I winced, but Charlie was so caught up in his story that he didn't notice.

"'Course I forgot all about that till just this minute, 'cause that's when Jake made it home.

"Imagine that," Emmett said, "such a coincidence."

One minute it was that wolf yowling, and then you couldn't hear it anymore - Jake's cussing drowned it right out.

"Yeah...that's it," Emmett laughed. "You'd think he would figure it out."

"Of course not," Carlisle smiled. "Humans tend to disregard things like that when they are faced with the world's darker truths... it keeps them happy."

Got a set of lungs on him, that boy does."

Charlie paused for a minute, his face thoughtful. "Funny that some good should come out of this mess. I didn't think they were ever going to get over that fool prejudice they have against the Cullens down there.

"I hope it really has worked that way," Carlisle said. "It seems that we really did make a step in the right direction. And now I know it's not impossible."

But somebody called Carlisle, and Billy was real grateful when he showed up. I thought we should get Jake up to the hospital, but Billy wanted to keep him home, and Carlisle agreed.

"It really is lucky for the pup that you're there," Emmett said. "There's no way they could have gone to a real hospital."

I guess Carlisle knows what's best. Generous of him to sign up for such a long stretch of house calls."

"And . . ." he paused, as if unwilling to say something. He sighed, and then continued. "And Edward was really . . . nice. He seemed as worried about Jacob as you are - like that was his brother lying there.

Esme glanced over at Edward. He still hadn't reacted at all, but she couldn't help but wonder what his motivation for that was. She knew that her son would be worried about Jacob for Bella's sake, but she thought he might have worried at least a little for his own sake too.

The look in his eyes . . ." Charlie shook his head. "He's a decent guy, Bella. I'll try to remember that. No promises, though." He grinned at me.

"He's more than decent," Esme smiled. She was pleased that Charlie really seemed to be coming around, though she was still worried about Edward's silence. They all were.

"I won't hold you to it," I mumbled.

Charlie stretched his legs and groaned. "It's nice to be home. You wouldn't believe how crowded Billy's little place gets. Seven of Jake's friends all squished themselves into that little front room - I could hardly breathe. Have you ever noticed how big those Quileute kids all are?"

"Yeah, I have."

Charlie stared at me, his eyes abruptly more focused. "Really, Bella, Carlisle said Jake will be up and around in no time. Said it looked a lot worse than it was. He's going to be fine."

I just nodded.

Jacob had looked so . . . strangely fragile when I'd hurried down to see him as soon as Charlie had left. He'd had braces everywhere - Carlisle said there was no point in plaster, as fast as he was healing. His face had been pale and drawn, deeply unconscious though he was at the time. Breakable. Huge as he was, he'd looked very breakable. Maybe that had just been my imagination, coupled with the knowledge that I was going to have to break him.

If only I could be struck by lightning and be split in two. Preferably painfully. For the first time, giving up being human felt like a true sacrifice. Like it might be too much to lose.

Edward's face became more pained and resigned at that and everyone else became quiet and sad.

I put Charlie's dinner on the table next to his elbow and headed for the door.

"Er, Bella? Could you wait just a second?"

"Did I forget something?" I asked, eyeing his plate.

"No, no. I just . . . want to ask a favor." Charlie frowned and looked at the floor. "Have a seat - this won't take long."

I sat across from him, a little confused. I tried to focus. "What do you need, Dad?"

"Here's the gist of it, Bella." Charlie flushed. "Maybe I'm just feeling . . . superstitious after hanging out with Billy while he was being so strange all day. But I have this . . . hunch. I feel like . . . I'm going to lose you soon."

"It not surprising that he would say that," Jasper said. "Bella had to get her observational skills from someone."

"Don't be silly, Dad," I mumbled guiltily. "You want me to go to school, don't you?"

"Just promise me one thing."

I was hesitant, ready to rescind. "Okay . . ."

"Will you tell me before you do anything major? Before you run off with him or something?"

"Dad . . . ," I moaned.

"I'm serious. I won't kick up a fuss. Just give me some advance notice. Give me a chance to hug you goodbye."

"He does deserve that," Esme said. "Even if you can't give him the real reason, he deserves something."

Cringing mentally, I held up my hand. "This is silly. But, if it makes you happy, . . . I promise."

"Thanks, Bella," he said. "I love you, kid."

"I love you, too, Dad." I touched his shoulder, and then shoved away from the table. "If you need anything, I'll be at Billy's."

I didn't look back as I ran out. This was just perfect, just what I needed right now. I grumbled to myself all the way to La Push.

Carlisle's black Mercedes was not in front of Billy's house. That was both good and bad.

Obviously, I needed to talk to Jacob alone. Yet I still wished I could somehow hold Edward's hand, like I had before, when Jacob was unconscious.

"Hmph," Rosalie huffed. It wouldn't have been good for Edward to sit through that.

Impossible. But I missed Edward - it had seemed like a very long afternoon alone with Alice. I supposed that made my answer quite obvious. I already knew that I couldn't live without Edward. That fact wasn't going to make this any less painful.

She can't live without you, Alice thought, knowing where her brother's mind was and hoping that her thoughts might help him. He didn't make any move to indicate that he had even heard her.

I tapped quietly on the front door.

"Come in, Bella," Billy said. The roar of my truck was easy to recognize.

I let myself in.

"Hey, Billy. Is he awake?" I asked.

"He woke up about a half hour ago, just before the doctor left. Go on in. I think he's been waiting for you."

I flinched, and then took a deep breath. "Thanks."

I hesitated at the door to Jacob's room, not sure whether to knock. I decided to peek first, hoping - coward that I was - that maybe he'd gone back to sleep. I felt like I could use just a few more minutes.

I opened the door a crack and leaned hesitantly in.

Jacob was waiting for me, his face calm and smooth. The haggard, gaunt look was gone, but only a careful blankness took its place. There was no animation in his dark eyes.

It was hard to look at his face, knowing that I loved him. It made more of a difference than I would have thought. I wondered if it had always been this hard for him, all this time.

"Probably," Alice said.

Thankfully, someone had covered him with a quilt. It was a relief not to have to see the extent of the damage.

I stepped in and shut the door quietly behind me.

"Hi, Jake," I murmured.

He didn't answer at first. He looked at my face for a long moment. Then, with some effort, he rearranged his expression into a slightly mocking smile.

"Yeah, I sort of thought it might be like that." He sighed.

"I guess her answer really is written on her face," Emmett said.

"Today has definitely taken a turn for the worse. First I pick the wrong place, miss the best fight, and Seth gets all the glory.

"Boys," Esme rolled her eyes.

Then Leah has to be an idiot trying to prove she's as tough as the rest of us and I have to be the idiot who saves her. And now this." He waved his left hand toward me where I hesitated by the door.

"How are you feeling?" I mumbled. What a stupid question.

"A little stoned. Dr. Fang

"Maybe that should be our next last name," Emmett chuckled.

isn't sure how much pain medication I need, so he's going with trial and error. Think he overdid it."

"But you're not in pain."

"No. At least, I can't feel my injuries," he said, smiling mockingly again.

I bit my lip. I was never going to get through this. Why didn't anyone ever try to kill me when I wanted to die?

"Don't," Edward muttered the single syllable, but it was clear what he meant. He never wanted her to think of that, or to think of it himself.

The wry humor left his face, and his eyes warmed up. His forehead creased, like he was worried.

"How about you?" he asked, sounding really concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" I stared at him. Maybe he had taken too many drugs."Why?"

"Well, I mean, I was pretty sure that he wouldn't actually hurt you, but I wasn't sure how bad it was going to be. I've been going a little crazy with worrying about you ever since I woke up. I didn't know if you were going to be allowed to visit or anything. The suspense was terrible. How did it go? Was he mean to you? I'm sorry if it was bad. I didn't mean for you to have to go through that alone. I was thinking I'd be there. . . ."

"He thinks you were going to be mad at her for k... for what happened," Emmett said.

"You should be," Rosalie said, "though you really should just rip the mutt's head off. Manipulative jerk."

"But that's doesn't really match with Edward's character throughout the book," Jasper said, looking at the Edward in the room who wasn't looking at any of them, just staring out the window. "Bella's happiness is the only thing he cares about. There was no way he could be angry with her."