched in vague amusement as I flickered my gaze to the cup for only a second before looking away again. "I'm sorry I've been so angry." He took my hand as he sat down, wrapping his arms tightly around me. "I've left you alone in this."

I stayed silent as Edward sat with me. He began speaking quietly, though it was more to himself than to me. "What?"

"I thought I just heard..." he trailed off, his expression a mixture of confusion and surprise. After a minute, he moved his hand to my stomach, asking me to say something else.

"Like what?" I watched him, unsure of what he was talking about.

Edward laughed then, stating the baby liked the sound of my voice. "He likes my voice as well."

Moving my hands to cover his, I smiled, feeling a surge of happiness rush through me. "What do you hear?"

Edward shook his head before speaking. "It's so strange. I thought he was like me, but he's not. He's like you."

"He's happy," I guessed when Edward didn't say anything more. He began telling me everything he was hearing as we sat there, making me smile every time. When I met his gaze again, Edward was watching me, smiling faintly. Before I could question what he was thinking, he leaned forward, his lips meeting my own.

"Can't we come up with something just a little more classic?" Rosalie asked me as she sat down.

Rosalie and I had been discussing baby names for the past hour. So far she hadn't liked any of the names I had come up with. I glanced up as Jacob entered the room, a small smile crossing his lips at the sight of me looking healthy and in better condition.

"Relax," he said when he saw my expression. "I just wanted to check in on you."

I flicked my eyes to Edward before taking a deep breath and replying. "You promise not to say anything stupid?"

"Jess, come on," he replied, stepping closer. "When has anything I said not been stupid around you?"

My lips twitched at his comment as Alice and Rosalie helped me to stand. At Rosalie's suggestion that I tell Jacob what I decided on for names, I shook my head, pressing my lips together tightly.

"What now?" Jacob questioned, looking from me to Edward.

Edward smirked as he responded. "Rose is trying to talk Jess out of her baby names."

I smiled fully now as well. "She hates them."

"Well, then I'm on your side no matter what you picked." Jacob watched me as I looked again to Edward, my smile growing.

"If it's a boy, EJ... Edward Jacob." After taking a deep breath, I continued. "And... I was playing around with our moms' names, and came up with Renesmee." I studied Jacob's face; he seemed a bit surprised at the name.

Jacob stuttered once over the name as he looked back at me. At my question of whether or not it was too weird, Edward spoke up as Jacob hesitated. "No. It's beautiful and unique, which definitely fits the situation."

Rosalie reached down to grab the foam cup, but when I went to wrap my hand around it, my fingers slipped and it fell to the floor. I bent forward to grab it-a knee-jerk reaction-but an immediate surge of pain coursed through my body as darkness covered my vision and the sound of snapping bone filled my ears.

Every inch of my body was on fire, though I couldn't find the strength to scream. All I could do was lay helpless as I felt the venom spread through my body, changing me, mending the damage that had been done. Edward's voice was faint in my ears, as though he were far away or underwater. Everything was muffled and quiet. He was begging me to come back to him, not to leave him. I wanted to tell him that I was alive, that I was still there with him. But I couldn't.

There was a sudden coolness on my skin, before it faded completely. All that was left behind was the burning, intensifying dramatically as the seconds ticked by. It felt like forever had passed before I heard Edward's voice again. Carlisle was with him, I realized after hearing his voice. Edward was worried about me being so still, but Carlisle told him it was the morphine.

There was a rough texture running the length of my body every few seconds, and something else lingering behind, slowly falling away. Before too long, it became silent again. I wondered how much longer I would have to endure this pain before it would finally end. I felt the beating of my heart increase rapidly, leaving me wondering if it was normal for my heart to beat so fast, or if it was just part of the change.

Slowly, the burning faded away, leaving only coldness behind. It must be nearly over. As my pulse increased further, memories of my life flickered through my mind, in random order. The first time I met Edward, my graduation, my spontaneous cliff dive, the wedding, my birth, James' attack, the fight with the newborns... all of it.

I waited, almost impatiently, for my pulse to finally die out. The beating of my heart increased ever further, sputtering for only a moment, before stopping altogether, never to beat again. The room, the house, even the world itself seemed to be deadly silent, save for one beating heart. And with the change finally over, I opened my eyes.