Chapter Text
"Jacob, wake up!" Billy was trying to wake his son by shaking his shoulder beside his bed.
Jacob mumbled, trying to object, grimacing and saying, "What?"
Billy placed his hand on his son's forehead to check if he had a fever. "Are you alright? Should we go to the hospital?" he asked anxiously.
Jacob said, "There's no need," slowly trying to get out of bed. It was actually a lie; his body had ached the day before, but now that his body had calmed down and the adrenaline had subsided, the pain and ache had poured down on him like accumulated rainwater.
His head ached as if someone were hammering nails into it while he was still alive. His back, arms, shoulders, and especially his legs ached.
"I have exams, I need to take them."
Billy frowned and clasped his hands in his lap. “Don’t be ridiculous, the exams aren’t more important than you, and besides, how do you expect to take them if you faint?” he scolded.
Billy was used to his son's stubbornness, but that didn't mean he was going to accept it.
Jacob put his hand to his forehead and said, "I'll handle it, one day won't hurt, I'll rest tomorrow."
Billy sighed deeply. "You say the same thing every time."
"Because it works every time."
"No, it's not working." Billy raised his eyebrows. "You're just not listening."
Jacob tried to stand up. He failed on the first attempt. His legs trembled. He had to hold onto the edge of the bed again.
Billy's expression changed instantly. "Jacob."
Jacob immediately said, "I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Billy said, waving his hand.
Jacob got up for the second time. This time he succeeded, but a wave of pain shot through his head. His vision blurred for a few seconds. He had to lean against the table next to his bed.
Billy became even more worried when he saw this. "We're going to the doctor," he said, placing his hands on the wheels of his wheelchair.
Jacob grumbled through clenched teeth, "No."
"Jacob."
"We're not going."
The two looked at each other for a few seconds.
Billy knew how stubborn his son was. Jacob knew his father wouldn't give up. He was just as stubborn as Billy.
Finally, Jacob averted his eyes from the worried gaze directed at him.
"If I take a day off, I'll have to make up for all the exams."
Billy didn't answer.
"This school is already tough enough for me," Jacob said slowly. "It's only my second week. People are just getting to know me. The teachers are just getting to know me."
He pressed his hand to his temple. "Just one day,let me’’
Billy's stern expression softened slightly. He knew Jacob's true fear as if he could read an open book. It wasn't the school, the teachers, or the exams; it was simply... he didn't want to fall behind. Jacob wasn't going to war; it was just a school exam, however insignificant it might seem, he still wanted to keep moving forward, to progress.
Too many things had already slowed him down in life. His mother's death. Having to work. Household responsibilities, his siblings leaving... It was as if he was always trying to catch up on time, constantly making up for lost moments.
Billy already knew this. "Son..."
Jacob lifted his head and looked into his father's eyes.
His father was silent for a few seconds. "Nobody is asking you to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."
Jacob smiled involuntarily. "I know."
Billy let out a short chuckle through his nose. "Okay," he finally said. "We're going to school."
Jacob breathed a sigh of relief.
Billy pointed his index finger at Jacob, frowning. "But..."
"But only for half a day. Call me as soon as your exams are over, then we'll go to the hospital."
Jacob sighed resignedly and said, "Okay."
Billy said, in a slightly humorous tone, "Call me before you faint, if possible."
Jacob raised his hands. "I’ll try" He chuckled involuntarily.
Billy seemed somewhat relieved when he saw this; his face softened.
Jacob ate breakfast, trying not to grimace too much. After the two of them got into the truck, Billy stopped in front of the school. "Here we are."
“Thanks, Dad,” Jacob said, picking up his bag and about to open the door when he saw his father hold his shoulder with one hand.
“Jacob,” Billy glanced at the school, then immediately looked at Jacob. “Call me if anything happens.”
"Dad, I'm fine, I can take care of myself—"
"Not that," Billy interrupted immediately. Then Jacob turned his head to where his dad had been looking.
When Jacob looked in the same direction, he noticed Edward standing on the wide steps at the school entrance, beside the semicircular wall, his hands inside his jacket, his brows slightly furrowed, looking at his father. Edward's eyes shifted from his father to Jacob. His brow softened slightly, and he relaxed.
Jacob turned his eyes from Edward to his father. "Dad, haven't we gotten over this?"
"Did we?" Billy asked immediately.
Jacob sighed deeply in exasperation, clutching the bag in his lap. His weariness wasn't due to his father's inability to get along with the Cullens—he already knew that—the problem was the constant repetition of the same topics.
He had no interest in bringing his father and the Cullens, or Edward, together to hug and reconcile. Jacob didn't think he had the strength or energy to break down a long-standing feud.
"It's alright, Dad," he said, trying to reassure his father.
"Yeah?" Billy said, placing his hands on the steering wheel and raising one eyebrow.
"Yes," Jacob said, shaking his head.
Billy didn't want to leave his son, who was already tired and sick, in the hands of vampires with his own hands. Yes, Jacob went to the same school as vampires, but seeing them live with his own eyes was like everything they had talked about before vanished.
"I'm not so sure," he grumbled.
Jacob had already opened the door of his truck and was getting out. Before closing the door, he tried to lighten the mood a little by saying, "Don't worry, I'm trained."
"Sure it is," Billy said, rolling his eyes, but the worry hadn't gone away.
After closing the door, Jacob walked around the front of the truck and started walking towards the school, hearing his father shout, "Still, be careful!"
Jacob waved his hand and slung his bag over his shoulder. As he walked towards the school entrance, he saw Bella's truck pulling into the park.
Billy looked at Edward Cullen one last time before leaving school. "I hope nothing bad happens," he thought to himself.
Edward had watched them on the school steps without averting his gaze. He had heard their conversations and thoughts, his brows furrowed. But his frown and tense anticipation weren't due to the usual fear and anxious thoughts he was hearing.
Edward in Jacob’s mind couldn't see the words that appeared when he read people's minds. When he tried to read Jacob's mind, he found nothing. Just like on the first day, when he was trying to read his mind, it suddenly shut down, as if it had vanished. He couldn't understand why it happened that day, but slowly the pieces were falling into place.
Jacob wasn't well. He had a heartbeat, but it was irregular. It would speed up and slow down, like a machine with something stuck inside that wouldn't work.
This wasn't a body that had rested over the weekend; "Did something happen?" Edward wondered.
"Why did his father bring him to school today?", "What happened to his motorcycle?", "Did he have an accident?" he began to wonder, creating a flood of possibilities in his head.
Alice, holding Jasper's hand, came over to her brother, "Edward."
Edward glanced at Alice for a moment, then back at Jacob, who was talking to Bella Swan. They were both standing next to the red truck, discussing everyday things, including upcoming exams.
"Can you see anything?" he asked his sister.
Alice tried to focus, looking at Jacob. She saw Jacob entering English class with Bella. The images weren't very clear, but clear enough for her to understand what was happening.
"They're going to take an exam," Alice replied softly.
“So what then? Are you not seeing something else?” he asked. Jacob looked even more devastated than before, as if he’d been blown away by a gust of wind. What made Edward feel truly strange was that he wanted to be prepared if something were to happen to Jacob.
"Should I see it?" Alice replied, answering the question with another question.
"He's sick," Jasper murmured.
Jasper had been watching Jacob ever since he came to school, especially since he knew something about them. Maybe not as closely as Edward, but he was still observant.
Jacob hadn't done anything so far, but he was still being cautious.
Of course, like Edward, he had heard Jacob's heartbeat and noticed his movements.
When Alice narrowed her eyes and looked at them, she understood what they both meant.
Alice's last vision of Jacob was of him reading books in a library in La Push. The images were blurry and not very clear because Jacob had been acting on his own, but she had managed to briefly see the shelves and books.
Edward hadn't been able to go see Jacob that day. He was very curious about what Jacob was studying and doing, and because of this agreement, he couldn't even get near the border, so he had cursed everything he knew under his breath.
The Jacob she had seen a few days ago was very different from this Jacob; he’s paler.
"I can't see if anything will happen to him right now, but if I do, you'll know," she said gently.
Edward just mumbled without saying anything.
They saw Jacob and Bella approaching. Bella glanced at them for a few seconds, then slightly bowed her head and looked away. Jacob, passing by them and beginning to climb the stairs, politely greeted them with a "Good morning."
Jasper only nodded reflexively while Alice excitedly replied, "Good morning!"
Edward didn't say anything, but he knew he had to ask the question that was bothering him. "Jacob," he said immediately.
Jacob stopped and looked at him. Bella also stood still on the stairs in surprise. She knew that Edward and Jacob occasionally spent time together and talked, but she was still having trouble getting used to it.
"Are you alright?" Edward asked calmly.
Jacob replied briefly, "I'm fine." There was a slight smile on his face, with the corner of his lip slightly raised.
Edward frowned slightly. He knew Jacob was lying, but no matter how much pain he was in, he was trying not to show it. He wasn't sure if it was pride or recklessness.
"Okay then," he said. But inwardly..."You're very stubborn." that was said.
As Jacob climbed the stairs, Bella stood still for a few seconds, then realized she had to walk and followed him out.
"Wait a minute... is Edward really worried? Why does he care about him so much?"Bella thought to herself, noticing how Edward's face changed.
Edward remained where he was, narrowing his eyes slightly. The last question in Bella's mind was one he himself hadn't known the answer to lately. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he watched Jacob walk away. Her thoughts kept questioning Edward's actions: "Why did he look? Why did he do that? Is he interested in Jacob?"
Although Edward was annoyed, he silently thanked her. He could see things in Bella's observant mind that he himself couldn't accept or see.
Yes, Jacob had been worried about him ever since he sensed something was wrong, he'd noticed that, but for Edward, concern for someone else's health was a foreign feeling.
In the hallways, thoughts jumbled together: exams, assignments, gossip, weekend plans.
But Edward's attention had already shifted elsewhere, to Jacob at the end of the corridor leading to the second floor.
There was a subtle stiffness in his gait.
"He should have gone to the hospital."He was angered by Jacob's recklessness,His brows furrowed again.
Normally, he wasn't bothered by people making bad decisions about their own health. Dozens of people did it every day in Forks. But no one was just anyone to him; it was Jacob.
He found himself unintentionally paying attention when it came to Jacob.
Jacob disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
Edward remained where he was for a few more seconds.
"It doesn't look good at all."This thought crossed his mind involuntarily. Then another thought came. An even more disturbing one.
"I need to check how he is." Edward grumbled. Even if Jacob got sick, it wouldn't be the end of the world. And nothing would happen if he left school early one day.
But still...when he arrived in front of the school that morning, he had expected to hear the sound of Jacob's motorcycle.
He always looked for him to see him there when he looked for him in the cafeteria, the library, or at their group classes.He wanted to see his bright eyes and that smile, with a slight curve at the corner of his lip.
Edward turned and started walking towards the Literature class. The teacher had already handed out the papers and started the exam when the bell rang. He automatically answered each question while simultaneously listening to and trying to discern thoughts. He tried to check if Jacob was doing well in the thoughts of the other people.
When the bell rang, he searched the hallways for Jacob."He should be in history class."He thought about the program he had memorized.
Today's schedule included physical education, where he could keep an eye on Jacob; he didn't think he had the patience to wait until lunchtime.
It was a truly pathetic situation for someone who prided himself on his patience and self-control, but Edward didn't even care.
When physical education class arrived, Edward saw Jacob sitting in the bleachers in the gym. He noticed that not much had changed from how he had been that morning.
Edward was very surprised that he hadn't fainted yet in this condition. A normal person would have fainted from heart pain or irregular blood pressure, or perhaps something worse.
Thanks to his previous medical training and experience, predicting the outcome wasn't difficult.
Edward watched Jacob frown, pressing one hand to his temples. "This isn't normal," he murmured. A normal person couldn't stand this, but Jacob certainly wasn't normal. That was something Edward was certain of. His mind, his demeanor, his way of speaking, even his appearance—but not in a bad way, just something was different. Edward had noticed this difference long ago; it was precisely that difference that attracted him.
"How are you still able to stand?" he thought.
Edward frowned and walked over to Jacob, who was sitting in the stands.
"Hey," he greeted.
With his hands in his hair and his head bowed, Jacob looked up and glanced at the familiar voice.
"Hey," he replied.
“Are you alright?” Edward asked again, repeating the question he’d asked that morning. He couldn’t read Jacob’s mind; there was nothing there, just silence. He thought it was because of his headache. But when Jacob looked at him, he could see the gears turning behind his eyes, even though Edward couldn’t see them.
Jacob knew Edward had noticed he was ill. It was impossible for someone with such keen senses not to notice. What made Jacob feel strange wasn't the fact that he had been noticed, but the fact that Edward was worried about him.
Jacob wondered for a moment if he was asking out of politeness, but Edward's face radiated pure honesty. He was genuinely worried.
Jacob frowned and muttered, "How many more times are you going to ask that?"
"As much as is necessary," Edward replied immediately, sitting down next to Jacob, putting a little distance between them.
"Why, are you a doctor?" Jacob asked, raising one eyebrow.
Edward had two medical degrees; he may not have practiced medicine, but he certainly had knowledge and experience.
Edward smiled slightly and said, "Maybe."
Jacob paused for a moment, considering the reality of the question, his eyes narrowing slightly as he met Edward's. "Maybe," he replied, giving the same answer.
Jacob turned his head and looked at the girls playing volleyball in the room. He grinned as Bella tried to play the game by dodging the ball instead of hitting it.
Making an echoing gesture with one hand to the side of his mouth, he shouted, "Bella! Don't be afraid of the ball, let it be afraid of you!"
Bella looked at Jacob and gave him a thumbs-up in agreement. But she wasn't sure she could follow the advice; she wasn't afraid of sports, she just didn't get along well with it.
Then she saw Edward standing next to Jacob, looking at him. Bella's heart raced for a moment when Edward and Bella's eyes met. She froze, as if she'd forgotten the whole game.
She heard one of the girls call out to her, "Bella!"
She turned her head and slapped the ball away, sending it flying, and scored the opposite team a goal.
Jacob chuckled for a moment as he watched Bella's movements. It was a very funny scene; his friend's clumsiness amused him.
Edward looked at Jacob and smiled, but not because of Bella's funny antics, but because of Jacob's smile.
Edward could imagine the pain Jacob was going through. Yet, despite all his suffering, Jacob was still teasing, joking, and laughing with people.
"Are your exams over?" Jacob asked, turning his head back to Edward.
"Yes, for today, how about you?"
"Sort of, there's a math exam this afternoon."
After math class, as he had agreed with his father, he would get permission from the staff, call him, and go to the hospital. Jacob rested his left elbow on his knee, clenched his fist, and pressed it against his cheek, glancing at Edward, who was sitting next to him.
Edward first looked into Jacob's eyes, then at his lips, which were plump and slightly pursed from pressing his fist against his cheek. He smiled slightly."Cute" he thought to himself.
"My father doesn't like you very much," Jacob blurted out suddenly.
Edward smiled, raising the corner of his lip. "I noticed that," he said. Then he immediately added, "And you?"
Edward froze when he realized what he'd asked. It had just blurted out without thinking; he hadn't even planned to ask such a thing. But still, he felt he needed to hear Jacob's answer. Did Jacob think like his father?
Jacob, also surprised by the unexpected question, removed his hand from his cheek and adjusted himself in his chair. For a moment, he wasn't sure how to answer.
He thought about the conversations he'd had with Edward, the time they'd spent together at school. She enjoyed spending time with him; it was fun.
‘’Yeah, we're cool’’ dedi.
He shrugged. " You're a little bit weird, though."
Edward raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Jacob continued, "I'm not exactly normal myself, but you're even weirder than me."
This time Edward laughed.
"That's a more honest answer," Edward said, when he finished laughing.
Jacob grinned and said, "You asked."
The sounds of balls, the squeaking of shoes, and the shouts of students echoed in the hall when Bella approached the two of them. "Hey," she greeted them. They were about an arm's length apart.
Jacob handed Bella the full, unopened plastic bottle that was next to his feet.
"You managed to survive," he said with a witty gleam.
She took the water offered to him, saying "Thanks’’ and began to drink it. After closing the lid, she jokingly replied, "For now, yes."
"Aren't you playing?" she asked, looking at Edward with her brown eyes.
Edward replied politely, "I'll skip it for today."
"He's too handsome to get hit in the face with a ball, he can't take the risk," Jacob joked, with a little smirk on his face.
Edward rolled his eyes and grinned. No one dared to tease Edward out loud; they were afraid, but Jacob did it perfectly fine, without a care in the world.
When he spoke and joked with him in a very normal, relaxed way, Edward felt normal for a few seconds. Like a normal student joking around with his friends.
Jacob would occasionally joke with him like that, but he had never called him handsome before.
Edward knew he was good-looking; he'd heard it a million times. But this time was different.
Jacob found him handsome.
Edward felt a thrill at the thought. He frowned at the feeling. A compliment shouldn't affect him this much.
‘’Of course he is’’ He heard Bella's thoughts. He heard Bella talking about how perfect he is, comparing his appearance to Adonis. Edward felt Bella's excitement to his core, as if he possessed Jasper's empathy.
Edward pressed his lips together and slightly furrowed his brows. It wasn't the first time he'd impressed and excited Bella, but Edward wasn't at all pleased about it.He was bothered by the fact that even the slightest unintentional action could snowball and come back to haunt him like an avalanche.
Whenever he felt like he was suffocating, he often took refuge in Jacob's mind. It was as if he were escaping to another world, closing the door and hearing or seeing no one else but Jacob. Now, however, Jacob's mind was also closed.He felt like a homeless person with nowhere to go.
Even though Jacob was right beside him, he still felt his absence.
Edward began to doubt whether being so attached to Jacob was healthy. However, this didn't bother him; Jacob was like a safe haven for Edward.
"Am I using him?" A thought crossed his mind. Then he felt disgusted with himself. Yes, he was curious about Jacob, he wanted to understand him, he even comforted him, but that didn't mean he wanted to use Jacob’s mind for his own gain.
“Jake!” Bella’s voice, a mixture of worry and surprise, brought him back to reality. As he tried to understand what was happening, a familiar smell reached his nose: blood.
Edward saw Jacob clutching his hand, trying to stop the blood that was gushing out as fast as water from a tap."Jacob!" Edward instinctively touched his shoulder anxiously, then quickly held the tissue Bella had run to him to Jacob's nose.
Jacob took the napkin from his hand and pressed it against his skin. "I'm fine," he said, his voice slightly hoarse.
Edward grumbled through gritted teeth, "You're not." "We need to take you to the nurses' room."
Jacob's chin, lips, hands, and even his black blouse and white uniform were covered in blood from the incessant bleeding. He felt neither the blood nor the pain in his body. It was as if a fairy had come and taken all the pain away, and the fact that he felt nothing was worse than if he had felt something.
Clearly, his endurance had run out, and his body was giving up. Jacob stood up, still clutching his nose. "Fuck," he muttered to himself.
The teacher must have seen what was happening, so he came over to them.
"What happened?!" he asked, seeing the blood that wouldn't stop flowing and had stained the napkin red.
"We don't know," Edward said immediately, standing up.
Bella grimaced and covered her nose with her hand; the strong smell of blood made her nauseous. She began to feel dizzy.
But she was also thinking about Jacob when, suddenly, his nose started bleeding while they were talking. She put her hand on one of the chairs as if seeking support. Mike came over and asked, "Are you okay?" Bella had felt just as bad before the bleeding in previous biology lessons. He knew how Bella reacted to blood because it was Mike who had taken her to the nurse office that day.
"Edward, take him to the nurse's office," The teacher instructed.
The hall had become noisy due to multiple conversations and voices; everyone was curious and asked each other what was happening.
Edward put one arm around Jacob's waist and with the other took the napkins offered by the worried Angela who had approached them. Without any objection, Jacob pulled back the wet napkin and took the new ones Edward gave him.
"Can you walk?" Edward asked.
"Yes," Jacob replied immediately, noticing the coldness of Edward's hands.
This was the first time they had had such close contact.
Edward quickly led Jacob out of the saloon and they started walking down the corridor.
Edward was listening to Jacob's heartbeat and breathing like a vigilant soldier. It wasn't normal for someone to lose so much blood from a nosebleed; the blood was seeping from the tissues Jacob was holding, staining his palm, his fingers, his whole hand.
As Jacob walked on, his steps suddenly stopped, the tissues he was holding dropped from his hands, and his runny nose seemed to have stopped.
He frowned and squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again; his head suddenly started spinning, the corridor and cupboards seemed to be spinning in front of him like they were thrown into a mixer, his vision blurred. His eyelids twitched. He started sweating as if he had just come out of a sauna.
Edward, who was holding him, asked anxiously, "Jacob?"
Jacob turned his head and saw Edward looking at him with a worried, furrowed brow. Jacob felt as if he had stepped into an empty hole and was about to fall. But thanks to Edward's strong grip, this didn't happen.
Edward held Jacob's hand with one hand, trying to support him. "Jacob!" His voice was harsh this time. "Do you need me to carry you?" he asked. But Jacob didn't hear what he said, only muffled sounds. He felt the sharp coldness of Edward's hand. This coldness was very comforting to his body.
Jacob tried to take another step, but felt his leg burn as if it had been thrown into a fire. He winced in pain.
He tried to lean back, trying to compose himself, but there wasn't a drop of energy left in his body, as small as a pinhole .
He squeezed Edward's hand, trying to regulate his breathing.
"I..." he murmured. He blinked one last time and lost consciousness. Jacob fainted in Edward's arms.
Edward instinctively swore, "Damn it!"
He slipped one hand under his knees and held Jacob's back with the other, lifting him into his arms. Clutching Jacob,like a bride, to his chest, he walked quickly towards the infirmary.
He pushed the door open with his shoulder.
When the nurse sitting in the office saw the unconscious child lying in a pool of blood, she got up from her chair, immediately put on her gloves, and asked, "What happened?!"
Edward explained, “His nose was bleeding, then he suddenly fainted,” as he laid Jacob’s unconscious body on the bed. His face, cheeks, lips—everything was covered in blood, even his uniform. Edward swallowed unnecessarily. He froze, his face contorted in disgust at the sight, as if in shock. He turned and walked a few steps away from Jacob. He stopped breathing, trying to erase the smell that was already etched in his mind.
He felt nauseated, as if he'd just eaten dinner. He shouldn't have been bothered by the blood, but Jacob's blood-stained face with his eyes closed felt like an indescribable rope tightening around him.
"He fainted from blood loss," said the nurse. Edward turned and looked at the woman who was tending to Jacob.
Edward nodded and closed the curtain between the beds.
"You should go and clean yourself up," said the nurse, glancing at Edward for a moment.
He only just noticed the blood on his hands and the white uniform he was wearing. He had been so focused on Jacob that he hadn't even noticed. For someone with such keen senses, this would have been almost impossible.
Edward wanted to shatter his clothes into tiny pieces,and burn them, but disgusted by the blood on them, he hurried to the nearest sink. Turned the tap on full blast, took off his Jersey, and held it under the water.
As the red color intensified with the water, Edward grabbed soap and began washing his hands, scrubbing them quickly and vigorously. Normally, someone else would probably break their hand doing that, but Edward was washing them while cursing, as if he wanted to rip his hand off.
He kept soaping and scrubbing, repeating the same thing over and over. From an outsider's perspective, he looked like someone obsessed with cleanliness.
He clasped his hands together and splashed water on his face a few times, then looked up in the mirror. Edward was certainly no stranger to human blood, but this time he felt disgusted; it wasn't even the blood he'd drunk, it had just stained him. But it wasn't just any ordinary blood, it was Jacob's blood.
For a moment, his mind flashed the face of the child, stained red amidst the white clothes. If he hadn't heard the irregular heartbeat, he probably would have thought he was dead.
But even Jacob's death caused Edward to clench his teeth and grip the sink counter tightly. He tried to control himself so as not to cause any harm, but when he lowered his head and looked at the stain that had turned from red to orange, he felt the venom in his mouth fill with anger, and his muscles tighten even more. Every time he closed his eyes and tried to calm down, the memory of how Jacob had suddenly fallen while holding his hand, collapsing into his arms, kept reminding him like a debtor.
At that moment, Edward felt that the instincts that had guided him for so many years, the control he had boasted of for so long, had abandoned him, replaced by fear.
Edward heard the marble stone beneath his hands crack and shatter with a loud thud."What if he dies? What will happen then?"Edward felt that a world without Jacob wouldn't be a complete world. Jacob was like a light that gave the world its colors."If he dies... the colors will disappear." He ran his hands through his hair, lifted his head, and tried once more to erase what he had seen from his memory, but he knew that this nightmare would haunt him until his last seconds in this world.
Edward hadn't realized until that moment how much he cared about Jacob. Yes, he valued him, but the thought of Jacob's death had never even crossed his mind. Now he was faced with that possibility, and a few seconds later, he froze as if everything had collapsed on him. He was disgusted, terrified.
He took his hands out of his hair, turned off the tap, picked up the wet jersey, and threw it straight into the trash can next to the door. If he had to choose between setting himself on fire and wearing the uniform, he would have chosen to burn himself without hesitation. No force could make him do that.
He came out of the restroom and went straight to the infirmary. When he opened the door, he noticed the physical education teacher and the nurse talking, and both of them turned their heads towards Edward.
Edward went over to them and asked, "How is he?"
"He should go to the hospital," replied the nurse.
"So, he's not good," he concluded.
“I’ll call his father,” the teacher said as he was leaving through the door, but Edward stopped him. “Tell him to come to the hospital.”
"He's not well, I'll take him to the hospital," Edward pleaded, looking into the nurse's eyes. He desperately wanted her to say yes. At that moment, Edward felt utterly pathetic, begging for a nurse's, a human being's, compassion and permission. But he realized he had no problem with that.
The nurse agreed, nodding her head. "The faster the better."
When Edward pulled back the curtain, he saw Jacob, stripped of his white uniform, his body encased in a thin black blouse, a few strands of hair falling across his forehead, his chest rising and falling slowly, some of the blood on his face wiped away, still unconscious.
He picked him up again and left the school. The nurse was following to help him. She opened the back seat of the car and he carefully laid Jacob down, smoothing the disheveled hair from Jacob’s forehead with his hands. "I promise, you'll be alright," he whispered.
The nurse warned, "Be careful," and then walked towards the school.
Edward pulled the car out of the parking lot and sped towards the hospital, carefully avoiding swerving the steering wheel as he floored the gas pedal. He heard his phone ring, pulled it out of his pocket, and saw that Alice was calling.
"Edward, what's happening?! The whole school smells of blood!"
“I’m taking Jacob to the hospital,” he said, glancing in the rearview mirror at Jacob, one hand on his waist, the other dangling from the seat.
“He’s bad,Alice,” he added, his voice trembling. He didn’t know his own voice could tremble like that; fear truly changed a person.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Alice was speechless with shock and worry. She had never seen Edward like this before, and his panicked state was beginning to frighten her as well.
"Edward, calm down," she tried to comfort his brother.
"I'm trying," he snarled through clenched teeth.
After that he said "Jasper... What about Jasper?" Normally, he wouldn't care what Jasper was doing right now, but he didn't want their names in the news because of a school massacre, and he especially needed a distraction right now.
"He's... strangely well," said Alice
"What do you mean? The whole school must smell of blood," he frowned. How had Jasper managed to control himself in a situation like this?
"I don't know, but he says he's not affected by the smell."
Then Jasper's voice was heard on the phone, saying, "The child's blood is like water, it has no effect."
Edward decided to postpone dwelling on why that had happened. "I'm glad you didn't destroy the whole school," Edward muttered.
"Me too," Jasper said coldly.
When Edward heard a groan-like sound from the back seat, he said "I'm hanging up" into the phone.
He turned his head on the seat and looked at Jacob, checking his state of consciousness, "Jacob, can you hear me?" Jacob's eyes opened for a few seconds and then immediately closed again.
Edward listened to the heartbeat, every beat and sound, ready to immediately stop the car and perform CPR if the heart stopped.
When he arrived at the hospital, without waiting for a stretcher, he immediately picked him up and rushed into the emergency room. Carlisle was on duty in the emergency room today, and if there was anyone he could entrust Jacob to, it was his father.
He saw Carlisle signing some papers in front of the secretary. "Carlisle!" he shouted.
The blond doctor turned his head towards the entrance and went to Edward's side with a surprised look in his eyes. Looking into Edward's worried gaze, he asked in a calm voice, "Edward, what happened?"
“He lost too much blood and fainted,” he replied, walking towards an empty bed. Carlisle immediately put on his gloves and came to Jacob’s side. While checking his eyelids with the light he held, Edward said what he knew to help, “His heart rate was irregular this morning too, his blood pressure must be low, his nose has been bleeding constantly’’
”
As Edward spoke rapidly, Carlise tried to reassure him, "Edward, he'll be alright, I'll take care of him."
“We need some help here!” Carlisle asked for assistance to attend to Jacob. Just in case, he requested a defibrillator and Jacob’s medical records. While Carlisle worked, Edward watched Jacob from a corner. As Carlisle left Jacob’s side to check the records, the nurses prepared the supplies to change Jacob’s clothes.
Carlisle looked at Edward and said, "Edward." He nodded slightly to signal Jacob to give him some space.
Edward left immediately, and the nurses quickly closed the curtain behind him, as if a wall was being built between him and Jacob for the second time.
Carlisle left the file at the secretary's office and said, "Edward, he'll be fine, he's been through things like this sometimes."
Edward quickly lifted his head and asked, "Has this happened before?" He frowned.
"Why is this child so reckless, especially since it hasn't happened before?" He wanted to scream.
"It seems so," Carlisle said softly.
“Anything else?” he asked curiously, if it wasn’t the first time, it must have happened elsewhere. He tried to read Carlisle’s mind.
Carlise shook his head in denial and focused on other things. "I can't say that; it would violate patient confidentiality," he stated clearly.
"Is he serious?" Edward thought in astonishment.
“Carlisle,” he tried again, but Carlisle raised his hand and said, “No, Edward, I can’t say anything else, please don’t force it.”
Edward couldn't get anything out of his father's mouth or mind. Giving up, he whispered, "Alright."
He actually had no intention of pressuring Carlise; he simply wanted to know more out of a panic.
On the one hand, he was grateful to his father, devoted to his work, and especially protective of Jacob's privacy.
Edward turned to go to the waiting room when he heard Carlisle's voice warning him in his mind, "Edward,There's a bloodstain on your chest." Edward stopped abruptly, lowered his head, and with his fingers pulled his black blouse away from himself. It was a dried stain.
The black color didn't show the blood very clearly, and Edward had completely shut off his sense of smell after washing his face in the sink. He never wanted to smell that scent again in his life. But amidst all the panic, anxiety, and fear, it was impossible to notice even a stain right in front of him.
Looking at Edward's wrinkled face, Carlisle said, "I have a spare shirt in my room; you can wear that."
Edward nodded without saying anything and entered the office he had been to before. He changed his clothes and, clutching the dirty blouse tightly in his hand, walked out the door.
When he saw a cleaner mopping the floors in the white corridors, he went up to her and, in his most persuasive voice, said, "Excuse me? Could you dispose of this for me?"
The cleaner looked up, reflexively took the blouse that was handed to her, and said, "Of course."
Edward, thinking that something like this shouldn't belong in this world, said "Burn it if you like" and then quickly left, hearing someone say "What a strange child" behind him.
Just as he was about to turn the corner to check on Jacob, he heard a familiar voice from that morning echoing in her mind: ‘’I shouldn't ever let him go to school.”
It was Billy Black. He saw him stroking his son's hair with his hand.
As the doctor caring for Jacob, Carlisle's duty was to inform the patient's family, so he stood at Jacob's bedside with a file containing Jacob's results.
‘’Bay Black’’
Billy was momentarily excited when he noticed him. Although vampire alarms were ringing in his mind, Jacob was his first priority.
"How is he?" he asked.
"Jacob's body had reached its limits, Billy. Blood loss and exhaustion had caused his blood pressure to drop drastically. His fainting wasn't unexpected; on the contrary, it was inevitable under those circumstances," Carlisle explained.
Billy rubbed his forehead with his hands and muttered, "Damn it, Jacob. What should I do?" he asked.
"He needs to rest for now," Carlisle said calmly. "We're giving him fluids, monitoring his blood values, and keeping an eye on his heart rate. First, we need to let his body recover."
"Okay," Billy mumbled without saying another word.
Carlisle left them alone and departed. Edward watched them from a distance, his eyes never leaving Jacob, his motionless face, clean and beautiful, clad in a long-sleeved hospital gown, a mixture of blue and white.
‘’"He’s gonna be okay."he thought. Leaning his back against the wall, he lifted his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, even though he didn't need to.
A few hours later, Harry Clearwater arrived as a visitor. He saw Billy and Harry talking about what had happened as if it were a very everyday, normal event.
Edward realized that he was the only one not used to Jacob's situation. Even if the world burned a million times, it would be impossible for him to get used to it. After Harry left, only Billy and Jacob remained.
“Edward Cullen,” Edward heard his own name whispered coldly by Billy.
"Is he calling me?" a thought crossed his mind. Edward kept his distance; it was impossible for Billy to see him.
Edward was behind Billy, the curtain half-open. And Billy hadn't turned around at all.
Then he saw Billy turn his head to the side and look behind him.
"Are you going to watch it all day?" Billy asked, his voice clearer this time.
Edward, as if speechless with surprise, opened his mouth to answer as if Billy could hear him, but then went over and stood beside Billy at the foot of the bed, beside Jacob."How did he notice me?" he wondered
After glancing at Jacob for a few seconds, he looked at the person who had called him.
‘’I didn't mean to bother." he said slowly.
“Do I look too comfortable right now?” Billy turned his head to Jacob and after a few seconds said, “You can't bother me any more than this.”
Edward wasn't sure what to say, so he remained silent.
Billy had images of Jacob from that morning in his mind, and he saw them calling him from school.
"The people at school said you were with him," Billy said, placing his hands in his lap. "And you brought him to the hospital too."
Edward replied immediately, "Of course," his eyebrows slightly furrowed as if it were the obvious.
“I guess I owe you a thank you,” Billy Edward was about to object, saying there was no need, when he raised his hand to stop him, “Even if you are my enemy, I don’t want to be indebted. You didn’t have to, but you were there for him anyway. ”Even though I don't know why he did it." he thought to himself.
Edward nodded slightly and said, "I understand." At that moment, Edward felt respect for Billy, genuine respect. There was a world of difference between the man who had glared at him angrily that morning, his mind filled with rage, and the man who was now grateful to him.
Billy said ‘’Give the devil his due"
Edward smiled in response to the sarcasm, and was about to leave when Billy's words, "Maybe Jacob is right," stopped him.
Then Billy turned his intense gaze to Edward's eyes and said, "Perhaps you are really different."
Edward looked into Billy's sharp but unwavering eyes; even though their eye colors were different, Edward saw Jacob too. They resembled each other so much. Jacob, too, wouldn't easily avert his gaze; he would look deeply and sincerely into your whole being.
“We are,” Edward said, then added, “I am. I… I would never hurt him.”
Billy searched Edward's eyes for a moment, looking for hesitation, for falsehood. Then, turning his head again, he sighed deeply and murmured, "You better be"
Edward realized the conversation was over and left. He glanced at Jacob one last time and exited the hospital. He found his grey Volvo, opened the door, sat down, and rested his head on the steering wheel. He took a deep breath.
The car still smelled. He leaned back in his seat and looked at the soiled seats in the rearview mirror.
He couldn't decide whether to wash the car or dismantle it; after everything that had happened, he didn't want even the slightest trace of it left behind.
He instinctively reached into his pocket. His hand touched a stone he'd found in the meadow. He pulled the stone out, and as he'd done many times before, he turned it over again, examining it meticulously, paying attention to its details as if he'd never memorized it.
“Damn it…what are you doing to me, Jacob?” he whispered. All the strange feelings he’d felt throughout the day flashed before his eyes. If someone asked him “Why?”he had no answer; he felt like someone holding a book with blank pages.
Instead of following an irreversible path, Edward realized the path was chasing him.
This uncertainty was more painful than anything else.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edward didn't leave the hospital after the incident. Sometimes he would wander the corridors near Jacob's room, and sometimes he would slightly open the door to check on Jacob when Billy came out.
After Jacob was taken to the room, he tried to get information from Carlisle such as, "Is he awake? How is he now? How is his heart?"
Carlisle told Edward to go home several times. He had been understanding the first day, and the second time as well.
But by the morning of the third day, Edward still hadn't left the hospital.
"Edward," Carlisle said calmly. "Jacob is sleeping now. His heart rate is starting to return to normal. His blood values are also improving."
Edward was looking out the window at the end of the hallway. "I may not be there when he wakes up."
Carlisle watched her for a few seconds before answering. "You think you need to be there when he wakes up."
Edward was silent for a few seconds. "I... I care about him," he said, as if admitting it more to himself than to Carlise.
The fear he felt the moment he saw Jacob's condition worsen still haunted him. His stumbling down the corridor, the blood flowing from his nose, his suddenly vacant gaze.
Edward had read the thoughts of hundreds of people. He had felt the fear of death in thousands of patients. But the panic he felt when Jacob collapsed was different.
Because this time, the fear didn't belong to someone else. It was his own.
Carlisle knew this.He probably knew for a long time. "He'll be alright," he finally said.
Edward bowed his head. "I know," he said.
But knowing wasn't enough.
Carlisle smiled slightly. "Sometimes waiting for people to get better is all we can do."
Edward let out a quiet breath through his nose. "I hate this."
"I know," Carlisle nodded understandingly.
The corridors fell silent again. A few minutes later, Billy emerged from Jacob's room. He held an empty coffee cup. He looked tired. Edward instinctively glanced towards the door. Billy didn't see him; he hid in the corner, concealing himself.
When Billy walked away, he involuntarily went to the door. He opened it a few centimeters. Jacob was still asleep.
His complexion had somewhat returned. The sounds of regular machinery emanated from the room. His heart and breathing were regular. Edward didn't need a human ear to hear it. In the silence of the room, Jacob's heart beat with a steady rhythm.
Edward stood by the door for a few more seconds. Then he closed his eyes. The tight knot in his chest loosened for the first time. He was alive. He was recovering.
And strangely, this was the most comforting thing Edward had heard in the past three days.
He closed the door quietly.
"Are you still here?" Alice's voice came from the end of the corridor.
Edward turned around and saw his sister leaning against the wall. He said nothing.
Alice approached her brother and stared at him. "Edward, you've been standing guard in front of a human child's room for three days."
"I'm not on guard duty."
"Of course you do."
"I just want to make sure he's okay."
Alice's grin widened. "That's exactly what I'm saying," she said sarcastically. "Since when do you think you care about someone else's well-being?"
Edward understood what Alice meant. Even without saying it, her mind was restless. Perhaps the future wasn't clear, but Alice was slowly beginning to see Edward's images as blurry.
Edward's blurry appearance meant that Jacob was somewhere in the future.
In the past, most of Edward's thoughts revolved around books, music, school, or his family.Now, the same name keeps getting mixed up.
Jacob.
How is Jacob today?
What does Jacob think?
Why did Jacob behave that way?
Why did Jacob push himself so hard?
Edward averted his eyes. "If you're not going to say anything, you could try being quiet."
Alice's grin widened slightly. "I didn't say anything."
"I know," he said, frowning.
Alice tilted her head slightly to the side. "Three days."
Edward did not answer.
"You've been here for three days," Alice continued.
"Are you keeping track of the accounts?" Edward asked as he started walking down the corridor.
"No. Because you're already holding on," Alice said, catching up with her brother and walking beside him.
Edward's jaw tightened.
Alice was right.
He was aware of every hour, every second that had passed since Jacob was brought into the room.
Alice watched him for a few seconds. Then his voice softened slightly for the first time.
"It'll be alright, Edward. Don't worry."
Edward whispered, almost inaudibly, "I hope so."
Upon hearing this, Alice paused for a moment and returned to Edward's side, who had continued walking. "See?"
"What are you looking at?"
"You said 'I hope so'," she smiled.
Edward frowned.
Alice chuckled softly. "You didn't used to talk to people like that."
A brief silence fell in the corridor.
Edward didn't answer. Because he had no answer. What Alice said was disturbingly true.
He didn't know why.
She just wanted Jacob to be okay, to be happy. It should have been simple, but for the past few days nothing felt simple.
Edward was struggling to survive amidst these turbulent emotions.
‘’Was it because Jacob was interesting?’’, ‘’Was it simply that he didn't want to lose the source of his curiosity?’’, ‘’Or was it that he didn't want to lose Jacob because he had grown so attached to him so quickly?’’ He didn't know. A boy he'd only known for a few days shouldn't affect him this much.
As Edward and Alice were talking in the hallway, Edward heard a worried thought."I wonder how Jacob is doing?"
Bella was walking at the other end of the corridor. She was carrying a small bouquet of flowers. Charlie Swan was with her. The police chief looked unusually uncomfortable in the hospital corridors. He had his hands in his jacket pockets and was glancing around briefly.
"I hope it's not too bad." Her thoughts continued.
Alice's playful expression softened slightly. "It looks like the visitor traffic has started," she murmured.
Bella was surprised to see them. "Edward?"
Charlie's gaze also rested on the two of them. "Kids," he greeted.
Alice waved with a cheerful smile.
"Hello Mr. Swan."
Charlie shook his head and said, "Charlie is enough" putting his hands on his waist "Jacob was one of the last people who would end up in the hospital. The kid looked as strong as a truck."
Edward involuntarily agreed. Jacob really did look as sturdy as a truck. That was the problem, no one had realized how bad his condition was inside.
Bella glanced briefly down the hallway. Then she turned back to Edward, her brows slightly furrowed.
She hadn't seen him at school for the past few days. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone from the Cullen family, but Edward's absence was more noticeable.
An empty seat in biology class, a missing chair in the cafeteria, a pale face nowhere to be seen in the hallways. Edward was absent from school for the first time. He had expected to see Edward in every corner, to see the familiar gray Volvo in the school parking lot.
And now she saw that the person she had been expecting was there.
In the hospital.
Just outside Jacob's room.
Has he been here for three days?
The thought involuntarily crossed his mind.
Is it normal for him to be so worried?
Bella's gaze briefly flicked to Edward. There was no weariness on his face, of course. But there was that cautious tension, the kind you see on the face of someone waiting for something. It was as if he didn't want to miss the slightest sound from the other side of the door.
Bella didn't say it out loud because she didn't know what to say.
Maybe they've become close friends. Maybe Jacob's situation is more serious than I think.
Or…
She didn't finish the thought. She bit her lip slightly and involuntarily clutched the bouquet in her hand.
“Okay, nice to see you kids,” Charlie said as he walked past them, Bella following closely behind, but as she passed Edward, instead of looking at him, she looked at the ground and avoided eye contact.
"Good day, Mr. Swan," Edward said, nodding his head.
A word Bella had thought of popped into his head: "Or."
Or what could it have been?He frowned. What was this girl thinking about again?
“Jasper is waiting for me in the car, are you coming home?” Alice asked a question she already knew the answer to.
Edward shook his head and said, "No, I'll stay here until he wakes up."
"Of course you will," Alice smiled.
Edward said wearily, "Just go, Alice."
Alice, feigning offense, playfully hit Edward's arm, calling him ‘’Rude." But in reality, she was enjoying it.
A few hours after Alice left, Edward felt a dryness in his throat. He hadn't hunted before these events. He needed blood. His pupils were kinda golden, but still he was thirsty.
He glanced towards where Jacob's room was. He needed to leave, but didn't want to go far.
Alice had left, Carlisle had finished his shift, and everyone was home except Edward.
The hospital wasn't exactly in the middle of the woods, but Edward knew he could easily find prey.
"I'll be right back, just a few minutes."He thought to himself, as if he were saying it to Jacob.
As soon as he left the hospital and disappeared from sight, he started running through the forest.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Jacob began to wake up, he couldn't open his eyes immediately. As his consciousness tried to surface, he heard muffled sounds around him. Someone was talking. In the distance, there was the clicking of something metallic. Then a familiar voice.
''Son?''
It was his father's voice.
Jacob frowned slightly. His head felt heavy, as if it were filled with giant rocks. His arms were heavy. There was a dull ache in his shoulders and back. He kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds. Then he slowly opened them. Seeing the ceiling, he realized he wasn't in his own room.
When he turned his head, he saw Billy standing next to his bed in his wheelchair. The tense expression on his father's face softened slightly when he noticed him.
"Finally."
Another hurtful moment that his vampirism reminded him of himself.
Jacob sighed and said softly, "How long have I been sleeping?" His voice was barely a whisper.
"You've been unconscious for three days, kid," said Charlie.
When Jacob turned his head, he saw Bella sitting in a chair and Charlie standing.
Jacob just mumbled.
"How are you feeling?" his father asked.
"It's bad, but still alive," Jacob replied, taking a deep breath.
"Luckily you haven't lost your sense of humor," Billy said, gently scolding him.
“You know I can’t live without it,” he tried to smile slightly, but then stopped. He hasn't fully recovered yet. Bella smiled slightly and adjusted her hair. She was used to Jacob’s behavior.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to relax.
Bella had a small bouquet of flowers in her arms. "Hey."
Jacob replied in a hoarse voice, "Hey."
Charlie said"At Forks, you could be the first student to get yourself hospitalized within a week,"
Jacob chuckled softly through his nose. "I like breaking records."
"You'd better not try this with health matters," Charlie scolded mildly.
Billy grumbled, "I agree."
Bella looked at the flowers in her hand. "Well... I brought these," she said, placing them on the small cabinet next to Jacob's head.
Jacob looked at the bouquet. It was a small bunch of yellow and white flowers. "Thank you."
Bella shrugged. "Everyone in the class wondered what happened."
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Everyone?"
"Angela."
"Okay."
Bella laughed. "Mike, Jessica, and the others too, of course."
"This makes more sense," he murmured.
Charlie sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed. "What do the doctors say?" he asked.
Billy sighed. "Excessive physical exertion."
Jacob looked up at the ceiling. Charlie raised an eyebrow when he saw this. "When I see that expression, I feel like I've missed half the story."
"You probably missed the whole thing."
Bella involuntarily chuckled. The tension in the room eased somewhat.
For the first time in three days, the atmosphere had taken on a normal conversational tone. Bella looked at the monitor next to the bed.
"You scared me so much."
Jacob tried to move his shoulder but gave up. "It was unintentional."
Bella was silent for a few seconds. Then she spoke in a quieter voice.
"Edward was scared too."
Jacob's gaze involuntarily shifted to her.
Charlie glanced briefly. Bella continued.
"He's been here for three days," she said slowly.
Billy's eyebrows rose slightly.
Jacob looked surprised too. "For three days?"
"I guess so," Bella shrugged. "He didn't come to school," she said, pursing her lips slightly.
Jacob didn't answer for a few seconds. The corridor came to mind. The blood flowing from his nose. The dizziness. Then Edward's cold arm around his waist, holding him upright.
The way he looked at him, with a frown on his face, that worried expression. It was one of the last things he could remember amidst the blurry images.
Charlie stood up. "You look better."
"Is lying taught in police training?" Jacob asked, softly
Charlie let out a short chuckle through his nose. "A little."
Bella smiled too. "I'm glad you're getting better."
They talked for a while longer. About everyday, normal things, about school. About Mike's recent abysmal performance on the basketball team.
And for the first time in three days, Jacob realized that his life felt normal again, even if only for a few minutes.
While Bella was talking, Jacob's mind wandered."Did he never go home?"
Bella was laughing and waving her hand as she told him something. Jacob smiled involuntarily, but it was a smile born of that small, involuntary thrill of knowing that Edward was worried about him.