Start Living Now

“Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!” Jacob stormed about the room, knocking over various objects on Carlisle’s desk. “I can’t believe this! She didn’t even tell me! Oh I’m gonna kill him with my own two hands. I’ll rip that fucking bloodsucker to pieces!”

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Jacob wasn’t taking the news about Renesmee staying in South America with Nahuel for two months very well. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on, but as soon as he snapped back to reality, it was like World War III had broke out in Carlisle’s study. And I was stuck in my bed the whole time, narrowly dodging whatever Jacob threw around. And dear ol’ Alice said he’d have everything under control.

Riiiight.

“Ok Jacob, I understand that you’re upset-” a lamp was thrown in my direction. “-okay, really upset. But you seriously need to calm down.”

Jacob looked at me with an unpleasant glare. “I should calm down? What are you talking about? I’m calm. Just. Fucking. Peachy!” He picked up a bust of Caesar Augustus and threw it across the room.

I couldn’t help but giggle at him; he looked like a little kid throwing a tantrum, only he was a gazillion feet taller and had huge muscles.

“You think this is funny?”

“No, I think YOU’RE funny. You look like a little kid who’s pissed because they didn’t get their way.”

“Well excuse me for being upset when my imprint is on some godforsaken spit of land with a half-breed who looks at her like she’s a piece of meat!”

“Trust me, I get where you’re coming from, but seriously. Calm the fuck down. If you Shift because you’re angry, in this room, there’ll be no room left! And if you knock me over, I will kick your ass no matter how many broken bones I have.”

Jacob stopped throwing stuff around, and looked at the mess he made. “Shit.”

“Yeah, ‘shit’ is right. Carlisle’s gonna be so pissed at you if he comes home to this.”

“Actually, Carlisle and Esme are out for the weekend- ‘camping.’”

“Well good for them. But he’s still gonna come home to this if you don’t clean it up in time.”

“You mean you’re not gonna help me?”

I laughed. “I love how you people think I can just get up and WALK around.” I indicated my legs, which were still bandaged up even though they had healed properly, and Carlisle had taken the casts off.

“I thought Carlisle said your legs had healed all the way?” Jacob walked up to me and touched the bandages on my leg.

“Yeah, but he also said that I’m not to walk around on them until I start stretching them out for a day or two, in order to make sure they’ll work right whenever I Shift.”

“Oh, right. How long is it gonna be before you can Phase-er- Shift, again?”

“Not for another couple weeks. But it’s not like it’ll stop me from trying.”

This time, Jacob laughed with me. “You’re stubborn.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“No. I like it. You’re talking to the ‘King of Stubbornness’, honey.”

“Oh really? Because all I’ve seen is the ‘King of Temper Tantrums.’”

Jacob winced. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’m not like that; my temper. I’ve gotten way better at controlling myself since I first started Phasing.”

“Doesn’t everybody?”

Another chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so. Well, I better start cleaning up in here, before I get attacked by a coven of angry vampires.”

By the time Jacob had finished picking up all of the papers and items that went on Carlisle’s desk, the place looked a lot cleaner. At the moment, he was picking up the books that were supposed to be placed on the bookshelf behind Carlisle’s desk.

“Uh, those books are supposed to go in alphabetical order, and according to the year they were published. And be careful! Some of those are really old.”

Jacob paused in randomly placing a book on the shelf. “How do you know?”

“I’ve been in this room for the past two weeks. I can’t move from this bed. You notice things.”

“Ok…so how do they go?”

“Well, first of all, there are at least three different manuscripts that have multiple volumes. When you find those, put them in order, and then we can add in the rest…”

Two hours later, after bickering back and forth about where certain books went, Carlisle’s study was back to normal. Jacob came and sat on the edge of my bed. He mocked wiping sweat off his brow.

“Whew! Finally finished.”

“Yeah, I thought that was gonna take all night.”

Jacob stared at me with a grin on his face. I looked back in confusion. “What?”

“Oh nothing. You just look so different from the day we first met. But in a good way, I promise!”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that by the way, yelling at you when you first came in here. I was just really confused and scared, and Carlisle was just trying to calm me down and explain what was going on.”

“Oh I’m not talking about that. But I’m glad all the tubes that kept you breathing are gone. They freaked me out; there were so many in you. You couldn’t even see that pretty face of yours. I’m talking about the day of the accident, when I pulled you into the bush before Old man Jenkins killed you.”

“That was really you? I thought Emmett was joking.” I had to keep playing the confused patient; it was the only way these people wouldn’t discover the truth about me. That, and I hate those awkward “Thank you for saving my life, I’m indebted to you” moments.

“Yeah that was me. I’m surprised you didn’t believe him. All you kept talking about was a russet-colored wolf in your sleep.”

“I talked in my sleep?”

“Yeah. When you were passed out and we didn’t know if you were going to make it.”

Crap. “Did I say anything else?”

“No, all you kept saying was that you had to get to the russet-colored wolf. And here I am.”

“You’re the russet-colored wolf?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What? I am too. What do I have to do, show you?”

I raised an eyebrow. Jacob huffed at me, and walked towards the front of the bed. He laughed at me, and then made his way to the phone on Carlisle’s desk.

“What are you doing?”

“Watch me.” He dialed a number. “Hey Alice? It’s Jacob. Yeah, I bet you knew I’d call. Listen-yeah. Yeah. Do you think Carlisle would mind? I mean, with all the tubes and-Seriously? That’s great, but how-Hall closet? OK! See ya later.”

After hanging up the phone, he went to the door, and walked out. Shortly after, he came back with a wheelchair.

“Whaaat are you doing?”

“Showing you that I’m the one you kept talking about in your sleep. But to do that, we need to go outside. Because if I do it in here, I will most likely end up knocking the bed over, and I don’t want you kicking my ass, as you so royally put it. So that’s where the wheelchair comes in.”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. This was crazy. There was no way he was taking me outside. I didn’t trust him enough to pick me up without me breaking something again. He made his way over to the bed again, and started pulling out the various IV’s and other tubes that were connected to my body.

“Stop it! What are you doing?! Carlisle’s gonna freak! You can’t do that! Jacob, stop!”

“Nu-uh. Alice said that Carlisle already told her I could take you outside; she had a vision. You’re strong enough to heal without the tubes and stuff. Now you have to rely on your Shapeshifter abilities, and stay still long enough for your back to heal. That way your other Forms will start healing.” By the time he stopped explaining himself, the tubes were out.

Jacob held his hands out to me. “Alright, Jael. Time to get out of this damn room.”

I looked at him like he was crazy. “No way. You are not going to pick me up and put me in that chair. You’ll break something!”

Jacob took my hand. Both of us slightly blushed at the warmth that was felt between us. As I've said before, when two Shapeshifters touch in a non-threatening way, the combination of the couple’s body temperature is an out-of-this-world feeling. Trust me; it’s a very good thing.

“Jael, trust me. I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought I couldn’t keep you safe. I know how to handle a wheelchair; my dad’s been in one for as long as I can remember. I’m not going to drop you or let you fall, ok? Trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

How could you NOT believe him? I knew he was trustworthy, but to be honest, trusting somebody who was practically a stranger so quickly was a scary thought to me. I mean, I trusted Niko right? We were each other’s imprints. Look where that got me. But Jacob’s smile was genuine, and I couldn’t help but smile back as I nodded my head and admitted defeat.