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twilightinanotherlife · 2 years ago

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Risk & Visions

Follow up to First Day Phenomenon.

Fandom: The Twilight Saga x Life and Death

Pairing: Edythe Cullen/Bella Swan

Rating: Teen

Word count: 3,028

Summary: After witnessing Bella impossibly dodge Tyler's van, the Cullen family debate on whether or not she's a vampire and if she is an exposure risk. Alice reveals to Edythe that Bella is in danger.

January 25, 2005 (Edythe's P.O.V)

I followed the cadence of sirens as the ambulance carrying Bella drew closer to the hospital. Someone at the school had called 911 and E.M.Ts had promptly arrived to take Bella and Tyler Crowley from the scene of the accident. In my Volvo with me were Rosalie and Emmett. Each lost in their own thoughts of disbelief.

'How in the world did a human avoid that collision?' Rose's thoughts dripped with skepticism. Emmet's thoughts were similar. If he had not been there to see it, he would not have believed it either. I considered the brunette girl in the ambulance. She appeared every bit as normal as every other teen at Forks High School. Sans myself and my vampire siblings. However, the stunt she had just pulled was anything but than normal.

We arrived at Forks Community Hospital. I quickly got out of the car and entered the building. Rosalie and Emmett were right behind me. I nodded a greeting to the receptionist as I walked by her desk. My destination was Carlisle's office. I could hear him shuffling papers at his desk. Before I could knock on the door, his thoughts gave me permission to enter.

"Hello, Edythe. Rosalie. Emmett." Carlisle greeted the three of us with kind eyes. "What brings you all here?"

Rose answered him. "We wanted to speak to you before you went in to see a patient that was just brought in. Isabella Swan."

"The young woman involved in the vehicular incident at your school."

Leave it to the small-town gossip chain to spread news faster than an ambulance speeding towards the hospital.

"That's the one," Rose said, "the Swan girl could be an exposure risk."

"How so?" Carlisle asked.

"The car accident," I responded. "A van skidded across the ice in the school lot. Bella was its way. She would've been crushed between the van and her truck if she hadn't…"

"If she hadn't dived out of the way like a ninja!" Emmett enthusiastically interrupted me.

"While his version of events is puerile, it's correct," I continued. "Bella moved at incredible speeds. Too fast for a human."

"Do you believe her to be a vampire?"

"Unclear." "Impossible." Rose and I said at the same time.

"What do you mean 'unclear'?", Rosalie asked incredulously. "I could hear her heartbeat from across the cafeteria."

"Perhaps it was an illusion of sorts," I said. "We've met vampires with stranger abilities."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. Her thoughts echoed the disbelief clearly displayed on her face. Carlisle, ever aware of when his oldest daughters were about to argue, stepped in.

"We'll worry about what species she is later. In the meantime, the three of you should go to the house now. We'll have a family meeting later when I get home."

Rose and Emmett stood up from their seats, but I remained where I was.

"Actually," I said. "I think I should stay here. Bella will need a ride home since her truck was towed."

In my mind, I recalled the image of an Eagle Auto Repair & Towing tow truck pulling into the school's parking lot. Bella's truck, Tyler's van, and the unfortunate sedan would've been towed away by now.

"Fine," said Rose. "I'll call Earnest and ask him to pick us up. I'm sure Alice has already filled him in on what's happened."

Before E.M.Ts had arrived at the school, Alice had led Jessa away from the accident. There hadn't been a lot of blood, but better safe than sorry. Rose and Emmett left Carlisle's office.

"I'm going to see Ms. Swan and Mr. Crowley in urgent care," Carlisle stated. "Are you coming?"

"No. I'll stay here for now," I said.

Carlisle nodded and headed out of his office. I could hear Carlisle reach the urgent care unit just as the nurse was finishing checking Bella's vitals.

"I can take it from here, Nurse Thompson."

"Sure thing, Dr. Cullen." Nurse Thompson was a sweet, middle-aged woman. And was one of the nurses that didn't gossip about my father's sexuality. I liked her.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Swan. How are you feeling?"

"Just Bella. And like I've been telling everyone, I feel fine."

Carlisle, who's thoughts were open to me, was amused. 'She's got gumption.' I could see the room through Carlisle's eyes. He looked down at Bella's chart which he held in his hands. 'Her vitals are abnormal. Her heart rate is slow for someone her age. And her blood pressure is higher than normal, but I don't believe it's cause for concern.'

"Are you experiencing any dizziness or light headedness?"

"Fit as a fiddle, doctor," was Bella's quick response. "When can I go home?"

"There are some forms you'll have to fill out, but after that you're free to leave. The nurse's station is just down the hall. The nurse on duty can get you the forms you need."

"Thank you, Doctor Cullen."

Bella stood from the hospital bed and walked at a human pace towards the double swinging doors.

'She moves very gracefully.'

For some unknown reason, a low growl escaped from my lips.

'Easy Edythe. I only meant that she was graceful for a human. She moves as if she were one of us.'

I silently apologized and ignored the amusement that colored Carlisle's thoughts. I followed the sound of Bella's footsteps as they led her down the hall. She was light on her feet. If I didn't have such advanced hearing, I wouldn't have been able to hear her. I stood from my seat and approached Bella as she was filling out the sign out forms at the nurse's station. I cleared my throat. Bella raised her eyes to meet mine. How could a pair of eyes be so captivating?

"Oh, Edythe, I didn't expect to see you here. Did you get dragged into the back of an ambulance too?"

"No," my lips curled up in an amused smile. "I followed the ambulance in my car. I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm alright. No blood no foul," she handed the forms to the nurse. "Don't know how I'm going to get home though. Pretty sure my truck isn't very drivable at the moment. Not to mention that it's still in the school lot."

"Actually, I saw it get towed away," I told her.

"Great." Bella's voice dripped in sarcasm. "Now what am I going to do?"

"I could give you a ride home," I offered. "And I could give you the name of the auto shop."

Bella and I had walked to the front entrance. I walked ahead of her to hold the door open for her. She sent me her gratitude with a smile.

"I would appreciate that. Thank you."

I led Bella to my car and opened the passenger door for her. Then waited until she was settled before closing the door behind her. Aside from Bella's occasional directions the ride was quiet. Which was not unpleasant. While the thoughts of the people I drove by buzzed past like annoying insects, Bella's quiet mind was peaceful. The interior of my car became a temporary save haven from the unforgivable onslaught of foreign thoughts. I turned down King Richards Way. Bella's home was a small, wood paneled structure at the end of the street.

"Thanks again,” Bella said as I stopped in front of her house.

"It was no problem," I assured her. "I was happy to do it."

And I really had been. While I would've been glad to help anyone who needed it, something about being in Bella's presence made my non-beating heart swell.

"Before you go, do you have a cell or home phone?" I asked Bella. "I could give you my number and whenever you need to pick up your truck, I can give you a ride. All you have to do is call."

Bella reached into her pocket and pulled out a Motorola Razor. As she handed me the mobile device, she stopped, and a look of realization crossed her face.

"My bag!" Bella exclaimed. "I left it in the school parking lot."

"No worries. I grabbed it before following the ambulance." I reached behind the passenger seat and produced the girl's school bag. "Here you are."

"You didn't mention this earlier?"

If I had the ability to blush I would. "I, um, forgot?"

Forgetting was not something my kind was capable of doing. However, Bella's presence seemed to render my mind impotent. Her companionship was distracting. In the best possible way. Bella chuckled. Before she took the bag, I noticed a knowing smile danced on her lips. Quickly, I added my number to her contact list and handed her the cellphone.

"Thank you." Her hand rested on the door handle, ready to leave the car but I was not ready to watch her leave.

"Would you like a ride tomorrow?" The question came rushing out in an attempt to get Bella to stay just a little bit longer.

"What was that?"

"I mean, with your truck being in the shop, would it be alright if I picked you up tomorrow and gave you a ride to school?"

"I would be grateful." Bella exited the car. She leaned back down and peered in. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Bella."

She smiled and closed the car door. I waited until she was safely inside her home before pulling out of her driveway to make my own way home. After crossing the bridge over Calawah River, I headed northward until I reached the hidden driveway that led to the Cullen residence. Resting just past six primordial cedars, was a colonial style home that had been meticulously restored by Earnest. The three-story mansion had been Earnest's pride and joy the last time we resided in Forks nearly seventy years ago. As evident by the freshly painted off-white exterior and polished windows, time had not diminished my father's love for the house.

I knew my family was gathered around the dining room table before I had even entered. Of course, we never used it to dine, but it made for a good space to have family meetings. Carlisle greeted me as I took my seat by his left-hand side. He told me through his thoughts that he'd taken off from work early, but that he would be going in for the night shift. Our coven leader sat at the head of the polished oval table. To his right was his mate and husband Earnest. They were married according to vampire law, but Washington State had not yet legalized same-sex marriage. "Yet" according to Alice. For now, Carlisle and Earnest posed as partners to the Forks population. To my left was the psychic pixie herself, Alice, and always by her side was Jessamine. Across from Jessa sat Emmett and seated between Emmett and Earnest was Rosalie who jumped right into the discussion.

"We need to keep an eye on the girl. If anyone else saw what she did today, it could risk exposure."

"No one saw anything Rose," I responded calmly. "Everyone simply thinks that Bella was extremely lucky." Perhaps it was juvenile to emphasize "Bella", but I did anyway. All while ignoring the smirks from Alice and Jessa.

"Besides," Alice interrupted Rosalie. "Spying on Bella won't work. She'll sense whoever we send and run. Trust me, that won't be a good thing." Images of Bella running from shadowy figures flashed across Alice's and my mind. I didn't know who was after Bella, but I got the sense from Alice's vision that they were dangerous.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Rose asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Emmett jumped in. "You can't be serious? Did you not see how fast that girl moved?" He replayed the incident in his mind. Though in his overactive imagination Bella was doing a lot of back flips.

"Sweet pea, I agree with Emmett," Jessamine spoke up. I felt her cringe inward as she said, 'agree with Emmett.' "We can't do nothing."

"We are going to do something. Just not yet. It's not the right time, but it will be soon."

'Soon' didn't really narrow it down for immortal creatures. 'Soon' could be within the next decade or two.

Carlisle, knowing it was a fruitless effort to try and convince Alice to elaborate, moved on to the next topic. "Perhaps it would be best if we moved on to a new discussion. Where do we all stand on the human vs vampire debate?"

"Emmett said that she moved with incredible speed," Earnest said. "And Jessa told me earlier about the girl's agility. Surely, Bella must be a vampire."

"Not likely," Rose said. "She had a heartbeat. We could all hear it." My other siblings and myself nodded in agreement.

Carlisle nodded his head as well. "The girl did have a beating heart, but it was much slower than it should be." Carlisle recalled to his mind Bella's medical chart from earlier today. "Miss Swan had a heart rate of around forty beats a minute. Which is low, but it is still considered normal. Especially in athletes."

"If she is athletically trained then that could explain her agility." Earnest said.

"But not her speed," Emmet continued for him. "I'm telling you; no human could've moved that fast. She moved like one of us."

"Edythe had biology with Bella," Jessamine said. "Anything to add?"

My thoughts wandered back to biology class. I replayed every time our fingers touched as we passed the microscope between each other. Her touch had been . . . warm. Though she didn't radiate the same warmth that the humans around us had. And she certainly didn't have the same burning touch possessed by our wolf friends in La Push. The closest I could compare it to was the touch of another vampire. Because we all had the same ice-cold skin all vampires felt warm to one another. Yet, Bella's touch had been different. I could feel the warmth of human blood pulsing beneath her fingertips providing heat to Bella's otherwise cooled skin.

"She was warm," I answered Jessa.

"Human warm or vampire 'warm'," Emmett raised his fingers to air quote warm.

"Both? I know that doesn't help."

"You think?" Rosalie was steadily becoming annoyed. "This conversation is going nowhere." My first sister stood up from her place at the table and squeezed Em's shoulder. A clear indication that she wished for him to follow. She was right. We could all, quite literally, debate this all night. But the truth of the matter is none of us knew what to make of Isabella Swan.

Emmett and Rosalie retired to their bedroom for the evening. As did Carlisle and Earnest so that they could spend time together before Carlisle had to return to the hospital. Jessamine retreated to her study. From her thoughts, I gathered that she was going to do some research. She was the most concerned about what Bella was and whether or not it endangered the safety of our family. I myself climbed the stairs to the third floor where my room was.

My dwelling is behind the last door down the hall and faces south. Like the entire south facing wall of the house, my wall had been replaced by glass. Which gave me spectacular views of the Sol Duc River and the Olympic Mountain range. The unfortunate downside to my room was that it was directly above Rose's and Emmett's room. I closed my door behind me and settled into the black leather sofa that rested against the east wall. Digging my iPod Shuffle out of my pocket, I placed the headphones in my ears and drowned out the sound of Emmett's and Rosalie's nightly activities. The music device was new to the market only having been released two weeks ago. Of course, thanks to Alice, the family had stock in Apple Inc. and got early access to the product. My psychic sister was adamant that the iPod Shuffle was going to be very popular over the next few years.

Speak of the devil. Alice didn't bother to knock on the door. She already knew that I heard her approaching and knew that I would invite her in. Alice sat down on the thick golden carpet, parallel to where I was stretched out on my sofa. She leaned her head back against my wall of CDs. I turned down the volume of my media player and removed one of the earbuds. Alice's thoughts were a tangled web, so either she was hiding something from me, or she had not yet decided what to focus on. Finally, her mind calmed and the image of Bella sitting in the school cafeteria and eating food was clear in her mind's eye.

"Does this mean you believe her to be human?"

"I don't know." Alice confessed. "Bella is very difficult to see. Most of my visions of her are cloudy. The ones that are clear are unfinished. Like, there's a decision that has yet to be made."

"What can you see?"

Alice's smile lit up her face. "Bella is going to be my best friend." She showed me a vision of her and Bella giggling over a topic of conversation that had yet to unfold. I could sense Alice's anticipation and excitement behind the vision.

"The only other clear vision is of, well, you saw it earlier."

Indeed, I had. I could easily recall the image of a terrified Bella running from an unknown threat.

"She is in danger. Isn't she?"

Alice nodded her head yes. "Though in danger from whom or what, I don't know. I suppose only time will tell."

Alice was a relatively patient person, but not having the answers to this particular problem was bothering her a great deal. With nothing more to say, Alice wished me good night and took her leave. I returned the earbud to its rightful place and turned the volume back up. I closed my eyes and was, for once in my endless existence, grateful for my inability to sleep and therefore dream. Because if I could, my subconscious would have haunted me with nightmares of Bella suffering amongst the shadows.

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