Oh Yeah...It's Hot

“COME ON BLACK!! PICK UP THE PACE!” My gym teacher yelled at me. This week has not been a good one for me. First the guys and Leah have been gone chasing a vampire, I was late to school twice, I got a C on my geometry test, and to top it off we have to run twenty laps around the track outside in the misty rain. I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep because I’ve been having this feeling that something bad was going to happen and it’s been keeping me awake. I normally am the fastest runner in gym class but I haven’t been lately. I picked up the pace just enough to get her to stop yelling at me. Every time I would pass her I would glare and growl at her. Finally after about ten more minutes of running I finished running my twenty and went into the locker room to get changed. Thankfully gym was my last class of the day so I got to go home and relax. While I was getting dressed I felt a sharp pain in my chest that made me bend over and grab it. I gasped in pain and my breath stuck. I knew something was wrong because I always got the same pain when something wasn’t right. I quickly got dressed and waited for the bell to ring.

After the bell rang I ran out to Paul’s car since he let me borrow it since he and the pack had been gone. I started the engine and drove out of the parking lot toward the house. As I pulled around the corner I saw Emily’s and Jared’s van in the drive way. “They must be back.” I said to myself smiling. As I pulled into the drive way Kim, Leah and Emily walked outside. I turned the car off and grabbed my back pack. I started to walk up to the house when the guys and Billy came out; they all had the same facial expression on their faces. Billy looked like he had been crying, Jake looked like he was trying not to cry and everyone else had…sympathy. I slowed my pace as I walked toward them. “Hey guys!” I said trying to lighten things up. Everyone looked at me and I knew something was really wrong when none of them smiled. “Who died?” I asked. I was kinda joking when I asked it but they all sucked in a breath. My heart started to race.

“Dest, I think you better come in and have a seat.” Sam said. I nodded my head and walked into the living room. I put my bag by the front door and sat on the couch next to Paul, Jake and in front of Billy. Everyone else was standing strangely close.

“Ok…what’s going on?” I asked taking my jacket off. I looked at everyone but nobody answered. “Someone, please tell me.” I said anxiously. I looked at Billy who was sitting in front of me for answers. His eyes started to water. Then he said the words I didn’t wanna ever hear.

“Your dad is in the hospital.” He said holding back a sob. My heart fell through the floor.

“Wha-What? Why? What happened? Is he alright?” I asked panicky. Billy didn’t answer me so I looked at Jake.

“He-He was in a car accident last night.” He said. My breath caught in my throat. My eyes started watering a little bit.

“I-Is he alright?” I asked. He shook his head. I gasped in a breath and a tear slid down my face.

“The doctor who called us said…” Jake said. I could tell he was hesitating telling me the next part.

“What did the doctor say?” I said sniffling.

“He said…there is an eighty percent chance he…won’t make it till tomorrow night.” My hand flew to my mouth and I started crying. Paul and Jake wrapped their arms around me as I put my head on my legs. Billy was crying along with me. He held my hand in his and we cried. I cried the hardest though. After about ten minutes of bawling my eyes out my tears calmed down and I was able to talk a little bit.

“Why?” I cried lifting my head to look at nothing in particular. “Why me? Why MY dad?” I cried as tears blurred my vision. Paul rubbed my back and I slammed my head into his chest still holding onto Billy’s hand and grabbing Jake’s. After an hour I stopped crying enough to talk. Nobody left, nobody talked, and I don’t think anybody even whispered. I sat up and dried my face on the sleeves of my shirt. “I wanna go see him.” I said.

“Are you sure you wanna do that?” Paul asked. I knew he meant well but why wouldn’t I wanna see him?

“Of course I want too. He is my father Paul.” I said standing up and walking to my room to pack. I didn’t know how long I was going to be there so I packed four or five outfits just in case. When I was done packing I walked to the front door and sat my bag down.

“I called the air lines and the next flight that is leaving for LAX is tomorrow night.” Seth said.

“Tomorrow night? I can’t wait that long.” I said pacing.

“Calm down Dest, we will figure it out.” Leah said.

“Hey what about the Cullens?” Jared asked. Everyone looked at him as if he were nuts.

“Yeah. They always have connections for something.” Quil agreed with Jared.

“I’ll give them a call.” Sam said walking to the phone. As I waited for Sam to get off the phone the only thing I could do was pace back and forth.

“Good news…Carlisle said he could get us tickets for a flight. We just need to tell him how many we are going to need.” Sam said walking into the living room from the kitchen with the phone in his hand pressed to his chest.

“Jake, Billy and I are going. If any of you would like to go that would be nice.” I said looking at everyone.

“I’m going.” Leah said.

“Me too.” Quil said.

“Me three.” Kim smiled. If Kim was going that meant Jared was going.

“Same here.” Quil, Embry and Seth said. Sam looked at Emily who nodded her head in agreement.

“I am definitely going.” Paul said walking over to me. Sam nodded his head and walked back into the kitchen putting the phone to his ear. Paul wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his chest.

“The tickets will be waiting for us at the airport. The flight leaves in an hour so we need to hurry and pack then meet at the airport.” Sam said. Everyone nodded and left the house to get ready.

“Do I still have clothes in your room?” Paul asked. I nodded my head and he went to go find them. A few minutes later the four of us were packed and heading for the airport. When we got there we met up with the rest of the gang and headed for the plane. I was so focused on getting to LA that I wasn’t even aware of when we entered the plane, when we took off or anything. The only thing I could think about was my dad and seeing him. I texted Kari a few times on the flight to let her know I was on my way. When we landed about two hours later we filed into a taxi van.

“Where too?” the driver asked.

“LA General Hospital.” I answered. He nodded and pulled away from the airport. My heart was racing so fast it felt as if it were going to burst through my chest any minute. Apparently the gang could tell I was anxious because they all touched my arm in encouragement. We eventually pulled up to the hospital and I jumped over Paul and ran out of the van before it had even slowed.

“DESTINY!!” several of them yelled. I didn’t listen, I just ran into the lobby and up to the receptionist.

“Welcome to LA General, how can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“Tyler Black. What room is he in?” I asked.

“I’m sorry but he can’t have any visitors right now.” She said.

“What do you mean no visitors? I am his fucking daughter. I wanna see my dad.” I demanded. The pack came up to me and pulled me back trying to calm me down.

“Get off of me.” I said.

“Destiny!” I heard my name being called. I turned to see Kari walking over to me through a door.

“Kari. How is he?” I asked walking over to her.

“Not good. He’s unconscious right now.” She said looking at the ground. I gasped in a breath and started to cry.

“Can I see him?” I asked.

“Of course.” She said. She nodded for the gang to follow us. We walked to the elevators and took them up to the ninth floor. Jake, Billy, Paul, Me and Kari were in one elevator while everyone else was in the other. We followed her to a room but she stopped me. “Honey I have to worn you…he’s banged up pretty bad. Are you ready for this?” she asked.

“I could never be ready for this.” I said.

“You guys can wait in the family waiting room.” She said looking toward the pack. They all patted mine, Jake’s and Billy’s arm before they left. She nodded and walked into the room. Jake and Billy followed her in. I stood in the hall for a minute while they went in. I heard Billy start to cry and Jake started sniffling. I took a step forward into the room then through the curtain. My heart completely stopped in my chest, the blood drained from my face and my breath caught. I couldn’t even recognize my own father’s face. He had his right arm and left leg in a cast. His head was wrapped in gauze; there were gauze patches in several areas that had blood spots on them and he was hooked up to a breathing machine. I ran forward and fell at his bed side.

“Dad-Daddy!” I sobbed. I grabbed his hand and looked at his face. There were scratches everywhere, bruises, and some swelling around his eyes and mouth. Jake walked over to me and lifted me up into a chair. Billy was on the other side of the bed holding my dad’s other hand. I cried till I couldn’t cry anymore. A few minutes later the doctor who was taking care of my dad came in.

“Hello. I’m Dr. Anderson, who are you all?” he asked looking at us.

“I’m Billy Black, his brother; this is my son and his daughter.” Billy answered.

“How is he?” I asked standing up.

“Honestly?” he asked. I nodded my head. “Not good. He has five broken ribs, two of them punctured his left lung causing him to have breathing problems and they also punctured his kidney so there is some eternal bleeding. We tried to stop the bleeding but nothing worked. Um…his left leg and right arm are broken in two different places. There seems to be some bruising and swelling on the brain and his spinal cord is bruised.” He answered. I sucked in a breath and let a tear fall from my eyes.

“What is the likely hood of him…surviving?” Billy asked.

“One in a hundred. He probably won’t make it till tomorrow night. We have him sedated with pain medication even if he is unconscious.” He said. I looked at him and sighed. I wanted nothing more than to see his eyes and hear his voice one last time if he wasn’t going to make it. “You know he can still hear you.” I nodded my head as he walked away. I looked at everyone then to my dad.

“Why don’t we give her a minute?” Kari said to the guys. They nodded and Jake wheeled Billy out of the room. Kari half smiled at me and followed. I grabbed my dad’s hand and sighed.

“Daddy? I hope you can hear me. It’s Destiny.” I stopped to wipe a tear from my face. “It’s going to be ok. You are a strong guy and I know you will pull through. I know you will. I just wish that I had my guitar with me so I could sing our song for you. I never thought you would like Hannah Montana song’s until we watched the movie and you said that was our song.” I said looking at him. His eyes were moving like he was dreaming. “I wish you could open your eyes.” I sighed. While I was holding his hand I felt his finger twitch. I looked down at it and his fingers twitched again. I gasped and looked up at him. “Dad?” His eye fluttered a little then closed again. “Come on dad. Come out of it. Come on.” I said encouraging him. Finally his eyes opened all the way. I gasped and had to hold myself back from hugging him. “Oh my god. Daddy.” I said as a tear slid down my face. “NURSE! NURSE!” I yelled running out of the room. Jake came out of the waiting room and looked at me as I panicked.

“What’s going on?” Billy asked rolling out.

“He’s awake.” I said smiling before I turned to run back to his room. The doctor was already in there looking at him.

“I guess he just needed to hear your voice.” He said. I smiled and went to the other side he wasn’t on and held his hand. After he examined him he pulled me aside.

“How is he now? He must be doing better if he’s awake.” I said smiling.

“Unfortunately he’s getting worse. His kidney is starting to shut down, his left lung isn’t producing any oxygen and his heart rate is slowing.” He said.

“Wha-what? Are you sure? I mean if he was getting worse he wouldn’t be awake.” I asked.

“I’m sure.”

“Well how lo-long does he have?” I questioned.

“Maybe a couple hours. Three at the most.” He said. My hand flew to my mouth and I closed my eyes. He put a hand on my shoulder then turned to go check on other patients. I walked back to the room and he was still awake. The whole pack was in there but staying out of the way.

“Sam do you know where my bag is?” I asked. He nodded and went to go get it. When he got back I pulled out my Ipod and the dock. I turned it on and went to our song. When the music started playing he smiled through the breathing tube. My dad was the only one that had heard me sing so this was the first time everyone would hear me and it would be the last. It was nothing but guitar through the song so when the part for the lyrics to start I started singing.

You tucked me in, turned out the light

kept me safe and sound at night

little girls depend on things like that,

you brushed my teeth and combed my hair

had to drive me everywhere

you were always there when I looked back.

You had to do it all alone, make a living make a home

must have been as hard as it could be

and when I couldn't sleep at night, scared things wouldn't turn out right

You would hold my hand and sing to me.

Caterpillar in the tree how you wonder who you'll be

can't go far but you can always dream

wish you may and wish you might

don't you worry hold on tight

I promise you there will come a day

butterfly fly away

butterfly fly away

butterfly fly away

flut your wings now you can't stay

take those dreams and make them all come true

butterfly fly away

butterfly fly away

hope and waiting for this day

all alone and know what just to do

butterfly

butterfly

butterfly

butterfly fly away

butterfly fly away

butterfly fly away

I held his hand while I sang. I could see him smiling in his eyes even though tears were escaping them. Then another song came on and I knew that our second song would be the last song he hears. A tear started to slide down hes face as the song started.

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go
Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born

You're beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone
Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown
Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I Love you!" in the moonlight at your door
As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy Love you more!”

You're beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand
But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he's the half
that makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man
I know he'll say that he's in love
But between you and me. He won't be good enough

You're beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl

When the song ended I rested my head on his chest and started crying. We both knew it was almost the end as we cried together.

~Paul’s P.O.V~

Watching Jake, Billy and not to mention Destiny go through this was heart breaking. Destiny played her and her dad’s songs through her Ipod. The second song played and it broke my heart as they looked at each other. I wasn’t really paying attention to the songs because the only thing I could focus on was Destiny’s pain. It was like our emotions flowed into each other. I felt her pain, her sorrow, her hurt, everything. Every time her heart stopped, mine stopped too. The only part that I seemed to hear was a boy asking for his daughters hand then a thought hit me. I will never be able to ask him for her hand. I would love to marry Destiny but I was hoping that I would be able to ask Tyler for his permission. I wanted to do it now before it was too late but there was no way I could do it in private. Tyler looked at me and Destiny sat up and looked at his hand. It looked like he was signaling for something to write on. Jake handed him I pen and a pad of paper, he wrote something down on it and showed it to Destiny. Then she looked at me. I had no idea what was written on that pad of paper but I was nervous. “He wants to talk to Paul in private.” She said looking at me. I sucked in a breath and sighed. Everyone got up and left. She came over to me and I squeezed her in a hug before she left the room. I made my way over to his bed side nervous as hell. When I sat in the chair he started righting on the paper. I waited patiently for him to finish and then read it when he was.

‘We all know that I am not going to make it. So do me a favor and take care of my little girl that is all I ask of you Paul. Please.’

“You have nothing to worry about with that Mr. Black” I said handing him the pad of paper back. We were quiet for a minute. I was trying to think of how to bring up the marriage thing. Then he started to write again.

‘What’s on your mind son?’ I read. I sat the paper down and my leg started shaking because of my nerves.

“I was…I was just wondering if…in the future if I might have Destiny’s hand in marriage? I want to marry her but only with your permission.” I said nervously. He made a noise that sounded like a snicker or a laugh then started writing again. Now I was really nervous. I haven’t been this nervous since I was eight and I had to get two teeth pulled. When he was done I took the paper and looked at it nervously.

‘Paul, I know that you love Destiny, you can’t help it and I also know that she loves you. With or with out imprinting, I could see the happiness in her eyes when she would talk about you when I visited, even on video chat. All I care about is her happiness. I know that you will take great care of her now and in the future. It would be an honor to one day have you as my son-in-law. Even though I may not be here in person, I will be here in spirit. Thank you for protecting her the few months she has been in La Push.’ I almost started to cry when I read what he wrote. I had never heard or read anything like this before. She really did love me even if I didn’t imprint on her. I smiled and layed the paper down.

“Thank you Mr. Black.” I said nodding my head. He reached for the paper and wrote something else.

‘Will you send my daughter in? I wanna spend the last few minutes or hours with her.’

“Of course.” I said standing up and headed for the door. I walked down the hall to the family waiting room that the pack all filled. When I walked in Destiny ran over to me.

“What did he say?” she asked. Everyone looked at me and all I could do was smile.

“Nothing you need to worry about right now.” I said bending down and kissing her. “He wants to spend the last hours he has with you.” I said. She nodded and walked down the hall. I went to sit in a chair that was between Quil and Seth.

“What did he say?” Embry asked.

“Dude that’s none of our business.” Jared said smacking him in the head.

“It’s cool. He asked me to keep her safe and…he also gave me permission to marry her in the future.” I said smiling at the thought of her walking down an aisle toward me in a wedding dress.

“Hey congrats dude.” Everyone said. I sat back in the chair and relaxed. Eventually falling asleep.

~Destiny’s P.O.V~

My dad and I were in his room watching TV, playing tic-tac-toe, hangman, and several other things. I did everything I could think of to keep him active. Every now and then the doctor or a nurse would come in and check on him. The pack had gone down to the cafeteria for some food and they brought me some. I was sitting on the couch watching a movie and happened to fall asleep. I was sound asleep when I heard a noise that sounded like my ears was ringing. I woke up and looked around. I looked at my dad who was pale, his lips were blue and his heart monitor had a straight line on it and the sound was coming from that. I ran to his side. “Dad. Wake up, come on please wake up. DADDY!” I begged. I ran out of the room. “HELP!! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I saw doctors, nurses and the gang came running my way. I ran back into his room and tried to wake him up. The doctors tried to move me out of the way but I couldn’t move. “DADDY!!! PLEASE WAKE UP!!!” I yelled. Warm hands grabbed my arms and pulled me back, I couldn’t fight these hands because they were to strong. I looked up and saw Paul looking at the scene along with everyone else. I started crying as Paul held onto me and I held Billy’s hand and Jake had a hand on our shoulders. They worked for ten minutes. Then the doctor spoke.

“Time of death 13:24am.” He said taking off his gloves.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO NO NO NO!!!!!!” I yelled. My legs gave out from underneath me and I fell to the ground with Paul still holding onto me. Everything seemed to slow down. It was like playing a movie in slow motion. I cried and cried and screamed. I curled up in a ball on the floor and cried while Paul and the gang kneeled around me trying to comfort me. I didn’t want to be comforted by them; I wanted my dad to comfort me. I don’t know where it came from but a sudden burst of energy hit me. I stood up and pushed everyone away from me. I got my balance and took off running. I ran down the hall and didn’t bother with the elevator. I could hear the gang behind me yelling my name. I didn’t stop I just kept on running. I ran through the emergency room entrance and ran through the parking lot into the trees. I suddenly felt angry that he was taken from me, angry that there was nothing I could do, angry that I hadn’t been awake when he passed. What if he said something, I wasn’t awake to hear it. All of a sudden I felt extreme pain wash over my body, I felt like I was on fire. I stopped in my tracks and watched the pack run up around me and turn into their wolf form. I knew this was it. I let it take over my body and mind then I busted into my wolf form.

‘Destiny, sweetie it’s going to be ok.’ Leah said.

‘We will help you get through everything. We promise.’ Jake said. I didn’t know what to do so I just lay on the ground and wined. After several minutes I relaxed enough to turn into my normal self. Emily carried out our bags and gave then to us so we could get dressed. When I was dressed I had gathered myself enough to go back into the hospital. We went back to the floor he was on and I gathered his belongings. Before we left to go to the house the doctor stopped me.

“Miss. Black, your dad had his in his bed. It’s addressed for you.” He said. I looked at the note that was folded up and took it with shaky hands.

“Dr. Anderson. I just wanna thank you for everything you have done. For keeping him alive this long.” I said.

“It was my honor even though I didn’t succeed. But I think that it wasn’t me that was keeping him alive, it was you. I think he only stayed around long enough to make sure you were ok.” He said. I stood in that spot for a few minutes.

“Destiny, honey. The taxi is here. We should get going.” Emily said. I nodded and followed her. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and led me downstairs. On the way to the house I practically turned into a zombie. When we got to the house I stood outside in the front yard and stared at the house for almost an hour before Paul and Jake had to come out and force me in. When I got into the house everyone expected me to cry but…I didn’t. I no longer felt pain, sorrow or anything. It was like I was hollow. I was empty inside. I just walked up to my room and sat on my bed. Everyone left me alone for several hours. During this time I took the opportunity to read the letter my dad wrote me.

‘My dearest Destiny,

Honey, if you are reading this then you know that I have passed away. You are probably sitting alone somewhere acting like a zombie. Am I right? Of course I am because it’s the exact same way you acted when your mom left. Honey, I don’t want you to shut down and become a loner because it will only eat at you. I know that you will get through this because you are a tough girl Destiny. Not to mention you are extremely bright. You can pull through anything if you put your mind to it. It doesn’t matter if I am here in person or in spirit you will always be my little girl and I will always be with you. As a last request of mine please do one thing for me. Please don’t sulk on this forever. I want you to live as if you were back in La Push before all this happened. I may be gone in person but my spirit lives all around you. When you look in the mirror you can see me because we all know you are the spitting image of me. I want you to graduate high school, find a good job, get married and have kids. Speaking of marriage Paul is a very fine young man. He reminds me of me when I was his age. I know that he will do everything he can to protect you in the future. You can live in La Push now like you wanted. My lawyer will be contacting you in a few days because I have left everything to you in my will. There is some money in the bank that I have been saving up for you since you were born. I am not sure how much there is in there now but I am sure it will last you a few years because I know how great you are with money. You don’t have to worry about paying for the funeral because it is paid for you just have to pick my casket, head marker and the other stuff. I know that this is going to be hard on you for the next few weeks but hold your head up high honey. I will be here no matter what. I love you sweetie, I hope you know that you were and always be my pride and joy. I love you more than anything Destiny and I know that you love me. Good luck with whatever life brings your way. It is almost that time. I can feel myself going now. I love you honey.

Love forever and always baby girl

Your father Tyler’

As I read the letter I didn’t cry. I felt a sudden calm wash over me. I folded the letter up and put it in my memory box that I kept of everything dear to me. I went downstairs and spent the rest of the night with the gang. Billy and I talked a little bit about the funeral arrangements but it didn’t last very long. I demanded that he be buried in La Push where the rest of our family is. We would have two wakes. One here for his friends here and the other in La Push for everyone there. Tomorrow we are going to look for a casket and research places that will take him to La Push. Until then everyone decided to go to bed.