All I Wanted Was the Truth

I woke up on a cold surface, covered in a thin white blanket. I moaned. Not the hospital again, surely?

I found it an immense struggle to crack my eyes open, but I managed it after a few painful moments of twisting and cussing under my breath. When my eyes did open, I relaxed. I wasn't at the hospital.

But I was lying on the Cullen's kitchen table.

I blinked in surprise. "Emmett?" I turned my head this way and that, not having energy enough to sit up. "Emmett?" I called again, more insistently. I spotted Carlisle standing at the sink, wiping his hands on a dish cloth. He was supremely calm. "Dr. Cullen?" I asked politely. "Where's Emmett?"

He smiled sadly. "He's in his room with Rosalie."

I shivered.

Carlisle laughed softly. "He feels very badly about attacking you in Port Angeles."

"So he told you about that, did he?" I muttered, slightly embarrassed.

He nodded, approaching me casually. "It's hard to have secrets in this family." He smiled as if in response to some joke I wasn't in on.

"Is it?" I inquired.

He nodded. "With such gifted children as mine, it's nigh on impossible."

I paused. I realized that they were all very smart, straight A students, but that didn't necessarily mean they couldn't keep secrets, did it? "Gifted how?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Well, you've seen how strong Emmett is, I assume?"

I nodded.

"Well, he was very strong as a human, too. When you turn into a vampire, you bring along one of your most prominent traits and they're ... enhanced, sort of. Emmett brought his strength."

"So that helps him read people's secrets?" I asked, polite sarcasm edging in my voice.

He shook his head, smiling. "No, but it's much harder to keep a secret around Edward, Alice, or Jasper. You see," he started. "Jasper, as a human, had a knack for getting people to see his point of view, or to feel the way he wanted them to about his perspective. As a vampire, he can not only feel the emotions of those around him, but he can control them, as well."

My eyes widened. "He can control emotions?"

Carlisle nodded sagely. "Edward's gift is quite potent," he continued, smiling. "He was very good at reading those around him, as a human. In this life, he can read minds. Well, he can hear minds." he corrected himself.

I nearly threw up. Edward could read minds? But that meant he'd heard everything I'd ever thought about Bella, everything I'd ever thought about him, everything I'd ever thought about Emmett. "He can read minds?" I repeated faintly.

"Like voices talking to him."

My head was spinning. This could be a very bad thing for me. "And Alice," I mumbled, changing the subject, "Can see ... outcomes." I said.

"Yes. So you see now why keeping secrets is pointless in our family."

I nodded my head slowly. A thought occurred to me. "Does everybody in your family have a ... gift?"

He smiled. "Well, they're not all as obvious as Edward's or Jasper's, but yes, we all have a gift of sorts. I, for example, have been told I brought my compassion through to this life. Esme ..." His eyes glowed with affection. "Esme is simply wonderful. She herself is a gift. And Rosalie," he continued, smiling sheepishly. "I suppose you could say she brought her tenacity."

I grinned. "I suppose." I felt a throb in my arm, and looked down. It was covered in tiny little cuts, most of them already starting to heal. One, though, was in stitches. It ran all along my forearm and to the base of my elbow. "Ow."

Carlisle lifted my arm slowly, examining it. "I had to stitch one of them, but it should be fine soon. Does it hurt when I do this?" He bent my arm slowly. I shook my head. "That's good, then. Although it could just be your immunity to pain," he teased.

My cheeks flushed as I smiled. "I haven't been in a real accident for at least six months." I reminded him.

"And yet I've treated wounds in that time," he retorted, still smiling. "You love the hospital, don't you? You can't seem to stay away."

"Well, it beats school." I swung my legs over the side of the table and stood still, regaining my balance. "Plus, I get time off of school."

"Don't go hurting yourself just because you have a math test." he warned, pointing a finger at me.

I peered out the back window, sighing. It was getting dark out. "I should go, shall I?"

I looked back to see Dr. Cullen frowning at the clouds. "Yes," he muttered distractedly. "I suppose you should ... we don't want your father to worry."

I groaned. "Dad..."

"Don't worry." Carlisle was grinning again. "I called and told him everything - well, almost everything."

I sighed, relieved. "Thanks." We had made our way to the front door by now, and I had opened it, letting in a cool breeze. My bike lay abandoned at the head of the trail. Just as I was going to go, I turned back. "Could you tell Emmett not to worry about me? It wasn't his fault." I pleaded.

Carlisle's face fell, but he kept his smile in place. "I'll tell him."

"Thank you." I muttered. "Goodbye, Dr. Cullen."

"Goodbye, Kaya."