Oneshot: His to Protect
“Do not worry, Edward. Bella is going to be alright,” said Carlisle, smiling.
Edward clenched his teeth and a feral expression appeared on his face. Bella had to be alright, he would not accept anything else. It was his fault that James had taken an interest in her and therefore, risking her life. He had known since the beginning that he should not pursue a relationship with her. Not only had he jeopardized his family’s secret, but also her existence. If anything happened and she ended up hurt, he would never forgive himself.
That was the reason why he, Carlisle and Emmett had decided to flight to Phoenix. They had lost trail of the vampire and he would not wait until obtaining some clue again. Bella’s life was in danger and he was going to protect her, no matter what. They would take her to a secure place until the curiosity of the vampire vanished or they caught him. Uncertainty was not an option.
“And we are going to grab hold of this guy,” added Emmett, showing his fists. “We are going to have so much fun!”
Edward growled as he could not help but to listen to Emmett thoughts, which included very violent and gory ways of taking rid of James. “It is no fun while Bella is in danger, Emmett.”
“Then, let’s lead her away from it, shall we?” Emmett grinned. However, Carlisle was as impassive as Edward, probably not approving Emmett’s methods of handling the situation. “You are not entertaining. Jasper would have understood.”
Edward restrained from commenting on that. He just hoped Jasper had been able to keep in check his desire for blood. He did trust him, but he did not trust the likelihood of some kind of accident involving Bella’s blood and vampire instincts.
“Jasper would never do that to you and you know it, Edward,” Carlisle reprimanded, almost as if he was the one able to read minds and not him.
“I know… I am just… too worried about Bella,” he frowned, turning to look out the window. “She always manages to get in trouble.”
“And you always get there before anything serious happens, Edward. Do try to stay calm for her sake.”
However, Edward knew he could not always be there. Someday he would be too slow and would lose her forever. He could not imagine his life without Bella anymore. She had wrapped up his existence and had given all of it a new and enchanting meaning. He felt complete by her side. He would be irretrievably broken, because he had known a better life. He had tasted the fruit, had attached himself to it and now he could not go on without it.
He knew he would succeed in leaving her if she asked him, though. His first priority was her happiness. Edward closed his eyes and sighed. There, in his mind, all he could see was her face, her smile. He just wished he would get the chance to set eyes on her again, to embrace her, to kiss her… He had to be patient.
When they landed on the airport, Edward moved a little more quickly than what was really humanly possible. He had been feeling uneasy for some minutes before arriving and he could not distinguish if it was his anxiety or something else that was bothering him. He just needed to see Bella safe.
Carlisle advised him to be careful in his mind but Edward did not pay him any attention. He hurried down the platform, evading people as properly as he could.
“Let her be there, let her be there,” he whispered to himself.
But she was not. Instead, he found a livid and upset Alice and a very nervous Jasper trying to calm her down. When they got a glimpse of him, they immediately moved to his side and Alice threw herself to his arms, sobbing.
“I am so sorry, Edward! I swear I didn’t know she would run away!”
For just a moment, Edward’s mind was blank. He could not think. Dread had paralyzed him.
And then, rage broke in.
“What do you mean ‘she ran away’? Were you not supposed to look after her?” he asked edgily and managed to keep his voice down. Jasper turned deadpan.
“Don’t you dare blame this on us! Now what is important is to locate her!”
“And why would she run away?” inquired Edward, barely grasping his temper.
Suddenly, Alice’s face brightened and she started searching madly for something in her bag, taking out an envelope. Reading her thoughts, Edward took it from her hands and opened it, reading with frightening speed. He grew paler and paler until he was as white as sheet, his eyes unfocused. By then, Carlisle and Emmett had reached them.
“James has her,” he said, desperation in his voice. Alice gasped.
“I know where!” As soon as she said that, she cried out as a vision assaulted her and Jasper held her in his arms. As hard as she tried to keep it from Edward, he still managed to see it through her thoughts.
Bella was going to die.
He did not care about having an audience. He ran as fast as he could to the exit and his family soon followed, shouting for him to stop. He would not. He could not. Every second that passed was a second closer to Bella’s end. He felt blind as he randomly chose a car that was parked in the street and stole it. He had never driven so fast, never so unruffled in reveling their secret to the world.
All he wanted was Bella. His kind and naïve Bella…
When he broke into the ballet studio, the first thing that Edward sensed was Bella’s blood, spilled and wasted in abundance around the room. The second, and most significant, was James over Bella. He impulsively snarled and launched over the vampire, effectively driving him away from her. Emmett and Jasper joined his fight and Edward was free to run to Bella’s side, even when deep inside all he wanted to do was tear James apart for daring to touch what was his to protect.
“Oh no, Bella, no!” he cried in horror.
She seemed dead. Her eyes were closed and she was barely breathing, probably unconscious. There was blood everywhere and Edward had to stop breathing to resist the temptation of draining her whole body. He sobbed as he felt the desire strengthen. He would not be the cause of Bella’s death, he would not…
He could not lose her.
“Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, Bella, please!”
She did not response. She did not even move. Desperation had him calling out for Carlisle, willing him to come and save her. He felt so utterly useless as the pumping of her heart was growing faster and faster, untamable and inexorable.
“Bella, Bella, no, oh please, no, no!”
Carlisle sat beside Edward, Alice soon following, and began to examine Bella’s body. When he stroked the back of her head, she cried out and Edward did not dare touch her in case he would hurt her further, but he frantically needed to hold her in his arms and pull her out of her pain.
When Carlisle told him about Bella’s injuries, he suddenly recalled James and wished Emmett had executed on that vampire the gory scenes he had been imagining earlier. He would not forgive his brother if he did not. He deserved worse than death. Edward shook in rage and could not contain his howl.
“Edward,” Bella mumbled. He felt instantly alive just by hearing her voice. She was conscious! He sighed relieved, his wrath sinking.
“Bella, you’re going to be fine. Can you hear me, Bella? I love you,” his voice broke by the last word. He knew that was the traditional speech before said person died, but he would not let her go.
She called for him again. He leaned forwards and comforted her as well as he could at the same time as he apprehensively looked at Carlisle. “Can’t you do anything?” Anything to bring to a halt her pain. Anything to save her.
“My bag, please.” Alice got up and went for it. She was sobbing and her eyes had turned black as she tried hard to fight the craving. “Hold your breath, Alice, it will help,” Carlisle promised.
“Alice?” groaned Bella, her voice full of longing. Alice smiled weakly, but could not find her voice as she kept assisting Carlisle.
“She’s here,” said Edward as he glanced at her sister and threw her a grateful smile, “She knew where to find you.” He would have been clueless without her or he would have arrived too late to rescue Bella. Either alternative was terrifying. As a result, he had never been more thankful for having her in the family as he was now.
“My hand hurts.” He was surprised she whined about her hand when her head had been hit as well as her ribs, but he was not human anymore to understand that. He kept talking to her, trying to distract her from the suffering. “My hand is burning!”
Edward froze, staring at her hand. She could not have been bitten… he yearned for a negative. She could not have been condemned because of him… this was not the path he wanted for her life. It could not have happened…
“Someone stop the fire!” He wanted to laugh hysterically and tell her there was not such fire. It was all her imagination. It had to be.
“He bit her.”
The world became halted. He felt something inside tearing and dying. “Edward, you have to do it,” Alice urged him, sending him the vision of a successful transformation. But it was not true. She was deceiving him.
“There may be a chance,” Carlisle said and Edward felt hope. If someone could save Bella’s humanity, it was Carlisle. Anything to escort her away from the void. “See if you can suck the venom back out. The wound is fairly clean.”
Uncertainty. He had told himself it was not an option, but now he could not escape. He looked at Bella, at her pain, at her life… and he did not know if he could do it. Her blood sang to him, luring him like nothing else did. What if instead of saving her he killed her? It would be so easy to let his instincts guide him, so easy to just drink and forget about Bella. He could not risk it.
“It’s your decision, Edward.”
Bella screamed his name and then he understood it was not longer his decision. He would not let her die nor would he let her become a vampire. He swore to himself he would never again put her in such danger. She would never be so close to death because of him ever again. He swore he would do everything, even leaving her, before watching her endure such agony.
Edward held her hand and stared firmly into her brown eyes. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her, but he could not speak. Precious time was being wasted, he did not have time to falter, so he bent his head and his cold lips pressed against her skin.
It was delicious, much sweeter than he had ever believed it to be. It was heaven. He closed his eyes automatically but then he remembered whose blood it was and opened them again, catching a glimpse of Bella’s face. He could not get distracted. Her life depended on him, on his love and his determination. It was time to show her just how much he was willing to go through to save her from his destiny; how much he was willing to give up.
He would not give in to the monster.
He would save her.
“Stay, Edward, stay with me…”